January 2008 - Posts
There's more riding on Sunday's game than the Lombardi trophy.
On Thursday's show, Matt (a Giants' fan) and Meredith (a Patriots' fan) agreed that if New England wins the Super Bowl, Matt will publically admit defeat by having a plane fly over Boston with a banner proclaiming: "Patriots Rule, Matt Drools."
Should the Giants upset the team with the longest winning streak in NFL history, those in the New York area will be treated to a plane flying a banner with Meredith's face on it and the message: "Giants Rule, Meredith Drools."
We've heard it all before: This product cures baldness! You'll grow real hair! You'll have a hot 25-year-old girlfriend and a new sports car in no time -- and your wife won't mind at all!
Fighting baldness is a $1 billion a year industry, yet what do you see when you go out in public? A lot of bald guys. I'm sure plenty of them are perfectly content being bald, and some women find bald men more attractive.
But for those follicly-challenged -- men and women alike -- that are still searching for a miracle cure, scientists may have stumbled across an answer. WATCH VIDEO
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This morning, Jane Chestnutt, editor of Women's Day, and psychologist Dr. Michelle Callahan (left) joined Hoda to discuss a recent poll conducted by Women's Day and AOL Body. WATCH VIDEO
The poll asked, "Would you rather have a million dollars or Jennifer Aniston's body?"
Of the 6,905 women who responded, 78 percent said they would take the money. What do you think the results of this poll tell you? And what would you do -- take the money or take the body?
Here are some more poll results (after the jump):
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Natalie Morales is at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships (video) this morning, where Olympian Scott Hamilton is serving as an analyst for the NBC Sports event.
On Monday Scott, 49, and his wife Tracie welcomed their second son into the world. The proud papa shared some of the first pictures of baby Maxx and his big brother Aidan, 4....
Congrats to the Hamilton family!
There's a Bruce Springsteen song called "Iceman" that includes the following lines:
"...I don't want no piece of this mechanical world/Got my arms open wide and my blood is running hot"
Well, Dutchman Wim Hof's blood must run hot. The guy submerges himself in ice for long periods of time. For fun. This morning, he was neck-to-toe in more than 1,300 pounds of ice for about 40 minutes. WATCH VIDEO
And that was just the prelude. Tomorrow, at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, he plans to break his own world record by remaining submerged in ice for more than 71 minutes.
He says he owns six recognized world records for a variety of extreme feats, including the fastest barefoot half-marathon in history (2 hours, 16 minutes) and the longest swim while holding one's breath under ice (188 feet, 6 inches).
Wim is a 48-year-old married father of five, who makes his living as a nature guide.
Before he became a human popsicle this morning, he talked to me about his near-death experiences while sitting comfortably in the warm confines of our green room (he was wearing a white robe and sandals).
Here's our conversation (after the jump):
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TODAY's Jill Rappaport, an animal lover, shares her personal account of an inspiring doctor and her own struggle to help her ailing dog, Jack: WATCH VIDEO
Doctor Jiu Jia Wen is an incredible vet. But to his very special four-legged patients, who come from all over the country to his Long Island practice, he is much more than just their doctor. He is a "miracle worker."
You see, to them, he was their last hope for survival, and in less severe cases a hope for a better quality of life. Dr. Jiu Jia Wen specializes in alternative medicine. Herbs and acupuncture. And while he also practices conventional medicine as well, his true miracles have occurred through holistic therapy.
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The parade of Friday Night Lights stars to come through the allDAY offices continued today when Gaius Charles stopped by before his interview with Ann and Natalie. WATCH VIDEO
Charles plays "Smash" Williams on the award-winning and critically acclaimed show, which focuses on a high school in a fictional Texas town -- particularly on the football team.
"Smash" is the team's cocky running back, and the size of his talent is matched only by the size of his mouth. But as his co-star Adrianne Palicki told me back in November, Charles and "Smash" could not be more different. (You can also read my Q&A with co-stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton HERE.)
