Sdtrk: ‘Keepers of the dawn (Who loves the sun?)’ by Tropical popsicle

St Valentine’s Day, of course, is a holiday made popular by the very first gangster massacre back in 1929, when Al Capone had a buncha mooks lined up against the wall and ventilated, see. As many of the victims’ hearts were pierced by bullets, current generations memorialise this event by exchanging hearts to loved ones. How does Cupid enter into the equation, you ask? Much as how Christians appropriated the Easter egg from Pagans, so it was with celebrating St Valentine’s Massacre; Cupid originally symbolised a flying baby. It’s true.

Quite a few of the people I began following on Twitter were people I knew on MySpace. Remember MySpace? Okay, you can stop now. One of them, Hayley Heartbreak, is a Gothabilly lass from New Zealand who does pretty nifty illustrations in her spare time. Last year, she began doodling Valentine’s Day illos on Post-It notes for a set number of people who asked for one, and I managed to catch her this year. This is the fantastic result:

The Missus, our mistress, and I think it’s too damned cute. Thanks, Hayley!

Sdtrk: ‘Away from the city’ by The Summer Hits

Lately performance artist/jet-setter/iDollator Amber Hawk Swanson has had many irons (meaning ‘projects’) in the fire (meaning ‘fire’), and my wife Sidore and I are pleased to mention that we’re involved in one of them! Well, in part. In parts, actually.
During DolLApalooza 2013, Amber had developed the idea of taking Dolls who their owners had deemed irreparable, and transforming them into replicas of other killer whales being held in captivity, much as she’d done when her own Synthetik lover/mirror Amber Doll fell into disrepair. As fellow iDollator Jesse1965 had donated his previous RealDoll companion Heather, Shi-chan was also kind enough to give Amber her previous body, aka Sidore Mk II, and viewers of the performance will witness both Doll bodies being combined and fashioned into Lolita, an orca held in captivity at Miami Seaquarium. Hence the performance title: Sidore Mark II / Heather > LOLITA.
My role will be to read aloud Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita, in its entirety, for two hours each day over the course of the seven days of the performance. For the first two days of the performance, I’ll be doing so on location, and when I return home, I’ll be reading the rest of it via Skype. I’ll be seated!

Come 10 December, why not pull up a seat of your own, and watch us on Amber’s Livestream channel? It starts at 10am EST, and ends when it’s finished! Snacks and bevvies are not only welcome, but undoubtedly a good idea

EDIT (27 DEC 2012): In the unfortunate event you’d missed all or part of the performance, you can catch yourself up by watching the various days on Amber’s Vimeo channel. As of this writing, there are still a few days yet to be uploaded, but you can go ahead and just bookmark that bad boy, for future reference

Sdtrk: ‘Wasted place’ by Gary War

Have some additional news! Plus, it’s still November, and I couldn’t think of a decent new title.

It’s no secret that I don’t understand popular culture, and what passes for its music is one of the facets that either leaves me cold, or makes me angry. Like that Lady Gaga, as an example. Back in my day, we had a Lady Gagaga, but her name was Toyah Willcox, and her music was not as facile. I dunno; starring as a nihilistic punk in Derek Jarman’s ‘Jubilee’ made her truly cool, in my opinion. Three aspects about Lady Gagagaga redeem her from being an utter waste of space, though: she’s into Warhol, which is always good to hear; her overall message seems to be ‘be comfortable with who you are, no matter what others say’, which is definitely relatable; and GAGADOLL, which is a new and enticing thing.

As is the way of most media events these days, there are no details yet anywhere on the site, so I’m compulsively checking that shit, like, every day, so that I don’t miss anything. Are these Dolls that are going to be used in one of Lady Gagagagaga’s new music videos? Will they be for sale? Should that be the case, will you be able to dress them in architecture, much like the Organik Lady Gagagagagaga? We shall see!

4woods have just released two new heads, Sayo, and Sayo -drowsy-. Could you imagine being an iDollator who would want to solely concentrate on owning A.I.Dolls, and hearing news like this? You’d either be ecstatic that you have new additions to your collection, or you’d be flipping over a table, shouting ‘DAMNIT I AM RUNNING OUT OF MONEY AND SPACE FOR THESE!!’ Be careful what you wish for! Could’ve been worse, though, Inconsolable Fictional 4woods Brand Loyalist; you could’ve opted to collect every single body and head from Orient industry.

