Sdtrk: ‘Map ref 41N 93W’ by My bloody valentine

Well, kinda. Whilst I was out cavorting in T.O on Saturday, my copy of ‘Still Lovers’ finally arrived! As I suspected, it’s an extraordinary book, despite my obvious bias towards the subject matter. 😉 I only wished that I hadn’t seen so many of the pics beforehand on the Internet, as it’s turned out that I’d already viewed half the book. Nevertheless, the monograph is fab, the pictures are beautiful, the preface and the forward are both ace.. in short, I highly recommend you purchase a copy.. In fact, if you’re so inclined, if you send me your copy via postage-paid registered mail, I’ll sign it as well. Hit me up through my Contact page for further instructions..

Also, I ran across another article detailing why if the States doesn’t wriggle out of that whole Judaeo-christian stranglehold soon, other countries are going to leave it in the dust when it comes to the development of Artificial humans, and other aspects of scientific research, and, well, progress in general.

And since Sweetie’s site is temporarily down, here’s an omake (bonus) from atsushi-san and MaRi-chan, of MaRiWeb.

Dig that stylish belt buckle

atsushi-san explains: ‘This is FAKE of japanese teen magazin.’ Very nice, and arigatou to both of you!

Sdtrk: ‘Heroin face’ by The cure

During a recent conversation with Miz Laslocky, she pointed out that one of the aspects she got from my relationship with Sidore-chan was almost that of a performance art piece. We both agreed that there’s very little enjoyable performance art out there, unless we’re talking about ‘Sprockets‘, of course. I mentioned that her perception of that isn’t too wide off the mark, but it’s definitely a by-product, and not something that I’d set out to do.
However, once she’d mentioned that, my mind almost immediately turned to London-based performance/multimedia artists Jemima Brown & Dolly Brown. I’d read a brief article mentioning them in an issue of The Face years ago, and sequestered them in my mental filing cabinet, for reasons that will quickly become apparent.. It took about three years to find any decent sort of info on either of them, but, once again, threatening Google with a blackjack poised over its head, I found their website.

left, Jemima Brown; right, Dolly Brown

For the last decade Brown has been joined by her inanimate double, a life sized doll simply titled ‘Dolly’. Modelled upon Brown’s features, and often wearing the same clothes, Dolly is an uneasy and mute collaborator: a guardian spirit or questioning shadow? For all this she is very present, hanging out in the gallery, posing for photo-shoots or propped on the family sofa.

Plus, there’s a fab little interview with Jemima, the more vocal half of the duo, here.

SPEAK: Has spending so much time together made you closer to Dolly?

Jemima: I think in a way I have become closer to her. It’s been a real test for our relationship. It’s put a strain on, and changed the relationship in some way. It’s made me want to have her become totally dependent on me. She’s getting away from me too much when I share her. I’m reluctant to let her take on a life of her own, although that’s one of the things I set out to do when I was making her. The process of defining my relationship to her has made me so protective of her that I don’t want her to have her own life. I’m frightened for her that she won’t be able to cope. I’m not worried that she’s going to upstage me, as she does that anyway.

Earlier video installation works consist of Jemima and Dolly seated in chairs, with Jemima unsuccessfully trying to imitate Dolly’s inanimateness. Other projects feature the pair being tourists out-of-doors, buying postcards and having their photos taken near various landmarks. And if you check anything the twins have produced, it’s always credited to Jemima and Dolly Brown. I happen to think that’s really ace

Sdtrk: ‘Rock me booa’ by Merzbow

I have to apologise for the lack of recent posting or updates and sundry, as I’ve been attempting to keep a rather low profile lately. It seems that the recent Salon.com article has not only produced bandwidth spikes the likes of which neither Shi-chan nor I have ever seen, but also a passel of radical feminists are now literally shrieking for my blood, as I, more than any other man in recorded history, am singlehandedly responsible for the subjugation of all women, simply because I’m an iDollator. It’s True! Ahh, notoriety. Is it Good or Bad? I can’t tell from here…
At any rate, the longer, unadulterated version (with a better title) of Meghan’s excellent article is now online here. Read it! It’s markedly better, and if you’re anything of an open-minded individual who was perhaps unfortunately led away from reason by knife-wielding feminazis*, the full article makes a hell of a lot more sense. It’s literally like watching ‘Blade runner’, then seeing the Director’s cut version — it’s like two different films. Well, stories.

