David Carradine, "Kung Fu" actor, dead in Bangkok

David Carradine has died, in a Bangkok hotel room. The initial police report says "suicide", his family and friends say "No way", his manager, too, disputes the suicide theory. Whether or not his hanging was a voluntary act, accidental or assisted by another, may never be determined. That David Carradine will be missed, however, is certain.

David Carradine came from an acting family...his father John was a noted and busy actor from the 30s to the 80s and his brother Bruce Carradine, his half-brothers Keith and Robert Carradine, his niece Martha Plimpton and nephew Ever Carradine, are all actors, too. His case, therefore, calls to mind the recent death of Natasha Richardson, also from an extensive acting dynasty, though of the British variety.

I am not going to write a potted biography of David Carradine: many other sites have done that. I am, however, going to look at his effect on many children around the world.

Ever so long ago, from 1972 to 1975, David Carradine appeared in the lead role of "Kung Fu", the series, as Kwai Chang Caine, a wandering half-Chinese monk. His adventures captivated me, as a young boy and I watched him avidly, imagining myself doing, as he did, as, no doubt, many young boys did.

Kwai Chang Caine was an iconic character and one strangely influential. After the first run of the series ended, I took up Kung Fu, myself, as a little boy. That youthful interest owed itself, to some degree, to David Carradine's portrayal of the mastery of movement that Kwai Chang Caine showed. From my browsing on the net, it is clear that David Carradine's character inspired many young boys, from around the world, to develop an interest in the martial arts.

It is funny to think of it, but not many tv characters made such a lasting impression on me, in my early years, as Kwai Chang Caine, did. Perhaps some of his success was his difference from what was then normal. He was an ODD character. His behaviour was out of the ordinary. His skills were magical. His self-assurance was attractive. He was the invincible outsider. There was something very alluring about that: a man who was not a part of what surrounded him, but was superior to it. He bested the typical Americans around him, at every encounter...and yet he was unarmed. To a young boy, that seemed very impressive.

There were also philosophical echoes to the character and the storyline. It had depths that were not immediately evident. This, too, had its allure: there was something to think about there.

The most shocking thing, for me, is to learn that the series was so long ago. When I watched it, I didn't think of myself as a little boy. I didn't feel undeveloped. I cannot, now, conceive that I was between four and seven years old, when I saw it - because it seems so recent, so present. The series made an impression on me that never really left, though, of course, I very rarely thought of it in the subsequent decades.

Oddly, however, I did a net search for David Carradine, a few days ago, on a whim. He had come to mind, for reasons I cannot explain, and I felt moved to go looking for what had happened to him and to see how popular he was, nowadays. It was the first time I had ever searched for him, on the net - and the first time, in perhaps three decades, that I had thought of him. That he should die a few days later is just the kind of coincidence that makes some people believe in psychic abilities.

David Carradine was an actor who was always working. However, most of his roles were sufficiently low key not to make a global impression. He was, therefore, one of those actors remembered largely for but one role: Kwai Chang Caine, despite having played over a hundred.

Thank you David Carradine, for inspiring so many young boys, to trying the martial arts. RIP.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, 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, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Hollywood stereotypes, in Tiarnan's eyes.

Tiarnan, three, is, as most three year olds are, an avid consumer of Hollywood products - with a bias towards cartoons, over "real" films - though he likes those, too. Today, he had something funny to observe about them.

Tiarnan turned to his mummy with a slight frown on his forehead.

"Why do bad guys have small heads and big bodies?", he asked her.

She would have laughed, but for the seriousness of his intent. I am not privy to her answer...but only to his question. However, the question itself is funny - and telling. It immediately called to mind the Terminator movies of Arnold Schwarzenegger...a man big of body, small of head (by proportion)...or any of the other tough guys. Then, again, thinking of the cartoons he watched, it was most clear that he was right: the bad guys competed with each other, over muscularity and sheer body mass.

It is refreshing listening to Tiarnan talk of how he sees things. In his eyes, the world seems new, again. It is also oddly surprising to witness the natural wisdom of his questions. He asks the questions we would ask, if only we were still alive to the world, and its ways.

Perhaps I should have a talk to him about how intelligence is undervalued in some quarters...Hollywood in particular...and how brawn/beauty is elevated to a place it does not deserve. Funnily enough, it is in America that we find the worship of the physical taken to its extreme. That is just what Tiarnan was noticing in their cartoons, of course.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, 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, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Perceptiveness in a young child.

Tiarnan, three, is a perceptive child. In fact, I cannot really make it clear what I mean by this, unless you are acquainted with him. He sees what others do not see...indeed, he notes every little thing about what is going on around him. In particular, he sees the subtlest nuances of people.

The other day, he said to his mother, who had just sat down: "Why do you sit like that?"

"What do you mean?", she asked, surprised to be accused of sitting in any way, in particular.

"Why do you put your hand down first?" He then showed her what she had done, sitting just like his mummy. For a moment, he was his mummy. He captured her in motion and gesture, as he sat.

In seeing him, doing so, she finally saw herself and became aware that, yes, she does have her own unique way of approaching a chair.

What Syahidah found uncanny about the moment is that Tiarnan had actually perceived the subtleties of her motion, even though she, herself, was unconscious of them. He had seen what others would never see. He had not just seen: "My mother is sitting.", as most would, but had seen just HOW she was sitting.

Tiarnan is funny like that. He observes the essence of people and is then able to express what he has seen, with his own body. It reminds me of the time he captured me, in thought, with a notebook - giving an impression of his father conceiving an idea and writing it down, with the haste of inspiration. His impression of me was a shocking echo...for he had suddenly seemed old, wise and thoughtful, adopting, for a few brief seconds, my posture, mannerisms and facial expressions.

Given his propensity to portray his understanding of others in this way, I rather think that Tiarnan has the makings of an actor. The question is, of course, whether he would like to be one. Right now, he is just a little boy with a penchant for expressing his understanding of others, in a physical way.

We will see how it turns out.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, 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, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Hygiene and public toilets in Singapore.

The other day, I was returning home, with my family, from an outing. My two eldest sons just happened to want to go to the toilet. Luckily (or perhaps not so luckily) there was one nearby.

I noted the "20 cents" entry fee sign at the entrance to the toilets. Seated there was a quiet man, who was almost not there, so little presence did he have. The coins beside him, on the desk, had more presence.

"Ainan," I began to my eldest son, "Because they are charging 20 cents entry, the toilets will be very dirty.", I predicted.

He didn't understand why I predicted so, but listened, without comment.

I dropped the coins in front of the man, who picked them up, in silence. It seemed that he only saw the coins, and not us.

Ainan and Fintan went into the toilets...and I peeked around the corner to see how they were. Sure enough, the entire toilet area was wet, smelly and dirty...just as predicted.

I made sure they washed their hands when they left.

Now, my question is: why, in Singapore, are the toilets invariably clean and in good condition, when they are free (like in Shopping Centres), but invariably dirty and smelly, when they are not free?

It is bizarre. Whenever I have been asked to pay for admission to a toilet, in Singapore, the toilets are always dirty and uncared for. It is most odd, that the more it costs, the less you get.

I would welcome an explanation from anyone who knows why this is so. It doesn't seem to make any sense. However, it does indicate that whatever money is generated by charging for the toilets is not actually used for maintaining them. Clearly, the owners see them as profit centres of some kind...rather than see their public responsibility to make them civilized places to use.

Is this a problem in other countries? Are free toilets great and paid toilets awful, where you come from? Comments please.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, 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, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)