It's getting to be the tail end of the year, so enough fooling around and let's get on to my annual tradition since 1991 (and 1998 online)...
The Top 20 Things That Had the Whole World Talking in 2009

20. Cheryl Cole (okay, outside of Britain...who the hell is she?!?!?)

19. MTV's "Jersey Shore" (since a guy punched Snookie in the face, why not a girl punching The Situation -- whoever he is -- right in the abs?)

18. Lance Armstrong coming out of retirement to race in the Tour de France again (eat that, Brett Favre!)

17. Joe Wilson telling "You lie" to President Obama (if this was the "Maury" show, he should've heckled "You ARE the father!")

16. AT&T waging war against Verizon over better 3G coverage (Sprint better get Luke Wilson; it'll be like Cain and Abel)

15. The end of analog television broadcasting in the U.S. (with more countries to come in the coming years)

14 (and in her 11th straight appearance). Britney Spears (Let's face it: Year after year after year she always makes news)

13. TIE: Octomom/Jon and Kate Gosselin (Please...go away.)

12. Sandra Bullock (did I mention last time that Jesse James isn't a dead man after all?)

11. "Glee" (okay, I don't watch the show, but I had no idea that the cheerleader who's Christian is actually played by a Jew!)

10. Celebrities on Twitter and Facebook (the "bad old days" of celebrities with their 1-900 numbers? They were long gone 20 years ago!)

9. Paula Abdul leaving "American Idol" over money (okay, sort of newsworthy, but as big as...)

8. Adam Lambert locking lips with a male drummer at the American Music Awards (now THAT was hot!)

7. Lady Gaga (okay...now who the hell is she?!?!?!)

6. TIE: Sarah Palin and Levi Johnston (one's our former governor, the other...no comment)

5. TIE: Health care reform/The economy (no comment on those either)

4. Balloon Boy (full of hot air if you ask me)

3. Taylor Swift (I'm sorry, but Dolly Parton is the greatest country singer of all time...just kidding!)

2. The Tiger Woods scandal (FORE!...play)

And there's no need to argue about what was the #1 thing that had the whole world talking in 2009, though his legacy will continued to be talked about for generations to come...

1. Michael Jackson
(Elvis was the King of Rock n' Roll, but Jack will always and forever be the King of Pop)

And with that, that's the AllenBlog's 2009 Year In Review. From me to you...so long, stay strong, Happy New Year, and HAPPY NEW DECADE!!!!

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The AllenBlog's

It was the year when change for America would slowly begin with a brewski summit and then trying to play health care catch-up.

The year when everybody was all a-Twitterin' while trying to find out what Mafia Wars on Facebook is.

The year when a major outbreak put Porky Pig, Miss Piggy, and the pig from "Green Acres" on edge.

The year when "Twilight: New Moon", "Paranormal Activity", and "The Hangover" had audiences going "OMG!", while "Jennifer's Body" and "Imagine That" were saying, "WTF?"

The year when an "American Idol" contestant sucked face with a guy at an awards show while a guy punched Snookie's face at a bar.

The year when the continuing recession and its side effects had America tightening its belts...and trimming their wallets.

The year when one family's homemade balloon that went awry turned out to be the longest commercial for Jiffy Pop we've ever seen.

The year when one woman stepped down as Alaska's governor, while her daughter's baby daddy stripped down to his sweet nothings.

The year when one young woman was Taylor-made for success...that is, until she got a Swift and verbal lashing.

The year when a politician almost turned a joint session of Congress speech into the "Maury Show."

The year when everybody went Gaga for "Glee."

And yes, it was the year when we said goodbye to an Angel, the King of Pop, the Most Trusted Man in America, and an actress who was once known for saying "I'll Never Tell."

That year was 2009.
Join the AllenBlog as we look back at another tumultuous year.

From a growing recession too impossible to control, to health care reform and Afghanistan taking center stage in the first months of the Obama administration, from the swine flu virus terrifying the world, to the social networking universe exploding like never before...forget Jon and Kate, Octomom, and Balloon Boy; there was a lot of real-life drama all throughout 2009 than those combined!

We began the year with, of course, the inauguration of Barack Obama as America's 44th President, and something that was worth waiting for for generations. The administration wasted no time going to work, with health care reform priority one and trying to pick up where Hillary Clinton left off. More about that later.

The H1NI outbreak, otherwise known as the Swine Flu Virus, was front page news worldwide this year. Beginning with Mexico, the virus would be quickly spread to the rest of the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East, making it a global pandemic. It has happened here before in 1976, but this time, it was a very serious matter as we began to cough with our sleeves and sales of hand sanitizers going through the roof.

Australia experienced the deadliest bushfires in its history in February, killing 173 and destroying 1.1 million acres. And here in the States, a series of wildfires near Los Angeles even threatened Mount Wilson, home to all of the area's main broadcasting transmitters. Other natural disasters topping the news include: a 6.3 earthquake killing 300 in Italy, a couple more earthquakes followed by a tsunami claiming thousands more lives in the South Pacific, a series of tornadoes wreaking havoc in the Midwest in May leaving many areas in ruins, and Mount Redoubt here in Alaska spewing tons of ash into the Anchorage skies.

Iran went to the polls in June, but when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected as their president, the opponents knew something was up and all hell began to break loose. In aviation, all 228 people aboard Air France flight 447 were killed; Boeing's much-anticipated (and hyped) 787 took to the skies for the first time; and what was perhaps one of most miraculous stories at the beginning of the year...everybody on board US Airways Flight 1549, thanks to the heroic efforts of captain Chelsie "Sully" Sullenberger, survived the crash on the Hudson River.

The sports world was chock full of headlines during '09. We had Brett Favre coming out of retirement (again!) and into the Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh briefly becoming the sports capital of the U.S. with the Steelers clinching their sixth Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLIII and the Penguins possessing the Stanley Cup, Helio Castroneves coming back from the dead -- the "dead" being near jailtime for tax evasion -- to win the Indianapolis 500 with Danica Patrick taking third, the Los Angeles Lakers' 15th NBA title, North Carolina and Connecticut on top of the college basketball world, Lance Mackey three-peating the Iditarod, Rio De Janeiro being awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics despite Oprah Winfrey and President Obama stumping for Chicago, and for the unprecedented 27th time and in their new home...the New York Yankees as World Series champions! Oh yeah, and the Detroit Lions finally won a game or two, while the Chicago Cubs went entered their 101st year without a World Series trophy by filing for bankruptcy.

