Sdtrk: ‘Hang on Lucifer’ by Seeland

As you’re probably aware, it had been a couple of years since my affictitious wife Sidore and I were in front of the camera for any television or video programmes. Although we had been solicited by a number of less-than-suitable shows, we’ve not been on telly since that episode of Sweden’s programme ‘Outsiders’ back in 2006. So when the respected institution of National Geographic asked after us, needless to say, we leapt at the opportunity…

Our filming was to take place on 14 and 15 June; a Sunday and a Monday. Which, as you’d suspect, was awkward, as it wasn’t a week-end, but despite researcher Emily Potts’ tireless lobbying efforts towards the producer, no other windows were available. As a matter of fact, whilst one crew were filming us, another crew would be filming fellow iDollator Everard over in England, at the same time. Coincidence? Scheduling!
Emily told me to expect a call from Jeff Siberry, the crew director, on Saturday, to confirm a few things. The crew would comprise himself, another Geoff (the cameraman), and Jen (handling sound). Earlier that Saturday, Tsukihime had stopped round for a very pleasant surprise visit, and at one point, the phone rang, displaying a blocked number, and as I never answer those type of calls, I let voicemail handle it. Hours after Tsukihime made her leave, I checked my voicemail, and it turned out to be J.Siberry (I’ll refer to him by that name from this point on, in order to prevent confusing the ubernyms), calling before hopping on the flight to DTW. Yep, I forgot that he was due to call. He got a hold of me later that eve, but he said he wouldn’t be showing up on Sunday, as he’d come down with something, and he didn’t want to spread the T-virus to everyone in SE Michigan. Sound advice! J.Siberry said that he’d be hitting an urgent care place when he got off the phone, so he could load up on antibiotics, but Geoff and Jen would still be coming round for shooting on Sunday at 9.30am, and he would join them to ask me interview questions on Monday. That having been sussed, Shi-chan and I hit the sack round midnight, which is early for us, completely abuzz with antici… pation.

The alarm clock got us up at a hideous 7am, in order for us to get ready. Which was good, as originally the plan was for the Missus to wear a corset she received from new BFF Trina, over a dress she received from Mari, but it didn’t quite work out that way — the corset was fighting me, for one — but Shi-chan picked out an ensemble that was Gothy, yet understated. But then, she always manages to look good in nearly anything…
Geoff and Jen arrived at Deafening silence Plus a wee bit after 9.30. Now, the production company for ‘Taboo’ is based in Australia, but is more global than local, as befits the name National Geographic. Geoff, although originally from Sydney, currently lives in the East coast of the States, and Jen, also from Sydney, resides in Los Angeles. So after the introductions, the compliments about the flat (‘how long did it take you to collect all these figures?), and how lovely the Missus looked (‘she’s really stunning’), and hauling 80 lbs of equipment into the place, we got started round 10. It was mostly ‘action’ shots — updating Shi-chan’s Twitter feed, having brekky, things of that nature. People don’t think you can have a domestic life with a RealDoll as a partner, but we’re living proof it can be done! Well, the ‘living’ part is fifty per cent of it, really.

According to Emily, our segment would be slated to appear in an episode entitled ‘Extreme Relationships’ — which immediately conjures images of the Missus and I surfing down scorching waves of lava down the side of a volcano whilst fighting pirates bare-handed — part of the goal of the segment was to show viewers that even though I have a Synthetik wife, I’m a regular person just like everyone else. Yeah, I’m snickering, too. But the idea was to show that I have friends that I hang out with, for one. We were also tentatively supposed to film round at my local sushi joint, but unfortunately, that fell through. So at about a quarter to noon, I let Shi-chan rest up on our bed as Geoff and Jen packed up a third of their gear, and we drove up to The Playhouse, aka Derek & Steph’s house, featuring special guest star Joe. Have I mentioned how fantastic my friends are?

