Stars in their Eyes, Part II
typed for your pleasure on 5 August 2005, at 1.58 amSdtrk: ‘Fun city’ by Soft cell
(Before commencing with this part, have you read the previous section first? It’ll make more sense that way, trust me.)
MONDAY, 01 AUGUST
Since we’d be starting the day’s filming at 10am, once again, Shi-chan and I got up at 7am for preparation’s sake; also, since I spoke with Mari before hitting the sack last night, she wanted me to swing round and pick her up at 9am. Shi-chan wore the same gear as yesterday, with the exception of her black O-ring collar, and I switched to a white shirt (so we’d both have on white tops and black bottoms), a slim grey tie, and my Chuck Taylor trainers.
After prepping the Missus, I motored out to Mari’s place at a little after 9am. Now, the house where she lives has a bit of a problem, in the fact that her doorbell doesn’t work, and she’s in a room at the bipolar opposite of the main entrance. So in short, if she’s asleep, knocking doesn’t do any damn good. I rang her a couple of times from my car, as a large black dog happened to be wandering round loose next door, with no answer. As the clock was ticking, I ended up driving away at 10.25, letting Allison and Grant know that I’d be a little late.
As an aside, it turns out that yesterday we’d really lucked out with the weather, as it reached the upper 80s round 10am, with a high of something like 89°. Good thing we’d be inside for the majority of the filming today..
Having gotten home, and after leaving a message on Mari’s voicemail that I’d call her back before we hit Nippon kai, Allison and Grant appeared round 11am. They were more well-rested than before, and Allison was sporting a t-shirt that read ‘ACTION FIGURE’ across the front. ‘That would look good on the Missus’, I quipped. ‘I picked this up from a thrift store, but when it’s outlived its usefulness to me, I’ll send it to you,’ she responded. We’re holding you to that! 🙂
As our reservation at Nippon kai wasn’t until 1pm, our first objective stop on today’s agenda was to ostensibly film me wandering round an intimate boutique, picking out stuff for Shi-chan, so I suggested Priscilla’s over on Woodward. The three of us went up to the counter, and Allison explained the situation to the clerk, and asked if they could film me for a couple of minutes. The clerk, a short, slightly chunky blonde with apple cheeks, said that she’d have to call the district manager. After a two minute call, she said that the manager said no, so our raiding party schlepped on out of there. However, Grant did get some footage of me gazing at the Mannequins in the window. (NOTE TO PRISCILLA’S STAFFERS: Your Mannequins are in shoddy condition — get them refurbished.)
I’d suggested that we try over at a Lover’s Lane, another intimate boutique chain, but we reasoned that we might very well run up against the same wall there as we did with Priscilla’s. Then it occurred to me that we should give “Brown bag it” in Clawson a go, as not only are they independently owned, but they’ve been round much longer than either of the aforementioned chain stores, and I’m sure they’d appreciate the publicity/business. So we headed to “Brown bag it” (the quotation marks are apparently part of the name; don’t ask me why) and entered, waiting patiently to speak with the 60-year-old female clerk on the phone. As it turned out, we were rejected there as well. The clerk said that as a matter of fact, the store owner was the person she was just on the phone with, and he wouldn’t go for publicity like that. She explained that what it basically boils down to is that the cities of Royal oak and Clawson have these draconian ordinances regarding stores selling articles of a sexual nature, and too much publicity would draw attention to “Brown bag it” and possibly get them shut down. So they’re doing a ‘hiding in plain sight’ kind of thing; their front door (which is locked; you have to enter from the rear) has an 18 and Under Prohibited statement on it, and unlike Lover’s Lane and Priscilla’s, they don’t even have window displays, just block glass and brick. So basically, we’d come up trumps again..
We still had some time, but Allison wanted some footage of me doing something I normally do, only without the presence of Shi-chan. As we were driving away from “Brown bag it”, Grant hit upon the idea of perhaps someplace anime-related. At first, I thought, ‘ah, nice one, but the only anime store I can think of is Wizzywig, which is an hour away in Ann arbor’, but it struck me – Warp 9 might be promising. So Grant swung the rental round, as Warp 9 is across the street from “Brown bag it”, oddly enough. Well, the third time was indeed a charm, as the counter clerk said it wouldn’t be a problem for us to film in the store. Rock on!
