PKD fan site contributor Dave Hyde (a.k.a. Lord Running Clam) has announced an exciting new event - a festival devoted exclusively to the work of Philip K. Dick appropriately titled "Philip K. Dick Festival" to be held in Colorado in summer 2010. He's still working on the exact date (August or September) but the web site is live and has more details. Thanks Dave for making this happen!

• Visit the Philip K. Dick Festival web site
• Check out Dave Hyde's PKDweb on this site

This late-breaking news comes from Skylaire Alfvegren of Los Angeles who is leading a tour of PKD's Fullerton, CA tomorrow.

"Come discover Philip K. Dick's Fullerton, with our gracious host and tour guide, the venerable Robert Larson, this Monday, September 21st. Convene at 3pm at the corner of Chapman and State College, or contact me as soon as possible to iron out carpooling options from Lost Angles. (Feel free to forward this invite to any PKD enthusiast you may know in town.)

Bring a favorite PKD quote, passage or story to share at the last stop, which is, thankfully, a bar. One that PKD drank in (and wrote a scene or two about). Email me directly for more info: Skylaire@gmail.com . "

A new, expanded and affordable edition of Anne Dick's excellent memoir about her life with Philip K. Dick, "Search for Philip K. Dick, 1928-1982" is now available. Highly recommended as one of the best secondary books about PKD and a critical component of any PKD collection. Enjoy and thanks Anne! From the promotional materials:

"Anne Dick's book is part memoir, and part a kind of detective novel, as she sifts through the details of her life with Philip K Dick, a prolific genius whose books and novels are being recognized as significant works of literature. Much of Dick's work, currently being celebrated in college courses and prestigious anthologies like The Library of America, consists of a kind of surreal autobiography and Anne's memoir helps us connect his fictional characters to his life. Philip K Dick was quite a character himself, both on and off the page, and Anne's memoir bravely explores her tumultuous relationship with this mercurial man in an attempt to better understand him and his writing. A touching aspect of this memoir is that it represents Anne's search as well."

• Visit Anne Dick's web site to find out more and order online

Linda Levy (now Castellani), who claims to be the inspiration for Philip K. Dick's enigmatic "Dark-Haired Girl" is offering a large set of correspondance and original Dick materials from 1972-1975 for auction. (Low estimate: $20,000). This is a unique and personal glimpse into the last few years of Phil's life. Linda has also set up a rather remarkable and detailed web site chronicling the often tumultous relationship and the materials. Happy bidding! Check it out here:

• PBA Galleries: PKD Letters Archive Auction
• Linda Levy's Dark-Haired Girl web site

From MovieWeb:

It seems that yet another adaptation from Philip K. Dick's library is moving forward. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Halcyon is bringing Flow My Tears, said The Policeman to the silver screen.

Halcyon signed a first-look deal in 2007 to adapt the remaining literary works from Dick that have not yet been adapted, and this 1974 Dick novel is the first film they will develop under that deal. Like most of Dick's works, the story is set in a dystopian future and centers on a celebrity who wakes up after an assassination attempt, only to realize that nobody knows who he is anymore.

No writer has been attached to the project as of yet. Dick's adaptations include the blockbusters Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report, which have grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

• Movieweb.com

Celebrate the life and work of Philip K. Dick at the third annual PKD Day/Readers and Researchers at England's Nottingham Trent University. From the web site:

The English Team at Nottingham Trent University invite you to the third of our annual days of discussion and celebration of Philip K. Dick�s remarkable writings. As in previous years, it is an informal event, designed to bring together enthusiasts and academics in a day of papers and discussions.

• Visit the PKD Day 3 web site

Paul Williams was a friend and early champion of Philip K. Dick before anyone had ever heard of him. He wrote the famous 1975 Rolling Stone article that launched PKD into the public eye. He was PKD's literary executor for many years after Dick's death in 1982. Paul is also a music critic who has been around the music scene seemingly forever. What a career and a tragedy that he suffered in this accident. Here's news about a benefit that has been organized on his behalf. If you're in Portland, please try and make it. He can use your help. Here's the news:

"Right now, Paul Williams, one of the pioneers of rock criticism, is in very serious trouble. As a 17-year-old college student in 1966, Williams founded the gloriously anarchic Crawdaddy! magazine, which predated both Rolling Stone and Creem. After he left Crawdaddy!, Williams sang in the background on the Plastic Ono Band's "Give Peace a Chance", published a series of books about Bob Dylan, and wrote a Rolling Stone article that helped repopularize the work of the cult sci-fi author Philip K. Dick.

In 1995, Williams suffered a traumatic brain injury in a bicycle accident, which may have caused early onset Alzheimer's. Last year, Williams' wife Cindy Lee Berryhill had to move him to an assisted living facility when she couldn't care for both him and their eight-year-old son. Right now, Williams' family is taking donations to help with his care. And given that Williams was working as a freelancer before his accident, their need is particularly great."

Paul Williams Benefit featuring
Dear Ether, Naming Names, Soft Tags & Lookbook
at Someday Lounge (125 NW 5th Ave)
May 9th. $6
Portland, OR

• Someday Lounge for tickets
• Paul Williams web site

Victoria Stewart's 800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick plays May 28th - June 7th in a limited run in Minneapolis, MN. The theatrical production stars Luverne Seifert as the legendary science fiction author.

800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick is based on the life of ground-breaking science fiction author, Philip K. Dick, complete with secret agents, Dick's dead sister and a talking cat. The play begins just as Philip's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is about to be released as the Hollywood film Blade Runner. (Later films like Minority Report, Paycheck, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, and more, are also based on his work.) But Philip can't stop obsessing about visions he had years earlier when an extraterrestrial God spoke to him using artificial intelligence. Award-winning playwright Victoria Stewart uses uniquely theatrical conventions to create a surreal landscape where memories of these seminal events bleed into each other, fusing and merging in a funny, dark trip - not unlike a Philip K. Dick novel - where his recurrent obsessions of God, art, madness, time, fiction and reality come alive on stage.

Thursday, May 28 - Sunday, June 7
Thursday-Saturday @ 8 pm; Sunday @ 7 pm

@ The Playwrights' Center
2301 East Franklin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55406
www.workhauscollective.org

This is a real treat for PKD fans. I'm looking forward to adding this series to my collection. Much better than the comic of Blade Runner!

BOOM! Studios, in partnership with Electric Shepherd Productions, proudly announces that worldwide best-selling sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick�s award-winning DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? is coming to comics this June. Called �a masterpiece ahead of its time, even today� and having served as the basis for the film BLADE RUNNER, BOOM! Studios is honored to present the complete novel transplanted into the comic book medium, mixing all new panel-to-panel continuity with the actual text from the novel in an innovative, ground-breaking 24-issue maxi-series.