The social networking revolution spread like wildfire this year, with Twitter and Facebook becoming the hotspots for instant interaction and reaction while MySpace was still clinging on for dear life.

The "Beer Summit" at the White House pretty much earned President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize in October. And in November, a mass shooting at Fort Hood claimed 12 lives and wounding a dozen more victims.

In other political headlines: Rod Blagojevich became the first Illinois governor to be impeached; Al Franken would be admitted to the U.S. Senate representing Minnesota after and eight-month battle between him and Norm Coleman; South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson heckled "You lie!" to President Obama during his joint session of Congress speech while their governor Mark Sanford got burned for frolicking with some Argentine mistress; and on the opposite side of the Atlantic, British political leader Nick Griffin dodged thousands of protestors to appear on the BBC's debate program "Question Time."

Prior to the Fourth of July holiday, we were treated to some unexpected fireworks as Sarah Palin announced she's stepping down as Alaska's Governor. Sean Parnell would take the reins, while Palin went to war against David Letterman over some low-brow remarks he made about daughter Bristol while even lashing out against Levi Johnston. Johnston returned the favor as only he can: by going nearly naked in "Playgirl."

The two stories that dominated much of 2009 were health care reform and the recession that rolled over into the Obama administration.

First, back to health care: All during the summer recess, our lawmakers have pushed the plan very hard at various town hall meetings...but not before they were faced with protests throughout with extra security stepping in. In November, the bill narrowly passed the House; by the time this blog gets published, it will have passed the Senate as well.

And then there was the economy, as the recession cost General Motors the Pontiac brand after 83 years, not to mention selling off Hummer and Saab plus the government buying them out. The silver linings came when the Dow Jones went back to the 10,000 mark for the first time in quite a while. In the meantime, Bernie Madoff would be sentenced to 150 years in prison for his Ponzi scheme that has took millions out of people's bank accounts.

But along with Michael Jackson (who I'll save for the "Year in Entertainment"), there have been other greats we've said goodbye to in 2009; greats like: Walter Cronkite, Farrah Fawcett, evangelist Oral Roberts, Bea Arthur, Ricardo Montablan, Ed McMahon, game show host Ken Ober, Patrick Swayze, former Alaska politicians George Sullivan and Juanita Helms, David Carradine, economist Paul Samuelson, Senator Edward Kennedy, film director John Hughes, Les Paul, Karl Malden, Dom DeLuise, John Updike, political columnist Robert Novak, Natasha Richardson, radio personality Paul Harvey, Dominick Dunne, Mary Travers (1/3 of Peter, Paul and Mary), "60 Minutes" creator Don Hewitt, infomercial pitchman Billy Mays, Army Archerd, Cincinnati Bengals player Chris Henry, and (as of publish time) Brittany Murphy. We've had more key deaths this year than any other in the 2000's.

So...what will 2010 bring to the table as we head into a new decade? Britain is expected to go to the polls, and so will us with the mid-terms and the Republicans hoping to make a comeback. The Winter Olympics return to North America with the games in Vancouver and Apolo Anton Ohno and Sasha Cohen about to take center stage once again; for Cohen, this will be her second chance at gold. The possibilities are endless; who knows what's going to happen when the ball drops at midnight on January 1.

Next time when the "Year In Review" continues...2009's biggest entertainment/celebrity stories and scandals! So long and stay strong.

Brittany Murphy: 1977-2009

Hello, everybody. I know I'm still hard at work on the "Year in Review" which you'll see next week, but as you already know, there is some sad news up front.

Brittany Murphy, the actress whose credits include "Clueless" (with Alicia Silverstone), "Uptown Girls" (with Dakota Fanning), "Girl, Interrupted", "Don't Say A Word", "8 Mile" (with Eminem), and "Sin City" among others as well as the voice of Luanne Platter on "King Of The Hill", died Sunday morning at age 32. Murphy appeared to have died of natural causes after collapsing in the bathroom of her Los Angeles home, although early reports say it was cardiac arrest.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Murphy's career started on television of course with roles on "Drexell's Class" and "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" before segueing to the big screen. Brittany also tried her hand at singing when she did "Faster Kill Pussycat" with Paul Oakenfold.

Her family released this statement: "The sudden loss of our beloved Brittany is a terrible tragedy. She was our daughter, our wife, our love and a shining star. We ask you to respect our privacy at this time." On Twitter, Ashton Kutcher (Brittany's "Just Married" co-star; they were also a couple at one time) said, "2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany's family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon... see you on the other side kid." Since 2007, Murphy was married to screenwriter Simon Monjack; her last public appearance was at the premiere of "Across The Hall" earlier this month.

To go along with Michael Jackson, Walter Cronkite, Farrah Fawcett, and others including Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals just recently, Brittany Murphy's sudden passing capped off a heavy year of celebrity deaths. It's too bad that with all this talent behind her belt, she would be gone just too soon. So long, stay strong, and happy holidays.

Hello, everybody. There's a whole lot of territory to cover as always, so let's go!

First up...what else? Week 2 of the Tiger Woods scandal as there were more fresh developments and more ladies stepping forward to tell the world they've spent some Tiger time themselves. And now comes breaking news that the billion-dollar golfer is taking some time off from the sport indefinitely.

One of the alleged mistresses in the cast of characters, Jamie Jungers, told "Dateline NBC" that she first met Woods in 2005 after marrying wife Elin, and that the affair lasted 18 months.

Meanwhile, Tiger's latest announcement continued to shock the golfing world. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Fincher said in a statement, "We fully support Tiger's decision to step away from competitive golf to focus on his family. His priorities are where they need to be, and we will continue to respect and honor his family's request for privacy. We look forward to Tiger's return to the PGA Tour when he determines the time is right for him."

As for the sponsors? Gatorade and Gillette may have stepped back from him for now, but Nike continues to stand up for Tiger; according to a company rep: "Tiger has been part of Nike for more than a decade. He is the best golfer in the world and one of the greatest athletes of his era. We look forward to his return to golf. He and his family have Nike's full support." However, as of Sunday, Accucenture was the first to want out.

