Hello, everybody.

Like the rest of you on Thursday, I sat glued to my TV during the drama that was "Balloon Boy." For those not yet in the know, a homemade balloon with what we thought to be a six-year-old boy inside apparently set loose high into the skies of Colorado with the entire world holding their breaths every moment for two hours. After the balloon -- which was in the shape of a Jiffy Pop -- descended to the ground, we would learn all along that nobody was even inside it.

So, what's the story behind all this? Well, it was all brought to us by the Heene family from Fort Collins outside Denver. Falcon, the six-year-old at the epicenter, went inside the balloon for a short while before he untethered it and then flew out of the house. After that, Falcon rushed into the attic and hid in a cardboard box the whole time. Everybody thought he was inside the balloon, but it wasn't the case as home video and later a 911 call were released.

Now this is not new to them; the Heenes recently appeared on ABC's "Wife Swap" and the father, Richard, was a retired weatherman himself. But in the last couple of days now, we've learned new details as well as asking the burning question: Was this whole thing staged for the cameras on what was a slow news day?

Authorities and the Heenes are denying any claims about Balloon Boy being a hoax, as the family wasted no time hitting "Larry King" and the morning shows after the unexpected incident. Whether or not we're buying what Richard Heene's saying, one thing's for certain: it sure knocked Jon & Kate off the headlines!

In other news...Rush Limbaugh's bid to own the St. Louis Rams was thankfully declined by the NFL players' union as the controversial radio personality in the past lashed out against the team making some racial remarks.

But perhaps some better news coming out of this is that Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas may be considering part ownership of the Miami Dolphins. Does this mean we could be hearing "My Humps" being blared whenever they score a touchdown?

And last but not least...A few weeks ago, Sarah Michelle (Gellar) Prinze gave birth to baby girl Charlotte Grace. Months prior, she was in New York shooting the pilot for "The Wonderful Maladys" in the hopes HBO would greenlight it. Well, according to sources though not yet confirmed, HBO has said no to Sarah Michelle's return to television.

That's the bad news. The good news: The pilot's already been in the can for a while and there's a good chance it may be shopped to Showtime and AMC to see which one will pick it up. Both channels have been after HBO's blood (even if they have the hot "True Blood") in the last couple of years; Showtime with "Weeds", "Dexter", "Californication", and of course "Inside The NFL"; AMC has the Emmy-winning "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad."

And if not Showtime or AMC, maybe they could try FX, TNT, maybe ABC Family, maybe USA Network! Which one do you think will try their luck? Vote in my QuikPoll or comment on my Twitter page; I'll have your opinions next time.

Besides, even with her new baby, we'd still rather see Sarah Michelle Gellar back on our screens instead of boring ourselves with Sarah Palin's upcoming book! So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody.

Well, President Obama may have failed in bringing the Olympics back to America and in Chicago, but at least he got an unexpected consolation prize: The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. He is the third sitting U.S. President after Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and fourth in general after Jimmy Carter to be awarded humanitarian's highest honor.

According to the Norweigan Nobel Committee, Obama was honored for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" (maybe they were referring to that beer summit at the White House the other month); they also stated that "only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future." Obama himself said that he was "surprised and deeply humbled" by the committee's unanimous decision.

But of course, not everybody is taking this with a grain of salt...especially the right-wingers like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, who have never done enough homework about what the Nobel Peace Prize is all about. I do not want to go into detail into what they were spewing about, because it's not my thing and I want to move on with the rest of this blog.

Obama will be donating his $1.4 million prize to charity and he'll be invited to the annual Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway next month. Whether you agree with me or not, it is something well worth deserving.

Now I want to bypass all the David Letterman and Jon and Kate gobbledygook (because I don't feel like bringing those up) and zoom forward to shocking news in the Twitterverse, as Miley Cyrus for reasons unbeknownst to us, has bailed out (she explained it all in rap form). Also following her lead are Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore, but thankfully their fellow "Charlie's Angels" co-star Lucy Liu is still there; they all have home on MySpace as well.

A few blogs ago, I brought up the fact that thanks to Ashton Kutcher, a slew of celebrities have been getting on the Twitter bandwagon, tweeting their latest happenings from not just their computers, but mobile phones, Blackberrys, and iPhones as well. And it's all without the aid of any publicists.

But of course, those celebs have lives away from Twitter as well, and they don't tweet often...that is, unless if you're Ashton or Lucy, who won't alienate their growing number of followers.

