Have your say…
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
What do you think about Kalki koechlin,when it comes to acting ???
Salman Khan promotes ‘Bodyguard’ on ‘India’s Got Talent Season 3′!!
Salman Khan is doing everything he can to promote his upcoming flick Bodyguard. He was recently on the show ‘India’s Got Talent Season 3′, to do the same.
he got along with the contestants very well. He joined a belly dancer contestant and was clicked while dancing with her. He even talked with a contestant who especially made a Being Human painting featuring Salman Khan himself!
Bodyguard is slated to release this 31st August. The movie is one of the most awaited flicks of the year. It stars Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead. The flick is directed by Siddique.
Sonam-Shahid share a steamy kiss in ‘Mausam’…
Mausam has a steaming hot kiss between the lead pair, Sonam Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor. And now, this passionate kiss between the duo, is the talk of the town.
Initially, Sonam Kapoor did not want to let out details about he kissing scene in the movie but later she let the cat out of the bag that there is a smooching scene between her and Shahid.
“Jitna hona chahiye tha, utna hi rakha gaya,” said the pretty actress.
Producer Sheetal Talwar clarified that Sonam was pretty comfortable about the scene.
“Sonam is a fantastic actress. She had a very comfortable equation with Pankaj and Shahid. If there were any aspersions whatsoever, they were cast aside during the course of the shoot,” said Talwar.
Can’t wait to watch the movie.
Year 2011, SRK 3D…
All You SRK fans out there, this Christmas is going to be a feast to the eyes with Shahrukh Khan announcing the release of his most awaited flick Don 2 in 3D. Earlier this month, the actor hadannounced his superhero flick Ra.One to be released in 3D.
A sequel to Farhan’s earlier film Don, Don 2 retains its original cast of Shahruk Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani and has additionally new faces like Lara Dutta, Sameera Reddy and Kunal Kapoor.
Don 2 will release on 23rd December, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu as well.
Preity Zinta gets the Khan’s on her show!!!
The bubbly Preity Zinta is a personal and professional favorite with both Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan. The Khan’s share an amazing rapport with the cutie.
Now, the latest we hear is that both, Sallu and SRK are ready to come for Preity’s show.
Salman Khan will appear in Preity Zinta’s new chat show, ‘Up, Close and Personal with Preity Zinta’ on a new channel to be produced by Shahrukh Khan’s production house, Red Chillies Entertainment.
Is Preity trying to get the Khan’s to patch up???
The actress said, “Please…somebody help me escape this question!” She added, “Each one of us has his or her own equation in the industry. This is really beyond me…or anybody else. Let’s wait and watch.”
Okay! The Khan’s will appear on Preity’s show but on different episodes.
For Aishwarya Rai, too much attention is not good
Aishwarya Rai is not interested in flaunting her baby bump, in public. If rumors are to be believed, the gorgeous actress bluntly rejected an offer to show off her baby bump for the cover page. Not just that. Ash is also trying her best to make public appearances and be in the spotlight.
As sources say, the actress is also trying to stay away from the country to avoid the spotlight. Too much attention is not good.
“She doesn’t want to be in the limelight when she’s pregnant. In any case, too much attention at this time is considered inauspicious. She has decided to stay away (from spotlight) as much as she can, so she stayed away from Mumbai for so long,” tells a source to a daily.
But now, the question that arises is that despite being pregnant for how many ever months, with thebaby bump visible, why did she shoot for a commercial??
Well, the actress is a through professional. It was a prior work commitment and Ash only did her job.
Katrina-Kareena, the new girlfriends in B-town…
Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif were seen quite elated in each other’s company at the grand finale show of
the Lakme Fashion Week. The grand finale show by designer Manish Malhotra was inspired byLakme’s new Absolute make-up line.
Just recently, it was reported that Bebo was miffed by Kats from grabbing the entire limelight in her upcoming flick, Bodyguard. However, putting rest to all rumors, Katrina reportedly, walked up to Bebo and waved the white flag. Kreena Kapoor was the show stopper that evening.
Informed a source, “Bebo was surprised but happy to see Kat reaching out for friendship,”
Kareena looked dazzling in a fabulous white layered lace, silk, net gown with a shimmering bodice.
When asked Kareena whether she considers Katrina her friend, the 30-year-old replied: “Of course she is my friend. Why is it this question even being asked?”
