Get out those wallets and get ready to bid! Bette Midler is raising some serious green for the New York Restoration Project and wants you to get involved.

Famous folks like John Mayer, Daniel Craig, Richard Branson, Steve Carrell, and many more have donated celebrity experiences to the organization, which are currently being auctioned at  CharityFolks.com. The fundraiser boasts over 100 “once-in-a-lifetime” prize packages, including:

• Lunch with Richard Branson during a week-long getaway at Necker Island
• Meet Robin Williams with VIP tickets to his NYC stand-up show
• Walk-on Role & Lunch on Set of ”It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
• Meet Cher with VIP tickets & backstage passes to her Las Vegas show

The auction is already up and running and lasts until November 13, 2009. Want a exclusive celebrity experience? Visit CharityFolks.com to bid on one of the awesome prize packages.

Needless to say, TMZ was successful — but not before TheSmokingGun.com beat them to the punch with the photo. Nevertheless, a bet is a bet and Mayer posted on Twitter that the $25K will be split between two animal charities, Pet Orphans Fund and Ace of Hearts.

Isn’t Twitter fun? As Mayer tweeted, “Well done, TMZ. But the real winners today are the puppies.”

Photo credit: TheSmokingGun

A host of star musicians is set to gather and record a remake of Michael Jackson’s Will You Be There for charity. The song was released as a single in 1993 and also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Free Willy.

Musicians expected to participate include Whitney Houston, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Usher, Dionne Warwick, Wyclef Jean, Jermaine Jackson, Larry King’s wife Shawn King and possibly Jennifer Hudson. Proceeds from the song are going to be split between the Larry King Cardiac Foundation and an unspecified charity close to Jackson.

Not surprisingly, Jackson was very generous with his money throughout his career — and we can expect more charity events like this one to take place in remembrance. The big one to watch is the planned tribute concert in Vienna, something Jermaine Jackson predicts could attract an audience of over 1 billion people through television alone. An event of that magnitude could raise a massive amount of cash for charity organizations, something we would love to see happen in honor of the King of Pop. Stay tuned — and check out Jackson’s video for Will You Be There after the jump below.

Al Gore has done it.

The former Vice-President passed the one million mark in Twitter followers earlier this morning; placing him in such fine company as Ashton Kutcher, Oprah, John Mayer, and Britney Spears.

Gore was in a sprint to the finish against none other than gossip blogger Perez Hilton — who, as of this writing, was about 11,000 away from a million. The regularly reserved tweeter, Gore broke out with “So close to 1,000,000 followers. Help put me over the top.” last night and then gushed “Wow 1,000,000 followers, thank you.” after reaching the milestone. We’re expecting the next tweet to be something like “@PerezHilton, how do u like them apples beyotch?”

Congrats to @algore! If you would like to help propel us to .010% of Gore’s following, please jump here to drfit with Ecorazzi through the Twitterverse.

Zac Efron

Yesterday afternoon John Mayer performed at the 95.5 WPLJ-FM’s 17th Annual Holiday Concert at Blythedale Children’s Hospital – an institution exclusively dedicated to the diagnosis, care and treatment of children with complex medical and rehabilitative needs.

Stars like Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson and Rob Thomas also showed up to spread some holiday cheer. About 400 people turned out for the invitation-only concert, which hospital officials said raises about $250,000 a year.

If you’d like to find out more about how you can get involved, visit Blythedale Children’s Hospital’s website.

Photo credit: PR Photos

- A “friend” of Jennifer Aniston is talking to Star magazine about Aniston’s alleged twin pregnancy with John Mayer. More milk and beef? YUCK! Calling all veggie parents of twins — chime in and tell us what you think about all of this animal-product grossness!!

That’s why hope is a worthwhile commodity. To those who question whether hope is a tangible product worth building a campaign around, I’d say take a look at despair and how powerful that has been in reshaping how people think and live. I believe the definition of the “hope” that Barack Obama enthuses operates on the unspoken thesis that there has to be a polar opposite to the despair of 9/11. Because if we accept that there’s not, the will to live becomes forever altered. To adults who will vote for him, Barack Obama represents a return to prosperity. To the youth, he represents an introduction to it.”

–Musician John Mayer in a recent article he penned for The Huffington Post. Check out the rest of the article here.

Sarah Palin

A slew of famous performers, including Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, Jackson Browne, Sheryl Crow and many others have contributed songs to a compilation album in support of presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The album, Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement will be available exclusively at BarackObama.com until November 2nd and then in stores after the election.

Barack’s website says: “Through their musical contributions, the artists seek to mobilize voters in the final stretch before the November election. Many of the artists involved will also be volunteering their time to promote voter registration. For more information on registering to vote or requesting an absentee ballot, go to: www.VoteforChange.com.”

Visit BarackObama.com to get yourself some presidential tunes!

Courtesy of the gossip world

Somehow, even the wedding details have been unveiled — with sources saying that Aniston is keen to keep the ceremony low-key and eco-friendly; a definite change from the fireworks and million dollar splash of her previous marriage to Brad Pitt in 2000.

Aniston’s green credentials are a bit of an enigma. On one hand she claims to practice water conservation — and has contributed thoughts on the subject in The Green Book. She’s also building an eco-friendly ‘green mansion’ with a solar-heating system, drought-resistant plants, and all organic materials. Then again, it’s also 11,000 sq.ft. Additionally, she’s also the main spokesperson for bottled water brand Smart Water.

While we don’t doubt Mayer’s influence on Aniston’s transition towards a greener lifestyle, we’re not necessarily convinced that the former Friends star is genuinely concerned with susainability. Even if everything is green down to the organic tableclothes, don’t expect tap water to make an appearance.

In an interview with Star Magazine, Aniston says it was hard to say goodbye to the dog she worked with on set. “I was quite emotional. We really bonded.” About her own dogs, she says she loves coming home to them. “It’s nice to open your door and have somebody run to you and jump on you and kiss you because they cannot believe that you are actually back. They are so excited; they love you. It’s quite simple.”

Jennifer Aniston has two dogs: Norman (a corgi-terrier mix) and Dolly (a white German shepherd). And apparently Norman does not like John Mayer!

via: celebitchy.com