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.