Now we are still in the middle of the holiday season with less than three weeks till Christmas. Tiger Woods may be no Ebenezer Scrooge, but he has known the true meaning of Christmas. It's just that right now, the only ghost he may be visiting may be the Ghost of Golf Future.

In non-Tiger news: After 53 years, CBS announced this week they're pulling the plug on "As The World Turns". This news came a few months after "Guiding Light" ended after 72 years on radio and later television.

"As The World Turns" not only introduced Meg Ryan, Dana Delany, Julianne Moore, and Martin Sheen to the world, but it also has a footnote in American history as well.

It was November 22, 1963; the show was live at 1:30 Eastern Time and things started to go smoothly as planned. But immediately after Helen Wagner (as flagship character Nancy Hughes) said her line, "And I gave it a great deal of thought, Grandpa..." just a minute or so into the broadcast, the CBS News Bulletin slide popped up with Walter Cronkite telling the world that President Kennedy has been shot in Dallas. He broke the news from an audio booth because the studio cameras and lights at the time took a lot of time to be turned on, warmed up, and be in place, as opposed to today's modern equipment which can be turned on and on the air within seconds.

Meanwhile, the program soldered on as usual, not realizing what has just transpired in Dallas. After that, there would be no more regular programming for four days straight, as the JFK assassination and its aftermath were the only thing on all three networks. It would be the same case almost 38 years later, with coverage of the September 11 attacks blanketing all programming for five days.

With "As The World Turns" about to be gone next September, that will leave "One Life To Live" as the only soap left in New York; all others -- "The Young and the Restless", "Days Of Our Lives", "The Bold and the Beautiful", "General Hospital", and soon "All My Children" -- originate in Los Angeles, which is becoming the new soap opera capital of the world.

But there was a time generations ago when soap operas were appointment TV for women all alone at home while the husband was at the office and the children at school. Cable would arrive in the early 1980's; more women would get out of the house and get jobs themselves; and that would be followed by alternate programming like talk and courtroom shows to come in later years.

The biggest test would come with the O.J. Simpson trial in 1995, and its true, unscripted drama would draw millions away from the soaps. After it was all over, the long healing process began. The good old days of soap operas with sappy storylines set to organ music may have been long gone, but they are still a break from the talk and courtroom shows filtrating the airwaves. At least the men tune in to see what female characters strip to their lingerie. Now that's sudsy action!

And last but not least...unless breaking news warrants, this is the last regular blog of 2009, as all next week I'll be working on my special series of blogs recapping the year. It's been an annual staple since 1998, when we look back at the biggest newsmakers and newsbreakers, as well as my Top 20 list. Come around Christmas weekend, watch for the AllenBlog's 2009 Year in Review; till then, so long, stay strong, and happy holidays!!!

Hello, everybody.

There's a lot to get to as we've got a few weeks left of 2009, so we begin with, you guessed it...Tiger Woods!

The world's #1 golfer had a bit of a fender bender last weekend outside his Florida home...or so we thought. It turns out that Tiger was secretly on the prowl behind wife Elin Nordegren's back, having an alleged affair with not one, or two, but three women!

One was nightclub owner Rachel Uchitel, according to the "National Enquirer" (she denied that claim); another was San Diego cocktail waitress Jamiee Grubbs who had been "sexting" Woods for the last 2 1/2 years; and there was a third mistress involved, though the details on that weren't available by publish time. We've also learned that Grubbs in 2004 pleaded guilty to misdemeanor grand theft for stealing $400 worth of merchandise at a San Diego Nordstrom store.

As far as the accident was concerned, the Florida Highway Patrol closed the case on the investigation and cited Woods for careless driving; the fine? A measly $164.

Now back to the scandals: Woods on Wednesday released a statement in response, stating "I have let my family down" and expressing regret for "transgressions."

Meanwhile, a slew of his sponsors including the key ones being Nike, Gatorade, and Gillette, are standing by Tiger 100%. But...has the Tiger been tamed?

As we have seen and heard over the last two decades, from Kobe Bryant to Bill Clinton to (most recently) David Letterman all the way back to Jimmy Swaggart, you can shrug it off and move on with your life. And Tiger Woods, with over a billion dollars in his bank account and tons of Grand Slam trophies in his trophy case including four Masters green jackets, will pretend nothing like this ever happened. It ain't going to occur overnight, you know.

On to serious news: Tuesday, President Obama in a primetime address from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York said he's going to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and that withdrawal would begin in 18 months. But that story was nothing compared to the Obama's first White House state dinner the previous week (honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh), as there were two uninvited guests to the party we have never heard of.

So who were they? Tariq and Michaele Salahi, a couple from Virginia, part of the cast of an upcoming reality show called "The Real Housewives of D.C.", and are polo players. They were not on the guest list and happened to skirt their way to the dinner with a little outside help, and photographic proof on Michaele's Facebook page shows her with Vice President Joe Biden and other dignitaries.

Can you say "breach of security?" Probably, yes, as the Secret Service has been looking into this themselves and finding out, "How the hell did we let those nobodies in?" Apparently, the Salahis did went through the usual security procedures like the other confirmed guests. This reminds me of yours truly slinking past security at the 2003 Iditarod re-start here in Fairbanks without credentials to talk to the mushers as they were finalizing everything in their race to be the first to Nome; of course, I covered that on the old "Allen Report."

But let's hope in the case of the Salahis, the post-Oscar parties will be on their guard when security will remind them, "Sorry, you're not on the list."

And last but not least...Last time, I said that Verizon came out with the Motorola Droid in a bid to take down Apple's iPhone from AT&T; prior to that, they showed their 3G coverage map in comparison to AT&T's and saying they have more penetration.

Well, it didn't take long for AT&T to fight back against Verizon's claims, and they relied on actor Luke Wilson for help (guess Cliff Robertson was too old to be brought back). One ad featured Luke standing on a huge map showing AT&T's 3G coverage while reading postcards from those areas (it was split into two parts); another had him with a checklist and when he tried to put an "X" on Verizon in the "Name that starts with the letter 'V'", it wouldn't stick.

Apple recently put out two new ads defending the iPhone as well, with the announcer ending each one with "Can your phone -- and your network -- do that?"

To sum things up, kudos to AT&T sticking it to Verizon. I guess it won't be long till Verizon responds with that "Can you hear me now?" guy...only this time he couldn't be heard with his Droid! So long and stay strong!

