I recite this poem to the music “Life Is.” by Runrig. Please click the link below to listen. “Between The Profound and The Profane.mp3”
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“Between The Profound and the Profane” for B. (to The Music “Life is” by Runrig)
Now is the time because where we are is the place, standing in the intersection of the profound and the profane I watch you carry a soul under your Adam’s rib cage, holding it just right, careful that it’s not too tight, for soon it will take flight and fly away. But after all is said and done, you really are the only one. You’re the soul carrier today. You’re the sole carrier today.
I always knew it would come, but not sure how floating between the angels and the beasts, I feel my legs grow light as air and you now carry me. Holding me just right but not too tight, we both know I might take flight some unexpected day, in some unexpected way. I trust and so I take your hand, your wish is my command You’re my sole carrier today. You’re my soul carrier today.
If we are empty and have nothing to grab on to we will drown in the first spring rain and we will look upon those on shore, dry and steadfast, strong and standing, and we will feel confused, perhaps angry, with little understanding, as we are swept down stream, into a meaningless, pointless dream. But you are full, and blessed with blessings You could carry all their souls to safety… if they’d only say, “Please, would you be my soul carrier today?”
Some of us have strong hind legs, and some of us have detachable wings and some of us have neither, we have nothing, so we don’t feel and we can’t believe. It’s our paradox, our trapped and tear-filled human tragedy. Standing in the intersection of the profound and the profane. I turn my head to look your way, I trust and so I take your hand, your wish is my command. You’re the soul carrier today. You’re the sole carrier today.
Karima Hoisan Feb. 29, 2012 Kari’s Pond of Peace SL
* Footnote to this poem. Sometimes, especially in times of emotional upheaval, those who believe in something, are called upon to carry those who are empty and have no beliefs. All of us, float somewhere between these two plains.
I once again want to thank the gifted artist Jan Betts for this small detail of a larger painting entitled “Speechless” Her amazing work, and her blog on it can be found here. When I saw thisdetail, I knew it was the one for my poem. You can see more ofher art here at: JanBettsArt
In my post before this one, I was exalting the benefits in our virtual lives, of saying “Yes”over “No”. Chapters begin, that we may never have even dreamed about, and new friendships blossom. In yesterday’s post, I chose Hypatia Pickens as someone I had admired for a long time, and that the opportunity for a friendship came about from saying yes and joining the Machinima Artist Guild” ( See: Just Say”Yes!”) All our experiences and all our choices, definitely move us down the Game-board of Life in a slightly altered way. I know I sound a bit glib, if I don’t live Second Life as a game I certainly don’t live real life as one, but looking back, we can see the moves that made a difference.. We just can.
Natascha Randt is a moderator on M.A.G. She knows what is good and she knows what she likes..she minces no words. I, to be honest, was afraid of her, as I knew my machinimas were very much below the quality of most I was seeing, being upped daily. She already had made it clear that there had to be a very good reason to watch one over the length of 3 minutes, and most of the ones I was sharing were 4-6mins. I cringed waiting for her review. So that is how we met, but if it’s true she is blunt honest and critical, when needed, she is fair and she knows what she is talking about so we listen. If she says she likes something, we know that is blunt honest too. She has 237 videos, I am sure all by her, on her YouTube channel, and many of them were produced to give instruction to those of us(most of us) who can really use that kind of information. How to make a mirror that reflects on the screen was a fascinating one, as we know mirrors in SL do not reflect, and lots and lots of plane videos, showing them off and what they can do, and how to film them doing it.
Natascha (Nat) loves anything that flies
Natascha (Nat) loves anything that flies in the air, that can lift off a runway, and she is an adept pilot as well. I have always had a love/ fear relationship with aircraft. To this day I have never set foot in a helicopter, and only the necessity of multiple trans-atlantic crossings, could get me on a passenger plane, but they fascinate me, and here we can try what we would not try in real life, so when I asked Nat if I could co-pilot someday, she said sure and offered a jet, a helicopter, and a DHC-2 Beaver( lands on water) and I said “Yes” to all three. We took the Jet first..
and we taxied for take-off..
We flew to the East the jets sounds (very realistic) booming in our ears
Heading towards the sunrise
We flew to the West, and I was starting to feel braver, and less white knuckley.They actually had a bit of color flowing back into them, when bam! we shot straight up
Nat put us into a stall as we hit the sim wall.. oiy oiy oiy...
And that is the last I remember of my jet ride, as I was ejected into the atmosphere.
The sun was in a ball, and I was trying to hold a crash position, and Nat was flying away without me. I blacked out…but when I came to…we were miraculously landing. Huhh??? I thought.
