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The boy who knew too much: a child prodigy

This is the true story of scientific child prodigy, and former baby genius, Ainan Celeste Cawley, written by his father. It is the true story, too, of his gifted brothers and of all the Cawley family. I write also of child prodigy and genius in general: what it is, and how it is so often neglected in the modern world. As a society, we so often fail those we should most hope to see succeed: our gifted children and the gifted adults they become. Site Copyright: Valentine Cawley, 2006 +

Friday, February 29, 2008

Tolkien Trust sues New Line Cinema

It is more than probable that you watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films. It is even more probable, if you are an adult, that you have read the Lord of the Rings books. You will then know that they were written by J.R.R. Tolkien. You may further know that he has living descendants. It is these descendants, through the Tolkien trust, which administers the rights to his books, who are now suing New Line Cinema (a Warner company).

Why would they sue the makers of the films? Surely, New Line Cinema has made them astoundingly rich, through the multi-billion dollar success of the films?

Well, not exactly. Instead of paying the agreed upon 7.5 % of gross receipts for all film related income, New Line Cinema, in an astonishing display of greed and lack of generosity, have paid the Tolkien Trust, just $62,500. Yes, you read right - sixty-two thousand five hundred dollars.

I was shocked by this. Yet, perhaps I shouldn't have been. Hollywood is famous for its greed. However, sometimes the extent of that short-sighted, deep-seated greed, is stunning in its odiousness. I have read somewhere that total revenues connected to these films are in the region of $3 billion. That is $3 billion that New Line Cinema (and associated Warner companies) would not have made, were it not for the life work of one J.R.R. Tolkien. It is disturbing that they think they have the right to make a film based on someone else's work - and then not pay for doing so. It is a crime. I know it is being pursued in the civil courts - but in every sense of the word, it should be regarded as a crime. They have essentially stolen someone's work and used it to generate $3 billion of revenue. That is a $3 billion crime. Oddly, though, the world doesn't seem to recognize it for the crime that it is. It is just a civil matter. It is a matter for the Tolkien family to pursue in the courts. However, looked at with any moral sense at all, it should be regarded as much more serious than that. There should, in fact, be criminal charges for such behaviour. It is a theft as real as a physical one - so it should be treated as such.

The Tolkien Trust is seeking $15o million in compensatory damages, unspecified punitive damages and a court order banning New Line from making films of any more Tolkien properties.

I think their suit is certainly justified by the facts. I would go further however in proposing that the right response of the courts is to take ALL of the $3 billion revenue and hand it over to the Trust. That would punish this most greedy of all companies for its actions. Then it would seem wise to levy punitive damages on top. If a court were ever to do this, that single example would show the New Line Cinemas of the world that they cannot steal from creators, without suffering a greater loss than any possible gain.

It is time that the courts stood up not for big business, but for the little creators out there, on whom the big businesses feed. Greed such as New Line's...in fact, theft, such as New Line's, must be severely punished, if it is to be contained and curtailed.

It cannot be right that the company which made the films based on Tolkien's work took $3 billion for doing so - and paid the Tolkien Trust essentially nothing at all.

I hope the courts take the time to understand that without Tolkien's work, none of the films would ever have been - and compensate the Tolkien Trust accordingly.

I shall follow the case as it proceeds.

Interestingly, New Line Cinema are making a habit of not paying their dues. Peter Jackson, the director of all three films, himself had to sue them for proper payment for his work.

What is the lesson to the world's creative people out there? Don't do business with New Line Cinema - for they will probably shaft you. It might be wise to avoid all Warner related companies, in fact. (They share common practices). It would seem fit to reward honest companies with your custom - and dishonest ones with a cold shoulder.

Remember this: do you want to work with or for companies that will not pay you, unless you sue? I don't.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

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posted by Valentine Cawley @ 8:59 PM  0 comments

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Excited at seeing mummy.

There is something very endearing which Tiarnan, twenty-five months, does. Whenever he sees his mummy, he rushes up to her, often saying excitedly: "Mummy, mummy, mummy!" He is virtually jumping up and down.

I find this touching. It is sweet that the simple sight of his mother, on rising in the morning, or on returning from an outing, can provoke such excitement in him. He is, perhaps, the most emotional of our children (though they all, of course, have their feelings, deep and true).

Tiarnan's mummy is the centre of his world, in a very real way.

One day I entered his room and he rushed over to me with: "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

I felt touched at his attitude of eagerness and obvious welcome.

Then he let drop his toddler sized bombshell: "I want mummy!"

It was funny. Mummy is always on his mind.

He is right, however. His mother should always be on his mind. I can think of no-one better to be in his thoughts, than her.

All I can say, is that he has good taste as to an idol to worship. After all, his choice is the same one I made long ago. It was a good one then - and it is a good one now - for Tiarnan and his daddy.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

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posted by Valentine Cawley @ 9:26 PM  0 comments

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Oscars and the Writers' Strike in Hollywood

The Oscars nearly didn't happen this year. The wonder of it is the why: because they almost didn't have any writers to tell them what to say.