Hello, everybody. So much to get to as always, so on with the show!

First up...the announcement heard 'round the world, as Oprah Winfrey on Friday told her audience that she's ending her show in 2011 after 25 years. This comes just a few days after her one-on-one with Sarah Palin (who'll I get to in a moment) aired, and Winfrey actually broke the news to her Harpo staff a day before she went public with it.

It's no secret that ratings for her show have declined a bit in recent years, but Oprah does want to move on to other ventures like launching her Oprah Winfrey Network. A couple of months ago, she shut down Chicago's Michigan Avenue for her 24th season premiere, and her push to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to the Windy City flopped with Rio de Janeiro being awarded the rights in the end.

But I'm sure Oprah will be pulling out all the stops for her farewell season; she has had the #1 daytime talk show since going national in 1986 and she'll end her reign still at #1. And unlike Johnny Carson, she will be irreplaceable.

Now...Sarah Palin as she's on the road -- and the airwaves -- as her new book, "Going Rogue", is out. On Tuesday, the former Alaska Governor kicked off her tour in Grand Rapids, Michigan as well as getting grilled by Bill O'Reilly and Barbara Walters in new interviews.

However, the precautions for those book signings are far different than the others. One, mobile phones had to be turned off and you had to have an armband to be admitted. Two, no photo-ops with Palin; and three, media is off limits.

With the holiday shopping season drawing near, don't expect "Going Rogue" to be a stocking stuffer. My guess for the hottest gifts this year will be Blu-Ray players and tapeless video cameras, as they've been going down in price this year.

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" opened very, very big last week, and over the weekend grossed $140 million...the third highest opening ever. And at the American Music Awards on Sunday, there were spills and thrills aplenty, from Jennifer Lopez's fall (which was edited out for the West Coast) to Adam Lambert getting a little out there during his performance. Of course, the big winners were Taylor Swift and the late Michael Jackson, whose sister Janet opened the show with a hot medley.

And last but not least...the latest iPhone ad is now playing, and the app count is now at 100,000. But they must've produced it in one hell of a hurry because rival mobile provider Verizon just put out the Motorola Droid in an attempt to out-iPhone the iPhone.

Well, to cut a long story short, iDon't care. By the way, there were those rumors earlier this year about the latest generation iPod Touch to include the same capabilities as the iPhone like a camera and microphone, but Apple squashed them though there are actually microphones for the iPod.

Wait a minute...doesn't the latest iPod Nano shoot video as well? But then again, I said last time about the hundreds of cameras of all sizes at concerts, and that's no big deal. But if they're going to add a camera to an iPod Touch, they'll have to go to great lengths to increase the storage capacity; in other words, increase the price. Then again, it's thinner compared to the iPhone, so no dice. Oh well, at least it's better off as a pocket rocker/computer/game machine than a camera, and that ain't bad. So long, stay strong, and enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey (or duck or goose or cornish game hen or whatever else you're having)!

First up (oh, and hello everybody; there has been so much going on this week -- and for the case of one newsmaker, it was one to remember -- that I really wanted to get to this blog rather quickly, so my apologies)...we never saw this coming. On Wednesday, CNN's Lou Dobbs announced to his viewers that after nearly 30 years, he's leaving the cable news channel to focus on his radio show.

Dobbs has been with CNN since it launched in 1980, and many of us remember watching him on "Moneyline." But a few years ago, his show changed formats and Lou began speaking out about anti-immigration policies, and that seemed to be more opinionated that newsworthy. He was one of the last senior faces of CNN; longtime anchor Bernard Shaw (who was also around from day one) retired after the 2000 election. At least we still have Larry King; even if ratings and viewership have slipped in recent years due to the weight of Fox Noise Channel and MSNBC, CNN is still the place to be for straightforward news with little opinion.

And speaking of Larry King...did you see disgraced former Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean nearly storming out of her show, taking off her microphone while Larry was trying to ask her some legal question? This comes in light of a sex tape featuring Prejean apparently being leaked out on the Internet, but rumors abound whether or not Carrie staged the walkout. Legal questions are somewhat sensitive issues to discuss, so I don't think it was planned and I think Larry was just doing his job.

As for Dobbs? I never saw this coming myself, but like or hate him, we wish him the best.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin sat down with Oprah Winfrey for Monday's show; the next day, her new memoir "Going Rogue: An American Life" comes out. Except for a recent appearance here in Fairbanks at the Strykers redeployment ceremony, she has kept a low profile since handing the reins to Sean Parnell in July, focusing solely on writing her book and getting it to press.

On Oprah, Palin regretted her infamous Katie Couric interview, saying her performance was very bad. With the holiday shopping season now getting closer by the day, will I plunk my money on the book? Absolutely, positively, 100% HELL NO!!! Of course Levi Johnston -- Bristol Palin's baby daddy -- will be showing his johnson in an upcoming issue of "Playgirl"; for the ladies, that will heat up those cold Alaskan nights!

Now...when I do my annual "Year In Review" around Christmas next month, there'll no doubt be two paragraphs in the entertainment recap devoted to Taylor Swift, and what one hell of a week she had!

It all started with her pulling double duty as host and musical guest on "Saturday Night Live", killing it with a musical monologue that poked fun at Kanye West and her rumored fling with "Twilight" hunk Taylor Lautner. It resulted in the show's best ratings so far this season.

But that was nothing compared to Wednesday night at the 43rd CMA Awards. Perhaps a better name for it was "The Taylor Swift Show" as she literally cleaned house with all four of the awards she was up for including Entertainer of the Year. Oh yeah, the other person making history that night was former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker; he is the CMA's first black Best New Artist winner.

Next up for Taylor will be the American Music Awards followed by two shows in London and Manchester, England on November 23 and 24 respectively; I'm sure they've been sold out for months. That will be followed by a whole lot of R&R...or make that R&R&R: rest, relaxation, and reflection on 2009 being what was a banner year for Taylor Swift.

And last but not least...Swift's "Fearless" tour has packed venues around the world this year, with shows being sold out within minutes. However, many of those fans have been bringing their digital cameras to capture those moments for all times...or in that case, for YouTube.

It was never like this in the old days; if you smuggle a camcorder inside, you're kicked out of the building. Early digital cameras a decade or so ago would shoot only video, but no sound. That would change as the years -- and sizes and megapixels and memory card capacities -- went by.

