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Whether it is a birthday party, theme party, casual party, corporate party, retirement party, graduation party; party invitations for all occasions are available these days. You can choose from the wide array of styles that suits your need and budget. Casual party invitations are about a pool party or a BBQ invite and can have grills, cocktails and playing cards on the invite. Formal party invitations should be classy and stylish, with good choice of colors.

Graduation invitations are there to celebrate a very important milestone in one’s life and though, you can celebrate high school and kindergarten graduations also, college graduation is the biggest of all, as you are ready to face the exciting career ahead. Graduation invitations should be sent to all the people who you want to share your happiness with. These are sent to people to inform them of your forthcoming graduation with all the information like name, degree, date, time and venue. Customized graduation invitations can have the college or university logo. Invitations for graduation should be given to close people as most colleges have limited seating capacities.

Personalized invitations can be sent on any occasion as it makes a statement about you. Your guests will get the first impression about you and your party from the invitation card.

Renowned contemporary artist Damien Hirst has bought a ‘porn’ portrait of Paris Hilton for an undisclosed amount.Hirst bought the portrait from a fellow British artist, Jonathan Yeo, just before the latter exhibited his new collection porn portraits at a former restaurant supply store in the Bowery, New York on Friday, reports Contactmusic.

Yeo, known for making his artwork from porn magazine images, also features Tony Blair, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Rupert Murdoch as part of the other ‘Outsiders’ exhibition.

Son of the Conservative MP Tim Yeo, the artist plans to give socialite Hilton proceeds from the sale of the portrait as a ‘lighthearted’ gesture.

Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” held tight Wednesday for a second week at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. The hard rock band’s first album in five years sold 337,000 copies in the United States during the week ended September 21, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Warner Bros. release debuted with 490,000 the previous week after just three days of sales. (It was released worldwide on a Friday. Albums usually come out on a Tuesday in the United States, and a day earlier everywhere else.)

New names, familiar ones top poll of 25 young stars

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - They range from big stars like Daniel Radcliffe and Miley Cyrus to relative unknowns such as Gemma Arterton of new James Bond flick “Quantum of Solace,” but one thing they have in common is being young and hot in Hollywood, according to an online poll released on Wednesday. AOL’s Moviefone.com offered its list of top 25 stars under age 25, and among popular celebrities including Oscar-nominated Keira Knightley, 23, and young Dakota Fanning, 14, there were up-and-comers such as Christopher Mintz-Plasse, 19, a.k.a. McLovin of last year’s movie comedy sensation, “Superbad.”

Clay Aiken acknowledges he’s gay

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former “American Idol” contestant Clay Aiken has acknowledged he is gay, confirming in an interview with People magazine what most of his fans have suspected for years. Aiken, 29, a born-again Christian who forged a successful career after being named runner-up in the 2003 “American Idol” television talent show, said he decided to come out after becoming a father in August.

Rekindled Beatlemania greets McCartney in Israel

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Paul McCartney arrived in Israel on Wednesday for an historic concert, flashing a V-sign for peace and making a surprise West Bank visit to the delight of Palestinian fans. “It is me,” McCartney told photographers at a Tel Aviv hotel hours after touching down for one of the biggest rock concerts in the Jewish state that shunned the Beatles 43 years ago as a “corruptive influence.”

Nicholas Sparks finds atmosphere key to romance

LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - Best-selling author Nicholas Sparks, who has seen three of his romantic novels turned into films, celebrates as the third, “Nights in Rodanthe“, hits theaters and this month and a fourth, “Dear John” goes into production in South Carolina in October. “Nights in Rodanthe”, a mid-life love story of two strangers who become stranded together at a seaside inn during a storm, stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane and opens September 26.

Music groups agree online music royalties deal

(Reuters) - Record labels, music publishers, songwriters and online music services have reached an agreement on how to compensate music creators for online distribution of their content, they said. The agreement is designed to settle how the industry calculates royalty rates for limited downloads and music that is streamed online, including when it is provided by subscription and advertising-supported services.

Thurman signs on for “Letters to Santa”

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Uma Thurman and “Law & Order” alum Jesse L. Martin have joined the cast of NBC’s holiday special “Letters to Santa — A Muppets Christmas.” “Letters” is set on a Christmas Eve when Kermit and company mistakenly avert three letters en route to Santa Claus, which triggers a race against time to bring a happy Christmas to the kids whose wishes were lost in the mail.

