OFFICIALLY, in the West, the new year begins on 1 January. Always does. Always has, at least as long as I can remember. True, there’s their lunar new year typically somewhat later, but still according in the middle of winter, which, to me, doesn’t seem like a great time to start a new year. So, for the past couple of years, I’ve been trying to “tune in” to the actual seasons and see if there might not be a more sensually sensible time for a new year to begin.

Anti it’s the first ...

AS many of you reading this know, Raymond Gaynor is the pen name of actor Daniel S. Janik. It all depends on which muse grabs my shoulder and holds onto it most tightly for the moment. In terms of acting, I’ve been doing less background acting these days, my acting interests focusing on the immanent release of THE PERFECT ILLUSION — https://janik.yolasite.com/theperfectillusion.php — and moving from pre-production to filming of WINNOWING — https://janik.yolasite.com/winnowing.php.

Th...

OVER the years, I've come to know various governments like people, some friendly, some not so; some balanced, some not so; some greedy; some not so. Reflecting on our United States of America, I would have to characterize us as prickly, individualistic, not so balanced, and, with money seeming to be the new god and business the new religion, greedy without limit. But it's more than just that. It's easy to say that money and business under our capitalistic (ever increasing profit) approach res...

WITH the JET Progress production of WINNOWING well into pre-production, having addressed blocking, shortlisting, studio, camera and sound, the last remaining issue has been that of insulating the film set from noise. It would be easy to fall into the tourist idea that Hawaii, being a true paradise, must be so quiet as to enhance the sound of the trades in the coconut trees. Not so, even in Waikiki. One of the challenges to filming outdoors or indoors on Oahu is the high levels of light and so...

WE’RE talking THE PERFECT ILLUSION, a soon-to-be-released film by Kurt Ken Kaminaka about a suicidal man who finds a new reason to live after he stumbles upon a curio shop that transports him into the future. Soon he finds himself risking his own life trying to save the woman of his dreams, but struggles as reality may not be as it appears.

Personally, I’m a big fan of illusion (prestidigitaion or entertainment “magic”) where, like THE PERFECT ILLUSION, there is a distinct pledge, tu...

IF you find plastic/metal/code Artificial Intelligence somewhat daunting (think of the AI inside your cellular phone that translates what you say into text), then fasten your seatbelt before reading this report: https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/29/americas/xenobots-self-replicating-robots-scn/index.html. Scientists “at at the University of Vermont, Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering said they have discovered an entirely new form of bi...