April 2008 - Posts
Say this for Annie Liebovitz: she knows how to cause a stir. A month ago, we had a lively discussion here on allDAY about the racial implications of Liebovitz's Vogue cover featuring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen.
Now, she's got the "racy" Miley Cyrus photo in Vanity Fair, which CNBC's Donny Deutsch and humorist/TV commentator Nancy Giles discussed with Meredith this morning. WATCH VIDEO
Photo by Annie Liebovitz, excusively for Vanity Fair
What's your take on the photo? And why do you think Annie Liebovitz's photos tend to court so much controversy?
You can check out more photos and read the Vanity Fair profile of Miley Cyrus HERE.
With the NFL draft coming up on Saturday here in New York, four of the top prospects and their mothers stopped by the plaza this morning to chat with Meredith and Ann.
Before the segment, I talked to Jake Long and his mother, Denise (they're in the top left in this screenshot).
Jake, who is 6-foot-7 and weighs 315 pounds, was an All-American offensive lineman at the University of Michigan. On Tuesday, he signed a $57 million contract with the Miami Dolphins, who intend to select him with the first overall pick on Saturday.
So what does the mother of a $57 million man want for Mother's Day? Here's our conversation (after the jump):
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What would you do if you heard a noise in your house, went to find out what it was, and discovered that there was an 8-foot alligator walking around in your kitchen?
That's the question recently faced by Sandie Frosti of Oldsmar, Florida. Her response?
She said, "Oh my God," ran the other way and called 911.
She discussed the experience this morning with Meredith. WATCH VIDEO
We've all had animals in and around our homes at some point. When I was 12, we had a rabid raccoon outside our house. Animal control and a policeman came, and after the animal control officer subdued the raccoon, the cop (after jokingly offering his gun to me) shot and killed the raccoon right in front of us.
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With the Pennsylvania primary looming on Tuesday, Monday offered a rare opportunity for TODAY to interview Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in person on the same day. Ann Curry spoke to both of them, and our piece aired Tuesday morning. WATCH VIDEO
It was a long day that took us from New York to Scranton to Blue Bell (outside Philadelphia) and back to New York, but our one day paled in comparison to the tireless efforts of the candidates and their campaign teams, who have been doing this now for 15 months.
Photo by Noah Oppenheim
I honestly don't know how they do it.
And while this race is serious business (and I believe we treat it as such), when you're following the candidates around the Keystone State, it's also important to note the following (after the jump):
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From Kathie Lee Gifford, TODAY host
Hoda and I started our third week together today and it’s amazing how natural it feels already. I really credit the crew for welcoming me so beautifully and helping me feel so much at home. And Hoda, of course.
I’m trying to learn to pace myself again, knowing that I need to conserve whatever energy I’ve got for our 10 o’clock hour. The old gray—GREY—mare just ain’t what she used to be!
Congrats to my friend, Steven Paletta, for winning Oprah’s Big Give. If only every one of us could embrace the concept!
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From Hoda Kotb, TODAY host
It still hurts. A year has passed and it still hurts. I keep paging through the newspapers and reading bits and pieces, stories of survivors a year later. My heart aches. I am a 1986 Virginia Tech graduate. It may have been 22 years since I graduated, but I feel so close to that campus. It’s my school.
I will never forget one year ago, those images, those frantic kids running across my campus, through my drill field, becoming my memories. I searched for people I knew — some teachers, Tri-Delta sorority sisters. I realized that even though I didn’t personally know the people who were killed, I did know them. They were brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, they wore maroon and orange and cheered for the Hokies. They were family.
Everyone said this experience would define that campus, but I don’t think so. I really don’t. I think people are defined by what they do after a tragedy, and the wonderful people of Virginia Tech rose up.
They held hands, helped each other, and they are getting stronger every day. I’ll be honest with you: I am sitting in my apartment right now, working on the commencement speech for Virginia Tech. They deserve so much. I hope I am worthy of this honor.
The students of Virginia Tech have overcome so much. They are scarred, but they don’t want you to give them “the look.” You know the one. When you ask them where they go to school and they proudly say “Virginia Tech.” You give them the look of pity. We are strong. We are Virginia Tech.
Click here to watch the video of Hoda's recollection.
Michael Johns was famously voted off "American Idol," much to the chagrin of, well, everyone, it seems.
The Australian-turned-Atlantan was a fan favorite and seemingly a frontrunner until his untimely demise last Thursday.
He stopped by the plaza today to chat with Matt, Meredith and Natalie. WATCH VIDEO
We'll have a vlog post here on allDAY soon, but in case you can't get enough of Michael Johns, I had a quick chat with him after his appearance on the plaza. He spent about 15 minutes talking to our crowd outside, posing for photos and signing autographs, and as we stepped inside, he said, "This is surreal."
Here's the conversation that followed (after the jump):
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It was with great sadness that we learned Ann Curry's father, Bob Curry, passed away on Sunday after a battle with cancer.
This morning, Matt and Meredith paid tribute to Mr. Curry. WATCH VIDEO
You can also read this lovely piece that Ann wrote about her father last year, when she reported for the "Trading Places" series on NBC Nightly News.
