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!