Documentary about women who collect fake babies

Channel 4 has a documentary series called Living Doll: My Fake Baby, about women who keep ultra-realistic dolls, known as reborns. They dress them up and take them out shopping and for walks in strollers.

In the comments section, Fee provided a very nice summary of the documentary:

There were a few women featured in the documentary. One was very sad, someone who had looked after her grandchild as a baby due to his mother's illness, and then had lost him because her daughter recovered and went off to New Zealand with the baby. I could understand why she wanted a grandson subsstitute, but it made me sad that there are so many families around who could do with an adopted granny with real children that she could hug, and instead of finding them she found a rubber baby.
One of the women was as mad as a box of fish, and had multiple fake babies because the real thing might make a noise or ruin its clothes. She made me very glad that she could have rubber babies and not the real thing. While most real parents hate that whole lugging around the pram and bottle and nappy bags thing, she loved all that - for a pretend baby. I think the truth is she is still a little girl at heart, and couldn't bear not to be the focus of everyone attention. If she takes her fantasy too much further she may find herself the centre of everyone attention - down at the local psychiatric ward.
Another woman who briefly appeared seemed to have a toy show in her house, hundreds of babies in cots crammed into a room. That seemed a bit obsessive compulsive really.
I think some of them are fantastics works of art in the realism, but I agree with others that the more real they are, the more creepy. In general, although I am a woman, I found the men's reactions to them most normal... nearly all regarded them as disturbing and macabre.

Link (Thanks, Phil!)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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Takuan

non, #69 s’il vous plait, ze numero 80 is how you say?: le crappe. But of course, I am ze poseur.
Takuan

that butters no parsnips, our sacred honor is at stake. We must solve the Evil Antinous’ riddle or all be consumed! (plus dissed)
Takuan

D’OOOOOOHHOOHOOOOHHOOOOOOHHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Mark Frauenfelder

Fee: thanks so much for this synopsis! Now I really want to see it.

Darren: that’s the cutest ferret story ever. Even cuter than the one about the guy I knew in college who kept a ferret in his dorm that would climb into his bed at might and nuzzle my friend’s weird elbow rash.
Takuan

_____ ___ ________ ____ ___ _________ ___

oui?
Takuan

I thought matter wasn’t considered degenerate if the star was still emitting?
Sister Y

Win!

And thanks for the pep talk Cha0tic my brother.
Takuan

http://tiny.cc/qK3EB
Fee

Hi Mark, you’re welcome, I’m only sorry that I type as though wearing boxing gloves at this time of the morning. And that I accidentally reported my own post in trying to find the edit button, lol.

Can I be the only person wondering if your friend’s weird elbow rash might have been a ferret allergy?
Takuan

alzo, ze outragggeous Franch accent, she has nuzzin to do wiz ze puzzle, hein?
Tenn

Science fiction, sir!

Antinous- Let me guess. Tiresias, right? You see yourself in him. Well. As well as you can, being as you’re a blind prophet. I’m right, aren’t I.

Suggestion on mine- Get your head out of Attica.
cha0tic

No need for the Metallica song clue. A win to Takuan.
Sister Y

Antinous, no that part was WAY more interesting than the article I was reading.

I keep wanting to guess “Under the Net” but that’s neither science fiction nor a movie.

“So Close”?
Takuan

Zis Isle,Terre? of sorry (whack whack) THIS ISLAND EARTH
Takuan

Lost
Antinous

I’m angry with Agamemnon. I’m disgusted with Menelaus. I’m completely disappointed with Achilles. Three and a half millennia and they still piss me off.
Takuan

http://www.cinemaretro.com/uploads/mawstonthisisland.jpg
cha0tic

Could it be ‘Evolution’ Darwin (Erasmus not Charles) was a member of the Lunar society? That Lizard item gave me the idea.
arkizzle

flower’s child, this sister of Chevalier Paul’s endeavour

Colossus: The Forbin Project

Colossus = computer built by Tommy Flowers

Forbin = sister ship of the Chevalier Paul, named for Chevalier Paul who was knighted in 1637.

Endeavour = Project

Oh Fuckin Yeh!
Takuan

so somebody pose already!
Takuan

too indirect?
shortergirl06

My boyfriend works in a small retail store, and knows most of the customers that come in. There is one lady who wheels around one of these baby dolls in a carriage, and even feeds it using one of the toy bottles that empty when turned over and fill when right side up. That’s fine.

The real problem is that she “abuses” it. She’ll pick it up, and ram it’s head against a counter. She’ll hit it, punch it. Swear at it. On a couple of occasions, tourists or non-knowing customers have called the cops on her for abusing her baby. When the cops get there, and see who it is, they usually tell her “[Name], it’s not nice to do that to your baby, now go home, it needs to go to bed.” The woman will then check out, and promptly leave calmly.

Only once did they try to take it away. She put up so much of a hassle, she got arrested, and was apparently put in a hospital for a while.

It’s apparently a decent coping mechanism, yet still very creepy…
Antinous

Ipanema was a novelty song before becoming elevator music.

Is Lost a guess or a statement of mental capacity?

Clue: The director has made only two films.
Tenn

nay. think more scientifically.
Tenn

Come on, old man. Live in the present. Plenty of people to piss you off today and tomorrow and the day after that!

Then again, I imagine they do.

Breathe in, breathe out, man. Takusan’s got a tunnel to the liquor store, hasn’t he? Doesn’t he share?
Michael R. Bernstein

Previously on BoingBoing:

The creepy, creepy world of “reborn baby dolls”:
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/11/10/the_creepy_creepy_wo.html

Sculptor makes dolls of babies that died:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/08/sculptor-makes-dolls.html
Antinous

That Rex Reason was one sweet piece.
Takuan

something/rot….something/decay -entropy……
first word war,battle,combat…….
Sister Y

Antinous is it The Fall?
Takuan

I find the mutant hot
cha0tic

I’ve had ‘Battle for the Planet of the Apes’ floating round my head, but don’t know how the moon man is involved.
Takuan

something wave, tide, gravity…..
Takuan

couldn’t be pitch black
Agent 86

The moment I saw the poster, I realized x-ian=christian. D’oh, indeed.
Frank_in_Virginia

This activity does support Zero Population Growth:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_population_growth

And I second Mark’s comments on Fee’s analysis; good job, love the “box of fish”.
Stefan Jones

The slick coupon booklets that come in the Sunday newspaper have, toward the rear where the rates are lower, advertisements for realistic doll babies. I always wondered who bought those things. Now I know.