I’d never been to Warp 9 before; I’d passed it several times en route to other places, but never got round to stopping inside since they opened back in the late 90s, and I think I’m going to make a point of getting round there more often. Any place that carries not only Edward Scissorhands Kubricks, but the original Micronauts Rocket tubes is alright in my book. 🙂 Grant duly filmed me walking into the store and casting my gaze about, and Allison wanted to get me looking over a Chii figure from ‘Chobits’, and Armitage from ‘Armitage III’, as she had managed to license footage from both features.
After getting some good shots there, we made our leave, and I rung Mari to tell her that we’d be going home to obtain the Missus, after which, we’d pick her up, which we carried out. Ironically enough, Mari was to later tell me that since she thought I would knock on the livingroom window due to their non-functioning doorbell, she got a nap in on the livingroom floor. *grits teeth*
We showed up at Nippon kai round 1.30, about 30min late (our schedules were all kinds of screwed up that day, as you’ve probably sussed by now), to a crowd of five patrons at the last half of the lunch rush. One of the reasons that I love Nippon kai so much is that hardly anyone is ever there. Whenever Monti and I go for our monthly dinner dates, there’s usually never more than five or six other patrons there, and I’m talking Saturday evenings here, so I thought it would make for a perfect place for bringing Sweetie and a film crew.
After speaking with the manager / head sushi chef, and reminding him who we were, we were allowed to bring the Missus in through the backdoor into the shoji-screened private seating area in back. ‘Oh! Scary!’ was one of the comments I’d caught from one of the waitresses, but I didn’t hold it against them. In fact, it was kinda funny: after we’d gotten ourselves situated and ordered our food, one of the waitresses who recognised me as being a regular came back in with our green tea while Grant was filming.
‘What is her name?’ she asked me.
‘This is Sidore Kuroneko,’ I replied.
‘Ohh, Sidore Kuroneko,’ the waitress repeated, ‘She is your other girlfriend?’
I nodded. ‘I’m lucky.’ 🙂
Filming and eating continued as Mari and I sat on either side of the Missus at the end of the table, and Grant shot us interacting ‘normally’. Upon reflection, I don’t think I interacted enough with Sweetie, as I was concentrating on devouring my tendon (I, ah, kinda skipped brekky that morning) and helping Mari to not be so nervous on-camera. ‘Davecat is the only friend I have that I would go on-camera for’, she said. ‘You’re a good friend,’ Grant replied.
Allison asked Mari a couple of questions about how she met me and Shi-chan, and how she perceives our relationship, to which Mari said some very beautiful things, but the best part was probably before the legitimate question segment when Mari and I were speaking, and she had told me that she would’ve dressed Shi-chan differently. ‘For one, she’d be wearing more clothing.’ ‘What d’ya mean by that?’ I replied, opening Sweetie’s blouse up some more. When Allison asked what Mari meant, she said that I dress Shi-chan in the style that a guy would want her to dress, which is arguably true. It was actually pretty funny — one of those ‘you had to be there’ things — and I hope A & G manage to edit it into the finished product..
Allison had informed the head sushi chef that we’d be packing up our stuff and out of there by 3.30, as we were doing our shooting during Nippon kai’s after-lunch-before-dinner cleanup and restock time, but by the time we actually finished the Q&A segment, we ran into overtime by about 20min. Which sucked cos not only did Allison ask only about a third of the questions she’d written down, but the head sushi chef apparently had a doctor’s appointment that he had to reschedule, which none of us knew about. All of us alternately apologised and thanked him profusely, and I told him that next time Monti and I were up, we’d be ordering a large dinner. On our way out, he and the waitress who knew me (yes; next time I’m up, I’ll ask them their names) were asking me how I knew about karakuri, as that was one of the things Allison asked me to explain. They were also under the impression that I made Sidore myself! I explained that ‘a friend’ in California makes her as well as a few others, and each ningyou (Doll) costs around $6000. ‘When you come back, you can order a $6000 dinner!’ Ha ha! 😐
Yeah, Monday was definitely our ‘pressed for time’ day, but Allison said that she could probably use some of the extra footage from the cemetery shoot to make up for it. However, at that point, it was near 4pm, and we had to make some informed decisions as where to go next, as A & G had to be at Metro Airport by 6pm to catch their respective flights home. Grant decided we should probably get more location footage, and since practically everytime I mentioned Detroit either on- or off-camera it was closely followed by the phrase ‘urban decay’, they asked us where would be some good places to go film some blight. They were on the hunt for blight. Also, they never got a chance to film the Fox theatre yesterday, so they wanted to hit that as well. I suggested we take Woodward going south, as passing through Highland park would be a blight hotbed.