And last but not least...if you haven't been watching "WWE Raw" in the last few months, then congratulations. In a desperate attempt to boost their slumping ratings, they've been relying on Hollywood power as celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal, Bob Barker, Jeremy Piven, and Rev. Al Sharpton have been invited to guest host the show. This Monday, it'll be Nancy O'Dell and Maria Menounos from "Access Hollywood." Why them, I don't know; maybe Mary Hart didn't return their calls.

I don't watch it anymore, but please: Make this gimmick stop! So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody. That number you see at the top is the amount of this year's Permanent Fund Dividend, as Governor Sean Parnell announced it to all of Alaska Wednesday night; as promised, I broke it to you on Twitter within seconds.

The $1,305 payout is $764 less than last year's record $2,069 (not counting the one-time $1,200 energy bonus). Those who requested their checks to be direct deposited will see it on their bank accounts October 8; otherwise, start checking your mailboxes on the 22nd.

Once again, $1,305 is how much the 2009 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend will be worth. So long, stay strong, and spend it wisely.

Hello, everybody. At the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, it was deja vu for "30 Rock" and "Mad Men" as both shows repeated their respective Comedy and Drama Series wins.

But in the case of individuals...Alec Baldwin repeated his crown, but not Tina Fey; Toni Collette ("United States of Tara") took Outstanding Actress-Comedy. On the drama side, Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") and Glenn Close ("Damages") were both repeaters.

Other winners include: Jon Cryer (Supporting Actor-Comedy, "Two and a Half Men"), Kristin Chenoweth (Supporting Actress-Comedy, "Pushing Daisies"; she suffered a migraine and was later attended to paramedics but is doing fine), Michael Emerson (Supp. Actor-Drama, "Lost"), Cherry Jones (Supp. Actress-Drama, "24"), Jessica Lange (Actress-Miniseries/Movie, "Grey Gardens"; it also took Miniseries/Movie honors), Jeff Probst for the second straight time (Reality-Competiton Host, "Survivor"); and for the seventh straight time in a row...both "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (Variety, Music, or Comedy Series) and "The Amazing Race" (Reality-Competition Program).

Things were hot both temperature-wise (100 degrees under the shade) and fashion-wise prior to host Neil Patrick Harris kicking off the festivities inside the very air-conditioned Nokia Theatre. On the red carpet, we saw Debra Messing ravishing in Michael Kors red, Jennifer Love Hewitt feeling like sunshine in Max Azaria, curvy Kim Kardashian in Ini Soltani, Jamie-Lynn Sigler drizzling in Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera dressing Mariska Hargitay pretty well, and Chenoweth being the only leggy delight.

So, who were the standouts? Have to be Drew Barrymore (Monique Lhullier), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Vera Wang), and an extremely pregnant Heidi Klum (Marchesa). And even if we had wildfires that threatened Los Angeles a month ago, I hope somebody set Kyra Sedgwick's, Kristen Wiig's, Phoebe Price's and Sarah Silverman's gowns on fire so that they won't be worn again!

In a span of a week, we have went from one award show headlined by Kanye West's verbal lashing on Taylor Swift to another headlined by the usual suspects winning and then some. But I have a feeling that even though they were snubbed this time around, next year "True Blood" may "Damage" those "Mad Men."

Now that television's best have been handed out Emmys, on Wednesday we'll find out how much free money Alaskans will be handed out as Gov. Sean Parnell will announce the amount of this year's Permanent Fund Dividend. Last year's check was a record $2,069 (minus the one-time $1,200 bonus); but with the wounded economy, it may be expected to go back to around $1,300-$1,400.

My guess will be $1,372.04, but we won't know the official number until Wednesday evening at around 5:00 Alaska Time (9:00 Eastern/6:00 Pacific). And yes...I will have it on Twitter (twitter.com/jonathanallen) the second it's announced with full details on the blog shortly thereafter!

And last but not least...A full-page ad in the "Washington Post" put out by Fox News Channel about the lack of other news outlets not covering the tea party rally in Washington the other week has been drawing fire from...those other news outlets who claim they covered it!