�We are thrilled that DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? is being adapted for this audience by such a talented team. We�ve been incredibly impressed with BOOM!�s ability to create such a faithful interpretation of the original work without sacrificing their own original instincts and artistic sensibilities,� said Laura Leslie and Isa Dick Hackett of Electric Shepherd Productions. �Through this medium, readers will now have visual access to parts of the novel not explored in the film adaptation BLADE RUNNER.�

• Read the Press Release from the PKD estate
• Check out the Boom! Studios web site for preview artwork and more

The last two weeks have brought us news of two new Philip K. Dick film adaptations in the works.

The first is a remake of Total Recall (based on PKD's short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale). Since it's a remake of a movie from 1990, it's unclear how much (or little) of the source material will be part of the story. No news about casting or creative talent. Hopefully they'll keep the ambiguity of the ending. Here's the article from Hollywood Reporter.

The other movie is based on Dick's short story "The Adjustment Team". It's being called "The Adjustment Bureau" and is based on a script by George Nolfi ("Ocean's Eleven") who will also direct. Matt Damon will star in the movie about an organization that can change reality similar to Alex Proyas' Dark City. This version will have a strong love story. Should be interesting.

Here's the article from Variety.
And info from PKDWeb about the original short story .

Here's a new interview on Self-Publishing Review with PKD's last wife Tessa Dick about her reworking of his outline "The Owl in Daylight" (available now from Amazon.com), A Scanner Darkly, the Valis visions and other revelations about their lives together. She's also posted news about her revised PKD biography called "Philip K. Dick: Remembering Firebright" due in a few weeks on her blog It's A Philip K. Dick World.

• Tessa Dick Interview
• It's A Philip K. Dick World blog by Tessa Dick

The good folks at Tor have put together a new destination for genre fans that includes new content, social networking and plenty more. This is a separate venture than their publishing (although I'm sure there will be some crossover). Check out this press release for more info. Enjoy!

Science fiction and fantasy have arguably the most passionate fans of any entertainment and literary genre in the world. While they may argue amongst themselves the relative merits of their favorite movie, television show or book, they're united in their love of the mind-boggling concepts and sheer sense of wonder that the artform brings.

Serving to bring together these enthusiastic fans, as well as the masterminds behind the creation of science fiction and fantasy works, Tor.com has been launched as the genre's first and only online destination.

Created as a collaborative effort from Macmillan and world-renowned science fiction/fantasy publisher, Tor Books, Tor.com offers myriad features certain to mesmerize fans eager to get the inside scoop on what's happening. Making it's maiden voyage at the recent Comic Con in San Diego (where they offered exclusive coverage of the convention), Tor.com debuted with short stories from Hugo and Nebula Award-winning British sci-fi writer Charles Stross (Singularity Sky, The Concrete Jungle, Accelerando) and film critic turned Campbell Award winner for Best New Writer John Scalzi (Old Man�s War, Agent to the Stars, The Last Colony), as well as blogs from noted sci-fi and fantasy luminaries, news, commentaries and image galleries featuring works by some of the field�s best artists.

In addition, Tor.com also serves as a mega-social network for science fiction and fantasy fans, where registered members can create customized identification pages to track conversations and content on a grand scale.

• Visit the new Tor.com

Here's something a little different in the world of PKD. From the Disney press release:

"KING OF THE ELVES (Domestic Release Date: Christmas 2012, Disney Digital 3-D�)
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Directors: Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker
Producer: Chuck Williams

"Legendary storyteller Phillip K. Dick's short story (his only experiment in the fantasy genre) becomes the basis for this fantastic and imaginative tale about an average man living in the Mississippi Delta, whose reluctant actions to help a desperate band of elves leads them to name him their new king. Joining the innocent and endangered elves as they attempt to escape from an evil and menacing troll, their unlikely new leader finds himself caught on a journey filled with unimaginable dangers and a chance to bring real meaning back to his own life."

Also, PKD Daughters Isa Dick-Hackett and Laura Leslie will serve as consulting producers on the film through their company Electric Shepherd Productions. Good luck to everyone involved!

• Read the full Press Release from Disney

The Palm Tree Garden is an online community for and about Gnostics with plenty of information about Philip K. Dick. This article by Luke Valentine is about Philip K. Dick's last unwritten novel "The Owl In Daylight" and the upcoming Dick biopic. Check it out!

• Visit the Palm Tree Garden
• Philip K. Dick Forum on PTG

Spanish student Luis Fernando Romero Calero will present "A Reality Obsessed" on January 24 at the University of Seville in Spain. The work which analyzes the work of Philip K. Dick is available for download in Spanish on the web site below. Enjoy!

• More information and to download 'A Reality Obsessed'

A screening of the new 'Final Cut' of Blade Runner will take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on the evening of December 9. Cast and crew members will be in attendance. The screening will be part of an awards celebration honoring William Shatner and hosted by Malcolm McDowell. The Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival will hold science fiction and exploration-related events from December 5 to 15 around Los Angeles.

• Visit the Jules Verne Adventure Society web site

The West Coast Premiere of '800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K Dick' will take place October 19th- November 17th at Live Girls! Theater in Seattle, Washington.

'800 Words' is wild ride into the mind of visionary science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, which happens to include-a phantom twin, a secret agent man, a talking cat and the voice of God.

Whose reality, or fantasy, are we watching onstage? Whose reality are we living? Was Philip K Dick a visionary or madman? Blurring the lines between reality and perception, '800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick' is a reinvention of the last days of this legendary writer. Based on a true story, the play begins just as Philip�s novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" is to be released as the Hollywood film Blade Runner. If you like a firm line between art and entertainment, reality and fantasy, us versus them, prepare to have your mind blown by the darkly funny and absurd journey that is Victoria Stewart's 800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K Dick. 800 Words was written by up and coming playwright Victoria Stewart and directed by Jess Smith. It features an exciting cast of Seattle actors.

• For more information visit Live Girls Theater.

Los Angeles - A joint announcement was made today by Halcyon co-CEOs Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson, and Electric Shepherd Productions' Isa Dick Hackett and Laura Leslie: Halcyon will have the first option to develop projects in conjunction with Electric Shepherd Productions, the Dick Estate's multimedia production company. Based on material from Dick's vast body of work, co-productions may include film adaptations, as well as television and other media projects. Details of the production slate are forthcoming.

• Read the complete Press Release on the Official PKD Web Site.
• Recent Los Angeles Times article about Electric Shepherd

From Variety (July 26, 2007):

For a film that defined what it meant to be a "director's cut" for the masses, "Blade Runner" has waited 25 years to receive a proper one. On Dec. 18, Warner will release "Blade Runner: The Final Cut," the definitive version of director Ridley Scott's fusion of film noir and science fiction, which has become a cult classic since its initial failure at the box office in 1982. One of Warner's most popular titles today, the film will be available in both HD formats and in three different DVD editions, with the final cut also receiving select theatrical playdates in New York, Los Angeles and the Venice Film Fest.