OBJE’s Designs recognized as ‘The Future of Denim’
Monday, August 22, 2011
With Obscene Jeans Corp set to dive into the international fashion marketplace this month in Las Vegas at WWDMAGIC, the fashion industry’s premier American showcase, the company is already making a major splash with the fashion media. Textiles trade magazine Fashion Mannuscript praised Obscene Jeans’ “international appeal” and hailed the company’s designs as “the future of denim” in its August issue.
“We’re still a few weeks away from the debut of our new collection at WWDMAGIC, but the buzz is already beginning to build,” said OBJE President and CEO Robert Federowicz. “Fashion Mannuscript is only the beginning. With the help of Shine Media, we are implementing an aggressive print strategy that we expect to result in extensive press coverage in the coming months.”
Fashion Mannuscript’s feature article details the exquisite fabrics and design accents that set Obscene Jeans apart in the thriving global denim marketplace. Fashions including OBJE’s sleek Super Skinny Power Stretch Pant and rugged Mesh Jean were lauded as “beautiful pieces that radiate an international appeal.”
“Our gorgeous new designs were inspired by the sophistication of Paris and the glamour of Hollywood,” said OBJE Vice President and Lead Designer Rachel Stark-Cappelli. “Fabrics and materials from Europe, Asia and North America were used to create our new collection, and we expect our revolutionary designs will build Obscene Jeans into a global fashion and lifestyle powerhouse.”
In order to spread the word about Obscene Jeans’ stylish originality, the company will rely on more than just traditional print media. Stark-Cappelli will cover this month’s WWDMAGIC trade show live via Twitter, and exclusive new photos of the fashion line will be available for viewing on the company’s Facebook page. A video sneak-peek at the sultry new collection can already be seen on Obscene Jeans’ YouTube channel.
Obscene Jeans Corp. (OBJE) is an emerging, design-driven luxury lifestyle brand and Apparel Company dedicated to developing fashion trends and lifestyle accessories. The company has designed and is preparing to launch premium denim fashions and beauty products for the luxury goods industry worldwide. OBJE is an OTCQB publicly traded company.
Liz Claiborne continues to use GT Nexus cloud-based platform
GT Nexus announced that fashion apparel and accessories company Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) extended its contract for a supply chain visibility and control platform. Delivered as a cloud service, the platform gives Liz Claiborne the capability to tightly monitor and control inventory flows between suppliers, logistics providers, distribution centers and customers.
"GT Nexus has been a key part of our global supply chain management strategy for years," said Bob Keller, Vice President Supply Chain, Logistics & Administration at Liz Claiborne Inc. "We have automated the highly complex coordination of inventory movement in the cloud where our entire network of supply chain partners all work against a single information set. That is the only way you can run an agile supply chain."
GT Nexus connects Liz Claiborne to its global partner network and provides visibility across the supply chain, from a broad shipment level view down to specific style and color level detail.
The platform is provided to Liz Claiborne Inc. as a cloud service shared by thousands of other GT Nexus customers and their supply chain partners. By amortizing data management across a vast community of companies, individual participating companies can achieve a level of visibility and information quality that traditional software and value added network (VAN) models have not been able to produce.
"Several years ago, the team at Liz Claiborne had the vision to embrace the cloud technology model for supply chain visibility," said Greg Johnsen, EVP and co-founder of GT Nexus. "With cloud and visibility now positioned high on every CEO's priority list, it is safe to say Liz Claiborne's vision truly paid off. They have a global supply chain visibility control system that most companies dream about."
Visibility at Liz Claiborne begins when orders are placed with suppliers. From there, the platform tracks inventory flows from booking at origin, international transport, through delivery to the distribution centers. All inventory and supply chain information is linked and stored centrally in the cloud. Partners, internal stakeholders and the Liz Claiborne supply chain team operate off a core set of information.
A "single version of supply chain truth" drives significant process control for the entire Liz Claiborne organization.
"Sometimes we face a situation where we need to orchestrate complex direct-to-store shipments for our key customers," noted Keller. "To be successful, we need to ensure that 15 different styles of inventory from suppliers in six different countries must hit a four-day ship window at the US port location. It is important to have accurate and timely information about very specific inventory at your fingertips, available in seconds. GT Nexus is the enabler for us."