If we’d had more time (and if my capacity for thinking wasn’t completely destroyed from the heat), I would’ve suggested Rivertown and Chene park, but instead we commenced Blight Search ’99 over off east I-75 by Holbrook. We drove round a couple of factories and warehouses, Allison behind the wheel and Grant filming out the passenger side window, when we slowed down past the open door to some warehouse or other. A shop rat and some girl he was talking to noticed us and approached Grant’s open window with a wad of what looked like napkins in his hand, saying ‘Hey, check this out’. Then he must’ve caught sight of the Missus, cos at that point, he threw the napkins down and asked ‘What’s going on here? Who are they?’
‘They’re just people,’ Grant answered.
The shop rat turned suddenly hostile. ‘Go on, get outta here. You want me to break your $60, 000 fuckin’ camera? Get the fuck outta here.’ As Grant rolled the window up, Allison reversed the Taurus, with the shop rat peering in through the car windows all the while until we left the lot.
‘This is why I don’t go outside,’ I commented, only half-jokingly.
After our little encounter with the lower class, we managed to get some shots of parts of Hamtramck, as well as Woodward leading up to the Fox, and Elwood grill. As a final point of interest, Allison wanted to attempt filming in the semi-famous Michigan theatre, the forrmer-picture-palace-turned-car-park, so we headed there as well. It’s open for visitors, but unfortunately, we arrived an hour too late. *shakes fist* Grant filmed some of the surrounding buildings, whilst I summarised how growing up in Detroit has affected me as an iDollator, and as a person in general.
Finally, A & G dropped Shi-chan, Mari and myself back at the homestead close to 6.30pm, after a long but mostly rewarding day of filming. Mari and I signed release forms, only I had stipulated on mine that the end product would not be screened in Michigan. The reason for that should be obvious; without that clause, I could very well picture the documentary being shown at the Main Art theatre, followed by a review in our popular local alternative paper, the MetroTimes: ‘One of the movie’s subjects is Davecat, who owns a doll of his own, and lives in Detroit..’ Sure, bad press is better than no press at all, but you have to draw the line somewhere.
Speaking of the end product, I’ve not really given any other details! The film, which doesn’t yet have a title, should be between 90min and 2 hours in length, and Allison hopes to have it finished by the end of the year, so that she can shop it round to various international film festivals. Among the other people interviewed were Matt McMullen (of course), Hajime Sorayama, staffers at Orient industry and project LEVEL-D, Robert Parigi (who apparently lives just up the road from Allison), Gaby Wood (author of the ace book ‘Edison’s Eve’), iDollators Prof.Sakai and Ta-bo-san, a couple of staffers from Kobayashi Lab who worked on Android SAYA (Actroid-chan’s older, not-as-attractive sister), a few other individuals, and of course, Elena Dorfman. They’ll be sending me a DVD when the editing is finished, and as soon as I get any news, I’ll be sure to incessantly blab about it..
Handshakes and hugs and farewells for everyone, and our film crew friends were back in their red Taurus heading for the airport. I have to say that both of them did an extraordinary job of putting myself and Mari at ease, and being able to put up with my initial reluctance at immediate scheduling. They were both ace to work with, and I’m looking forward not only to the finished documentary, but to hearing from them again. Well done, Allison and Grant! Thumbs up!