CNN's Rick Sanchez fired the opening shot on Friday, not only showing the ad, but visual proof of their rally coverage from CNN themselves. He then went on a tirade about Fox News and even going Joe Wilson on them. (By the way, C-SPAN had top-to-bottom coverage of the rally)

With Glenn Beck on their channel and as this generation's Rush Limbaugh, and their continuing bogus claims that they've had higher ratings than CNN and others (actually, it's CNN that has the advantage if you read the fine print in their promos), it's safe to say that Fox News has always taken the "Sleazy Route" of cable news. CNN of course, has remained in the "Safe Route" for almost 30 years. And with that...so long and stay strong!

Hello, everybody.

As I broke it on my Twitter page Monday afternoon, Patrick Swayze, best known for his work in "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost", died at age 57 after a year-long bout with pancreatic cancer.

Though his co-stars were Jennifer Grey and Demi Moore respectively, Patrick's co-star for life was always his wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi. But till the end, he's been working on the A&E drama series "The Beast", though the last time he did television was that memorable Chippendales skit on "Saturday Night Live" with Chris Farley (his last TV interview was early this year with Barbara Walters). Now the two are reunited in heaven and Swayze will be missed.

And the celebrity deaths keep on coming, as actor Henry Gibson ("Laugh-In", "Innerspace", "The Burbs", and "Wedding Crashers") has died on Wednesday at 73, as did Mary Travers, 1/3 of the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary; she was 72.

But news of Patrick Swayze's passing sure knocked one big entertainment story off the headlines: The Kanye West/Taylor Swift VMA smackdown.

To refresh your memory, Swift went on stage to accept Female Video at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, until from out of nowhere, Kanye crashed the party saying that Beyonce Knowles had the best video with "Single Ladies." It got massive boos from the audience and Kanye was later kicked out of the show. When Beyonce won Video of the Year, she re-invited Taylor back to the stage and let bygones be bygones minus Kanye.

Almost immediately, there were non-stop tweets about it all over Twitter; even President Obama weighed in, secretly calling Kanye "a jackass" for interrupting Taylor. Donald Trump also had something to say; he even called for a Kanye boycott.

The next night on the premiere of "The Jay Leno Show" (which debuted big with 17.7 million viewers), Kanye just before his performance spent a few minutes explaining his side of the story; the next morning, it was Taylor's turn in front of the ladies of "The View." After her appearance, West called up Swift to apologize for Sunday.

Now this is not new to Kanye. Remember his "George Bush doesn't care about black people" remark during a Hurricane Katrina relief effort telethon, parodied by Chris Rock with his "George Bush hates midgets" on another? That set off racial firestorms about the Bush administration not using enough resources to help out the hurricane victims as non-government agencies stepped in in their wake.

But what do I make of all of this? Well, Taylor Swift at 19 is on top of the country music world right now, and Kanye West tarnishing her moment in the sun as becoming that genre's first moonman winner was purely a slap in the face. But then again, this was the MTV Video Music Awards, where they stand by its motto: "Expect the unexpected." So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody; let's get on with the show!

First up...on Wednesday shortly after the House and Senate returned to work after the August recess, President Obama in another joint session address laid out the blueprint for health care reform. This comes after a month of turmoil at various health care town hall meetings all over the country.

However, one person really had something to say during the address, when Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina heckled the president saying "You lie!" Hey, this ain't the House of Commons in London; this is Capitol Hill; and Wilson had no right to interrupt the boss of bosses! Anyway, Wilson realized his mistake, and apologized to Obama.

But what is up with South Carolina politics? First their governor had a secret rendezvous with some gal in Argentina; now one of their Congressmen has mouthed out. Perhaps at Obama's first State of the Union address next year, we'll have the duct tape ready to shut up Wilson's mouth with.

Friday was of course the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and of course I covered it on the old "Allen Report" site. But where was I on that day?

I was working as a dishwasher at the (now-defunct) Captain Bartlett Inn here in Fairbanks, and hours earlier, nobody called me very early in the morning to turn on the TV to CNN or someplace about what was going on in New York. When I woke up at the usual time of 6:00 am, one of the towers in the World Trade Center was already gone. By the time I came to work at close to 8:00, the radio in the kitchen was already tuned to coverage of the attacks and then I gave a brief word of commentary of what just transpired. Then, things started to get really hectic when the kitchen and hotel staffs banded together on the fly to accommodate the passengers whose planes were grounded (e.g., cooks vacuuming the restaurant carpet, bell hoppers setting up tables, etc.). That was pretty much the same case at other hotels all over town. Back in my work area, I teared up knowing that over 2,000 lives were lost on one single day, all made possible by Osama Bin Laden. And no need to argue: it was an outside job. What happened in Oklahoma City six years earlier thanks to Timothy McVeigh was made in the USA.

