Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 14

FAILURE TO LAUNCH…

I’M posting today out of necessity about flying. Airline travel used to be something I looked forward to with delight. No more. Airlines, in my opinion, were already flying the wrong direction before COVID, and, despite the pandemic “shot across the cockpit” continue to make flying something I now purposefully avoid. I’m talking here about flying “regular” or coach class, not Business, First Class or by personally chartered airplane. While “high end” choices that are relatively safe regarding to transmission of infectious diseases and address personal safety and comfort, I can’t say that for any coach, standard, main cabin, “cattle” or economy class flights I’ve taken in the last five years.

There are some positive effects of the decline in safety, comfort, disease control and flight services: Airline companies do seem to be promoting cruise ship, rail, bus and individual car travel, though these transportation entities, except perhaps for cars, seemed to be following suit with the airlines. They may all soon be offering a “cattle car” — packed-in, standup, no service — class next. And why not, if people don’t value their safety, health, basic comfort or self-esteem. Again, I’m talking here about “regular” people. The millions upon millions of “middle class” worker/consumers who are the backbone of America. And, by the way, that’s also no way to treat any animals, humans included.

Would it really be that difficult to switch from treating people as chattel to treating everyone, irrespective of individual financial situation, similarly when utilizing a service that has been underwritten to any extent with federal or state funds? Call me self-interested, and in this situation, you’d be absolutely right. It sure would be nice to be treated again as a valued human, instead of just another dollar or an easy mark. I’m ready to retake to the skies as soon as the airline industry is ready to treat me like a valued human once again. On the other hand, perhaps I’m the only American left who feels this way…?

In my latest Sci-Fu (futuring) novel, the Amazon-genre-bestseller THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor — https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ... or https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 — I directly address the issue of human worth and its future implications. May I suggest getting a copy and enjoying a good read while we wait for the airlines and other transportation industries to catch up?

THE EDGE OF MADNESS Video Book Preview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...

THE EDGE OF MADNESS is available in printed, digital and audiobook formats, and has been purchased by KS Media Group Inc for manga, animation and cinematic treatment.

FUN

REALLY — When’s the last time you had some fun. Real fun! Wild, unconstrained, giggly FUN and I don’t mean a day without news spent entirely in Meta’s cyberspace. I mean real, human-to-human fun.

Given the pandemic has challenged us to rise to a new style and level of interaction, and that we’ve completely failed to take advantage of the COVID-shot-across-the-bow to update our future infrastructure (or almost any infrastructure at all), instead returning to the state of things that set us up for it. Given that despite a 60-year commitment to the United Nations and world peace (except for the Trump years), we’re oddly back in the 1918’s, facing another rise in dictatorial expansion. Given that the protective global economy and mutually-assured-destruction are no longer mediating influences on world governmental behavior. Given that out nation remains run by gambler-“investors” more intent on Wall Street than our nation and it’s citizens. Okay, enough of that. I mean, “Where’s the fun?”

What is fun, anyway? After almost three years of pandemic, I not infrequently find myself trying to recall what fun is and what it feels like. According to Oxford Languages, fun is “enjoyment, amusement, or lighthearted pleasure.” The key word here is pleasure, which, according to the same source, is “a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment,” interestingly qualified as “entertainment rather than business.” For me, enjoying partner-and-friend time, cruising and social dancing have constituted my best, all-time fun. As there have been no cruises or community dances, I have relegated my “fun” to partner-and-friend-time, writing, acting and studio dancing, having authored THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859; and acted in the movies “Static (2021)” — https://ksmediagroupinc.com/the-stati..., “The Maltese Collection (2023)” — https://ksmediagroupinc.com/maltese-c... and “The Perfect Illusion (2023)” — https://www.totck.com/the-perfect-ill.... My dance life and dance partner, Setsuko Tsuchiya and I enjoy dancing for joy three or four times a week together at our local gym studio. Now that the pandemic restrictions appear to be lifting, Setsuko and I would like to dance in another movie like we did in FANTASY ISLAND 1998 – Episode 4 – “Dying to Dance” — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xYAE..., but this time as featured dancers. Call us Fred and Ginger, it’s our latest idea for some post pandemic fun.

