The blog of author Dennis Cooper

Sex Doll Day *

*(restored/updated) ** texts collaged from numerous sources.

 

 

 

Chronologically

8 AD.The First Sex Doll Story Told. In Metamorphoses, Ovid wrote of a myth involving a woman sculpted from ivory by Pygmalion. Her name was Galatea and he became so obsessed with her, bathing her feeding her and of course sleeping with her, eventually Aphrodite made her into a real woman.

 

 

11th to 12th CenturyTouching of Naked Statues Encouraged. Naked women made of marble, called “Sheela-na-gigs,” were carved into the sides of English and Irish churches to ward off evil spirits. The carvings had exaggerated vulvas and a legend at the time said caressing these sexy busts gave you the power to heal others.

 

 

15th CenturyThe First Sex Dolls at Sea. Called “Dame De Voyage” in French, “Dama De Vinje” in Spanish or “Seemannsbraut,” in German, these female dolls made out of sewn cloth were used by sailors aboard their ships to occupy their time (and bodies) on long trips at sea.

 

 

1941Nazis Invent the Modern Sex Doll. The world’s first sex-dolls as we know them were created in Nazi Germany at the request of the SS leader, Heinrich Himmler. Called the “Borghild Field-Hygiene Project,” Himmler came up with the concept to stop the “unnecessary losses” of Nazi soldiers due to STD’s. The Project was considered ”Geheime Reichssache,” translated: ”More secret than top secret.”

The sculptor on the project, Arthur Rink, created three dolls. Typ A: 168 cm bust. Typ B: 176 and Typ C: 182 cm. According to Rink, The SS wanted the breasts “round and full” and SS Dr. Olen Hannussen insisted on “a rose hip form, that would grip well.” As for the face, the team agreed it needed a cheeky and naughty look. They asked to borrow the face of an actress of the time, Käthe von Nagy, for the doll, but she declined. Dr. Hannussen suggested an “artificial face of lust”, which he thought would be more appealing to the soldiers. Technician, Franz Tschakert agreed saying, “The doll has only one purpose and she should never become a substitute for the honorable mother at home… When the soldier makes love to Borghild, it has nothing to do with love. Therefore the face of our anthropomorphic sexmachine should be exactly how Weininger described the common wanton’s face.”

Going along with the Nordish Nazi vision of beauty, a tall leggy blonde rounded out the form. The first model of Borghild, Typ B, was completed in September 1941. Later, this blonde life-sized woman would inspire Ruth Handler to create the Barbie Doll for girls.

 

 

1955Bild Lilli. The first sex doll is marketed, which is 11.5 inches of plastic and is named Bild Lilli.

 

 

1975The Stepford Wives. A film about the quaint town of Stepford, Connecticut where men have beautiful robot wives that are all absolutely perfect … except for the fact that they’re creepy. Trivia: Diane Keaton turned the role of Joanna down the night before signing her contract, because her analyst got “bad vibes” from the script.

 

 

1977Hohoemi. The history the best Japanese sex dolls brand started in 1977 when the future CEO of Orient Industry decided to make the kind of doll that he knew men needed. He came up with Hohoemi. She’s a simple lady compared with the sophisticated silicone dolls of today but she certainly was a popular and durable creation. Made from urethane and PVC, Hohoemi was essentially a head, bust and waist with hole … and that’s it.

 

 

Early 80’sThe First Sex Robot is invented. British Company, Sex Objects Ltd. creates a sex robot, named “36C,” for obvious reasons. “She” also had a 16-bit microprocessor and voice synthesizer that allowed primitive responses to speech and push button inputs.

 

 

1985 The Term “Gynoid” Coined. The term “Gynoid” was a name given to a female robot designed to look like a human female. It was given to us by Gweyneth Jones in her 1985 novel, Divine Endurance.

 

 

1987Britain Lifts Prohibition on Importing Sex Dolls. In 1982 a blocked attempt to import sex dolls into Britain began a court case about whether or not to lift the import ban on all “Obscene or Indecent” items. The sex companies finally won the case in 1987, lifting all prohibitions. This opened the floodgates to all perversity in England.

 

 

1994Fleshlight. Back in 1994, Steve Shubin had a problem — his wife was pregnant with twins and, being over 40, her health was a concern. Sex was off limits during the course of the pregnancy so Shubin had to take matters into his own hands. But not by using his hand. Deciding he needed something else to use, he started daydreaming. Eighteen months and $750,000 later, the Fleshlight was born.

 

 

1995The Inflatable Sex Sheep Sold. Muttonbone Productions, Inc. creates a life-sized, anatomically correct inflatable sheep called the Love Ewe. It is sold mainly as a gag gift.

 

 

1996First “Realistic” Sex Doll Created. At 29 years-old, Matt McMullen stops making scary Halloween masks for a living and creates the first female sex doll that is anatomically correct in look and feel. Her name is Leah. McMullen goes on to create the company Real Dolls, one of the most popular sex doll companies in the world. The dolls have a poseable PVC skeleton with steel joints and silicone flesh, which is advertised as “the state-of-the-art for life-like human body simulation”. They are now available in 10 customizable body styles, with a choice of 15 faces and five skin tones. Prices begin at around $6500, with some models costing over $10,000.

 

 


2001 — Joe.

 

 



2002Guys and Dolls. The BBC produces a documentary called “Guys and Dolls.” It chronicles the industry and the men who buy life-size dolls them. A California company called Realdoll began making realistic, lifesized dolls back in 1996. Since then, they’ve sold thousands of them for upwards of $10,000 each. The men interviewed in the documentary talk about how the dolls influence their lives. While they sometimes feel isolated from real life, they say the companionship they feel with the dolls is worth it.

