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From Bob Barker in "Happy Gilmore" (1996) to Billy Idol in "The Wedding Singer" (1998), Adam Sandler has made a hilarious habit of highly unlikely cameos in his films. However, Sandler may very well have topped himself with the inclusion of the one and only Vanilla Ice in "That's My Boy," opening this Friday, June 15.


Though Vanilla Ice, aka Rob Van Winkle, plays himself in the film, to call the part a cameo is really an injustice. The poster-boy for early 90's fashion faux-pas plays an integral part in the R-rated comedy, which stars Sandler as a washed-up child star, Donny Berger, who became famous for having a son, Han Solo, with his older (and hotter) middle school teacher. Han, played by Andy Samberg, grew up awkwardly, changed his name to Todd, disassociated himself from his terrible father, and got engaged to Cape Cod catch, Jamie (Leighton Meester).

To reconnect with his son, Donny calls on the help of his good buddy Vanilla Ice.  And honestly, what could be funnier than that? When you think of the early 90's white rapper, with his zigzag hairdo and his Z-Cavaricci pants, I implore you not to snicker -- which is likely what Sandler had in mind when he cast Rob.


But while many cameos are worth laughing at, Ice is perfectly comfortable laughing along with us. When I spoke to him at the junket for the film, I found a man extremely comfortable in his own skin, quick to laugh, and proud of where he's been. When I asked him where he found that pride, his answer was downright philosophical: "Why am I hating on all this? This is the best thing that ever happened. We are who we are because of who we were."

We haven't heard much from Ice since he sold over 11 million copies of his 1990 debut album, "To the Extreme." But with his role in "That's My Boy," Ice may very well be back. His real-estate reality show "The Vanilla Ice Project" is a DIY channel staple, he released an album last year, and he  may have have found a future musical partner with a lot of pull: Sandler himself. When I asked Ice about a possible musical collaboration between he and the man who performed the greatest Hanukkah song ever, Ice smiled his infectious grin, and told me to "wait and see."

Henry Hill, whose mob exploits and his subsequent entry into the Witness Protection Program was immortalized in Martin Scorsese's epic masterpiece "Goodfellas," has died in Malibu, California. The cause of death has not been released.

The news was confirmed by a statement on his website, www.goodfellahenry.com. "Henry passed away in an L.A. hospital Tuesday. He leaves friends and family behind who enjoyed (?) his roller coaster vigor and enthusiasm for life and laughs. He will be missed."

Ray Liotta played the role of Hill in the movie, which earned six Academy Award nominations and wound up on numerous lists, including Yahoo! Movies' "100 Movies to See Before You Die," for being one of the best movies ever made.


The basis of the film was the nonfiction book "Wiseguy" by journalist Nicholas Pileggi, which highlighted Hill's escapades with the Lucchese crime family under capo Paul "Paulie" Vario. He was involved in a $420,000 theft from Air France at Idlewild Airport, did a stint in prison for extortion, and pulled off the breathtakingly audacious 1978 Lufthansa heist -- the biggest robbery in American history -- netting $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewels.

Drugs and paranoia, however, proved to be Hill's downfall. He was arrested for trafficking in 1980 and eventually turned police informant when he became convinced that his former mob associates were going to kill him. Hill's testimony eventually resulted in many of the wiseguys, including Vario, receiving long prison sentences.


He and his soon-to-be ex-wife, Karen, entered the Witness Protection Program, but anonymity didn't really suit a personality as outsized as his. When the movie came out, Hill became a minor celebrity, and he seemingly couldn't resist appearing in the media. That, plus getting arrested for another drug-related charge in 1987, got him thrown out of the program in the early '90s.

Yet, instead of swimming with the fishes as many mob snitches had in the past, Hill became a regular guest on "The Howard Stern Show." He appeared in multiple documentaries about the Mafia. He sold paintings on eBay. He opened a restaurant called Wiseguys in New Haven, Connecticut, where he sold his own line of tomato sauce. And he was even inducted into the Museum of the American Gangster in New York City.

He also struggled with addiction, entering rehab twice. The second time, in 2007, he did so at the behest of Ray Liotta, following a photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly.

Hill is survived by his partner and manager, Lisa Caserta, who told CBS News earlier today that he "went out pretty peacefully, for a goodfella."

JOHANNESBURG  - South Africa have kept faith with a winning formula by naming an unchanged squad for the three-test series in England starting next month, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Wednesday.