(The supplements also have adverts for collector plates for various icky little dog breeds, and unbelievably tacky Thomas Kinkade religious kitsch.)

This reminds me a little of animal hording, but far less destructive to one’s physical health and the cleanliness of one’s home. And, of course, there’s not animal suffering involved.
Sister Y

Yeah I’m gonna leave that in your capable hands, Takuan-sensei â™¥.

Also if ChaOtic reads this, my boyfriend made me drink Thunderbird on my birthday THANKS TO YOU!!!

It was citrusy and refreshing.
Tenn

The vegetarian Catholic celebrates Saint Patrick’s Day.

I hope I’m doing this right.
Takuan

I’ve got a headache
arkizzle

pffft.. may as well go comatose for the foreseeable..

I mean, I thunk my ass off.
arkizzle

I watched this when it aired in Britain.. It’s really quite sad and disturbing.

There was one part that I thought was way beyond.. The Gran, whose family had moved to New Zealand, named the doll after the grandson (weird enough), and then introduced it to him on a webcam. What is that gonna do to his head? My granny replaced me with a creepy rubber version.

It just seemed delusional and disturbed.

The woman who was featured making the dolls is clearly a fantastic artist, but she entirely encourages these type of see-it-as-a-real-baby clients, it almost seems a little exploitative of people in a weakened mental state.

And ditto on what Fee said about the husbands, they (almost resoundingly) thought it was odd, and didn’t appreciate what it represented, although I fail to see the implied connection between her view and her gender. You didn’t have to be a man to see these women were batty.
Sister Y

RE: Drunk’s Drink

Making dinner, I asked my boyfriend (rorschah), “What’s a science fiction movie that’s also a kind of crappy alcohol that’s also a cryptological animal?”

Two seconds later: “Thunderbird.”

He wasn’t even paying attention, he was drawing our friend with charcoal pencils.
arkizzle

I’ve been missing out on all the fun! :(

Tak, I think u need to ramp up your invocation spell to reach the UK.. I didn’t even get a tingly spine, and how’s that gonna work out when “the day” finally comes? pfft.

I was gonna pose ‘Dark Crystal’ to Antinous, but it’s not ‘snarky’.. nor current.. emmm..

(Also: Antinous is on board! Woo!)
Takuan

gee, round’s these parts we drink Lysol when we can’t get Bay Rum or chinese cooking wine. Vanilla extracts good too. Usta be Ripple.

What’s with this “cryptological”? I;d watch my mouth or you might get a whale on the noggin. (He’s testy, not like Raven)
Takuan

sorry, I’ll tear the head off a few extra virgins next time
Takuan

naw, it’ll be a compacted, internally, referential pun…. she has a Godel poster in her bedroom
Antinous

Bedtime, I wot.
Antinous

Hello? Hello? Riddles pending over here.
Takuan

holy crap, rubbies got a website
http://www.bumwine.com/tbird.html
Takuan

Sleep my child and peace attend thee,
All through the night
Guardian Elementals The Goddess will send thee,
All through the night;
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,
Hill and vale in slumber sleeping,
I my loved ones’ watch am keeping,
All through the night.
Takuan

science fiction film THIS time?
Antinous

One is; the other isn’t.
ikigeg

I remember watching this; very weird… what bothered me (besides the grotesque beauty of baby limbs and heads in plastic bags) was them walking into shops, or down the street, and someone stopping them… I mean, the person stopping them is expecting to see a real baby, and they see this freakily accurate doll? That would quickly become an awkward conversation :P

I also missed the first 10 minutes, so had no idea the child was still alive – I thought it had died so spent the entire show thinking “you know, maybe it’s not so bad, she is just dealing with loss” – but then she is talking to the boy at the end via webcam, holding this slightly out-of-date doppelganger aloft exclaiming “look it’s you!”

interesting but odd :)
cha0tic

Thanks for the roof supports Arkizzle :) I suspect Takuan may have written text adventures in a past life. No way in the world I would’ve got that.

Acting as barkeep I propose We keep very quite during the marathon.
Fee

Hi Arkizzle,
I suppose what I meant was that while some women loved them and some women agreed with the men, ALL the men thought they were creepy.

Among women of my acquaintance it’s roughly half and half “aren’t they gorgeous, where do I get one?” (answer: ebay) and “yeuch!”

Men are all in the yeuch department, haven’t found one yet who thinks they’re cute. Don’t know whether that’s a gender bias due to environmental conditioning or a real gender bias due to an innate female/male difference.
Takuan

‘Why, sirrah, why may a caudled fillhorse be deemed the brother of a hiren candle in the night?’
http://jimmyakin.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/duck_soup50.jpg
Takuan

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Resident_evil_ver4.jpg
Antinous

One down.
Takuan

we already did the Bruce Dern masterpiece. (don’t those robots look like Red Dwarf scutters?)
Takuan

http://dearcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/rear-window.jpg
GaryG

@IKIGEG:

About missing the first ten minutes, they definitely left it intentionally unclear as to whether her grandson was alive or not until the end. I thought it a little unneccessary, not exactly exploitative but muddied the waters emotionally… I guess I like a documentary to give me the facts rather than play around and imply (suggest?) things that aren’t true to build tension.

The grandmothers husband got straight to the point: like something off a slab in the morgue.
cha0tic

*Poses*

Genghis is angry?
Antinous

Yup. Your turn. I’ll work on them in the morning. Oyasuminasai.
arkizzle

Antinous,

A word to the wise (while I try to restrain SisterY):

Each time you pose a game, you have to state the topic or category, otherwise we’ll never get it..

