Journey Into Night

...the thing that led... to their awakening — suffering

- Dr. Robert Ford, Westworld Season 1 Episode 10

Hear the Christmas carols. A prisoner was killed by cops, according to an investigation. The cops will not be jailed according to a president. We are about to approve the death penalty once again. Christmas is for the children. There is a plan to lower the age of criminal liability to 9 years old. Meanwhile, we are putting up the Christmas decorations.

I want to thank you for joining me tonight to celebrate the beginning of our new narrative. I call it "Journey into Night".

- Dr. Robert Ford, Westworld Season 1 Episode 10

Hope in the millennials

The past days have been really trying. Seeing people turning a blind eye on moral issues has been sickening. Some look at it like it's not their problem. Some simplifies it to choosing from lesser evil where one still ends up with something evil. Either way, these people are in a privileged position. They haven't been exposed close enough to the suffering to move them to action.



I was doubtful that the rally last night would be successful. I was that hopeless, and it was raining. I never thought that millennials would even care but they do, and it gave me so much hope. The fight goes on but it's a whole lot better knowing we're not alone.

Black Friday

#HeroMoMukhaMo

And yes, Duterte is part of the problem.

So I joined a protest rally yesterday

I brought three dolls with me wearing black (because that was the dress code) hoping that I could take pictures of them in the rally but I wasn't able to. It's not about the dolls anyway.



Because unity is a code for silence. We will no longer be silent.

We will have a hero's burial for a former dictator

Chinitos

My 1st (left) and 2nd (right) World Peacekeepers dolls

I thought they share the same face mold with different hairstyle. I was even planning to make them as identical twins, hence the matching clothes. Apparently, each one is unique. I haven't seen these two together in the same store for me to compare, until yesterday.



This is probably the last (for now) World Peacekeepers doll I'll be buying, unless they have it on huge discount, (which I expect sometime next year). Redressing them is less fun as not a lot of Ken shoes fit them.



I still like the 1st one better. The second one (above) has a dated hairstyle. It's so last decade ago. The 1st one has a more timeless hairstyle although it's a bit dorky. I also like the sensual stare and pout on the first one. I just bought the second one simply because I just don't have enough chinito male dolls.

Peace Keeper

It could be China's claim on disputed territories causing tension in the region. It could be the rise of murder and extra-judicial killing victims in our country. It could be the diplomatically-challenged pronouncements of our president about going against the world while teaming up with Russia and China, even if we have territorial disputes with the latter (or, technically, as far UNCLOS is concerned, it's no longer a dispute because we've already won the case). Or it could be the U.S. (economic, military and political) forces in our country making us feel like a manipulated colony. These just call for peace keepers, not the United Nations kind. Not yet, anyways. (Things can still be handled with media spinning, trolling and misinformation.) I was thinking of peace keepers of the mind. Peace of mind is a luxury these days.



For me, toys helps with the peace keeping of the mind. What better way to do it than with the World Peacekeepers toy line? I, of course, picked up the Asian-looking doll. No matter how faithful I was to the American toy brands, they failed to address my need for a respectable male Asian doll. I have no choice but to patronize a Chinese toy brand even if I don't like everything I'm getting from the deal. Their male Asian doll looks respectable and not culturally misappropriated like some of those made by American brands. I just don't like the deadly weapons. They don't scream peace, right? And I'm not a fan of military fashion.



I saw at least three Asian-looking dolls. They seemed like they have the same face but with different hairstyles. I picked this one because of the ladder it came with. It also came with one pair of bare hands and another pair wearing gloves. The other variants only have gloved hands. It also has the least military-looking attire. He can even look like a meth cook. Our president will be pissed. He also has a balaclava, in case he wants to be a vigilante and support our president.



If there is such a thing as having too much chest, this doll has it. It is a little shorter than my other male dolls, providing at least some height variety. It has better articulation than your average Ken doll. The "best" part of this Chinese deal is the price, which is said to be a product of one-sided trade policies of China. That makes me wonder what one-sided deal our president recently got from China.