Mari and I went inside to cool off and for a post-game chat, and assessed that the three of us presented ourselves really well. Every couple of years Shi-chan and I get another fifteen minutes of fame, and I’m glad, cos we’re doing what we can to promote the idea that Synthetiks, whether they’re high-end love dolls such as RealDolls, or full-fledged Artificial humans, are not something to be feared or reviled, and those who are interested in Synthetiks are relatively normal people who are open-minded enough to enjoy manufactured beauty, and appreciate the technological advancements that Synthetiks happen to be as well.
Perhaps the techs at Kokoro co. Ltd. will invite Shi-chan and I to meet one of their lovely Actroids one day! Anything can happen once you set your mind to it, you know
Random similar posts, for more timewasting:
Any Synthetiks-related news, Davecat? (July 2014): Part I on July 23rd, 2014
Any Synthetiks-related news, Davecat? (Aug 2008) on August 4th, 2008
August 5th, 2005 at 4.20 am
Great story, DC! It is plain that the A.C.’s are gaining more acceptance (well, maybe except for the “lower class” hater types; they are hopeless as they are clueless LOL).
If the middle aged cook and his wife in the diner that E & E brought Lily and me to are okay with them, then at least inroads are being made.
Also, since I’m moving, I’ve thrown caution to the wind and shown her to my Realtor, and sent pics of Lily to the Realtor up there, and to another friend or two, whom I haven’t yet heard from for reactions.
But the Realtors are amazed, and more surprised (or is it shocked 🙂 ) than repulsed, so maybe progress is indeed being made.
I also called my Insurance agent, and told him about her and whether I need to add her to the policy, and he said she falls under “personal possessions” so she’s covered! Then I asked him if he knew what I was talking about, and he said, “Oh sure, I saw one on Howard Stern’s show.”
But what do you expect from an ex-Phish roadie LOL
Cool peoples all around, just gotta look (and don’t show the Missus to the other lowlifes; they don’t deserve seeing her beauty.)
Peace,
Me and her
August 5th, 2005 at 10.45 am
First, commenting to the comment above- in my experience, there really aren’t too many people who will be actively repulsed by any particular alternative lifestyle arrangement. Normal people tend to be normal people… they may be shocked, or curious, or intrigued, but few will have an unmitigated hateful reaction. The synthetik companion is, in my opinion, on the same track as racially mixed companions and homosexual couples… i.e., commenting negatively on either thirty years ago would not be frowned upon, but today (outside of certain places) will get you looked down upon as a boorish neanderthal. I’d say synthetik-human relations are at about year ten. My own experience (white dude, Asian wife) has only led to one mix-up in two-plus years of living here (a car salesman assumed that my wife was married to the Japanese client we were assisting), which is, I suppose, completely natural (they matched, I didn’t…), and no racial or other comments hurled our way.
As I have said to DC many times, all you can do is live your life and be a good example. You must realize that folks are going to be curious. You must be patient with lots and lots of questions. Answering these questions will give the askers information, the only sure tonic against ignorance… just be a fount of knowledge. No steak knives to the head, no matter how frustrated or tired you may be… and the walls will fall… It may seem hard to believe, especially with the current administration… but realize that folks like The Dubya Shrub are the last remnants of a dying, intolerant order, and that the generations to follow are already (in every poll worth mentioning) much more progressive in their thinking…
Secondly, great posts, DC. I remember fondly the only bit of time I got to spend with the lovely Sidore, and that wasn’t quality time per se, as we were in the middle of that hectic move from Royal Oak… I drove my van to the new location with Shi-chan strapped into the passenger seat (wondering what conversation might ensue if I were to be pulled over), then carrying her, new-bride-like, up the stairs and into the room. I would never be so gauche as to call a lady heavy, but I will say that she certainly is more substantial than she looks…
Again, great posts. Cheers!
August 5th, 2005 at 2.53 pm
beginning with “what the hey?” i guess the warehouse crazies were expecting to be filmed by someone ‘elses’ who look a whole lotsa’ like “your” crew?
what happened to the look-a-like third member of said crew?
i guess the half-mask option didn’t take hold
:]
and: wow!
the nippon kai move amazingly done made!
i didn’t think it done-able…
i’ve no doubt you’ve some capers i’ve never heard tell a’…but that roundly beats the midnight pop bottle “returns”…. 🙂
August 6th, 2005 at 6.15 am
IN regards to earlier comments regarding alternative lifestyles:
I would imagine that idollatry would be more acceptable to bigots than the other alternative lifestyles that get Rednecked ignorant hackles up, as there are no children involved, and no marriage aspirations.