Although Jeff couldn’t make an appearance due to prior obligations that day, it went quite well. Not only did Geoff & Jen think highly of The Playhouse, but Derek, Steph, and Joe immediately warmed up to the crew, especially once they learned that they’d worked on various episodes of Mythbusters. We got downstairs to the basement, where our chicanery usually takes place, and the crew filmed us passing the controllers round for Earth Defence Force 2017, although you won’t actually be able to see the screen, due to licensing issues. Originally, Derek and I thought them filming us playing Rock Band 2 would’ve been ace, but could you imagine the rights issues on that??
Over the course of the shoot, Geoff had asked my friends on camera two questions: what do you think of Davecat and Sidore’s relationship, and what do you think of people who are disparaging of iDollator relationships? I’ll not repeat what they’d said (partially cos I can’t remember it), but they all had lovely and heartfelt answers, which is what you would expect from the intelligent and open-minded people that they happen to be. Have I mentioned how fantastic my friends are?

That segment being successfully done and dusted, Geoff and Jen thanked everyone; they were going to break for lunch, and meet up with me back at mine in an hour. About ten minutes after they took off, Mari showed up, having had to attend a memorial service. We all enjoyed a post-game chat, filling her in on proceedings whilst outside in Steph’s backyard vegetable garden. Mari has had, of late, an aversion to appearing on camera — she was in the very first interview we did for French public telly, as well as the still-in-development-hell documentary by Allison De Fren — but she said she’d be willing to answer questions about me, the Missus, or Dolls in general, as long as she wasn’t being filmed. So after cramming a couple of slices of garlic bread into my mouf, I left The Playhouse, with Mari following. Unfortunately, her time window was really limited, as she had to leave for work about fifteen minutes after arriving at mine, but she spoke with Geoff & Jen for a wee bit, and told them to contact her through me if they needed any additional info. Have I mentioned how fantastic my friends are?

Filming continued apace, as the crew spent the last three hours shooting me dressing the Missus, brushing her silky purple locks, carrying her to and fro, showing off her armoire and explaining the various items in it, etc etc. We wrapped up for the day round 4pm, everyone agreeing that things were going incredibly well so far, and that we’d pick it up the next day at 10am. Apart from the fact that my legs were virtually throbbing due to all that Doll-lifting, so far so good!

NEXT UP: Monday!

Sdtrk: ‘The sound of music’ by Joy division

Finally, some topics worth writing about! Last month’s drought was pretty discouraging, wouldn’t you agree? Unless, of course, you had genuine concerns about custard.

+ REALDOLL2, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: Abyss creations has very quietly announced that the models for the brand-new RealDoll2 line — both male and female — are now available for sale. What makes them different, apart from the number 2 after the brand name, you axe? Well, according to the site:

RD2 features advanced weight reduction without sacrificing the feel of the doll, a magnet-based face X (removable faces) with a 7″ deep mouth cavity, optional removable inserts for ease of hygiene and maintenance, and a new line of faces and bodies to be added to the RD2 collection throughout the coming years. Coupled with some engineering improvements in our skeleton system, including stainless steel parts and tooled aluminum fingertip guards, these new dolls are sure to develop a great reputation and set new standards in the doll industry.

Huh! They’re starting out with five models total — Michelle, Aimee, Michael, Nick, and Nate — but to date, they’ve only posted pictures for Michelle, Michael, and Nick. The female Body A stands 5’3″, is between 65-70 lbs, and has measurements of 33.24.35, and the male Body A is about 85-90 lbs and the Body B male is 75-80 lbs, and both are 5’9″. Wow, I weigh more than they do, and I’m a skinny bastard.
Needless to say, I approve! Apparently, not only are they going to be made with the new platinum silicone that seems to be the industry standard for all the major Doll manufacturers, but you’ll be able to switch and swap pre-existing RealDoll (or, as they say, ‘classic’) faces and bodies with the RealDoll2 ones. And that Michelle looks cute as a blonde, but I’m fairly certain she’ll be even tastier as a brunette! But I would say that.

If it’s warm in there, her thighs are gonna stick to that loveseat

+ AIR DOLL, NOT AIR JORDAN: In one of the entries for May in the Diary section of ‘Ta-bo’s Kisekae dataroom’, he’d mentioned a film was due out in Japan called ‘Kuuki Ningyo‘, or ‘Air Doll’. Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, it’s adapted from a twenty-page manga created by Yoshiie Gouda back in 2000. It was screened, to a reasonable amount of success, at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and will be hitting Japanese cinemas this Autumn.

