I stopped by Target (or Tarzzhay as Michael would say) on Saturday night to pick up a few things and decided I'd check out the dollar section to see if they had any new Office merchandise.

I was happy to see that they did, but it wasn't nearly as much as they've had in the past. Heck, it was about a quarter of the amount of stuff they had out last year.

That doesn't mean I went home empty-handed, though. You can never have enough mechanical pencils in the house. Or quote pens. And I was pretty happy to see that they had a Phyllis pen, featuring her quote about her "jugs."

But that was pretty much it. Pens and pencils.

And as I headed to the register to pay, I saw their display for the Season 5 DVD. In a move of marketing genious, they packaged the DVD with a chance to win one of Michael Scott's golden tickets. Except this golden ticket would get you a ticket to the set -- not a big discount in paper.  

I got ambitious and spent a little time cleaning off my computer desk yesterday. (My wife will say I needed to spend A LOT of time cleaning off my computer desk.) Anyway, something was telling me, "Let's get rid of some of the junk and get things in order."

Instead, it was really the universe telling me, "Clean some space, and then go to NBC.com and check out the new 'Office' bobbleheads they have for sale."

I've taken my son to the movies twice in the last couple of months, and both times saw somewhat unexpected appearances from "Office" cast members. 

My movie-going decisions are pretty much based off of the previews; I don't do a whole lot of research. And they're usually in the PG/G neighborhood and my son really pretty much has final say.

The last time, it was "Monsters vs. Aliens," with Rainn Wilson supplying the voice of the head alien, and John Kraskinski and Ed Helms playing smaller roles. This time, it was "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." I was hoping my son would pick "Up", but he went with "Museum" instead. After, I was glad he did, because it seemed like half of "The Office" cast had cameos -- or more.

Former cast member Amy Adams -- "Office" fans will remember her as Katy, who first shows up as the purse salesperson before briefly becoming Jim's girlfriend, and getting dumped on "The Booze Cruise" -- lands a lead role in the movie. She does a great job playing a spunky Amelia Earhart, ready for a good caper.

Ricky Gervais returns in his role of museum curator Dr. McPhee, while Helms, Craig Robinson and Mindy Kaling all chip in with minor roles. Helms makes a quick appearance as Ben Stiller's assistant, Kaling plays a docent at the Smithsonian and Robinson is one of the Tuskegee Airmen.  

While it was nice seeing the familiar faces, it also made me ready to watch some new episodes of "The Office." Too bad the summer has just begun. Maybe I'll just have to hit the movies again.

Photo: Ben Stiller and Amy Adams light up the big screen in "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." Photo credit: Associated Press  

Former N-J food editor and three8six.com contributor Cathy Klasne sent this link to me, and I thought you guys might find it interesting. It's a list of the top 10 food moments from "The Office."

http://www.chow.com/stories/11652

While I agree with a lot of the scenes that made the cut on this list, there's no way you can have a top 10 food list and leave off so much from the "Benihana Christmas" episode. Or all of the episodes at Chili's.  

So who's going to win the NCAA men's basketball tournament? Pitt? Memphis? North Carolina? Duke?

Yeah, they probably all have a shot to win the whole enchilada. But who do I want to win? Give ya a hint: little school called Cornell, you might've heard of it. Big Red.

That's right, Andy Bernard's alma mater made it to the big dance by winning the Ivy League. While they have pretty much no chance to win the title (no, I didn't pick them in my bracket), it'd still be hilarious to see them win a game or two. The writers need to work this into the show somehow.

So my son got a Nintendo Wii for Christmas from his grandpa this year, and I've become absolutely addicted to Wii boxing. I've played on the Wii a heck of a lot more than my son has. I guess I should ask if he wants to play. I kid, I kid. I usually hit the boxing after I drop him off at school. Well, he and I got to creating some mii's (the characters you can create) that looked like he and I and my wife. In addition to those mii's, I also went ahead and created a couple of Office mii's just as a joke to put on here. It's really funny to see Dwight beat someone to a pulp.

Anyway, let me know which mii you like better, and who I should make next.

I just received an email from the folks at NBC with a breakdown of the latest ratings. And things don't look too bad for "The Office."

Especially among the male audience. In the incredibly tough time slot it's in, "The Office" was the No. 1 network show among men 18-49 and 18-34 -- yup, beating out "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI" in those demographics. Among adults 18-34, "The Office" is the No. 4 show on TV, ranked behind only "Grey's Anatomy" and two episode of "American Idol."

And this one caught me by surprise: The show had its biggest overall viewership since Oct. 30. (That was the "Employee Transfer" episode -- aka "The episode with the really funny Halloween opening, but nothing else about Halloween in the entire show".) I think it caught me a little off guard because A) what the heck were people watching after the Super Bowl?!? I thought for sure those ratings would have been near top for the season; and B) the reviews of the "Lecture Circuit" episodes have really been mixed. On the tv.com ratings, they're among the lower ratings for the series.

Don't forget, we still have a couple of weeks until the next new episode: March 5!! Ugh. 

Since one of my loyal readers asked the question, here's the answer. I actually just stumbled upon this yesterday. This also tells what the Super Bowl episode will be about.

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b80162_will_amy_ryan_return_office.html

OK, so I know there's no new episode this week. The somewhat average Crime-Aid episode was just on. To get everyone back in gear and psyched about The Office, here are some nuggets from the Dunder Mifflin, Inc. Scranton newsletter.

Kelly and Creed also have messages on the newsletter, but here's what Dwight and Michael had to say about Christmas ...