There was no major outlet to show these amateur concert videos to the world...that is, until YouTube came along! Now more than ever, digital photo, mobile phone, and pocket video cameras have been making a presence at concerts worldwide, and despite the tickets being said "no camera/audio/video", there's nothing being done about it. They just want to document visual reminders for all posterity that they were there...and in the case of those unfortunate souls who weren't quick enough to get tickets, wish they were there. So long and stay strong!

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.

Hello, everybody. On Thursday as I broke it to you on Twitter, we've lost the last of the Kennedy brothers as Edward "Ted" Kennedy, the third longest-serving senator in U.S. history who represented Massachusetts for 46 years, died at age 77 after a year-long bout with brain cancer. A funeral mass for him was held in Boston this morning with President Obama and the other living presidents except for George H.W. Bush in attendance. His flag-draped casket laid in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston on Thursday; the lines were so long that they even extended the closing time to 2:00 am. That would be followed by a memorial service at the library on Friday, with "Irish Eyes Are Smiling" as the closer to a hearty goodbye.

Ted is now laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery next to brother Robert, but hundreds of yards away from JFK's graves.

Kennedy leaves behind of course a great legacy, though it hasn't come without notoriety. Ted was elected to the Senate in 1962 to fill the void left behind by brother Robert, who became Attorney General under JFK. Both would be hit by assassins' bullets within five years of each other, and Ted decided to set his sights on the biggest prize of all, the White House. But it was Chappaquiddick that would put a permanent crimp on his fledgling political career in 1969, when his Oldsmobile crashed off a bridge into the water with him escaping the scene and former Robert Kennedy campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne drowning to her death. Ted went on national television to explain his side of the story in an attempt to save his bacon, but the damage was already done.

That didn't stop his hopes on becoming President, and he would get his one and only chance in 1980 in the Democratic primary, losing to incumbent Jimmy Carter (who of course would later lose to Ronald Reagan). After that, he realized that the Senate was the place to be.

During his time on Capitol Hill, Kennedy helped pass numerous bills including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Civil Rights Act, No Child Left Behind, the National Cancer Act, and others. And with health care reform still being the prime issue, with Ted gone it will now be a struggle to get that passed.

In May 2008, Ted was diagnosed with brain cancer, and he made a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention. Though the cancer would spread to his body, his mind was still sharp till the end.

Now that Sen. Edward Kennedy is reunited with his brothers in heaven, the days of Camelot are now long gone. And the lion that roared throughout the Senate chamber for decades like a Kennedy would is roaring no more.

With that out of the way, on to a lighter change of pace...

Once upon a time, there was Twitter. It pretty much had no use whatsoever except for rapid blogging within a 140-character limit. But then from out of the blue came some guy named Ashton Kutcher who, along with his wife Demi Moore, were looking for a way to inform the world in real-time about their latest happenings without the aid of PR people. They turned to Twitter, and the rest as they say was history. The two pages combined now have a total of over 5.2 million followers and growing every day!

Now more than ever, even with Facebook and MySpace around (I have pages on those, by the way), the entire world is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon...even the growing number of celebrities who are following Ashton and Demi's lead. Some of our politicians are getting into it as well, including the White House.

However, not all celebrity Twitter pages are created equal. There are handfuls of them that claim to be real, and the only way to find out is to check the "Verified account" symbol at the top. When I found what appeared to be Sarah Michelle Gellar's Twitter as sarahMGprinze, I alerted it to the world right away...only to realize that it wasn't her. The official one, SarahMGellar, proves to be legitimate; she's actually had it since late spring and has over 2,200 followers. And I'm sure that when she gives birth to her first baby in a matter of weeks, the number will double upon that news. No need waiting for the entertainment news shows; with the power of Twitter, we would get the official word from Sarah Michelle herself!

Besides, with constant photographic coverage of her growing baby bump in the last few weeks, this is one Sarah worth following right now. Sarah Palin? Who cares!!! So long and stay strong.

Edward Kennedy dies at age 77

Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, the third longest-serving senator in U.S. history, died late tonight at age 77 at his home in Hyannis Port after a year-long bout with brain cancer.

Kennedy represented his state in the Senate for 43 years, and he came from the prominent Kennedy family which included his brothers John F., Robert, (both gunned down by assassins' bullets) and Joe (a pilot killed during World War II). In a statement, the family said, "We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever."

Once again: Senator Edward Kennedy, dead at age 77. So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody. We begin this week's blog with the latest on the health care reform crisis and President Obama taking a page out of Joe Namath's Super Bowl III playbook guaranteeing us the bill will pass.

But...will anyone buy it? Unlike the Clintons' attempt in the early '90s, this time around it's a very serious matter as most of the world's finest health care has belonged to Europe and Canada. And over a week ago, Sen. Lisa Murkowski held a town hall here in Fairbanks, but things went in an orderly fashion that there were no videos of it on YouTube. Maybe they're saving for Sen. Mark Begich's town hall meeting next month on September 26 (yes, after my 31st birthday), which I'll be at.

Now Obama in his latest weekly address debunked once and for all all the myths and scare tactics about the health care issue, especially those "death panels" and possible socialized medicine: There are no such things as those happening. And I'm not buying those myself. But I'm hoping and praying that when Congress and Senate return to action this fall, no punches will be pulled when it comes to getting the health care bill passed so that America will no longer be far behind.

This week, the cast of the new season of "Dancing With The Stars" was revealed to the world, and surprise, surprise...Donny Osmond will be among those who'll put his fancy footwork to use! Others joining him include mixed martial arts fighter Chuck Liddell, new mom and "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" star Melissa Joan Hart, R&B singers Mya and Macy Gray, former NFL star Michael Irvin, Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin, Kelly Osbourne, Aaron Carter (son of Backstreet Boy Nick), former supermodel Kathy Ireland, model/actress Joanna Krupa, and disgraced former politician Tom DeLay.

For Mya, this is her second chance at a reality show after the last one she did, "Secret Talents of the Stars", got the cancellation notice after only one episode last summer. As for who'll be the first to go? I think DeLay or Osbourne. And already, Donny O appears to be the heavy favorite to win it all; if not, then Hart or Irvin. We'll see what happens in September.