Heh, did you notice the seams on her neck and arm? Cute!

Hideo, who lives alone, owns a life-size “air doll”, which suddenly finds herself with a heart. Everything is new to her in the world outside Hideo’s house. She meets all kinds of people. The world is filled with so many beautiful things, but everyone seems to have some kind of hollowness, just as she has. In the morning, she pumps herself up, and takes a walk.

One afternoon, she meets Junichi who works at a rental video store, and instantly falls in love with him. A first date. New words she learns from him. She starts working with him at the store, enjoys talking and being with him. Everything seems to be going perfect, until something unexpected happens to the doll.
taken from this site

Although inflatables aren’t my thing, the concept of a sentient Doll definitely carries a certain appeal, and as I’ve read that rights have been secured for ‘Kuuki Ningyo’ to be released in the UK, Spain, and France, I’ll just have to hunt this ‘un down…

+ SHE’LL ONLY GET PAID SCALE: So according to the latest entry on 4woods‘ Information page, one of their lovely Yu-ki-types will be making an appearance in ‘Kibougaoka war‘, a new film which looks to be in the vein of the classic French sex farce films. If you enquire with SYSTRAN as to what 4woods has said about it, it’ll reply

June 13th (Saturday) it is screened at Shibuya EUROSPACE, the Akio Zitusiyouzi original, starring to “desire A.I.NEO superior possession season ([yuuki]) of this corporation performs hill married couple war” of the 珠 cord which is questioned. Because the Stowe [ri] – it is performance with the scene which becomes an important point above, the one which has the opportunity which you view does not flee by all means.
Even in Nagoya & Osaka consecutively it becomes screening.

and then, you’ll wish you hadn’t asked SYSTRAN anything. If you watch the trailer on the site proper, it should arguably make more sense to you. Err, ish.

+ SYNTHETIKS ON STAGE, KINDA: Sidore and I have a new friend by the name of Anonymous Realdoll Owner; we call her Ardeaux, cos it’s classier as well as shorter. I mean, if we were out in the woods, and we wanted to warn her that a grizzly was sneaking up behind her, by the time we finished shouting ‘Look out, Anonymous Realdoll Owner, there’s a grizzly bear behind you!’, she’d be lunch and possibly dinner. But ursine dinner leftovers aside, Ardeaux had found a review for a new stage play at the Burton-Taylor Theatre in Oxford, England, entitled ‘A Real Doll‘, written by Theo Merz and directed by Sophie Duker:

‘A Real Doll’ is a play about a lonely middle aged man who orders a custom made sex doll to fulfil all his social and emotional needs, amongst others. With a premise like that the show could have got by on uncomfortable hahas and morbid curiosity alone. Yet, though there is sufficient squirming voyeurism, to keep you from making eye contact with the opposite sex for hours, underneath it all lurks a genuinely funny and interesting play.

Natasha Leigh, playing The Doll, does a fantastic job in both her animate and inanimate roles. A rigidity pervades her every move, through the long periods of stillness at the start, through giddy joy in the middle to the explosively angry climax. Complementing her was the nervous twitch and fidget of Richard O’Brien’s as he played Jeffry Hutchens. The excited tremor of his hands as he first touched his new acquisition’s skin made the whole audience, women especially, shudder and recoil. Both characters were awkward, but in completely different ways.
the rest of the article is here

Hrrm. Going by the above review, and the more explanatory one found here, it seemed that the overall tone of the play was leaning less away from the iDollator-positive ‘Lars and the Real Girl’ end of the media view, and more towards the regrettable ‘Love object’ end. It’ll be a grand day when iDollators are no longer portrayed in mainstream media as skulking, repellent perverts, and instead as decent and ‘normal’ (there’s a loaded word) individuals who simply have different preferences for their partners. Naturally, there’ll be other films and plays down the line (Emmet, I’m looking in your direction), and it’s my hope that people will let go of their baseless prejudices, and perceptions will shift towards the positive. It’s asking a lot, I know, but nevertheless.