So why revisit the movie after all this time? Maligned and misunderstood in its day, "Blade Runner" actually established much of the aesthetic that defines cinematic sci-fi, from the movie's wet-streets, neon-and-steam look to the grim, pessimistic tone gleaned from Philip K. Dick's dystopian novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

"When they were test screening the film, the response was pretty confused and negative," explains Charles de Lauzirika, who produced the final cut. "The people who saw the film back then didn't really get it." The movie was too dark, too downbeat and ultimately too different from Harrison Ford's "Star Wars"-style screen persona for auds.

The trouble started when, during the film's post-production, the completion bond locked Scott out of the editing room and the studio released its own version of the film with narration from Ford and a "happy ending" that showed Ford and co-star Sean Young riding off into the sunset.

Though Scott's gritty vision of the future eventually won over fans on homevideo, the director didn't get a chance to change "Blade Runner" until 1991, when Warner Bros. accidentally sent Scott's darker "workprint" version of the film to a repertory screening. The cut became a word-of-mouth sensation, so Warner invited Scott to return and re-edit the film, but the helmer was busy finishing "Thelma & Louise" and prepping his next project, the Christopher Columbus epic "1492."

As a result, Scott and the studio agreed to hire then-Warner film preservation director Michael Arick to work with Scott on a version that would have "no narration, no happy ending, but add the unicorn dream" -- referring to a controversial sequence that suggests Deckard is a replicant.

"It wasn't really Ridley's true stamp on it," says de Lauzirika. "They had to cobble something together that approximated his wishes."

But de Lauzirika wouldn't let it go. "Blade Runner" is his favorite movie. "It's the whole reason I wanted to work with Ridley," says the USC grad who joined Scott's company as an intern fresh out of film school in 1994. In the 15 years since the so-called "director's cut" was released, de Lauzirika has produced numerous special-edition DVDs for Scott, from the first "Alien" disc to last year's ambitious four-disc "Kingdom of Heaven" set.

In 2000, he met with Warner to discuss releasing a definitive version of "Blade Runner" (at the time, co-executive producers Bud Yorkin and Jerry Perenchio still held the rights). Originally conceived as a two-DVD set with seamless branching of additional scenes and separate audio tracks for Ford's narration, the project has taken on near-mythological levels, requiring de Lauzirika to sort through 977 boxes of negative and even supervising a day of reshoots involving Joanna Cassidy and Harrison Ford's son Ben, who synched up a scene at Abdul Al-Assan's snake shop that has long irritated fans.

The unicorn dream is back, although its meaning is intended to be ambiguous, de Lauzirika insists.

"I think Ridley thinks the clues are obvious, but it's never overtly stated, so it's really up to you," he says. "It's just meant to be something to consider. Even in the new version, it's not clarified any further. The new unicorn dream stylistically just makes it more of a dream sequence."

Now, Scott finally has a version that won't irritate him. Although fans of the film have been divided over which cut they prefer -- Christopher Nolan famously screened the original version at UCLA in 2003, though many give the edge to the 1992 cut -- all can agree with Blade Zone site manager Gary Willoughby when he says, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing."

The final set arrives in a briefcase containing five different versions of the film (including the workprint that started it all) and a three-hour documentary, giving fans license to choose their favorite take. Other DVD releases have provided before-and-after comparisons, such as the recent "Star Wars" discs that feature George Lucas' original pre-CG versions or the Criterion Collection's three-disc "Brazil" release, but "Blade Runner" takes it to another level.

"That's the idea of including the five versions: to see where it started and where it ended up," de Lauzirika says.

The first trailer for 'Next' the Nicolas Cage/Julianne Moore/Jessica Biel movie based on Philip K. Dick's "The Golden Man" is now available online.

• View the trailer on Apple.com
• Official 'Next' web site (under construction as of 2/25/07)
• 'Next' on philipkdickfans.com
• 'Next' on IMDB.com

The BBC has created a unique web site called 'My Science Fiction Life' which plots the history of the genre on an interactive timeline. Users are encourages to share personal memories about films and books. Philip K. Dick's 'Total Recall' is listed as a seminal influence in science fiction. Visit BBC to contribute to this study in geekdom.

• 'My Science Fiction Life' Homepage on bbc.co.uk
• 'Total Recall' on 'My Science Fiction Life'

As if the past year has not been enough, PKD fans have a new reason to rejoice. Voices from the Street, An unpublished mainstream novel written by Philip K. Dick in 1952-53 is now available commercially through Tor Books, the publishing company known for science fiction and fantasy. Hopefully, Tor will offer more out-of-print mainstream works from the author in months and years ahead.

The Amazon.com page for Voices from the Street describes the book as follows:

"Stuart Hadley is a young radio electronics salesman in early 1950s Oakland, California. He has what many would consider the ideal life; a nice house, a pretty wife, a decent job with prospects for advancement, but he still feels unfulfilled; something is missing from his life. Hadley is an angry young man�an artist, a dreamer, a screw-up. He tries to fill his void first with drinking, and sex, and then with religious fanaticism, but nothing seems to be working, and it is driving him crazy. He reacts to the love of his wife and the kindness of his employer with anxiety and fear.

One of the earliest books that Dick ever wrote, and the only novel that has never been published, Voices from the Street is the story of Hadley�s descent into depression and madness, and out the other side."

• Order Voices from the Street from Amazon.com and support this web site
• Tor Books homepage

Sorry for the late posting but here's some praise for Robert Downey Jr.'s performance in A Scanner Darkly, as one of Time Magazine's Great Performances of the Awards Season:

"What you might have missed in the trippy paranoid thriller A Scanner Darkly � other than the entire movie, which wasn't exactly a box-office smash � is the frightening vulnerability that Robert Downey Jr. brings to what is basically a throwaway comic part."

• Read the full article on Time.com

IMDB and Box Office Mojo are reporting that 'Next,' Revolution Studios' adaptation of Philip K. Dick's "The Golden Man" short story will be released on April 27, 2007 by Paramount Studios rather than in the fall as had been previously scheduled. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel and is directed by Lee Tamahori.

This news shows confidence in the film by the studio and is likely good news for PKD fans and movie lovers.

• For more information, visit IMDB.com
• Box Office Mojo
  
  

Patrick Clark and Marc Oberst have put together another excellent edition of PKD Otaku available for download at their web site (along with all past editions). The latest edition features an out-of-print interview with Tessa, Chris & Ranea Dick, a visit with Anne Dick, A Scanner Darkly review and articles and a letter to Roger Zelazny. Enjoy!

• Visit PKD Otaku

"The Philip K. Dick Show" has been extended from two to three hours now airing from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Thursday mornings PST at KUCI 88.9 FM IRVINE, ORANGE COUNTY CA, the show is available for streaming on itunes and at KUCI.ORG. The hosts of the show are DJZJ, DJ BABY DRAGON and DJREPLICANT.