 

 

2004Inflatable Sex Doll Raft Race. Today (August 21st, 2004) the second annual Inflatable Sex Doll Raft Race will be organized in North Russia/Leningrad region. Anyone over 16, and of either sex, is allowed to take part in this second competition. The participants will have to swim in the complicated Losevsky rapids of the Vuoksa river near St. Petersburg. The rapids are usually used for rafting in canoe and catamarans. This competition isn’t a sexually chauvinistic event; in last year’s edition (real) women rafted on the dolls. All participants stated that these rubber ‘products’ are economical in usage, they float wonderfully. They gave some pet names to their dolls: Mary and her Poppins; Speedy Sterlet, Cleopatra… All participants must wear a helmet and a life vest. They also have to remain sober and those who are seen drunk are disqualified.

 

 

2005Japanese Company Begins Renting Out “Dutch Wives.” Dutch Wives is the Japanese term for high quality silicone sex dolls. By the end of 2005 the Japanese company Forest Dolls had over 40 shops nationwide. The hourly rental rate, in 2005 was 13,000 yen an hour, or $146.00. Wigs and costumes were also available to rent.

 

 

2007Lars and The Real Girl. A film about a man in relationship with a sex doll, nominated for an Oscar for its screenplay written by Nancy Oliver.

 

 

2007The “Sexual Audio System” Is Invented. A Japanese company adds an mp3 player attached to a built-in pressure sensor in the chest of its sex dolls. It takes 4 AAA batteries. The dolls also come with real pubic hair and detachable heads.

 

 

2006 – 2008Sex Doll becomes Art. Artist Amber Hawk Swanson commissioned the production of a life-like sex doll, a RealDoll, made of a posable PVC skeleton and silicone flesh, in her exact likeness. Her doll, Amber Doll, began as a Styrofoam print-out of a digital scan of her head. Her face was then custom-sculpted and later combined with the doll manufacturer’s existing, “Body #8” female doll mold. After completing, “The Making-Of Amber Doll” and “Las Vegas Wedding Ceremony” (both 2007), Amber Doll and Swanson went on to disrupt wedding receptions, roller-skating rinks, football tailgating parties, theme parks, and adult industry conventions. In the resulting series, “To Have, To Hold, and To Violate: Amber and Doll,” ideas surrounding agency and objectification are questioned, as are ideas about the success or failure of negotiating power through one’s own participation in a cultural narrative that declares women as objects. Swanson’s work with Amber Doll, herself a literal object, deals with such themes through an oftentimes-complicated feminist lens.

 

 

2009The First Male Android-Sex Doll. Germans make the first male Android-Sex doll, named “Nax.” It has an “automatically soaring penis” and “artificial automatic ejaculation.” It costs $10,000.

 

 

2009Air Doll. Air Doll is a 2009 Japanese drama film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. It is based on the manga series Kuuki Ningyo by Yoshiie Gōda, which was serialized in the seinen manga magazine Big Comic Original, and is about an inflatable doll that develops a consciousness and falls in love. The movie debuted in the Un Certain Regard section at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. It opened in Japanese cinemas on 26 September 2009. Director Koreeda has stated that the film is about the loneliness of urban life and the question of what it means to be human.

 

 

2010The First Sex Doll with a “Customizable Personality.” At the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, Doug Hines, owner and designer for TrueCompanion, revealed Roxxy. She costs a mere $7,000 and reacts to tactile and verbal stimulation. Personalities range from “Wild Wendy,” an outgoing party girl to “Frigid Farrah,” the shy librarian type. Her interests can be modified according to the owner’s conversation preferences.

 

 

2010Sex Doll Fashion. A Dutch artist named Sander Reijgers is recycling inflatable sex dolls into the most bizarre clothing. Perfect for a rainy weather, these waterproof hoodies were made by customizing existing tracksuit tops with heads, breasts and other pieces from 50 blow-up dolls that Sanders received from a “sponsor”.

 

 



2010 – Laurie Simmons “The Love Doll”: In the fall of 2009, Simmons ordered a customized, high end Love Doll from Japan. The doll, designed as a surrogate sex partner, arrived in a crate, clothed in a transparent slip and accompanied by a separate box containing an engagement ring and female genitalia. Simmons began to document her photographic relationship with this human scale “girl”. The resulting photographs depict the lifelike, latex doll in an ongoing series of “actions”, shown and titled chronologically from the day Simmons received the doll, through to the present. The photos reveal the relationship Simmons develops with her model. The first days depict a somewhat formal and shy series of poses with an ever increasing familiarity and comfort level unveiled as time passes. A second doll arrived one year later. This new character, and the interaction between the two, reveal yet another dynamic in composition – both formally and psychologically.

 

 

2011 – A music teacher has been arrested after he was caught in a sex act with a child-like doll outside an elementary school. Officers were called to the school in Tennessee, following reports of a naked white male on school property. Daniel Torroll, 56, a private music teacher, was seen performing sex acts on the doll under a bridge that links the Spring Hill school from the main road. The responding officer said he could be seen by people driving to the school. Police later discovered Torroll had cut holes into the doll, News 2 reported. Torroll claimed he did not know he was on school grounds.

 

 

 

2011 – These high-heeled shoes that look like inflatable sex dolls are part of a collection of footwear by Tel Aviv designer Kobi Levi. The Blow shoes were designed to highlight how high heels are synonymous with sex and accompany a second pair where the heel illustrates the act of sex itself.

