Finally!

From http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-11-18-cruise-holmes-wedding_x.htm

BRACCIANO, Italy — That's Mr. and Mrs. TomKat, thank you very much.

In a fairy-tale wedding befitting Hollywood royalty, Tom Cruise, 44, and Katie Holmes, 27, were married Saturday in a 15th-century castle with a guest list that featured the biggest names in entertainment. The evening ceremony was performed by a Scientology minister in front of more than 150 relatives and friends, the couple's publicists said.

Among them: Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. The Roman holiday party also included fellow Scientologists John Travolta and Jenna Elfman, comedian Jim Carrey, actress Brooke Shields, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and filmmaker J.J. Abrams, who directed Cruise in Mission: Impossible III .

The wedding party included Cruise's two children, Isabella,13, and Connor,11, from his previous marriage to Nicole Kidman, the publicists said in a statement. The best man was Cruise's best friend David Miscavige and the matron of honor was Holmes' sister Nancy Blaylock.

Holmes wore a black dress and boots before she changed into an off-the-shoulder Giorgio Armani gown for the ceremony. Her father, Martin Holmes, walked her down the aisle, and she carried a bouquet of flowers made by Armani including calla lilies wrapped in leaves of galax and steelgrass.

Cruise, who sported dark shades and waved to fans as he rode through the castle gates in a van, wore a navy blue, single breasted Armani handmade tuxedo, with an ivory silk French collar shirt of the same fabric as the bride's gown for the wedding.

Armani, who was among the guests, told The Associated Press that Cruise, then Holmes, walked down a stone ramp lined with flag bearers in medieval costumes and to the roll of drums. They exchanged vows in a former stable decorated simply with white flowers.

"For the Americans this was very special, because Americans do not have this kind of thing back home, and they dream of such things in our beautiful country, and you can see the surprise and the awe on their faces," Armani said. He added that the 20-minute ceremony ended with "a never-ending kiss" that prompted some of the guests to shout "stop, stop!"

Italian singer Andrea Bocelli serenaded the couple at the reception and the bride and groom cut a five-tiered white chocolate wedding cake. The ceremony ended weeks of watching and waiting by the world's media, who besieged this small lakeside village (population: 15,500) located 25 miles north of Rome .

Finally?

http://www.theage.com.au/news/people/stars-come-out-to-shine-for-tomkat-wedding/2006/11/17/1163266782068.html

ITALIAN forecasters have predicted rain for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding, but that has not stopped the storm of celebrities, paparazzi and fans gathering near the 16th-century castle where they will say "I do".

Holmes has had the blessing of Cruise's former girlfriend, receiving 100 white roses from actress Penelope Cruz.

The flowers were delivered to what has been dubbed the "TomKat suite" at Rome's sumptuous Hassler Hotel, where the couple are preparing for their Hollywood royalty nuptials, which began yesterday and do not end until mid-afternoon tomorrow.

The flowers are among an Everest of gifts and blooms piling up at their $A7600-per-day suite at the hotel as 500 guests prepare to celebrate the Scientology wedding of Tinseltown's most glittering duo.

George Clooney is on the guest list, as are Jennifer Lopez, Steven Spielberg, Russell Crowe, Brad Pitt, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, and fashion mogul Giorgio Armani.

The Beckhams have been invited but Italian television reported on Thursday that David isn't going because he is playing at Real Madrid on Sunday and it is unclear whether Victoria will attend without him.

Noticeably absent is chat-show queen Oprah Winfrey, whose sofa Cruise leapt about upon almost a year ago to the day to declare his love for Holmes. Winfrey rubbed salt into his PR disaster when she later went on another talk show in America and criticised him for it. But Cruise is not warring with everyone: he famously clashed with Brooke Shields about the use of anti-depressants for nursing mothers, but she is on the guest list.

The wedding is an exercise in Hollywood excess in a small Italian town that has not seen as much excitement since it was liberated by the Allies in World War II. Bracciano's Odescalchi Castle, owned by a genuine princess married to Italy's head of the US General Electric company, is the setting for the nuptials.

Its massive stone walls, which have stood since the 12th century, are now casting shadows across the television vans and satellite dishes of two dozen international broadcasters parked within boiling-oil distance of the ramparts.

