I am going to share my first machinima made in Second Life, with all the apologies beforehand, as it is far from perfect, yet I do think it worth sharing. I committed many novice mistakes in filming it, equivalent to putting my fingers over the lens on a still camera in some takes, but I decided to share it anyway, as most of you who read my blog, are also my friends..and the rest I hope you will be, so I am going to take a chance and post a YouTube of it. The song I picked for the video is a Hank William’s classic.
It is also in honor of my new little shack on the tracks given to me by a good fellow train enthusiast and buddy I met riding the rails when I was writing the Train Saga poems and posting them here on my blog. It is situated diagonal, across the tracks, straight up a hill, from the very green train station of Epirrhoe, on the Mainland, and amounts to having one of my dreams in SL come true; that of having a small shack by the railroad tracks, the other, which I am still waiting for, is to wake up in my RL bed some morning and have the exact same proportions, look and skin of my avatar..still working on that wish. The poem was written a while back before I was even train riding, but it seemed to go well with what I finally could film(the back of me in most cases *smiles) We have close to 80 Sims of RR tracks and free trains are to be had. It is an amazing side of our SL many of us (myself included before) have totally overlooked. So… I present to you now Too Far For Me and I will post the poem below the video. Enjoy!
*a footnote my YouTube was banned in Germany I guess because I used a Hank Williams’s song but odd it was Germany and not say Alabama…funny
Too Far For Me
for umahamd
~^~
There is a distance
that can’t be breached,
not with any effort
not by any cost.
We are all little mirrors
of the first Big Bang,
in the flux of Life and Love
some things left behind
get lost.
There is a distance
that can’t be reached,
not with nostalgia
nor by traveling miles.
We are constantly expanding,
saying hello
and contracting
while waving goodbye
to the scenery
in motion
of our history’s past
judgments and trials.
There is a distance
that can’t be beseeched,
stopped in the dust
of our lover’s new track,
we sit confused and weep.
Where all words fail us
in our pain,
where we fall for a minute
from the earthly plain
in one sudden derailment
from the moving train,
that just left the station
without us.
Karima Hoisan
2007 Jordan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Digital Rabbit Hole 
Moving parts !!! Is there anything you cannot do Miss Karima Spielberg?
Gosh to see you walk with that wrigglys chewing gum sway…woooeee
The pace of this is so relaxed and the melancholy oh so sweet and the words just seep into my soul.
Trains are so symbolic as they deliver and they take away but of course you take it to a whole other level as you do best.
I still cannot believe this is a first effort but i will.
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awesome machinima Karima,great debut! (Carmi)
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Ohh thanks Carm..knowing you are quite versed in the Virtual Arts makes your encouragement even more exhilarating!! I hope to improve quickly..as I get down the basics .. Kari
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Believe me Miss Missy it is my first and I used a 15 day trial of a Capture program..sighs now I need to buy it I think cuz I had sooo much fun..I hope to improve..but so glad you liked the mix of wigggle and Western and poetry.. Thanks so much for your comment and big hugs to a fellow train rider
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nice 1st attempt I’m not sure wether its a good thing or bad that i recognise where the shots were taken, keep it comming. 😉
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Thank you Damion, yes I know I was a little limited to where I filmed(mostly where I am living now) and had some slow rezzing problems too. Did you recognize the Bar Car? I loved to dine there too..Has the best animated food..
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Very nicely put together !
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Thank you Emperor *smiles..Knowing you are a lot better at it (video making) than i am, makes me so glad you liked it
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WOW Sissy! You REALLY brought the words to life and I am so proud and impressed. Very well done!! I can only imagine what is to come while we witness the combination of your kooky genius combined with filming experience soaring you to higher levels of *brilliance*. Bring-it-ON… we’re waiting…..*taps toes* (smiles).
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Aww thinks sis , it’s a bit “rough” but with heart I think..I hope to improve and learn along the way. It is so much fun and has become a logical extension of my picture/ stories and poems..Who knows what could come next? “kooky genius: well that gene I think runs in our SL family…:) big hugs
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This well of creativeness is bottomless!!
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Thank you very much Hoyt.. and so glad you approve of this my first machinima..I will try to keep my HUDS off the screen next time 🙂
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quite impressive, miss karima… especially for a first try. somehow I think words, music and motion are coming together as a new kind of poetic fusion here; train tracks a good symbol for your artistic journey as well. smiles.
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Thank you so much Chrome, your words are so encouraging, and make me want to strive to do it better. Yes I think the machinima was the logical next step to stories and pictures and now I have entered the moving picture age in SL..I can’t wait to see what you will soon do in that area yourself *smiles
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This is a fine, fine poem, and one which many of us, maybe most of us, can relate to. Had to comment, now I will treat myself to your first machinima…!!! And I know I am going to love it…
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I don’t know WHAT you did to get these beautiful color effects, but it sure all works: the poem, the music, the visuals, and the flow of it. A “first machinima” indeed. All I can say is that I think this is totally splendid, and something you can be justifiably proud of! More than many machinima I have seen, this one transcends what usually passes for machinima, and rises, yet once again, into the realm of ART! Please do more, and share your secrets! You inspire, as always! Congratulations galore, and you GO Girl!!!! Hugs
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Big smiles Happiness, and thank you so much for your words so full of good positive feedback. It means so much to me coming from you, as I know you are very immersed in what is happening virtually and on the media. Yes it has inspired me to get the program and continue to learn and better make some more in the future. You had always suggested I try to put the dream series on film, this I think would be beyond me for awhile, but others here have offered to help film as I had said earlier, it’s hard to do both film and be the actress:) and I would love to give that a try.. You inspire me too..and we have been blessed with our own little virtual and beyond..mutual admiration society..Hugss Thank you for this great comment on my first..
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Wow-nicely done, Karima! The real magic you always infuse your art with is yourself and your heart. I agree with MissyRothmanay-the wriggly chewing-gum sway thingy echos train motion and moan and gives it all life. Hank’s tune and your vibe really mesh here. It will be interesting to see where this will lead in future efforts. Any good designer gets an idea….tries to build what he/she sees in their head….makes it real…then stands back to evaluate…then builds again with the previous learning to act as benchmark. Or, railway track! Always building another layer over last efforts…
It is the lack of “perfection” that makes people interesting and unique. Otherwise this world would just look like a continuous beer commercial ad. Yuck. It is the heart you put into everything is where your beauty lies. The unavoidable effects of aging might tweak on the container but the light from your eyes will always light up the world. And….it does! Thanks Karima for your own special magic. That is permanent!
Ron/Tube
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Yes how much fun it is too (altho there are those painful moments too) to live and learn. Creatively speaking, my world opened up with Second Life..before that I was sort of a girl in a room with no view..writing her poetry to no one..Yes none of us is perfect, and I sure am the first to admit that, but in an environment of understanding, friendship and sharing, we can all grow to push our creative envelopes, that maybe hadn’t had a place to be pushed before:) Thank you so much Tube for being so close with me on my process of opening outwards..You know how much that means, and your continual friendship kind of nudges me onwards too….
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