Nat was taking it slow into the hangar.."What a pilot!" I thought.
We landed..a perfect touch down. Nat was taking it slow into the hangar..”What a pilot!” I whispered to no one.
So before I could even think, She said, "you want to ride my Sea Wolf?"
So before I could even think, She said, “You want to ride my AirWolf?” “Yes!” I said, because I didn’t know what it was. Well it turned out to be a fatal helicopter, that I was destined to be just one more fatality on.
Take off was smooth, Nat handled this "bird" very well
Take off was smooth, Nat handled this “bird” very well, but even with her expertise, sim borders loom up like invisible Alps, and not a pilot in the world can navigate through them. It was my second ejection of the day, and I took to remembering I hadn’t been in so many aerial accidents since the days when I used to fly with DOUGIE Flossberg!
(“Come Josephine in my Flying Machine”)
This time Nat was sucked out too!
Makes you wonder who was piloting...
Makes you wonder who was piloting… and then I found myself tip toeing over a submarine, (was it a dream?) and we were strapping ourselves into the seats of her DHC-2 Beaver, about to make a big water take off. So far we had survived more than we should have, but luck does run out when you least expect it.
I had no fear of take-offs, and over water seemed somehow "safer"
I had no fear of take-offs, and over water seemed somehow “safer” Wrong….
Wow! This was so Wrong,,. i mean I saw the movie that Nat made
Wow! This was so Wrong… I mean I saw the movie that Nat made. This part did not come in the beginning!! not on take-off!! Let’s do a replay of that….
So, I ended up on the bottom of the sea. When Nat shouted down if I wanted to do it again, a little voice whispered in my head, “I think your No button is stuck on Yes. Why don’t you just say “NO!” and that is what I did…putting a thank-you on at the end of course. “No thank you”
"But Nat...Thank you!!"
” But Nat”..big wave..”Thank you!”
Here is Nat’ s YouTube Channel.Lots of interesting, instructional, beautiful, “tests, videos, piano playing. It’ s all good.Check it out. 192 subscribers can’t be wrong. NRandt YouTube Channel
* Footnote the quote “your No button is stuck on Yes…?” I stole it from Emile Stratten:)
There is no doubt in my mind that saying “Yes” opens doors and saying “No” closes them. Sometimes the doors that open, might have better stayed shut, and sometimes closing them can get you in less trouble, never-the-less, I have always” been one who usually says “Yes.” When Cisko Vandeverre from The Machinima Artist Guild (M.A.G) invited me to join the group, I didn’t miss a beat, I said “Yes” That was six weeks ago, and I am so glad I did. One of the benefits of joining a new group, are new friends to be made. Besides learning so much about the technical aspect of making good machinima, there also is the possibility to meet people involved in this world, who I have admired for a long time and let’s say from afar. Hypatia Pickens is one of these, whose machinima poem,”Yeah” won one of the top ten awards for the MachinUWA IV challenge in Second Life (special award: “emotion”). I will put it in here for all to enjoy, and add that a wonderful new friendship with a fellow poet/machinima maker is now being forged and made possible by saying “Yes.” I also will include a few more links to my favorites of hers, “What Isn’t Underneath”, inspired by the haunting build by Scottius Pole, “The Docks” which also inspired a poem from me (see link) and one of her more recent and beautifully thought -out and orchestrated, “Instructions From The Dead On How To Recall The Source Code”. If you have enjoyed these, please check out her Channel which can be found here, Hypatia Pickens YouTube Channel (textcavation) She is a sensitive, adept, and a very creative machinima maker. Her videos are both visually stunning and thought provoking and she has a pleasing melodious reading voice too. I am so pleased to learn from her and to get the chance to exchange those small details that make friendships grow. I give to you “Yeah…” by Hypatia Pickens,
Oh… and here is my poem “Yes!” which started me on this train of thought in the first place.
Yes! for ayooni ~~~~~*****~~~~~
You know they’re still talking about you How you went wind surfing, in a camouflage bikini while they were bombing Baghdad. The f-16 almost dove in the lake trying to salute you with his wing.
I still hear stories about you, How you stayed on and on when everyone else picked up their bags and left for Amman or Brussels or Munich. You trusted in your fate and you were so right.
Is there any wonder I admire you? One of the few in my two -page book That can share a tale of honor killing without judgment or flinching, That swam peacefully in a compound patrolled by tanks, That set a table with cloth For a desert dinner, On a new moon night of stars.
