Nominated for 5 Golden Globes and 7 Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Million Dollar Baby opened to widespread critical acclaim and excellent audience reviews. Director Clint Eastwood, whose career spans multiple decades in Hollywood, creates perhaps his greatest film to date, and co-stars Morgan Freeman (Shawshank Redemption) and Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry) light up the screen with their deft character portrayals and unique charisma. Combining all the inspiration of Rocky with all the drama of a Greek tragedy, Million Dollar Baby is well-deserved of its Best Picture victory (despite the many protests of competing directors who think Eastwood won based on nostalgia for his heralded career and his personal likeability)…

Million Dollar Baby focuses on tough-skinned boxing manager Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood), proprietor of a local training gym who has long been estranged from his lone daughter and seems to have only one friend of note - Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris (Morgan Freeman). Eddie lives in and helps manage the gym, and he was once one of Frankie’s fighters. With Big Willie Little (Mike Colter, who once appeared in ER) under Frankie’s management, the gym hosts the daily workouts of a legitimate heavyweight title contender. But Frankie’s reluctance to move Big Willie along prompts him to switch to a less conservative manager, and Frankie must watch his years of hard work pay off for someone else. Meanwhile, 30-something Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) has scraped together the pennies and nickels necessary to train at the gym on a daily basis. Despite Frankie’s advice to quit making a fool of herself, she borrows equipment from Eddie and works out until all hours of the night…

With Big Willie out of the picture, Frankie finally confronts Maggie and agrees to train her. Over time, the two develop a close relationship akin to father/daughter. Maggie rises in the ranks of the female circuit until she reaches the title fight where a cheap sucker punch leads to tragic consequences… With emotional depth and colorful characters, Million Dollar Baby brings one of the most controversial issues of modern society into the forefront for an up-close-and-personal glimpse of the conflict and struggle experienced by trauma victims and their loved ones. Hilary Swank’s Oscar winning performance is on full display, and Morgan Freeman is his usual mesmerizing presence…

In the end, Million Dollar Baby beat out a number of excellent films in order to claim the Oscar for Best Picture - Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways, and The Aviator (which prompted director Martin Scorsese to flee the awards ceremony in a huff). A case could be made for each of these fine films, but needless to say, Million Dollar Baby’s victory is highly indicative of the film’s enduring value. Each of the main characters comes across as likeable, the relationships as believable, and the storyline as inspirational and stirring. Million Dollar Baby is one of those rare films that stays in your head for hours on end long after you’ve walked out of the theater. Its subject matter is serious fodder for debate, and few viewers will fail to develop a strong emotional connection to Eastwood, Swank, and Freeman as they spring to life on the big screen. Quite simply, Million Dollar Baby is one of the best films of the decade and one you won’t want to miss…

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Million Dollar Baby (DVD).

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Why was the ABC show Dancing With the Stars, which pulled 22.4 million viewers for its final episode on February 26, 2006 so popular?

Star power was one reason.

From suave thespian George Hamilton, long-legged pro wrestler Stacy Keibler, and soap opera actress Lisa Rinna to NFL great Jerry Rice, rap mogul Master P and the winner, entertainer Drew Lachey, the show’s celebrity quotient was high. Pairing celebs to train and dance with world class ballroom dancers in front of a studio audience was a novel idea playing off the allure of competition and the reality show craze.

Another reason the program is a hit is audience interaction, as with American Idol. The show’s judges have a say, but audience votes via telephone were worth half of the votes.

Executive producer Conrad Green, quoted on ABC’s 20/20, identified yet another basis for the high ratings: “People love to see partner’s dancing.”

The surge in swing dancing since the ’90s is proof that Green’s claim is true. Couples swirling, twirling and swinging in tandem to music reprises a duet as old as Adam and Eve.

The 2004 film Shall We Dance?, starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez added fuel to current dance vogue, and the documentary Mad Hot Ballroom (2005), which follows a group of New York City students as they compete for a dancing title, helped people across the nation become aware of this wonderful art. On April 7, 2006 New Line Cinema releases Take the Lead, a dramatization of the same story as the documentary, starring Alfre Woodard, and Antonio Banderas in the role of ballroom instructor and competitor Pierre Dulaine.

Perhaps parents witnessing their children dancing solo to today’s popular music released nostalgia for truly social dancing as with the ballroom and Latin American styles featured on Dancing With the Stars and the films above. This is true not just in the United States; the North American version of the series was based on the BBC’s international smash, Strictly Come Dancing.