Ann has told the great story of how her parents met and married, and it bears repeating. Mr. Curry was in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, and while stationed in Japan after World War II, he met a ticket taker on a street car. The 6-foot-3 American saw the 4-foot-11 Japanese woman three times before he mustered the courage to ask her out.
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Updated with a note from Kathie Lee....
Well, I survived my first week and apparently America did, too! There’s a lot to get used to but Hoda and I are getting more comfortable each day. The crowds have been fantastic and they’re giving us much-needed energy and enthusiasm. I want to thank everybody for tuning in and I hope we’ll become part of your morning routine.
(From Stephanie Becker, TODAY producer)Today, last week and probably two Mondays from now we will have done stories about
massive airline cancelations for safety inspections. Last week I did the story, last night producer Alexandra Pournaras. As we sat across from each other chatting over the glass sneeze guards that separate us we, we started barking out airline stats in a competitive game of producer's one-upswomanship -- number of planes grounded, flights delayed, money given to angry travelers. Then we got to that one stat that stopped us both cold, 3/4 of a billion passengers safely flew each year since November 11, 2001. That was the last major American commercial plane crash. Those numbers sent shivers through my spine. It made me want to spit twice between my fingers to ward away evil karma. (I think it's something I picked up from my Grandma Fanny. She must have brought it from that old town in Russia that she escaped from, so maybe it works.) Alexandra also had a similar -- but less visceral -- reaction. It's not that we are unhappy with this excellent record, but, we come from a cultural where you kind of expect the worst -- news jobs and New Yorkers. We don't believe in the glass half empty. We KNOW we don't even have a glass.
That's sort of the same reaction I have every time I do a cautionary story. I'm certain it will or is happening to me. Thank goodness I am out of high school so n
one of my friends will beat me up and post a video on YouTube. I felt it again yesterday afternoon while another producer was preparing the follow up to the spot on the possible
dangers from certain plastics(video). I am certain that all my drinking bottles are No. 7 and my gizzard is slowly hardening into Tupperware. I guess many of us in the business suffer from what the shrinks call anticipatory anxiety. I just call it a case of paranoia ridiculousium. Or maybe all that plastic No. 7 in my water bottle is leaching into the tap water in it that's already laced with antidepressants. Although, shouldn't I be more mellow about it? You may remember that tainted tap water story came about at the same time as New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer's fall from grace. Phew, I'm not married so THAT can't happen to me yet!
I don't know if I was always so worried about acknowledging good news like no planes falling from the sky. But I just worry that somehow reminding the lords of chance that things have been too good might spell disaster. Which, of course, puts us back in business. All I know is that I am certain two weeks from now some producers going to be doing this airline cancelation story again. I'm not psychic. I just have a plane ticket to fly home.
(From Curtis Vogel, Today producer)For the last seven months, TODAY has embarked on an unprecedented project called
“Class of 2020” to follow the education of a group of students from their first day in Kindergarten to their High School graduation in 13 years.
In the piece that aired on Wednesday morning, we profiled the story of Kieran, a six-year-old boy who was diagnosed with autism when he was four years old. Most students with autism are designated to attend special education classes either part-time or full-time throughout their secondary education.
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After our special edition of TODAY on Friday in Memphis, marking the 40th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., I sat down with Al Roker to discuss his experience covering the event:
DF: When you first got the assignment to go to Memphis, what did you think?
Al Roker: My first thought was, this is not going to be a normal kind of remote. It's not going to be, "Hey! What are you doing? Why are you here? Hey, hey!" So at first, I was wondering what we were going to do down here. But as we started to talk it out with our supervising producer on this project, Susan LaSalla, there was stuff we could do, people we could talk to.
To be perfectly honest, my very first thought was, "It's been 40 years?" It doesn't seem like it's been 40 years. Then you start to catalogue things and asking questions: How have we done? How are we doing?
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From Stephanie Becker, TODAY producerI think I've been a fairly generous person to my friends. I have given them the usual stuff: birthday gifts, money, books, a ride to the airport, and probably too much unsolicited advice (you get what you pay for). But I'm pretty sure I'd never give a friend an organ from my body. So it’s a good thing I’m not Annamarie Ausnes’ friend.
Sandie Anderson, a Starbucks Barista from Tacoma, Wash.,
donated one of her kidneys to customer Annamarie Ausnes. The friendship had brewed over the three years that Annamarie's been ordering her daily double-cupped single drip. In that time the 50-something women would chit-chat about kids and grandkids and they realized they had a lot in common. More, apparently, than they'd expected. So, when Annamarie told Sandie her kidneys were failing, Sandy offered to donate one of hers. Turns out she was a match and on March 11 the transplant took place. Annamarie calls Sandie her angel.
It's all making me feel badly about my selfish self. I looked at my barista the other day, the one with the pierced tongue, and I just knew I would never give her a kidney. But that thought made me feel guilty enough to give her a $5 tip for a $1.95 coffee. (I wondered if she would have to share that with her supervisor.)
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