EVER wondered what actors/actresses do between films? I’m currently “between” OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe” – https://janik.yolasite.com/otosotu.php), which is now in the second stage of post-production (namely editing) and “the next film.”

So, to keep food on the table and the hearth warm, I’m doing as much background acting as possible. I’m currently working NCIS: Hawaii (S3) while scouring the landscape for modeling and...

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IT’S my pleasure to announce that I’ve finally accumulated the third SAG/AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) Union Talent Voucher required to graduate from non-union to union actor. Qualifying to join SAG/AFTRA is an important stepping stone in the life of an actor, whether one chooses to exercise the right or not. For me, it represents yet another step in my acting career.

What it’s supposed to represent is recognized acting experience a...

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IMAGINE lifting a curvaceous flute filled with the finest bubbly (either champagne or fruit juice depending on your wont and disposition), before a blazing, crackling fire (in a fireplace, please), intimately toasting your BBF or BGF (you decide). That’s what I think of initially, easily forgetting the stress of all the preparation that would have to go into making just such an imaginary scenario into reality. Forget the tree, the trimming, the holiday cards (or, these days, emails), the sh...

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WAIT! Wait! Wait! No need for panic. This isn’t about actor Daniel S. Janik or actress Setsuko Tsuchiya and sudden ill health. It IS about Setsuko Tsuchiya just finishing here PhD in Ballroom and Latin Dance Performance, and the release of the more literary form of her dissertation as a book. THE POWER OF DANCE: Partner Dance From Ballroom to Olympic Sport (Savant 2022) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737643162. Our household is a Dr. Dr. one now.

But more important than the degree, is, as ...

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IT’S not uncommon to think of the USA as a “continental” nation, an integral part of North America or the Americas in general. It’s not so common to think of it as an island, surrounded in its totality by water, isolated by oceans from EurAsia. Personally, I think of the good ol’ democratic USA as an “island in the sun” among nations. Not a classic Greek democracy; instead, more in terms of a “nation of free traders.” It seems to me that one particular element that’s made ...

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Oops, a tiny misspelling there. Should read “designer genes” or, as they’re frequently called today, “epigenes.” Conrad Waddington is said to have introduced the idea of epigenes, which, according to MedlinePlus are control genes that modify (typically turn on or off) other genes without affecting the organism’s DNA. In other words, epigenes are genes that regulate the activity (expression) of DNA. Epigenes themselves can be affected by time, as well as intracellular or external c...

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It's becoming harder these days to find unbiased news. What used to be dry factual reporting seems to have swung to its counterpoint: interpretation and opinion. What's missing, in my opinion, is BALANCE. But by balance I don't mean the "mean." 

Good news reporting involves presenting the facts (to be interpreted in various ways by the viewer/listener) and meaning (as be interpreted in various ways by the preparer/broadcaster). "Weighting" the news based on popularity moves it into the realm o...
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The current COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc across the world, causing untold pain, suffering and death. But there's always a silver lining to everything, even as bleak and destructive an event as this pandemic. Being forced to stay at home, cover our faces and maintain social distance leaves us with but one direction to freely look and explore: inward. One of the three maxims carved into the forecourt at the ancient Greek Oracle of Delphi, "know thyself," was followed by "nothing in exces...
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My partner, Setsuko Tsuchiya, and I have agreed to host a monthly dance for International Ballroom Dance Inc (IBDI) at the Hawaii Kai Retirement Community (HKRC - Phase 2 - "Ice Cream Parlor" Room) from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. the first Sunday of every month. It's a social dance open to the public - see dance schedule and details at https://janik.yolasite.com/ibdi-hkrc-dance.php. 

Music by Dan Janik. Fully-costumed demonstration dance. Light refreshments served. Free parking. On The Bus line. 

Brin...
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If the currency of business is money (ask President Trump), then the currency of education, or, more accurately academia, is truth. Academic (truth) was always the counterweight for business (money), holding us in the end to a moral/ethical standard. But what today constitutes truth? It's a slippery slope at best these days. 

I still recall a time before computers first appeared! Couple that with the sheer magnitude and ease of access of the Internet, and I also recall the first academic paper...
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