OFF-WORLD NEWS DIGEST | VOL. IV, No. 2

Welcome to another edition of the OFF-WORLD NEWS Digest.

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In the news ...

In July's edition (301) of Empire Magazine, be sure to catch Geoff Hutchins' collection of Blade Runner products, original props and one-off memorabilia for the film. He wrote in the Propsummit Blade Runner Community Forum, "It was a shame that not all the screen used items were available, as they were requested by the Düsseldorf Movie Museum to be part of their Blade Runner / Metropolis exhibition that runs until August this year. They have got the Tyrell miniature office, elevator, VK manual, brass etchings and ground view cityscape as well as scripts, storyboards and dyelines."

I've been asked what ever happened to the BRMovie website. It had been offline. So I asked around and even posted the question at the alt.fan.blade-runner Facebook page. But no one had the answer. I only found out recently that he had died this last February. Known as Netrunner, (and BRMovie at BladeZone's Off-world Forums where he'd stop in from time to time), he left a fantastic website behind. And he will be missed. However, the Internet Archives' Wayback Machine has archived BRMovie. It may be viewed HERE.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

by Philip K. Dick

Episode 1 of 2

BBC Radio 4 has produced a radio program featuring James Purefoy as the voice of Rick Deckard and Jessica Raine as the voice of Rachael Rosen.

AVAILABILITY:7 DAYS LEFT TO LISTEN
Duration: 58 minutes
First broadcast: Sunday 15 June 2014
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway

Philip K. Dick's cult sci-fi novel inspired the film Blade Runner. Set in a world devastated by nuclear war, a San Francisco bounty hunter is on a mission to retire a group of rogue androids. James Purefoy and Jessica Raine star in this new adaptation.

In post-war 1992 androids are becoming indistinguishable from human beings, even in their capacity to love, and bounty hunter Rick Deckard is tasked with locating and retiring a rogue group of escaped androids who have fled a life of slavery and returned to Earth.

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

You may listen to the first episode HERE for the next seven days.

My brief take on this episode is as follows. It is an interesting amalgamation of the book and movie Blade Runner. It's narrated like a hard-boiled detective story. Some of the lines just as corny and bad as the ones with the voice-over in the theatrical release. However, it makes some interesting modifications to the story, such as the Rosen Association only having a manufacturing license to sell androids on Mars only. The names remain the same as in the book. However, the program follows more closely to the movie. Iran Deckard, Rick Deckard's wife featured in the book, is not in this production. She has, like in the movie, run off to Mars with another man. And rather than Deckard being interested in an ostrich to replace his electric sheep, he is interested in purchasing a monkey. Don't know where that came from. And Christmas is mentioned a few times. There is no mention of the holiday in either the book or the movie. There is no mention of Mercerism. And there is no Buster Friendly. And J.R, Isadore has been reduced to having a cameo working, not at an artificial animal hospital, but at a garbage facility. And rather than Luba Luft being an opera singer, here she is a jazz singer. The hovercar, in the movie referred to as a Spinner, is called a prowler. But, with those changes (and others not covered here) aside, I still found it an entertaining listen. I'd recommend it to my fellow Blade Runner and DADoES enthusiasts. Stay tuned for the second half of the production next week, June 22, 2014.

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Now for some articles, art, music, video, and some miscellaneous !

Articles: 

• lluminati Symbolism In Blade Runner, What Does It All Mean? by Richard Thomas
• Meditation on Blade Runner by Michael Martin (To be revised in July http://www.academia.edu/6990666/Meditations_on_Blade_Runner_revised )
• A Comparative Essay for Leaving Certificate Curriculum 
• Blade Runner: Comprehensive Storyform

Art:

Blade Runner 3/4 by Bob Heatly

Blade Runner by Matt Ferguson 

by James W. Cain

Music:








Video:





Miscellaneous: 

• Blade Runner Cocktail
• Blade Runner Love Theme Chords from Chordify

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And remember to follow @OffWorldNews on Twitter to receive these and other Blade Runner related news items, (including movie showings, specials, and more not featured in this newsletter), as it comes in. 

Have a better one!


~ Kipple