A pent-up appreciation for the good old-fashioned romance of couple’s dancing is my bet as another ground for the surprisingly vast viewership of such dance series’ around the world. The Waltz, Tango, Rumba, Samba and the Fox Trot all accentuate the eroticism of partner dancing, the drama of courtship and coupling demonstrated in the course of the dances.

Social dancing spotlights the sensual interplay between a man and a woman, and romance is like a pas de deux between two lovers, with playful turns, slow dips and twists of coy and assertive conversation joined with shimmying hip moves timed to the freestyle rhythms of passion and desire.

Couple’s dancing enhances non-verbal communication between partners, and many relationships begin with the question: May I have this dance? The sensuality of such dancing also serves to keep excitement and verve in the lives of long-term life mates.

So, vote for your romance today by taking a ballroom dance class offered in your town or city. After just a few lessons, you may find that you’re dancing with your star!

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the byline is included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Greg Thomas is a long-time writer and editor who co-founded http://www.VoicesofRomance.com, a site to enhance the dance of your love life and strengthen relationships via audio love poems, romantic gifts, and romance tips and secrets.

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We couldn’t have asked for a better more cost effective way to market a product or service than the Internet. The beauty of how the Internet is tied together is the search engines.

With the search engines comes a focused way to market to potential customers. When it all boils down you need to set up your seo tactics so your page is working for and with the search engines as well as your customers.

Following the search engine optimization standards is just good business both for the search engines and for the quality of your page as well.

They don’t require these things just for the heck of it.

Your marketing power where search engines are concerned is based a lot on how tight your seo practices are.

If you do everything right you still will have a bit of a struggle to get to the top but since this marketing game is always being one step ahead of the next guy you always have your shot to beat someone out.

Getting your marketing practices down so your making the search engines algorithm happy as well as your customers and you don’t necessarily have to be the first site on the list to get really good rankings.

Getting to the first page is good enough, and is a pretty nifty feat as well!

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You probably think Mary-Kate and Ashley are so famous stars that you don’t have anything in common. But you have even more in common than you could ever suppose!

“We do the same things as many other teens”, says Mary-Kate. “We go to school, go shopping, meet friends, and have a rest.”

“Our friends and teacher communicate with us as with ordinary teens”, agreed Ashley.

Girls go for a walk, wait for new films’ release and enjoy listening to music. They learn to play the piano but refuse to play football. They sometimes have failures at school and with boys. They like N’Sync’s songs and go at concerts with friends.

Mary-Kate and Ashley were born on June 13, 1986 (Ashley is 2 minutes older). They grew at the suburb of Los-Angeles with their brother Trent; he is 2 years older and their sister Elizabeth. She is 3 years younger. Their parents are divorced and children had to divide for some time to be sometimes with mother and sometimes with father. Their father Dave is a broker. Their mother Jarnette performs with ballets in Los-Angeles.

“Trent is a typical elder brother”, said Kate. “He helps us with homework, likes to be our observer and looks after us. But he teases us all the time! He draws very well and goes for sport. He plays football, baseball and basketball. And he also likes computer games very much”.

“Lizzie is our younger sister. She does everything by herself and so she is very independent. She likes to act plays at school. And she began to learn actor’s skill professionally”.

Besides Mary-Kate and Ashley have small sister and brother from the second marriage of their father with Mackenzie Olsen. Tailor is 2 and a half years old and Jake is one and a half year old.

“It’s great when there are small children because you can play with them”, says Ashley. “We always help our father to look after children”
They have their own fashion line, but what styles do they prefer?

“None”, says Mary-Kate. “I like eclecticism when everything is mixed.” And Ashley says “I wear not only the latest fashion. Sometimes I put on things that were in vogue 2 years ago. The main thing is that my clothes should suit my mood at that moment”.

They are often asked about their similarities and differences. How do people distinguish them?

“It’s very simple”, says Mary-Kate. “I have a little mole on my right cheek and Ashley has the same but on her chin. I’m a lefthander and Ashley is normal.”

The whole twins’ life…

1986

June, 13. Hello the world! Mary-Kate and Ashley were born in Los-Angeles in the family of loved parents Jarnie and Dave Olsen.

1987

February. 7-month old Mary-Kate and Ashley went to the first interview to get the role of Michelle Tanner in the serial “Full House”.
September. “Full House” is started to shoot in Los-Angeles. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen started to act the role of Michelle Tanner in the serial that soon should have appeared on ABC channel. Interesting fact; Mary-Kate played funny scenes and Ashley played more serious.