STATIC

TRUE, there’s more and more static appearing in every facet of life, be it relationships, culture, politics, finances and consumer information – you name it. But there’s also some good news about some of that static: namely the K. Simmons Production STATIC movie that premiered in 2021. A family friendly, science fiction/drama, Susan’s struggle to find balance in her life as she deals with her practical husband Donald and her father Will who’s showing symptoms of early onset Alzheimer’s disease, forces her to make a heartbreaking decision. Will makes this situation worse when he brings home a radio that only emits static but swears he is communicating with his late wife Ginny.

STATIC can now be purchased as a high definition DVD for $16.95 including free shipping within the USA from both the film studio at https://ksmediagroupinc.com/the-stati... AND Savant Bookstore Honolulu at https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ.... Savant Bookstore Honolulu offers both the DVD and a more expensive collector’s DVD personally signed by Daniel S. Janik (“Will Gardner”) and Setsuko Tsuchiya (“Edna”). International and internet viewers can also purchase a 24-hour “viewing” of the movie by emailing “savantbookstorehonolulu@gmail.com” and providing name, email address and beginning date and time for the 24-hour viewing period. The complete STATIC Soundtrack is also available on CD from both studio and Savant Bookstore Honolulu.

Daniel S. Janik is an actor, author, dancer, artist, photographer, videographer “Renaissance man.” Executive producer of the two-Telly-award-winning, made-for-TV environmental special, “Clean Water, Common Ground,” he is also executive producer for the upcoming K. Simmons Productions “The Maltese Collection” and “Finding Kate.” He played the lead character, Will Gardner, a cantankerous veteran suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease in the made-for-TV drama, “Static” (2021). He is a participant-interviewee in the bio-documentary “The Maltese Collection,” and played the infamous Dr. Stevenson in the Kurt Ken Kaminaka production of “The Perfect Illusion.”

A HILL OF BEANS

Of course I’m referring here to that classic line in the movie CASABLANCA where Rick (played by Humphrey Bogart) says to lover Ilsa (played by Ingrid Bergman), I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.” That’s not to lessen the other incredibly timely and unforgettable lines in the movie like “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine,” “We’ll always have Paris” and “Here’s looking at you, kid.” But what exactly made a “camp” movie like CASABLANCA great and it’s equally camp lines so poignantly relative? My opin: The movie expressed some of the sadness of living a life to the best of one’s ability in a time of war when people subconsciously knew they had little control over their lives and fates. I think what makes it “camp” yet so moving, is that it is an expression of what many feel today, with global changes looming that will affect every aspect of our lives.

Maybe our lives, in the big picture aren’t much more than “a hill of beans,” but they’re OUR hill of beans — OUR collection of experiences and feelings that taken together and smoothed out by our unique ability to want to remember the good, the best, the most pleasant — is OURS. The world can take what it will, but can’t take one’s memories away.

In the Amazon-genre-bestseller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, “Taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese left off, NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, provides a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live.” Challenging and dangerous, but a cauldron memory-making of experiences that for each of the three amounts to a lot more than just a “hill of beans.” And I like to remind that it’s not about the “side” one takes, it’s about the human experience that results.

In the sequel, PROPHECY, that I’m currently writing, I posit that it is the sum total of our lifelong experiences that constitutes the “soul” that will ultimately guide us after death to another universe where our journey continues. Watch for PROPHECY by Raymond Gaynor. Raymond Gaynor is the pen-name of the multi-award-winning, reclusive actor-author-artist-dancer-photographer-videographer Daniel S. Janik, who, in his own words, “lives and breathes” San Francisco. He has published with William Maltese on the Tripler and Clarke gay political thriller, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) and with multi-award-winning A. G. Hayes on the fifth Koski & Falk adventure, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016). He is the author of numerous fiction, “sci-fu” and non-fiction works published under a variety of different pseudonyms. — https://janik.yolasite.com.

