An excuse to drink? For free?

A free beer tasting takes place next weekend (Nov. 17-18) in Las Vegas, but you must RSVP to reserve your place.

Tasting will be of Budweister lager and ale, comprising interactive lessons that talk about the history of beer, learning how to do "The Perfect Pour," and other fun beer-related tasks.

Sessions take place in sets of 2 on two different dates - Sierra Gold Tavern (6515 S. Jones Blvd.) on Nov. 17 and South Point Casino's Equestrian Center.

Session 1 for both runs 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Session 2 runs 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. And no, you can't attend both sessions.

You must be at least 21 years old and show a valid photo I.D.

To RSVP, visit this link.

First there was ping pong, then beer pong... what next?

How about topless ping pong?

A tournament of just that occurs Nov. 10 at Sapphire Gentlemen's Club. Sign up by 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. tourney.

Teams are in groups of four, with at least one woman per team. If you're nice enough, you could borrow one of the friendly Sapphire ladies to play with you... with or without their top.

Hmm... if it's a choice of watching the final table of the World Series of Poker or any table of topless ping pong, we know what we'll be cheering.

Viva ELVIS focuses on music of the King, with trademarked Cirque dance and acrobatics, combining it all into the latest technology.

If all goes well, the show will begin Dec. 18.

Directing will be choreographer Vincent Paterson, known for working with Madonna and Michael Jackson. This marks Paterson's first Cirque du Soleil gig, and he took his crew to Graceland for research.

A member of the "Burglar Bunch" was tracked to the Las Vegas home of Rachel Lee.

The Burglar Bunch is a group of young burglars - most in their late teens - who target young celebrities to the tune of $3 million. Lee is 18 years old.

Found inside her home was $20,000 in cash, a pair of actress Rachel Bilson's jeans, a hat of Lindsay Lohan, and partially nude photos of Paris Hilton.

Additional celebrity victims include Megan Fox, Orlando Bloom, Ashley Tisdale, Brian Austin Green, and Audrina Partridge.

Allegiant Air services many smaller cities around the country, which includes Las Vegas.

And now if you book a travel package by Nov. 18 for travel ending by May 31, 2010, you can get a second flight free. The second ticket must be on the same flight.

Travel packages include flight plus hotel.

Cities include:

Appleton, Wisc.
Bellingham, Wash.
Billings, Mont.
Bismarck, N. D.
Bozeman, Mont.
Casper, Wyo.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Des Moines, Iowa
Duluth, Minn.
Eugene, Ore.
Fargo, N.D.
Ft. Collins/Loveland, Colo.
Fresno, Calif.
Grand Forks, N.D.
Grand Island, Neb.
Grand Junction, Colo.
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Great Falls, Mont.
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Kalispell, Mont.
Laredo, Texas
McAllen, Texas
Medford, Ore.
Missoula, Mont.
Monterey, Calif.
Peoria, Ill.
Rapid City, S.D.
Redmond/Bend, Ore.
Rochester, Minn.
Rockford, Ill.
Santa Maria, Calif.
Shreveport, La.
Sioux Falls, S.D.
South Bend, Ind.
Springfield, Mo.
Stockton, Calif.
Tri-Cities, Wash.
Wichita, Kan.
Northwest Arkansas

To book, visit Allegiant Air or call (702) 505-8888.

Blackout dates apply: Nov. 29, Dec. 13-14, Jan. 1-3, Feb. 15-16, and March 1-31.

What to do with all those Total Rewards points you've built up by playing at any Harrah's property?

Aside from their annual Gift Giveaway (which awards you gift points on top of TR points), you can put those points toward shops, restaurants, rooms, shows -- basically your player's card can be treated like a credit card at any Harrah's property.

But did you know that there's a Total Rewards catalog of high-end merchandise that you can purchase using your points?

Every 100 points is valued at about $1, which goes the same for the catalog.

But monthly specials for Platinum, Diamond, and Seven Stars members can occasionally produce some good deals.

For the month of October, the Cuinart Table Top Gas Grill is normally 31,000 points but on sale for 21,700. The Nikon Coolpix S70 12MP digital camera is normally 56,000 points but on sale for 39,200.

See more deals and the entire catalog at this link. You can browse through the store by item, category, or even by points.

If you're looking to unload a whole bunch of points fast (say, if Harrah's decides to file bankruptcy...), the Catalog is the place.

Note that you must visit a Harrah's casino in person to place an order (to verify ID). They will then ship anywhere you'd like for free.

With piracy taking a chunk out of box office and large flat screen TVs becoming ever cheaper, movie theaters are looking for new ways to attract people to their theaters.

One successful way is improved 3D technology, which has been such a big boon to the industry that older movies are being enhanced to the new way of viewing.

Another way is bringing the audience member a new kind of movie experience, immersing them in a motion chair.

D-BOX Technologies has developed a chair that moves in sync with the movie. Now you can feel like you're flying along with Astroboy.

In June, 22 chairs were installed at the Galaxy Theatres (at the Cannery in North Las Vegas) and proved to be so successful that 11 more will be added before Christmas.

For more information, visit "D-BOX or Galaxy.