..and coz it’s the rules dammit!
Agent 86

Oh, now I want to play

SciFi Movies
*poses*

750-factory factor
Agent 86

dear takuan,
Yes, it was The Fifth Element. I thought it was easy, but I couldn’t pass up the alliteration.
Takuan

we never kill the cute
Takuan

(always had a soft spot for anyone who killed John Wayne) Now that I look at them again, I must be confused with another robot
Crash! Bang!

Sorry to be nitpicky, Jake0748, but questions end with a question mark. “WOMAN” and “WOMEN” need to be in quotation marks, and one doesn’t put a period both before and after parentheses.

After all, if you’re going to be nitpicky over a simple typographical error (aka “typo”), you shouldn’t have such glaring grammatical errors yourself.

Comprende?
Takuan

SF Film
“following Julie and Greg’s Washing common spin count”
arkizzle

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

:)
RugerRedhawk

Nutjobs.
Agent 86

Tukuan… is “the loner’s head and Bambi’s boy converge with the impalpable” a SciFi Movie from 1990-2008?

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man might work (for word count, and the second half. God knows I can’t find a way to make loner’s head and bambi’s boy into abbott and costello) if you count re-releases
arkizzle

Nice, it’s no trouble, is it?

Also, Antinous:

You dastardly rogue. I can hardly think of answers, for the war going on between my brain and my finger, hovering over the link you posted.. I wanna guess the answer! BUT I WANNA CLICK THE LINK!

evil.
Takuan

http://www.moesrealm.com/img/fifth_element_04.jpg
Tenn

Aw, cheer up boys. Ark, you were on the right track with waves! I’m simply obscure, that’s all.

And because I know you don’t want to go comatose and you’re all just whining, the next clue is, Christ redux.

Come on, I want something to solve!
arkizzle

OK

New clubhouse, old rules

Topic: SciFi Films 1900-2008

–

Ultimate Celebrity Pugilist

Game on!
Takuan

same again

“the loner’s head and Bambi’s boy converge with the impalpable”
Takuan

OK,OK, where the hell are we? Aside from Teresa’s long ago(possible) poser, who has what currently outstanding? Gimme a minute, I’ll compose one
Sister Y

The Last Starfighter?

Also my other one was Clever Hans (Hands, Hans, get it? No? Hey put down that knife!)
Sister Y

I had a kind of tossed-off one in the untitled thread –
That which is dumped in response to an internal error
arkizzle

Curses!

I was just writing the invitation..

well done :)
cha0tic

ThunderbirdS is the SciFi Thunderbird is the drink, which I drank gallons of as a student :) “Trace your answer”? :)
Sister Y

Tenn – still sci fi?
Tenn

Still a sci-fi movie.

For yours, probably wrong as it is abstract- Serenity?
Sister Y

How about this:

Posterior in the Direction of the Subsequent
Sister Y

I’m sorry Arkizzle, I’m like that kid in second grade who always raises her hand and corrects everybody’s grammar (and gets beaten up at recess). Heh.
annasisu

This is just very, very bizarre. And creepy.
arkizzle

If you thought the last one was easy, your gonna kill this one:

Aerial Trajectory of the Co-Pilot
arkizzle

Pah! Back to the future :p

:)
Takuan

SF film

“Varley’s Wizard’s mistress’s son’s son’s daughter’s sister’s slayer’s wife’s stretch”
Sister Y

Win!
Sister Y

No but that’s funny!

The puzzle is more definitional than a translation/synonym.
Agent 86

That couldn’t be The Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla? I’m stumped.
arkizzle

I take it you aren’t teaching tomorrow?
cha0tic

Wino’s Wines or Drunk’s Drinks. Try thinking cryptozoologically or Mythically.
Takuan

The Izzle takes it!

whatever happened to Teresas’s? Anyone?
arkizzle

of course, that is to assume you are in the same timezone as BB..
how presumptuous of me :)
Takuan

let me mount my bench:

same topic

“flower’s child, this sister of Chevalier Paul’s endeavour”
arkizzle

righto,
bedtime for me!
lata’ potata’
Agent 86

Sorry, chaotic, I didn’t see yours.

Double Dragon?
Tenn

No, no, and no.

I’m sure there are some cunning linguists among you who can figure this out.
Sister Y

Takuan you know me too well.
Diatryma

I was confused for a moment with women/woman too. It changes the post– if there is one single woman who collects fake babies, it could be either sad or postmodern in some way. If there’s an entire group of them, it’s probably mostly sad with a side of creepy. It’s clear from the use of the plural in the post that it’s a group of women, not a single one, but the headline is what sticks in people’s minds most of the time.
Takuan

stay in view of the camera please
Takuan

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news03/p-core.jpg
pspinrad

The schlock horror film writes itself! Creepy woman protagonist keeps winning reborning competitions, but no one knows they’re real– like the old Herschell Gordon Lewis movie about the sculptor. She never got over having lost her own baby long ago, and is compensating– she’s doing the babies a favor by stealing them from miserable (she feels) surroundings, “reborning” them (through some vivid, disturbing-to-watch process), and letting them be loved, admired, win ribbons at conventions, etc. “Reborn — You’re never too young for a second chance.”
cha0tic

*poses*

Wino’s Wines or Drunk’s Drinks
Antinous

That which is dumped in response to an internal error

The Phantom
arkizzle

GANG!

lets try to keep it clear, maybe quote the game you are solving, because it’s a bit confusing with multiple games/answers happening :)
Takuan

easy you say (who…Earth……)

clue for mine: 7 words in final title
Antinous

Some of us are using metaphors and some of us are using wordplay.
Halloween Jack

Let’s have a little perspective here, folks: this isn’t half as creepy as guys who treat RealDolls as their “girlfriends”. More sad, really.
Antinous

Tenn! Hello? Hello? Did you leave without grading our papers?
Antinous

Agent 86, we’re still working on Tenn’s Christ redux.