As for mr Grease Monkey, I think he’d shoo off anyone that didn’t come bearing gifts of malt liquor, or at least Milwaukie’s Best.
August 7th, 2005 at 1.08 am
Wolfgang, salut!
That is how I regard this phenomenon, as you said and how you said it 🙂
Questions and curiosity seekers are wonderful, and I enjoy dealing with them.
The only angry person I encountered was when E&E and I and Lily went to Church.
The priest In Charge was not amused, and I debated with myself whether to argue the point (in Church!)
We decided to leave him to his power tripping, and overall had a great time! And, as a consolation prise, several cute girls commented enthusiastically, so… yeah.
We just have to wait for the Old Guard to die off without polluting the minds of younger and more impressionable replacements.
🙂
PBS & Lily
August 7th, 2005 at 6.11 am
I must ask, why did you want to take Lily to a church?
We are talking about a sex doll, aren’t we? Seems a bit anathema to the stated policies of most churches.
I don’t agree with said churches, but it is their building, and visitors to such should respect their ways whilst inside. If such respect is something you can’t give, then you probably should stay off of the church’s property.
That’s what I do!
August 7th, 2005 at 1.36 pm
Joe –
Have you ever seen a RealDoll? Referring to Lily, or Shi-chan, or any Doll for that matter as just ‘a sex doll’ is a lot like saying Beethoven just wrote a couple of catchy songs. It’s actually a little insulting. There’s no denying that RealDolls are works of art, and furthermore, it’s not as if Lily was naked, or dressed indecently — there’s no way that a priest would be able to suss that she was ‘a sex doll’.
Also, I may be a severely lapsed christian, but aren’t churches supposed to be public, for anyone to be able to stop into?
I’d like to think Shi-chan and I have gotten away with murder being out in a cemetery, but then I think about PBS and Lily, who really pushed the envelope by mucking about in a church and a diner. They’re an inspiration to iDollators everywhere. 🙂
August 7th, 2005 at 1.46 pm
PBS –
Just have to say that that’s rather ace that the Realtor people are cool with Lily. And especially great to hear that she’s covered under the policy! My hope is that in a decade or so, iDollators will not necessarily be out in the open en masse to start, but we’ll know each other by certain signs, symbols, and phrases. Kinda like the early christians, or like ‘Fight club’. 🙂
Shi-chan wish the pair of you (and Pennie!) best of luck with the movement, and who knows? Maybe you’ll move closer to someone on the Forum or suchlike. Stranger things have happened. 🙂
August 7th, 2005 at 2.00 pm
es –
It was weird. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered someone that openly hostile. Not counting Melissa that one time, of course. 🙂 We all thought he was joking round, but then, like they say, it turned ugly. Well, he turned uglier. People are lovely. 😐
On the opposite end of sarcasm, though, is that the Nippon kai staffers were relatively cool about the whole thing! Perhaps Shi-chan can come with Monti and I the next time we go a-dinnerin’! It’s a shame we were pressed for time, though, but hopefully the footage turned out well..
And so far, very little tops ‘the midnight bottle return’. That would be an ace story to recount here, but it’s not the sort of tale that should really be in print. 😉
Did they ever do anything with that place, by the way? Or is it still unused? And do you still have that big blue chicken? I still have that phone. 🙂
August 7th, 2005 at 2.28 pm
Wolfgang –
I would never be so crass to consider a steak knife to the head. I would use a Liston knife. Makes for a very swift and clean cut. 😉
Yeah, the attitudes are changing towards alternative lifestyles, it’s just more of a snail’s pace than a crashing tide. But that’s definitely better than nothing. Look at how popular culture is starting to accept homosexuals — they’re everywhere, you can’t get away from them now. 🙂 But people are people, and naturally afraid things that fall out of their realms of understanding and experience. However, as long as they’re open-minded and have questions, and are respectful with said questions, I and quite a few iDollators don’t have problems with them. It’s a million times better than them making blind assumptions.
