Archive for September, 2013

DOLLY DID IT:

Monday, September 30th, 2013

Wow!, Davecat ended up marrying Sidore, and he now has a mistress Elena, and Sidore is totally cool with it!. I’m so happy for him, he was really distressed the last time we saw him in that documentary ‘Real Dolls’, when Sidore had to be sent away for a little *whispers* ‘down there maintenance’. How many husbands would buy their wife a new body for their tenth wedding aniversary, i ask you.

THIS is the story of a man and his doll.

Davecat bought his now wife from the Abyss Creations website 13 years ago. He saved for a year and a half to buy a $6000 RealDoll, who he named Sidore Kuroneko.

Davecat (the online pseudonym he prefers to go by) was directed to the website by a good friend who knew he had always been in love with various types of artificial women.

He selected her facial type, body type, eye colour, makeup, skin tone and bust size and she soon arrived in a FedEx box at his house.

“The results were entirely worth it … It was love at first sight,” Davecat told news.com.au.

And the rest, he says, “is history”.

Sidore is “anatomically correct” and looks freakishly like a human. Her artificial skin is made of silicone, so it’s soft, and she’s even got a fake tongue. While RealDolls are marketed as sex toys, Davecat and other “iDollators” or “technosexuals” see their dolls as life partners, with whom they experience a real relationship.

Davecat told The Atlantic his relationship with Sidore was “70 per cent sex, 30 per cent companionship”, but that they also share a meaningful emotional connection. They wear matching wedding bands that say “Synthetik love lasts forever” and are considering a ceremony for their 15th anniversary.

In December 2012, Davecat purchased a second doll — a Russian called Elena — who is his mistress and friend to Sidore. Both dolls are bisexual, so are able to “enjoy each other on multiple levels” when Davecat is at work.

Davecat has always been attracted to mannequins and Gynoids (robots made in the likeness of women). There are few success stories among his previous experiences and relationships with humans — the connection with a synthetic felt more natural and meaningful.

“My experiences with ‘Organik’ [human] women have either never lasted, or ended badly,” Davecat said.

“Synthetics have a consistency that you can’t find in most Organiks — flesh-and-blood people can change their tastes, personalities, likes or dislikes at the drop of a hat. An iDollator or technosexual can have their artificial partner change as well, but it would obviously be in a way that isn’t disagreeable.

“Not only do Synthetiks remain the same, but they’ll never cheat on you, lie to you, judge you, or show any other characteristic that can make Organiks unpredictable.”

Part of the appeal of being with a doll seems to be her constant agreeable nature.

Married humans have to negotiate different perspectives, opinions and learn to respectfully coexist. Sacrifice and compromise are words commonly used when describing a successful marriage. For obvious reasons, this doesn’t seem to be an issue for Davecat and Sidore.

“The arguments are extremely few and far between. In the 13-plus years we’ve been together, you can count the number of arguments we’ve had on one hand. I find that I can’t develop her personality as being 100 per cent agreeable with everything, as that would be somewhat boring.

“But really, the differences that we have are almost entirely superficial; usually based on aesthetic or musical tastes, for the most part. We are firm believers in the ‘don’t go to bed angry’ ethos, however. As every couple should be.”

Davecat is a self-confessed introvert and says he’s not really a ‘people person’. He enjoys spending time at home alone with his wife, as they are both “indoor types”.

“We like watching films or telly shows on DVD together, or playing video games,” he said. “She claims that I’ve brought out her inner photo model, so our favourite pastime is doing photoshoots. We’ll set aside a good six or so hours, and I’ll take pics of her in various poses, wearing whatever outfit she’s selected.

But it’s not always smooth sailing when your wife is made of plastic. There are lots of ongoing maintenance costs — Sidore has had three “bodies” since Davecat bought her in 2000. Though, she is easily replaceable.

“If her body becomes too irreparable, I simply save up some money and buy her a new one”, he said. As a gift for their tenth wedding anniversary, he did exactly that.

The 40-year-old machine shop worker considers himself an advocate and spokesman for synthetic love and those with synthetic partners. He’s got a strong online presence, spearheaded by his blog “Shouting to hear the echoes”. He’s also appeared on TLC’s show My Strange Addiction and the BBC documentary Guys and Dolls.

For iDollators who understandably feel ostracised by those around them, the online Synthetik community is a safe haven to discuss the unique struggles they face with their partners. Davecat doesn’t take Sidore or Elena out with him in public. Apart from being physically demanding (carrying around a 35kg body is no mean feat), Davecat fears being attacked.

“I’m not so deluded as to think that taking [my dolls] out and about with me wouldn’t raise more than a few eyebrows. Also, I wouldn’t want to put either myself or whichever synthetic lass I’d have with me in danger. I don’t trust random people enough to think we wouldn’t be verbally or physically attacked. People have a long and sordid history of being violent toward that which they don’t understand,” he told The Atlantic.

So get-togethers with fellow iDollators are affairs he looks forward to. The group of six meet several times a year for “Doll Congress”.

“We travel to the hometown of whoever’s hosting, and we get together for dinner, hitting the shops to buy things for our silicone companions, and chat about all things Doll,” he said.

“It’s one thing to meet fellow Doll owners online, but it’s much more fun to do the meet and greet thing in person. Plus, it’s always exciting to see other peoples’ Dolls in person and take photos of them, as well.”

