South O' the Highway (and the North too)

Hamptons regular and "Today" co-host Matt Lauer embarked on his ninth "Where in the World is Matt Lauer," in which he broadcasts each morning this week from a different location that is kept secret from both his on-air colleagues and viewers. Lauer's previous destinations include Mount Everest, Pyramids in Egypt and the Taj Mahal.

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East Hampton's Howard Schultz is sticking to coffee. The chairman and chief executive of Starbucks turned over management control of the corporation's in-house record label, Hear Music, to Concord Music Group. The label launched last year with Amagansett resident Paul McCartney's album Memory Almost Full.

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Deluxe New York, a 40,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art motion picture facility funded by Ron Perelman that is set to open in May.

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Christie Brinkley was honored by Cookie magazine last week for her charitable support at the 2nd annual Smart Cookie Awards. The blonde bombshell attended the event with daughter Alexa Ray Joel.

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It is rumored that Mel Brooks is working on a stage version of his 1974 western comedy Blazing Saddles. The Southampton director turned his sci-fi comedy Young Frankenstein into a Broadway musical last year.

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Ed Koch predicts that Hillary Clinton will take the Democratic nomination despite Barack Obama's lead. The former mayor said, "I think she can still win. I don't think Obama can win a general election."

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On the other hand, the late Roy Scheider continues to support Barack Obama from the grave. The legendary East End actor has been donating $50 a month to Obama's campaign on an automatic credit card donation that was set up prior to his death.

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O.J. Simpson has expressed interest in competing on billionaire developer Donald Trump's reality show "Celebrity Apprentice." NBC is considering the offer, as his appearance may result in high ratings.

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Montauk's Paul Simon left the most eastern end of Long Island to perform at the Brooklyn Academy of Music gala early this month. The musician sang hit songs including "You Can Call Me Al" and "I Know What I Know," and was joined on stage by former Talking Heads front man David Byrne.

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Hamptons party girl Star Jones has filed for divorce from Al Reynolds. The couple married in an elaborate ceremony in 2004.

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