Left, Sayo, taking her earrings off before fighting; right, Sayo -drowsy-, struggling once again with narcolepsy

The Sayo head fits the A.I.NEO im body, and both Sayo and Sayo -drowsy- can go onto the A.I.Doll EX body. What next for 4woods, then? Well, give them a month, and they’ll more than likely have an answer.

Since late October, I’ve been in contact with Jury (pronounced ‘Yuri’), the head of a fledgling Doll studio out of Latvia (not Latveria; that’s Doctor Doom’s homeland), to see if he’s ready to release his creation to the world. Almost! His Dolls are different than the typical silicone fare that everyone’s familiar with, as Jury is building them out of fabric. They’re called Textile Dolls, and they’re rather impressive!

Clare head, 150cm body

Here are some facts about the Textile Doll series: Jury purchased a silicone Doll for himself, but despite the fact that they’re amazing for photography, he thought they were too heavy and could be too cold for funtimes in bed, so he created the Textile Doll. The head is lightweight and made of pressed fabric with glue, with painted makeup and skintone, and has plastic eyes. The body is soft and contains an articulated skeleton over a leather-fabric and Lycra skin, with batting and sponge for musculature.
So far, Jury’s developed two bodies: the Big Bertha (170cm, or 5’6″), which can accomodate the Melissa and Isabelle heads, and the 150cm (5ft) body, which takes the Clare head. Both bodies weigh 5kg, or 11 lbs, and the Big Bertha takes a sz 9 shoe. I’ve yet to find out if that’s an EU sz 9… Incidentally, her fingers and toes are articulated as well, and her lady bits are a Fleshlight. Her breasts and bum are soft; even though they don’t use silicone, but the fabric sags and droops appropriately like silicone. I’ll also be finding out soon what their measurements are, so look forward to that. In fact, Jury’s working on having a website made, so that’ll get a mention and a link once it’s up and running. Not bad, Jury, not bad at all!

And remember how I’d mentioned that Sidore, Elena, and I had a German telly crew visit recently? You can view the (wax) fruits of our labour here, on the site for the telly show Explosiv: Sex-Puppe: Dave braucht keine echten Frauen. Anyone want to have a go at providing a translation, for those of us who don’t sprechen Sie Deutsch fließend? Wartezeit. Warten Sie eine Minute. Ich spreche Deutsch! Dieses ist wunderbar! Es ist, als ob ich immer zu gekonnt habe speak German… o, wait, now it’s gone. DAMNIT *flips table*

EDIT (28 Nov 2013): Alert reader Christian Müller comes through with a translation of the Explosiv video in the comments here, as he knows German like the back of his hand. Or the front of it, for that matter. Thanks, Christian!

Sdtrk: ‘Long as the sun’ by Medicine

Ladies and gelatin, it has been a heady couple of weeks. Let me get you lot up to speed with things:

In the process of lifting my lazy affictitious Russian one Saturday evening in late September, I did something unpleasant to my back, to the point where I was in excruciating pain for about a week and a half. This is the thing that kills me: I’ve lifted Sidore (just under 100 lbs from 2000 to 2010, now down to 78 lbs) thousands of times over the course of 13+ years, with no ill effects, but the one time I have a go at lifting Elena (57 lbs), something goes wrong. Really, what are the odds?

Due to my injury, I took the week off work. I saw my GP… well actually, I had to see the other GP who shares the clinic with my GP, and after determining that I had a herniated disk, she gave me some cyclobenzaprine, which is a muscle relaxant, and some prescription-level ibuprofen, both of which did the business. When I went back to work after my week of cursing this ineffective meat body, my job laid me off on the 30th. It wasn’t to do with my injury, but work had been extraordinarily slow for a couple of months prior to me fucking up my back; when I returned, one of my coworkers was doing my job, but saying there was nothing for him to do. However, at the very least, I was laid off, not fired; my boss told me with his own mouth that as soon as things picked back up, he’d give me a call. So there’s that. Thankfully, I’m collecting unemployment, though…

You’d think it’d be nice to take advantage and get caught up on things in the absence of a day-to-day job, right? Get some reading in, start and finish building any model kits that need to be assembled, that sort of thing? Well, yes and no. Fellow iDollator Everhard summed it up pretty well in a recent Email to me:

Being unemployed really is a full time job that leaves no energy for the creative things. I have plenty of experience with that. You need proper freedom of time and effort to achieve worthwhile things. Even when you attain that state, or something approximating it, it seems to take a while to get acclimatised to it. Old habits die hard.