The other cornerstone of the platform is performance analytics. The GT Nexus Supply Chain Intelligence engine sits on top of the visibility data repository and gives the Liz Claiborne team the ability to measure and analyze performance, based on what actually happened. Partner performance, supply chain velocity, data quality and sourcing trends can all be analyzed, across the different Liz Claiborne Inc. brands.
Growth without cost!!!
Investing in the future is important to Direct Corporate Clothing. Over the past few years, it has acquired a 60,000 square metre warehouse and set-up a dedicated, wholly-owned garment-manufacturing facility in China. Crucially, it has also installed a state-of-the-art Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution from Aria Systems to support business growth.
Since installing this computer software, Direct Corporate Clothing has never looked back. In a competitive marketplace where everyone is looking for an edge, it recently developed a new corporate clothing module with Aria to take its supply chain efficiency and customer service to new heights.
Building solid foundations
Based in Oldbury, Birmingham, Direct Corporate Clothing designs and supplies uniforms to the transport, logistics, construction, retail, and oil and gas industries as well as local government organisations.
Since the company was established in 1999, its business has witnessed continual growth in sales and product lines. A more sophisticated back office system was therefore needed to support the increased volume and complexity of activity.
Joint managing director of Direct Corporate Clothing Gini Sohal says: “Our previous system didn’t have the scalability the new system had, so we changed for the better of the business. The business was growing and our current system couldn’t support it.”
In 2005, Direct Corporate Clothing looked at several companies to deliver a new ERP system and selected Aria based on the cost, capability and user-friendly nature of their product solution.
“It’s robust and simple to use,” Gini says. “It was also an easy and smooth transition for our staff to make from the previous system.”
The company also liked Aria’s hands-on approach. Following an initial demonstration, Aria led a two-day workshop at Direct Corporate Clothing’s offices to demonstrate the software operating in their own environment.
“We processed examples of their information through the system so they could be confident that the software would do what we said it would do,” Aria’s business development manager John Driscoll says. “There’s a big difference between having a demo for a couple of hours and actually sitting there and getting your hands dirty.”
Essex-based Aria has been providing the apparel industry with state-of the-art ERP solutions for 15 years and Direct Corporate Clothing is one of more than 450 apparel companies using its product suites worldwide to gain competitive advantages.
Maximising efficiency
Its latest core system is Aria 4XP. It was chosen by Direct Corporate Clothing to eliminate procedural inefficiencies on all production fronts and to enhance the warehousing and sales processes.
Microsoft-based and with the ability to integrate with existing systems, Aria 4XP gives the supplier complete control of all tasks from initial enquiry to order fulfilment. They can manage and forecast stock, track products, produce sales and purchase orders quickly and easily as well as creating financial and management reports.
Demo of ImageTwin for Virtual Fashion at MAGIC
This fall [TC]² is updating its ImageTwin Online applications for Virtual Fashion including Size Selection to support smartphones and tablets. The ImageTwin application uses a digital replica of your own body and allows you to try on clothes and get automatic sizing recommendations in real time!
Come by [TC]²’s booth SP66722 in the Sourcing at Magic Americas Pavilion and see the tablet application for yourself. The ImageTwin application allows you to create your own avatar from multiple sources including:
- Manual Measurements
- Scanning with Kinect or ASUS Xtion at home or in stores
- Full 3D body scanning using [TC]² or SpaceVision body scanners
You can also customize your avatar with face textures you apply from your own photo, and pick from a multitude of hairstyles and colors. You are then ready to start trying on clothes on a store kiosk or on your own PC or smartphone. Clothing content can be selected by selecting on screen or by scanning QR code tags.
Sabyasachi’s colour fantasy for Winter/Festive
Lots of colour with the distinct touches from the Maestro of Style and Design from Kolkata along with four dozen models of different shapes, ages and sizes on the ramp can turn the show into a mind blowing experience for the audience.
That is how the third day of Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2011 ended as Sabyasachi Mukherjee presented men, women and children on the ramp in an ingenious manner, to confirm his fashionable position on the charts as the designer who can dress anybody, in any size or sex in stylish creations.
Bringing the models in colour coordinated groups – quite an interesting concept – Sabyasachi showed garments that moved in perfect harmony in style, silhouette and form.
