Normally, we at Various Things & Stuff are no not so big on the self-promotion. We figure the Ferrari model of advertising works best. That company makes such wonderful automobiles, word of mouth and exclusivity is all the advertising they need. (And while we are most definitely the Honda Civics of blogging, the idea works just as well.)

But we couldn’t help noticing our colleague Jeff Simpson’s column in the Las Vegas Sun this weekend, in which he relentlessly promoted his other gig, the executive editorship of In Business Las Vegas. There, Simpson touts the fact that his weekly business paper "…should be required reading for any businesswoman or businessman in greater Las Vegas."

Not only that, he challenges anyone to compare the valley’s weekly and monthly business publications.

And says that, "week in and week out, In Business Las Vegas presents more news and more useful information to Las Vegas businesses than any other paper or magazine."

Not to mention that "The look of IBLV is clearly the best in class as well. More and better photos and cleaner design make reading the paper as easy on the eyes as it is stimulating to the brain and, we hope, profitable to the bottom line."

"Check us out, compare us, and I know you’ll want to subscribe," he concludes.

OK, OK! We give up! We’ll buy a subscription so you can go to camp!

Only kidding. Partly.

Now, we can’t be totally sure, but we think this column may have been a subtle shot at the Las Vegas Business Press, which is a sister paper to CityLife. (We’re both owned by the soulless corporate entity known as Stephens Media LLC, which also publishes this blog, although we suspect they probably don’t know that. Nobody squeal, OK?)

The Business Press is actually the older of the two publications, and is now published in conjunction with the business section of the Review-Journal, another Stephens Media LLC cash cow. And while we must confess that we don’t keep extremely close tabs on all the capitalist media, we’re pretty sure the Business Press also has news and useful information, a good design, nice pictures and information that the running dogs can use to squeeze more green out of an unsuspecting populace. There’s also the annual Book of Lists, which is a book that contains many, many lists.

But let’s get back to the issue. Simpson has given us a great marketing idea, and we’re going to kick it off right now, with a little piece titled, "Why you MUST read this blog!" Here goes:

You see, every day our team of satirists, mockers, wiseasses and malcontents publishes a sarcasm-packed blog that should be required reading for anybody who is sitting at their computer, bored and has already checked out the better-read and more professional blogs, like DailyKOS, Huffington Post or Talking Points Memo. (And The Superficial. That’s a must read before us, too.)

Although we are hardly unbiased observers, we challenge anyone to compare the other blogs in Nevada to us. (Well, except for the Las Vegas Gleaner. That one is much better. Oh, and Scandalmonger. Lots of good stuff there. Don’t forget Inside Nevada Politics. Our friend Anjeanette Damon does a great job. And no, she’s not married to Ray Hagar, despite that cheesy picture. VegasPundit has many, many more documents than we do. But after all those, we’re No. 1!)

We pay particularly close attention to the local papers, and if you don’t do that regularly, you don’t know how tough a job that can be. But we maintain we have the best mockery in the market, considering all the material we have to work with.

Sure, we’re biased. And we’re proud of the work our talented staff does here every day. But more than that, we’re confident that Various Things & Stuff has evolved into a must-read daily blog for folks who absolutely refuse to take politics or anything else seriously.

Hey, did you know you can subscribe? All you have to do is look to the right, underneath that photo of us (WARNING! Do NOT look directly at the PHOTO! You could experience PAIN! Look UNDER the photo!) click on the link that says "e-mail alerts," and follow the directions.

After checking us out, we know you’ll want to subscribe. And if we get 100 subscribers a week, we will have 100 more subscribers than we had the previous week, so don’t hesitate!

Remember, you MUST read this blog!