Instead of digitising all those pieces that I’d recorded as Wreath.VCA onto cassette tape years ago, or scanning all those print photographs I’d taken over the years, I’m spending my time seeking work online, or sleeping, or catching up on telly shows that I’ve been wanting to see for a while — the first two eps of The Owl Service are good, then it kinda gets bogged down in a Young Adult Fiction vibe, but the last episode is basically The Exorcist, and Children of the Stones is like The Prisoner crossed with ‘The Wicker Man’, and its last episode wouldn’t be out of place during Pertwee’s run on Doctor Who — or compulsively checking my websites. A large part of it, I think, is if I weren’t so concerned about trying to find ‘gainful’ employment, I could relax a lot more…

Apart from the idle distractions I’ve been engaged in, I’ve also been busy either accepting or deflecting loads of media appearances, brought on by Julie Beck’s article about me in the Atlantic! A few days after my back felt well enough for me to not spend 23 1/2 hours in bed per day, I’d received enquiries from two separate radio chat shows — one in Vancouver, the other in Australia, as well as some bloke working for Barcroft Media who mentioned eventually selling my segment to Dr Phil, and a writer who wanted to publish her article in Cosmopolitan, but had ties to the iDollator-hating feminazi site Jezebel. Obviously I’d said No to all of those, as if they didn’t look insubstantial or derisive, they seemed like too much of a risk.
What I’d said Yes to, though, was a fun and in-depth two-hour interview via Skype on 16th October with Maya Docha, a freelance reporter/writer, and a five and a half hour interview by Roc Morin, who entered Deafening silence Plus of his own free will on the 28th of this month. Maya struck me as funny and insightful, and the fact that she’d spoken with the Kinsey Institute means she was looking to do more than a puff piece, and when Roc and I weren’t discussing Dolls, Gynoids, and the past and future of artificial companions, he was telling me hilarious/unsettling anecdotes about his trip to North Korea a few years ago. Neither one of their pieces are published yet, so hold your horses; you’ll know when I know.
And to top it off, on the 26th and 27th of October, Shi-chan, Lenka, and I were filmed by a telly crew working for RTL Germany! We’re due to appear in a segment of a programme called Explosiv, which looks like… a show on telly. Most pop culture news shows look alike to me. It was an experience involving a bit of a drive out and about, digging for soundbites, and last-minute planning. Loads of last-minute planning. Every single one of us will have the final product to look forward to in the next couple of weeks, so hold your horses; you’ll know when I know.

Lenka, still unsure about the whole ‘being on telly’ thing; Shi-chan, showing off a prezzie from Mr Morin purchased in Pyongyang, North Korea

At the very least, our appearance on Explosiv will have a number of firsts: it’ll be the first time an Anatomical Doll has been on non-Russian television, as it’ll also be Elena’s first foray into being on telly, and the segment will possibly show her first trip with me out of doors! We went to a cemetery, which should surprise absolutely no-one. Lenka found the cemetery thing to be wonderful — any time you can be outside without being harassed by people is always fantastic — but she’s still shy when it comes to being displayed on other peoples’ telly screens. ‘It’s not all that bad,’ Shi-chan had reassured her. Onwards and outwards!

A number of weeks ago, one of the Missus’ tumblr friends left this in her Ask box:

Sidore agreed that, were it not for the fact that I’m currently on the dole, it’d be a hell of an idea. Maybe since we can’t actually dress the part for this year’s Hallowe’en, perhaps some keen and generous artist could draw us as the aforementioned Blade runner characters, hint hint?
Just so you know, I nearly typed ‘Blade rubber’ there. Really, what are the odds?

Sdtrk: ‘Prototype pop’ by Severed heads

As we can all agree, seeing numerous photographs of Dolls is all well and good, but it’s better to see video footage of them doing all manner of things as well. That’s beginning to change! New York music artist Hot Sugar teamed up with famed Doll photographer Stacy Leigh, and she directed a video for his song Erica. Observe:

Apart from the fact that it features several alluring RealDolls, I was really impressed with the concept; the ‘Video Intimates’ DVD idea is way too clever. Well done to all involved!