Working being a euphemism for drinking vodka from the bottle and chewing the skin off our fingers.
MrsBug

@ #34 “extreme doll collecting”

Sounds like a sport some useless TV network would make a reality show out of.
cha0tic

Ahh sorry for the repeat. There’s a lot of thread(s) to unravel and it’s difficult to find the starts and finishes.

I’ve only just noticed we’ve been rumbled at #86 here. Scarper! It’s the Filth! :)

(I would have put a proper link, but do you know how long your profile takes to load Tak’, and then there’s the scrolling…)

Look here Top centre, left and right. I think I spy both the mechanicals you were thinking of.

So, eventually. *Dons pouch* Why? He’s going to pose of course.

Half a Hybrid berry moves quickly.
Sister Y

Takuan got it.

I knew you were a geek, Takuan-san.
Antinous

Passion of the Christ II: Back to Golgotha

In a world…
hellhead

Makes it easy to babysit for these women though.
Takuan

you mean #3?

geek Slang.
â€“noun
1. a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.
2. a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)
3. a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.
[Origin: 1915- 20; prob. var. of geck (mainly Scots) fool < D or LG gek]
Tenn

A perfect one?

Hint- Antinous, you can be a cunning LINGUIST too.
Antinous

Herb’s Pet project

Genre: horror
Sister Y

Antinous I got yours (I must admit consulting my boyfriend, though not your link – I have my honor!).

The Greatest space – The Duellists – some philosophers (says my boyfriend) think that the greatest space is between the mind and the body – dualists, har har. I keel you.

Vampire Bean – Blade Runner

Happy self location choice – Gladiator
arkizzle

Damn SisterY (and your BF), that was some nice gaming!

Also, props to Cha0tic for solving mine, and takuan, for belatedly re-vocalizing Cha0s’ answer and trying to steal his thinder.. nice.

Nice round people, Takuan’s Bambi mystery still looms..
Takuan

still movies and not books?
Antinous

Ar.
Agent 86

*pokes*

Did the game die, or maybe move? I’m backlogged on my BoingBoing reading by about 3 days, but I still need to waste some time wasted.
Antinous

Actually, wrong on the first one:

Ali (The Greatest) en (space in typesetting)
Antinous

Follow Dorothy At tea-time

Genre: black comedy
Sister Y

Agent 86, we’re still working on Tenn’s Christ redux.

Slowly.

Feel free to pose one my brother.
arkizzle

THEY WERE GREAT!

well done Sis fer gittin’ ‘em, and well done Antinous fer posin’ ‘em!

Nice Game people.
Takuan

filth sluicing break, please to be the standing of by
Takuan

Agent 86 may cry “VICTORY IS MINE”

the derivations are tortuous, tormented and tortured – but not quite outright lies

sorry there Chaotic, was far too drunk to read yours properly – I blame the Irish.

gotta go,a minor re-cert
Antinous

Good idea
Takuan

so, a sporran is a Highland posing pouch? Explains a lot about Willie.

(half a ……

also,”filth”s strong;
http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/07/26/22192607.jpg
Takuan

I hate you
arkizzle

Altered States? :)

dunno..
Wareq

Children of Men. (The book, that is – they left it out of the movie.)
BdgBill

The whole “baby fever” thing has always creeped me out. It’s like some biological switch clicks over in a womans brain, her pupils dialate and her entire personality drains out of her skull.

I have lost touch with a few female friends over the years shortley after they became pregnant because all of a sudden, they could literaly speak of nothing else. After the baby is born they turn into mommy-bots. No more TV, no more books, no more friends except other mommy-bots.

The thing with the dolls seems to be extreme baby fever missing the baby.
Remez

This topic made me think of “Children of Men”–the book, not the movie. If you’re not familiar with either, they’re set in a near-future world where no human babies have been born for perhaps twenty years. In the book, some women respond by carrying these same types of dolls, treating them like real children. There was one scene where one of the dolls is attacked and crushed by a creeped out bystander. The book’s narrator doesn’t quite know how to respond; he’s creeped out too, but the woman is in such distress over the ‘death’ of her ‘child’.
Takuan

If I’m wrong: “Attica! Attica! Attica!
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/exhibitions/sw25/gifs/dog.gif
Takuan

still haven’t got it, ARK?
Agent 86

Aeon Flux!?

I fit it to your riddle, and I just checked and the director only has one other listed.
Antinous

I have decided to up the ante by subjecting you to enhanced interrogation techniques.

This is the answer to the riddle.

You can keep trying to solve it or you can give up and click the link. Let your conscience be your guide.
Sister Y

My ridiculous derivation for Takuan’s (I admit this is far-fetched):

flower’s child = rose’s baby
Chevalier Paul = Sir Paul McCartney
his daughter Beatrice’ name means “voyager through life” = endeavor (most far-fetched leap)
Beatrice’s (half) sister, Paul’s other daughter = Mary

Just thought you would enjoy the details of my suffering . . .
Antinous

Correct. And the horror film?
malcolmkass

Is this any more odd than other parts of our society, like the irrational, unscientific fear of cloned food (or un-organic food) or the evolution boogie man? All of you who are called this “scary” I am sure have a other odd traits yourself.

Stones….glass houses…..
your neighborhood librarian

I’ve been on some of the websites of these reborning, uh, artists? The way they describe every detail of the process, stripping the factory color and then applying paint in thin layers, rooting each hair, replacing the eyes, all this painstaking ritual – you know what it reminds me of?

Serial killers.
Antinous

Who? Me?
Sister Y

Herb’s Pet project

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/01/01/arts/01moer_ready.html
Antinous

Correct, and what a creepy poster.
whoknew

@ #22 BDGBILL
As a husband of a Mommy-bot, while in some women the phenomenon might be bot-ish, I know that my wife’s change is solely the result of the demands of her desire to care for our son to the best of her ability. Socializing with other moms is the best way to gain advice and perspective. Its the thing she talks about most because she spends the most time and energy at it — but she can talk about other things. There’s really nothing strange going on for most women. Its just the effect of a very intense job — childrearing.
dainel

You know what we need? Robotics! Think Aibo. Reborn dolls that not only look and feel like real babies. They actually move like real babies and sound like one.