• Visit KUCI.ORG

Nicolas Cage, who stars in the upcoming SF thriller movie Next, told SCI FI Wire that it should please fans of Philip K. Dick, author of the short story "The Golden Man," on which the film is based. "If you're looking for the Philip K. Dick mindf--k, you will get it," Cage said in an interview at a preview of his other upcoming film, Ghost Rider, in Hollywood last week. "[It's] based on a Philip K. Dick short story about a man who has the prescient ability to see two minutes within his own future."

• Read the interview on SciFi Wire.
• Next on IMDB.com

From The Associated Press:

"The Library of America, which releases hardcover editions of Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne and other literary masters, will publish four of Dick's futuristic novels next summer, including Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?� the basis for the classic film, Blade Runner.

Jonathan Lethem, whose novels include Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude, is editing the Dick volume. News of the project first surfaced earlier this week when Lethem was interviewed by the literary blog, The Elegant Variation."

• Read the full story from USA Today.

Warner Home Video has announced the live action-yet-animated thriller �A Scanner Darkly� starring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson will be released on DVD December 19. The single-disc release will be presented in widescreen 1.85:1 video with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and will have a SRP of $27.95.

Disc Features:
- Commentary by Keanu Reaves, director Richard Linklater, producer Tommy Pallotta, author Jonathan Lethem and Phillip K. Dick�s daughter Isa Dick Hackett
- One Summer in Austin: The Story of Filming A Scanner Darkly documentary
- Weight of the Line: Animation Tales
- Theatrical Trailer
- Languages: English - Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
- Disc Zone 1

• Order the DVD from Amazon.com for $19.99 and support philipkdickfans.com

In an interview posted on the Joblo.com web site last week, Nicolas Cage discusses his character Cris Johnson in "Next," Philip K. Dick and his love for science fiction from the set of the movie that is based on Philip K. Dick's short story "The Golden Man." This is shaping up to be a pretty interesting movie that expands on PKD's high-concept idea of a man who can see a short distance into his own future.

There are also a couple of pics from the movie that have turned up on the internet.

• Read the Joblo.com Interview with Nicolas Cage
• Next Film News on philipkdickfans.com including recent pics

As if the past year has not been enough, PKD fans have a new reason to rejoice. Voices from the Street, An unpublished mainstream novel written by Philip K. Dick in 1952-53 will become available commercially through Tor Books in January 2007, the publishing company known for science fiction and fantasy. Hopefully, Tor will offer more out-of-print mainstream works from the author in months and years ahead.

The Amazon.com page for Voices from the Street describes the book as follows:

"Stuart Hadley is a young radio electronics salesman in early 1950s Oakland, California. He has what many would consider the ideal life; a nice house, a pretty wife, a decent job with prospects for advancement, but he still feels unfulfilled; something is missing from his life. Hadley is an angry young man�an artist, a dreamer, a screw-up. He tries to fill his void first with drinking, and sex, and then with religious fanaticism, but nothing seems to be working, and it is driving him crazy. He reacts to the love of his wife and the kindness of his employer with anxiety and fear.

One of the earliest books that Dick ever wrote, and the only novel that has never been published, Voices from the Street is the story of Hadley�s descent into depression and madness, and out the other side."

• Visit the Voices from the Street page on Amazon.com and pre-order the book
• Tor Books homepage (no mention of Voices from The Street as of 8/06)

A Scanner Darkly producer Tommy Pallotta spoke with the Winona Ryder News Channel about the film, his upcoming projects (including Ubik) and the role of a producer. Good stuff!

• Read the online interview from the Winona Ryder News Channel

Variety reported on Tuesday that actor Paul Giamatti is producing and in negotiations to star in an authorized biopic of the Philip K. Dick. PKD daughter Isa Dick-Hacket is attached as a producer (in addition to yours truly, loyal webmaster). Here are the details from Variety (8/8/06):

"Sci-fi bio flies with thesp
Giamatti circles pic based on author Dick

Paul Giamatti is in negotiations to star as sci-fi author Philip K. Dick in an untitled biopic that his newly launched shingle Touchy Feely Films is producing with Anonymous Content. Authorized biopic also is being produced by the Philip K. Dick Estate through its Electric Shepherd Prods. Tony Grisoni ("Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas") will write the screenplay.

Dick, who died in 1982, penned more than four dozen books and numerous short stories, with at least seven being adapted for the bigscreen, including "Blade Runner," "Total Recall" and "Minority Report." "A Scanner Darkly" is in theaters now.

The nontraditional biopic will interweave the prolific author's life with his fictionand incorporate elements of his last unfinished novel, "The Owl in Daylight."

Producers are Giamatti plus Anonymous Content's Steve Golin and Lenny Bekerman. Jason Koornick is exec producing. Michael Siegel, who reps the Dick Estate and Electric Shepherd, helped negotiate the deal."

• Article on Variety.com (subscription required)
• Press release from the Philip K. Dick Estate (Official PKD web site)
• Aint It Cool News announcement with Talkback

Sorry for the delayed posting...

National Public Radio ran a 1/2 hour special on the work and films of Philip K. Dick on July 25, 2006. Guests include Marshal Fine (film critic), Jonathan Lethem (author), Lawrence Sutin (biographer) and Laura Leslie (daughter). The entire broadcast is available on NPR's web site.

• The Adaptations of Philip K. Dick on NPR.org

A promotional video for A Scanner Darkly features very rare footage of Philip K. Dick speaking about his novel at the Metz, France Science Fiction Conference in September 1977 and is available online at www.Youtube.com . Isa Hackett, Richard Linklater and Tommy Pallotta also contribute to this short segment but the real treat is to see and hear Phil Dick. Enjoy!

• Rare PKD Interview Footage at Youtube.com

IGN Filmforce has generously provided streaming video of the opening 24 minutes of A Scanner Darkly for your viewing pleasure. This should whet your appetite to go see this movie - it's a gift for PKD fans.

• The First 24 Minutes of A Scanner Darkly
• Click here for Detailed Release Schedule

The Official PKD site at philipkdick.com has posted some detailed information about cities & theaters showing A Scanner Darkly during the 7/14 release cycle. Please go see this film in your town and help support the legacy of PKD.

• Detailed A Scanner Darkly Release Schedule

Two new items related to 'A Scanner Darkly' that will surely be of interest to PKD fans are now available.

The first is the soundtrack to the film from Lakeshore Records. Composed by Austin-based multi-instrumentalist Graham Reynolds the soundtrack features the score plus two re-mixes.

Order the Scanner Darkly soundtrack from Amazon.com

Soundtrack on MySpace.com

Also recently released is the A Scanner Darkly audio book read by Oscar-nominated actor Paul Giamatti, a huge PKD fan. Nothing more than the entire novel, this is sure to be a cool way to experience PKD's words.

• Order the Scanner Darkly Audio Book from Amazon.com

The release date for 'A Scanner Darkly' in select cities is July 7. Make no mistake my friends, this is a gift to PKD fans so get yourself and a bunch of your friends to the movie theater when it comes out. It's a chance for the Philip K. Dick community to prove that there's an audience for faithful film adaptations of his work.