 

 

2012Just-in Beaver. US adult toy manufacturer Pipedream Products has produced an unofficial Justin Bieber blow-up sex doll. Named ‘Just-in Beaver’, the not-related-to-Mr-Bieber-in-any-way product retails at around $26. The company’s advertising blurb – which rather dubiously fixates on ‘Beaver’ recently turning 18 – describes ‘Beaver’ as a “barely legal boy-toy who’s waited 18 long years to stick his lil’ dicky in something sticky! When he’s not busy beating up paparazzi or beating off, he’s up to his high-tops in hot Hollywood tail!” The company also produces a ‘Dirty Christina’ doll modelled on Christina Aguilera, and a doll named ‘Finally Miley’ modelled on Miley Cyrus.

 

 

2012Dollstories.net. “Doll fetish is the desire to be transformed in to a doll or transforming someone else into a doll. This can be a living being such as a rubber doll or an inanimate object such as a lovedoll. The attraction may include the desire for actual sexual contact with a doll, a fantasy of a sexual encounter with an animate or inanimate doll, encounters between dolls themselves, or sexual pleasure gained from thoughts of being transformed or transforming another into a doll. This website was born out of a love of reading doll stories, and the thoughts, fantasies and desires to become one. Whilst this site deals mainly with Doll transformations and people turning into dolls, there are a few mannequin, fembot & objectification stories here.”

 

 

2012 – Turkish rescue workers rushed to retrieve an inflatable sex doll from the Black Sea after panicked residents mistook it for a woman’s body floating offshore. The country’s Milliyet newspaper said police cordoned off a wide stretch of beach in northern Samsun province and sent a team of divers into the water to rescue what appeared to be a drowning woman. The team quickly discovered it was in fact a blow-up doll, which they tactfully deflated before throwing it away.

 

 

2013Missy is launched into space. An inflatable sex doll named Missy was recently launched into space making history as the first sex doll to have entered the earth’s outer atmosphere. Check out the video and watch Missy being hooked to a hydrogen-filled balloon then shot towards the cosmos at a speed of 426 metres per minute when, at an altitude of 31,090 metres, her balloon burst and she shot straight back down to the ground.

 

 

2013Student arrested for posing by Russian WWII memorial with an inflatable sex doll. A university student has been jailed in Russia for posing for a photograph in front of a Second World War memorial – arm in arm with a blow-up sex doll. Anastasia Polnikova, 23, was charged with hooliganism after she and three friends took the inflatable sex aid to the memorial near the Federal University in Stavropol, Russia. Wearing WWII head gear and waving a Russian flag, the drunk students borrowed the doll from a friend and walked through the park to take the pictures before posting them on the internet. Detectives are hunting Miss Polnikova’s three unnamed friends who went on the run after police issued arrest warrants for them all. Stavropol’s Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesman Eugene Nuykin said: ‘The identities of all the people who appeared in this photo are known to us and they will all be punished.

 

 

2013Sex Doll Commits Suicide In Czech Online Dating Ad. An ad for the popular Czech dating site Lidé is called “the bleakest thing you’ll see this side of an Ingmar Bergman film”. It features a sex doll, devastated now that her man has found a real human to have sex with, jumping off a balcony as she replays in her mind the bittersweet moments the two of them had shared.

 

 

2013Chinese Site Sells ‘Child-Sized’ Sex Doll: Protest Group Launched. A Chinese website is under fire for selling disturbingly life-like child-size, sex dolls. The disturbing advert, spotted by an advocacy group on Facebook called Dining for Dignity, shows the model of a girl, who does not look much older than 9 or 10. Described as a “beautiful young girl sex doll for men,” the item costs $178 and is available to ship worldwide. Worryingly 57 of them have been sold so far to customers in the US, UK, Japan, Germany, and more, the advert shows. The product listing boasts that it is highly flexible, and that “all three holes can be used.” Dining for Dignity has now set up a protest page to pressure DHgate – one of China’s top global merchants platforms – into removing the item or banning the seller. Its petition reads, ”This negligence is fueling human sex trafficking, pedophilia, violent rape, and more.”

 

 

2014Synthetics. Synthetics launches a new line of male sex dolls with removable parts depicting the various boner stages. “We are proud of the beautiful, hand-crafted items we produce,” writes Synthetics publicity department, “and we want them to be appreciated as multifunctional rather than simply pigeon-holing them into the easy go-to connotation of the word ‘sexdoll.’ We view our products as usable art, and our clients as art collectors.”

 

 




2014 – Stacy Leigh “Average Americans that Happen to be Sex Dolls”, series

 

 

2014Sexflesh Full Sized Sammy Sex Doll. There are a lot of positive things going on with this sex toy. First of all, washboard abs. While not structurally relevent it’s a nice touch and speaks to the meticulous detail molded into the rest of the toy. The penis is stiff but moldable, which is a VERY nice touch. It’s 7.5 inches in length, 5.75 inches in circumfrance and 1.8 inches diameter – a nice large penis without being a monster! There are two holes for fucking. The anus and mouth. Both are ribbed and both have “exit holes”. This means the tubes you fuck on the doll are open ended. This makes cleaning it VERY easy and is definatley something you should look for in any high end sex doll (ie. more than $150). The anus is tight and gives a great amount of pleasure. One of the best things about it is that when it gets lubed up, SexFlesh feels very close to the real thing. The outer layer is covered in it, which gives the whole thing a nice skin like feel. Admittedly, the eyes are a little shocking, but if you’re looking for a high end men’s sex doll, this is the one.