The chef from Cruise's favoured Rome restaurant, Il Bolognese, has been hired to do the catering. Artichokes, Florentine beefsteaks and Culatello cured ham are believed to feature on the menu.

more here

Suri!

As shown on CBS, 9/5/06

Vanity Fair and Suri?

The New York Post reported on August 9 that Vanity Fair magazine has landed the first photos of Suri Cruise, the baby born to actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes last April 18 and who has never been seen by the public, although family friend Penelope Cruz says she is "beautiful."

The Post said the pictures were taken by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz and will be published this fall.

A spokeswoman for Vanity Fair had no comment and a spokesman for Leibovitz's studio said, "We know nothing about this. The studio is closed for August." A spokesman for Cruise was not immediately available for comment.

After the Cruise baby was born, Tom and Katie, or TomKat as they are referred to, disappeared from public view, leading to a tabloid outcry as to why the child was not being seen.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt allowed photographs of their daughter, Shiloh, to be taken a mere seven days after her birth and donated the multimillion-dollar fee to charity.

The weekly Star went so far as to publish a made-up composite photograph of Suri Cruise last month and Life&Style countered with a composite drawing, calling the child, "the most famous missing baby on the planet." As the New York Times in July noted in a 1,900-word article on the issue, "The drawing appeared on a poster stamped with one word:, 'Wanted.' "

One serious debate in the magazine industry is just how much a photo of Suri Cruise could fetch. People Magazine was reported to have paid $4 million for photos of the Jolie-Pitt baby although the magazine's editor denied that was an accurate figure.

L. Ron--How To Starve a Baby

Will Tom Make Katie Do This Too?

(I recently rec'd an obscenity-laced e-mail on this article--it's L. Ron Hubbard's opinion--not mine!)

Healthy Babies

Although the modern emphasis on trade for its own sake may have its
points, there is a limit to which it should be pushed. And wrecking a
baby's health, and worrying its mother to an early grave just to coflect
fees should be frowned upon. (Irony)

The prepared food used today is guaranteed to upset a baby. It is a
powdered mess one is supposed to dissolve in water and feed to the baby.

If you ever tasted it, you would agree with the baby. It's terrible.

More than that, it is total carbohydrate and does not contain the
protein necessary to make tissue and bone. It only makes fat. When you see one of these bloated, white, modern babies, know that it is being fed exactly on the doctor's orders: a diet of mixed milk powder, glucose and water, total carbohydrate.

Breast feeding babies may have a nostalgic background, particularly to a Freudian oriented medico, but real breast milk again is usually a poor ration. Modern mothers smoke and sometimes drink. Smoking makes the milk very musty. Anyway, a nervous modern mother just can't deliver the right ration. Maybe it's the pace of the times or the breed, but there are few modern Guernsey-type mothers. So even without drinking or smoking, one should forget breast feeding.

The largest cause of upset in a baby's early life is just rations. As
an old hand at this, I have straightened out more babies who were cross, not sleeping, getting sick and all, than it was easy to keep a record of. These babies were all, just plain hungry. Fed, yeah. But with what? Terrible tasting, high carbohydrate powdered milk solutions, or
skim breast milk from an overworked mother. And the little things were ready to toss in their chips. Some had gone into a stupor and just
didn't care anymore. Some were trying to quit entirely. And they all
recovered and got alert and healthy when they were given a proper
ration.

A ration must contain a heavy percentage of protein. Protein is the
budding block for nerves and bones. A soldier, wounded, will not heal
without heavy protein intake. Ulcers will not get well without a heavy
protein diet being given.

To make brain, bone and tissue, the baby must be given protein. And
from 2 days old to at least 3 years. That makes strong, pretty, alert
babies that sleep well and do well.

When I first tackled this problem, it was a personal matter. I write
from the viewpoint of a father, of course, a profession in which I have
had experience. I had a little boy who was not going to live and 1 had
to act fast (1) to get him out of the hospital and (2) to discover his
trouble and (3) to remedy it. The total time available was less than 24
hours. He was dying.