Presenting the look of the North West Frontier Province and the styles favoured by the girls in Patiala, Sabyasachi added touches of Kathak and Kathakali for the silhouettes and the music and presentation. Using khadi, organza, net, silk and velvet and the beautiful thread work from Kashmir with Zardozi in shimmering silver with floral designs but restrained Bling; the show was an utterly satisfying experience of ethnic fashion that can be applauded anywhere in the world.
Twenty three entries comprising groups of models wearing similar outfits in different colour blocking, gave the viewers a unique choreography experience.
Black, brown, khaki, red, orange, black, white, the Sunderban floral prints, wide silhouettes, immaculate tailoring along with simple styles which could truly be considered basic, were so impressive, that they made an everlasting impression on the applauding audience.
To set the tempo of the show, Dr Mitul Sengupta, the famed Kathak Dancer dazzled the invitees with her expert foot work and then to the beat of her Kathak chants and the accompanying Rythmosaic band; the models made their restrained slow glide on the ramp.
The famed Kashmir embroidery appeared on boleros, waistcoats, and edges of swirling kurtas, bundis, tunics, cholis, cropped tops, sherwanis, and dupattas. The wide Patiala salwars, the elephant pants, the flowing palazzos and the cowled pants matched perfectly with the smocks, tunics, kurtas, and jackets.
The saris with ornate borders at times split into velvet and net with shimmering edges were teamed with long sleeved embroidered cholis. The gleaming velvet smocks with embellished bodices and Patiala salwars, the cute scaled down versions of the same for the young boys and girls, ensured that the collection will be a sure fire seller anywhere around the globe. Detailing was restricted to rows of tiny buttons down the front and the occasional Sunderban floral print appeared on men’s churidars, dupattas or saris leaving the majority of the show in solid monotones.
For sheer drama style and immense commercial viability in sales the 48 creations by Sabyasachi Mukherjee left the audience breathless and will thrill retailers as they will fly off the racks within minutes.
Gallery2020. a high-quality fashion event
On Monday the 8th of August 2011 the first summer edition of Gallery2020 in Antwerp (Belgium) came to an end. Thinking back about the many happy faces spotted during the event of both the exhibitors and the visitors, we are extremely hopeful with regards to the fair’s commercial results.
Although the amount of visiting shops was 15% lower (1950 in total) than during the first winter edition, the reactions of the exhibitors regarding the qualitative standard of the Belgian and Dutch (13%) retailers were full of praise.
The exhibitors urged the organisers to definitely maintain the top-quality character of Gallery2020 during the next editions. The fact that this restriction hereby limits the number of collections to 250 is definitely not considered to be a negative aspect. Quite the contrary!
Gallery2020 has to remain a well-arranged and high-quality fair with regards to offer and visitors. Therefore, the selection committee must keep on doing its utmost in order to make the right choices.
It is therefore completely justified to grant Gallery2020 the following label: “pleasant and wonderful fair with regards to general atmosphere and a magnificent selection of labels and collections”.
Gallery2020 winter edition: 5 and 6 February 2012 in Antwerp Expo.
Avadh era and Anarkalis - a new fashion trend
Giving a new luxurious fashion direction to bridal glamour inspired by the Avadh era, Shyamal and Bhumika’s collection at Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2011 was a symphony of styles, colours, fabrics, silhouettes and rich embellishments. Staying true to the ethnic wedding wear look, the silhouettes inspired by traditional garments like jamas, chogas, peshwaz, achkan, panelled lehengas and cholis swirled on the runway in quick succession.
The very glittering show opened with Bollywood’s darling, Eesha Deol star of the forthcoming movie “Tell Me Oh Khuda” looking absolutely stunning in a red velvet lehenga and choli with a gorgeous net dupatta.
The creations that glided down the catwalk were visions of utter beauty and style.
Men’s jackets, sherwanis jodhpurs with assorted glittering embellishments were teamed with skin tight pants or lamé dhotis.
Women’s wear was a profusion of the most exquisite net lehengas with gold lamé petticoats, long line tulle kurta with ornate yoke, saris with glittering broad borders and long shirt teamed with gold bikini style tops under floor length net covers.
Kurtis came in with flared shararas, while Anarkalis gracefully glided on the floor, slim sherwanis looked great with diaphanous skirts and cholis were sensuous with panelled lehengas. Interesting touches were seen, when yokes had length, while plackets were intricately detailed.