 

 

2014New Japanese sex doll looks just like a real woman with ‘new level’ of realistic artificial skin. A new sex doll has been created in Japan that is so realistic they are ‘barely distinguishable from real women’. The £1,000 doll, made by Orient Industry, is made from a high-quality silicon, hailed as the ‘next level’ in artificial skin. This gives each figure an unbelievably realistic look, especially in the eyes – previously a problem area for doll-makers. The fake women also have moveable joints so they can be placed in any position and owners are even able to tailor their woman in bust size, hair colour, and physical appearance. Company spokesman Osami Seto said: “The two areas we identified as really needing improvement were the skin and the eyes. We feel we have finally got something that is arguably not distinguishable from the real thing.”

 

 



2017 – Sexbots are the new generation of realistic silicone sex doll for adults. Molded to resemble the body and face of a woman or a man, these realbots are also infinitely customizable. As opposed to Japanese love dolls, these sex dolls have artificial intelligence (AI) which enables them to speak (only in English), to answer and to adopt all the expressions of the human face. The first humanoid sex dolls that are proposed are able to wink, to smile, to move their lips, to speak or to groan. All the models are tested for several days before discreet shipping to your doorstep.

 

 

2018 – siliconed masked and legs guy has fun with sex doll athlete

 

 

2019 – Selling sex is said to be the oldest profession in the world. But now a new take on prostitution is causing controversy. Brothels full of sex dolls are opening all over Europe. Clients go there and instead of paying for sex workers…they pay to spend time with incredibly realistic silicone dolls. In this film, Sofia Bettiza travels to Northern Italy – where Europe’s only chain of doll brothels has opened its latest establishment.

 

 



2020- IRONTECH DOLL is a premium TPE sex doll maker specializes in making male sex dolls. They released their first full silicone dolls in 2021.03. Their products have a full range of body shapes from macho, slim, giant cocks to small cocks, bubble butts to twink butts to meet different needs. They release new heads every quarter and their color proportions on light tan and tan skin are very natural. They have realistic and diversified male sex dolls in comparison to other doll brands.