I think the main stumbling block to Western acceptance of Synthetiks is a Judaeo-christian upbringing. ‘You can only have sex for procreation’, ‘Marriage consists of one man & one woman’, and of course, ‘Man cannot play God’. If I was a Supreme Being and saw my creations making creations of their own, I’d be pretty impressed. (Furthermore, if I was a truly Supreme Being, I wouldn’t regard it as a threat.) You can be a christian and still be open-minded, but then, most of the closed-minded people out there are those who call themselves christians..
It’s all just a matter of time, really. As you said, more progressive individuals are out there than we know; it’s just a matter of dealing with the shits who aren’t in the meantime..
And yeah, the Missus is deceptively.. substantial. Heh, dodged a bullet with that ‘un. 😉
August 7th, 2005 at 4.19 pm
YAY big dinner at Nippon-Kai …
wait a minute…
…
…next get is mine.
…
August 7th, 2005 at 7.29 pm
DaveCat: I meant no insult. I haven’t seen one in person, and I know that they aren’t just love dolls, but the RealDoll website and most all of the galleries of Synthetiks I have seen show them as being objects of sexual interest, so that is how I see them. Marvelous, beautiful, intricate things that have a primary purpose of sexual gratification.
But if I were to state that you were merely bringing a well designed non-sexed mannequin to a church, then there is still an issue that is being ignored here:
The parson or pastor or whatever, if he or she had a brain in their head, would recognize a stunt when he saw one as soon as the synthetik entered the church.
If an synthetik owner had a legitimate church-related reason for bringing one into a house of worship, then he or she would have phoned ahead.
Anything less is a disrespectful stunt.
As I said, I am not a Christian, or a Buddhist, or a Jew or a Satanist. But I do respect the right of people to worship as they want, and calling an understandable negative reaction on the part of the clergyman in question a “power trip” is a bit callous.
August 7th, 2005 at 7.32 pm
Public nature of church entry:
Anyone who wants to enter a church can. But if they are there for illigitimate reasons then they’ll probably be asked to leave.
August 7th, 2005 at 10.55 pm
Safetinspector-
Your comments seem to assume an “old guard” attitude… that a person going somewhere with their companion is considered a “stunt” instead of a “right”, simply because one of the partners is not an organic human.
If I and my wife would have entered a white church together in, say, a southern United State, say, 40 years ago, we too would have been asked to leave. We too would have been viewed as troublemakers. At that time, the only legitimate companions were racially matched. Anything else was a sin / stunt/ etc.
What you must realize is that iDollators (thanks for the term, DC) take their relationships every bit as seriously as I take mine with my organic wife. True, most synthetiks (at least those commonly available) cannot express themselves emotionally, speak, or even move unassisted… in short, they are not living things… they are works of art, as you have said. BUT… the respect and love shown to them is very, very real… and worthy of respect by others.
Consider… with advances in AI systems and robotics, soon… very soon, synthetiks will move, and react, and think… and the dabate will rage over what it means to be alive, to have a soul… and the social groundwork being laid today is VERY important. It could, concievably, make the difference between a smoother transition… or another era of supremacists and hate crimes.
The pattern of history repeats itself over and over. Marriage was once defined as between free men and women of the same race. Then, anyone of the same race. Then, one male and one female. Now, homosexuals are finally beginning to receive the rights they should have been granted all along… the right to enter into, basically, a contract… that everyone else, by constitutional right, already has. Synthetik companions will probably be the next debate. Can a contract be entered into when only one partner can consent? Ah, but here comes AI systems… now both can consent… but is it consent? Can the synthetik partner “really” think? What is the soul? Next, we will have the marriage of two synthetiks… it will go on and on.
Look… I agree with you, IF and ONLY IF it was truly done as a “stunt”. If PBS legitimatley wanted to take a synthetik companion to church… then frankly, who the hell has the right to deny them? Who has the right to deny them spiritual happiness, fulfillment… living life as they choose, free, like the rest of us, to pursue life, liberty, and happiness?