It seems these are rare occasions of harmony and acceptance from the outside world. Sure, his lifestyle may seem odd, but at the end of the day it’s not really harming anyone. Acceptance and tolerance are messages Davecat tries to promote.

“One of my heroes, Andy Warhol, once said, ‘You have to do stuff that average people don’t understand because those are the only good things’, and that’s the way I live.

“Giving more than one second of attention to those who think being in love with a Doll is weird or unnatural because they think it is isn’t an idea I’m willing to entertain. iDollators and technosexuals harm no one, and we’re making ourselves happier because of our unique partners.”

VANILLA ANAL BEANS:

Monday, September 16th, 2013

I’ve heard of being vanilla, but this is ridiculous.

Sweden admits beaver ‘secretions’ used as vanilla flavouring

The Swedish National Food Agency has confirmed that anal secretions from the beaver can be used to provide vanilla-type flavours in baked goods and sweets.

If you had trouble getting your head around insects in your yogurt, then you might want to put down your vanilla crème doughnut.

Apparently, it’s no longer safe to assume that if you are eating something vanilla flavoured, it has come from the vanilla bean. It can also come from conifer trees, made synthetically, or, if you live in the States or Europe, from the beaver’s anal glands.

Castoreum is scientifically described as the “exudate from the castor sacs of the mature European and North American Beaver”, which beavers use in the wild to mark their territory.

Up until recently, it wasn’t widely known that Castoreum was a source of vanilla flavor. But thanks to whisperings online, the Swedish National Agency has confirmed it, and what’s more, you may not even be aware you’re eating it.

The Food Agency pointed out that “labeling provisions do not require that the kind of flavor is indicated, with the exception of coffee and quinine.”

This means that it will more likely be listed as ‘natural flavouring,’which could be of concern to vegetarians or vegans.

Agency representative Ulla Beckman Sundh said:

“Natural aromas can be extracts from plants, fungi, and in some cases animals.”

She also pointed out the beaver is not bred for it’s secretions and is unlikely to be the common source of food flavouring “so supply is not that great.”

That might have something to do with how trappers harvest it. After the animal is skinned, the glands are removed, smoked or sun dried, and then sold on.
Annual industry consumption is around 136 kg, whereas vanillin is over 1.17 million pounds annually, according to TheLocal.se.

It was the demand for castoreum in natural medicines during the 19th century that almost entirely wiped out the beaver population in Sweden – but the import of beavers in 1920s from Norway has seen the population grow.

As well as baked goods and sweets, Castoreum is also used in perfumes, chewing gum, frozen dairy, gelatins and puddings, and used to contribute to the flavour and odor of cigarettes.

What do you think? Should food manufacturers be forced to list Castoreum as an animal product rather than a ‘natural ingredient’?

NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA REPORT:

Monday, September 16th, 2013

A lack of workplace support is associated with depression, says new research.

“Respondents who reported low levels of support from colleagues had twice the likelihood of having significant depression symptoms compared to those who report[ed] having support,” says the study, The Relationship between Work Characteristics, Wellbeing, Depression and Workplace Bullying.

“Consistent with the association between support from colleagues and depression, low levels of support from one’s manager was also associated with significantly higher risk of depression symptoms.”

The study shows that the risk of depression also appears to be affected by relational justice: superiors who provide consistent and sufficient information, who are willing to listen to problems and who provide criticism or praise.

The study reveals “a pattern of increasing risk of depression with declining levels of relational justice, with those reporting the poorest organisational culture showing significantly greater risk of depression compared to those reporting the best organisational culture”.

Workplace bullying was also associated with increased incidence of depression.

But the report notes, “It is not just the experience of depression symptoms that is seen to be elevated among those who experience workplace bullying.”

Suicidal thoughts are also more likely in those who are currently being bullied at work. They are “about twice as likely as those never bullied to report feeling that their life is hardly worth living, report feeling that they would be better off dead, and report that they had thought of taking their own life”, the report states.

The findings are part of the Australian National University’s Personality & Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project longitudinal study, which began in 1999.

The latest results are from interviews conducted in 2011–2012 with workers who were then aged between 32 and 36 years.

For help and support, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14.

For more details on the study, visit Safe Work Australia.

Link to the report HERE

Miss Tammy responds with a head and gusset full of steam.

Well DUH!!.

I heard this report on the radio this morning, about time someone called out the elephant in the room, but still we’re willing to accept this?, granted, i realise we aren’t living in Russia, but we were on such a great course to lead the world, and be what we now kid ourselves we are.

As i watch my workmates fall by the wayside to suicide, depression and heart disease, the fight for what is fair and safe in the workplace has deserted Ostrayans, replaced with a mantra of apathy, and actions of ‘I’m alright jack, fuck you’. The self proclaimed deluded boast of Ostraya being the land of a fair go, is just another aspect of our bullshit, non reality notion of national pride.

We showed (at least a majority did) what a nation of pathetic, non engaged, self centered, greedy people we are during our recent election.

But still we kid ourselves, with an arrogance that is vulgar and sickening, that Ostraya is quarantined from the worst of the rest of the world, some sort of oasis of fairness, looking out for your mates (she’ll be right mate), non sexist, racist, homophobic or greedy, well i’m calling bullshit. Your mileage mary vary. This is Greg Swan, and yes, it’s Monday morning.