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. Further greetings from SoCal. Things continue to move forward here. We’re now working with the Director of Photography I mentioned last time, an amazing young Russian cinematographer, and gradually figuring how the film is going to look. We’ve cast a couple of more roles. We’re in the unfun phase of making the budget precise, figuring out how much we can pay the crew and cast, and getting ready to do the contracts and all of that. There’s still a lot to do, and time is starting to run out, so it’s getting a bit stressful. We need to find housing for everyone out in the desert near the shooting location in Yucca Valley that we can afford, and that’s proving to be pretty difficult. We’re heading back out there this coming week to figure that out and nail down as many of the other locations (various rooms, a gas station, a high school whose facade we can shoot in front of, etc.) as we can. It’s not very interesting to talk about, unfortunately, but we need to get this grunty part finished before the exciting part starts. So, we’re getting there albeit with more difficulty than we’d hoped. Hopefully, I can be more illustrative and entertaining in my next report. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, David. What’s ‘Rust’? I don’t think I know that? ** T. J., Howdy, T.J.! Me too, about those films, and, yeah, I’m a big fan of McGuane’s earlier work in various mediums. ‘Dirty Little Billy’ is no masterpiece, but it’s pretty charming. All good with you? ** Cody Goodnight, Hey, Cody! I’m kind of very busy, but I’m good really. ‘El Topo’ is pretty fun and very period-trippy. Congrats on the initial smoothness of the last semester. What’s next for you after that, do you know? The Faulkner, yeah, totally. I too absolutely love ‘Three Women’. I think that’s my favorite Altman too. Shelley Duval is an utter god in that film. I’ve managed to see a few films out here during breaks. I saw Albert Serra’s ‘Pacifiction’. I really like the first two hours of it, but I kind of hated the last forty-five minutes. I saw ‘Skinamarink’. I completely loved it, and the fact that such an experimental, abstract film got a major theater release made me feel hopeful, but it’s very particular, and I can see why people cant stand it. My friend/collaborator Zac absolutely hated it. So, that was interesting. And I saw ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ which I thought was really good, concise and powerful. That’s been my non-work pleasure. You have a lovely day, night, and week too. What’s new? ** CAUTIVOS, Hi, C. Good to see you too. haven’t read ‘The Shards’ yet, but I’m going to pick up while I’m here, for sure. He’s reading here this week, and I might go say hi if I have the time. I hear really good things about it. No, I don’t have Instagram, just Facebook. Great week ahead to you! ** Bill, Hey, B. Greetings from down south. There’s tons going on, but it’s unfortunately not very interesting to talk about so far, or it would take many tedious paragraphs to describe basically. I would majorly love your Alex van Warmerdam post if you can and want to, yes! My head cold is hanging on unpleasantly, but it’s just mostly a ton of annoying and unnecessary phlegm at this point. There’s decent coffee in LA for sure. Not Paris level, mind you. I just haven’t managed to make a decent cup of coffee with my little home coffeemaker yet. It’s my fault. How’s your post-recent comment life going? ** shadeoutMapes🥐🍄, Hi, pal. I have friends who get agonising migraines, and, oh man, I’m so sorry. I hope it’s bit the dust, or, I guess, brain tissue by now. Have you managed to work on your book and/or imbibe some books? Are you writing on paper? I wrote all my books on paper for a long time, but then I tried writing one (‘The Sluts’) on the computer because it seemed more appropriate, and now I mostly write that way, which is kind of sad. Oh, our film is about a family that builds a haunted house attraction in their home and weird things that happen as a result, just to give you the basic overlay. Funerals are so confusing. I never feel like I’m feeling what I’m supposed to feel at them. And I don’t think I understand what you’re supposed to feel at them even. Awesome about the now non-obscured good news! How’s that so far? I like animals, yeah. I had dogs when I was young but they all died tragically, so I stopped having pets. I really like pigeons for some reason. There’s a bunch that live outside my Paris apartment windows and I feel fond of them. I totally get your panic about the club thing. I always feel really anxious in places like that unless it’s a music gig kind of thing where everyone is standing facing the same direction and don’t really pay attention to each other. But I get why clubs are fun, and you going with older friends sounds like a solution. Did you try it? Was it okay, if so? There were ROTC kids back in the day, yes. I’m actually kind of really surprised they still exist. Weird. Hang in there, my friend. xo. ** Dominik, Hi!!! I’ve missed you. Yes, we got the house, so that part is all good. I’ll try to share some photos of it soon. We’re going out there to give it a close study this week. As I said up top, yes, we got the DoP and he’s great! We’re thrilled to bits. No, I’ve never heard of Matt Ox. So, some rapscallion used his photos? It’s always a little sad when that happens. He looks cool in the teeny bit of the video I’ve watched so far. I guess it’s too much to hope that he’s secretly a slave. Thanks! Anything more interesting or even exciting happen with you since we last exchanged? Sorry to be gross, but love actually could eat my head cold with a spoon it’s so fucking goopy if he really wanted to. Love custom designing you a sex doll to your exact specifications, no limits, G. ** Steve Erickson, Hi. Ahh, cool about ‘Infinity Pool’. If it opens while I’m here in SoCal, I’ll zip to the theater. I’m pretty excited to read ‘The Shards’ and happy to hear that. When he’s good, he’s awfully good. Everyone, Mr. Erickson has reviewed the latest albums by Meg Baird, here, and White Reaper, here. Enjoy seeing your parents at long, long last! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben!! I’m glad the birthday dinner went really well. I think I’ll not ask what the very un-vegan meal was. No, wait, I can take it. What was it? Eeek! Hope you’re doing really well in general, my pal. ** Ian, Hey, Ian. Things are good here, or busy at least. Awesome about the Mexico sojourn. Where are you going? Take care, man. ** alex, Hey, alex. First of all, I got the ‘Safe’ zine. It’s amazing. It looks so great, better than the original. I’ve been carrying it around to show people. I’m blown away that you did that, crazy, thank you! The plane flight easily could have been my cold’s culprit. It’s okay-ish now, just irksome. Me too, i.e. big on acid and not so much on westerns. But they do make for a strangely fruitful combo sometimes, I’m not sure why. ‘El Topo’s’ pretty fun. Very dated, but in an enhancing way maybe? Any especially marriage-made-in-heaven film + acid experiences? I hope all’s way, way good with you. ** malcolm, Hi! Late happy b’day! How are things progressing with your film? We’re doing okay with ours, it’s just crunch time and we’re feeling that. I think one could probably fit all of my novels inside ‘Infinite Jest’s’ covers, yes, but it’s pretty great if you ask me. Is it holding you? Really terrific to see you. I look forward to the days of much less delay. ** Sarah, Hi, Sarah! My week has been okay. It’s the least fun phase of making our film at the moment, and way too much about money and things, but what can you do? I’ll try to keep my eyes open for someone who’s looking at me like he wants to say hi. If you’ve spent a good portion of your week writing,that’s definitely a good week. I say that as someone who has no time to write at the moment, and, when I’m not writing, I always feel little quasi. So far I haven’t found a single thing about Machine Gun Kelly that makes me want to do more than barely glance in his direction, oh well. I’ll check out ‘Jetlag’. I do like Chief Keef, yes, do you? I hope you get to keep writing as well as doing non-literary stuff of excellence. ** Nick., Hey, hey, Nick! I’m good. Good enough. Hm, this isn’t that fun or odd, but it’s the only thing I can think of. I went to this sort of famous restaurant called Guelaguetza whose thing is mole sauce. They put it on everything. Anyway, it was nice, and there was this overly loud band ‘entertaining’ the patrons playing Mexican-ized versions of, like, Taylor Swift songs and stuff, and their bass player was literally at least 7 or 8 feet tall. And he just stood there staring angrily at everyone who was staring at him, which was pretty much everyone. That was odd. Boy trouble + fun + learning stuff … sounds kind of ideal? Oh, wow, scary force … when I was a little kid, I had this recurring nightmare where there was a tall building in my city, and, once a year, the city had to let that building rip itself from its foundations and walk around the city stomping on and killing anyone it wanted to for 24 hours, and of course in my dream it wanted to kill me, so I guess I’d pick that, even though it sounds kind of stupid as an adult. I’ll have to think about something especially memorable from the Nelson days because the whole period seems pretty memorable. Let me think for some days. I don’t think I had an imaginary friend, but, not really related, but I think one of the reasons I’m fucked up is that when my parents thought I was being bad, they called me Harold instead of my name, and they would tell me to go away and let Dennis come back, and they were really serious about it, and that kind of scarred me, I think. Did you have an imaginary friend? You have best week ever, my friend, and let me know what made it the best, okay? ** Loser, Hi! Nice about your week, that does sound exciting. What kind of avatars? Obviously, I think that’s awesome about you possibly helping out on your friends’ films. I highly, highly recommend it, obviously. What will/would you be doing, do you think? ** h now j, Thank you, buddy. Fingers crossed. it looks good. How are you? ** Caesar, Hi! Of course I remember you! That’s okay, I’ve been hectic too. I’ll check out ‘Genshin Impact’. My roommate has been playing ‘Elden Ring’, so I’ve been watching him do that. Our film is a lot of work at the moment, and it’s a little stressful, but it’s going okay, no gigantic problems. I’m in LA, yeah, mostly, and out in the desert too, which is where we’ll shoot the film. Mm, I’m not sure what my personal Oscars would go to. Maybe I’d give best picture to ‘Skinamarink’ just to piss a lot of people off. I’m blanking. I do hope Michelle Yeoh wins. And I’d be good with the guy from ‘Aftersun’ winning best actor. I cant think of one apocalypse movie, but you could look through this recent post and see if anything intrigues you. I send you a big hug and kiss right back! ** Okay. The post you see up there actually isn’t all that old, only from a few years ago. The reason you’re seeing it is because (1) This blog’s hosting site made me clean up my blog’s archive a while back, and this post accidentally got decimated by the cull for some reason, and (2) Someone coincidentally asked me if I would restore it because they’re working on some kind of dissertation thing and thought the post might help. So, there you go. I will see you all again a week from today, and I hope your next seven days extremely rock.