This is why we must join forces, why our destiny calls us to the meeting and we just say in unison “Yes” I have always said “Yes” You have always said “Yes” It’s the stuff and attitude that legends are made from, that makes a life bigger than a myth or a soap opera or reality show bigger and better than just saying “No.”
Tomorrow I will tell you about another new friend in the making, Natascha Randt, gifted machinimatographer, mentor, and moderator on M.A.G. to share a harrowing adventure with you, that I lived (and died), behind her, strapped into the co-pilot’s seat.
Thank you Cisko for the offer to join, so glad I was smart enough to say “Yes”
Sometimes, and it seems more so lately to me, real life and Second Life intersect. The borders of these two worlds are coming down, as people in the ‘physical’ world are starting to see and understand that virtual worlds also have their own valid reality. This is the second project I collaborate on with DB Bailey that spans these two dimensions. The first was a machinima and poem for his build on Stanford University Campus Second Life, commemorating the opening of a new library in real life. The video was entitled“DB Shoots DB”.This time he asked me to write a poem and some music for his latest project that he was building onKitely -Virtual Worlds on Demand.
DB, known as David Denton in the outer world, is an architect and a Southerner, living in Tennessee. In The Spring they celebrate a big Art festival called The Dogwood ArtsFestival in Knoxville, and they have a section which is known as “Art in Public Places” In a conversation with the organizers, DB pointed out that more people spend time in virtual public places nowadays, than the real ones, and that it would be a good idea to include the virtual this year in their celebrations. They agreed, and gave him the green light for his own Art project, to be built on Kitely, and asked for my help, in writing a poem to be played on the installation.
I am not a Southerner, but I do like the music, and its natural beauty, and I tried to compose a piece for the poem, that had a touch of down south with maybe a little twist of “karima” I only needed to give him the poem and the music, but after that was done, it seemed a machinima to show what the poem was describing, would be a good idea..and here it is. I present the short (a little over 2 minutes) poem video to be included on DB’s build on Kitely, “The Dogwood Arts Festival”. I once again enjoyed working with DB, always a pleasure, sometimes a challenge, but I find myself doing things I would have never guessed I could. By the way, I changed my pitch 1 notch up on the recording to sound more…southern? well, just to sound fresher maybe. The Dogwood blooms and The Art is in the air….Enjoy!
I have been reading at an event, called “Tropical Reflections” once a month in Costa Rica Sims, the virtual equivalent of my RL country of nationality and residence. For those of you who attended my readings there, you will recall it was a small suburban park setting, pillows on the grass, and casual picnic style seating. Well the poetry venue as well as the Estate itself, has changed hands, new owner, and new ideas. It’s still Costa Rica at heart, all the wonderful amenities it has always provided for its residents , and visitors alike, but now more creative ideas are being put out to try and one of them is this beautiful Arabian style pavilion that will be the new venue for my readings there.
So richly beautiful
I took a sneak sit on my pillow just to see how it felt, and looking around I felt like I had been transported back to my beloved Middle East. The very gifted designer of fine Arabic furnishings, Tara Tagore, creator of Melino Style. was the one who transformed this large and not very cozy indoor- pool area into the elegant salon you see in the pictures. Thank you Tara, you have done an incredible job!
The perfect setting to be transported by the spoken word
I have prepared a varied banquet to dine on, and I invite you for this reading, celebrating a new monthly home for my poetry on Costa Rica Sims, to dig down into your inventories and see if you can make a creative flowing comfortable Arabic outfit to blend right into the ambiance and the decor. I promise you an hour of especially chosen music, some colorful images and of course my poetry to float over it all. I want to thank Samantha Ohrberg, Estate manager for Costa Rica Sims of Dream Seekers Estates, for making me feel very pampered and welcomed with the offering of this new venue, and also to Marriellaanna, Events Planner, who has helped make this new look, and my opportunity to read within its’ walls possible.
To be perfect, all this room needs is your attendance...
