Published at: Aug. 3, 2000, 8:47 p.m. CST by staff
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some rumblings from the Lab.
Happy National Chocolate Pudding Day!! Okay... quick show of hands. How many of you are fans of Philip K. Dick? And it doesn't count if your only exposure to him is the films that have been loosely adapted from his work. That's what led me to him initially back in 1982. I was twelve, and I'll admit... my first reading of DO ANDROIDS DREAMS OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? left me befuddled as to what to make of this guy. I dug into some other work of his and quickly realized that Dick was one of the truly iconclastic voices in speculative fiction over the past century. There was no one else whose brain worked the way his did. There was no one else exploring themes of identity and religion and drug culture and madness and humanity with the same voice or the same intensity. I was a fan by the third full book I read, and I've since devoured every single thing I could find by him. Books, stories, letters... he's one of those guys who is fascinating no matter what he was writing.
That's why it's so cool that Mark Steensland and Andy Massagli have spent the last few years working on a documentary called THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PHILIP K. DICK, a film that I can't wait to see. If you live in New York, you won't have to wait. You can just go to the premiere this Saturday night as part of the Sci-Fi Channel's Exposure Film Festival, the first they've thrown. I just got a letter about the event from Jason Koornick, who runs the excellent Philip K. Dick Web Site, a must if you're a fan, or if you're just curious and would like to learn more about this eccentric, enlightened madman and his work. Here's what Jason has to say about Saturday:
"The premiere of the Gospel According to Philip K. Dick is Sat. Aug. 5 at
9:30 pm at The Chelsea Clearview (260 W. 23rd Street). All tickets must be
purchased at the Altman Building (135 W. 18th Street). An All day pass to
the festival costs $5. The box office opens one hour prior to the day's
first screening. Special advance sale Thursday, August 3rd. 12-6pm. Please
arrive early for screenings as seating is limited.