The official premiere of A Scanner Darkly is open to the public and will take place under the stars tonight (June 29) at the Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles, CA . The event is part of the Los Angeles Film Festival, tickets are $10, available at the door only.

Midnight screenings will take place on July 6 in the following theaters: The Arbor (Austin, TX), Arclight (Los Angeles, CA), Monica (Los Angeles, CA), Sunshine (New York, NY), Lincoln Sq. (New York, NY), Kendall Sq. (Boston, MA), University Town Center (Irvine, CA).

There has been a steady stream of new Scanner Darkly materials in anticipation of the release. Here are some of the goodies:

• MTV.com's Overdrive includes a pretty cool video interview with Rick Linklater including complete scenes from the movie
• The Nation reviews the film
• A Scanner Darkly on Myspace.com
• Roger Ebert gives Scanner a thumbs up - watch video on Youtube.com
• Premiere Magazine praises the film - complete article available on Winona Ryder News Channel

Vintage Publishing has released a new Philip K. Dick collection appropriately titled 'Vintage PKD.' An overview of the author's career, the volume features excerpts from seminal novels (A Scanner Darkly, The Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch), complete short stories (A Little Something for Us Tempunauts, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon), letters and essays (Zebra Papers).

• Order Vintage PKD from Amazon.com

"PKD Otaku" is an online fanzine about SF author Philip K. Dick edited by Patrick Clark and his partner in crime Marc Oberst. The latest issue (#16) contains a reprinted interview with Tessa Dick, ruminations from fans about how PKD affected their lives, three letters from Philip K. Dick and other materials that will certainly be of interest to those who have been inspired by PKD.

Download #16 and all other editions at the link below. Thanks Patrick and Marc!

• Visit PKD Otaku

For the past week Scifi Wire has been running a series of reports from the set of "Next," the Nicolas Cage movie based on the Philip K. Dick short story "The Golden Man." Cage plays Cris Johnson, a man who can see two minutes into his own future. Cage says that he has been infusing the character with a bit of his own personality. Julianne Moore and producer Todd Garner also weigh in on the film.

• Read the Nicolas Cage interview on SciFi Wire (6/2/06)
• Julianne Moore on "Next" (6/5/06)
• Producer Todd Garner has his say (6/7/06)

Tommy Pallotta is one of the producers of A Scanner Darkly and he offers some insight into the film, Philip K. Dick and his own background in an interview on IGN. His new blog offers fans a unique glimpse inside the life of a creative producer. The first entry is about the film's Cannes Film Festival premiere with more to come about the production of the film. Plenty here of interest to PKD fans.

• Interview with Tommy Pallotta
• Tommy's Blog on IGN

Variety reported today on the status of Warner Brothers' DVD versions of Blade Runner, which have been significantly delayed due to rights issues. Here's what fans of the classic film can expect in the next year:

From Variety: "Warner homevid has disentangled "Blade Runner's" famously thorny rights issues to pave the way for a September reissuer of the remastered "Director's Cut" version, followed by a theatrical release of a version promised to be truly Ridley Scott's final cut.

The restored "Director's Cut" will debut on homevid in September, and remain on sale for four months only, after which time it will be placed on moratorium. "Blade Runner: Final Cut" will arrive in 2007 for a limited 25th anniversary theatrical run, followed by a special edition DVD with the three previous versions offered as alternate viewing: Besides the original theatrical version and director's cut, the expanded international theatrical cut will be included. The set will also contain additional bonus materials."

• Read the full article on Scifi.com

• Visit the Official Scanner Web site (you were warned!)

Last week the world lost a science fiction legend in Stanislaw Lem, the Polish author and contemporary of Philip K. Dick. Lem died on Tuesday, March 28 in Krakow, Poland. Like PKD, Lem was the unique SF writer who integrated philosophy, politics, science and psychology into his work. The author of "Solaris," "Futurological Congress," "Tales of Prix the Pilot," "His Master's Voice," and many other works of brilliant speculative fiction lived through World War II before emerging as major SF author in the 1950's. His books have been translated into at least 35 languages and have sold 27 million copies.

Although Lem made his disatisfaction with American science fiction known in a 1972 essay entitled "Science Fiction: A Hopeless Case - With Exceptions," he had only kind words and high regard for Phil Dick's novels (the noted "Exceptions"). If you like PKD, you should check out Lem's own brand of SF in books like "Memoirs Found In A Bathtub," "The Cyberiad" and "Return From The Stars."

He will be missed.

• Stanislaw Lem's Obituary from the New York Times
• The Official Stanislaw Lem Web Site
• Lem's Books on Amazon.com

Brandeis University in Waltham, MA will host a screening of A Scanner Darkly on Sunday, April 30 in the Shapiro Campus Center Theatre, 9pm as part of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts. Producer Erwin Stoff will be on hand to discuss the film. The event is free and open to the public with seating limited to 200.

• More information here from Brandeis University

This month's Wired Magazine reports on the mysterious disappearance of the PKD android:

"Somewhere on a shelf in a cavernous warehouse in Alabama rests the life-like noggin of Philip K. Dick, quietly dreaming of electric sheep. Or maybe the robotic head of the legendary sci-fi author got blown up. These are among the possible explanations for the bizarre disappearance of an artist's homage to Dick. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. This tale of loss should start from the beginning..."

• Read the story on Wired.com

Here are some links to some new 'A Scanner Darkly' items courtesy of the Winona Ryder News Channel:

• HD Trailers for Ipod & High Res
• Interview with Mike Stovall, A Scanner Darkly Artist (left)
• Director Rick Linklater Video Interview from SXSW

Despite recent rumors and misinformation, Warner Independent Pictures has confirmed that undetermined songs by Radiohead will be featured in the upcoming film adaptation of 'A Scanner Darkly,' including a brand new track from singer Thom Yorke's upcoming solo release.

• Read the complete story (with corrections) from Entertainment Weekly's Pop Watch.

Apparently, this is not a joke. BBC News reports:

"The Pentagon's defence scientists want to create an army of cyber-insects that can be remotely controlled to check out explosives and send transmissions. The idea is to insert micro-systems at the pupa stage, when the insects can integrate them into their body, so they can be remotely controlled later. "

• Read the complete article from BBC News

The Winona Ryder News Channel fan site has been keeping tabs on all the recent activity related to the upcoming film release of Philip K. Dick's 'A Scanner Darkly.'

For the latest news as it becomes available, visit WRNC.

From Hollywood Reporter:

Jessica Biel has signed on to co-star in Lee Tamahori's sci-fi thriller "Next" for Revolution Studios. Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore are toplining the film, which is based on Philip K. Dick's short story "The Golden Man." Penned by Gary Goldman, the story centers on a man (Cage) with the unique ability to see future events and affect their outcome. Pursued by the FBI, which is seeking to use his abilities to prevent a global terrorist attack, he ultimately is faced with the choice of saving himself or the world. Biel will play Liz, the love interest of Cage's character, whom he must attempt to save from terrorists.