Put something in it’s palm, and it’ll instinctively grasp it. Touch it on the cheek and it’ll move a little in response. Disturb it too much while it’s sleeping, it’ll wake up and start crying, complete with flailing arms and legs.

Later models will be fully awake. Open eyes. Face tracking software. Smiles at people. Plays peekaboo. I call it “My-pet-baby”. :)
arkizzle

oh, somehow i thought Cha0tic nialed yours @70

..interesting :)
Takuan

redundant,everyone knows I’m creepy
arkizzle

#84:

free clue, no ‘who’
Sister Y

That’s deep Cha0tic but nope. It’s not an obscure movie at all.
Hey Agent 86, welcome to our pain.
Sister Y

Even if it’s not the answer, that’s awesome. I loved your first answer for the “fake counter” (faux adder) better than the real answer.
Takuan

that was so good as to warrant changing the puzzle -but I won’t!
Takuan

Antinious, explain why you have not solved mine yet. Is it a deliberate slight?
Takuan

current, not rated, science fiction film, director two credits “insufficiently clear” – snarky
Antinous

Yours gives me a headache every time that I try to think about it. Also, you’ve referred to literature, which is not my strong suit. But I’m working on it.
Toestubber

@ #16 CRASH! BANG!:
Actually, Jake0748′s nitpicky-ness was well founded. The typo in question did alter the meaning of the story in an important way… unlike the grammatical imperfections in Jake’s comment. More to the point, he made his point without acting like an asshole.

“Comprende?” Jeez.
cha0tic

FWIW Sister I was thinking about Beatle songs as part of the clue (The Chevalier Paul thing)
Tenn

‘Invisible Tsunami’

Hint: One word.
Takuan

are we all up to date? Anyone’s but Teresa’s pre-frontal lobe crusher outstanding? If no, quick! someone pose!
Takuan

it’s your field
Takuan

and nice work Sister, all I Rasta-manned on was “herb”
Takuan

where is that young one Tenn? I need to check if the modern game Metal Gear’s Ray is derived from Murray Leinster’s Wabbler of 1942.
Antinous

Tak-kun,

Is a daughter’s sister not a daughter?
ill lich

Sure beats collecting “hummels.”
arkizzle

hmm.. i thought phantom menace was a great guess :)

one word eh?

OK, this waaaay off, but i’m gonna let u in on my pain..

Aragon?? :

ARA = Tsunami = Wave “The model parameters for aerodynamic roughness from below (ARB) and wave-dependent roughness from above (ARA, z_0a) are assumed equal.”

GONe = Invisible

god damn.. i’m stumped, even after a brute force attack on wikiP sci-fi film list.
rockforlight

I think it’s an example of Jean Baudrillard’s “precession of simulacra,” where the simulated in our culture will replace, eventually, the real thing.

My blog post, How to Survive the Post Holiday Blues Without Leaving Your Couch,

http://www.mediarights.org/engine_feed/2008/01/how_to_survive_the_post_holida_3.php

references this film and gives a bit more on the current trend of the fake trumping the real.
Takuan

yes, a person,or god, may have multiple daughters, who are to each, sisters
Antinous

I’m boiling in the blood of mortals and the ichor of Titans. You bastard. This one may take a while.
Takuan

work it from both ends
Takuan

Against the Fall of Night was made a film?
Antinous

I’ve tried that and I now have a bunch of great ideas to pitch to the studios, but nothing on your entry.
Takuan

I am wracked with guilt. Surely, as I go to slumber now, my evil conscience will grant no rest. Ashita.
arkizzle

FEE

Thanks for clarifying :)
Its still a little weird for me though, maybe it is environmental, because where I live, I haven’t met one single person, male or female (teenage or adult) who thought it was even remotely ok..
Now, that sounds like I’ve done a poll of the nation or something, but in fact when I watched it I was quite shocked and asked around, and even got some people to watch the repeat, so I could hear their thoughts.

I really didn’t hear anyone saying, “oh, thats so cute” it was entirely weirded out “wtf?” responses.

I imagine there are some people who just see it like collecting minatures or hello-kitty stuff, but the circles hi-lighted in this doc were absolutely not of that ilk, as i’m sure you’ll agree.

.. and ..

#23

I disagree entirely.
Fears about GM food are encouraged by our press and media, and the consensus (peer reviewed) information is actually quite hard to come by in a day to day capacity. As a fear in its own right, it is in fact (irrational or not) well placed, as eating correctly (and trying not to ruin or food suppy) is centrally important to most of our lives.

The people in this documentary are purposefully self-deluded, to the point of replacing real-life humans and relationships with replicas, and alienating their spouses.
To put society, that has been led astray by the media and misguided government policy, in the same boat as these rather sad people (who probably could do with some councilling) is a bit off the mark in my view.

Now on the Evolution Boogieman, you might have a point. In this day-and-age, creationism is self-delusion (dogma or no).

.
Antinous

I, too, go to dream of murder and mayhem.
Antinous

Ah. I just looked in the mirror and realized who the murder victim was. So it must be this.
BadKittyM

@ #35…now you’ve done it. You placed it in writing; inevitably it will become a pitch.
cha0tic

I am summoned oh Takuan (That smell isn’t brimstone, I had Doner kebab after the pub last night)

I must admit to being stumped. Again. I don’t get how you make Aeon Flux fit with the clue ’86.

Belated Happy Birthday Sister. Glad you got to try Thunderbird. He MADE you drink it did he? Twisted your arm, held your nose and poured it down your throat? :)
Sister Y

Soylent Green, and that has to be the best puzzle yet.
ThatOtherGirl

Could someone post the entire video on YouTube or something? Since I’m not in the UK, it won’t let me watch it. :(
Antinous

Insufficient clear
Takuan

good un
arkizzle

I imagine Antinous is more of a Fellow Taoist, than a Cunning Linguist, if ya know what I mean..*nudge nudge* *wink wink* *say no more*

ugh.. c’mon, it was right there..
Antinous

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’ll be a cunning stunt if I solve this.
Tenn

Sister Y,
Not so, if it was so easy!

