Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, hailed by many readers as one of the most prolific and influential visionaries of the twentieth century, died in the early 1980s, but his legacy remains relevant today to an extent that he probably could never have imagined. What viewers of Dick-inspired films and series like Minority Report, Total […]
Does Philip K. Dick Dream of Unfaithful Adaptations? Read More »
Andrei Tarkovsky once said, “It is a mistake to talk about the artist looking for his subject. In fact, the subject grows within him like a fruit and begins to demand expression. It is like childbirth.” This means that art springs from somewhere other than the controlling elements of the conscious, rational mind. In such a
Tarkovsky and Stalker: In the Zone Read More »
Most of the trouble in the world has been caused by folks who can’t mind their own business, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus has. Now your virus is an obligate cellular parasite, and my contention is that evil is quite literally a virus parasite
William Burroughs on folks who can’t mind their own business Read More »
I came into the world just as neighborhood amusement parks were closing for the season, and closing for good. In various towns and cities lied cemeteries for twisted steel, dilapidated roller coasters, weather-torn wood planks, and old bumper cars driven into the weeds. Before the mid sixties, Ohio alone had about 50 now defunct amusement
Closed for the Season Read More »
“The late humorist James Thurber wrote a fable set in a medieval court, and he has the Royal Astronomer report that all the stars are going out! It turns out that he is simply going blind. I am probably making the same mistake.” — Dan Wakefield, ed., Kurt Vonnegut Letters, Delacorte, 2012 I needed to
Mozart’s Kept Canaries: Music and Technology Read More »
As a result of years of devastating wildfires, the native sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park face the threat of extinction. These ancient, resilient trees have survived thousands of years of damage, but an unprecedented increase in wildfires has led to their dwindling population. The wildfires have destroyed a significant portion of Sequoia National Park,
Saving Sequoia National Park Read More »