• Read the full article from Hollywood Reporter
• Ain't It Cool News story
• "Next" on IMDB

IThe upcoming film adaptation of Philip K. Dick's 'A Scanner Darkly' has been in the news recently. A new trailer unveils never-before-seen footage from the film. Articles about the film are running in the following publications:

• Wired Magazine - "Beyond Real: How Digital Animation Conquered Hollywood" Cover Story in March issue.
• "The Schizoid Man": Scott Macaulay interviews director Richard Linklater in Winter 2006 edition of Filmmaker Magazine.
• Res Magazine - Jan./Feb. edition features 'A Scanner Darkly' cover story. (story not available online)
• Soma Magazine's "Film Issue" (Feb. 2006) has a nice article on A Scanner Darkly by Kristopher Monroe. (Article available online by clicking through to "Features").

• View Trailer Online (Quicktime Movie)

The "Philip K. Dick Radio Show" on KUCI FM 88.9 in Irvine, CA can now be heard on Thursdays from 1-3pm (Pacific Time). It can also be streamed live from the KUCI web site or from Itunes. Longtime PKD fan DJ Gabriel Buday plays music, reads from Philip K. Dick's work and more. Highly recommended.

The latest issue of Patrick Clark and Marc Oberst's online PKD fanzine is now available for download. PKD Otaku #15 speculates on the circumstances surrounding PKD's passing in 1982. Also original fiction, PKD book reviews from vintage SF magazines and other goodies. Highly recommended.

• Visit the PKD Otaku web site
• Download PKD Otaku #15 (PDF file)

ABC News reports: "...an android version of sf author Philip K Dick - whose novel about the human-robot divide became the basis for Blade Runner - has gone missing.

Steve Prilliman of Dallas-based Hanson Robotics says the replicant has been missing for a few weeks.

"We really need to find him soon because the Smithsonian [Institute] wants to put him in a travelling collection in the autumn."

• Read the full story from ABC News

• Click here for more information as it becomes available

• "The Schizoid Man" from Filmmaker Magazine
• Soma Magazine (Click through to features to read the story online).

The Theory of Everything presents a unique podcast about Philip K. Dick that features interviews with Jonathan Lethem and Josh Glenn (editor). We accompany host Benjamen Walker as he gets a Ubik tattoo on his arm and wonders if PKD should be a saint. Highly recommended.

• Listen to "The Saint" podcast
• Visit The Theory of Everything homepage.

Tonight BBC Radio will feature the program "Confessions of a Crap Artist" at 8:30 London time (12:30 PST) which can be streamed live (and archived for future listens). Click the link below for more information.

• Confessions of a Crap Artist on BBC Radio

Huge-entity.com is a web site/blog devoted to alternate realities, mind altering concepts, human, reality and sci-fi strangeness. There are multiple writings that will be of interest to Philip K. Dick fans. Check out the links below.

• Visit The Huge Entity
• The Hyperreality of Time: Past, Present, Future and Science Fiction
• The Holographic, Evolving and Self-Realising Universe
• Opening the Doors of Perception: Hallucination, Schizophrenia and Reality
• Top 5 Books That Shift Your Reality

SciFi Wire reports that Warner Independent has (again) delayed the theatrical release of the "A Scanner Darkly" film, based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, until July 2006.

• Read the article on SciFi Wire

The judges of the 2005 Philip K. Dick Award and the Philadelphia SF Society are pleased to announce six nominated works that comprise the final ballot for the award:

    Cowl by Neal Asher (Tor Books)
    War Surf by M. M. Buckner (Ace Books)
    Cagebird by Karin Lowachee (Warner Aspect)
    Natural History by Justina Robson (Bantam Spectra)
    Silver Screen by Justina Robson (Pyr Books)
    To Crush The Moon by Wil Mccarthy (Bantam Spectra)

First prize and any special citations will be announced on Friday, April 14, 2006 at Norwescon 29 at the Doubletree Seattle Airport Hotel, SeaTac, Washington.For more information, visit the Philip K. Dick Award page.

• Read the article on SciFi Wire
• "Next" on IMDB.com

• Read the article on Yahoo! News

An Austin test screening of A Scanner Darkly produced these two reviews posted on Ain't It Cool News. From the sound of it, this film is shaping up to be one that PKD fans can embrace. Here's hoping...

• Read the reviews on Aint It Cool News.

Was there ever any doubt that when Philip K. Dick returned to our reality, it would be on the ubiquitous MySpace reading his speech "If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others?"

• http://www.myspace.com/pkdick

The news magazine recently released a list of the 100 best English-language novels published since the magazine's inception and among them is Philip K. Dick's Ubik (1969), a mind-bending story with psychological implications.

In addition to appearing on the magazine's web site list of 100 novels, Ubik gets a special mention in the print magazine.

• Read the article
• Read a review of Ubik on PhilipKDickFans.com

As part of Resfest 2005 in Los Angeles (Sept. 29-Oct. 2), the following event will take place at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on Sat. October 1 at 6:15pm.

"Get an insider's advance look at Richard Linklater's upcoming feature, A Scanner Darkly, based on the dystopic science-fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. Producer Tommy Pallotta, from the team who brought you the groundbreaking Waking Life, will be on hand to screen clips and discuss the film, which further explores Waking Life's visually stunning live action/animation rotoscoping technique. A Scanner Darkly opens in theaters in 2006."

• Find out more and purchase tickets on the Resfest web site

• Read the full interview on Dark Horizons.

• Download PKD Otaku #14 here (PDF format, 290 KB).
• Visit the PKD Otaku web site where all 14 editions of the fanzine as well as other PKD goodies are available for download.

PKD fans are invited to tune into KUCI FM 88.9 in Irvine, CA for the weekly "Philip K. Dick Show" on Thursdays, 1-4pm PST. Longtime PKD fan DJ Gabriel Buday plays music and reads from Philip K. Dick's work. Out of the area listeners can check out the show live on the internet through streaming audio at the KUCI web site . Enjoy!

Sorry for the delay in posting this Article from Ain't It Cool News regarding the Scanner Darkly panel at Comic-Con in San Diego in July. Click here for some revealing details about the film and funny moments with the PKD Android.

• More information about the PKD Android from Hanson Robotics
• Here's the Wired Nextfest Preview with info about the PKD Android .
• A large picture of the PKD android (without hair or a beard)

• Check them out here.

• Read the story on SciFi Wire where Tamahori talks about his creative vision for the film.
• Read the Nov. 2004 article from Variety announcing the project.

SEATTLE (March 24, 2005) - The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (SFM) has named legends Steven Spielberg, Philip K. Dick, Chesley Bonestell and Ray Harryhausen as inductees into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. The class of 2005 will be honored during the first-ever induction ceremony at the Hall of Fame's new home at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, WA on Friday, May 6, 2005.

