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.