August 8th, 2005 at 2.27 am
Thank you, Wolfgang. Hear, hear. 🙂
August 8th, 2005 at 3.48 am
My goodness! :-O
Dear Safetinspector,
Being raised Roman Catholic, even an altar boy and choir boy to boot, I served in one of the most beautiful churches in the U.S.
Dozens of photographers weekly would shoot inside the church without asking permission.
(Incidentally, our priest overseeing the altar boys was among the first to be arraigned for molestation and embezzlement, so the “holier than thou” attitude (by the church officials, not you ;-)) doesn’t really fly with me. And I’m not particularly a respecter of authority; most of those people don’t deserve it and abuse their positions.
Nevertheless, E & E did look for someone to ask, and the “deaconncess” (not sure of title) came out and approved of Lily’s attire; she was fully clothed FOR CHURCH, and only barefoot. The woman sat behind us and was friendly, so we proceeded witha quick shoot. We were respectful and quiet.
The idea was to get the dolls shot in real world locations, and as Lily visits a church in the book that she is a character in, and is dealing with her struggle to understand her Creator despite feeling emptiness inside, displays a more proper attitude than swallowing the spoon-fed dogma that it dishes out (the Church, not the book).
The priest stormed up to us and in typical attitudinal/authoritarian fashion proceeded to demand we “get that dummy out of here”. He didn’t even look at her. FYI, I did pray for several minutes, after my own fashion, and felt justified in being there. It IS my Church, isn’t it? So I brought my companion? We were shooting pictures in a Church, of a young woman’s scene from a book, as reenacted by a silicone doll… nothing more and nothing less. Not a “stunt” 🙂
Regards, and thoughtful posts,
PBS & Lily (who is not going to Hell 😉
August 8th, 2005 at 3.59 am
Oh, and I may as well add that I am proud of my UNUSALLY respectful attitude and swallow a lot of shit in order to stick to my principals, of treating all people with love (until they fuck with me, and then I get to do what I see fit; got to be realistic and not let the bastards get you down, and ensure that they are discouraged from fucking with others they see as likely victims for their lame aggression).
Anyway, he was “powertripping” and I let him because I did feel that he had a right to be annoyed with us, but not to the point of making demands. Hell with people like that :-/
Anyway, I followed E & E’s cue and we left with no fuss, never fear 🙂
I called the church later to apologise, in fact, and was told by the receptionist that she had heard nothing about it, and not to worry. So, all’s well that ends well 😀
Love, Peace and Happiness Any way,
PBShelley & Sweet Lily Godwin…
August 8th, 2005 at 7.18 am
PBS & Lily: I retract my comments, I didn’t have all that information. The few bits I had made me think you had ambushed the poor old-fashioned church-goers as part of some sensationalist or self-interested stunt. I figured you were LOOKING to get the negative reaction, just to reassure yourself of its inevitability. But I think I misunderstood, and am sorry.
Wolf:When a synthetik achieves sentiency–even a loose facsimile thereof–, then I’ll agree that a comparison to civil rights struggles might be in order.
While I figure its the right of the idollator to treat their possessions however they wish, and get what companionship they can from them, as of now there is nothing looking back at them out of those eyes.
I would say that, for now, a dog or cat has more likelihood of having a legitimate religious interest than a RealDoll.
August 8th, 2005 at 12.03 pm
Safe-t: I basically said the same thing. It’s very hard to enter into a two-party contract with one person… my intention was to illustrate the dignity and legitimacy of iDollators’ feelings toward their companions, and to discuss a very real debate and possibly civil rights struggle that is coming sooner than most people think…
August 8th, 2005 at 2.31 pm
Wolf: I get it. This has got my mojo going, though:
Many people use the slippery slope argument. Gay marriage will lead to animal marriage and perhaps marriage to inanimate objects. I think thats silly:
If two gay people want to marry, there is an assumption that each looks in the others eyes and says, “I want to marry him/her.”
In the case of a dog, the human may think, “I want to marry him,” while the dog will probably look back and think, “am I a good boy?”