Short Circuit, Antinous? Probably not.
Sister Y

Nope. (I had to google that one.)
arkizzle

Christ redux

Final Fantasy II? :p
Antinous

She’s not going to come. She keeps ignoring my pleas. There is no invisible tsunami. The whole thing is just a cruel joke.
Sister Y

I have exhausted my major lines of inquiry into your puzzle, Antinous.

One of these was Vampire Bean = Sucker Punch, but no dice on matching other movies.

I also really wanted it to be Fatal Pulse, but that one was a stretch to begin with.

Just sharing my suffering. â™¥

Would I be correct in assuming, based on capitalization, that “Happy self location choice” is a one-word title?
Takuan

yeah, quite the brainwave
arkizzle

Risen?

I know, it’s horror :(
arkizzle

Spoonerism+Innuendo; it just writes itself, doesn’t it? :)
Antinous

Ixnay
Tenn

Nein, Agent 86. Any other takers?

Where am I? Where am I Takusan? School. Not doing my homework. You know. The usual.

Agent86, you think strangely. I hate you.
Tenn

I don’t doubt that, Ark. Fact remains that I am a cunning linguist in this instance. The winner will be one as well, no doubt.
cha0tic

“The Filth” is UK slang for the coppers.

Should #110 read like this?

flower’s child, this sister of Chevalier Paul’s endeavour
Antinous

I’m waiting.
Takuan

you have a plan?
http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/adder.jpg
Agent 86

Tenn,
this?
Takuan

I ken the filth, hence the nun

yep, dat’s da title o da flick
Takuan

http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasm/images/moviegasm/209772~X2-X-Men-United-Posters.jpg

do you look like Halle,by the way?
Antinous

Yes, I try to capitalize as appropriate.

For those who give up, here is the director. That should make it really easy to figure out the films, but is a last resort and an invitation to scorn and derision.
Tenn

If Antinous is wrong about Tenn’s, then I guess this.

-Toddles in, the little tyke-

Sorry dears. Prom and the other threads distracted me! Have meant to be coming back all day!

Anyway, the round goes to Agent86.
Antinous

D’oh.
arkizzle

THATOTHERGIRL:
I just had a look, and it’s only a clip, not the whole doc.
Also, tried downloading the clip for you and couldn’t find the stream.. :(

clever bastards (cleverer than me anyway)
arkizzle

THATOTHERGIRL:
Oh, sorry..
I tried to follow the link and it got me to install stuff, and it did some tinkery stuff, updated and installed other stuff..
and after all that it doesn’t work for me. something about needing a different security cert in my wmp. also, it seems the 4OD player drms the video to ur computer for 48 hours worth.. so u couldn’t watch it anyway.

so about that :(
Agent 86

Comedy/Horror

“Where reckoning tartar’s seed sprouted High-die-1001110001000″
Antinous

Clue: The title is snarky.
cha0tic

Stumped.
Tenn

Round to Taku-san!

I look about as much like Halle as I imagine you do. I’m more of a Shadowcat. (But not the one in the movies.) Or maybe a shorter, non white haired rogue.
Antinous

All that thinking for nothing!
DeWynken

As a father I wouldn’t let a nutjob like within 10′ of my kid. That may explain mens reaction to this..protectiveness.

Christ the first two years it was (almost)impossible to take her shopping without people wanting to come up and touch..get the fuck away from my kid!
cha0tic

Flight of the Navigator
Antinous

1) Can we move this to a shorter dead thread? This takes for-fucking-ever to load. This one has a pretty picture.

2) Can everyone refresh their live puzzles so that we don’t have to paw through the last 75 posts to find them?

3) I’m putting my shield and my piece up for the night. The mosquitoes are getting hungry.
kittenfoo

my ex-husband’s grandmother experienced all the indignities of Alzheimer’s disease, compounded by the belief that she could go to one of the hospitals and bring home one of the “crack babies” (this was in the 90s). They bought her one of those realistic baby dolls, and it provided her a lot of comfort at the end of her life. Evidently it satisfied her need to hold and care for a “baby.” after she died, my daughter ended up with the doll, and it was so realistic looking, i made her keep it hidden when she wasn’t actively playing with it. i’d see it and for a split second think i’d had a new baby and forgotten about it. we called the doll “freaky baby.” yeah, they’re creepy, but there are some unusual situations when they can be therapeutic.
ThatOtherGirl

Arkizzle- I watched the clip, then downloaded and installed the 4oD player to try to download/stream the show. That’s when it said no. I had read the requirements, but hoped that it wouldn’t check or something. ;)
Takuan

you wouldn’t care to narrow that down to a decade?
arkizzle

Cha0s, clarify: is wino’s wines still it the topic of [Sci-fi 1900-2008]?
Takuan

from the Sea!
http://www.jeffbots.com/logansrun1.jpg
Antinous

I never said SciFi. Y’all made that up on your own.
noen

How is this game played? You guess the movie based on vague hints? From what I gather we have “Christ Redux” with cunning linguist as a hint, and it’s a SciFi movie.

That could be anything, like the “Matrix”? There’s no shortage of Messianic figures in popular culture is there?
Tenn

Tak-kun, my liege! I stand to your aid!

Minority Report?
Sister Y

Urge to kill . . . rising . . .
Takuan

http://www.luc.edu/depts/history/dennis/Visual_Arts/05-Romantic_Blake_Great-Red-Dragon.jpg
Tenn

… Ignore that last guess. I missed your qualifier. Spielberg has 2 movies, I swear! Only 2. Really. It’s true.
Antinous

invisible tsunami

I’m pretty sure that it’s not Bunny Lake is Missing, but it would be really funny if it were.

Meanwhile, an easy one:

Doctor Bad
Sister Y

Noen my sister, the game is to guess a movie (the default class is sci fi movie 1900-2008) based on a specific sort of hint – that is, imaginary translations of the titles, like the game they play in PKDick’s Galactic Pot Healer. (Imagine translating, say “Children of Men” into, say, Japanese, and then back again. You might end up with something like “Lineal Descendants of XY(plural)” (okay it’s a stretch but you don’t have to use strict translation). The latter would be the clue.

