TWO PARTIES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

Hello, everybody. Tonight was the season premiere of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", starring the Rogers family and the good people of Interior Alaska. And what better way to celebrate the premiere episode than by throwing out a huge viewing party at the Carlson Center....which I attended, of course.

A quarter-hour or so before the show aired at 6:00, Betsy Rogers addressed the crowd for a few moments, knowing the episode couldn't come at a sad time over the recent passing of high school football coach Buck Nystrom. There were refreshments and lots of prizes to be given away, including hard hats signed by the "Extreme" team.

Of course, it was another busy night for VCRs and TiVos all over Fairbanks, as a not-so-packed crowd -- as well as several volunteers who helped build the home this summer -- enjoyed the two-hour premiere on the big screens in the brand new scoreboard the Carlson Center acquired. After all, it was Fairbanks' night to shine in front of millions of people tuned to ABC.

Now while the constuction took place, the Rogers vacationed at Disneyland. Why did I bring that up again? Because 24 years ago tomorrow in 1982, when Disneyland was just that...I CELEBRATED MY FOURTH BIRTHDAY THERE!!!

That's right! Not only it was a viewing party tonight, it also served double duty as my (unofficial) 28th birthday party too! So consider the season premiere episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" as my early birthday present. I don't know how I'll really celebrate my birthday tomorrow, so so long!

BREAKING NEWS: ALASKA PERMANENT FUND DIVIDEND ANNOUNCED!

Good evening. Just moments ago, Governor Frank Murkowski announced the amount of this year's Permanent Fund Dividend, and here it is:

$1,106.96

That's $261.20 higher than last year's $845.76 payout, but only 60 cents lower than the $1,107.56 we got in 2003.

Many of us who asked for our dividends to be direct deposited into our bank accounts will be in there on October 4 (early bird) or October 19 (regular deposits). Others will have to start watching their mailboxes on November 14 to see if they'll get a little payday of their own.

Once again, $1,106.96 is the amount of the 2006 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend. Let the spending plans begin. Good night.

BROADBAND HO(ME)!!!!!

Hello, everybody. There are many signs it's fall in America: School students are back hitting the books; football season is back with college and the NFL; all-new TV shows sharing the airwaves with all-old favorites; and at my household...I FINALLY HAVE BROADBAND!!!!!

Yes, nine years of dial-up access came to an end as I finally upgraded to high-speed Internet this week. But this is not new to me, as I've been accessing the net since early 1995 at school. At that time, 33.6 was the fastest connection possible. In 1997, months after I got wired myself, 56k was starting to be the speed of choice.

But in the coming years, many were about to make the move from dial-up to broadband thanks to the explosion of file-sharing systems like Napster (when it used to be free), Kazaa, and Limewire. I with my dial-up connection didn't mind to be behind.

I'd love to tell you more, but there's other stuff to bring up including...

The stingray attack that killed the "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin last weekend. This news came as a shock to us all, because Irwin was like this generation's Marlin Perkins with his wife playing the Jim Fowler role. Irwin will be given a state funeral, while the video of the attack is now in the hands of authorities...probably never to be seen. Many people want the footage destroyed forever, and I agree.

However, one piece of tape that will be kept forever is of a TV reporter being attacked while the camera was rolling. John Mattes, an investigative reporter from San Diego Fox station XETV, was pummeled by one of the subjects of his pieces.

Mattes was interviewing a person who was the victim of a real estate scam, while out of nowhere, Rosa Baraza splashed some water into the camera lens and shouted obscenities while confronting Mattes and hitting him in the face with the water bottle. A while later, husband Sam Sulieman delivered some damage, striking Mattes in the face and head before putting him in a headlock. In fact, that couple was behind the scam.

Police arrived on the scene, and Mattes suffered cracked ribs, cuts to his face, and bite wounds and was sent to the hospital.

Now reporters getting mauled is not new. Remember John Stossel and a pro wrestler on "20/20"? Or when after a reporter got struck after she greeted Bjork at the Bangkok airport? I know they're risking their lives to get the story, but after what happened in San Diego, they should take precautions next time.

And last but not least...it looks like viewers are spending their evenings with Katie Couric just days after filling the anchor chair at the "CBS Evening News." In the first three nights, ratings have overpowered those of ABC and NBC. But will that stay for the long-term?

Sure, Walter Cronkite doing the opening spiel added a nice touch, but that alone won't stablize the numbers. Sometime soon, NBC and ABC will think of ways to put CBS back to third place; but until that happens, we'll be better off with Katie. And with all that said...so long and stay strong!

MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS: 1984-2006?

Hello, everybody. After two years in Miami, the MTV Video Music Awards last night returned to their home sweet home in New York. But from what I've seen, the homecoming was a disappointment.

The main factor? The stage at Radio City Music Hall looks somewhat similar to the Europe Music Awards, as Hamish Hamilton (who has directed those shows) replaced usual VMA director Beth McCarthy Miller this year. Another reason why it sucked can be summed up in two words: JACK BLACK! Yeah, he may have hosted an MTV awards show before -- the 2002 Movie Awards with my favorite girl Sarah Michelle Gellar -- but he didn't seem to be right. Was Jimmy Fallon unavailable or something? And whoever booked Al Gore should be fired!

The performances? Only ones I cared about were OK GO (the guys in the treadmills) and Christina Aguilera; others including Beyonce's had viewers flipping over to something decent, like the U.S. Open. Despite that, some moonmen had to be handed out, like Pink for Best Pop Video ("Stupid Girls"), an absent Kelly Clarkson claiming Female Video, James Blunt's "Beautiful" winning Male Video, and Panic! at the Disco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" being honored Video of the Year. And as far as the fashions were concerned, Beyonce, Maria Menounos, Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake, and P.Diddy all looked dapper and dazzling.

Thanks to its cold atmosphere, this year's MTV Video Music Awards was a turn-off, simply because we awards show junkies already had our fix with the Emmys last Sunday. And THAT, my friends, was a million times better than the VMAs!

With that said...have a great Labor Day weekend.