Except for breaks for local news and minimal programming, television coverage of the attacks and its aftermath ran non-stop on all four networks for almost a week, delaying the start of the fall season. Even the Primetime Emmy Awards felt the effect, delaying it to October and then finally November opposite the seventh and deciding game of the World Series, won by the Arizona Diamondbacks. The new World Trade Center is set to be finished in time for the tenth anniversary of the attacks in 2011. It won't be exactly the same as the old WTC, but will be a lasting reminder of the unforgettable heinous attack ever had on American soil.

Out with Paula Abdul...in with Ellen DeGeneres! That's right; Ellen replaces Paula as the fourth permanent judge on "American Idol." If it's not a way to boost "Idol's" sagging ratings, I don't know what is.

And last but not least... Sunday night was the MTV Video Music Awards, back at Radio City Music Hall in New York after stops in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The show began with a memorable tribute to Michael Jackson, preceded by a surprise appearance by Madonna and capped off by sister Janet's own farewell with "Scream."

In between performances by Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and Green Day, there were moonmen to be handed out as always. Swift took Best Female Video, only to be upstaged by Kanye West who stormed the stage saying that Beyonce Knowles had the best video. Well apparently, Beyonce did win Video of the Year for "Single Ladies", and invited Swift back on stage in a show of gratitude. Other winners include Green Day (Rock Video, "21 Guns"), Britney Spears (Pop Video, "Womanizer"), Eminem (Hip-Hop Video, "We Made You"), T.I. featuring Rihanna (Male Video, "Live Your Life"), and Lady Gaga (Best New Artist).

Kanye on the other hand? Just like last year and the year before, a sore loser. Another sore loser -- okay, not that sore, but she'll get her due next year -- was Katy Perry. But hey, at least she got nominated and I thought she was a leggy treat. Lady Gaga? Even with Kermit the Frog -- that's right, Kermit the Frog! -- as her date for the night, she's always a trick.

But the VMAs were only a warm-up to the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards happening next Sunday. And at the Creative Arts ceremonies on Saturday, Tina Fey's dead-on Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live" earned her Emmy gold for Guest Actress in a Comedy. Will she make it two for two with another win for "30 Rock?" We'll find out; so long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody. A lot has happened as we're into Labor Day weekend, so let's get to it!

First up...California is in flames once again as a wildfire has threatened Los Angeles, especially Mount Wilson where all the broadcasting transmitters reside. At last report, over 150 fire crews were dispatched to that area to keep the fire at bay. And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger even helped out the firefighters by feeding them bowls of Cream of Wheat so that they can be "pumped up" by fighting those flames. Also, it is been believed that arson may have played a key role in igniting the blaze which have claimed two firefighters and burned nearly 242 square miles (154,655 acres). Schwarzenegger offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of who was responsible.

Right now, it is nearly halfway contained at 49 percent and the fires are no longer a threat to L.A. Full containment is expected to be after Labor Day.

Well...are you ready for "The Fantastic Four meets the Jonas Brothers?" That's one of the many possibilities as Marvel Comics was acquired by Disney for $4 billion. With that, they'll be the second comic book company owned by a media conglomerate; Time Warner already owns Marvel's longtime rival DC Comics.

Jokes about that deal were all over Twitter, including some about Wolverine from X-Men singing, Wonder Woman teaming up with Hannah Montana, Huey, Louie, and Dewey cast in the upcoming "High School Musical" movie, Donald Duck vs. Howard The Duck (and who remembers that shitty movie?), and Captain America joining "Dancing With The Stars."

And since they're another Disney property, I'm now looking forward to when ESPN's Chris Berman gets real angry during NFL highlights and turns into the Incredible Hulk.

And last but not least...2 1/2 months after his death, Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest Thursday night at Forest Lawn Mortuary in Glendale; the final official farewell was attended by Rev. Al Sharpton, Jackson's friends Elizabeth Taylor and Macaulay Culkin (with girlfriend Mila Kunis, whose latest movie "Extract" is now out), ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, and others. Unlike the public memorial held in July, it was a very private affair that started and ended late instead of on schedule.

Nonetheless, and one year now after the passing of my grandmother Mildred, it was a fitting goodbye to the King of Pop. That's all I have to say; enjoy the rest of your Labor Day weekend and so long and stay strong.