Past puzzles:
The vegetarian Catholic celebrates St. Patrick’s Day
Answer: Soylent Green (best puzzle evar)

Occidental millieu
Answer: Westworld

Happy self location choice
Answer: Gladiator

Also we’ve moved to this thread. Please to be joining!

And I think Tenn said Christ redux was X Men 2, as guessed by Takuan.
Takuan

Dear Agent 86

what about yours? hit or miss?
Sister Y

Here is a clue: Chandra.
Antinous

Current
Antinous

And another easy one for vintage film buffs:

ass hole
Sister Y

Okay gang I have one.

Fights against degeneracy (as the Moon Man predicted)
Takuan

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
…………….
Antinous

So what happens now? Do I just give you the answer?
Jake0748

God bless #25 TOESTUBBER, I feel redeemed. :) I wasn’t trying to be snarky in my original comment. And I know I’m not the greatest typist or puctuationist, but the comprende did seem a little harsh.
Takuan

oh jeez, if we don’t get this soon he’s going to be insufferable
Takuan

you will be pleased to excuse me for a brief interval while I slam my head on this iron pillar
arkizzle

i can see the “element” but 5th?
Sister Y

Okay not just Chandra. Chandrasekhar.
Takuan

I knew that! (sure I did)
Tenn

Is it two words or are we making faulty assumptions here?

I’m sleeeepy. Good night. Will puzzle over it during standardized testing tomorrow.
Takuan

neutronium…..any number of story titles, but films?
Takuan

750 cc = fifth of gallon, “fifth” is what I drink before breakfast
Sister Y

My brother you’re thinking way too hard. Either that or my puzzle sucks.
Sister Y

Fights . . .
Battles . . .
Struggles . . .
Takuan

a century of science fiction tends to fill up the crevices – too many associations (whine whine snivel)
Takuan

better not
Sister Y

“Fights” is a plural, not a present-tense verb.
Tenn

equilibrium?
Antinous

Oh. There are rules. How petit bourgeois. You knew that it was a movie. Do you really require genre and time frame? And is SciFi the default genre since you all assumed it?
Takuan

better not be “wars”
Agent 86

Return of the Jedi?

(hey, they’re based off the Jesuits)
Sister Y

Oh, better it?
Takuan

think of them more as an arbitrary strait-jacket woven of razor wire and dipped in acid. “Rules” sounds vulgar.
arkizzle

oh! nice, i even saw the motorbike reference to “750 factory”, but totally missed the 1/5 bit..

It’s you yanks using these archaic weights and measures that threw me :p
Takuan

now, HOW did ya get THAT!
Sister Y

Oh, better it?
Antinous

Three films, one director, order chronological, genre varies, time frame last thirty years, difficulty easy:

The Greatest space

Vampire Bean

Happy self location choice
arkizzle

nice, twice :)
Sister Y

Sorry for the double post – why does that happen? Anyway I’m off to bed. Though one of these days you must tell me about (a) the protester-bomber chick and (b) your vivisection days. I had some of those myself (the latter, not the former).

Peace.
Takuan

got mine yet?
Antinous

Oh, best not to respond unless you have all three.

Yours seems like it’s teetering on the tip of my brain, but Tenn’s is impenetrable.
Antinous

Is it this?
Pitch

I guess these would help if you’re grieving the loss of a child and can’t let go, but I still can’t help feeling those are among the creepiest things I’ve ever seen. I forget the name of it, but maybe it follows the same phenomenon by which the closer something non-human approaches to appearing human, the more off putting it looks to us. Like clowns and cyborgs, I don’t think I’d ever want one of these in my house.
Takuan

why was mine so easy??
Antinous

Clue: It’s Not Rated.
Takuan

oh never mind, you read the classics
Takuan

likker is the international tongue
Antinous

As to Tenn’s offering, I propose this, not least because of the leading man, whose specter has been lurking in this game.
Antinous

Where is the little tyke, anyway. She’s left us a puzzle and then evaporated.

Anyone working on my threefer?
Snowpea

I came across a ‘reborn’ maker on Etsy last week and was both fascinated and aghast. The dolls were very well made, but it weirded me out. They each came with their little life’s story and ‘birth certificate’.

This seemed like such a bizarre hobby, I decided to dig a little deeper and found websites that offer baby parts for making these dolls. Little bags of arms and legs, a selection of baby heads… even ugly, premature or crying babies are on offer.

Even as a little girl, I was not fond of dolls. This takes my ‘ick’ reaction even further. Zombie babies…
Lilith999

I believe you’re thinking of the Uncanny Valley.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley
Tenn

Agent 86, Antinous, keep heading in the sequels direction. You’re still wrong.
Antinous

Oyasuminasai. I expect a correct answer to my challenge in the morning mail.
darrell

My family’s pet ferret does this too, with anything small and round. Carries objects around and protects them. When it’s Christmas she gets into a small plush nativity scene and nabs the baby Jesus. It’s adorable to see her carrying him around.
Agent 86

If Antinous is wrong about Tenn’s, then I guess this.
MacLuddite

I think this starts at creepy and finishes somewhere past mental, way past.
Sister Y

Takuan: Rosemary’s Baby?
Takuan

aw cripes, OK then
noen

Blackhole

Alex, what do I win?
Takuan

nay lass.

Is it possible to OD on melatonin?
Agent 86

I’ll throw out an answer for Takuan’s, though I think it is wrong
“HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP”?
(I just like the thought of calling hippies “humanoids”, and I can make a case for deep, just missing the middle part)

…now how about a clue, so I don’t have to stretch so much!
Agent 86

Another!