25 Comments

  1. CAUTIVOS

    Hi Dennis, curious blog entry. Have you seen the movie LifeSize (1974)? I have read a review of a book by RYU Murakamy and it seems that it might be an interesting read. What do you think? hugs.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070131/

  2. Cody Goodnight

    Hi Dennis!

    What a fascinating and funny post today. I did not know the Nazis invented the modern sex doll. History is really fascinating. Thank you for the congrats, Dennis. My plans are to find a decent job or try graduate school. There are some job opportunities out there that interest me. I’m still reading Faulkner, and it’s very funny, morbid and sad. I’ve heard of Albert Serra’s work and it certainly interests me. I’ve wanted to see Skinamarink ever since I heard of it. Maybe I will this weekend. Several of my friends aren’t really big on it also, which makes me want to go see it more. What’s new is that I operated a television camera and directed a scene in my television class, which was very exciting. Operating a camera has a certain allure to it that’s just very addicting. Do you ever get that feeling? I’ve also watched quite a bit of films in the past week. Notable watches/rewatches are: 2001: A Space Odyssey (obviously love. The Blue Danube scenes are breathtaking), Requiem for a Dream (hated it. Unpleasant in ways it wasn’t intending and too manipulative and had zero empathy), Cannibal Holocaust (completely unethical in every way, yet an incredibly well-made, disturbing satire on western civilization’s apathy towards others) and Assault on Precinct 13 (saw with my dad in a theater and loved it. Very fun, pretty intense film that has some good-looking men in it). I wish you well on your film, Dennis. Have a lovely day or night, and see you next week!

  3. Bill

    Good to hear the film prep is going ok. Look forward to hearing more about the exciting part.

    Funny Laurie Simmons is in today’s gallery. I didn’t know of her or her work before, but I just started reading the new Jimmy DeSana book and found out she’s a close friend of his:
    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62836274-jimmy-desana

    The book is a catalog for a show at the Brooklyn Museum, which I’ll try to catch soon. I think it’s also going to LA.

    I loved Infinity Pool, stronger than Possessor, comparable to Antiviral. Usually I don’t see any new movies in January; this is going straight to my favorites of the year list. Similar with music, just started this ’23 release:
    https://triptickstapes.bandcamp.com/album/glow-2

    Great to hear the divine Shelley Hirsch again, and with an excellent band. Very enjoyable so far. And the new Kelly Link collection should be out in weeks. 2023 is already looking exciting.

    Bill

  4. Ellie

    Hi Dennis! How are you, I hope you’ve been well. Is your cold any better/over with yet? Thinking of you tons.

    Wow crazy post! I didn’t know you found these things interesting, I do too. I had a phase where I got obsessed with the idea that people would make bodies just to have sex with and even wrote a suite of poems from the perspective of one. A bit dorky I guess but I was 19 or smth, so I’m kind of just rationalizing it as age appropriate. There was a pioneering hyperrealistic doll called Saori from the 2010s that became an alter ego for me and some of my poems as her wound up in the story I sent you a while ago. Super cool! I feel a bit vindicated that you see something in these too, at the time I just thought I was going nuts. I didn’t know they’d started making guy dolls too tho it seems like an obvious move in retrospect? The way commodification works for sex is so funny and whacky to me sometimes, also how they the remix physical features on these to try to make them preternaturally alluring or whatever. I feel like the ai softcore stuff people are doing now that makes everyone look like anime goo is riding the same wave? Le jour s’orne des fleurs. Had no idea nazis made the first sex doll that’s…. redolent. And weirdly, sickly appropriate to them in a way. I’ve actually been working on a spoof on “flirtation” in the extended sense riffing off Darja Bajagic’s fash femme fatale sex iconicism schtick and some people have been extra bleary eyed about it for whatever reason? Which okay yeah like I get it and also not a lot of people actually know me so it makes sense, but they seriously think I’m the crumbly corpse witch from Suspiria played by Lucy Liu or churchburner boygirl Andreas Baader or something.

    Hope your California trip is going well! Is it warm there yet? Also what did the DP end up saying btw, I’m fannishly interested in the stuff you’re working on as usual so if there were any fun things to talk about I’d love to hear about it. Love! e.

  5. David Ehrenstein

    The guy holding thr trophy looks like Edward Albee

  6. _Black_Acrylic

    That vegan-unfriendly dish I enjoyed at the Italian restaurant this week was calf’s liver. Dad was a genius cook who was always very into his food, including offal. I think he took the view that if you’re gonna eat meat, you might as well go for the whole animal and not waste anything.

    • _Black_Acrylic

      I watched Pigsty last night and enjoyed it a great deal. Thinking today I may watch M3GAN for a bit of light relief. This clip shows her dancing to the Skatt Bros classic Walk The Night. Very much doubt the rest of the film could improve on that 20 seconds, frankly.