On a more acquisitional note; yesterday, I managed to score an inexpensive copy of the Tetsujin 28 box set — just over $15, compared to the $28 – $30 that most online shops want for it — and my copy of Merzbow’s ‘SCSI duck‘ Cd arrived through the post today, which I’m listening to right this very minute. So far, it’s rather sonically penetrating, which is what I require out of my Japanese power-electronic artists. Good job, Masami-san!
And thanx to a benefactor, yesterday I got a new computer! It’s a Toshiba Satellite M55-S135, that I kinda had to jump through some retail hoops to obtain. I’d recount the story here, but it’s a bitter one, and I’m trying to maintain a rare good mood, here. But the laptop boasts a 80 GB harddrive, 512 MB of RAM, and a DVD burner. It’s got some other bollocks as well, which I’ve not paid a whole lot of attention to, as the three qualities I’d mentioned are the selling points for this difference engine for me. So that’s also a factor in my recent silence; not only have been adding all my old software, I’ve also been trying to configure the look and feel of the fecker, so that it’s similar to my old machine. Colour me satisfied!
However, I have to say without reservation, that touchpads are fucking shite. Ergh. I’ll be getting a mouse for this bad boy really soon..

Annnd back to Synthetik women (heh; that didn’t take long, but I stick to what I know), I ran across a photo on 4chan recently of two Japanese lasses seated on a train. They were twins; one was Synthetik, and the other was Organik, and they were both dressed in the height of Elegant Gothic Lolita fashion. Whoever posted the photo didn’t give any names or details, and as a consequence, I had to repost it in the Request board, to find out what the source was, the lasses’ names, anything. A couple of days later, someone provided the URL http://absolutmetropolis.com, and after duly scouring that site, I learned that the name of the Organik lass was Marie Honda, who worked in conjunction with a doll maker by the name of Erimo. So after a number of minutes grabbing Google Japan by the lapels and shaking the information out it, I successfully located Erimo’s site. I have to say, his work is overall rather fab, but my interest is especially piqued by his life-sized Dolls. But that goes without saying!

left, Marie Honda; right, Marie Honda

Right, I’m off to meet up with Penda, for our (mostly) monthly dinner rendezvous. I am having ridiculous cravings for tendon and that soba with the dipping sauce right now

*I don’t use that term too often, so it really means a lot here

EDIT (05 June 2008): The Pandagon, err, ‘people’, have deleted the above-linked post for reasons unknown. Thankfully it’s archived on the Internet Wayback Machine, so you can view the baseless vitriol here

Sdtrk: ’40 days’ by Slowdive

Much to my chagrin, and I’m certain some people’s delight, I’ve just had to take down ‘Kitten with a Whip!’ as the Salon.com article was starting to drive my bandwidth through the roof. Can’t you people wait in line like civilised.. people? Like Sweetie says on (what’s left of) the site, it really needed to be revamped and overhauled anyway. Once I obtain a copy of Dreamweaver, as well as some spare time, I’ll get cracking on it. I might very well upload the pics elsewhere; in which case, I’ll let all genuinely interested parties know when and where..

‘Kitten with a Whip!’ is not dead! It shall return! Better, stronger, faster, etc

Sdtrk: ‘Hey double double’ by Add N to (X)

Meghan Laslocky’s Salon.com article is finally out, and it’s available for your edification right here. 🙂 (Unless you have a subscription, you’ll have to sit through an advert to read it for free, but it’s brief, painless, and non-invasive.)

As she’s informed me that Salon had to edit her story due to length constraints, she’ll be posting the full version to the vastness of the Internet sometime soon; at which point, I’ll alert the lot of you. But what’s displayed on Salon.com makes for provocative, thoughtful and fecking ace reading, and really isn’t bad at all. Plus, Shi-chan and I feature rather prominently in the article, so we’re a bit biased..

I’d also like to wave broadly and say a grand Hallo, to all new visitors stopping round to ‘Shouting etc etc’ from Shi-chan’s site, Meghan’s Salon.com article, or the search engine of your choice. Do leave a comment, or a charming message on the tagboard to below left, if you’re so inclined

Sdtrk: ‘Suzunne Erica is Sunohara Yuri’ by Merzbow

It’s finally out!!

128 pages, 72 colour plates, and with a foreword by Elisabeth Alexandre. Plus, dig this: Elena is selling signed copies through her website for $40, which includes the shipping and handling. Why not order one? Why not order a couple?

Also, for those of you residing in West Hollywood, CA, Elena will be signing copies at the Sunset strip location of Book Soup, on 25 Oct, at 7pm. Shake her hand, call her friend, etc.

YEAH!! *throws fist in air, camera freezes, cue Simple minds song, credits roll*

Sdtrk: ‘Velada’ by Fursaxa

Look at what I found!

yes, that’s my Sidore-chan. 🙂

Remember, Elena Dorfman’s ‘Still lovers’ comes out next month, and it’ll be available on Amazon.com, as well as Barnes & Noble and a couple of other vendors.
And if you can read Français, why not also buy a copy of ‘Des poupées et des hommes: Enquête sur l’amour artificiel (Dolls and men: Investigaton into artificial love)’, written by Elisabeth Alexandre, with photos by Elena Dorfman? Why not? Hmm?

They’ll be the best literary purchases you’ll make all year. (Despite the fact that one is mostly photographs, and you might not even be able to read the other one.) I guarantee it