The week's other big entertainment story was...yes, another tape scandal just weeks after Erin Andrews'. But this time, it involves McSteamy, his wife, and a beauty queen.

It's not called a "sex tape" according to the lawyers, but a video featuring "Grey's Anatomy" star Eric Dane, wife Rebecca Gayheart, and former Miss Teen USA contestant Kari Ann Peniche all frolicking naked and doing drugs made the Internet rounds. Now over the years we've been treated to celebrity sex videos that were of interest to men, but in the case of this threesome this time around, it has finally appealed to women because...well, it's McSteamy! And "Grey's'" majority audience is females (and some males just for the Katherine Heigl parts).

Is it going to help the show this upcoming season? Absolutely, though spin-off "Private Practice" will have some trouble competing with CBS' "The Mentalist" and NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" at 10:00 on Thursdays. Okay, I'm seeing things this way: The women watch "Grey's Anatomy" for McDreamy and McSteamy; us men tune in to "Private Practice" just for our Kate Walsh fix. Now if only a sex tape of her gets leaked out...

And last but not least...the latest iPhone commercial have graced our screens, showcasing us the latest (and useless) apps out there. Ever since the iPhone and the iPod Touch have debuted last year, the whole world has gone app crazy.

I bought an iPod Touch recently because for some reason or another, I didn't get an iPhone (by the way, my mobile phone provider is AT&T). But one of the reasons for the iPod Touch is that I wanted to play around with those apps myself. So far I have 36 of them, ranging from the Associated Press to Twitteriffic to Facebook and MySpace to games like Scrabble and UNO.

And then there are those useless apps that I have no intention of adding them in anytime soon, like iBeer. What the hell is that?!

But of all those thousands of apps out there, I want to see one in which you can lose weight while reading news stories, Twittering, updating your Facebook status, checking your e-mail, watching YouTube videos, playing Tetris, and drinking imaginary beer all at the same time. Yeah, there'll be an app for that. So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody. There's been a lot happening, so let's get right with it!

First up...the week's biggest story was former President Bill Clinton's successful plan to release journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling from North Korea. The two were sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in the communist country, but Clinton knew the circumstances and decided to fly out to North Korea in an attempt to work things out with Kim Jong-Il and grant them a full pardon.

All over the country, the other big story was turmoil at community health care reform town hall meetings. One of them in Tampa, Florida got way out of hand, police were dispatched to restore civility. It's the Republicans to blame for all this, saying that President Obama's plan would crash and burn like Clinton's 15 years ago as his approval ratings have slid a bit. The Democrats need to step in and defend this like never before; otherwise, the United States will never have universal health care.

Paula Abdul...OUT! On her Twitter page Wednesday, Paula Abdul announced to the world that after seven years, she won't be returning to "American Idol." Now this comes weeks after Ryan Seacrest got a hefty pay raise though ratings and viewership for the show have slipped in the last couple of years (CBS' "NCIS" has posed a serious threat).

What does it mean? I think "Idol" should remain a three-judge show with Kara DioGuardi recently on board. But I don't even care about nor even watch the show, so let's just leave it at that; whatever Paula's next move is, we'll be following it.

And last but not least...Vanessa Hudgens' new movie "Bandslam" comes out next week, but the "High School Musical" alum is back in the news once again. No, she's not calling it quits with Zac Efron, but she's been caught naked yet again!

This week, a new batch of cell phone pics of a nude Hudgens were all over the Internet, and the legal eagles have cracked down on them because they were taken a few years ago when she was underage. And we thought we were done with the Erin Andrews peephole video/911 call on the paparazzi mess!

But like I said a while back, Hudgens is one of the people who wants to move beyone Disney as they're getting older, and I don't blame her. I can't think of anything witty to end this blog with, so so long and stay strong!

Hello, everybody.

Well, Alaska under the Sean Parnell regime is now almost a week old, as he was appointed our 12th governor last Sunday afternoon during the annual Governor's Picnic at Pioneer Park here in Fairbanks. The turnout of course was immense: over 5,000 including countless media documenting the change in power.

The transition was seamless starting with Sarah Palin giving the crowd and millions more watching around the world her last words as governor. That would be be followed by Parnell being sworn in with Craig Campbell becoming Lieutenant Governor. And just like his speech as Lt. Governor in 2006 under Palin, Parnell's first one as Governor was very straightforward. And unlike Palin, he'll be taking his job very seriously...unless if he can find a way to see Russia from the Governor's Mansion in Juneau.

So...what's next for Palin? Back to private life (for now), she'll be making her first post-gubernatorial appearance next week when she speaks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California...or so we thought. Politico has now reported that Palin won't be attending the event. Also, rumors have spread that she may become the female Rush Limbaugh and do her own radio talk show based in Anchorage. Or maybe she could be at this year's Primetime Emmy Awards meeting face-to-face (or make that glasses-to-glasses) with her doppleganger Tina Fey. We're all waiting on pins and needles to see what her next move is.

On Wednesday, the White House became the place where everybody knows your name...well, minus the gang from "Cheers". President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden invited Henry Gates and James Crowley for the first ever "beer summit" in hopes to wither down the racial tensions between the two when Crowley arrested Gates outside his home in Massachusetts for disorderly conduct.

The brewskis of choice: Obama, Bud Light; Biden, Buckler (non-alcholic); Gates, Samuel Adams Light; and Crowley, Blue Moon. Now I've been "pouring" into this brew-haha, and noticed that Samuel Adams is the only American-owned main brewery left. Anheuser-Busch (which makes Bud Light) is now owned by InBev, a Belgian company; while Blue Moon is a Molson Coors product, and half of their owners are Canadian! By the way, rival Miller is owned by a South African company.

The next time the White House hosts another beer summit, they should try going for home-grown microbreweries. Silver Gulch is one of them, and I'm sure Senators Begich or Murkowski will try to FedEx those beers to Washington.

And last but not least...The fallout over those nude peephole videos of ESPN's Erin Andrews has slopped into its second week when the lovely sportscaster recently called 911 over paparazzi staking outside her house in Georgia. In her call, she also said she's been "treated like (expletive) Britney Spears."

The investigation continues as to who in their horny minds did this, and I said that the videos appear to be an inside job, that maybe an ESPN employee knew of Andrews' hotel room nearby and may have drilled a hole in it. I also said that Chris Berman's and Stuart Scott's hands are squeaky clean on this, so it may have been somebody off-talent like a crew member.

