Los Angeles Times Staff Writer - Rick Nicita, a veteran Hollywood agent whose longtime clients include Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, is leaving the agency business after 42 years to become a movie executive.

A partner at Creative Artists Agency, where he spent nearly three decades, Nicita has been named co-chairman and chief operating officer of Morgan Creek Productions, a movie company founded by James Robinson that in recent years has struggled to produce hits.

In his new job, Nicita too will be under pressure to turn around Morgan Creek, which in the late 1980s and early '90s was behind such hits as the "Ace Ventura" comedies starring

The Stamford Times - Norwalk, CT, USA - During this season's edition of Bravo TV's "Top Chef," contestant Stephanie Izard had to conceptualize and bake an elaborate wedding cake in 24 hours, butcher an entire pig to create food for a garden party and reinvent duck a l'orange for celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito.

But it was the final challenge in Puerto Rico that the Stamford-born Izard will remember best, for it was there that she was named the winner of the fourth edition of the popular reality show, becoming the first woman to achieve the honor.

"I'm very excited to win. It's very exciting to represent women of course, but

Swimnetwork.com - Calais, ME, USA - While almost everyone has at least something small to complain about in their daily lives, 2000 Olympic gold and silver medalist Ed Moses is mingling at celebrity-filled parties, the Super Bowl, top-dollar golf tournaments or, when it’s really time to relax, kicking back at home in Florida, pool side, with the air conditioning on. But don’t paint this picture the wrong way, because the pool is purely for décor; Ed isn’t swimming.

The aquatic sport that brought him a great deal of notoriety certainly still holds a special place in his heart, these days Moses is hitting the links with aspirations

PR.com (press release) - Levittown, NY, USA - As people monitor their wallets more closely and are generally busier than ever, there is an increased value in finding cost effective and time saving solutions to any number of things, including premarital counseling. This, in conjunction with the upswing of the popularity of downloadable eBooks, means great timing for the availability of a premarital counseling workbook (eBook) that couples can buy online, download and print for use in a very short amount of time.

Therapy-At-Home Workbooks™: Premarital Counseling is the first in a series of planned workbooks on a number of individual and relationship therapy topics by Marriage and Family

BuddyTV - Seattle, WA, USA - Big Brother 9 had an interesting final 6. I'm wouldn't go so far as to say that they were unlikable, but speaking honestly, they weren't really my cup of tea.  They made the Big Brother house an interesting place, for sure, but never once did I think “Man, I'd love to hang out with those guys.”  One thing that I've noticed in this “Where are they now?” series is that almost all former Big Brother contestants seem to have a big “fan base.”  It's hard to imagine why.  But, they do.  And, the Big Brother house guests love playing to

Rolling Stone - USA - Less than a week after winning American Idol, David Cook is sitting in a glitzy restaurant on the south tip of Manhattan's Central Park. The chef, who proudly says he was among the 55 million who phoned in a vote for Cook during Idol's finals, presents the singer with an off-the-menu treat — foie gras on toast — that leaves Cook unnerved. "That looks dangerous," he says. "I'm a little scared." Tossing the bite-size morsel in his mouth, he chews slowly and quickly lunges for his Sprite to drown out the taste. Later, when the chef returns with a delicate

redbankgreen - Red Bank, NJ, USA - Who wouldn't want to be Gomez Addams? Always looking your best, never bored, never having to work. Living a life centered around romance and hobbies in a houseful of strange creatures, explosives and drawers full of cash.

As personified by John Astin in the classic 1960s sitcom The Addams Family, Gomez was a virile lover of both life and death — unflappable, full of savoir faire (Tish! You spoke French!), and a far different character than the sketchy, nameless little figure who appeared in the panel cartoons by Charles Addams. His performance was in fact the template for all Addams projects

Nashua Telegraph - Nashua, NH, USA - Chris Romano began his association with Sarah Silverman by being the butt of her jokes.

The event was the Channel 101 – or Channy – Awards, a festival acknowledging the best in short films on the Internet.

At the Los Angeles ceremony, Romano found himself being dissed left and right by Silverman.

“She was making fun of me in the jokes. I didn’t even know her,” said Romano, a Nashua native and 1996 graduate of Nashua High School.

He was introduced to her at the end of the show.

“I was the guy you were making fun of,” Romano said to Silverman.

“Oh, nice to meet

Market Wire (press release) - USA - --  New book authored by noted management experts C.K. Prahalad and M.S.
Krishnan explores Ramco's "co-creation" approach to delivering operational
change-on-demand enterprise technology solutions
--  Ramco-sponsored roadshow and roundtable events kick off today in Chicago with       address by co-authors Prahalad and Krishnan

Ramco Systems, Inc., the U.S. enterprise technology arm of the global technology company Ramco Group, today announced that it is the technology sponsor of the InformationWeek New Age of Innovation Executive Roundtable Roadshow. The roadshow tour of five U.S. cities starts today in Chicago. The roadshow is built around the findings of the recently released business strategy book entitled "The New Age

TexasSports.com - USA - Former University of Texas point guard D.J. Augustin is in New York City preparing for Thursday night's NBA Draft. A sure-fire first-round pick and possible lottery selection in the upcoming draft, Augustin will look to make it three consecutive years that a Longhorn has been taken among the Top 14 picks (LaMarcus Aldridge, No. 2 in 2006; Kevin Durant, No. 2 in 2007).

Augustin earned both consensus first-team All-America honors and first-team Academic All-America accolades in his sophomore season, becoming just the 15th player in NCAA history to earn both in the same year. The fifth player in UT history to

BuddyTV - Seattle, WA, USA - Big Brother 9 will soon be a distant memory.  Reality TV is all about the moment.  It lacks nostalgia.  As soon as the new season of Big Brother begins, we'll all (for the most part) forget about the sixteen house guests on Big Brother 9 and focus our attention on the shiny new Big Brother 10 players.  There's nothing wrong with this, from an vi