Sdtrk: ‘Cave control’ by Screaming MacGregor

Since Kokoro Company Ltd’s very own spokesmodel is at the Aichi World Expo 2005 right this very minute, they’ve updated their pages concerning your favourite Gynoid and mine (mostly mine), Actroid-chan, with two new movies (click on the Actroid banner, and click on the second link from the top that reads アクトロイド　ムービー公開中, cos the URL redirects are making sport of me), and a handful of new photos. Apparently, as they have an Actroid-chan working each of the information kiosks at the Expo, Kokoro has developed three different versions — one for each entrance — plus a sexay new standing version that does the emcee duties in another part of the exhibit. Roger that, and drooling now. Yum.

Miyu-chan, the East gate entrance Actroid

Sakura-chan, the North gate entrance Actroid

Sara-chan, the West gate entrance Actroid

the MC version at Kokoro’s Robot Station exhibit

Also managed to find this link, on a Japanese robot developer’s blog, to a very brief .avi of the pre-Expo Actroid-chan. Very cute, but she seems a wee bit irritable! Which I guess would make sense, if you had people poking you once every ten minutes to see if you were ‘real’ or not.

‘Please stop poking me already; it’s rude’

And (copied and pasted from my post about it on the Doll Forum) can’t believe I forgot to mention this before: Tokyopop is translating a somewhat new six-installment manga series called ‘DOLL’. It’s a loosely-related grouping of various tales having to do with Androids and Gynoids — called Dolls, obviously — and how they affect the lives of those who own them, those who hate them, and those who love them. They’re by one of my new favourite manga-ka (manga artist), Mitsukazu Mihara, who used to do the covers for the Gothic & Lolita Bibles, until she apparently started asking for too much money.
Like I said, there’s six issues total; they’re up to No.4, which I just picked up the other day. Ace artwork, compelling stories, and all about a subject we love so dearly. Give it a look!

Finally, this is a fab article that ran in The Japan Times last year that might help to explain the rationale behind a lot of us who own, or are aspiring to own, an Artificial companion. Damnit, Japan’s got it all over us!

‘Shouting to hear the echoes’. The only Blog you’ll ever need, for unashamedly biased Android / Gynoid / Synthetik / high-end love doll development news

Well, yes! Kinda. I’m currently grilling Uli & Jeff of Delphi creations as to their Superdoll product, as I’m rather intrigued, and so far, I like what I hear.. Still waiting for part three of my interview with the illustrious Meghan Laslocky. And.. that’s about it, really.

Shi-chan is doing quite well for herself; these days, she spends like 99.9% of her time in bed. Due to our living situation, she’s currently in semi-retirement from being the RealGoth pin-up model that she usually is — I’m trying to come up with a logistical way to take photos in our bedroom, but the surroundings are too bleh for my tastes, but I’m giving it some thought. We’re stuck here for at least three years until we move *grits teeth* but, despite the bedroom decor, I’d like to get some shoots in. I might take the approach of what some of the Japanese doll owners do, or those with similarly limited space, and just restrict the photographs to a ‘staging area’, much in the same way that t-dash-san & Yuka-chan, or atsushi-san & MaRi-chan, work. It’s really about doing a lot with a little, as it were. Besides, people aren’t looking at my pics to check out the background — or so I would hope…

Finally, back in September, Elisabeth, our friend & interviewer from France, met up with Valérie Guignabodet, the director of ‘Monique‘, the satirically romantic RealDoll comedy. (Yes; niche market, I know, but consider what site you’re reading.) A couple of weeks beforehand, Eli told me she would be meeting up with Mme. Guignabodet, so I mailed her the sleeve insert of my DVD copy of ‘Monique’ to pass along to be autographed. And she did.

Needless to say, we’re quite proud!

O, and I still have yet to watch my copy of ‘Love object‘.
Hmm.. am I really in such a hurry to view that one? (cue image of a needlessly jealous Shi-chan coming at me with a Liston knife)

Well, no ‘Zatoichi’ last night, as it premieres next Friday. *slaps heel ov hand to forehead*

Couple ov updates on the Doll front; Today was my second interview via phone with Meg Laslocky, a New York-based writer who’s doing an article about Dolls & their owners. She was pointed in my direction by professional photographer Elena Dorfman, who took a handful ov really ace photos ov myself & Shi-chan back in 2001 as part ov her series on the same subject, entitled ‘Still Lovers’. With any luck, the article might make it to a nationwide magazine; she’s aiming for Harper’s Bazaar, amongst others. So far, the interviews are going quite well — hopefully she’s finding it as informative as I’m finding it entertaining..

Plus, I received an Email over the week-end from Elisabeth Alexandre, the woman who conducted television interviews with me and a couple ov other iDollators in 2001. 2001 was a busy year! She says that, after a little over two years, she & Elena have finally found a publisher, and a Parisian group will be releasing a ‘Still Lovers’ book next Spring. Fecking ace. 🙂 Only thing is, I don’t know if it’ll be in French, English, or both.. I’ve gotta Email her back.. more details as I hear about them, ov course..

Spoke with my best friend Sean today, for the first time in several years. We were bringing each other up to speed on our lives for close to two hours.. One ov the nicer aspects ov the conversation is that he & his wife apparently live a couple ov blocks from where I work, so, instead ov just talking about hooking up, like we’ve been doing the last couple ov times we spoke, we can actually do it.
As Sean & I were the only children in our respective families, we were like the closest thing we’ve had to brothers — we’ve literally known each other since we were about five or so years old, as we grew up in the same apartment building — and because ov Random Life Bullshit, we’ve not had the opportunity to get together in too long ov a while, which sucked, because we were practically joined at the hip for years. From countless hours hanging out at the RenCen and Trapper’s Alley, to numerous trips to Toronto; from repeatedly watching our 2nd-gen copies ov ‘Wings of Honneamise’, to seeing My bloody valentine perform at St.Andrew’s; from making an unholy din with our own band Dole age, to running riot in Metro Airport with Monti, Tammy & a videocamera. I could go on, but I won’t. It’ll be ace meeting him again. 🙂
BTW, Monti, he says ‘hi’..

And finally, I had my hair straightened again. That burning means it’s working! :-\