The fabric story was rich and opulent as velvet, net, brocade, matka silk, tissue and shot silk georgettes created the perfect base for the garments. The colour palette stretched from wine, cream, blue, honey gold, aurora and beet red to burnt orange, gold, copper, and peacock green, jet black, brown, ink blue and lilac.
Detailing was the highlight of the creations with zardozi motifs and jaals, wire Marodi embroidery, washed gold, copper, peeta and gotta work and hints of precious Jadau stone craft added to the drama. Borders were cleverly used on sleeves, hems, while sherwanis were ornate with zardozi work and gathered churi sleeves were inspired by the Avadh era.
To match the grandeur of the show Shyamal and Bhumika’s selected their show stopper with great care. It was the Dream Girl of many Indians, the stately beautiful Hema Malini who elegantly walked down the ramp wearing a two-tone sari in brocade and red velvet with the most breathtaking embroidery.
Recreating the splendour of a bygone era with the collection, Shyamal and Bhumika once again scored with their magnificent bridal wear line which will surely turn into heirlooms for the owners.
Sanpellegrino - the haute-couture of mineral water
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival – Brisbane, hosted by South Bank, is back for 2011 and promises a stellar lineup of designers and a range of fashionable events to satisfy even the most sartorially starved crowds. It will run from August 20-26.
From the Renaissance frescos adorning the ceilings of historic chapels and the sculptures of the Galleria dell'Accademia, to the leather smiths of Florence and the haute-couture gowns that render our knees incapable of holding us upright, Italy is renowned for its rich culture, unparalleled sense of style and impeccable craftsmanship. When it comes to things of beauty, Italy’s got it nailed.
This year, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival - Brisbane is proud to announce their affiliation with another Italian icon – S.Pellegrino mineral water.
The quality of S.Pellegrino is legendary. The “Godfather” of design himself, Leonardo da Vinci even visited the town in 1509 to personally sample the “miraculous” water that flows from a thermal spring at the foot of a mountain wall in the Italian Alps. S.Pellegrino is a refreshing, naturally carbonated water with a light, crisp finish, captured perfectly in the brand’s iconic, green glass bottle – a modern symbol of style, sophistication and the conviviality of the Italian lifestyle.
This Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival - Brisbane, savour the refreshment of the one and only S.Pellegrino mineral water and the delicious selection of sparkling fruit beverages - the haute-couture of mineral water.
Wild At Heart
She’s a magnetic actress, a mother, a British rocker’s love, and, with this month’s launch of her Chrome Hearts Collaboration CH + KH, a jewelry designer. April Long talks to Kate Hudson about her decidedly charmed lifeI am so sorry,” says Kate Hudson, as she voraciously chomps on a mouthful of ice cubes. “I just have this unbelievable craving….” When we meet, the actress is due “pretty much any minute” to give birth to her first child with fiancé Matt Bellamy, the lead singer of British rock band Muse, and she’s been having an insatiable urge to chew on ice. “I haven’t been able to feel my mouth for weeks because it’s so numb and so cold!” she says, laughing. “I’m going to have the baby, and all my back teeth are going to be worn down.”
Hudson may have, as she says, “entered the uncomfortable stage” of pregnancy, but she has yet to slow down. Just after wrapping up promotional duties for her latest film, Something Borrowed, she unveiled a jewelry collaboration, CH+KH, with her friend Laurie Lynn Stark, co-owner of the L.A.-based jewelry brand Chrome Hearts. The pair first met at a Rolling Stones concert when Hudson was 16; years later, they bonded when they were both expectant mothers—Hudson with Ryder (her son with ex-husband, Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson), Stark with twins. Since then, they’ve shared countless family vacations, and it was on one of these getaways, in the Bahamas, that the idea for their new venture was born. “It occurred to us,” Hudson says, “we spend all of this time together—why don’t we make something?”
CH+KH’s line, which is a departure from Chrome Hearts’ signature heavy-hardware biker aesthetic, harkens back stylistically to the 1970s vintage pieces that Hudson collects. The collection’s centerpiece pearl-and-gold seashell necklace, for example, was inspired by an heirloom choker that Hudson’s mother, Goldie Hawn, gave her on her twenty-first birthday. (“It was one of the first pieces I ever remember my mother wearing,” she says, “and it was like, Wow, I hope one day I get to wear jewelry like that.”) Stark says the line also reflects the actress’s bohemian spirit. “We used a lot of aquamarines because Kate loves them, but to me they also evoke her personality. She’s so open and light.
