My father is Greek and he moved us to a smallish fishing village on the mainland of Greece during some of my most impressionable years(11-14.) My rather large family had (and still has) a long standing grudge with another family that dates back to the turn of the 1900s. They totally flipped out when I started hanging around a boy who was a member of this family(just friends, no adolescent hanky panky)because they were still gripping onto this old grudge over a few fricken olive trees on a property line. “Bad blood will out” they told me. Unbelievable.

The fishing grudge in Sisterhood made me smile because it was so close to my own experience.

My fiance grew up here. He’s never been to a Walmart until he came to Florida with me. So, yes, I’ll correct my assessment that there’s no Walmart within fifty miles of Bethesda. But there isn’t one within 50 minutes. She’d never work there.

Now, compare to, say, Borders or Barnes and Noble, of which there are about twenty within spitting distance.

I agree that it is pretty unrealistic that Tibby went to Wal-Mart without a car. But I could believe her taking the metro to D.C. Especially when the map says it’s only 7 miles from Bethesda. That’s not a very long way to go…?

We are all plagued with Wal-Marts, unfortunately. I am one of the lucky few who lives about 45 minutes from one. But I pretty much live 45 minutes from any shopping-type store beyond a grocery store.

By the way, you can always use your gift card by shopping online. Right now, I think they have 97 cent shipping!

There is a Wal-Mart less than 8 miles away from Bethesda in D.C. There are also several listed in Alexandria and other D.C. suburbs. Just F.Y.I.

As for the film, I only liked the Tibby and America storylines, because they were the most real. The Greece thing was too simply told and too simply resolved.

The soccer player annoyed the heck out of me. Like any guy would actually track down his one-night stand and apologize to her and be friends with her! I thought that was so naive.

In the real world, soccer girl would pine for this guy for months and months until something better came along. The guy? He would forget about her as soon as he stepped on the plane to fly home. Or, if he felt slightly guilty about the whole thing, he would likely keep it to himself. Teen boys are not well-known for their emotional openness.

Also, when it comes to Hannah (the blond girl in Season 2 of VM)–it’s so funny, because she went to middle school with me, was in the same class as my brother, and was my understudy in a school musical once. And then I watched VM and there she was. RANDOM.

-C.C.

I understand why they changed the motivation in the movie — it wouldn’t have worked on film — but I must say that I probably wouldn’t sympathize with that motivation in a book, either. Amazingly beautiful girls who think they’re ugly bug me.

Maureen, I have seen RWHC — once, a long time ago, I didn’t realize Ugly Betty was the same actress for quite a while.

First, forgive me but it’s not The Gilmore Girls, just Gilmore Girls. I don’t know why I feel the need to point that out, but I do. I love the show, but agree it’s gone downhill of late and I think the reason is that the girls are no longer poor. One major source of conflict has left their lives as they’ve both settled down with men who are wealthy, and well, it’s problem for me.

Next, I really enjoyed both the Traveling Pants movie and the books (I’ve read all three).

There is a MAJOR change in the Lena storyline from book to movie (and I actually talked about this with Debra Martin Chase, the movie’s producer) because in the book, Lena’s conflict is all internal. She’s this amazingly beautiful girl with low self esteem who holds herself back from liking Costos even though her grandparents are pushing him on her (in the book, the two families are very close.)

But internal conflict doesn’t translate to the screen well. Since we couldnt’ go inside Lena’s head to hear all the reasons she’s not with Costos, they had to give an external reason for it. Enter the old family rivalry plot.

I liked the book’s take on it better but understand that it wouldn’t work on film.

I really loved all the actresses in the movie, but one of the reasons (according to the producer) that the movie didn’t do well at the box office was because there wasn’t a big name. Freaky Friday had Jaimie Lee Curtis; Princess Diaries had Julie Andrews. There wasn’t a draw for an adult audience with this, so it didn’t draw as well as they’d like.

And the first person narration is just for the prologue in the books and it alternates between the girls (I can’t remember which girl does which book, but I assume the last one will do book 4). After that, they are third person for the chapters depending on whose storyline they’re in.

Re: America Ferrera… Have you seen the film REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES? If not, you should rent it. I think it was her first film. Great little movie.

I thought Bledel was brilliant casting in the first few seasons of GG’s (which I do watch, but am really getting sick of). I thought it was brilliant because she was such an excellent match with Lauren whatshernose, oh, Graham. But as the seasons have progressed and the character has supposedly matured, Bledel’s lack of acting ability has become more obvious. What I love (not) is how she pulls away from her boyfriend on the show every time they embrace. That girl is not comfortable on screen. And it looks like she hates the actor who plays her boyfriend. I wondered, at first, if it was on purpose… maybe we were supposed to get the subtext that she’s not that into him… And then I went, “Subtext? On Gilmore Girls??? Who are you kidding???” and then she told him she loves him and I realized she just can’t act.