Join me, this Thursday, February 23rd at 1pmslt, to share an hour of poetry in this magnificent setting. “Ahleen wa sahleen” Welcome! Here is your speedy careening taxi to drop you off inside.Karima @ Poetry Reflections
If you follow my blog at all, then this won’t be the first time you hear me speak of Tukso Okey, who still remains, for me, the best and most exciting live musician in Second Life. Actions speak louder than words, and ever since I wrote this poem almost two years ago, I had in the back of my mind, to do a video of it. Well it took this long to gain enough skills, to be able to do him and the poem justice, but I think the time has come, to show you in words, and moving imagery accompanied by him doing his classic hit “Red Hot Poppa” just why we are all hopping on his train, sometimes even three times a day, to be carried away on his music, his funky and versatile style, that never fails to surprise and delight. Tukso is something special among the many talented SL live musicians. His fan base is large, and I project will reach 1000 in 2012. We are not only a large group, but we have formed a family around his music, his charisma, how he makes us feel part of his music, when we listen to him playing his many instruments that he lays down. There is absolutely no doubt who is driving the train, and we are swept along as his lucky passengers These are not back tracks, pre-recorded. These are tracks Tukso lays down as we slowly move “out of the station on his own track” and that is why it is the metaphor for my poem and this video. I want to thank so many people who believed in it, in this project, and helped me see it realized. Thank you loyal family members: Kiki Reiko, Shepp Gilbraith, Kyoko Sabahi, Shesa Quandry, my SL Sister Maria Vought, Wynn Wrentling, Dharma Titanium, owner of The Alexander Theater, where the Live Show shots were filmed, and all family members who encouraged me along the way. I also want to give a special thank- you, to a fellow Machinima Artist Guild member, who is a moderator and one I look up to for her experience, and her generous sharing of it with those of us less adept, Natascha Randt. Last, but certainly not least, I give a special thanks to Tukso Okey and his manager Padula Bing, for allowing me to use this song, in my video, and for also believing in my work and me. This is a passion, and a labor of love. I hope you can feel that, and let’s make no excuses, or water it down, Tukso’s music is sensual, alluring, sexy and revolutionary. There is no getting around that. Those of us who dance to his beat, who wait to catch “the next one” know how very true that is. If you haven’t felt that experience yet, well look him up and hop on soon. This video was shot in HD widescreen. I proudly present to you “Train Ride Down With Tukso” “All aboard!”
I cordially invite you to my next reading on Wednesday February 8th at 11am slt. After coming to the last one I did on Costa Rica Sims, Mireille Jenvieve-Woodford owner along with her partner, Aeon Woodford, of “Ce Soir Arts” (Tonight Arts) invited me to do a reading at their place. This is a new venue in Sl that is dedicating itself to promote the Arts in all forms, and I am so honored and excited about performing there this Wednesday. I first was introduced to “Ce Soir Arts: when I went to a Tukso concert there, and was impressed with the beautiful surroundings, and the love of detail and ambiance. I quote Mireille here, to share a few things she says about their “Ce Soir Arts”
“Ce Soir is our new home, and a music and arts venue bearing the same name opened above in January 2012. It is our dream to invite wonderful musicians, vocalists, writers, and artists of every genre to join us for sharing and performance.”
“The venue has as its underlying theme, “Les Mystères des Ténèbres et de la Lumière” – “the mysteries of darkness and light.” This is portrayed by the grey base of the décor and reflected in the plantings and thematic representations found around the grounds. Visitors are to be encouraged to travel about and enjoy several little nooks with dancing (DMC Intan system) and other sweet animations (from some of the premier animators in SL) for singles and couples – and to enjoy the darkness and the light that emanate (as if by magic) from the area, especially in the midnight hour. “
That does sound like it’s worth exploring, hopefully with a loving friend to share it with.
I have a special place in my heart, for sim owners who believe in and actively promote the Arts in Second Life. I am proud to say I have read at many of these venues, and the warmth and welcoming manner of the owners of “Ce Soir Arts’ makes me believe this venue will become very popular for performing artists as well as their audiences. Thank you Mireille and Aeon for creating your lovely world. All are cordially invited Wednesday, where I will be doing a new poem, yet to be performed, and a collection of some of people’s favorite ones from the past, that I hope all will enjoy. I look forward to reading for you, to my music on stream with selected imagery, in this beautiful, peaceful, romantic setting. Here is your taxi for“Ce Soir Arts” Don’t miss this one, if you can help it!
