Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 9

THE OLD WISHIN’ WELL

PERHAPS it’s a distinctly human characteristic (though I often wonder if many animals, especially elephants, whales and dolphins, and even plants should be included), the old Wishing Well seemingly part of every nation and cultures. But, hey, I’m not referring here to that, I’m referring to the importance of old-timers using their wishes well during their “Golden Years.” When I made this remark years ago to my father, he grunted that the older he got, the less time he had for wishing and the more important simply doing was becoming.

I can understand that. But, there’s something more to wishes than the thrill of checking off another once-in-a-lifetime item from one’s bucket list. Wishing is like enjoying the best literature. There’s something of oneself that goes into it, empowering and energizing both wish and wisher. I’ve always made that a point when writing a new book. For me, a good book or “good read” is like a basket into which the author invites the reader to place parts of him or herself. The result is something much more than the basket, irrespective of how intricately or cleverly it is woven.

Take my adult book KINGSLEY AND I series by Gary Martine. In and out of publication, it remains a read that is, I think, intensely compelling. Whether you’ve concluded that you’re LGBTQ or considering whether you are such, the protagonist’s various experiences with Kingsley are hard to ignore, “who am I?” being the quintessential human question. Or my book, QUANTUM DEATH by Raymond Gaynor and A. G. Hayes: Have you ever imagined yourself captive on a Russian submarine, or flying a secret military aircraft, or having to decide whether to fight for or respectfully give up someone for whom your heart aches? Or TOTAL MELTDOWN by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, part of a sexually charged adventure in the midst of a total national political meltdown? Or ever wondered what it would be like to be a fully conscious fetus struggling with what reincarnation might be like, as in THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor (soon to be followed by PROPHECY inviting you to try living in the “real” meta verse)?

Whatever you tastes, it’s high time to begin practicing being the old wishing well. Life isn’t the end game, it’s the journey, the process, with all those wishes woven together; a combination of needs, wants and desires, not so much their result, but the simple experience of needing, wanting, desiring and wishing.

Kingsley & I
Kingsley & I: Together
Kingsley & I Reloaded
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
Quantum Death
The Edge of Madness



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

#RaymondGaynor #GaryMartine #AGHayes #WilliamMaltese #Kingsley&I #QuantumDeath #TotalMeltdown #TheEdgeOfMadness #Prophecy #book #ebook #audiobook #wish #need #want #desire #senior #age #GoldenYears #endgame #journey #DanielSJanik #Savant #Aignos #movie #film #manga #animation #KSimmonsProductions #KSMedia

WISE MEN DON’T GIVE BITCOINS

I was musing today over the three wise men who followed the new star to a barnyard and gave, not the parents, but the newborn, gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And what the child later would have thought had they given gifts of bitcoins, samples of the latest fragrances and a tree to plant and save the planet. I wonder.

Typically, the gifts we give and receive are enmeshed in feelings, imagination and hope. As a child bitcoins, unseen as they are, wouldn’t have evoked any feelings other than boredom. The latest fragrances would already be old hat by then. Snore! Now a tree to plant for the planet, that might tickle my fancy. So, in the end, one more tree for planet Earth. As a young adult, bitcoins, if they were still around would be a curiosity, or if their value had increased exponentially into the quintillions (and I could “sell” them for “real” money) would have been impressive. However, once spent, all spent and left me feeling either hum-drum or greedily wanting more. The perfumes: Well, it depends about whom they remind me. Maybe/maybe not. The tree however would interest me, especially if my girlfriend and I needed something solid to carve our initials into.

THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor is not unlike the above, but, trust me, would have been a decidedly precious gift after being read and digested. Reading it is like planting a tree. It only gets richer in meaning and value as one ages. And no one can take away ideas, awakened imagination or hope. Try it, you might like it!

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

#RaymondGaynor #TheEdgeOfMadness #gifts #kinds #gold #frankincense #myrrh #bitcoin #perfume #tree #feeling #imagination #hope #book #ebook #audiobook #Savant #Aignos

IS THAT A GUN IN YOUR POCKET, OR ARE YOU HAPPY TO SEE ME?