SciFi
“noble Guitar Fighter“
Antinous

There’s always this for Christ redux.
BadKittyM

I’ve only known one woman who was an avid doll collector, and yeah – it was utterly creepy to sit anywhere in her house. Not a single room (including bathrooms) was devoid of porcelain, rubber or plastic dolls. I only went to her house the one time with my husband, and we both blurted out “what’s up with the dolls?” to each other upon leaving. Worst of all, she had a live-in boyfriend who was not allowed to display any of his own possessions, nor move “her babies.” I didn’t waste all that much sympathy on him – after all, he picked her, and decided he was fine with playing second fiddle to a vast collection of artificial humans.

Says a lot, though. And yes, she was a rather pitiable person; low self-esteem and very artificial in appearance and manner, controlling, uncomfortable around other people – well, real people that is. I don’t pretend to understand the psychology of “extreme doll collecting.” I did find it terribly uncomfortable to be around, and thought it a manifestation of a deeper personality problem in her case. Since I have never met another woman like that, I cannot claim any expertise or accuracy in my assumptions.
Agent 86

I’ve got nothin, but my brain sure hurts.
Takuan

a clue: firstly, conquer the knight – all will become plain
Takuan

“Her name is the Latinized form of the Greek Î‘Î½Î´ÏÎ¿Î¼ÎÎ´Î· (AndromÄ“de). The etymology of the name is “to think of a man,” from Î±Î½Î´ÏÏŒÏ‚ (andros) “man” combined with Î¼Î®Î´Î¿Î¼Î±Î¹ (mÄ“domai) “to think, to be mindful of.”

well done
arkizzle

ok here’s one:

The one in question, no man is, dirt.
cha0tic

I’m still on Sci-Fi. Yes. The Gallo brothers, will help you trace your answer.

Arkizzle. The one in question is This. “No man is an Island” according to Mr Donne and dirt, or soil is Earth :)
Antinous

Tenn,

This?
arkizzle

e a s y
Jake0748

Sorry to be nitpicky, but is it WOMAN who collects fake babies, or WOMEN. (I shudder to think there is more than one). This is very weird and creepy.
Antinous

I was obsessing on Homeric characters at first, which is, by the way, a long term psychological issue for me.
Takuan

red……
Takuan

I feel it,I feel it working……
Takuan

hinthinthinthinthinthinthinthinht
Antinous

â™« Tall and tan and… â™«
arkizzle

hoo haa!

Also, dunno if Teresa’s was one, or if it was just written in ubercrypt..
Takuan

next hint; gaelic derivation
Agent 86

Heh, I loved Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I didn’t realize he had a second movie out.

…it doesn’t look SciFi? It does look entertaining.
Sister Y

You guys are overthinking this one. Hint: it’s a two-word title and both words have been guessed.

I’m having a hard time coming up with puzzles that are the right level of difficulty – especially because I don’t know you guys well. Any tips? Somebody else should make the next puzzle I think!
Takuan

science fiction? “clear” = “bus”?? You got some ‘splaning to do mister. (I thought Hedwig was good)
Wormella

Sorry to creep you out Jake, but it’s women the plural, the doc follows multipal stories, 2 or 3 if I remember correctly.
arkizzle

Oh Yeh!
Cha0tic takes another :)

Time to start posing them my old son..
Takuan

Arkizzle! Tenn! Sister Y and Chaos itself! I Summon You! I Adjure thee! Rise now at my bidding and stand!
cha0tic

“I don’t know you guys well”

Takuan seems to know you well enough to know what you’ve got on your bedroom wall ;)

I wouldn’t worry about difficulty level and not knowing how we think. As the solvers it’s up to us to learn how the setter thinks. It’s like cryptic crosswords in the broadsheets. They always tell you who the setter is, so you know their ‘style’.

With that I guess ‘Star Wars’ and FWIW I think mine have been too easy.
Fee

I watched this documentary and unfortunately didn’t realise it was perfect Boingboing material. There were a few women featured in the documentary. One was very sad, someone who had looked after her grandchild as a baby due to his mother’s illness, and then had lost him because her daughter recovered and went off to New Zealand with the baby. I could understand why she wanted a grandson subsstitute, but it made me sad that there are so many families around who could do with an adopted granny with real children that she could hug, and instead of finding them she found a rubber baby.

One of the women was as mad as a box of fish, and had multiple fake babies because the real thing might make a noise or ruin its clothes. She made me very glad that she could have rubber babies and not the real thing. While most real parents hate that whole lugging around the pram and bottle and nappy bags thing, she loved all that – for a pretend baby. I think the truth is she is still a little girl at heart, and couldn’t bear not to be the focus of everyone attention. If she takes her fantasy too much further she may find herself the centre of everyone attention – down at the local psychiatric ward.

Another woman who briefly appeared seemed to have a toy show in her house, hundreds of babies in cots crammed into a room. That seemed a bit obsessive compulsive really.

I think some of them are fantastics works of art in the realism, but I agree with others that the more real they are, the more creepy. In general, although I am a woman, I found the men’s reactions to them most normal… nearly all regarded them as disturbing and macabre.
Brian Carnell

I’m with @22…I know people who spend 30 hours a week playing a Tauren warrior…after pretending you’re a cow for much of the week, carrying around a fake baby doesn’t look all that odd.

Presumably if this had some bullshit Second Life connection or could be made into some sort of avante garde art project it would be cool, but since it’s not I guess it’s safe to laugh at these folks.
cha0tic

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” Isn’t Sci Fi is it?
Sister Y

Takuan I would but I just learned more than I ever wanted to know about the history of, and copyright battle concerning, “The Girl from Ipanema.”
Tenn

Takusan,

Luuuucyyyy, I’m home!

Bus – to bus tables – to clear tables. It took me a moment.

However, Antinous- Scifi? How so, sir?

Posed:

invisible tsunami

This one may be rather indirect.
Antinous

That Ipanema is the gay beach and the girl has some extra pieces?
cha0tic

Is #80 your poser Takuan?
Takuan

“Costello Name Meaning and History
Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Oisdealbhaigh â€˜son of Oisdealbhachâ€™, a personal name composed of the elements os â€˜deerâ€™, â€˜fawnâ€™ + dealbhach â€˜in the form ofâ€™, â€˜resemblingâ€™.”

mono-monk (alone) loners. monastery head= abbot

set me up again barkeep