MetaFilter posts tagged with PKD

The Library of Babel in 140 characters (or fewer)

0bvious — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 08:15:36 -0800

The universe (which others call The Twitter) is composed of every word in the English language; Shakespeare's folios, line-by-line-by-line; the Exegesis of Philip K. Dick, exploded; Constantine XI, in 140 character chunks; Sun Tzu's Art of War, in its entirety; the chapter headings of JG Ballard, in abundance; and definitive discographies of Every. Artist. Ever... All this, I repeat, is true, but one hundred forty characters of inalterable wwwtext cannot correspond to any language, no matter how dialectical or rudimentary it may be. [previously]

The Grasshopper Lies Heavy

Artw — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:59:27 -0800

How Philip K Dick transformed Hollywood, who could be Hollywood's next PKD and how PKD could change your life.

The Second Android Coming of Philip K. Dick

dubold — Mon, 14 May 2012 06:39:36 -0800

To understand the reasoning behind the android and why this particular science fiction author, above others, was chosen... read our article, Why Philip K Dick? 2004: a team of roboticists and designers built a functional robotic likeness of Philip K. Dick. (previously) 2005: Hanson Robotics shows the PKD android at Wired's NextFest in 2006, the android vanished en route to a meeting with Google employees. 2010: Another robot is built, in collaboration with Dutch public broadcaster VPRO. Hardware for "New Phil" is completed, and the robot is functioning by 2011. via Claire L. Evans' UNIVERSE (previously) Claire wrote an article for VICE's Motherboard on the project, and posted her interview with Dr. Andrew Olney here on her blog.

If you can read this you are now a pope

mediated self — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:16:34 -0800

"You should view the world as a conspiracy run by a very closely-knit group of nearly omnipotent people, and you should think of those people as yourself and your friends." On this day 5 years ago Robert Anton Wilson died. Maybe. Robert Anton Wilson was born in Brooklyn on January 18, 1932 (One week from today will mark the 80th anniversary of his birth). Known as Bob to friends and family, Pope Bob to fellow Discordians and members of the Church of the Sub Genius, and RAW to his fans, Wilson wrote more than 30 books and hundreds of published articles. As a young boy Wilson contracted polio and was treated with the controversial "Sister Kenny" method. Wilson attributed the curing of his polio to the Kenny method physical therapy, which the medical establishment at the time considered ineffective and fraudulent. This early experience with alternative, non-government-sanctioned approaches would have a profound effect on Bob's life trajectory. As a young man Wilson read Alfred Korzybski's Science and Sanity. Korzybski's critique of language caught on with Wilson and he extolled the virtues of E-prime in particular and General Semantics in general throughout his life (his book Quantum Psychology is largely an experiment in writing in E-prime). Wilson described his six years as an associate editor at Playboy magazine as the happiest years of his corporate existence: "The only reason I quit was that I was approaching 40 and suddenly realized I didn't want to die as an editor. I wanted to be a full-time writer no matter what the risks involved." RAW's best-known work may be the Illuminatus! Trilogy that he co-authored with Playboy colleague Robert Shea. First published in 1975 and now considered an underground classic of science-fiction and a countercultural hallmark, the fnord trilogy is a hallucinatory odyssey and satirical send-up of conspiracy theories and the flower power movement of the late 1960s, among many other things. Selections from the audiobook version: Introduction; JFK assassination. On July 23 1973 Wilson had an experience that left him with "the impression that I was being contacted by some sort of advanced intellect from the system of the double star Sirius." Wilson writes about this experience in detail in Cosmic Trigger. RAW's description of the incident and its effects has similarities with Phillip K. Dick's experience that he sought to understand in his Exegesis. PKD referred to the experience as 2-3-74, the date it began. Anyone oblivious to the synchronicity should reacquaint themselves with the 23 enigma and RAW's connection to it. There is a reference to RAW in Dick's novel VALIS. RAW appears in the documentary The Gospel According to Phillip K. Dick. From Cosmic Trigger: "VALIS is a novel which broadly hints that it is more than a novel -- that it is an actual account of Phil Dick's own experience with some form of "Higher Intelligence." In fact, VALIS is only slightly fictionalized; the actual events on which it is based are recounted in a long interview Phil gave shortly before his death (see Philip K. Dick: The Last Testament, by Gregg Rickman.) The parallels with my own experience are numerous -- but so are the differences. If the same source was beaming ideas to both Phil and me, the messages got our individual flavors mixed into them as we decoded the signals. I met Phil Dick on two or three occasions and corresponded with him a bit. My impression was that he was worried that his experience was a temporary insanity and was trying to figure out if I was nutty, too. I'm not sure if he ever decided." In 2003 the mayor of Santa Cruz, CA proclaimed July 23 to be Robert Anton Wilson Day. In 2005 alt-weekly Metro Santa Cruz published an excellent feature article on Bob's life and work. When asked about his political views Wilson described himself as a Libertarian, "but that's only because most people don't know what anarchist means." In 2006 Bob ran for the governorship of California as a member of his own political party, the Guns and Dope Party. (YT about the party) Also in 2006 a feature length documentary about RAW entitled Maybe Logic was released (doc on youtube) (for purchase) (transcript). More than sixty years after Bob's polio was cured by the Sister Kenny method he began exhibiting symptoms of post-polio syndrome. Paul Krassner, Wilson's friend and publisher of Realist magazine (that RAW contributed to had a regular column called "negative thinking"), posted on HuffPo that RAW was on his death bed. Douglas Rushkoff later reported on his blog that RAW was in dire financial straits and unable to pay his rent. Users on Slashdot, BoingBoing and elsewhere responded. The resulting show of support exceeded all expectations and moved Wilson to write, "You have all reminded me that despite George W. Bush and all his cohorts, there is still a lot of beautiful kindness in the world." RAW's final blog entry ended by saying: "Please pardon my levity, I don't see how to take death seriously. It seems absurd." RAW died at home in Capitola, CA on 01/11/2007. Bob's passing was marked by obituaries in the New York Times, the Fortean Times, the Guardian, and Metafilter, among others. To mark the fifth anniversary of Bob's passing BoingBoing is currently observing RAW week. The official RAW site has a comprehensive links page. Deoxy.org has a page dedicated to RAW with links to many interviews with Wilson and other resources. RAW on youtube: On Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher to discuss LSD and his friend Tim Leary. The Eye in the Triangle: A two hour talk held at a Santa Cruz bookstore. Clips from DisInfoCon (DVD): On the Federal reserve, on belief systems (BS). The Universe Contains a Maybe: Hour-long talk from Bob's later years. The Secrets of Power: RAW's stand-up comedy performance (Pts. 2, 3, 4) "Unearthed" interview with Tom Ross from 1991 (Pt. 1 of 3). Everything is Under Control: Interview with Scott Appel from May 1998. (Pt. 2) (Years earlier Appel and RAW regularly appeared together on Santa Cruz public access TV to discuss and decipher The Prisoner, but all recordings of those sessions appear to have been removed from the web) RAW and Timothy Leary at the 1991 Bridge Psychedelic Conference. Radio interview about his book The New Inquisition. Interview on KBHK San Francisco Clip from "Hour of Slack" with Ivan Stang (mp3 of full interview) Bob on the blue previously: The last days of Robert Anton Wilson Alan Moore pays tribute to RAW Illuminatus! Trilogy Maybe Logic Academy The Science of Godmanship Reasonable thoughts on Operation Iraqi Freedom Thoughts on the War on Terror from 2001 I dreamed I called D.A.F. de Sade on the phone and asked him, "Jesus told me that he and you agree on at least one thing and it explains freedom. What is that one thing?" "Quite simple," he replied, "don't be afraid of the Cross. The fear of death is the beginning of slavery."