I’VE always felt reasonably safe and secure pretty much everywhere I’ve travelled within the USA (avoiding big cities). At least until recently. I’m not feeling so safe and secure these days with the increasingly lax gun laws, especially those that allow carrying a concealed weapon. Having grown up in Alaska when it was still a young, wild territory, I wasn’t unaccustomed to seeing people in town “carryin’,” even having witnessed a shootout once. Strangely, knowing that people with weapons displayed them in public made it relatively easy to avoid such folk. But when concealed. Not so.

Isn’t that true, however, of most dangerous things or events? Unconcealed, they offer a clear and present danger, with the choice of accepting such or not. Concealed, they not only offer no choice, but increase the risk; namely, surrounding why one has to conceal something dangerous from others in the first place.

Take groceries, for example. Why doesn’t grocery store food come with a disclosure as to what chemicals were used when growing them? And what about GMO? I could offer more and more examples of how having clear and correct information allows people to make choices, and thereby support a “real” supply and demand market, be it food, transportation, health care or Wall Street. Disclosure is what fuels democracy and a healthy market. Concealment discourages democracy and informed choice, eroding democracy and a healthy market. Hey, just my opin.

But now’s time for me to disclose that my newest Amazon-genre-bestseller THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor will prove one of the most provocative novels of our time. Available in printed, digital (Kindle/Google/iTunes) and audiobook format (read by Peter Pollock rather than a computer).

The Edge of Madness

Purchased by K. Simmons Productions for manga, animation and/or cinematic treatment.

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THE HURRICANE THAT WASN’T

TODAY is the day after Hurricane Darby bounced off of Big Island, headed south and died. Not that I’m disappointed. Hurricane’s aren’t my thing. It did affect my acting, however, as filming stopped while Darby danced by. And I just noticed what looks like a new hurricane building off Baja California, the birthplace of so many Hawaiian hurricanes. Quick! Time to film everything possible before another hurricane passes by, hopefully without incident.

Setsuko Tsuchiya and I are continuing to rehearse our upcoming dance in the six-episode made for TV, K. Simmons Production of FINDING KATE, tentatively scheduled for release in November/December 2022. And I’ve three other films scheduled for release in 2023: Kurt Ken Kaminaka’s production of THE PERFECT ILLUSION, K. Simmons Production of THE MALTESE COLLECTION and quite possibly Elias Perez’ 2 Liter’s Shady Films Production of MOCOS — https://janik.yolasite.com/actor.php. In the meantime, Setsuko and I are auditioning fast and furious for the 2022/23 filming year, in anticipation of which we just finished our second major photo shoot, which I’m putting together as a BTS photo/video vignette for posting.

I life is a bunch of hurricanes than why are we here in Hawaiiwood constantly in a tropical depression? Ha, ha! For those uninitiated in near tropical weather, it goes in descending power: Category 5 Hurricane; Category 4 Hurricane; Category 3 Hurricane, Category 2 Hurricane; Category 1 Hurricane (tropical storm); Tropical Depression (lots of rain) and Hurricane Darby, the weather that wasn’t, hooray!



#Hurricane #DanielSJanik #SetsukoTsuchiya #dance #film #movie #WilliamMaltese #TheMalteseCollection #ThePerfectIllusion #FindingKate #MOCOS #KurtKenKaminaka #KSimmonsProduction #EliasPerez #2-Liter’sShadyFilms #BehindTheScenes #photoshoot #TropicalDepression

WHO IS THAT MASKED MAN?

ADMITTEDLY, The Lone Ranger was one of my chiildhood favorite early morning television shows, and THE LONE RANGER with Johnny Depp will remain one of my adulthood favorites for all time. But, hey, I’m talking the lone masked man these days. Oddly, most of my acquaintances are either (1) sans mask, distancing and cares; or (2) either huffing and puffing with long COVID or even departed. Odder still the yet again polarization with few folk like myself, Daniel S. Janik, in the middle, distancing, wearing a mask and avoiding crowds and home-testing regularly. Or, maybe, I’m not “in the middle” but rather a cautious outlier when, in fact, the supposedly “gone” pandemic seems to be once again gripping the unwary and spreading. Go figure.