If you have read my blog before, you know, I usually focus on the creative side of Second Life,and I am not politically involved for or against Linden Labs policies, although of course I hold my opinions, that lately, and sad to say, they are convincing me more each day, that what they are doing is slowly torturing and killing their own golden goose.They are taking away from us, what is the only thing Second Life can offer over the many, and more each day, alternative worlds springing up: Community. While they weren’t even looking we built a community. This is what Second Life still, at this moment has over the others, their edge so to speak. I say for the moment, because if they continue with their policies that really are beginning to seem like, Anti-Education, Anti-Art, and anti-Resident interests, they will most surely lose that edge to other worlds who are already more receptive to the idea of Art and Community (Kitely – Virtual Worlds on Demand is a good example) Do they really think that we would rather play mindless find- the- jewel games, than enjoy an international gathering of artists and art lovers, which was always a delight to attend at Pirats? Even with the lag, and the crowds, there was excitement, and integrity, and inter-nationality at its best. Translators whizzing in many different languages, Art from all over the globe, showcased, presented so well, with respect and good taste each and every time. If it’s true I am not a visual artist, nor am I a big social butterfly in large gatherings, but I promise you, I was inspired many times, and some of my best writing came from going to a show at Pirats, and falling in love with a painting, buying it, taking it home, and looking into it, until the words flowed out of me. Artists like ieko Catnap, Chrome Underwood, Claudia222 Jewell, Fiona Leitner, Scottius Polke, Geneveive Silvercloud, Littleone Aries and many others, came into my life, my home through the open doors of Pirats. That they are now forced to shut them do to some arbitrary decision- making on the part of Linden Labs, who seem to only be interested in subsidizing “their own” Art sims..well what about a LEA grant for Pirats? The cost of keeping a full sim up and running every month is $295.00USD!! If any of you have window- shopped, you know that this price, is the highest tier on any virtual world available, yet most of us stay in Second Life..because of places like Pirats that now are being shut down. I strongly believe in the petition that is circulating on the web and in- world. I offer this humble post as the testimony of yet one more person in favor of Linden Labs stepping in directly, and giving Pirats their own sim, so we can continue to dream, be inspired, and be connected in the atmosphere of Art, Elegance, and Friendship that Pirats has offered to and represented our Sl Artistic community. In solidarity with all who have worked so hard, I give you now where you can go online to sign this petition and also a copy of a note-card that you can use in-world to make your own, sign it and send it to Asmita Duranjaya.
Manifest We, all the signing artists, who had the pleasure to show our work in one of the PiRats galleries, confirm hereby, that PiRats is one of the best organized and well structured art network in Second Life, that we would not like to miss in the future. We apply all, to allocate one LEA sim for PiRats, to ensure the continuity of Nathalie’s (Merlina) and Jean-Marc’s (Newbab) work for more than 250 artists in Second Life and more than 1400 group members as well as those, who will join in the future. Please sign this manifest with your name and give it to every artist and art aficionado in Second Life and everybody should send it back to me with his signature until 1st of February. Asmita Duranjaya (independent artist)
I urge everyone who cares about Pirats, to please show it, by signing these two petitions.
A beautiful spot to enjoy an hour of music and poetry
I am reading once again this Thursday, Jan. 26th at 1pmslt on the Costa Rica Sims, a lovely spot to find a pillow on the ground, and lose yourself in an hour of poetry. I have chosen many poems, I have not performed in a long time, and it will be an eclectic mix of themes, styles and music. I really enjoy reading here, as these sims hold fond memories for me, where I was a resident for almost two years, and as most of you know, represent my RL home too in Costa Rica. I invite you, after the reading to just walk around and discover, or ask one of the staff to give you a taxi that will take you everywhere you might enjoy. So join me in this cozy tropical setting, and let me try to weave some magic through my words, choice of music, and imagery this Thursday at 1pmslt. Here is your taxi that should drop you off in front. I hope to see you there.Taxi for Tropical Reflections
Time seems to have flown by again, and I haven’t shared anything new since I said I was almost finished with my new world on Kitely – Virtual Worlds on Demand, “Sebgram X-99.” I named this planet after my nephew who is a total cool geek by the name of Sebi, and just graduated from high school, so… I made a planet for him…sort of for- the- graduate- who has -everything- kind of gift. I have recently joined the Machinima Artist Guild,(MAG) and the first thing of course I realized, is how little I know, and the pretty poor quality of my machinima I have been offering to you, my readers, for the last ten months. As I am a poet first, and a machinima techy second, I didn’t have any idea what I didn’t know, but sharing a few of my videos, some of the recent ones and a few from “The Two,” I am becoming aware that there are so many little details into making what can be termed an excellent machinima of high quality.. I am still not at their level, but perhaps what I lack in training, I can compensate in creativity. This video was shot on both my sim in Second Life and on my world in Kitely. The music once again, is my original Garage Band creation. This is my fifth world there by the way, and although I still don’t consider myself a builder, I have put together a selection of worlds now, each with its own feeling. I think that sums me up in general. I am more about feeling, and less about right angles, but I also realize how those grids, some good tools of the trade, savvay, and tricks, add up to a better build, or a better video for the audience to enjoy. For now..I give you my latest YouTube, imperfect as it is, but I tried to shoot in a wider lens with better quality as I have been encouraged to do. I made this with lots of love, a lot of editing, and a lot of time building the sets from scratch. Enjoy!!
Digital Rabbit Hole 