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!