Here's our conversation (after the jump):
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A week ago, Al and I discussed the possibility that UFOs might exist. Today, we asked the question: Is there life on Mars?
Some think that in photos taken by NASA's Spirit Rover in late 2007, a human-like figure is visible sitting on the rocks of a crater.
The photos (including the one at left) have caused a stir among bloggers and in the British media (The Times of London suggested that maybe the figure is Osama Bin Laden hiding out).
There's another, um, more animated shot after the jump:
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Vlog-o-spondent Sara Haines chats with the folks on the plaza -- and a surprise guest -- to find out what people are doing to survive without their favorite shows. WATCH VIDEO
This morning, we had the great pleasure of welcoming actor Hal Holbrook to talk about his film, Into the Wild. WATCH VIDEO
And while he was here, he found out that for the first time, at age 82, he had been nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor -- he's now the oldest man every nominated for an acting Oscar.
Holbrook is not in Into the Wild for very long, but his scenes are very powerful, marking some of the highlights of what I found to be an excellent film.
Movie fans know him more for his shadowy performance as "Deep Throat," Bob Woodward's secret Watergate source, in All the President's Men. And he first achieved national renown more than 50 years ago for his stage portrayal of Mark Twain (a role that earned him a Tony Award in 1966).
I was honored to get to speak with Mr. Holbrook for a few minutes this morning, and was truly moved by some of his comments, particularly at the end of our conversation (and he got a little emotional himself).
Here's our Q&A (after the jump):
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The Academy Award nominations came out today with, as usual, some expected results and some surprises. You can watch the announcement HERE.
In the spirit of thinking about the best movies of 2007, I decided to ask a few TODAY personalities -- including Matt, Meredith, Al, Ann and Natalie -- and staffers for favorite films of the year.
I asked them not to pick what they thought would win the Academy Award for best picture, but rather just for the one movie they'd call their "favorite" of 2007 (our picks are after the jump).
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Yoichi Okamoto/Lyndon B. Johnson Library Photo
Today we're honoring the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., so I figured I'd post a couple links if you want to read two of his most famous pieces of writing:
Letter from Birmingham Jail (pdf), written April 16, 1963
"I Have a Dream" speech, delivered August 28, 1963
(And since there has been a lot of discussion in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination about the roles of Dr. King and President Johnson during the civil rights movement, I thought I would put up a photo of them meeting in the Oval Office in 1963.)
Something happened in Stephenville, Texas, last week. Something...extra-terrestrial? Well, maybe. NBC News correspondent Don Teague looked into this story to find out whether people, as some of them claimed, saw a UFO. WATCH VIDEO
As he mentioned on the air, our own Al Roker is a firm believer that something is out there. He's never seen a UFO, as you'll read below, but he's sure there's something out there. Do you agree? Have you ever seen a UFO? Send us your comments below.
In the meantime, you can read my conversation with Al after the jump:
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This morning, 51 contestants from the 2007-08 Ford Models Supermodel of the World competition descended on the plaza, and Kate Ford (CEO of Ford Models) chatted with Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann. WATCH VIDEO
The models represent 50 countries -- and one was voted into the contest through MySpace -- and the winner, who will received a $250,000 Ford Models contract, will be named tonight.
I spoke to two of the contestants, U.S. representative Jacquelyn Jablonski, and Kendra Spears, who won the MySpace vote. Our conversations are after the jump:
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Last night, at what was left of the Golden Globes show, cable channels dominated the television awards, claiming 10 of the 11 categories. The one network winner? Tina Fey of NBC's 30 Rock. WATCH VIDEO
Was it pure coincidence that Ms. Fey also happens to be the only nominee to be interviewed here on allDAY (not once but twice)? I don't think so. Once again, allDAY is at least partially responsible for helping 30 Rock win a major award.