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame honors the lives, work and ongoing legacies of science fiction's greatest creators. Founded in 1996, the Hall of Fame was relocated from the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at Kansas University to its permanent home at SFM in 2004. The Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame Induction is sponsored by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP and Foster, Pepper & Shefelman PLLC.

The Hall of Fame �Academy,� consisting of SFM members, submitted nominations in February. Then, an induction committee comprised of award-winning SF authors, artists, editors, publishers and masters of special effects, chose the final Class of 2005 inductees. While only literary creators were honored previously, beginning this year, nominees were accepted for a broadened range of creative endeavors.

"We are excited to induct this extraordinary line-up of individuals whose contributions have truly shaped the field of science fiction," said Robert Santelli, EMP/SFM Artistic Director and chair of the Hall of Fame executive committee. "And, we are thankful for the enthusiasm and support from our esteemed induction committee and valued members."

SFM�s Class of 2005 will honor the following luminaries who have shaped this genre in the following designated categories:

Film, Television and Media:
Steven Spielberg is one of the most artistically celebrated directors of all time. He has won three Oscars, three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Film Institute and Directors Guild. His best-known science fiction films include E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Jurassic Park.

Literature:
Philip K. Dick is considered one of the most important figures in 20th-century American science fiction. Often credited as the forefather of cyberpunk, Dick's novels and stories have inspired some of Hollywood's best science fiction films, including Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report. Philip K. Dick passed away in 1982 at age 54.

Art:
Chesley Bonestell is the most influential creator of photo-realistic astronomical art. During the 1950's, his work often appeared in magazines including Life and Collier's Magazine, inspiring the careers of countless astronomers, scientists and artists. His special-effects matte paintings for films such as Destination Moon and War of the Worlds inspired the creation of the Chesley Award, which honors achievement in science fiction and fantasy art. Bonestell passed away in 1986 at the age of 98.

Open:
Ray Harryhausen is one of the greatest stop-motion animators in film history, whose creations were born of metal armatures and synthetic flesh. His work has amazed audiences for five decades, from his early work in The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms to his later classics Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans. In 1992 Harryhausen was presented with an honorary Academy Award for his lifetime achievement.

Each year, the Hall of Fame inducts up to four individuals on the basis of their continued excellence and long-time contributions to science fiction. Currently the Hall of Fame honors 36 inductees, including such well-known figures as Ursula K. Le Guin, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Samuel R. Delany, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells.

As part of the induction, a new display featuring personal artifacts and video footage from each inductee will be added to the existing Hall of Fame exhibit. The new inductees will also be featured in laser-etched images on the translucent, glowing Hall of Fame display.

�I�m delighted to receive this award,� said Harryhausen upon hearing of his induction, �I�m happy that my work has inspired a number of professionals as well as fans and am grateful for this honor. Thank you!�

Tickets for the induction ceremony are $85 and are available for purchase on March 29 for members and April 1 for the general public. The evening includes a seated ceremony, dinner and after-party. For information, please see our calendar.

• Here's the Press Release from the SFM
• Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame web page

The Bowdoin College Department of Theater and Dance in Brunswick, Maine will present 800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick Thursday through Saturday, March 3, 4, and 5. Performances will be at 8 p.m. in Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall. The play is written by Victoria Stewart and directed by Sonja G. Moser, lecturer in theater for the Department of Theater and Dance.

Free tickets are available at the David Saul Smith Union information desk, by calling (207) 725-3375, or at the door. (The play includes adult subject matter and is not suitable for young children.)

800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick uses the fictionalized life experiences of one of the first novelists to explore the idea of virtual reality. Dick (1928-82) is considered one of the most influential science fiction writers of the 20th century.

The play explores, as Dick did, the nature of our relationship to God. Stewart has written a fittingly phantasmagoric story that includes a mysterious cat (in puppet form), shady G-men, drug dealers and more.

In a "truth is stranger than fiction" sense, Philip K. Dick's personal reality can be dramatized only with such uncommon theatrical techniques. In the early 1970s, while his marriage was falling apart and after a life of heavy drug and alcohol use, he began having visions. He wasn't sure if his visions were authentic or if they were symptoms of drug abuse or insanity. He was fascinated that he could no longer tell what was real and what wasn't. He started writing a series of increasingly strange novels about the nature of reality.

Dick's novels were highly regarded in science fiction circles and in Europe, but they didn't make any money, so Dick wound up on welfare in a seedy California neighborhood. He began to suffer from paranoid delusions, believing the FBI and the CIA were keeping tabs on him. When someone broke into Dick's house and destroyed his papers, he found the incident strangely comforting, noting in his diary, "At least I'm not paranoid."

It was during this period that he wrote some of his most important novels, including Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which was the inspiration for the film Blade Runner, and A Scanner Darkly, which has also been adapted for a soon-to-be-released movie starring Keanu Reeves. Other cinematic versions of his short stories include Total Recall, Screamers, Minority Report and Paycheck.

After Dick finally got off drugs, his visions only grew stronger. But even though he thought it was the most important experience of his life, he also constantly wondered if it had been real or just some weird drug flashback or a stroke, writing, "They ought to make it a binding clause that if you find God you get to keep him.... Finding God (if indeed [I] did find God) became, ultimately, a bummer, a constantly diminishing supply of joy sinking lower and lower like the contents of a bag of [drugs]."

800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick is produced with assistance from the Alice Cooper Morse Fund for the Performing Arts and the Friends Fund.

• Bowdoin College Press Release

The movie trailer for the upcoming adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly is now online at Yahoo! Movies. The film will be in theaters in September, 2005.

Here's a Winona Ryder fan site with links to high-res trailers of A Scanner Darkly.

On Saturday, March 12, 2005, Evidence Room opens its tenth anniversary season with a revival of one of its most popular productions, a re-imagined staging of sci-fi master Philip K. Dick's visionary Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. This version, adapted by Dick's close friend Linda Hartinian, is directed by ER Artistic Director Bart DeLorenzo, who first staged the show in 1999. The production stars guest artist Joe Fria, and features many ER company favorites including Dorie Barton, Lauren Campedelli, Liz Davies, Tom Fitzpatrick, and Colleen Kane. This play runs through April 17th.

FLOW MY TEARS: A strange and darkly humorous trip into an 'alternatively real' 1988 Los Angeles, the story follows the fortunes of world-renowned television and recording star Jason Taverner, when he finds himself mysteriously stripped of his identity. No one recognizes the most famous man in the world. Lost in a totalitarian society in which the lack of identification is a capital offense, Jason embarks on an underground quest, through a series of hallucinatory sexual encounters with a variety of enigmatic women.