So (1) 1 got him out of the hospital, helped by a hot temper and a
trifle of promised mayhem. And (2) 1 found he wouldn't or couldn't eat.
And (3) I recalled all my dietary and endocrine studies that 1 studied
in those places the reporters have now agreed I never attended.

Actually I recalled further than that. Roman troops marched on barley.
Barley is the highest protein content cereal. And from a deep past I
called up a formula.

From The Scientology Handbook (1994), Page 529 (halfway down):

Barley Formula for Babies

(Don't use this. Hubbard was crazy and the cult is still nuts.)

The foremost reason a baby doesn't do well is poor rations. And to remedy that, here is a formula one can use:
15 ounces of barley water
10 ounces of homogenized milk
3 ounces of corn syrup (As the Romans had honey, 2 ounces of honey may be used instead of corn syrup, if desired. Do not use lactose [a sugar found in milk, used in infant foods] as a substitute.) The amount of syrup should be varied - depending on the baby - some like it weak - some take it stronger.

This formula can be multiplied by any number according to the number of bottles desired but the ratio remains the same.

To make the barley water, put about a half cup of whole barley in a piece of muslin, tie loosely to allow for expansion. It is slowlyboiled in a covered, bented pot not made of aluminum for 61/2 (Note: six and a half -Chris) hours in about 4 pints of water. (In venting the pot, one allows steam to escape either through a vent build in the lid [if there is one] by placing the cover slightly askew so there is an opening between the cover and pot.) Barley water will turn very, very pink. This gives about the right consistency of barley water for making the formula as above.

You don't feed the baby the actual barley, only the water mixed with the milk and corn syrup, in the ratio as given in the formula above.

Do not add anything else to this formula, such as vitamins or cream "to make the formula more nutritious." The formula is as laid out above.

Use this formula and have healthier babies!

Use this formula and starve your baby!

Katie to Tom: No Scientology Ritual at Birth

by Jennifer Cox 2/17/06
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27263554.shtml

The fabulous Katie Holmes has reportedly declared to Tom Cruise that she will not allow Scientologists to commandeer her newborn at birth a published report details. Mike Walker gives an account that reports that Katie is hysterical over the possibility of a Scientology birth ritual that is reportedly called "Processing of a New Mother." In his Enquirer 'All the Gossip" weekly feature Walker claims that Katie is nervous over the fact that the baby will be controlled by the sects handlers.

The process is described in the article as a "bizarre ritual that separates mother and child for three days allowing only minimal contact." Katie told Tom that she will reject this and told the star actor and Scientologist never to speak of this again.

Reps for Tom deny the story. Reps for Katie did not comment. But it appears that as the birth gets closer, Katie is seven to eight months preggers, the reports and speculation of the birth and the relationship to follow are going to ramp up. Katie and Tom are in Australia smiling for the cameras, and are putting a brave face on the rumors and innuendo.

Pregnant? That'd Be A First For Tommy AND Katie

It would appear that Katie Holmes is pregnant--how far along*, no one in the Cruise Publicity Megapolis will say--but if this is true it's the first time Tom Cruise has (admittedly) impregnated a woman. Well, guess he proved something, huh?

(From this picture*, she looks about 6 months. Maybe that's why she disappeared in April, hm? To get preggers?)

From E! Online--'News of the joint production was first trumpeted Wednesday afternoon by People magazine. Lee Anne DeVette, Cruise's publicist and sister, and the Cruise-Holmes spawn's future aunt, confirmed the pregnancy to E!

"They are so happy," DeVette said of the expectant parents.

There was no word on when the child, the couple's first, was due.

Cruise, 43, who once successfully sued a German magazine that claimed he had a "zero sperm count," is the father of two children, Isabella, 12, and Connor, 10, both of whom he adopted with second wife Nicole Kidman.

Holmes, 26, who, per a 2003 London Sunday Mirror profile, once pledged to "remain a virgin until marriage," is a rookie in the world of dydees.

Even in fast-moving celebrity circles, where Renee Zellweger can go from newlywed to awaiting an annulment in four months, Cruise and Holmes have evolved at lightning speed.

Before April, when the duo began making very public displays of affection, it seemed unlikely that Hollywood's reigning box-office king would ever share a handshake, much less a clinch on the red carpet, with the onetime Dawson's Creek TV star.