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Due to the writers' strike, the red carpet won't be rolled out before the Golden Globes this Sunday, but Matt Lauer will host a two-hour Dateline special, "Going for Gold," leading up to the announcement of the winners.
Golden Globe nominees James McAvoy, Sally Field, Ellen Page, Amy Adams, Kyra Sedgwick, William Shatner, Nikki Blonsky, Patricia Arquette sit down for one-on-one interviews with NBC News correspondents in the special which airs from 7 to 9 p.m. on NBC. You can catch a sneak peak here.
Somehow, amidst the Richard Simmons madness, I was able to get about 13 relatively quiet minutes to speak with former secretary of state Madeleine Albright (Richard only interrupted us once with an impromptu singing performance).
She joined us this morning to talk about her new book, Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership. WATCH VIDEO
In our conversation, Secretary Albright and I discussed Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, what's on her iPod, and with whom she goes to the movies (you'll be surprised).
You can find the full conversation HERE.
Here's an example of how bizarre things can get here at TODAY. In consecutive segments, we went from having Richard Simmons whipping our control room into an exercise frenzy (WATCH VIDEO) to a sober discussion about presidential politics with former secretary of state Madeleine Albright (WATCH VIDEO).
In fact, Richard and Secretary Albright actually met in the makeup room earlier this morning, and I hope to have that photo up later today.
Here are some words I didn't expect to hear this morning: Richard Simmons gushing over Secretary Albright, telling her, "You are just so cute!"
This is Howie Strawbridge, our lighting director, preparing for
Richard Simmons's visit to the control room. No, that's not
his real hair.
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Every day, it seems like we're inundated with bad news about the U.S. economy. Unemployment is rising, oil and gas prices are up, home sales numbers continue to be bleak, and the dollar is struggling.
But here's heartening news: we also live in a country where people will pay $50 for a grilled cheese sandwich. That's right, a $50 grilled cheese.
So, really, how bad can things be?
If I were giving a state of the union address, I'd be tempted to open with, "The state of the union is STRONG...I mean, gee whiz, we've got $50 grilled cheese sandwiches!"
This morning, Christopher Lee, the chef at Gilt Restaurant in the New York Palace Hotel showed off his take on the grilled cheese, which was recently featured on the primetime series "Gossip Girl." WATCH VIDEO
So why is this grilled cheese so expensive? (find out after the jump)
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Have you ever seen a billionaire mulch? Have you ever seen a mayor mulch? How about a billionaire mayor? WATCH VIDEO
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg stopped by for a quick visit to talk about Mulchfest 2008, an effort by the city to get people to recycle their Christmas trees (including the famed Rockefeller Center tree).
During the visit, he also said he "is not a candidate" for president. We knew that. But will he be a candidate?
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As you've probably heard and/or seen, the late-night comedy shows returned last night. WATCH VIDEO
I watched Letterman and Conan, and while I could give you an analysis of what worked and what didn't on their respective shows; how Conan did despite not having any writers; comparing their guests, etc., I'm not going to do that.
Instead, I want to talk about beards.
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If it seems like the 2008 presidential campaign has been going on forever, then you were probably born sometime in the past year (like two of my nephews, Adam and Wyatt, were).
For the rest of us, yes, it's been a long road, but we've finally reached a day when actual voters will officially choose actual candidates.
As we've been hearing all morning, nothing is even close to being decided on either side in Iowa -- Obama, Clinton and Edwards are in a tight battle on the Democratic side, and Romney and Huckabee appear to be battling it out for first among the Republicans.
So who ya got? Who's going to win these things?
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If you live in North Fort Myers, Florida, you may have seen Ann Curry unexpectedly running around your backyard on Monday morning.
No, it wasn't our Ann Curry -- the bungee-jumping, Antarctica-visiting, news-loving human version.
It was actually a zebra named Ann Curry that escaped from a trailer while being transported from the Shell Factory and Nature Park in North Fort Myers to a breeder in North Carolina.
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