With only $25, will power, and endless support, Adam Braun started a global movement called Pencils of Promise, a non-profit organization that seeks to build a foundation for the aspiring and inspirational youth living in third-world countries.

The dream began while he was working at Bain & Company; he took a back-packing trip through more than 50 countries where he would ask children what they wanted most. Expecting to hear things like X-boxes or T.V.'s, to Adam's surprise these kids just wanted to go to school. More»

From Kanye West, or Yeezy World Peace, playing DJ in the bright lights of Vegas, to Kate Moss and Terry Richardson hanging on the beaches of Jamaica, and Kaskade spinning a TWELVE hour set at Marquee, party-goers across the globe rang in 2012 like it was the end of days. Oh wait, it is. More»

Ron Artest, we love you, but we can barely keep up with you. Just last week you were planning a landmark comedy tour, you found a ride home from the airport via Twitter, and you wrote some poetry that exposed your artistic soul. And it's not that we didn't expect you to one-up yourself eventually (we know you're good like that), we just didn't expect it to be this week. But if TMZ is to be believed, you just filed the papers to legally change your name to Metta World Peace. God bless you, Ron Artest. More»

As beloved as Shaquille O'Neal is in the world of basketball, it's never been his only marketable skill. And while tracking down the other members of Fu-Schnickens would probably require a deep knowledge of NYC subway tunnels or a time machine, there was never anything other than basketball stopping the Big Aristotle from returning to the silver screen. So imagine my joy when I fired up the ol' Twitter this morning and saw that Shaq tweeted about his meeting with Lance Klein and Ari Emanuel at the WME offices to discuss getting back to acting, and included some raw video footage of the sit-down. More»

Last week was a pretty big one. Spring officially turned into summer, and it seems like everyone from our usual motley crew of pool partiers to the largest man (formerly) in the NBA had a statement to make. And this being a superficial town and all, they made their statements the old fashioned way: with fashion.

So let's look back at some of the most outrageous outfits from last week, before we turn the page on them forever. More»

There are some celebrities that will always be tied to the skill or trait that made them famous. How famous would Eric Clapton be without his hands? What if J. Lo's ass was lost in a freak airplane seat accident? But then there are also celebrities for whom their initial talent was only part of the equation, people who will stay famous forever, no matter what they're doing. One of those people is a 7'1" friendly giant, one of the most dominant big men of all time, and a guy who left a pretty strong impression here in Los Angeles. If you thought Shaquille O'Neal was going to fade out of the spotlight just because he's not shattering backboards anymore, you clearly weren't paying attention. More»

• After a 19-year career in the NBA, including three championship titles with the Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal announces he's retiring from pro basketball. [KABC]
• NY Democrat congressman Anthony Weiner denies sending a college student a "lewd" twitpic of himself, blames a hacker as conservatives pounce on the story. [LATimes]
• A Delta flight chartered by the L.A. Angels experiences technical difficulties, makes an emergency landing safely at LAX with the team on board. [KTLA]
• According to People, Justin Theroux is officially Jennifer Aniston's new boyfriend and he's "edgier" than her previous men. [PE]
• A hacker leaks naked photos he claims are of Blake Lively, taunts her camp who deny they're really her by posting even more photos. [TMZ]