He wasn't a legend, and he wasn't mad.

empath — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:25:31 -0800

The Exegesis of Phillip K Dick has finally been published. A thousand pages of it, anyway. Editor Jonathan Lethem and two of PKD's daughter's got together to discuss it at a Berkeley book store. Introduction, Jonathan Lethem, From The Estate and Inside PKD's Mind, The Vision of the Source, Correspondence, How To Read It, Philosophy. Excerpts from the original (much more limited) publication. R Crumb's comic book take on PKD's religious experience. A documentary on PKD. A BBC documentary on PKD. Waking Life on PKD How To Build A Universe that Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later. (previously)

Outside the bubble

Horace Rumpole — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:26:09 -0800

[The principal] strode in front of the astonished student body in December with the $6,000 VGo robot ... "Meet the new electronic Lyndon," the principal announced. "Don't touch him when you pass him in the hall. Give him space. Don't sneak up on him—he doesn't have rear-view mirrors. Let him be like the other kids. Don't ruin it for him. This is Lyndon's only way to be a part of you."

Lyndon Baty's compromised immune system means he can't go to school. So his robot goes for him. Video of Lyndon and the Baty Bot. Via. Sorry about the ridiculous 11-page formatting on the main link, but there is a Print button.

It's a death row pardon two minutes too late

Lovecraft In Brooklyn — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:18:23 -0800

The trailer for Radio Free Albemuth, an independent film based on the Philip K Dick novel, has been released. The film stars Shea Whigam as Philip K Dick and features Alanis Morissette as a mysterious singer. It premiered last year at the Fantastic Planet Film Festival.

Why Novels are a Weird Technology and Constructed Realities

kliuless — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:40:22 -0800

Chronic Citizen: Erik Davis interviews Jonathan Lethem on Phillip K. Dick. (via) BONUS -you don't know dick -PKD's divine interference -HERMENAUT: Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) -Hollywood's Growing Obsession With Philip K. Dick -Waking Life final dialogue -The Mold of Yancy (Mold In The White House) -Mars and Mansions (Chew-Z is Goodie-Good Candy) -Stanislaw Lem - Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans

"I've got two kidneys, and he needs one..."

albrecht — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:44:33 -0800

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a genetic disorder affecting 600,000 Americans and 12.5 million people worldwide. Large cysts grow on the kidneys causing urinary problems, elevated blood pressure, and eventually renal failure. Although there is no cure for PKD, patients are generally good candidates for kidney transplants. For patients on Medicare, the transplants are covered, but the needed anti-rejection medication is not after 3 years. The health care bill [pdf] currently in the House contains a provision to change that. The PKD Foundation is also in the running to receive $50k worth of "co-branded advertisement" through Intel's Vote for a Cause promotion on Facebook. Surviving PKD is one man's story of living with PKD from diagnosis to transplant.

“I hear voices from another star.”

fearfulsymmetry — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:40:45 -0800

A Day In The Afterlife of Philip K Dick - An Arena documentary first broadcast by the BBC in 1994 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Aphids! Aphids!

crunchland — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 09:56:14 -0800

The first 24 minutes of the new movie of Phillip K. Dick's classic A Scanner Darkly. *NSFW*

"A Scanner Darkly" Remix contest

Tlogmer — Sun, 21 May 2006 03:02:01 -0800

The top entry* (turn up the volume) in the Scanner Darkly remix contest is already better than the (turn it back down) official trailer.

PKD Android

signal — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 11:36:58 -0800

It was only a matter of time before someone built a Philip K. Dick Android. And blogged about it. Don't you just love it when literature and meatspace collide?