To be honest, I’d rather go outside my house without clothes than a mask. And what’s this talk I hear about those increasingly rare so-called “COVID virgins?” Eh? And more weird, the slight negative inflection in so many’s voice when saying that phrase. Is it really important for one to lose one [COVID] virginity, as some claim? Or is saying that simply a sign of viral-exposure-promiscuity?

Okay, so I have an additional “excuse” for masking, distancing and otherwise limiting my exposure: As an actor on contract for filming two upcoming movies, FINDING KATE and MOCOS, and quite possibly another if the audition goes well, so much money rides on any one film, that being and remaining COVID-free is literally worth thousands of dollars. It only takes one COVID victim to shut down a whole film. And, mentioning it when asked why I’m wearing a mask outside my home is doubly adventitious, serving to publicize my being an actor and also any films in which I’m scheduled to appear. Curious? Check out my actor’s website at https://janik.yolasite.com/actor.php.

Most know me as an author and actor, but my other predilection is dance. My performance dance partner, Setsuko Tsuchiya, and I are preparing now for our dance film debut in FINDING KATE, having appeared dancing on celluloid several times before as background and even featured star. Interested? Check out my dancer’s website at https://janik.yolasite.com/dancer.php. Like former and first US President George Washington, I love dance.



A quick break for Daniel S. Janik and Setsuko Tsuchiya “on set.”

#DanielSJanik #SetsukoTsuchiya #TheLoneRanger #JohnnyDepp #COVID #mask #distancing #actor #actress #film #movie #FindingKate #MOCOS #dance #dancer #debut #GeorgeWashington #president #photo #set #break #virgin #promiscuity #pandemic

E ALTRO ANCORA…

LIKE many other Americans, I thought deposing Donald Trump during last year’s presidential election would end the bitter decisiveness erupting in almost every sector of government, business, transportation, environment, medical care, education, even to the point of separating family members and impassively expression frustration through public shootings. Nope. I didn’t realize until recently how close we came to blurring the lines between Administration, Legislation and Courts, paving the way for dictatorship. The separation of governmental elements, or “balance of power” our Constitution is based on almost, but not quite, disappeared, like the separation between church and state that’s being actively erased. Again, the key issue isn’t about philosophical separation but the balance of powers that should make dictatorship difficult if not impossible to impose. But the idea of separation and balance continue to erode in every aspect of our lives, meaning the possibility of a dictatorship still looms.

For example, I hear that President Biden “isn’t doing a good job,” which prompted me to wonder at what exactly he’s failing. Foreign policy? The environment? Popularity? The economy? In fact, the President isn’t supposed to set foreign, environmental or economic policy. The President is supposed to administer the will of Congress, which is, in my opinion, failing miserably. Equally important is the ability of the Supreme Court to avoid political issues and stay focused on Constitutional matters. If there is a “failure” in our government, I have to say it’s in the blurring of lines of separation and attending unbalance of power. Like most American, I’d like to see better infrastructure, but efficacy of administration can only occur within clarity of legislation and appropriate focus of the Supreme Court.

In my second thriller, written by myself under the pseudonym Raymond Gaynor with William Maltese, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1434403556, and it’s sequel, by Raymond Gaynor THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859, I explore the plausible ramifications of loss of balance due to despotism within a democratic government, leaving the vacuum to filled by a meld of technology, popularity and the ever-present jackel, organized crime. The value of both books, and the upcoming third book, PROPHECY, in what has now become a politicial-thriller trilogy, is not in the pure entertainment, (though all three are, I hope, compelling reads) but in the opportunity to see where we may be going in terms of our own governance, well ahead of being unable to take a stand and either embrace the “New World” or take appropriate action to prevent it from becoming a reality.

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

THE EDGE OF MADNESS is an Amazon genre bestseller available in printed, digital and audiobook formats. It has been purchased for further manga, animation and/or cinematic treatment by K. Simmons Production.