The Edge of Madness

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859

THE EDGE OF MADNESS is available in printed, digital and audio formats, and has been purchased by K. Simmons Productions for manga, animation and cinematic treatment.

A SWEET LITTLE PARA-DUCKS

“IF it flys like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a…” Personally, I enjoy likening this to the infamous children’s question, “What black and white and red/read all over?” So what’s para-duck-sicle about the first statement, and ‘riddled’ with double-entendre in the second, that both have in common? They’re both riddles. Or, some might say, they both are, in a broader sense, conundrums.

According to Dictionary.com, a riddle is “a question or statement intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning, typically presented as a game [typically with a pun within the question]. A conundrum, on the other hand, is “a confusing and difficult problem or question…[if a game, typically one with a pun in its answer].”

So what about THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor — https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...? If you agree with me that the pun in question is the word “edge,” then I’ll agree its a riddle or at worst a pun within a pun or double riddle. If you agree with me that the pun in answer is in it’s Sci-Fu (science-based futuring) genre, then I’ll agree it’s a conundrum. If both, which I firmly believe it is, then perhaps like Winston Churchill said of the Soviet Union, it’s more of “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma [or conundrum]”

The future, especially when couched in Sci-Fu rather than Science Fiction or Science Fantasy, is indeed at best a riddle, mystery, enigma and conundrum, blatantly obvious but hidden discretely from the casual reader. Add a polyamourus threesome, consisting of a professional acronymeur who’s also a Wiccan High Priestess, a smell-savant with a simian tail, and a gay Greek Olympian athlete and you’ve a taste of the adult riddle-mystery-enigma-conundrum waiting for you in THE EDGE OF MADNESS.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859

THE EDGE OF MADNESS is an Amazon-genre-bestseller available in printed, digital and audiobook format, purchased by K. Simmons Productions for manga, animation and cinematic treatment.

ADJUDICATING JUSTICE – III

JUSTICE is often portrayed as blindfolded and presumably emotionally detached. Today I would like to conclude my three posts on adjudicating justice with a brief reminder about two of what I consider two of the most important but often ignored aspects of justice: mercy and grace.

According to dictionary.com, grace encompasses courteous goodwill, neither asked for nor deserved, but freely given. Grace is often, in my experience, meted out equally blindfolded. Mercy is compassion and kindness shown to someone whom it is in one’s power to punish or harm. It is typically an act meant to relieve someone of their suffering, and may be fatal or provide a “second chance.” In my experience, mercy is intended and not blindfolded. Both grace and mercy are essential components in adjudicating justice; without them, I propose there can be no justice for the accused, those who have been unjustly hurt, the judge(s) or society-at-large. In my opinion, justice is not God-like; grace and mercy based on compassion are. Justice often serves the cycle of violence; grace and mercy break it.

Perhaps to some, motivated by desire for restitution or revenge, this sound like a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for criminals. However, I would suggest that the process of justice, if open, transparent and public, is sufficient; and, administered correctly, incarceration or removal of citizenship rights for some period of time is generally sufficient to break criminal ties, affording a second chance to those who can avail themselves of the privilege. It is through grace and mercy that societies reaffirm their own moral integrity rather than slide down the slippery slope of “an eye for an eye” or “turning the other cheek.” My opin.

What, then, should one do when wronged? The single most important act is to bring the event into the light, reporting it openly, transparently and publicly. That’s not to say that justice is a social media event. But it is to say that darkness, when hidden, is so pernicious that it can affect not just the wronged, but society at large. I like the idea that darkness is the absence of light, and that a single match-flame can lighten an otherwise dark room.

In my new novel, currently in writing, called PROPHECY, I explore these concepts in the aftermath of the ribald TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, and THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor bringing the unique Sci-Fu (science-based futuring) trilogy to conclusion.

Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure

The Edge of Madness#RaymondGaynor

ADJUDICATING JUSTICE – II

AS promised, today’s post follows on yesterdays. Talk is cheap as some would point out; action is something else altogether. Still, both come together in Plato’s famous (or infamous) REPUBLIC depending on your point of view. The 10-book “series” is is a Socratic dialogue, on justice, the just city-state, and the just human. According to Wikipedia, Socrates talks with various Athenians and foreigners about the meaning of justice and whether a just man is happier than an unjust one. In the end, talk leads to the hypothetical nation of Kallipolis, a utopian city-state ruled by a benevolent philosopher-king (some might say benevolent dictator).

This leads in Book III to the conclusion that to insure Justice would require a cadre of “Guardians” (see my “Enforcers” in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor). These Guardians of Justice should be educated in the four cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, justice, temperance and gymnastics, i.e. philosophy (the love of truth) and gymnastics. Both male and female Guardians should experience the same education, all wives and children should be shared, and that they be prohibited from owning private property. Furthermore, in Book IV, people will be happy only when engaging in the occupation that suits him or her best (again, see THE EDGE OF MADNESS). If the city as a whole is happy, then its individuals will be happy and just in their execution of their happiness, with the emphasis on moderation (temperance) in everything, since in totality, both poverty and excessive wealth will inevitably corrupt. This, in turn, will lead to a unified soul, which can not behave in opposition to the cardinal virtues, a sort of self-maintaining state of Justice.

In books VI, VII, VIII and XI, Socrates argues that for any ideal city, a true philosopher (lover of truth over 50 years of age), with a practical understanding of knowledge and wisdom, will be necessary to maintain harmonious co-operation of the citizens (see PROPHECY, upon which I’m working as I write this post). Without such a leader, government and the governed’s souls will naturally pass through four unjust states: timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and inevitably end in tyranny.

In book X, Plato through Socrates finishes by espousing rewards of being just, both in this life and the next (see THE EDGE OF MADNESS and my forthcoming sequel, PROPHECY), pointing out that perceptive differences in thought, passion and action (think discipline, devotion and action) lead to unbalance and injustice. “In 2001, a survey of over 1,000 academics and students voted the Republic the greatest philosophical text ever written. Julian Baggini argued that although the work ‘was wrong on almost every point,’ the questions it raises and the methods it uses are essential to the western tradition of philosophy.” It is in exactly this frame of reference, that the risque TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, the enlightening THE EDGE OF MADNESS and the impactful PROPHECY are set. As Plato/Socrates decries imitative art, all three of these books, I do believe, will present a fresh yet plausible look at a future form of thought and action that has been in development for millennia.

The Edge of Madness

THE EDGE OF MADNESS is available in printed, digital and audiobook versions; it has been purchased for manga, animation and cinematic treatment by K. Simmons Productions.

ADJUDICATING JUSTICE – I

JUSTICE “is a concept on ethics and law that means that people behave in a way that is fair, equal and balanced for everyone,” according to simple.wikipedia.org. On the other hand, legally, justice can be be equally defined as, “n. 1) fairness. 2) moral rightness. 3) a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/ her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal” according to Law.com, an online “legal dictionary”. The whole idea of justice can be a bit complicated, in that these days, it often depends on one’s point-of-view as to what is fair, equitable, balanced, morally right. And if that weren’t enough, the “scheme or system of law” can be quite complicated.

All this, of course, is further based on the question of whether there is such a thing a justice in an absolute sense, especially when it involves recompense. “An eye for an eye…” might be considered literally just, but, again, it depends on context. For whom exactly will this paradigm be “fair, equal and balanced?” Is violence in any form, including revenge, ever “morally right?” Is the United States system of torte law, just? And what about the other extreme: whosoever shall strike you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also — and if any man sue thee at the law and take your coat, let him or her have your cloak, also (paraphrased from The New Testament, but you get the idea).