“Made of Honor” takes the cake on DVD chart

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Two films that grossed about the same at the box office battled it out for the top spot on the national video sales chart, and the one with the significantly lower production budget won. “Made of Honor,” a Sony comedy that earned $46 million in theaters, bowed at No. 1 on the Nielsen VideoScan sales chart for the week ended September 21, while Warner’s “Speed Racer,” which made $43.9 million at the box office, landed at No. 2 on its debut. “Speed Racer” cost an estimated $120 million to make, three times as much as “Made of Honor.”

Affleck eyeing good “Company” of real-life drama

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Ben Affleck is in talks to star in “The Company Men,” and John Wells will direct the timely drama about a man whose life is up-ended by a financial downsizing. Producer Wells is writing the screenplay about a man who is laid off and must cope with the financial consequences and the fallout at home.

Ford to run ad using film from Web contest on NBC

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co on Wednesday will run an ad featuring a short film that won an online competition, reflecting how companies are seeking to cut costs while boosting their brand awareness. The 60 second ad shows two aspiring filmmakers and snippets of their film, “Numskull,” the winner of the “Mustang Stories” short-movie contest run by online video site Filmaka in conjunction with WPP Group Plc’s JWT Team Detroit ad agency and Ford.

In the wake of drought of international cricket in Pakistan after the cancellation of home series against the Aussies in March and then the postponement of ICC Champions Trophy earlier this month, Pakistani cricketers are eagerly waiting for the four-nation T20 tournament in Canada next month.”We haven’t played any competitive cricket in the last several weeks and are itching to get back into action,” said Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik.

Pakistan’s last international outing was in the Asia Cup at home held earlier this summer.

Malik said that he and teammates will be able to warm up for the Canadian assignment by competing in the National Twenty20 Cup in Lahore to be played from October 4-8. “The Twenty20 Cup will provide us an excellent opportunity to regain our form and rhythm before the four-nation event,” The News quoted him as saying.

The all-rounder rejected the impression that the Toronto quadrangular will be a second-grade event because of the participation of cricketing minnows Zimbabwe and Canada.

“Twenty20 is a very unpredictable format and you can’t take any opposition for granted,” said Malik, who led Pakistan to the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 championship in South Africa last September.

Dame Helen Mirren has been named the ‘dream holiday partner’ for men in a new poll.The 63-year-old actress has topped the survey of people attending the TNT Winter Travel Show in London, beating the likes of Britney Spears, Sienna Miller and glamour model Jordan.

Helen, recently, caused a stir while holidaying in Italy after she was pictured on the beach wearing a skimpy red bikini, reports the China Daily.

Later she was voted as having one of the sexiest celebrity stomachs in the world.

In the survey, Brad Pitt was voted women’s dream holiday partner, followed by James Bond star Daniel Craig.

While a large number of people in UK are looking at hot destinations for spending their winter holidays, Kylie Minogue was voted men’s ideal winter travel companion, closely followed by ‘Tomb Raider’ star Angelina Jolie in the survey.

A majority of women like to spend their winter travelling with TV fashion guru Gok Wan, closely followed by England soccer star David Beckham.

The TNT Winter Travel Show will take place this Saturday.

Hollywood actress Liv Tyler has finally broken her silence over her divorce from husband Royston Langdon, saying that she feels “like a crab without a shell” since the split.The ‘Stealing Beauty’ actress whose five-year-old marriage ended up in a divorce admits she feels lost and neurotic without her Brit rocker hubby.

“For the first time in my life, it’s so much harder for me to get up and brush (off) my knees. I am feeling the pain and the loss of everything,” the Sun quoted Tyler, as telling Harper’s Bazaar.

“I don’t feel calm and collected. I feel neurotic, like Woody Allen. I’m a Cancer and sometimes I just feel like a crab without a shell,” she added.

Tyler revealed that she intends to concentrate on motherhood and has no immediate plans to begin dating.

“I’m trying to just take one day at a time and be the best mum I can, but it is a strange time, like walking down the road with nowhere to go. We’ll see where it takes me,” Tyler said.

Just after a day of being declared bankrupt, popstar Kerry Katona is going to shell out 15,000 pounds on a boob job.

The ex- Atomic Kitten singer intends to get a complete makeover, including a boob reduction, liposuction and laser treatment for her stretch marks, which will be filmed for her reality TV programme.

