AUSTIN, Texas, Mar. 16, 2005 — I've been watching the people at the film fest. Some are local or out-of-town older film buffs with time for festivals (like us). But a lot are young, hip, aspiring kids in the movie business or trying to be.

Something has struck me about the fashion statements you see from these groups. Our generation tends to be wearing slacks or jeans, basic sweaters or jackets and cross trainers or hiking boots or sensible loafers. The youngsters each have a unique style. Set up by thrift store purchases of unusual shirts or dresses that

establish them as one-of-a-kind, they manage to look unique and yet inside a style. If vintage shirts aren't on their backs, they often wear a plain T-Shirt or for the girls a plain tank top.

Yeah, so I stayed up late. So I was reluctant to get up. Finally did, though. Made the bed, read something out of yesterday's newspaper, let the dog out, had coffee, tidied up the journal. Cold out, had to put on sweats. Had to get a computer unsnarled upstairs. Talk to the muni bond sales guy about a purchase. Finally off to the gym. Fifty minutes on bike and six sets of weight stuff. It was pouring rain when I left the house, but it eased up when I got to the club and more when I left.

Troop 1500. This documentary is about a local (Austin) Girl Scout Troop. Some of the girls are taken regularly to Gatesville Prison to visit their mothers. It is a well-made documentary and the work seems to be somewhat positive, too. (Although they said in the film that one mother in the program was taking crack within an hour of release. This mother wasn't show.) The children were getting by with a parent or step parents or grandparents caring for them. (None seemed to be in foster care.) This is the side of our community we don't see. Where crack is available that easily. Where a large black woman says she 'did everything but murder' and that she 'took wet backs in the woods and took everything they had from them at gunpoint.' She's out by the way. Not surprisingly she hasn't found employment. One mother was a nurse who killed some elderly patients with potassium shots. She had the longest sentence (twenty-five years before parole was considered). But she was the only murderer. The girls seemed like ordinary kids. Maybe even better behaved and adjusted. I don't think the film makers should have captured them riding in the van without seatbelts or picking Blueobonnets (the state flower and illegal to pick). Because that's where it starts doesn't it? First no seat belt, then crack. Just kidding. But I do think the seat belt thing was a faux pas. The kids were taught cinematography and made their own films and wrote interview questions with their mothers. This seemed like a cool part of the project. I'm not a big fan of scouting. The Boy Scouts and their homophobic thing and all. But these kids were certainly benefiting from this program. There have been lots of documentaries to make me feel that my poor but stable upbringing in Texas, U.S.A. was lucky indeed.

When we were leaving, we saw Jette and talked to her a minute. She was dressed in a pretty original outfit, giving credence to my theories on the younger generation and their fashion.

We came home and fooled around and then had to rush to get to the Arbor and see The Ballad of Jack and Rose because I'd looked at the time wrong. We got in, though, and got good seats but people kept climbing over and us back and forth but at least there's enough light to read while waiting unlike Alamo South where they play silly clips and keep it so dark you almost fall up the steps. The movie was full of characters and you really didn't like any of them. Beau Bridges made me like his character and you were clearly not supposed to like him. Well, maybe a little, since Jack points out his moral character to you in some unnecessary dialog. Then they ended it with this cop out and illogical ending. Some of the acting and set decoration was really pretty good. Daniel Day-Lewis managed to look like he was dying. Sort of. Katherine Keener (an actress you recognize but may forget the name of) does OK with her sort of flat character and Ryan McDonald and Paul Dano are good as disaffected kids of a loser mother. Camilla Belle is beautiful as Rose and her acting job is good. When I can't fault the performance but still I'm dissatisfied it's like Million Dollar Baby or Ray...it must be the script.

Home again, we watched Le Divorce which I'd copied on the DVR. I like Paris scenes and the girls were pretty enough to carry it. I'm about filmed out. Which is just as well because we probably won't see too many in the ensuing days. We have another commitment Friday night. And I'm starting to have this weird feeling that I've been out of my life for a month...the trip to New York, my sister's visit, the festival. All created unique and strage vibes. Well....sleep.