Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh is wrapping up his film career to fulfill a long desired gig as a painter. Although some sources have said that the ambition is a full-blown retirement, Soderbergh claims it’s merely a break. “It’s less dramatic that it sounds – it’s just a sabbatical,” the 48-year-old director told reporters at the Venice Film Festival.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was in the Mission last week to visit, speak to, and sample from local small businesses on a visit to celebrate Women’s Equality Day, which commemorates the passage of the bill that granted women equal voting rights.

Just when we thought hip hop’s Renaissance man Pharrell Williams couldn’t get any more amazing, the entrepreneur, N.E.R.D. frontman, talented producer, filmmaker, and ardent philanthropist unveiled plans for the $35 million Pharrell Williams Resource Center in Virginia Beach, VA to engage children in an atmosphere free of the more unproductive distractions like video games and Facebook.

Offer Nissembaum, Managing Director at the stunning Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, has been awarded the prestigious title of Hotelier of the Year by Virtuoso, the leading name in the luxury travel network. Nissenbaum came out on top of an impressive group of hospitality figures, including hoteliers from France, Italy, South Africa, and India – Nissenbaum was the only candidate from the U.S.

R&B superstar and philanthropist Alicia Keys has joined with actresses Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore, and others on her latest project, a movie on the Lifetime channel, which Keys co-directs. The stunning trio is featured in October’s Glamour magazine in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and discuss how the disease have brought them together in this project.

Ever on the pathway to legend, Mark Zuckerberg continues to drive Facebook forward. The latest project for the social media stalwart is said to be a long-anticipated music service. Zuckerberg fanned the flames of speculation yesterday when he told reporters of plans to “launch something awesome” next week.

Hip hop mogul Sean Combs a.k.a. P. Diddy has scores of successful projects under his belt – the latest of which is Culo, a coffee table photo book that pays appreciation to nothing but women’s derrieres, an appreciation the rapper is well known for. The entrepreneur has joined forces with Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine with images taken by renowned fashion and music photographer Raphael Mazzucco.

Iconic filmmaker Harvey Weinstein is looking to the past for his future projects. His new film The Artist is a nod to the era of silent films with its filming done in black-and-white, plot involving hardship, a love interest, and an adorable dog, its setting in glamorous 1920s Hollywood, and lead role played by French actor Jean Dujardin.

Tom Cruise recently took to the racetrack for an exhilarating test drive of the Red Bull Formula One race car at California’s Willow Springs racetrack. The A-lister completed 24 laps during a full day with the Red Bull team with race car legend David Coulthard leading the day’s events as instructor.