For those times Hudson does feel “off balance,” she turns to Hawn for guidance. “We’ve definitely had lots of talks about parenting and being a working mom,” she says. “She never hands out unsolicited preachy words of wisdom, though. My parents allowed my brother and I to have our freedom and be ourselves and feel confident in our choices and to make mistakes without too much judgment.” She cracks a last chunk of ice. “I hope that I can do as good a job.”
Barneys Brings Lady Gaga Home for the Holidays
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Barneys is getting an early start on holiday decorating. This year, the luxury retailer is collaborating with Lady Gaga to recreate an edgier Santa’s Workshop. The iconic Madison Avenue flagship will be decking its windows and some of it’s halls with all things Gaga; the workshop will take over the fifth floor of the Men’s Store.Artists Eli Sudbrack and Christophe Hamaide Pierson of Assume Vivid Astro Focus worked with Barneys’ creative director Dennis Freedman to create signature artwork that will be featured on holiday shopping bags and packaging. Nicola Formichetti, who is Thierry Mugler and Gaga’s creative director, and “Mother Monster” herself collaborated with the store to create exclusive, limited-edition small gifts only available in Gaga’s Workshop. In the spirit of the season, Barneys will donate 25% of the proceeds to a charity of the singer-songwriter’s choosing.
Where to get a Tattoo on Fashion’s Night Out
Tattoos may not be fashion’s most coveted accessories, but come Fashion’s Night Out, there are plenty of opportunities to get temporarily tatted up. Here’s where:
- Belle by Sigerson Morrison will have an in house tattoo artist.
- Bloomingdales will be offering customers who shop Diane von Furstenberg Home an expertly applied henna tattoo.
- Lord & Taylor’s Libby team will be styling glam rocks with coordinating tattoos.
- Swarovski will be dispensing the blog with crystal tattoos.
- Tiffany & Co. is forgoing breakfast in favor of glittery gold temporary tattoos.
The Ultimate Spa Experience at Maui’s Grand Wailea
The Spa Grande at Maui’s Grand Wailea knows how to pamper in paradise. Now, through September 4, 2012 the resort is offering the 20 Hands Duo Massage, a lavish two-and-a-half hour experience for two in celebration of the property’s 20th anniversary.
The treatment begins with an hour of relaxation in a Roman whirlpool hot tub, cold plunge, eucalyptus steam and redwood saunas, Japanese furo bath, three cascading waterfall massages, jet showers and a full-body exfoliation. Next, lucky couples will be escorted to one of the resort’s suites where they’ll be welcomed with a 30 minute foot soak, exfoliation, and massage.
Though the preparations sound like a spa dream on their own, it’s merely a warm up for the grand finale. The experience concludes with a team of 10 therapists – that’s 20 hands, or 100 fingers, for the record – simultaneously connecting hands and massaging your tired limbs from head to toe. Once the energy is centered, they begin the “hula wave” on the entire body as therapists walk around the guests massaging the two bodies in synchronized harmony.
This romantic experience is quite the luxury. Priced at $2,000, the 20-Hand Duo Massage is the perfect treat for honeymooners and happy couples looking to unwind.
In Iraq, youngest U.S. troops bore heaviest toll
In this Aug. 3, 2003 file photo, members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade salute the casket of Army Spc Justin Hebert of Silvana, Wash., being carried to a C-130, at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. Herbert, who was killed when his convoy came under fire from rocket propelled grenades, died just four days after his 20th birthday.
(AP)
SILVANA, Wash. — In a hilltop graveyard overlooking this Stillaguamish River village lies a young soldier killed in the infancy of the Iraq war.
Army Spc. Justin W. Hebert's story is sad and sadly unremarkable, a tragedy bound up in the tale of a grinding war that took young lives with grievous regularity. Nearly one-third of U.S. troops killed in Iraq were age 18 to 21. Well over half were in the lowest enlisted ranks.
For Hebert, the Army was an adventure. But it didn't last long.
Barely two years after he finished high school - exactly three months after President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat in Iraq and just four days after his 20th birthday - Hebert was mortally wounded in an insurgent ambush that may have been a setup by an Iraqi "informant."
