lez letdown / pruning / blazers steal a win

lez letdown...

well, the l word came to an abrupt and unsatisfying end. it had to be one of the worst series endings i've ever anticipated and witnessed. my prediction was incorrect, of course, but it would have been better than never knowing what/who killed jenny. i saw what chaiken was trying to do here, reiterate a million times what a close knit group they are. that even though they all had "reasons" to want to kill jenny (no matter how asinine) - they never would because they loved each other unconditionally. friendships like these don't come along everyday, which is true, but because they were so beloved i think we/they deserved a little more than the interrogations about what might have happened to jenny. are we to assume she fell through the railing outside bette and tina's bedroom? what was nikki stevens doing in the bushes? bette was pretty pissed at her, but does my sweet bette porter have it in her to kill jenny? perhaps jenny's little dog, sounder, had had enough too. i'm not ruling anything out at this point. whatever. all i know is that the first lesbian drama on television came in like a lion and left a scrawny kitty cat. it's a shame. i feel used. i know chaiken had the best of intentions but it fell about 2 miles short of the finish line. we did find out that jenny did steal the negatives to lez girls and shane finds molly's letter. tasha came back to alice (thankfully, something good happens), helena can't trust dylan and leaves her and kit rides into sunset boulevard (the drag queen). we get one last look at sexy carmen, marina and tim during jenny's sweet and touching tribute to bette and tina for their going away gathering. [by the way, the remodel on bette and tina's place is frighteningly modern...like "jetson's" modern. it doesn't even look like their fantastic california sprawler.] alright. i'm disappointed. what can i say?

pruning...

i pruned for the first time yesterday with sharon in her yard. i did the rose bushes. it was such a beautiful day yesterday (almost 60 degrees!!!) and i had a great time. it makes me want a yard - but i know better! thanks sharon!

blazer's steal a win before road trip...
i can't believe the portland trailblazers came back to win that game against new jersey. it's annoying that it was so hard for them. this should have been a gimmie. however, they are coming off the dallas loss and leave for a 5 game road trip today. nic batum was unbelievable (20 points 2 blocks). this rookie got a shot when martell webster went down and has been a pleasant surprise to fans and the coaches. san antonio got pritch-slapped in the draft when portland snuck in and drafted him the pick right before SA was about to draft him. [pritch-slapped is a term we use here in rip city for getting duped by general manager, kevin pritchard. he gets 98.9% of the credit for putting together this great, young, portland team. thanks kevin!] joel pryzbilla had 5 blocks - all in the first half! brandon roy had 0 (yes, that's Z-E-R-O) field goals in the entire first half and ends the game with 31 points.
portland moves into a tie with utah for first in the northwest division. only 17 games remain...
portland's magic number: 11

we believe.