 The 15-man squad is identical to the touring side that beat New Zealand 1-0 in a three-test series in March.

 The Proteas are currently ranked number two in the world behind England and convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson believes consistency and depth of squad have been the key ingredients to the team's success.

 "The players fully deserve a vote of confidence after the outstanding manner in which they outplayed New Zealand away from home," Hudson said in a statement.

 "Consistency has also been one of the key pillars of our selection policy and this is also contributing to our success on the field. We are now building up excellent depth in both the batting and bowling departments."

 Opening batsman Graeme Smith will again captain the side after recovering from ankle surgery.

 "Graeme has been outstanding both as our leading run scorer and as captain during our last two test tours of England and I have every confidence he will continue that form," Hudson added.

 The South Africa squad boasts a formidable pace attack spearheaded by the world's top-ranked test bowler Dale Steyn, backed up by Vernon Philander, who has taken 51 wickets in just seven tests, and Morne Morkel.

 The test series begins at the Oval on July 19 before moving to Headingley in Leeds on August 2. The series concludes with the final test at Lord's starting on August 16.

 Following the tests, England and South Africa will play a five-match one-day series and three Twenty20 internationals.

 Test squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, Marchant de Lange, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Robert Salo, 18, didn't think twice about following his gut when he plunked down $2 to play New York Lottery's "Win for Life" scratch-off game last week.

No one could have guessed he'd beat the 1 in 7,896,000 odds to become the game's youngest winner.

After coming forward Tuesday, the high school senior is $1 million richer and all set to receive $1,000 payments each week for the rest of his life.

What sets Salo apart from most of the lotto winners we've covered on this site isn't his age, but the fact that he plans to put the money toward one of the smartest investments out there.

"I'm definitely going to use it for college," Salo said in a recent interview with the NY Daily News, adding that he plans to attend an out-of-state school. "I'm going to invest in myself."

Perhaps some would argue with that decision, pointing to soaring tuition costs and well-paying jobs that don't require a degree. But others, like Shawna Machado, 40, are so convinced a degree is worthwhile that even homelessness couldn't hold them back.

"I panicked knowing that I wasn't degreed in anything," she told Your Money reporter Mandi Woodruff of her decision to earn a degree in Psychology. "I didn't know how I'd be able to get another job. I applied for everything, medical jobs and retail jobs ... I was called for about three interviews."

Salo, who lives in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn with his single mother, a sibling and an uncle, wasn't sure himself if he'd ever afford college. Like many students forced to take out large loans, Salo may have had to settle for studying near home or at a community college that didn't align with his goals in order to save money.

But thanks to the lottery, his dream of pursuing a career in electrical engineering seems to be coming true. Maybe scratch-off tickets aren't such a waste of money after all.
Now see what to do when you win the lottery >

Chennai, June 13  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday urged the central government to remove from a Class 12 NCERT textbook a cartoon about the anti-Hindi agitation that rocked the state in 1965 as it defames Dravidian movement leaders like Periyar, C.N. Annadurai and others.

The cartoon by famed cartoonist R.K.Laxman appears in the Class 12 Political Science textbook prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

In a statement issued here, Jayalalithaa said: "Contrary to the photograph that is published in the book that shows the true nature of the anti-Hindi agitation, the cartoon is published hurting the sentiments of the Tamil people."

She said the cartoon defames the leaders of the Dravidian movement like Annadurai and Periyar and others.

According to her, photographs were better to teach students about the Dravidian movement and condemned the publication of the cartoon.

Recalling that the anti-Hindi agitation was one of the reasons for the change of rulers in the state, Jayalalithaa said the cartoon denigrates the protest.

On Saturday, DMK president M. Karunanidhi had also urged the central government to remove the anti-Hindi agitation cartoon from the NCERT text book as it hurt the (Tamil) people's sentiments.

In May, a 'dalit' party from Tamil Nadu, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, a UPA ally, and the Tamil Nadu unit of the CPM had kicked up a furore over a cartoon in the NCERT's political science text book showing Jawaharlal Nehru "whipping" B.R. Ambedkar over the slow progress of the framing of the Constitution after Independence.

The cartoon was first published in 1949 and now reproduced in school textbooks. It whipped up a storm in Parliament with Tamil Nadu and opposition members disrupting proceedings and demanding that the cartoon be removed from textbooks. Two NCERT advisers N. Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar resigned over the issue.