Stories: Personal & Collective

I came across various things this past month that taken together created a thought-web in my mind. For anyone who cares, let me explicate (or, if you prefer, skip to the end for my summarization). – – – The first thing was an interview on The Diane Rehm Show from a few weeks ago. The [...]

PKD’s Exegesis: 2 vol. release in 2011

For any PKD fans, there is good news. A new version of his Exegesis will be released next year. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/books/30author.html It sounds like it will be a more complete version and will be published in two volumes. I have a copy of the first publication of the Exegesis (In Pursuit of Valis). It’s a very nice book [...]

The Elephant That Wasn’t There

I was talking to someone the other day who was telling me about a recent family visit (by the way, her telling of it reminded me of the type of story David Sedaris writes). It was her older sister who was visiting and they were discussing the past. The older sister claimed that she used to [...]

Wonder vs the Wonder-Killers: two related thought experiments

I was thinking about two issues tonight. Both of them were thought experiments.  - – – The first issue is about sociopaths. I guess I was thinking about it because I just posted a blog where I mentioned Max Weber’s Iron Cage (Self & Other in the Movies: Redemption or Destruction?). Weber was theorizing about how bureaucracy and [...]

Self & Other in the Movies: Redemption or Destruction?

“Man’s greatness comes from knowing he is wretched.”  ~ Blaise Pascal Walking through the cemetary last night, my friend mentioned the movie District 9. It turned out we both had watched it this past week, but my friend didn’t finish watching it because he didn’t like it. So, we discussed the merits (or lack thereof) [...]

Old School Libertarians?

I always wonder why libertarianism has been taken over by rightwingers. I have nothing against Ron Paul’s supporters. It just bewilders me the association between libertarianism and pro-capitalism, between libertarianism and fundamentalism… and what in the heck do pro-capitalism and fundamentalism have to do with each other? I know it’s an exaggeration, but sometimes it feels like present [...]

McKenna and PKD, Pronoia and Paranoia

McKenna and PKD, Pronoia and Paranoia Posted on Jan 1st, 2009 by Marmalade I’ve mentioned Terrence McKenna before, but maybe its been a while.  I just came across him again in my web searches in two different contexts.  Someone in the God pod started a thread about pronoia which was an attitude that McKenna valued [...]

Cronenberg, Burroughs, and Dick

Cronenberg, Burroughs, and Dick Posted on Jan 1st, 2009 by Marmalade David Cronenberg is a director whose movies I often enjoy.  A favorite weird movie of mine is Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch which is loosely based on the novel by William S. Burroughs.  He definitely brought his own touch to that story and there are some common themes with [...]

Philip K. Dick as a Character

Philip K. Dick as a Character Posted on Dec 27th, 2008 by Marmalade Besides PKD making himself a character in his own work (ie VALIS as Horselover Fat), I wanted to list all of the books that have used him as a fictional character.  I decided to create this list because I haven’t seen a [...]

Fiction and Non-fiction, Gnosticism and the Gothic

Fiction and Non-fiction, Gnosticism and the Gothic Posted on Dec 23rd, 2008 by Marmalade I have an equal interest in fiction and nonfiction.  They often feel in confict and they can have very different effect on me.  I tend to obsess on one or the other.  In recent years, I’ve been more focused on nonfiction, [...]