lez girls

coming to a 6 year end tonight is ilene chaiken's ground-breaking lesbian series, the l word. i've talked a lot about how annoying this show is - but when you break it down, it's just a soap opera with chicks. hot chicks. when the l word first appeared it got a lot of flack for all the women on the show being "too hot" and not "lesbian" enough. it's true that only two of the women are actual lesbians (leisha "alice" hailey and daniela "moira/max" sea) and that the "straight" women are hot, hot, hot. [i've had jennifer beals in my minds eye for 6 years - yum!] perhaps "too hot" to be gay. the writing lacked and the acting sometimes left a lot to be desired (good acting cannot overcome bad writing). ilene pissed me off when she killed off dana and broke my heart when carmen was written out. [can anyone forget carmen's sexy dance for shane in the dining room?]ilene's show, however, has broken down many stereotypes and boundaries for lesbians on television. if i had a show like the l word when i was coming of sexual age perhaps it wouldn't have been so hard for me to be honest and feel good about who i was. the only gay person i saw on tv was billy crystal in soap and he was so flamboyant it seemed a mockery. ellen degeneres came along 20 years later and changed every one's perception about homosexuality and probably made it possible for a show like the l word and it's predessor queer as folk.
all of the actors really took this show very seriously and boldly embraced their characters. they had to because in the hands of worse actors this show never would have lasted more than a season. j. beals and laurel holloman (bette & tina) have some of the best chemistry between two virtual strangers i have ever seen. l. hailey (alice), is close to comic genius i've seen in a while. her timing is spot on and i hope she gets to do something else fun soon. [it's rumored that alice will be getting her own spin-off type show, but i have no actual proof or info. so as the real estalker says, don't go spreading it around like it's gospel!] katherine "i swear i'm not really gay" moennig is shane. i'll never be able to look at her in another role with out thinking of shane. mia kirshner as jenny was just brilliant. she took that character from meek victim to fun loving friend to crazy film director to shattered woman. great. thank you mia! i've already spoken of rachel shelley and helena peabody's odd transformation. who am i forgetting? oh, kit! giiiiiirrrrrl! bad ass pam grier was left short of a fully developed character. i think it was season 4 or 5 when her lines consisted of "giiiiirrrrrl" "baby girl" "baby sis" "my boo" and others. the many great guest spots like ossie davis and gloria steinem to snoop dog and sleater-kinney. great extended guest spots from marlee matlin and cybill shephard.
i'm worried about how this is going to end because there is only the one episode left and nothing is getting resolved! here's how the bear thinks this will end (especially if chaiken was feeling really evil):
who killed jenny? jenny killed jenny. the last act of defiance. her swan song. but wait! we're back in tim's converted garage and jenny is sitting in front of her laptop. this is lez girls, jenny's novel about the escapades of tim and jenny's glamorous lesbian neighbors she eyes through the fence, bette and tina and their circle of los angeles lesbians. the book ends with jenny (the writer) killing off the evil jenny (the "character") because it's the only way it could end. the show began with jenny arriving in los angeles and it will end with her leaving. tim and jenny are married and live happily ever after. i know this isn't the most popular of endings but i will laugh my ass off if she pulls a dallas on us.
so, in conclusion, thanks ilene chaiken for giving us 6 maddening years of a lesbian soap opera - who knows when we'll see another. these women will forever be in my lexicon. don't forget to watch tonight or find it online. i can't tell you where but if you look hard enough you'll find it. if you've never watched, go. go now and rent seasons 1-5. by the time you're done season 6 will be available!

helena peabody

the l word. this show is finally coming to an end after 6 gloriously bad seasons and the person i ended up really rooting for and loving - helena. yes, the helena peabody. the one that seduced a very pregnant tina and ruined bette's life at the california arts center. in season 2 she was a monster; in season 3 she's a hilarious, funloving sidekick to the group. everyone ends up loving helena. even bette by season 6. helena ended up losing her fortune, been hoodwinked by a woman she fell in love with (damn that dylan!), was hoodwinked again by a different woman but stole all her money and hid it, went to jail [the conversation where alice told her not to drop the soap was hilarious], fell in love with her cell mate, got out bought the planet with kit, then fell in love with first said hoodwinked girl again (yay, dylan!). through all of that helena became my favorite friend on the l word. oh, and she just got sexier and sexier.

rachel shelley - isn't she cute?

on sunday the l word comes to a close. ilene is leaving us with 8 pathetic episodes. episode 7 i thought would start wrapping things up, but i was foiled again. i have this horrible fantasy that jenny is still with tim and writing her first novel about their sexy lesbian neighbors, bette and tina and their menagerie of friends and their probable escapades. she lives vicariously through what she sees through the fence. she marries tim and lives happily ever after. wouldn't that just piss everyone off? the last 2 seasons, jenny has been a pretty over the top, sensational villain. i mean, this is stuff writers save for daytime serials. this couldn't have all really happened. we shall see. if all this is true then maybe dana is still alive! that'd be one way to have dana in the finale. good god, i can't wait for this to be over!

dammit, part deux

it's the last season of the l word so i've been revisiting my old friends bette and tina, kit, dana (r.i.p.), alice and tasha, jenny and shane and helena. after watching the first episode i had to laugh because i don't know if ilene chaiken didn't know if she'd get another chance or what, because she squeezed in every lesbian cliche in the book. anyway, it's not the show that has me all in a tizzy. it's the freaking theme song. i actually woke up this morning at 3:30 am humming that stupid song. i hate that song. i think by re-printing the lyrics here you will see why i don't want to have it stuck in my head. enjoy.

girls in tight dresses

who drag with mustaches

chicks driving fast

ingenues with long lashes

women who long love lost

women who give

this is the way

it's the way that we live

talking

laughing

loving

breathing

fighting

fucking

crying

drinking

writing

winning

losing

cheating

kissing

thinking

dreaming

this is the way

it's the way that we live

it's the way that we live

and love

death to betty.