Maybe She's Waking Up...?

From STAR Magazine

WILL KATIE BE TOM'S RUN AWAY BRIDE?

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes seemed to be flying high — as high, at least, as the top of the Eiffel Tower, where Tom proposed to her on June 17. But now, sources are telling Star, Hollywood's newest golden couple may be coming down to planet Earth. Cracks have appeared in their veneer of perfect happiness and Katie might be having second thoughts. "I think Katie is getting cold feet," a friend of Holmes tells Star. "She must be wishing she and Tom could slow down their race to the altar while they get to know each other better."

WEDDING DAY PLANS
Despite their respective reps' insistence that the couple is still in a state of never-ending bliss, sources tell Star that TomKat's public love-a-thon has been tempered by to a war of wedding plans. A source close to Katie, 26, says the actress has always "dreamed of getting married in front of childhood friends and family members in [her hometown] of Toledo, Ohio." But Tom, 43, who has been married twice before (to Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman), prefers a low-key affair.

"He wants to keep the ceremony small," adds the insider, "inviting only a few family members and close Scientology friends."

And although Katie has gone on record expressing her interest in Scientology, it's apparently becoming a sticking point in the couple's wedding plans. The actress apparently wants a Roman Catholic priest at their wedding out of respect for her parents, Martin Sr., a lawyer, and Kathy, a homemaker — both of whom are devout Catholics. "She probably feels that would make her parents happy," reveals the source.

But Tom, who was raised Catholic and is now a devout Scientologist, probably doesn't feel a need to have the blessing of the Catholic Church when he says "I do," adds the insider. He also wants to hold the wedding in a Scientologist-friendly location, according to the source, such as the Scientology Celebrity Center in Los Angeles or aboard the Scientology yacht, "where they can have some privacy."

Then there's the seemingly growing gulf between Tom and Katie's family, possibly due to the fact that the actor hasn't visited her siblings back in Toledo. "I bet Katie is ticked off that Tom hasn't spent any time getting to know her family," the source says. "And her brother, Martin Jr., and her sisters have yet to meet their future brother-in-law. (Although Tom's rep admits that the actor hasn't met Katie's siblings yet, she says the actor has spoken to his future brother and sisters-inlaw "many times" on the phone and they have plans to meet up in L.A. soon.)

KATIE'S ON TOM TIME
Tom seemingly insists that Katie restrict herself to his inner circle, most of whom are Scientologists. "Tom wants Katie to spend most of her free time by his side" says the source. "But I think she'd rather have a break from the media glare" and head back home to Toledo, where she can visit her mother, Kathy, who recently won a battle with cancer.

And then there's Tom's infamous TV confrontation with the Today show's Matt Lauer, which didn't sit well with the senior Holmeses. According to one source, it almost caused a mini-blow-up between Katie's father, Martin Sr., and his son-in-law-to- be at The Carlyle hotel in Manhattan while the family was in town for the War of the Worlds NYC premiere. "Martin questioned Tom on his beliefs about psychiatry," says another source. "Tom apparently got excited while explaining Scientology and questioning Catholicism, even pointing out the failure of psychiatry. Naturally, this would upset the Holmeses."

WHAT'S THE RUSH?
Finally, it all comes back to the issue of Tom and Katie's wedding. "Katie doesn't exactly want to call off the wedding completely," says her friend. "She'd probably just be a lot happier if it wasn't happening so quickly!" However, the friend also adds: "Katie is a smart girl, and she could very well wake up one morning and decide that being with a man nearly twice her age is just not something she wants to do. She could become a real-life runaway bride."

It's Worse Than You Thought

from www.style.com

The statistics on arranged marriage are surprising. In every country where it is still common practice, including Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Iran and, to a lesser extent, Japan, an arranged marriage has a higher success rate than a so-called "love marriage."