There is also the ever increasingly popular “alternative” world online, where concepts of justice are often based on anonymous revenge, never giving a sucker and even break, taking everything and giving nothing back, or “winning” with the idea that a winner can do anything — misrepresentation, lying, cheating, violating and/or trafficking the “looser(s),” even rewriting history. Some call this “Western (meaning “ol’ West”), “pop,” “common sense” or just “swift” justice. At the heart of this distorted form of justice is efficiency and effectiveness, in today’s world often financial and sadly “crimes against humanity.”

Finally, there is the whole issue of actually adjudicating justice. But that’s for tomorrow.

The Edge of Madness

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS KATE KEENAN?

WITH the K. Simmons Production of FINDING KATE — https://kspllc.media/finding-kate — about to enter production, the question remains, who will play lead actress in the role of Kate Keenan and where in the world is she? Long-ignored computer genius Kate Keenan has designed a computer program that will put Hollywood and Bollywood out of business overnight. Suddenly everyone wants her…and her program. To stay alive, Kate goes into hiding, barely keeping ahead of a lethal hoard of pursuers.

Kate’s a strong female lead, around the age of 25-35, with an athletic build from martial arts training and exercise. She’s an unassuming but tough, writing code while partying like a rockstar before having dinner with the President. She doesn’t hesitate to kick butt and take names. She’s awesome when the world is watching and she’s awesome when the world isn’t. If that describes you, or you run across her, have her to send in a resume with a profile picture and a link to her demo reel to thefindingkatemovie@gmail.com.

This 6-episode made-for-television movie will begin filming in gorgeous “Hawaiiwood” (on Oahu Island) soon. Written for the screen from a book of the same name — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997247215 — by pre-eminent thriller writer A. G. Hayes, the “behind-the-scenes” (BTS) filming of FINDING KATE can be followed alongside several other films in which Setsuko Tsuchiya and Daniel S. Janik will appear or are Executive Producing, from my actor website at https://janik.yolasite.com/actor.php.

IT’S THE FOURTH OF JULY — ISN’T IT?

IT all started with lunch. One of my personal favorite lunch recipes is Japanese-Alaskan Potato Salad. Whoa, there! I can hear you saying, so here it is, basically: Yukon potatoes (boiled with skin on), cucumbers (very thinly sliced, the juice squeezed out), mayo (we use veggie mayo for a more adult taste), carrot (again, very thin sliced), white onion broccoli and/or celery (again very thinly sliced), a sprinkling of roasted sesame seeds. The object is to keep it simple. Yum. On the other had, despite being an obligate vegetarian as often as possible, I have one of those rare SNVUs (Sudden Non-Vegetarian Urges) especially when barbecue-salvered ribs are suddenly half-price. Call me irresponsible or just plain human. Anyway, BBQ and Japanese-Alaskan Potato Salad equal Fourth of July.

That all makes a certain, somewhat illogical but understandable sense. But what most people don’t know, is that I was born on the not-so-illustrious third of July, believing that Fourth of July parties, food and fireworks were all for me. Okay, this time call me Mr. Hubris, but I really believed it until my belief was shattered by a teacher who informed me otherwise at about 6 years of age. Oh, well, I “knew” what I believed wasn’t true at an earlier age, but desire back then always trumped truth. If you have trouble with that, think about whether Hogwart’s University is located in England or Scotland, and then tell me if you don’t understand. Ha!

So, today was a definite Fourth of July (FOJ) day, replete with FOJ food, merriment, memories and celebration of yet another of my 363 un-birthdays of 2022. BTW, later in life, I thought James Cagney’s famous FOJ dance in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWFfb... –which was, for me part of Fred Astaire’s famous dance on the ceiling — https://youtu.be/b1AQjcmzvx8?t=51 — and Derek Hough’s incredible same — https://youtu.be/PizxUk3lG3c?t=28 — was a message to me that if I learned to dance I would become a great dancer and actor, too. I actually DID learn to dance, and more recently act (though I suspect I was always an actor). As for being great, I like my dancing, and it’s said that one’s worst critic is typically one’s self — https://janik.yolasite.com/dancer.php and https://janik.yolasite.com/actor.php. And I’m not a bad author, either — https://janik.yolasite.com/janik.php. Go figure.