My patronizing this Chinese brand does not mean I will say goodbye to the American brand. It doesn't have be just one or the other. Making contradicting sides work together is key for world peace. I, thank you!

Due process

First dark-skinned doll in a while

If I remember correctly, the last dark-skinned doll I bought was the one wearing the ice cream romper. Dolls that looked like they have African roots are not sold locally, except for those that look like Latinos/Latinas. This doll looks like she's Latina to me and having not seen a dark-skinned doll on the local toy shelves lately, I grabbed this one.



She came with a petite body. It feels like I'm hating on the petite body when I rebodied her using an articulated body. I also can't help misread the rebodying of the curvy dolls to made-to-move bodies. It's like wish fulfillment for those hoping for weight reduction. I feel like I'm being manipulated to hate on the new bodies.

Can't help passively react

I overheard a couple of coworkers who are Lego collectors talking about buying bootlegos. One said that a lot of Lego collectors keep the original Lego's in their boxes and buy the bootlegos just to experience the joy of the build. 

I thought that their conversation was very enlightening and very reflective of our times. It really made me smile, like an inside joke.

Safer Now

Whatever Wear

I really think this doll is pretty, especially with toned down eyes. There's just not much fashion options. But I really want to take pictures so I just made her wear whatever. The dress cannot be closed at the back, if you're wondering. 

I'm pleasantly surprised with this look. The pear shape body isn't too obvious. The body doesn't seem like it's being squeezed to emphasize the curves yet it looks sexy. It just flows freely like whatever!

There is no obligation to play with dolls.

It's not that I don't have play time, I was just not in the mood. There's more to life than dolls, right? But then, I paid for these two, so they have to entertain me in some way.



I'm not in the mood for a lot of doll stuff. It sometimes feels like too much work. I do like taking pictures. I just made them wear whatever, even if it doesn't fit right.

In the spirit of kitsch

Not-a-toy toy

I bought some toys, including a Barbie doll, over the weekend but I didn't get to play with them that much. Yeah, thanks to Pokemon Go.

A major toy I got was Pokemon related. My old phone had problems with the game plus it is already 2 years old so I needed an upgrade. I was supposed to get an Asus Zenfone 3 but their price scheme is designed to attract people who blindly equate price with value, or at least those who demands little from their phone and money. I was really planning to get one over the weekend even before Pokemon Go was a thing. Yes, I plan in advance. But when Asus revealed the prices for the Zenfone 3 series, I had to look for another. I was reading reviews all week to help me decide.



While I was out, I decided to check the toy specialty shops. I was looking for a decently priced Black Panther 4-inch doll. I was lucky to find one with a suggested retail price. The movie version was a more sensible purchase than the comic version. The Agent 13 it came with was meh.



The photos of the Marvel dolls above were taken using the new phone. Although I don't usually care much about phonecams since I prefer using my point-and-shoot, I'm glad the pictures from the new phone are decent enough. I don't have a cable for the new phone to connect with the point-and-shoot camera so I have to rely on the phonecam, for now.

This blog entry was also posted using my phone. I was afraid the old apps I use in blogging are not compatible with the new phone. The old version of the Flickr app (which I prefer) is not compatible which is sad but I'll get over it.

The true test was of course how well the new phone performed in playing Pokemon Go. It was definitely better than my old phone, although it sometimes hang. I don't know if the problem is in the app, the server, the network or my phone.

Nope, I'm not gonna name the phone.

Normal

There are a lot of stuff that take my mind away from dolls. Okay, it's just Pokémon Go, lately. Although it's fun right now, I have a feeling I'll get over it soon.

It's not the long walks that will eventually make me quit. It's not the crappy network connection, no matter how frustrating it is. It's not really the cheaters. It's about how many people are playing that may make me quit sooner.

I was hoping to take advantage of the rainy day, expecting not a lot of people will visit the parks. I was so disappointed.