It's impossible to say what this augurs for Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. Of course, theirs isn't an arranged marriage-though it was certainly arranged quickly. The awesomely public couple had all of six weeks, during much of which Holmes was on the Batman Begins junket, to decide that they loved each other, that they wanted to spend their lives together and that they would buck Hollywood convention, to say nothing of common sense, and sing their joy from the mountaintops (or from flashbulb-blitzed press conferences, red carpets and vastly popular TV talk shows). Arranged marriages are measured, often solemn affairs; the fist-pumping pomp of the Cruise-Holmes union is another story. And the more times Holmes tells it, the stranger it sounds.

"I've found the man of my dreams," says the 26-year-old actress, sitting in a bathrobe as a manicurist paints her nails the color of kryptonite and a stylist teases her hair into wavelets in preparation for her W photo shoot. It's 8 a.m., and Holmes looks astonishingly fresh for a woman who taped several television shows the previous day before heading back to Cruise's New York apartment, putting on her sweatpants and UGG slippers, and settling in for a late movie with her sweetheart. "From the moment I met him," she continues, "it just felt like I'd known him forever. I was blown away. He's the most incredible man. He's so generous and kind, and he helps so many people, and, um, he makes me laugh like I've never laughed, and he's a great friend...."

This is how the conversation begins; this is also how it continues, and how it ends. No question can do much to change its course. Do you worry that this might be a rebound romance for either of you? "I've never met anyone like Tom," Holmes replies, her beautiful green eyes focused on nothing in particular. Do you ever wonder whether this is just a honeymoon phase? "Tom and I will always be in our honeymoon phase."

Did you learn anything in your previous relationship (five years with actor Chris Klein, which came to an end when they called off their engagement this past winter) that has been a benefit to this one?

"Chris and I care about each other and we're still friends. Tom is the most incredible man in the world."

Do you feel that, with more relationship experience, you get better at resolving conflicts?

"Meeting Tom-I'm just exhilarated. He makes me laugh, we have fun, we understand each other, everything is so aligned. I feel so lucky and so-like I've been given such a gift, such a gift, you know?" She pauses. "And it's just really amazing."

If Holmes were actually answering the questions posed-rather than simply reciting the same mantralike love letter-she'd be making a somewhat provocative point: Her relationship is not like other relationships, with their conflicts, compromises and complications there will be no apology flowers, nights spent on the couch or couples therapy for these two (as a practicing Scientologist, Cruise strongly disapproves of psychiatry).

Is there anything you guys don't have in common?

"You know, we appreciate each other."

Has it been a challenge to make his kids feel comfortable?

"They're just exceptional people."

Isn't it an adjustment to move in with someone-and after only a month? (In late May, Holmes packed up her apartment in Hollywood's El Royale complex and moved into Cruise's Beverly Hills manse.)

"He's the man of my dreams."

Does he leave his dirty socks on the bedroom floor? Something? Anything?

"No."

The lady doth protest not nearly enough. It's impossible, even for a moment, to slip under the halo of cartoon hearts dancing around Holmes's head-which partly explains why the media has so relished the project of puncturing her happiness ever since it was first broadcast,from the David di Donatello awards in Rome, on April 29. (Even People magazine, a typically unwavering Hollywood celebrant, has published polls indicating that the majority of its readers believe "TomKat" is a hoax.) Though Holmes's star has surely risen, its motion is more akin to the teacup ride at the fairground: a spin that brings queasiness, not thrills.

Anyone who has seen photos from the couple's June tour of European capitals in support of their summer movies will recognize the tall, cold-eyed Jessica Rodriguez, a third wheel at all of Holmes's recent public appearances. Rodriguez, 29, was described to me as Holmes's "Scientologist chaperone," and it was clear that she would be on hand during our interview despite my protests. Polite and restrained but alert to troublesome questions, Rodriguez chimes in only to offer an amen following one of Holmes's rhapsodies. ("You adore him," Rodriguez says after the actress explains that she can't keep her hands off Cruise.) But she rises from her chair when Holmes is asked how she feels about the widespread disbelief in her new union.

"The truth is, we don't read that stuff because it's just rude," Rodriguez says-referring to rumors that Cruise made a financial arrangement with Holmes (after auditioning a field of other young starlets, including Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Alba and Kate Bosworth). When I suggest that the televised hyperbolizing of their happiness may have undercut its credibility, Rodriguez asks, "Have you ever been in love? you just want to share it with the world." I suggest that many couples prefer to cherish the feeling privately, especially in the delicate first months. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, whatever the nature of their relationship, come to mind.