1992

June. Mary-Kate and Ashley played in their first movie “To Grandmother’s House We Go”.

Interesting fact; While the film was shooting in Canada Mary-Kate has gone a horse-riding for the first time and became a fan of this sport.
September. Ashley lost her first milk-tooth and four month later Mary-Kate lost her too.

1993

April. Mary-Kate and Ashley released their first music video “Our first video”.

November. An investigation agency “Olsen and Olsen” was opened! Mary-Kate and Ashley played private detectives and laid bare the truth as “The Trench coat Twins” in new serial “The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley”. At the time the first series of their book was published.

1994

September. “You are invited on Mary-Kate and Ashley…” This serial began from “Party with lodging for the night”.

December. Mary-Kate and Ashley celebrate Christmas on cruise abroad on a military ship and shoot the video “The Case of the Mystery Cruise”.

1995

June. Caribbean cruise abroad on submarine with friends and fans.

July. Mary-Kate and Ashley play with dolphins and even met gangsters while playing in video “The Case Of The Sea World Adventure”.

October. In the space! Almost. Mary-Kate and Ashley at NASA space camp with their father and elder brother Trent to perform in video “The Case of the U.S Space Camp Mission”. They are in the space simulator and meet an astronaut.

October. Mary-Kate and Ashley lost their front teeth in Florida together.

December. Mary-Kate got her first pony and called him “CD”.

1996

April. Mary-Kate and Ashley act in their first movie, that was shown in cinema “Both I and My Shadow”. Also appeared Kirsty Elli and Steve Guttenberg.
July. Hawaii holidays! Mary-Kate and Ashley study surfing. Mary-Kate and Ashley got the reward Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice for their roles in the film “Both I and My Shadow”.

1997

February. Learn how to ski! Mary-Kate and Ashley go to Weil, Colorado and act in video “Christmas party”.

Spring. Queens of cosmetics! Mary-Kate and Ashley start experimenting with lipstick, tone and mascara.

November. Mary-Kate and Ashley take part in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New-York. They are having a ride on Jell-O’s platform.

1998

August. Entertainments on cruise to Florida, holidays on Magic Disney ship with their family, friends and fans.

September. New serial “Two Of A Kind” started on ABC channel. Interesting fact; girls played characters who had names Mary-Kate and Ashley, but their surname was Berk.

1999

September. Mary-Kate and Ashley went to eighth form and joined cheer-leaders.

October. Internet! Mary-Kate and Ashley open their own site mary-kateandashley.com

June. Mary-Kate and Ashley made their first journey to Europe and play in a new film “The passport to Paris”. Interesting fact; They have kissed guys on the screen for the first time.

2000

May. Toys! Dolls Mary-Kate and Ashley Mattel. They are a real hit!

April. Mary-Kate and Ashley go to Australia and play in a new film “Our lips are sealed!”

October. A month in Great Britain, shooting the film “Winning London”

September, 25 Mary-Kate and Ashley visited their first big concert in Los-Angeles and saw Counting Crows.

2001

January. Fashion! Mary-Kate and Ashley put on sale their own fashion line Wal-Mart.

June. New serial “Twins”. Premiere on Fox Family channel.

August. Hollywood Reporter Magazine called Mary-Kate and Ashley “Most Powerful Young Women in Hollywood”.

October. Mary-Kate and Ashley got a permission to education with California Department of Motor Vehicles.

October. Animation! “Mary-Kate and Ashley in action!”

November. Mary-Kate and Ashley on the Caribbean Islands. They performed in the movie “Holiday in the Sun”

Summer. Start dancing.

2002

February. Mary-Kate and Ashley ski in Deep Valley, Utah while acting in the film “Getting there”

Summer. The end of academic year in high school! They prepare to entering a college.

April. Italy! Mary-Kate and Ashley travel in Italy and act in a new film “When in Rome”, which was released at the end of the year.

June. Mary-Kate and Ashley devote much time to ending the high school.

June, 13 Sweet 16!

8:00 Mary-Kate and Ashley had an exam to got the best gifts - driving licenses. They spent all day with friends and family.

September. A new video is shooting probably on holidays in Pacific Ocean!

What’s next? Many Mary-Kate and Ashley’s adventures.

Visit our Olsen Twins FunClib! Articles, blog, photos, screensaver… all about Mary-Kate and Ashley!