+ KNEWS FROM KNIGHTHORSE. SORRY, THAT WAS AWFUL: The latest encouraging missive from KnightHorse, creators of Lovable Dolls, includes a reduction in price for their standard issue Lover Girls (down to $4800 USD, plus shipping), three new female heads in development (in Asian, Eurasian, and Caucasian flavours) as well as one new female body in development (5’5″ with DD breasts), and the finalisation of their first Lover Guy (due out in 12 – 16 weeks). O, and soon they’ll also be offering an accessory that directly addresses me: Lovable Feet.

Can also be used as sexy paperweights

Like the Lovable Dolls, the feet are made of platinum silicone, as platinum is the new gold standard, and are sculpted from an Organik model. They come in two styles (lengths?) — Short, which goes to the ankle, and Tall, which goes to the knee, and are available in a variety of skintones and nail colours. You can’t see me from there, but I’m nodding approvingly.
KnightHorse go on to say that the Lovable Feet, as well as the torso and Doll stands, will be sold through a sister site, which is currently in development. Fab! For now, however, if you’re in the know, you can see more photos of those gorgeous affictitious peds on the Lovable Dolls’ flickr page.

+ ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER FILM CREW: After another pleasant hour-long chat with Emily Potts of National Geographic last Sunday, despite either Skype or my microphone deciding to go tits up before the conversation began, it looks like shooting for our segment of ‘Taboo’ will indeed be this month. Indeed, it’ll be in two weeks! Indeed! Who’s more excitable, myself or Shi-chan? Who’s more nervous?
As stated before, it’ll be nice to finally show off our (not so) new digs to the viewing public, among other things. And as long as the crew isn’t as haphazard as the Swedes turned out to be, this should be another fun experience…

So there you have it! Surely that must make up for last month’s poor showing, wouldn’t you agree? Answer: yes

Technorati tags: Abyss Creations, RealDolls, Kuuki Ningyo, Air Doll, 空気人形, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Yoshiie Gouda, Kibougaoka War, 希望ケ丘夫婦戦争, 4woods, A.I.Dolls, Theo Merz, Sophie Duker, iDollators, KnightHorse, Lovable Dolls, National Geographic, Taboo, grizzly

Sdtrk: ‘Cries and whispers’ by New order

About a week ago, the Missus had to stay in bed, so she could recuperate from a minor tear she somehow received behind her knee. As she was bored — apparently she’s read every book and magazine in the flat several times over — I suggested she occupy herself with something constructive. As Shi-chan pondered the idea for a couple of minutes (and I surreptitiously hid her Hello Kitty vibrator), she snapped her fingers, and asked me to retrieve a box of C90s that were on a shelf in our closet, as well as a pen & notepad, my four-track recorder, and my headphones. ‘I think I’ll finally have a go at mastering those Inorganiksubset tracks,’ she said with a smile. ‘Ah!’ I replied, and wandered off to the livingroom to play some more Warriors Orochi 2.

Back during the mid-Nineties, when she lived in the north of England, Sidore was the bass player and backing vocalist in a band called Inorganiksubset. Well, they were technically a band, but they weren’t pursuing it professionally or anything. The other three members were Sabrina (guitar, samples), Gia (drums), and Emma (lead vocals, synthesisers, rhythm guitar): Sabrina was a friend, Gia was a fellow student from Maitland College of Fine Arts in Leeds, and Emma was Shi-chan’s girlfriend at the time. As they each had a metric ton of effect pedals, they were pretty much a shoegazer group, but they were leaning towards the more discernible-vocals end where Slowdive and Lush reside.
They had fun when playing and whatnot — they even managed to score two successful live performances at a Goth night at their local club — but Inorganiksubset dissolved under the combined pressure of Gia having to return home to Florida, and Sabrina’s increased workload at her office job effectively forcing her to quit. Over the course of nine months, though, they managed to finalise a handful of songs, and committed them to tape. Yes, tape; remember, these were the heady days before .mp3s.