“I’m going to have liposuction because, after four kids, I need it, I’m also going to have a boob reduction” The Daily Star quoted Katona, as saying.

“She will be followed by a camera crew, but she has wanted this for a really long time, regardless of whether it was for TV or not,” a friend of Kerry’s said.

As for the star being declared bankrupt, her spokesperson has said she is “not broke” and her bankruptcy was the result of “accountancy errors”.

“The money is there – she is not broke by any means,” the pal said.

‘Antigone’, the English play directed by Jean Anouilh, brings alive the golden era of Hellenic plays in Gurgaon.

The play is an adaptation of Sophocles’ tragedy by the same title, which focuses on the grim struggle between establishment and individual.

The story is based on a Greek mythological character ‘Antigone’. Antigone, the daughter of fabled Oedipus and Jacoste, defied her uncle, King Creon, by performing funeral rites over her brother, Polynices. Her two brothers kill each other in a single combat over the kingship of their city. Although burial or cremation of the dead is a religious obligation among the Greeks, the king forbids the burial of one of the brothers, for he was considered a traitor.

Antigone, torn between her religious and legal obligations, disobeys the king’s order and buries her brother. She is then condemned to death for her crime.

The play promises some excellent performances, featuring artists like Naseeruddin Shah, Akash Khurana, Benjamin Gilani and Ratna Pathak Shah. The play opens at 7:30pm, at Epicentre in Gurgaon.

“Girls Gone Wild” entrepreneur Joe Francis wants a California court to rescind a settlement he claims a federal judge coerced him into signing.

Francis, who created the popular video series that features young women baring their breasts, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the parents of three underage girls, aiming to vacate an agreement reached in Panama City, Fla., and get his payout returned. The girls were filmed there, and their parents subsequently sued Francis.

He agreed to settle the civil case after U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak jailed him in 2007 for contempt of court.

In Francis’ suit, he accuses Smoak of siding with former law partners to jail Francis and force him to settle on terms favorable to the girls. An attorney from a law firm where Smoak was once a partner represented the girls and their parents.

Smoak declined to comment on Francis’ allegations.

The judge ordered Francis jailed in 2007 after finding him in contempt of court. Attorneys for the girls said Francis yelled obscenities at them during a mediation meeting and refused to settle the case.

Francis now claims he was bulldozed into signing the settlement _by being jailed — and that it should be revoked.

The 35-year-old multimillionaire’s lawsuit states he understood that he “had no choice but to enter into the settlement in order to avoid further incarceration.”

Francis declined to say how much he paid, but described it as “a fortune.” He had previously told The Associated Press that the girls were asking for $70 million.

Robert Barnes, one of Francis’ lawyers, said the lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles because that’s where Francis and his company, Mantra Films Inc., are based.

Francis said his actions are intended to protect average citizens.

“This fight is way bigger than me,” Francis said in an interview after a press conference announcing the lawsuit. “If this stands, this single-handedly undermines the entire civil judicial process in this country.”

Francis, who earns an estimated $29 million a year from the “Girls Gone Wild” series, asked supporters on his Web site to write letters to Congress and seek Smoak’s impeachment.

His defiant tone Tuesday was different from April 2007, when he pleaded guilty to the federal contempt charge, weeping openly in a Panama City courtroom and apologizing for yelling during settlement negotiations.

Francis has been a legal lightning rod. Earlier this year, he pleaded no contest to criminal charges in Panama City to a handful of felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from his 2003 arrest on suspicion of filming underage girls. Francis declared his innocence immediately afterward, saying he entered the plea to get out of jail.

He still faces federal tax evasion charges in Los Angeles and has been sued in Las Vegas for $2 million in gambling debts that Francis claims he has already settled through “prior agreements.”

I know its $55 to get into the Otakon convention, if you pay ahead of time. But it you pay ahead of time are those tickets for the entire 3 days? If not is it possible to get a pass for all the 3 days?

Hi again. Good choice on Otakon ( ^_^ )b

The $55 “membership” for Otakon = 3 day pass. And from the rest of the site, I don’t believe they sell “one day” passes / memberships.

——–Stated in the Otakon FAQ (took some searching)
http://www.otakon.com/faq.asp

“Why is Otakon so expensive?

Expensive? The registration for Otakon would buy two anime DVDs at retail price, perhaps three online if you’re lucky. It’s about the cost of a single-day pass to an amusement park. For that you get three solid days of nearly non-stop entertainment and a wealth of choices.”