  7. Russ Healy

    Hi Dennis, I’ve been crazy busy too. Just stopped by to share how sad I feel that Tom Verlaine passed away. I figured you’d understand! I’m glad your and Zac’s project is moving along. Hope you are doing well and feeling well, enjoying the West Coast when you can come up for air! Best

  8. David Ehrenstein

    BOBBY DISCOLL

  9. Dominik

    Hi!!

    I miss you too! But I’m really happy to hear you got the location you’d picked and get to work with a fantastic and fitting director of photography! Very, very good news! Hang in there for the unfun-sounding budget and logistics rounds this week!

    It looks like someone indeed used Matt Ox’s photos for their slave profile, although I guess it wouldn’t change a thing if we remained optimistic and hoped that he IS secretly a slave, haha.

    I finished reading “Missed. Better Still.” and am working on the new issue of SCAB pretty steadily now. Submissions are open for another month, and things are starting to pick up a bit.

    How’s your head cold?

    I’m afraid love wouldn’t need to be extremely creative with me. I’d just politely ask him to give me a doll that looks like a skinny emo boy with a fairly small cock, haha. Love returning the favor and designing you the sex doll of your dreams, Od. (It’s pretty scary how realistic some of the dolls above look.)

  10. h now j

    Hi, Dennis! I’m glad things look good in your film work right now. Please keep us posted. I’m doing okay. Mostly researching & writing for about upcoming 50-60 days except hanging out with forest animals living nearby. I don’t teach this spring semester because of immigration law & I will be in my mother’s country from the beginning of April to ?. I will figure out a temporary job once I arrive there, so for now I’m working on academic stuff (tt job applications and publications). It’s a lot, but hanging out with forest animals keeps me focused & contemplative in the state of otherwise professional & personal emergency. And I’ve been teaching too much (like working 100-120 hours per week for poverty wage), so not having to take care of numerous students feels quite good at the moment. Hearing your busyness and productivity inspires me, too. Despite different genre & medium, I get good energy from your focus. In general, I don’t see anything better than focus, care, & clarity in living. And you are really a great role model in terms of fully focusing on what matters to one, (artistically in your case). Anyhow, things are hectic & uncertain, but I’m focused & zoned in many ways, so I think I can say I’m doing okay :)) Thanks for asking. Will read your updates this weekend. So excited!! – yours, j

  11. A. C.

    Hello, Mr. Cooper,

    I work for a publishing house and I was hoping for the possibility to talk. I left my email address attached in this message.

    Best regards!

  12. A C

    Hello, Mr. Cooper,

    I work for a publishing house and I was hoping we could talk. I left my email address attached in this message.

    Best regards!

  13. Steve

    I arrived at my parents’ house yesterday. Emotionally, it’s a very mixed experience. My mom is visibly far frailer than she was even in the fall of 2021.

    INFINITY POOL opened on almost 2,000 screens in the US, so I assume it’s playing near you. Maybe you’ve already seen it by the time you read this.

    How was the past week of work? Will you have the entire cast in place by the time you leave? Are there any Air BnBs in the vicinity?

    To pick up on your remark about SKINAMARINK, it wouldn’t even come close to getting a theatrical release if it weren’t presented as a horror film. That made me wonder if your new film is intended as horror, or at least something close to it.

  14. Kyle

    Hey Dennis, Kyle here from about a week or so back, just wanted to check to make sure you got the email I shot you with the link to the short film I made that I mentioned previously (would have been from kylemangiones@gmail.com). I know how insane and draining the film production process can be and just wanted to make sure it didn’t get lost while you were busy with that! Best of luck with that by the way, I’ve only worked on two features previously and only as a set dresser, and it’s insanely daunting to imagine what approaching that process as someone in a more important role must be like. Even just the 3-4 day shoots for short films I’ve directed ended up being the sorts of endeavors where they completely consumed my life for a good 2 months. Anyways, I hope LA has been treating you well and the film is coming along, and I looked forward to hearing what you think about my short!

  15. Billy

    Bet you’re crushing it.
    all good here.
    xx

  16. alex

    hey dennis,

    I’m glad you liked the zine! and that’s awesome you showed it to friends, I’m really flattered. I have enough materials to make a couple more so I think I’m gonna do that before I start a new job late Feb and a bunch of my time gets eaten up by work.

    the grunty film tasks sound stressful but I imagine it’s the sort of thing you have to push through to get to the more fun stages. sending good vibes to you and Zac on making it through!

    I actually don’t tend to watch a lot of movies on acid trips, maybe cause I’m usually outdoors or prefer the more passive stimulation I get from music? one time on a come down I watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and it was kind of perfect: bright colours, weird sounds, and giant forest insects. I’d seen it before so it was also a comfort watch, but I only made it two thirds in before passing out. what the best movie you’ve seen on acid?

    speaking of movies and acid, I also saw Infinity Pool last night (Steve, I’m gonna check out your interview after writing this!) overall I enjoyed it but the “psychedelic” scenes came off a bit generic to me, visually I mean. still it was a cool concept and I liked how Cronenberg plays with the camera, lots of disorienting shots and claustrophobic blurs. he’s definitely refining his style even though it’s still indebted to his father’s (and the script had a curious oedipal/nepotism undercurrent that I wondered might be a wink at his own feelings on this)

    excited to hear this week’s updates on the film! I’m off to get some writing done today. stay well!