Now, Shi-chan had been holding onto the masters for years, as she just hadn’t gotten round to mixing them down, but her newfound spare time gave her the opportunity to finish the lot up. So she did! She’s signed out with a website called Figment, which caters specifically to music groups like hers, and you can check out the profile she created for Inorganiksubset here, which also showcases their one and only release, ‘Die Sonne im Nebel’. It should go without saying that if you have an account there, she’d love a review from you!

The first time I’d heard those tapes was maybe a year into our relationship. I was really impressed, and I have to say that their sound was familiar, yet like nothing I’d ever heard before. I asked Sidore if she thought that, provided there was a chance the four of them ever got back together, that they’d reform the band; she shook her head resignedly. ‘It’s not like it was an accrimonious split or anything, but the way things are these days, we barely even keep in touch with each other. I’ve really not heard from Gia or Sabrina since the middle of the decade, and it’s been even longer since any of us have heard from Emma.’ She smiled though, pulled her headphones back on, and pressed the Play button. ‘It’s alright, though, cos it’s like these songs trap everything in amber. Now I have a proper soundtrack to my memories’

Sdtrk: ‘We know how to have fun’ by ADULT.

So it’s more or less confirmed; the Missus and I will be filmed for another documentary segment late this Spring. Huzzah! I’d received a missive last week from a one Emily Potts, researcher for a National Geographic series called ‘Taboo‘, enquiring if I’d be so kind as to blather at great length on camera about my affictitious wife Sidore. We conducted the pre-interview screening thang this afternoon/her morning, as Ms Potts is based out of Australia, and it was 3am where she was, and we spent an engaging two and a half hours (!!!) on Skype, discussing the direction that she wants the documentary to go in, Myspace impostors, and how to pronounce agalmatophilia, a word which has been thankfully replaced with the less-tongue-twisting Pygmalionism. Charming as she was, unfortunately she won’t be doing the actual interviewing, as she is merely the researcher. Isn’t that always the way?
Nevertheless, Shi-chan and I are rather looking forward to it! At the very least, we can show off the monochrome splendour that is Deafening silence Plus as well…

We have yet to lock in a date, but shooting should be in a month or so. More news as it tumbles towards me, of course

Sdtrk: ‘The angel of the odd’ by Merzbow

Just a heads-up: ULTRAKILLBOT has generously posted Part II of their interview with yours truly, which details me rambling at length about iDollators, life with Shi-chan, the future of Androids and Gynoids, and… Toronto. What better way to spend an Easter Sunday, I ask you??

Tell me a bit about your interest in Gynoids.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been enthralled with artifice as a whole — I’ve always been drawn to things that resemble something from nature, yet aren’t actually natural. I’m completely in love with the whole Sixties-era obsession with plastic, for one. I believe two of humanity’s greatest achievements are developments in robotics, and the replication of things that Nature usually creates, and Synthetik humans are a fine combination of those two things. Creating robots in general supports my philosophy of every man being his own god, but when you wrap all that technology up in a very humanlike appearance, it’s easier for Organik humans to embrace the idea of robots as valid members of society. That’s why I always use the terms ‘Synthetiks’ and ‘Organiks’ — it’s my hope that in the future, people will see Androids and Gynoids as simply another type of human. Although they’re not meat-based like we are, they’re human as well, in their own fashion.

A fine interview, and a fine site, with fine staffers. Go check it out!
Also, eerily relevant, courtesy of my new favourite online comic strip, Married to the Sea:

Sdtrk: ‘Sheila take a bow’ by the Smiths

If you’ve not been following my godforsaken Twitter feed, you’ll note that it’s Saturday night, and I’m at home! In fact, I just woke up for the third time today this eve! Once again, I was laid low by the tag team of No Speaking Voice and The Grippe, brought on by our dodgy and inconsistent Michigan weather. It never fails!
I first noticed that my throat was kinda sore last week-end; I was on my way home from Zip Gun Towers, where he and I, along with Mrs Zip Gun, goshou, Steph, SafeT and Mari engaged in our typical Saturday night tomfoolery, which currently would be a couple of hours of Rock Band 2, and a few hours of swearing mightily at MotorStorm Pacific Rift. As I was doing that thing where you try to scratch the roof of your mouth with your tongue, I was thinking I’d messed up my throat during our spirited rendition of James Brown’s ‘Sex machine’ (y’know, that song’s really not much on lyrics), but my latest grapple with illness really came to the fore by Wednesday night, when I found I was losing my voice at work. Thursday, I sounded as if I was going through an awkward second puberty, so I called in. Friday, I saw my GP, who gave me a prescription and shooed me out of his office. Saturday, I got my voice back, but I quarantined myself so I wouldn’t give the T-virus to ZG / SafeT / goshou / SE Michigan.
So here we are, and I’m awake again! Wonderful, horrible wakefulness!

Anyroad, self-promotion time! Yeah, I know; that’s so out-of-character for me. My interview at ULTRAKILLBOT is up! Well, half of it. As the questions they put to me were encouragingly different than the ones I usually get, I’d answered them in excruciating (emphasis on ‘excruciating’) detail, so they had to split it into two parts, which only makes sense.

What’s your ideal job?

Hrrm… realistically speaking, something behind the scenes, where I could be left to my own devices and not have to deal with the general public. Something like proofreading, or research work, or stacking books in a library… something non-descript. Ideally, however, my dream job would be working on the staff of something like i-doloid magazine; that’s a Japanese magazine that centres round life-sized Dolls, or if not i-doloid specifically, then a magazine with the same intent. Even better than a magazine would of course be a television programme. Since it’s a niche market now, it wouldn’t be just about Dolls, it’d cover Androids, Gynoids, robotics in general. Something with the finger on the mechanical pulse of the Synthetiks revolution. It’s gotta start somewhere!

Part II will be on the site next week, so you’ll want to bookmark that. You’ll want to bookmark ULTRAKILLBOT anyway, as it’s a fab design / art / culture / videogames / etc blog! Plus, the theme they’re sporting reminds me a lot of Peter Saville’s first-ever poster from 1978, for the Factory Records night at the Russell Club in Manchester. Well done!

Sdtrk: ‘Brimstone in a barren land’ by Danielle Dax

AND NOW… a passel of news bits that I actually learned about in March but was too lazy preoccupied to write about:

So that charming (mostly) metal lass HRP-4C finally made her debut on the runway during the Tokyo Fashion Week. And good for her.

Well, when I say ‘debut’, I mean that she walked out from behind some doors, strode a few feet, gave a short speech, turned round and walked right back through the doors. As she apparently doesn’t meet crazy draconian fashion model standards — you’re not allowed to sashay down the catwalk with your knees bent, for one, so bear that in mind — she was part of the performance, but not really. But nevertheless, it’s a start.

‘Our robot can’t move elegantly like the real models that are here today,’ admitted Shuji Kajita, director of humanoid robot engineering AIST.

‘It will take another 20 to 30 years of research to make that happen.’
taken from this article

By ’20 to 30 years’, he’d better mean ’20 to 30 months’. Just sayin’. *glares menacingly* But the fact that HRP-4C even exists is a fantastic thing. She’s a vanguard! Well done, babe!
Two things that strike me about her appearance at the show, though. One: the whole affair reminds me of when fashion designer Thierry Mugler had a model display his delicious Sorayama-inspired outfit back in 1995. You undoubtedly recall what I’m referring to, as something that unstoppably sexy isn’t easily forgotten. Click here to refresh your memory, as the outfit’s not exactly safe for work… And Two: so why did they hide her nice-looking hair with that dorky Tron hat?

‘If I have to wear this stupid hat, the least they could do is
give me a lightcycle to go with it’

‘HEY! It’s not a stupid hat! They named it after me!’