I was hoping to catch me some Pokémon while strolling alone in the park in the rain, away from the lure parties the malls were having. When I got to the park, everyone was already in their spot near the lures, just waiting. I couldn't find a safe spot. By safe, I mean away from anyone who might try to strike a conversation (one of the greatest fears of an introvert) but still get a benefit from a lure, any of the dozen lures. I just decided to walk away. I had an egg to hatch, anyway.

I did stop whenever my phone vibrated because a Pokemon was nearby and it vibrated a lot. I was busy trying to catch a Rattata when I heard someone from a passing car shouted, "look, he's playing Pokemon." Getting attention is one fear of an introvert so it was very uncomfortable for me even if I had no idea if I was the person referred to. There were about a dozen guys there that seemed to be playing Pokémon, too. Then I said to myself, "who cares?"  It's not like there's anything wrong with playing Pokemon. That was when I knew I was momentarily normal.

Unlike playing with dolls, adults can play Pokemon publicly without getting curious or judgemental stares. It doesn't matter even if a kid 20 yrs younger is twice my level. There's no judgment. (I have a day job as an excuse, in case there is.)  It's nice for once to be part of some sort of hive mind, controlled to go wherever by our smartphones we thought we control. It's fun to let go of personal critical thinking for a while and just be part of a hive. And don't you dare criticize the hive, we will swarm you. The hive will keep us safe, even if your car is about to crash, or you're about to step on a landmine, or you're about to be shot for trespassing. It doesn't matter. You won't be judged...as long as you're normal, like the hive.

How do you measure

I have always felt that the stiff Fashionista doll heads using the Lea/Kayla mold are too big for my taste but I always doubt myself whenever I see photos of those dolls along with other dolls I consider using the old size. They seem to be just about the same size, just like the dolls below.

In this day and age, wherein you read a lot of things that seem valid, sound, intelligent or truthful, I'm glad I have been trained to doubt, even myself. It's hard to tell what's true just by looking. One way to find out if the new doll head is indeed bigger than the others, is to use something impartial, like a caliper. (It is important to know where you get your information. The bias of the source can transform the information to something skewed. Make sure the source is impartial about the topic.) Before you go on reading, try to guess (but keep it to yourself) which of the dolls above has the biggest and smallest head.
I have ordered the dolls from the biggest (leftmost) to the smallest (rightmost) as my guess. I may have an advantage in guessing since I've had more than one view of the dolls.

The first doll is an unmodified stiff Fashionista doll head. I have have decided to measure the distance between the two tragi as they seem to be independent of the face paint or how high the hairline was rooted. The caliper reads somewhere between 24mm and 25mm. I read it as 24.65mm.

The next doll is another stiff Fashionista but this time it has been soaked in a shrinking solution for about 12 hours. It has been 5 days since the soak. I'm expecting it to shrink further after about a week. For now, it measures 23.80mm.

The next doll is Bead Party Lea which was released around 2003. Although she has big eyes, I really like her. That is why I haven't modified her in any way. She measures 23.20mm from tragus to tragus.

The 4th doll has another shrunken head, but it was soaked using the same shrinking solution for about 24 hours. It has been months since it was soaked so I don't think it will shrink any further. It measures 22.65mm. 

 

There is a 2-mm difference between the 1st and the 4th doll. The difference is insignificant, isn't it? That translate to 1.2cm for a life-sized person. If the width of your face increased by 1.2cm, wouldn't you think you've gained weight?

 

Photos, even if they are not edited, can trick someone to perceive size differently. Here are the two dolls side by side. The size difference is more apparent than in the first photo. The photos have not been warped so it can't be said they're not telling the truth. The photo directly above and the first photo may tell different stories but it doesn't mean one is lying. It could just be a difference in perspective.

While I was at it, I decided to measure two more dolls with the same head mold. The Shakira doll (ca2002) above measures 23.10mm. The Monte Carlo doll (ca2006) below measures 23.05mm. The Bead Party (ca2003) is 23.20mm. All three are older dolls and their measurements are close to each other. I personally prefer the old measurements.

 

Rare Pokemon Sighting

From Delpozo Fall 2015

To Babs goes the Weedle

A Long Drive

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Images created with the help of Photo Funia.