#DanielSJanik #RaymondGaynor #WilliamMaltese #TheEdgeOfMadness #TotalMeltdown #Prophecy #government #SeparationOfPowers #balance #imbalance #dictatorship #Trump #business #transportation #Environment #MedicalCare #education #MassShooting #President #Biden #thriller #political #Aignos #book #ebook #audiobook # bestseller #film #movie #KSimmonsProductions

A GAIAN HIATUS

IS our world, as James Lovelock’s GAIA — https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/... — would have us believe, a living, breathing being? I tend to think so. Lovelock has been “right” so many times, it would be an insult to not take The Gaia Hypothesis for real. If so, surely, Gaia is letting out a long sigh, after so tumultuous a half-year. The Return (or call it the REVENGE) of COVID, Putin’s War, another year of increasing over-population and under animalization/plantization, relentless development of the Amazon, and drugs and violence galore, and I think a long sigh is more than in order. Call it a hiatus; it seems like Gaia is not just losing, but disappearing. Dying. If so, the death of so formerly robust a world as Earth will be a tremendous, largely unnoticed loss.

Having said that, during the hiatus, some are continuing efforts to develop a culture that would sustain humans in space. NASA, years ago, has an initiative called “Living and Working in Space.” At the time it was little more than a dream. Now it’s actualizing. Just in time to — maybe — save Gaia from collapse and death. Maybe. Possibly. Somehow. It’s no longer about science fiction. It’s about, in my opinion, human survival, in the face of the broader question, should our destructive species survive. We act more like a malignant cancer that the caretakers of the world. Can WE make the next evolutionary step to being stewards rather than pure consumers of the Earth?

My personal concern about our evolution from violators to caretakers of the organism to which we belong is a strong underlying topic of my newest novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859. Tired of reading? Enjoy this Amazon genre bestseller as an audiobook, read by the incomparable Peter Pollock. Get your copy now while you still can, before Gaia breathes its last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...

THE EDGE OF MADNESS is available in printed, digital and audiobook formats, and has been purchased by K. Simmons Productions for further treatment as a manga, animation and/or cinematic production.

#DanielSJanik #RaymondGaynor #TheEdgeOfMadness #Gaia #Lovelock #TheGaiaHypothesis #COVID #violence #drugs #overpopulation #extinction #NASA #space #MoonBase #MarsColony #LivingAndWorkingInSpace #HumanEvolution #stewardship #Aignos #Savant

CELEBRATING THE FOURTH AND FIFTH

TODAY is the fourth of July, the day we celebrate America’s Independence. I like to think of it as the day the nation celebrates my birthday with parties, grills and fireworks, a little myth inculcated by my mother alongside Santa and the Great Pumpkin. Admittedly, letting go of the fourth being a celebration of my coming-into-the-world was the hardest of which to let go. Sigh. Still, when I watch the fireworks tonight, I’ll be happily co-celebrating my own birth.

What most American’s forget to celebrate is the fifth. No, silly, not the fifth of July, “the Fifth:” our constitutional right to non-self-incrimination. While it may seem a small thing being basically not celebrated and not that commonly invoked, it’s what, in my opinion, prevents us from being forced into confessions that are untrue. A wonderful basic right that I think has kept torture mostly out of our police and judicial arenas, in importance right alongside our rule of law that states that one is always innocent until proven guilty. So, yes, it makes prosecution more difficult, but in today’s polarized, politicized, weaponized world, it does offer much needed protection of wrongful accusation, incarceration and disappearance without a thorough investigation and trial.

Call me silly, but I’m glad to live in the USA, despite the myriad issues being raised, challenging American style democracy, increasing-profit-Capitalism, and seemingly rampant greed for money and power without responsibility. To this I would add the necessary change from “crowd sales” to “individual service,” that I believe to be absolutely necessary for our future financial survival and a required prelude to our diaspora into space. Silly or visionary? Check out my Sci-Fu (science-based futuring) novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 — for more such nonsense or truth-saying.

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

And if this isn’t enough, check out some Behind-the-Scenes shots of my and my partner Setsuko Tsuchiya’s acting in our newest movie, MOCOS, the Movie, at https://janik.yolasite.com/actor.php.