But to put it in perspective...this happens to be the biggest non-Michael Jackson celebrity scandal so far in 2009, and as far as those videos are concerned? I've been getting more pleasure from them than all of the other celebrity sex videos that have been making the Internet rounds for years (I'm talking to you, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, and Kim Kardashian). To that I say, BOO-YA! So long and stay strong.

From Palin to Parnell

Hello, everybody. In just a matter of hours, a changing of the guard will transpire as Sarah Palin hands over the reins to Sean Parnell as he'll be officially anointed Alaska's 12th Governor.

Now this will happen at the annual Governor's Picnic here in Fairbanks tomorrow afternoon (Sunday), and Pioneer Park will no doubt be packed to the max as over 5,000 people are estimated to be there as well as media from all over the world covering the historic transition of power. By the way, Parnell will be sworn in on board the Nenana steamship around 3:00 p.m. (7:00 Eastern/4:00 Pacific), and security up and down the park will be tighter than...well, when Pope John Paul II and President Reagan dropped by here 25 years ago.

Of course, it will be quite a day, and I'll try to have a recap on Monday.

One of the week's other big stories falls on the topic of invasion of privacy, as peephole videos of ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews naked were splashed onto the Internet.

The backstory was that the videos have been online since February, but they were not known until this week when Andrews's legal eagles ordered them to be removed. A very interesting development came when they happened to be an inside job, filmed by somebody in the know at ESPN. Thankfully, that "somebody in the know" is not either Chris Berman or Stuart Scott; they wouldn't do such a thing! Erin won't be returning to work till September, when the whole scandal already dies down.

Seriously though, I think the creep behind those videos may have both went a little too far violating Andrews's private space as well as treating us to some real summer sporting action. I'm no pervert myself, but he did...go...all...the...way into showing the world that Erin Andrews does have a gorgeous body. So long and stay strong!

Hello, everybody, on the 40th anniversary today of what was one of the proudest achievements in all mankind: Man on the moon.

On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong made a footprint into history while saying, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." A few days earlier, the rocket carrying Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins lifted off from Kennedy Space Center with the entire world stopping to watch and listen their every move, from military bases in Vietnam to even Disneyland in California.

The Apollo 11 mission also had some historic significance here as it would introduce Alaskans to live network television for the first time...well, at least in Anchorage. For some reason or another, it would be seen in the afternoon; but a very privileged few did manage to take up on a group rate to fly to Anchorage for $40 to see the moon landing live. Thanks to Alaskan broadcasting pioneer Augie Hiebert and with a little help from Washington, a ground station was set up in Anchorage to receive the live pictures.

Fairbanks would get their first ever live network broadcast with Super Bowl V in 1971. Network newscasts and big events like the Academy Awards would later follow on same-day satellite delay in the early '80s; a few years later, the networks and stations would all transition to satellite delivery, ending the "bad old days" of watching our favorite shows on a one- to two-week delay.

Anyway...President Obama at the White House on Monday met with the three Apollo 11 astronauts, and with the moon already been targeted...could Mars be next?

That's what they're pushing the government to do, as Buzz Aldrin wants man to set foot on that planet by 2035. In 1961, at the height of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union, President Kennedy wanted a man on the moon by the end of the '60s. He of course didn't live long enough to see his wish granted.

But over the last decade of so, NASA have sent a series of rovers to Mars, bringing us back to Earth astonishing images and samples. The senior members of my family back in North Carolina (especially my deceased grandmother Mildred) do remember sitting glued to their TVs watching the moonwalk 40 years ago; who knows if the current generation will be tuning in for the Marswalk?

Now, Apollo 11 was one of the many events of the 20th Century covered by Walter Cronkite, and as you already know by now, Cronkite passed away Friday night at the age of 92 after a long illness.

Over the weekend, we've been sharing our memories of the legendary newsman, whether in person or watching him on TV over the decades. But Cronkite has a place in pop culture as well.

When Walter signed off for the final time as "CBS Evening News" anchor in 1981, Johnny Carson in an hilarious skit paid sort of a tribute to him in his own way. And "The Simpsons" at one time poked fun of Cronkite's reporting of the Kennedy assassination with the "Mr. Plow" episode. Cronkite even paid a visit to Fairbanks in 1982.

But the love of his life till her end in 2005 was wife Betsy, though in his last remaining years, Walter's companion was Joanna Simon, an opera singer and the older sister of pop legend Carly Simon. A public memorial service will be at New York's Lincoln Center sometime next month, and just like the one for Michael Jackson, I'm sure all of journalism's biggest names as well as many of Uncle Walter's celebrity friends will be on hand for the final goodbye.

Of course, the epitath on his grave next to his wife's when he is buried in his home state in Missouri will read, "And that's the way it is." So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody. We have some very sad news to report, and one that we've been expecting for quite some time.

Four weeks after we unexpectedly lost Michael Jackson comes the loss of a great television icon who was once known as "The Most Trusted Man in America." Walter Cronkite, the longtime anchor of the "CBS Evening News" who for 19 years (1962-81) gave America a front row seat to the most significant events in our history, died early Friday night at age 92 after suffering from cerebovascular disease.

For most of the 20th Century, it was Cronkite who we turned to whenever something big in the world was happening. From World War II to Vietnam, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II to the assassination of President Kennedy, the Space Age culminating with the Apollo 11 moon landing (which is 40 years ago this week), the Watergate scandal that cost Richard Nixon the presidency, all the way to the hostage crisis in Iran, Cronkite was either at the anchor desk or right there where the action was. And this was all before 24-hour cable news channels and the Internet!

Walter was of course a journalist who was never afraid to let his feelings show on camera. We shared our tears with his when he reported to the world of Kennedy's death in 1963, and we cheered along with him over his reaction to Neil Armstrong making his footprint on the moon. In between that, he really had something to say about the Vietnam War, with President Johnson quoting thereafter, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America."

And Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. did come from middle America...St. Joseph, Missouri, to be exact, born November 4, 1916. His family moved to Houston when he was 10, and that was where he got his journalism chops working for the "Houston Post" (where he would later do full-time) and later correspondent for the University of Texas. He joined the Associated Press's rival United Press in 1937 after a brief time at a Kansas City radio station and with the help of World War II, that was where he really shined, making his first on-camera appearance in a Paramount newsreel. After the war, his next big assignment was the Nuremberg trials before returning to the United States in 1948, quitting the United Press to cover the Washington beat for a group of Midwest radio stations.