It was Aug. 1, 2003. The war, according to the Pentagon's plan, was supposed to be over. Baghdad had fallen swiftly. But a new, more menacing phase of conflict was just beginning. An insurgency was in the making, and in its formative months it perplexed U.S. commanders and cost Hebert his life.
In the years since, the U.S. effort in Iraq has veered from the brink of calamity to the threshold of surprising success. With the remaining U.S. troops now packing to leave, possibly for good, casualties and costs will be tallied one last time.
More elusive is a firm judgment on the net benefit of the American sacrifice, the more than 4,400 dead, the tens of thousands injured and the untold numbers suffering unseen psychological wounds for years to come.
The invasion, occupation and transition to Iraqi government control lasted far longer than predicted, cost more than imagined and left a town like Silvana, population 90, to wonder why a war so far away brought grief so close to home.
The sacrifice of so many lives like Hebert's helped turn U.S. public opinion firmly against the war by the time Barack Obama was campaigning for president in 2008. Three years later, young Americans still die in Iraq even though the war is widely seen as over.
It is also widely seen as a mistake, and by some as a waste.
Hebert was buried here in his hometown, about 50 miles north of Seattle, in a small, century-old graveyard surrounded by cedars and firs, beside a landmark known as The Little White Church on the Hill.
A recent visit to his grave shortly after the eighth anniversary of his death made clear that he has not been forgotten. His headstone was bedecked with one full-size and more than a dozen miniature American flags, potted plants, flower bouquets, cards and birthday balloons — silent tributes from a proud community.
Hebert's sister, Jessica Cole, described him as mouthy, a jokester, and a "smarty pants." He also had the inner strength, she said, to overcome his childhood fear of heights and volunteer for Army training in parachuting from airplanes. She said he had never been in a plane until he flew to Fort Sill, Okla., to begin basic training in June 2001.
"He would not get on a ladder to change Christmas lights on a two-story building for the life of him," she said in an interview.
He saw the Army as a ticket to a better life.
"He joined pretty much to get out of the little town we grew up in," she said, and for the chance to see the world. She never imagined he would return so soon to be buried by family and frie
Sorry, boys. Kim Kardashian is now married
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian and New Jersey Nets forward Kris Humphries arrive on the red carpet of the Kardashian Kollection Launch Party on Aug. 17, 2011, in Hollywood, Calif.
(AP)
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Kris Humphries has officially caught up with Kim Kardashian. The basketball pro and the reality star are husband and wife.
Kardashian, 30, and Humphries, 26, tied the knot Saturday night in the exclusive Montecito area near Santa Barbara, Calif., Kardashian publicist Jill Fritzo told People magazine and E!
The ceremony will be televised as a two-part special on E! in October.
It is the first marriage for Humphries, who last played for the NBA's New Jersey Nets, and the second for Kardashian, star of E!'s "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." She was married to music producer Damon Thomas from 2000 to 2004.
People and E! reported Kardashian wore an ivory gown designed by Vera Wang. Her stepfather, Bruce Jenner, walked her down the aisle in front of 440 guests, including Demi Lovato, Mario Lopez, Eva Longoria, Sugar Ray Leonard, Alan Thicke and Lindsay Lohan.
Kardashian's gown had a tulle skirt, basque waist and Chantilly lace, and was matched with a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, the media outlets reported. The bride planned to wear two other Wang dresses before the night and the party were over.
Her sisters and TV co-stars Kourtney Kardashian, 32, and Khloe Kardashian, 27, served as co-maids of honor.
The groom wore a white peak lapel tuxedo jacket, black tuxedo pants and, a white shirt and a white bow tie, all designed by Ermenegildo Zegna.
Kardashian and Humphries began dating late last year and announced their engagement in May. He proposed on bended knee with a 20.5-carat ring by spelling out "Will you marry me?" in rose petals.
Since the couple's engagement, the pending nuptials have provided constant fodder for the media and the Kardashians, who posted updates about the wedding on their blogs and websites.
The waves of hype that preceded the ceremony didn't seem to faze the bride. Earlier this week, Kardashian said she was "totally calm" about the much-hyped ceremony.
"I think that freak-out moment kind of already passed," she said at a party Wednesday to launch her new clothing line at Sears.
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