Philip K. Dick is best known to the general public as the science fiction writer responsible for the source material for such successful films as Bladerunner, Minority Report, Paycheck, and Total Recall, as well as for Richard Linklater's latest A Scanner Darkly, starring Keanu Reeves and Robert Downey Jr., currently in production. Dick wrote more than 50 volumes of novels and short stories, including the Hugo-Award-winning Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and his religious novel VALIS. Since his death in 1982, he has emerged as not just a cult figure among sci-fi readers, but has gained acceptance and respectability among serious literary circles, particularly for his depiction of synthetic worlds, dystopian technology, and hallucinatory realities. His late masterpiece Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said was originally written in 1970, but revised many times before its publication in 1974, when it subsequently won the esteemed John W. Campbell Award for Best Science Fiction Novel of the year.

The Evidence Room will be producing Linda Hartinian's adaptation of the novel, which was originally created for the world-renowned New York performance group Mabou Mines. Hartinian, a long-time associate of the award-winning avant-garde company, became a close friend of Dick's late in his life and wrote the adaptation shortly after his death as a sort of memorial. Evidence Room first revived the play in 1999 in an award-winning production at the Ivy Substation in Culver City. The LA Times praised the show, calling it "Vintage Dick�an energetic staging as campy as it is cryptic...hilarious." The LA Weekly named the production 'Pick of the Week.'

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said is directed by Bart DeLorenzo. The production boasts Evidence Room resident artists Ann Closs-Farley co-designing costumes and John Zalewski designing sound, both of whom originally designed the show in 1999. Returning to the ER are lighting designer Adam H. Greene -- who previously lit Cringe and the first 99� Only Store Dance Extravaganza, as well as the Actors' Gang's long-running productions of Embedded and Self-Defense -- and costume co-designer Miguel Montalvo, who collaborated on Peace Squad Goes 99. New to the theater is scenic designer Sybil Wickersheimer, fresh from several acclaimed Actors' Gang productions including Tartuffe and Self-Defense.

In the leading role of Jason Taverner, the production stars popular LA theater presence Joe Fria. Fria, a two-time LA Weekly award-winner for his performances in Circle X's Laura Comstock's Bag-Punching Dog and the self-produced Go True West, is currently nominated for last season's bravura turn in Heart of a Dog. Jason's nemesis is played by the acclaimed Tony Maggio. The multi-award-winning Maggio most recently starred as Phineas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days at the Colony Theatre, where he is a member and has acted in numerous productions including Bea[u]tiful in the Extreme and The Laramie Project.

The cast also features many favorite ER company members Dorie Barton (last seen in Messalina), Lauren Campedelli (last seen in Homewrecker), and Liz Davies and Colleen Kane (both last seen in Hard Times). As a uniquely disturbing narrator, the production features the renowned Tom Fitzpatrick -- celebrated for his many collaborations with visionary director Reza Abdoh -- returning to the ER for the first time since 2002's Hollywood Burning. Also returning are Tara Chocol (last seen in Cringe) and Wendy Johnson, a new associate of the theater, last seen in Small Craft Warnings. Making their ER debuts are recent San Francisco transplant Finn Curtin and Mark Engelhardt, last seen in Heart of a Dog.

Evidence Room is a not-for-profit theater company comprised of actors, directors, and designers who have been working together for nine years. The company has received numerous awards, producing work in two locations in Culver City and since May 2000 at its new performance facility, a 6,000 sq ft converted warehouse in the Temple-Beverly area of Los Angeles. The company is supported by grants from the Cultural Affairs Department, the LA County Arts Commision, the California Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Recent productions include Charles Dickens's Hard Times, Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth (2003 LA Weekly Revival of the Year), David Edgar�s Pentecost; Charles L. Mee�s The Berlin Circle (2000 LA Weekly Production of the Year), and the world premiere's of Gordon Dahlquist�s award-winning Delirium Palace and Messalina, John Steppling's Dog Mouth, Michael Sargent's Hollywood Burning, Justin Tanner's Hot Property, Peter J. Nieves's Cringe, Ken Roht's He Pounces, and Kelly Stuart's Homewrecker and Mayhem.

The Evidence Room is located at 2220 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90057, between Virgil and Alvarado, just off the Alvarado exit to the Hollywood Freeway (101), the 3rd Street West exit to the 110, or the Hoover exit to 10 Freeway. Free parking is available, adjacent to the building.

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said opens March 12th and plays through April 17th, Thursday through Sunday nights at 8 pm. Ticket prices are $15-20. For further information, call Evidence Room at (213) 381 7118 or contact us through our website www.evidenceroom.com.

• Visit the Evidence Room web site for more information
• Read an interview with playwright Linda Hartinian

From Publisher's Marketplace (January 22, 2005):

Lawrence Sutin's Divine Invasions: A Life Of Philip K. Dick, a biography of the widely-republished science fiction writer who loosed the bonds of the genre, ultimately making his reputation as a literary writer who happened to write speculative fiction, [which] is being reissued to coincide with the release of "A Scanner Darkly," a film based on Dick's novel of the same name, [sold] to Philip Turner at Carroll & Graf, for publication in fall 2005, by Russell Galen at Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency.

• Order Divine Invasions from Amazon.com and support this web site.

Claudia Krenz corresponded with Philip K. Dick extensively between 1974 and 1981. She recently put 60 of those letters for sale on Ebay but even though the bidding went over $6,000, it didn't reach her asking price (the auction ended on Wed. Jan. 12). Check out the links below to find out more about Claudia's correspondence and the recent Ebay activity.

• Claudia's web site with info about the letters and some scans.
• An article in the Orange County Register (free registration required).
• The completed Ebay auction page (Ebay registration required)
• Here are some letters that PKD wrote to Kris Hummel (nothing to do with Claudia's letter except they're interesting!)

The producers of the upcoming film adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly have released some high resolution images on Aint It Cool News. The film, which is directed by Richard Linklater is being done in the animated style seen in Linklater's film Waking Life. Producer Tommy Pallotta describes the style as a graphic novel come to life.

Check out the images on Aint It Cool News

The owner and operater of this PKD fan site is in search of an audio recording of Philip K. Dick reading from his novel A Scanner Darkly. The interview was broadcast on the Hour 25 Radio Program in 1977. The Real Audio version is available on this web site (click here) but I need to find a higher quality recording. If you have or know where I might be able to get my hands on a cassette tape of this interview, please e-mail Jason through the Contact Page. Thanks for your help!

Can computers recognize human emotion and respond accordingly? Media Limited in Scotland is working to help computers better understand people in various stages of emotional stress. Taking a page from science fiction movies and books like 2001: A Space Odyssey, I Robot and Philip K. Dick's Ubik, Affective Media is planning for a future in which it will be important that machines are able to understand the different states of their human colleagues. "Soon we will talk to our cars. We will give them voice commands to turn on CD players, heaters and fans," said Dr Christian Jones, the company's chief executive "Using emotion recognition, those commands would also show if we are angry, frustrated, or sleepy."

• Read the article on Space.com