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Nominated for 3 Golden Globes and 12 Emmys, including two by Della Reese for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Touched By An Angel built a sizeable and loyal audience with its upbeat themes and inspirational storylines. The brainchild of John Masius, creator of Providence (1999) and writer for such hit series as St. Elsewhere (1982) and LA Law (1986), Touched By An Angel follows in the footsteps of Michael Landon’s successful series Highway To Heaven, which chronicled the exploits of a single angel who wandered across the United States providing support for lost souls in need of aid. Touched By An Angel is quite similar, but the series uses multiple angels to achieve its purpose. Like Highway To Heaven the series utilizes a contemporary setting and modern problems, allowing the show reach a broad audience who enjoy its themes of love, hope, and redemption…

Touched By An Angel follows the exploits of several angels sent to Earth as “caseworkers” so as to bring God’s message of love, peace, and hope to the distressed people of the world. When the series begins, Monica (Roma Downey) is a novice caseworker still in training (having just been promoted from “search & rescue”). Assisting Monica, and a caseworker in her own right, is Tess (Della Reese) who lends the wisdom of her many years of experience in dealing with the problems afflicting humanity at large. Together, these two angels interact with people on Earth, easing the burden of each soul with which they come into contact. In later seasons, Monica and Tess would be joined by Andrew (John Dye), the Angel of Death who also fills in as a caseworker to help lighten the load, and in the final two seasons (2001-2003), Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli) would join the trio as a regular recurring angel character… Overall, Touched By An Angel filled a desperately unmet need along the TV programming landscape. With much of today’s programming fixated on sex, violence, and “reality,” the hour-long CBS drama provided deeply probing family-oriented content which always left its viewers with a positive and upbeat feeling…

The Touched By An Angel (Season 2) DVD features a number of touching episodes including the season premiere “Interview with an Angel” in which Monica is given the task of granting an interview to a journalist writing a piece on human encounters with angels. The reporter, Callie, is quite skeptical, but when Monica recounts the story of a couple that granted forgiveness to another person, Callie unwittingly becomes the subject of an angelic encounter herself… Other notable episodes from Season 2 include “The Big Bang” in which Monica reveals herself to a married couple intent on robbing a bank and exacting revenge on its president, and “Lost And Found” in which Monica and Andrew come to the aid of a troubled detective haunted by his failures while working for the Centre for Missing Children…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Touched By An Angel (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 12 (Interview with an Angel) Air Date: 09-23-1995
Episode 13 (Trust) Air Date: 09-30-1995
Episode 14 (Sympathy for the Devil) Air Date: 10-07-1995
Episode 15 (The Driver) Air Date: 10-14-1995
Episode 16 (Angels on the Air) Air Date: 10-21-1995
Episode 17 (In the Name of God) Air Date: 10-28-1995
Episode 18 (Reunion) Air Date: 11-04-1995
Episode 19 (Operation Smile) Air Date: 11-11-1995
Episode 20 (The Big Bang) Air Date: 11-25-1995
Episode 21 (Unidentified Female) Air Date: 12-02-1995
Episode 22 (The Feather) Air Date: 12-16-1995
Episode 23 (The One That Got Away) Air Date: 01-06-1996
Episode 24 (’Til We Meet Again) Air Date: 01-13-1996
Episode 25 (Rock ‘n’ Roll Dad) Air Date: 01-20-1996
Episode 26 (The Indigo Angel) Air Date: 02-03-1996
Episode 27 (Jacob’s Ladder) Air Date: 02-10-1996
Episode 28 (Out of the Darkness) Air Date: 02-17-1996
Episode 29 (Lost and Found) Air Date: 02-24-1996
Episode 30 (Dear God) Air Date: 03-09-1996
Episode 31 (Portrait of Mrs. Campbell) Air Date: 03-23-1996
Episode 32 (The Quality of Mercy) Air Date: 04-27-1996
Episode 33 (Flesh and Blood) Air Date: 05-04-1996
Episode 34 (Birth Marks) Air Date: 05-11-1996
Episode 35 (Statute of Limitations) Air Date: 05-18-1996

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Touched By An Angel (Season 2) DVD.

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The internet has revolutionized the world in more ways than one. Beginning as a virtual storehouse of all information, it progressed to provide other services like downloading free songs, music videos and movies.

Aside from watching movies in the theatre, you have the option of renting a video and watching it in the privacy of your home. Though movie rentals are still a popular option, the latest buzz is downloading movies from the internet.

The trend of downloading movies from the internet has become so popular that a website has claimed that at least three billion movies, video songs and clips were downloaded in just one month. The claim may or may not be an exaggeration, but it definitely points to the increasing popularity of downloading movies.

