Hello, everybody. In what could be his last State of the Union address of either his first term or as President, Barack Obama on Tuesday night made jobs the center of attention as his re-election campaign is already underway. In the 1 hour and 10 minute speech before Congress (including retiring Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona) and a worldwide television audience, Obama said that America's economy is gradually recovering from a near-fatal recession and that he's vowing to shrink the gap between the rich and poor though he also stated that a million jobs were created in the last 22 months.

Intoning that "we can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by; or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules", Obama laid out plans including steps to help students afford college, troubled homeowners to refinance their homes, and tax cuts for manufacturers. Another proposal is for a crackdown on financial and mortgage fraud, with the establishment of a Financial Crimes Unit as one of the goals.

In terms of national defense, he started the speech with Osama bin Laden no longer threatening America with thunderous roars. And with Iraq out of the picture for good with Afghanistan to later follow, he turned the attention to Iran and preventing them from acquiring nuclear weapons, hoping for a "peaceful resolution" in lieu of military action. 

Obama will follow all this up by hitting the road later this week; first on Wednesday to Iowa and Arizona to tour manufacturing, then Nevada and Colorado on Thursday with energy as the theme, and finally talking about college, education, and training in Michigan on Friday.

But we started this busy day with the release of Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney releasing his tax records...as were the nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards both at the same time! "Hugo" leads the way with 11 including Director (Martin Scorsese) and Best Picture of 2011; the other eight for that "The Artist" (not far behind with 10), "The Descendants", "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close", "The Help", "Midnight in Paris", "Moneyball", "The Tree of Life", and "War Horse."

It'll be a battle of the hunks between George Clooney and Brad Pitt for Best Actor (along with Demian Bichir, Jean Dujardin, and Gary Oldman), while in Best Actress, it's all about Meryl Streep (in her 17th nomination!) vs. Michelle Williams with fellow veterans Glenn Close and Viola Davis and newcomer Rooney Mara. On the Supporting Acting spectrum, we have Jonah Hill and Melissa McCarthy, who wants to be the second actress after Helen Hunt to add an Oscar to go along with the Emmy she already got a few months ago.

As for Shailene Woodley, Michael Fassbender, Albert Brooks, and Madonna...their Oscar race is over.

Billy Crystal returns after a few years' hiatus to preside over the festivities as the 84th Academy Awards will be given out February 26 on ABC. And considering that there are nine Best Picture nominees instead of the usual five, be prepared for what could be the longest "It's a wonderful night for Oscar..." medley ever! So long and stay strong.

Hello everybody, and welcome to my first blog of 2012.

The big question asked throughout the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday was: Was Ricky Gervais on his best behavior the third time around? I'll have that later, but first:

"The Artist" and "The Descendants" were the top winners, claiming Musical-Comedy and Drama Best Picture respectively, with George Clooney earning Best Actor-Drama for the latter. Meryl Streep got Best Actress-Drama for "The Iron Lady", while Michelle Williams picked up the musical or comedy prize for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in "My Week With Marilyn." Coincidentally, Monroe herself was awarded that same honor for "Some Like It Hot" at the 1960 Golden Globes (back when the awards were not that big of an event as it is today). The supporting acting honors went to Christopher Plummer ("Beginners") and Octavia Spencer ("The Help"), while Martin Scorsese received his third directing Globe for "Hugo."

On the television side, "Modern Family" (Best Comedy-Musical) and Kate Winslet (Best Actress-Miniseries/Movie, "Mildred Pierce") added some Globes to go along with their Emmy wins from last September, while there were some familiar names taking the stage to collect theirs: Kelsey Grammer (Best Actor-Drama, "Boss"), Claire Danes (Best Actress-Drama, "Homeland"), Matt LeBlanc (Best Actor-Comedy, "Episodes"), Jessica Lange (Supporting Actress, "American Horror Story"), and Laura Dern (Best Actress-Comedy, "Enlightened"). Other winners include "Downton Abbey" (Miniseries or Movie), Idris Elba (Best Actor-Miniseries or Movie), and Peter Dinklage (Supporting Actor, "Game Of Thrones").

Now while we've been freezing our asses off here in Fairbanks in 35 below zero temperatures, Ricky Gervais in his third stint as host sure warmed us up in his usual, tarty fashion. Opening the show about "the world's second-biggest awards show being on America's third biggest network" like NBC (followed by an immediate correction that it's the fourth biggest network), he unexpectedly blurted out the "f"-word while introducing Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas. But one person who wasn't amused was Madonna, who after Gervais said she's "just like a virgin", retaliated with "If I'm still just like a virgin, Ricky, then why don't you come over here and do something about it?" She then went on to say that she hasn't kissed a girl in years...on television.

Another thing that turned up the heat while it was drizzling wet in Beverly Hills? The red carpet, which was rolled out for Angelina Jolie (Versace) and Brad Pitt (Salvatore Ferragamo), George Clooney and Stacy Keibler (designer info for Keibler unavailable), Lea Michele (in a daring Marchesa), Sofia Vergara (Vera Wang), Mila Kunis (Dior), and Heidi Klum (Calvin Klein) among others.

Who was the best of the best? Charlize Theron showing off some leg in Christian Dior Couture followed by Michele. And even though she shares the Sexiest Woman of 2011 title with Hilary Duff, it's her daughter Charlotte to blame for dressing Sarah Michelle Gellar in unsexy Monique Lhuillier. We love you Sarah, but this is the Golden Globes, not an art gallery!

Immediately after the New Hampshire primaries in which Mitt Romney won again, the attention would shift to Cordova, as it has been deep in snow for weeks. The National Guard was deployed to the Alaskan town with one mission in mind: Unhoard the snow and get things back to normal.

This will be my 20-year anniversary since returning home to Alaska in summer 1992, and all that snow burying poor old Cordova is ridiculous! Sure, I've went through hellish colds like the latest one we're enduring now, but from what we've seen...this is turning out to be the best episode of "Hoarders" ever! So long and stay strong.