Thursday, December 31, 2009

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!!!!

Monday, December 28, 2009

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Sunday, December 27, 2009

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.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

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.

Monday, December 14, 2009

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!!!

Saturday, December 05, 2009

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!