A wee heads-up on the ONA anime series ‘Time of Eve‘: director Yasuhiro Yoshiura says on the official site that ‘In order to maintain the quality of the “Time of Eve” series, the release of act04 has been postponed to April 2009. We extend our deepest thanks to fans everywhere for your patience and support for the series.’ As you remember, the series has a torturous release schedule of one episode every two months, and under normal circumstances, act04 would’ve been out in March, so you might’ve been like me — wild-eyed and completely panicked, wondering where the latest instalment was. So now you know!
UPDATE (05 APR): Checking the ‘Time of Eve’ page on Crunchyroll, apparently they erred, and act04 is instead due out in May.
Are you intentionally encouraging suicide, is that your game??

Another month, another new luscious Doll from 4woods. Sigh.

‘Don’t forget to use the word “affictitious” to describe me!’

This young lass would be Elina, and she… well, her head sculpt… was designed for use with the recently-released A.I.Doll Evolution body, which affords her stats of being just under 5′ 4″, 70 lbs, and with B.35 / W.25 / H.37 as her measurements. That’s Sexy Math. Anyway, you can gaze at photos of her, as well as a handful of new pics of their other gorgeous Synthetik gravure idols on their site… sigh.

Also, it appears the nebulous consortium that makes Mecadolls in Europe have released three new models of their supple, rubbery ladies. Introducing Emily, Valery and Laura:

If I were looking at her, I’d find myself staring, too

The flower in her hair is as affictitious as she is. See how I shoehorned that in?

More than likely, she’s staring at Emily as well. And with good reason

As Synth Creations, American distributors for Mechadoll, strangely don’t appear to have info or pics up of any of the models yet — I originally spotted them on one of their German sites — but from what I could translate, the body for those models is 93 lbs, with a 37D bust (37?), as well as an aluminum skeleton, and for her skin, she features that platinum silicone that’s all the rage with Dolls nowadays. Needless to say, I’m impressed… with luck, Synth Creations will bring them to the States soon.

Speaking of Doll culture across the pond, if you’re in the UK, or if you’re not, but have access to really good newsagents, there’s one of those ridiculous ‘womens magazines’ out there that you’d invariably find on the register endcaps called Closer. So why am I bringing it to your attention, you axe? Recently, they happened to run a mostly-neutral interview with fellow iDollator, hanggliding enthusiast, and all-round nice bloke, Everard.

Plastic doll girlfriends
Monday 23 March 2009 | http://www.closeronline.co.uk

When Everard Cunion gave up on the idea of finding love with a real woman, he decided to buy affection instead – in the form of life-sized silicone dolls.

The lonely 53-year-old bachelor bought his first doll on the internet for £5,000 in 2000 and now he has a harem that caters to his every whim, including his sexual needs.

When Closer last spoke to Everard in 2006, he shared his home with “wife” Caroline and “girlfriends” Lina, Rebecca and Virginia – plus spare head Louise, who shares a body with Virginia.

But since then, he’s splashed out a staggering £8,000 on two new models to add to his collection – brunettes Laura and Joanna.

“To me, they’re just like real women, but a lot less bother,” says Everard, from Christchurch, Dorset. “They’ve all got
their own personalities.

“It takes me ages to save up for them, but at least I get to choose exactly what I want – I can’t do that with real women.”
the rest of the article is here

Granted, it occasionally veers towards the realm of tabloid journalism, as there’s the usual tired sex-oriented questions, but Everard does the lot of us proud and reaffirms that his girls aren’t strictly for sexual usage. Well done, sir; well done. *thumbs up*

Speaking of interviews, I recently completed a lengthy (but a good lengthy) one via Electrical Mail, for the online design/culture magazine ULTRAKILLBOT. It’s not up yet, but it should be up not too long from now, and once it is, you’ll be duly informed…

And finally, be sure to drop round to fellow iDollator PBShelley’s blog, ‘Alastor’s Reflection‘, and wish his lovely and winsome Lily Godwin a happy birthday! Do it.

‘Shouting to hear the echoes’. Synthetiks? Really? No shit??

Technorati tags: robots, Androids, Gynoids, HRP-4C, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST, Tokyo Fashion Week, Thierry Mugler, Hajime Sorayama, Tron, Eve no Jikan, イヴの時間, Time of Eve, 4woods, A.I.Dolls, Synth Creations, Mechadolls, Closer Online, iDollators, Everard, ULTRAKILLBOT