"But why can't they go public, you know what I mean?" Rodriguez continues. "Like, Brad and Angelina-that's just a shame for them. Right, Katie?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'm just so happy," Holmes says in reply as a makeup artist begins to powder her cheeks. (Holmes's skin, in contrast to the evidence of a recent barrage of embarrassing tabloid photos, is perfect.) "And I love celebrating our happiness. I can't keep it in."

Meanwhile, the tabloids report that friends back in Toledo, Ohio, where Holmes grew up, are worried about her. ("People who say that aren't my friends," she says.) They wonder whether Cruise is sabotaging her career by steering her away from roles that deal with subject matter that Scientology disapproves of?in particular, the role of the drug-addled Edie Sedgwick in George Hickenlooper's upcoming FactoryGirl, which Holmes pulled out of. "Tom's so supportive and he's such an inspiration," she protests.

"I just felt that the role wasn't right for me, and in light of my Batman Begins schedule and everything, it was just not the right time. When I pick roles, I ask, first, Is this a story that I want to tell? Can I help move this story along, and will I be an asset to it? I'm excited to keep expanding and finding different roles to play." What about a film with Cruise? "That would be such an honor. Such an honor."

Cruise may not be imposing his will on Holmes's career, but, with Rodriguez's help, he appears to have made a strong bid for her soul. After the interview, when I ask Rodriguez how long she's worked with Holmes-reports call her a longtime employee of the Church of Scientology-she waves her hand and says, "Oh, no, we're just best friends.... Well, Katie has a lot of friends." And how long have you been friends? "Oh, a while," Rodriguez answers. "I don't know."

It turns out the two women were introduced only six weeks earlier-right around the time when Holmes met Cruise. (Holmes prefers to keep the details of the couple's first date to herself, but Cruise is said to have invited her to a sushi dinner on his plane.) Rodriguez comes from a family of wealthy Bay area Scientologists; she attended a boarding school in Oregon linked to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, then went to work for the church, reportedly attaining membership in the Sea Org-Scientology's elite religious order, whose members commit to the church for one billion years-in 1998. No one close to Holmes will venture to say exactly what Rodriguez's role in the actress's life is these days.

On the day we meet, Holmes tells me she's not a Scientologist. (Three days later, in Europe, she will announce that she has converted.) "You know, it's really exciting," the actress says of the religion. "I just started auditing"-Scientology's word for receiving spiritual counseling-"and I'm taking some courses, and I really like it. I feel it's really helping. What I like about it is that, you know, I was raised Catholic, and you can be a Catholic and a Scientologist, Jewish and a Scientologist." Holmes went to Notre Dame Academy, a Catholic high school in Toledo, and was accepted at Columbia University before she landed the role of the lovelorn tomboy Joey Potter on Dawson's Creek. Her parents, devout Catholics, are said to be a weekly fixture at Christ the King church in Toledo. "I'm learning," Holmes says, as the makeup artist applies eye shadow, "to celebrate my own spirit, my own being."

No pressure from Cruise, she swears: "That's really ludicrous because, I mean, you have to know Tom. He is the most loving, generous man who... first of all, he wants to help people. He doesn't put pressure on people. He is the kindest, smartest, most adoring man. It's a pleasure and a privilege to be with him."

As if that weren't already perfectly clear, just then a security guard lumbers into the dressing room and presents Holmes with a giant silver box tied in a thick purple ribbon. A small crowd gathers to watch her gleefully tear open the package and pluck out a Chanel diamond necklace-a gift, naturally, from Cruise. "He's my man! He's my man!" she screams, then jumps up on her chair to do an impression of her fiancé's now-famous sofa shtick from Oprah.

People begin to cheer. "This is your moment!" cries the manicurist.

"I can do splits too," Holmes says, jumping down and splaying herself across the floor. On that note, I suggest, we should probably get the photo shoot started.

"On that note," she replies, "I love him."

"Holmes Sweet Holmes" by Robert Haskell has been edited for Style.com; the complete story appears in the August 2005 issue of W.