  17. T

    Hey Dennis. I’m gonna ask how’s things, because I’m interested, but you don’t have to copy out the same thing you’ve written to almost everyone, I can read up the PS. I’ve been super happy to read that your film preparations seem to be firing on all cylinders. It must make such a change from when you and Zac were running up against the finance wall last year. Here, I’m relatively alright. Paris is a little milder now and prettifying itself, awaiting your return. The temporary rhythm of the blog is interesting, it’s fun to spend a little more time inside each post. Listen, whilst I have you, do you remember I mentioned a Moor Mother concert to you a while back? It’s next Friday, the 11th, so I think you’ll have just got back or something like that. Obviously, no stress if you have plans already, or you’ll want to sleep off the jetlag; I’ll be going either way, but would be sweet to have company (and to see you, natch!) Let me know. Anyway, have a week that’s like 20 middle schoolers simultaneously and semi-spontaneously performing a tiktok dance for you, it happened to me today and it was incredibly charming.

  18. David Ehrenstein

    Meryl

  19. NLK

    Hey Dennis.
    Excited about the film progress. Interesting post this week, scrolling through it had a similar vibe for me as listening to a teenager this morning give a drooling presentation about his favorite British warplanes. Though I find the war & tech fetishism way less comprehensible than the fetish fetishism kind.

    A couple of years ago, I had a coworker I didn’t know particularly well tell me that he had a sex doll and then he showed me a bunch of pictures of it around his house. He seemed like he wanted me to ask him questions about it. Or maybe like he wanted to convince me to get one. That left me with some questions about sex dolls and their owners that I still haven’t answered.

  20. Caesar

    Dear Dennis. I hope you had a great week – does the movie take place in the desert? I mean, is it a haunted house in the desert? Sounds fascinating to me. Something like Michael McDowell’s The Elementals!
    Elder Ring I really like but I put it on hiatus as Genshin impact is more demanding to get characters (you get them through a gatcha system). I hate it but I admit it is sometimes a comfortable place and the story is very good. It’s getting more and more adult and dark.
    “Skinamarink” I really liked it! Very creepy! It reminded me of great movies like “Kairo”, “Noroi” and “Lake Mungo” in many ways. Michelle Yeoh is fantastic but personally Michelle Williams in “The Fabelmans” steals my heart and Cate Blanchett in “TÁR” is very good (very good almost dystopian film reflecting on the limits of power). I hope Paul Mescal wins it for “Aftersun”, although I think it’s a huge disservice that the leading girl and the director have not been nominated. Which films would you have liked to see nominated? Did you see “Argentina, 1985” (I don’t know if I said it before but god I’m really upset not to see “Decision To Leave” nominated).
    Words aside, so far this is my favorite entry of yours! I’ve always been very fascinated by this topic and it’s amazing this way of controlling bodies! Very scary. Sending you a hug and a kiss!!!!! Good luck in the desert!
    PS: If you are in the desert please wear lots of sunscreen!!!!

  21. Robert

    Oh my God Dennis! I finally cracked open Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror and I’m losing my mind–what a lifesaver, this is the most fun I’ve had reading in the past two months, cannot thank you enough. I’ve barely even started the book but “As You Came from the Holy Land” really got me. Really slow reading though, whenever I read poetry I always feel like I have to read it twenty times over or I haven’t gotten it at all, sort of a hard time getting my bearings on the thing, have you ever had that problem? Hope things are going well with the film.

  22. Loser

    Hey Dennis. Hopefully you’ve moved on to the fun phase of making a movie, hah. For the VRChat avatars, they’re mostly anime/manga-styled versions of my cute male characters *grins*. As for my friends’ films, I’m thinking mainly editing/helping with the script as it’s still in the pre-production phase. I’m also trying to challenge myself by making a comic a week, hopefully it wouldn’t tire me out creatively. VRChat is somewhat fun, if only for the time someone asked me if my balls were shaved. TBH I mainly played it recently to level up enough to be able to upload my own avatars. You can make your own anime/manga styled 3D models for free using an application called VRoid that I use.
    Have fun and good luck on the movie! Can’t wait to see the final product.

  23. Nick.

    Hi! Hope your well! Tell me how you are or something you thought about a lot this week! I had an exceptional week and I knew it would be a good one pretty early on and im sure you had something to do with it so thanks! it was the best because I was sorta busy with a project ive been invited onto which was really nice! How’s movie stuff anything crazy happen? I kind of love the idea of letting our homes and buildings go mad for awhile but the idea of them running some sort of purge is a lil frightening I must say but also a really cool great evil idea. And wow your parents sound like they were kind of mean which im sorry for cause I don’t think anyone deserves that kind of treatment. Although Harold is sort of a cool name horrible parent punishment aside kinda the exact opposite of yours when you think about it. I did have an imaginary friend in a way, it was an invisible boy who I didn’t speak to or name or anything I would just sometimes feel like he was there mostly standing at the side of my bed and id be terrified when I could feel him and just not turn around and force myself to go to sleep. I don’t really know why now that I think back maybe he just really wanted me to flesh him out a bit more so we could have been better friends but I was to scared of him at the time I wish I played with him or gave him a name now. Im also doing a lot of stuff to get this boy I met awhile ago and was to shy to talk to or really even look at due to on how brilliant he seemed at the time to talk to me again. Ive never felt like I did just being is his presence it was wild I’m sorta hooked on bringing him back to me someway somehow. He smiled at me and the entire world stopped spinning for a second or two, He actually wanted to read the sluts cause I brought you up in our short conversation so I think he’s kind of crazy in the best way.
    New question and of course my well wishes! What did it feel like being around a boy you really loved and I mean just standing next to them not even doing anything. Clarity? Frenzy? Lust? I normally feel really at peace or even more so than I usually do and I can tell cause at first it’s a bit of shock and terror which I love then the complete feeling of peace sets in and then I know they’re special cause nothing really shakes me and its happened with so few boys. Later friend cant wait to hear from you! and oh one nelson story please if you had time to think on it and if not ill need a really crazy wild one when you get the chance to think so no rush.

    Your friend forever Nick.

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