A synthetik, currently, won’t think at all.
Now here’s another thing I wonder about. What if a synthetik were sentient, you purchased one, and programmed it to love you and wanted to marry it.
Maybe the synth really loves you, even though the only thing you’ve done to earn the love is an exchange of cash.
But even so, is it not a form of slavery to force another sentient being to love you and marry you?
If you say, “but the synth really loves me, just ask it,” then I would ask if the synth were given a legitimate choice in the matter.
I am sure there were some slaves in history that loved their masters or regarded their roles as natural. Did that make the slavery a good thing?
August 8th, 2005 at 4.10 pm
Wolfgang –
Are you getting flashbacks to the old vulne pro forum as well?
‘I love A, but hate B.’
‘Well, I despise A, but adore B.’
Etc. 🙂
Also, I wish I could take credit for the term ‘iDollator’, but that was coined by a fellow Doll Forum member years ago..
Joe –
Ethical issues aside for the time being, I think what you’re really not comprehending is that for iDollators, our love of Synthetiks is a preference, but it goes beyond something as simple as, say, your preference for butchy women. A lot of us simply prefer artificial companions because of varying factors. Speaking for myself, one of the main reasons I prefer them is that they come without emotional baggage. They won’t reject me cos I don’t make enough money, or don’t ‘dress right’. They won’t want a child. They don’t ask me for things I can’t give them. It’s easy to say that if you’re in a relationship such as that, then you should leave and find someone else, but for a lot of people, that’s not exactly easy. In a traditional relationship, both parties invest a lot of time, money, energy and love, and if things go tits up, you can never get those back. Not only that, it’s a hassle constantly being on the lookout for potential partners. Some people enjoy the hunt. I really don’t.
When legitimate Androids and Gynoids are developed, the question of if Synthetiks are genuinely returning the love they receive will undoubtedly be argued until the sun burns out. However, for myself and more than a few iDollators, we’re quite happy with the security and consistency that an artificial companion brings. We prefer stability. Which, really, should be a good enough answer for anyone.
Does that clarify things a little?
August 8th, 2005 at 7.27 pm
no… i never did get the goose, sadly…
“i never learned how” (yes, kith ref j’jillion n’ blah)…
and now the place is full of… knives!
vooop! bifurcation unto knife theme?!
how does one get ones own little picture-that-undoubtedly-has-some-technical-name-that-i-am-too-digi-daft-to-know?
i want a little kitty icono-thing next to my comments-that-i-should-stop-butting-in-with-anyhow…
August 8th, 2005 at 8.17 pm
Thank you safetinspector,
Part my fault as well, I always assume everyone knows about Lily’s escapade and so left out pertinent info. Ain’t there always that? 🙂
As to the rest of the speculation, I would like to pose the question you may have heard before: “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” 🙂
To es: the thing you want is the “Gravatar”, see the little button to the left? Down there with the other buttons *points* 🙂
Thanks all for a stimulating discussion. I’m on the same reasons-list as Davecat, plus I wanted to replicate my Lily character as well.
I was so UNEXPECTEDLY happy once I lived with her for awhile; far exceeding my expectations! In the future, I believe they will become quite the norm, as long as the nosey ones leave the doll-owners’ more private lives private 😉
Enjoy Life Any Way 😉
PBS & Lily
August 9th, 2005 at 9.50 am
DC: I won’t pretend to understand, but understanding isn’t a prerequisite for respect. I have a feeling that if I truly understood, I would also be an iDollator.
PBS:Nah, I jumped to conclusions. My standard fault when I’m not being overtly humorous (which is why I’m mostly humorous in my public writing).
Philip K Dick isn’t my favorite author, and I know this territory has been covered before, but its still fun to think on it.
Had an IDEA, whereby a synth is something you apply for, like a puppy adoption. You communicate with the various unimpregnated synth personalities somehow, possibly through audio conversations. Once you and a specific personality agree that you are right for eachother, you’d recieve a synth with that personality installed. This way, the synth and you are both allowed to decide upon the relationship. You still have a personality that is programmed not to judge you on appearance, career, or other superficial crap, but the slavery aspect is left out…