I found this marvellously sad. The world's supposedly greatest actors nearly couldn't have a celebration of their own achievements because those who put words in their mouths were on strike for more money - and a fairer share of new media earnings.

I have nothing untoward to say about the strikers - for writers are, indeed, an ill-treated and often forgotten breed. Yet, at the same time, I found it rather absurd that grown adults, with great reputations in their field, had need of writers to supply them with thoughts. There is something in that which, to me, indicates that these talents are not as great as one might suppose them to be: take away their writers and they are hollow vessels with nothing worthy of their own to say. Were this not so, they would not have been frightened of a writers' strike - and would not have contemplated either a cancellation of the oscars or a change of format so that no writing, as such, would have to be on show. Apparently, a lot of canned clips of past greatnesses was likely to have supplanted the usual speech giving fest.

In a way, I find it objectionable that the performers coming up to collect their awards should, so often, have had someone else write their words for them. This means that we do not get a personal insight into the actor's genuine reaction. We do not see them as they are: we see them as a writer thinks they would look good being. It is isn't interesting, to me, to see, once again, how they perform with another person's words on their lips - I would like to see them, as they are, with just their own thoughts on their lips. If it should be that they do not have enough of their own thoughts to actually give a coherent speech, then I would like to see that too. I would like to see these people, whose lives are lived as artificial performances, as they really are. It would be much more instructive.

What we see as an actor's work, is the conjunction of the contributions of many people. We see their lighting person, at work, their make up artist, their director, their cameraman, their writer and so on - and amidst all of this, we see the actor. What would be great is, if every year, at the Oscars, we actually got to see these people as they are: sans everything. No special lighting, no-one to do their make up, no direction, no interesting camerawork, no writers to feed them lines. It would be so much interesting to actually see these feted people as they are.

Some of them would shine under these circumstances. These people would, I feel, be genuine talents with something real to offer. Others, would fade to nothingness and dullness if deprived of the support network of other talents that is always with them. The lesson would be a rich one. We would finally see who is a real talent and who is not.

Unfortunately, such a situation will never be. The non-talents of Hollywood (who have convinced us that they are talented) would never allow themselves to be seen as they really are. Those among them who wouldn't mind such an exercise - being possessed of real, solid talents, would, no doubt, be in the minority and therefore not have a sufficient voice - even if it possessed them to be so upfront about the reality of themselves. The Oscars and Hollywood in general, will continue to be an artifice - a thing divorced from reality - and we will continue in our ignorance of what these people who are held up to us for admiration, are really like.

Unless we are fortunate enough to meet and get to know one of these people in person, we will never know them as they actually are. We will only ever be consumers of their carefully constructed images. They speak - but their words are not their own. From their reaction to the writers' strike (ie. panic) it seems likely that they have nothing of their own to say - in the main. Are people with nothing to say for themselves then worthy of our collective admiration? Is a hollow vessel worthy of public fame?

Deep down, I don't think many of us think so. However, the image that is crafted for us to consume is so cleverly done that few of us pause for a moment to consider that the image has no substance and is not representative of the person we attribute it to. We come to admire that which is not truly there.

I, for one, am all for writers' strikes, therefore - the longer lasting the better. It would be best, in fact, if writers were forbidden from writing for actors who are to collect awards. It would be our only chance to see these people as they truly are.

I, for one, would definitely tune in to see such a show. As for the real oscars: I can barely watch them. The artifice is too much for me - so I tune out after a half hour or so.

Let writers show us what they do - by not doing it. Let actors be revealed as they are.

That is what I would call a show.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

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posted by Valentine Cawley @ 1:01 PM  0 comments

Sunday, February 24, 2008

A toddler on working life in Singapore

Today, we went to the "beach" in Singapore. I say "beach" because Singapore's beaches are deservedly not famous. This one, in fact, was concreted over: an interesting industrial touch that.

Anyway, despite the concrete and stone slab beaches sloping down to the chemical effluent filled waters, our children enjoyed their visit to the seaside. They played in a large sandpit beside the beach that wasn't there. (This was at West Coast Park).

At times the light is rather harsh and so we had taken precautions against the sun. In a bag, there was a set of fabric and poles. We duly set about putting it together. Tiarnan looked on as this strange process unfolded. Pegs were knocked into the ground, fabric was unfolded and spread across poles which were bent. At long last, there stood, beside the sandpit, a tent.

Tiarnan looked at this strange structure. He stared it up and down and finally announced what he thought it was. "Office." he declared.

We burst out laughing. Clearly, Tiarnan surmised that daddy had brought his work place to the beach with him. Hilarious.

Yet, he had reason in his thinking. For it was a small room apart from the rest of the world. Just as my home office is a small room apart from the rest of the world.

Tiarnan's remark was quite the best moment in our trip to the beach. Never for an instant, could I have predicted his reaction to a simple tent. Wonderful.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

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posted by Valentine Cawley @ 9:26 PM  0 comments

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