One way to download a movie is the file swapping method. This works in the same way as sharing music files. The process is, for the most part, illegal. Those involved gain access to sneak previews of the movies, copy the film and put them on websites. In fact, these movies reach people faster than they do in theaters.

Film companies stand to lose, and it is no surprise that they have tried to take legal recourse to find a solution.

In a bid to stop this menace, movie companies are trying to save the day by offering movies for free downloading. For this, customers need to pay a fee and watch the movie within twenty-four hours or the files become inaccessible.

Free Movie Downloads provides detailed information about free movie downloads, free DVD movie downloads, free movie software downloads, free movie trailer downloads and more. Free Movie Downloads is the sister site of DVD Rentals Info.

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Food has become a cultural phenomenon in the United States and around the world. Food TV is bigger than ever, and chefs are now celebrities. Building on this new food culture is a surprising trend the fuses food with science. That is right; increasingly, both celebrity chefs and at home cooks are paying attention to the science that is involved in the preparation of food.

The trend seems to either have been started by or at least popularized by the idea that people can learn about a process better if they understand the why. For instance, in his show Good Eats on the Food Network, Alton Brown uses science to explain why foods are prepared the way they are. This deeper understanding through science has made its way deeper into the culture of food since cooking, essentially, is a series of scientific behaviors.

The fact is that food science is everywhere. When you go to the grocery store and see three kinds of flour, four difference chocolates, or even a few types of sausage, do you know what the differences are? They are all parts of understanding the science of food and the science of cooking that food.

It is not just Food TV, Emeril Lagasse or Alton Brown that have helped to popularize this trend, though. The general public, the internet, and the curiosity of the human mind are the real culprits. We grow up learning to ask, “why?” So it only makes sense that we would translate that question over to things like the preparation of food. In addition, knowing why food behaves the way it does titillates the mind while at the same time improves your ability to prepare it correctly.

The trend was actually started by a man named Harold McGee who published a book on cooking science. His book lifted the veil of mystery from gourmet food. That was in 1984, and in the two decades since, the science of cooking has become a national obsession as we try to understand why gourmet food looks and tastes the way it does.

Food has become more than just a sustaining fuel, it has become a part of the culture of our world. It only makes sense that we would eventually want to start looking for ways to make sense of that cultural piece. The science of food and cooking is a way of gaining a deeper understanding what has become a serious part of your culture.

Food TV experts such as Alton Brown have become a staple in the diet of many Americans who enjoy food and the science that goes along with it.

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Check out to see if the merchant bank who is willing to give you a credit loan is honorable. You should be sassy today to analyze if you have a super bargain or if you don’t with the bank that offers you a bank loan. 11.7 percent loan rate may look so comely but will that be the same after you have to pay back your money loan. Nowadays you can look into interest rates quickly at websites and cipher if there are possible traps you should be aware of. A moneylender in Iowa City Iowa or so can have a total completely different actual interest rate for a 15000 dollar loan then a moneylender in Longview Texas and that makes a vast clear difference in your monthly pay offs. Lots of of the banks wil show you a rate of interest that is looking equitable but feels severely or so after some time. It doesn’t matter if you live in Lynn Massachusetts or in Bowie Maryland a honest online analysis will salve you often a lot trouble.

Translated in Dutch it means: Woon je in Assen of Steenbergen en heb je BKR registratie. Lenen met zonder BKR registratie is nog nooit zo gemakkelijk geweest. Verwen jezelf met een andere caravan met bkr geld lenen, 472946 euro is geen probleem om te financieren. Van Capelle aan den IJssel tot Neder-Betuwe, geld lenen met zonder BKR registratie kan hier altijd.

This is why now you really need to check out and cast if you can have a money loan at a fine percent interest rate.

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Bind together two of people’s primary quests and you have got is a rage we call a sportsbook wagers Web property. Well: what could be more original. If you see a knot of sports admirers cheering any local players, and constantly lays are computed tied in to the bluster. Wanting to get their piece of the exhilaration, spectators will usually endeavor to presage who will win in the upcoming challennge. In the end, this finally turns into a nice and amicable challennge titled sportsbook wagers Web property.

Always wanted to try online sport betting ? Click here, now!

So it may well sound quite compulsive, but in actual fact wagering sportsbooks is, in reality, just for fun and to team up with fellow sports devotees. You can wager a an insignificant sum of wampum and regardless have an extravagant time. Here’s a small number of basics to get you going wagering sportsbooks.

