turtles can fly

Turtles can fly is the first feature film to be shot in post saddam iraq. I saw it this afternoon. It is pretty somber, all in greys and browns. It is basically a look at the difficult life faced by children in Iraq. Most of them have lost limbs to land-mines. There is one scene of a gang rape of a young girl by Saddam's soldiers.

I like going to off-beat films like documentaries or foreign films like "turtles". They serve as an antithesis to blockbusters like star wars or spiderman. i like those popcorn flicks as well but find these less accessible films far more rewarding.

after the film i took one of my regular walks around the downtown east-side. i've probably gone on a few dozen of these walks but i am still shocked at the amount of open air drug use and drug dealing that goes on. it is like nothing i have ever seen before. as i walk i usually pray for the people i pass and for the area in general. the feeling of hopelesness is in the atmosphere down there. apart from a powerful revival i see no natural solution to the epidemic there.

tomorrow felicia works, so another day alone with the boy. i wonder what he is thinking on the days when it's just me and him. he saw the doctor today and as soon as he was lain down in the office he started screaming, as hismind flashed back to all those painful needles he's had there. poor guy - he's a bit underweight so we're adding a bit more food to his diet. he and i have the opossite problem - i have to cut calories and he needs to add them.

stay free.