STOP THE PRESS, PLEASE ... Darlings, have you been following the flap over Truthout's conclusion that Joe McGinniss did indeed leak Frank Bailey's book hoping it would kill Frank's chances of finding a publisher? By now the whole thing is too boring to repeat. You'll have to read it for yourself (www.truth-out.org) but it got Ear thinking (It could happen!):

What could McGinniss, publishing a book years after the Ship Sarah sailed, possibly tell us about her that we 1) don't know and 2) give a frack about?

Lying, cheating, quitting -- that's all been done by other, faster writers.

AND YET ANOTHER ... A movie called," Sarah Palin: You Betcha!" screened at the Toronto International Film Festival last week. According to a Hollywood Reporter review, it's a poor man's "Roger and Me" with no new information. British producer Nick Broomfield spent several months in the Valley gathering Sarah stuff. It purports to have a sense of humor about "this bizarre individual," according to a press release. It's supposed to open in Los Angeles and NYC on Sept. 30.

Will we ever get to see it? Who knows? Can you say "Bear Tooth"?

NO FOOLING ... Don Young, Congressman for All Alaskans Who Voted for Him, skipped much of the president's speech on jobs Thursday, preferring the opening NFL game, according to APRN reporter Libby Casey. But thank goodness he took time to make a deposit in his Wit and Wisdom collection:

"I watched it, part of it ...," said Don. "I think the presentation was fair, but most of all I think he's a penny wise and a pound short." Huh?

NOTHING PERSONAL, STEVE ... Did the Conservative Patriots really schedule a 9/11 tea party event at the Menard Sports Center in Wasilla at the same time they're soliciting signatures on a petition to recall Councilman Steve Menard? Yes, d'Ears. The center is named after Steve's father, Curt.

GET WELL SOON ... Former CHARR president and Chef's Inn owner Frank Dahl is recovering at his Arizona ranch from serious appendix surgery. Very scary, say friends.

OUT AND ABOUT ... Locals are making good use of Hollywood stars who will be stuck in Anchorage when the bad weather starts, filming "Frozen Ground," the movie about Bad Bob the Baker. John Cusack and Nicholas Cage have apparently agreed to make an appearance Nov. 12th at a Jewish Cultural Gala at the Captain Cook.

THE SKY IS FALLING ... A dead NASA satellite is scheduled to fall to Earth in late September or early October "south of Juneau, Alaska."

Hmmm. Isn't most of the world "south of Juneau, Alaska?"

It doesn't promise that much fun anyhow. It's only going to be little pieces. Nothing's ever been hurt by falling satellite debris, says NASA. And Juneau (the Legislature) is out of session and slightly out of range -- the hit zone extends to 57 degrees north; Juneau is 58 degrees north.

ON THE MOVE . . . Longtime KTUU newsguy Steve MacDonald is "stepping down" as news director and going back to reporting and anchoring. Earwigs will remember Steve took over when John Tracy left. According to an item on mediabistro.com, he's being replaced by an old pro, Tom Lindner, recently of KARE-TV, a Gannett station in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

DEEP PURPLE . . . As long as we're talking about television, you might want to check out a help-wanted ad on KTVA-TV's website -- if it's still there. They're trying to entice television videographers to Anchorage:

"Imagine this professional existence -- just 15 minutes from the station you find yourself on the edge of a precipice. It's a brilliantly crisp white day. The famed Aleutian and Alaskan Range volcanoes steam on your left. Cook Inlet's massive waters lay directly in front of you, and to your right lit up by a golden setting sun, Hunter, Foraker and the Great One herself, Denali. These three Alaskan gems dominate the horizon as seen from the crotchety sourdough's backyard who you happen to be producing a story about today. His bonfire crackles. His axe is furious. Whack! What a perfectly ordinary Alaskan moment. Eighty winters have weathered his face. His flowing beard is like the snow in which he loves to labor ... A moose wanders by. And the temperature is relatively warm! 'I'm standing in the middle of a postcard from the North Pole,' you think to yourself. . ."

Wow. Volcanoes, Denali, moose, the North Pole, all visible 15 minutes from Spenard. Who wouldn't want to work there?

Compiled by Sheila Toomey. Message Sheila at 257-4341 or ear@adn.com Find Ear online at www.adn.com/ear.