Before we move on to the other video, I’ll take this opportunity to mention that Phoenix studios have just released yet another make of Boy Toy. This series is called ‘Celestial Bodies’, the first lass in the stable would be named Star, and this is what she looks like:

Finally! A 100% artificial version of Pamela Anderson! Well, one you can take home

She’s 4’10” (I once knew a lass who was that height), weighs less than 60lbs, has measurements of B:32 / W:22 / H:32, and wears a sz 5 shoe. According to Phoenix studios, she currently has a full head design with a deep mouth insert, although they’re working on a version that’ll sport closing eyelids as well. Also she features a new design for her pelvic insert. I’m sorry, I have to side with the Japanese Doll makers on this: they refer to a pelvic insert as a ‘marriage hole’. There is no way that term isn’t amazing.
Check out the rest of Star’s photos here, and see what you think…

There’s a cluster of new photosets posted on Sinthetics as well; now available are new shoots detailing an Alicia head on a Body 1B, and two shoots of an Eliza head on a Body 1B, one of which has her getting to know a Gabriel-type. Well well. *raises eyebrow*

Of course it’s drafty, Eliza; you’ve just taken off your blouse

The good folk at Sinthetics are due to release another male manikin named William, so some of you have that to look out for…

Now the other video we’ve got coming up… good lord, for a moment there, I felt like a VJ. So! The other video we’ve got would be by DCUP (I rather like their name) featuring Mereki on vocals, and starring model Kozue Akimoto hanging out with her Gabriel-type lover by Sinthetics. Let’s take a look:

I’d have to say that video’s pretty adorable, too. And did you notice the part where they went to Shinjuku’s famous Robot Restaurant? Society needs more iDollator couples! But you’d expect me to say that.

Last but not least, Danielle of Womanicpation Proclamation has released the second part of her interview with me on her blog just recently. Like me, she got sidetracked by things, and like my review of DolLApalooza 2013, she thought it would only span two parts, but there’ll be a third. I forewarn every potential interviewer that I tend to ramble concerning my favourite subjects. I’m a rambler! A Nash Rambler, to be specific. I was produced briefly by the Nash division of the Nash-Kelvinator Company and was a forerunner to the American Motors Corporation’s entry-level cars. Produced between 1950 and 1957, I was North America’s first compact car *continues with this folly for an additional forty-nine minutes*

Sdtrk: ‘I box 20’ by To kill a petty bourgeoisie

As I type this up, I can imagine regular readers of this godforsaken blog — all nine of you — seeing the title of this post, indignantly flinging their mug of coffee through the nearest window, and bellowing at their computer screen, ‘Oi Davecat! This isn’t “Let’s meet some of California’s Synthetik residents, Part II”, this is some other bunch of crap!’ Well, you aren’t wrong! Also, shame that you shattered your ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ mug; you’ll never be able to replace that.

This post has two purposes: one, to say Hello to the sudden influx of new readers. Hello! Please be seated.
The other purpose is to explain why I’ve got new readers in the first place: remember in the previous post how I’d mentioned that a reporter for a notable online news site wanted to interview me about my iDollator lifestyle? Well, Julie Beck of The Atlantic sent over a passel of questions via Email, and I replied with some thorough answers. Last Friday it was published, and you can read it here: Married to a Doll: Why One Man Advocates Synthetic Love.

Also, if more men do start “choosing the synthetic option,” as you say, and begin having relationships with objects that are shaped like women, do you think that will encourage the objectification of real women?

The belief that the existence of synthetics encourages the objectification of organic women is baseless. If anything, those of us who are iDollators or technosexuals find that it’s more a case of personifying objects. But then, 98 percent of the iDollators and technosexuals I know treat their Dolls like goddesses. I can’t really speak for those who don’t, and it would be safe to assume that those who would objectify an organic woman would’ve been practicing that behavior long before knowing about synthetics.

As I’d told Julie, I think it’s one of the top five favourite online interviews I’ve done, as it lacks any conjecture or bias! Which is the way reporting should be. Although I do wish that she’d have pointed out that Elena was made by Anatomical Doll; she’s not a RealDoll, like my Missus is. Not all Doll manufacturers are the same!
So do enjoy the additional reading material, and I’ll get back to writing about DolLApalooza 2013. Or getting in a couple more minutes hours with Suda51’s KILLER IS DEAD. You know how these things go.