To bet, you will want to call on a sportsbook wagers Web property, i.e. a place that offers sportsbook wagers Web property. In the United States, you can find no less than four states where people can do wagering sportsbooks lawfully, but inofficially you may try it anyplace provided you can hunt out a bookie AND you’re legally of age. Many of the sports competitions you’ll be able to wager on are pro and, too, college football and college level basketball, professional hockey and baseball, and, too, betting on both horse and dog racing. Punters will have the option of placing wagers on the comprehensive score of a game or fight, when the contestant will be knocked out, and even whether a given tossed coin in a game or fight will land heads or tails.

The sportsbook company depend on stats and maths to help you out come to a conclusion which players you think will win. First of all, there is the spread, in other words lead in points tallied to a weaker club assumed to fail by x number points. Plainly, this describes the odds maker’s mode of offering evenhanded lays for a sportsbook. For instance, you could wager on a competitor assumed to fail and and regardless win that wager provided the club does actually get beaten by x number of points.

So why don’t you just try it out, and enjoy the excitement for good measure. But remember to ensure that you won’t get too enthused and fritter your total income frivolously… Because you’re likely to be caught contrite till the end of your days…

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Was it the sex or lack thereof that made this week’s season premiere of Showtime’s The L Word so anticlimactic? Was I thinking like a guy and only in it for the sex scenes? No, upon a brief reflection of Dana and Alice’s true to life awkwardness, what was missing was the earth shattering, character stretching dyke drama.

Instead, we get Baby’s Mama Drama. Tina and Bette passing the baby back and forth and lamenting that they don’t have time for sex. (Great guest appearance by Kate Clinton as the therapist, an icon in her own right. When will Showtime pick her up?) Regardless, Tina and Bette’s relationship wasn’t on great ground to start and they fell back on the “If we have a baby you will never leave me” scenario.

In the 80’s, I was told nothing held lesbians together better than a mortgage. That theory dried out quicker than the cement in the garage where my ex-partner and I etched our initials. Six months later she was gone, a victim of MPD, which was confusing for both of us, because one personality wanted to leave and the other didn’t understand why she was going. Sad but true.

Back to Bette-she is not working with benefit of an 18 month employment contract buyout, Tina- also not working, and a great ready-made-find-them-anytime-at-The-Planet-support/babysitting system. Go out to dinner and spend the night in blissful embrace if you want. What they lack is desire. In fact, that is what the first show lacked, desire. That and the fact that they can’t let go of the kid due to “attachment parenting”. Tell me this is not the wave of the future. It won’t be long before Bette and Tina will have to cut back on their $6 coffee drinks at all hours of the day.

What the show did offer was the relaxed comfort and friendship that comes from knowing someone a long time and seeing them at their worst and still wanting to buy them a double frappe latte soy something and balance it with a buttery chocolate croissant.

Speaking of delicious treats could Kate Moening as Shane be any better looking all taunt, tan and tinted. Shane never smiled more than in this first show and with Carmen at her side she has plenty to smile about. While many of my friends have touted dislike for Shane’s playing ways, I think we will see a personal growth in her new role committed and defining family. It has the potential to be one of the most powerful and encouraging struggles this season. Perhaps her new love, rumored to be Ellen’s ex Alex Hedison, is challenging the change on screen. Alex is on ten episodes this year, so the connection may be strong.

I personally found Kate as charming as her character as I stood in front of her at a cruise costume show. Me, the biggest nerd on the boat, filming my old comfortable friends, six rows back and waiting for my wife to win the Halloween costume contest. (You were robbed, Dr. Connie Lingus.)

As my friends pointed frantically to draw to my attention to the fact that I was standing in front of five cast members of the L Word, I look away from my camera to look right in the eyes of Kate. She smiled and complimented me on my Glow-in-the-Dark GAP bat boxers. It’s likely I am not up for a walk-on anytime soon.

This year, we may find that the drama comes in the form of healthy growth as Shane stretches, smiles and shines, and not the traditional family roles Bette and Tina have been forced into.

Next: Dana and Alice:Ex’s and Excess. We miss you Marina! Is Jenny on the right track with Shim?

Margaret E.J. Broderick is a speaker and author of Passion v Arrogance: A Dana and Goliath Story of Wine, Women and Wrong! She and her partner were recently named to the Top Ten Most Powerful Lesbians by CURVE Magazine. She takes that honor very seriously and awaits being named to the Most Passionate list. She can be reached at passionbooks@aol.com.

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