Then in 1950, after turning him down before, Edward R. Murrow invited Walter to join CBS; this time, he said "Yes." In his early years, he had a hand in hosting the panelist show "It's News To Me" as well as "You Are There", which re-enacted historical events like the assassination of Julius Caesar and the takedown of crime king John Dillinger. The program was revived briefly in the 1970's. Walter also briefly hosted a morning show, joined alongside by a sidekick being a puppet.

Cronkite returned across the Atlantic to cover the Queen Elizabeth coronation in 1953, and to ensure same-day viewing back in the States, Canberra jet bomber planes flew the films from London to Goose Bay, Labrador in Canada before another plane immediately transferred them to Boston. Now this was in 1953...decades before today's satellite equipment would bring events like these live to the world. A year earlier, he brought the Democratic and Republican national conventions to our living rooms for the first time.

Then in 1962 came the ultimate job opening as Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards to take the anchor chair at the "CBS Evening News." At the time, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley with the "Huntley-Brinkley Report" on NBC was the most popular network newscast on the air, but it would be one event on November 22, 1963 that Walter would finally make a name for himself.

President John F. Kennedy was visiting Dallas, Texas that day where was he going to give a luncheon speech at the Dallas Trade Mart. Moments later, the limousine carrying the president, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and Texas Governor John Connally and wife Nellie approached the Texas School Book Depository building where inside, Lee Harvey Oswald would fire three shots into the limo.

Meanwhile, CBS was cutting away from "As The World Turns" which aired live to the East Coast. Over a "CBS NEWS BULLETIN" slide, Cronkite broke the news from an audio booth because the cameras inside the studio had to be turned on, warmed up, and be in place:

"Here is a bulletin from CBS News. In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas. The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting. More details just arrived. These details about the same as previously: President Kennedy shot today just as his motorcade left downtown Dallas. Mrs. Kennedy jumped up and grabbed Mr. Kennedy, she called "Oh, no!"; the motorcade sped on. United Press says that the wounds for President Kennedy perhaps could be fatal."

40 to 45 minutes later came this: "From Dallas, Texas, this flash apparently official: President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m., Central Standard Time." For four days straight, the coverage of the assassination and aftermath was the only thing on television. He also did the Civil Rights movement of the '60s, culminated with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968...a very heavy year which also saw Robert F. Kennedy being gunned down followed by the turmoil at the Democratic convention in Chicago.

Cronkite was also right there when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were battling it out in the race for space with Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and of course, Apollo 11. That mission would also introduce Alaska to live network television for the first time, made possible by his friend and fellow broadcasting pioneer, the late Augie Hiebert.

Watergate, legalization of abortion, gas shortages, the end of the Vietnam War, and the 444-day-long hostage crisis in Iran would all follow in the 1970's. And on March 6, 1981, he would say his familiar closing line "That's the way it is" for the final time as anchor though he would continue to do other television work in the years since.

However, his rise to the top was not that easy. Cronkite in the '60s was a straightforward anchor compared to the rugged Huntley and the witty Brinkley; but poor ratings for the 1964 Republican convention led CBS executives to drop him for the Democratic convention, replaced by Robert Trout and Roger Mudd. That too was a disaster, and CBS realized their mistake. And at one time in 1967, a union strike forced Walter off the air temporarily, with some unknown named Arnold Zenker taking his chair. I touched on that while going through other television strikes in 2007 with the writers' strike imminent.

Walter was married to his wife Betsy from 1940 until her death in 2005 and raised three children. Along with countless Emmys and an induction to the Television Academy Hall of Fame, his honors also included a 1974 George Polk Award and a William Allen White Award in 1969.

Upon news of Cronkite's death, tributes from all over began pouring in:

• President Barack Obama: "For decades, Walter Cronkite was the most trusted voice in America. His rich baritone reached millions of living rooms every night, and in an industry of icons, Walter set the standard by which all others have been judged. He was there through wars and riots, marches and milestones, calmly telling us what we needed to know. And through it all, he never lost the integrity he gained growing up in the heartland. But Walter was always more than just an anchor. He was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important issues of the day; a voice of certainty in an uncertain world. He was family. He invited us to believe in him, and he never let us down. This country has lost an icon and a dear friend, and he will be truly missed."
• Barbara Walters: "He was a jolly and supportive friend. He will be missed by each of us individually who knew him and by the whole country who loved him."
• Astronaut Neil Armstrong: "For a news analyst and reporter of the happenings of the day to be successful, he or she needs three things: accuracy, timeliness, and the trust of the audience. Many are fortunate to have the first two. The trust of the audience must be earned. Walter Cronkite seemed to enjoy the highest of ratings. He had a passion for human space exploration, an enthusiasm that was contagious, and the trust of his audience. He will be missed."
• Senator John McCain: "I'm saddened to learn of the passing of Walter Cronkite - one of the most influential newsmen of our time. I will never forget our memorable visit together to Hanoi on the 10th anniversary of the fall of Saigon."
• Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw: "What was so remarkable about it was that he was not only in the midst of so many great stories, he was also the managing editor of CBS News and the managing editor for America. Walter always made us better. He set the bar so high."
• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: "For decades, Walter Cronkite was the fixture in American living rooms whose reassuring voice reported on some of the most important moments in our nation’s history. He was the most trusted man in America who calmly explained monumental events such as the Vietnam War, Watergate, and the moon landing - events that shaped and defined a generation. Walter remains the benchmark for what it means to be a television journalist and he will be missed. Maria and I join all Californians in expressing our sadness over his passing and we send our thoughts and prayers to Walter’s family and friends."
• Larry King (via Twitter): "I'll miss Walter Cronkite. There will never be a newsman again, ever, who will have that clout."

For generations young and old, we will all miss Walter Cronkite, a man who was a pure example of what television news was really all about: To the point with no flashy graphics, elaborate sets, or eye candy ruining the atmosphere. A man who brought the world into our living rooms night after night telling it like it is with a style and manner all his own. And without question, a man who would set the standard for today's aspiring journalists who want to continue a legacy he left behind.

And that's the way it was for Uncle Walter. So long and stay strong.