Youtube video- The Paintball Project Day 24

This blog post was made in two parts on Memorial day- the day the United states honours its veterans. Bilal said he felt good and the steady volume of fire required loading the gun every twenty minutes. He recalled how the previous day had been very difficult emotionally. He says he was feeling much better than yesterday and had restored his confidence in his ability to finish his project. He mentions that he had chosen to not show disturbing footage from yesterday. He looks down as he says this. He was concerned that he would upset those that cared about him.

He searches for his words then says that he felt he could share that footage now. Bilal stammers a little as he warns the video shot after  his friends left the previous day was very disturbing. He says the rate of fire in the background was much lighter than in the footage he was about to show from the previous day.

"Hi everybody, (2:15) it's Monday, memorial day....it is the heaviest day we have had... all the available slots have been filled." Said Bilal. I counted 9 rounds fired in the first thirty seconds of this segment. "I honestly thought it would be much quieter because it was memorial day." he says that it is not only the US, with Denmark, Ireland, the UK, France and Canada as contributing  people operating the paint ball gun. He is perplexed that such a global presence would appear on a Monday, even if it was a holiday for the US.

He says it was the first time he had seen this. Saying he will provide an update later, he turns his camera toward the gun which is traversing rapidly from side to side. He then turns the camera back at the opposite wall. Bilal again emphasises the damage done and high volume of constant fire. He says he expects the server to crash, then signs off.

When he returns, he says it is memorial day.   Bilal's brow is knit beneath the protective goggles and his movement is abrupt and jerky. he stammers a little, as he says they are "still under heavy bombardment".  He notes that his personal computer has crashed(too much chat traffic, but the gun is still firing. He says that he has to reload the gun's hopper every ten minutes and he swings the camera towards the gun, whose hopper is almost empty. He says "gotta go andf fill it as the camera swings abruptly and the video cuts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWUfROO6-34



The second video of day twenty four begins by repeating the last 20 second of the previous video.  The camera now points bat the ceiling as Bilal moves, then he places it where it can view him loading the gun. As he places handfuls of paint bails in the hopper, the gun jerks violently from side to side. He returns to address the camera, with the paintball gun visible over his shoulder. He notes that the server is full, with 60 or seventy other trying to log on. The mnajority were from the US but he notes many were from Demark, UK, France and Thailand. The video cuts away.

When it resumes, Bilal appears without his goggles and says it is 5o'clock. The shoot continues, with refills every fifteen minutes and people from around the world. Bilal describes this as a hard day. The video abruptly cuts to the day 23 footage that Bilal had desribed earlier.

In this clip, we can hear bilal suck in his breath and sobs."People don't mind giving me so much hope- everybody' is in Tears" says Bilal. "Can you imagine an entire nation living like this?" And his voice cracks as he begins to weep. He looks away from the camera and flinches with the crack of a paintbal round. He is silent for a few mintues then the video retrurs to the openiing sequence from day 24.

Bilal says" I hope this will give you an idea of how hard it is to be in this place. It's no longer a physical game but a mnetal one because he no longer fears the gun, which he describes as "scary". It is mental because the act of shooting at him has become mechanical. The taunts of some people online in the projects chat room. He describes his unease with his ability to continue and the frustration of the other perticipants with the projects continuation.

Bilal says"My intent is to raise awareness of my family in Iraq... That is my first intent and I'm going to continue doing until next Monday. Thank you for your support, you have been great. I look forward to talk to you all at some point. Bye for now". His demeanor seems more determined or perhaps rigid as this last brief clip plays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maaZ7fiyQhA