Tag: VALIS

Instant Replay Part 2: Forbidden And Sacred Stories

On By adminIn JournalLeave a comment

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Welcome to another installment of my “secret” blog posts from last year. This time we’re gonna take a look at such diverse and stimulating topics as The Shadow Asshole, the “New Civil War,” Homicidal Maniac Stan Laurel, the secret relationship between classic movie actors Anthony Perkins and Tab Hunter (and how Perkins “solved” this situation), cranky Spider-Man creator/Ayn Rand-loving artist Steve Ditko, know-it-all New God/angel Metron/Metatron, and the head of Horus!

Right. Let’s get to it!

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The Philip K. Dick and David Bowie Connection

On By adminIn David Bowie, Esotericism, Movies, Music, Philip K. Dick, The Rabbit Hole

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“They’re the start of a coming race.
Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they’re here to stay.”
—David Bowie, “Oh! You Pretty Things”

Pop-music had always been an important theme for Philip K. Dick and his novels, especially later in his life. Linda Ronstadt (with whom he was a bit obsessed and wrote fan letters to) was a favorite of his, her “look” making its way into novels like The Divine Invasion as the musician “Linda Fox.” And the untimely death of John Lennon sets the stage for the somber Transmigration of Timothy Archer. Continue reading “The Philip K. Dick and David Bowie Connection” →

Fourth Wall Revisited: Peeking At The “Script”

On By adminIn The Rabbit Hole

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My favorite It’s Garry Shandling’s Show began with Garry being told by a psychic that somebody was going to get shot by the end of the episode. So he’s totally alarmed and wants to prevent this tragedy from happening.

What does he do? He gets a copy of the episode’s script and waits between scenes as they’re being filmed, ready to intervene in case the shooting happens. He’s going to proactively foil his own show’s story and save the day by attempting to alter the plot.

Watching this as a teenager, it made complete sense to me. It kinda still does.

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“The Exegesis” Of Philip K. Dick

On By adminIn Books, Philip K. Dick, The Rabbit Hole

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“What best I can do? Exactly what I’ve done. My voice for the voiceless.”
—Philip K. Dick, “Exegesis”

In 2015 I set out to perform a task that in some earlier era I literally could not fathom—reading Philip K. Dick’s almost 900-page Exegesis. While the edition I read was published in 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it was edited down from a far longer unpublished version spanning about eight thousand pages.

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Slamming Into The Fourth Wall

On By adminIn Books, Movies, Personal Narrative, Philip K. Dick, Philosophy, Synchronicity

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I. THE FOURTH WALL: A VERY (VERY) BRIEF OVERVIEW

The following short video explores the concept of “breaking the Fourth Wall” in storytelling. That’s when a fictional character—or even simply the narrative itself—acknowledges the existence of the “real life” audience existing beyond the (now-tenuous) barrier between fiction and reality. Some famous examples of breaking the Fourth Wall are Ferris Bueller directly addressing the viewer, Dark Helmet discovering the VHS tape for Spaceballs during the middle of the movie, and the ending of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

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