#DanielSJanik #RaymondGaynor #TheEdgeOfMadness #MOCOS #fourth #July #IndependenceDay #fifth #constitution #American #USA #incrimination #InnocentUntilProvenGuilty #democracy #capitalism #greed #money #power #CrowdSales #IndividualService #visionary #SciFu #book #ebook #audiobook #movie #film #actor #author #Aignos #Savant

SCI-FU, ANYONE?

IN previous posts, I presented two of three reasons why Setsuko Tsuchiya and I, Daniel S. Janik, were intrigued from the start over Elias Perez’ 2-Liter’s Shady Film Production of MOCOS, the Movie — https://www.auditionsfree.com/2021/ac.... We both support experimental filmmaking, especially when it leads to a new venue resistant to epidemics and pandemics. I see MOCOS as the forerunner of distance-filmed, interactive, holographic movies. Then there’s our second reason, neither of us having played in a horror film, horror being the epitome of tragedy, as it also requires both comedy and “normal baseline” elements for relief and to enhance tragic impact. MOCOS, in my opinion, provides just that. Today I’d like to post about the third reason I was taken by MOCOS: It exemplifies in movie format something I’ve been working to establish in a literary context, namely, the emergence of a new genre, that of “Sci-Fu.”

Move over science fantasy and fiction. Sci-Fu is all about science-based futuring, what academicians have long called “future studies,” but the literary scene and movies are just beginning to recognize. Science, in essence, is about repeatability under same circumstances. History (his-story) is about uniqueness even under identical circumstances. Add the element of being able to view a plausible future and decide if one wishes to help make that future come true, and you have Sci-Fu.

The shift from Sci-Fan and Sci-Fi is about including technology based solidly on current science, logically extended in terms of impact into the future. The object is to present the reader/viewer with a glimpse of a plausible future, based on extension of current technology. I experimented with this approach in the Amazon genre bestseller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859, and its naughty prequel, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2006) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1434403556. I also toyed with it in QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) by A. G. Hayes with Raymond Gaynor — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996325530.

Won’t you join with me in establishing this new book and film genre, and honor Elias Perez’ debut horror film, MOCOS? Look! Up in the sky! MOCUS is coming!



#RaymondGaynor #DanielSJanik #SetsukoTsuchiya #MOCOS #movie film #EliasPerez #2-Liter’sShadyFilms #experimental #horror #tragic #comic #relief #ScienceFiction #SciFi #ScienceFantasy #SciFan #ScienceBasedFuturing #SciFu #science #pandemic #futuring #future #FutureStudies #TheEdgeOfMadness #TotalMeltdown #QuantumDeath #WilliamMaltese #AGHayes #Savant #Aignos #book #ebook #audiobook

HORRORS!

YESTERDAY I posted about a new film that Setsuko Tsuchiya and I will be appearing in entitled MOCOS. One of three reasons why this debut film by Elias Perez’ 2-Liter’s Shady Films Productions was that it was an experimental film. In this day when businesses are struggling to return to the old days, Perez has taken a new “distance” approach to filming, which I find intriguing. It is innovative filming venues like this one that will, I believe, end up charting the future of the industry, eventually leading to immersive, interactive holographic works.

A second reason why I was intrigued by MOCOS, is that Setsuko and I have not yet had the opportunity to act in a tragedy film, the apex of which would be a horror/tragedy film like MOCOS. Many think of horror films as, well, a scary experience, a moment of terror to discharge all the built-up negativity of the world and jump-start the usual “boring” activities of daily living. For a dramatic actor or actress, however, it represents an interesting opportunity to portray tragedy, straight drama and comedy all mixed together, the latter two important to “clear the palate” between horrific scenes and further heighten feelings. As actor Daniel S. Janik (aka author Raymond Gaynor of THE EDGE OF MADNESS fame), playing Dr. Gregory Grant, renown epidemiologist swept up in a sudden, new pandemic, and Setsuko Tsuchiya, portraying news reporter Akari Koko-Grant, the wife of Dr. Grant, in a film based on one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Pestilence, what could be more alarming than a terrifying aside steeped in fear, shock and disgust at the announcement of a yet another world “plague?”

Follow us “behind-the-scenes” as MOCOS weaves its serpiginous way through production and onto the silver screen at https://janik.yolasite.com/actor.php.



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