Now I shall show you a photo of the Gynoid actress/personality Actroid-F (aka Geminoid-F), in lieu of ending this post in a responsible manner

‘Why the hell did I do that? I’m really gonna miss that coffee mug’

Sdtrk: ‘The aurora’ by Our glassie Azoth

While still at work scribblin’ Part II of my DolLApalooza 2013 encapsulation (‘DolLApalooza: now in capsule form. Warning: do not take prior to operating heavy machinery’). I’d gotten a bit sidetracked — cos that never happens, right? — as not only did I recently receive a request for an interview via Email for a notable online news site, but the final day of August had me, my wife, and our mistress being interviewed for a promo video for a fellow iDollator. Under normal circumstances, I’d go into more detail about it, as it was a fun and non-subjective experience, but said iDollator is still planning things out, and she’d cut me fuckin’ baws off if I said any more. Busy, but for a good cause!
Before Part II materialises, here’s some additional points of Synthetik interest:

+ This year marks the twelfth year that Japanese Dutch wife merchants 4woods have been in business. During that time, they’ve released ten body types and a staggering forty heads. Company head Hiroo Okawa further goes on to say, in one of the site’s more recent news posts:

We tried to think really hard about what life-size silicone dolls (love dolls) can provide our customers and tried to create dolls that are worth more than its price through trial and error. Our new A.I.doll Ex is the result of our numerous trials. We are aware that customers’ ideal life-size silicone dolls (Love Dolls) can stand up and sit beautifully, and looks sexy even laid down. They can make adorable poses which makes you want to hold her and simulate various poses for sex easily but also durable at the same time. They should have a silky and soft skin like human which you want to feel forever. We are well aware of it.

However, unfortunately we have not been able to achieve this level yet after 10 years.

Our customer target for A.I.doll Ex is those who would like to enjoy watching her and taking photos of her rather than just having sex with Love Dolls.

Therefore, movable range of this doll is smaller than our other models. Perhaps, this may be the most difficult doll to handle in all of our models. That is why we imagine that you would pour more love for her.

What that all parses to, if you’re not familiar with the wants and needs of iDollator culture, is that the new A.I.Doll EX body type is capable of standing. Not entirely unassisted, but lean her up against a wall, and you should be sound as a pound. Couple that new body with Lissa, a head made exclusively to fit this seductive new body, and you’ve got a fine combination.

Lissa’s enthusiastic stripping distracted her lover from whatever was in her bag

It is a really impressive thing, though! I recall when I first saw an A.I.Doll in person back at AVN 2010, one of the three things that stopped her from being absolutely perfect* was the fact that A.I.Dolls back then were unable to completely straighten their legs at the knees, due to the way they were moulded. Now, not only have 4woods gotten that issue sorted, but their lasses can stand with a wee bit of patience on the part of their owners! When you have a Doll whose skeleton can allow her to pose like this, then that’s the sort of wish a lot of us have had for ages come true.
Incidentally, this October, 4woods are discontinuing not only their Akari, Kaon, Kurumi, Yurio, Neu, and Ally heads, but they’ll no longer be selling the accompanying body type A.I.Peach New Edition as well. Go visit the site, please have wallet ready, etc.

+ Another artist has seen fit to snap photos of an artificial lass: German photographer Julie Steinigeweg has documented a series of pics starring Jenny, a Doll who looks to be made by Mechadoll or one of the similar companies. This photoseries is particularly fascinating, as Jenny seems to be an older lass, and her silicone lamination is separating. Despite this, her beauty is apparent, and her condition makes her even more of a sympathetic figure.

photo © Julie Steinigeweg

I’ve sent an Email to the photographer, asking if there’s any further info behind the project she can pass on. Personally, I’m curious as to whether or not she’s the same Jenny who starred in Oliver Schwarz’s ‘Traumfrau‘, a film I’d mentioned here this past June. Hopefully Frau Steinigeweg’s English is better than my German!…

+ And were you aware that Abyss Creations, the place where the world’s RealDolls come from, have retooled their website? It’s true. Not only that, they’ve finally folded the Wicked RealDoll site into the updated Abyss site, which only makes sense. That’s one-stop shopping! Well done, lads and Debra!
You won’t want to just see what they’ve done with the place, though; Abyss have released another sexbomb in the form of Brooklyn, a Body D Face M RealDoll 2. If you appreciate the larger feminine posterior, and are incapable of telling mistruths, you’ll like what she has to offer.

photo © by Stacy Leigh

Ms Brooklyn has, in the words of a supervisor I’d had several jobs ago, more cushion for the pushin’! Months later, he was transferred to another facility. Fact.

So there you are! Well, let me stop writing, so I can get back to writing. Wait, what?

*What were the other two things, you ask? One – her feet were rather mediocre-looking, and two – I couldn’t take her home with me. Deal-breakers, man, believe me