Michael Jackson, dead of cardiac arrest, at 50.

Michael Jackson, the famed "King of Pop" is dead at 50. Initial reports say that he had a cardiac arrest and could not be revived. I have, however, some thoughts about that.

Few men, these days, die so young as Michael Jackson has. I think, though, that, in Michael Jackson's life, there were many contributing factors. Firstly, it is hard to either imagine or overstate, how much long term stress he must have had to endure. Michael Jackson was, in the last decade or so, always in the media, for the wrong reasons. He was constantly subject to unsavoury allegations - and, whether true or not, for I do not know, there is no doubt that this must have been intensely stressful. Then there was the fact that he was often in court for various reasons, that people were always suing him, for a multitude of reasons. He was never free of legal or media harrassment. I have the strong feeling that this would have created a stressful kind of life that may well have ushered forwards the date of his death, rather dramatically.

Michael Jackson was one of the world's most famous people. Whether he deserved to be, is another issue - but the fact that he was so famous, should not also mean that he is one of the world's most harrassed people. It is easily forgotten that famous people are people, too. Even the most famous of people deserves a life of relative peace, should they so wish it. No-one should have to endure constant legal battles, or constant media allegations (if not true).

Michael Jackson is dead - and it may well be that a great part of the reason is the large number of people who wanted a piece of him, in life, who saw in his supposed wealth, an opportunity to make a big buck, by suing him.

The world should learn to be more civilized and to leave even its most famous people, in peace, if they wish it. Sadly, however, those in Michael Jackson's situation, have no peace in this world, at all...they only find that, upon death.

Incidentally, I was not a fan of his work...though I did listen to it, when it played. So I do not write as a fan, but just as an observer of humanity.

(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.)

H1N1 flu and personal hygiene, in Singapore.

H1N1 is busily making its way through the ranks of Singaporeans. Presently there are a couple of hundred confirmed cases (and no doubt quite a few unknown ones, too) and it is spreading throughout the community. The danger is, of course, that it could become very widespread. This would lead to many deaths, if so, because of its 0.37% death rate (according to the death rates observed in America, which should be typical of a person in a developed nation receiving maximal treatment).

Now, Singapore is an overcrowded little island. Everyone knows this. Moreover it is clear that this presents difficulties in creating "social distance" to reduce the spread of the virus. People live and work close together. They jostle each other on the streets and on public transport. Life, here, is a bit of a squeeze. Reducing large gatherings, such as school assemblies is one way, however, of reducing the spread of infection. H1N1 need not become nigh universal in the population...but I worry that it could.

There is another cause for worry, however, apart from the relative lack of "social distance". This is personal hygiene. In my decade or so in Singapore, I have noted that many people here have yet to discover the use of the taps and soap, in public bathrooms. Too many men walk out of the toilet, without washing their hands (whether they had been using the urinals, or the cubicles). When I first noted this, many years ago, it gave me a little shudder of revulsion, at their filthy habits. Now, however, I am quite used to it and had come to see it as the local way of ensuring that the population doesn't rise too quickly (lots of extra infective deaths!)

With the advent of H1N1, this tendency of local men not to wash their hands after using the toilet is very worrisome indeed. The reason is clear: for even if there was nothing transmitted to their hands, in the toilet, that might prove dangerous or unpleasant, the washing of hands, upon visiting the toilet, cuts down the daily accumulation of pathogens, on the hands. Quite simply, regular washing of the hands, reduces pathogens on the hands and reduces the transmission of ALL infections, not just H1N1. Washing hands upon using the toilet is a basic public health measure, therefore. However, it is something foreign to many local men, who seem to think that having odoriferous hands is trendy.

So, please, wash your hands, after using the bathroom - and encourage all you know to do so, too. It could mean the difference between H1N1 being relatively rare, and becoming truly universal, in Singapore.

(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.)

Kevin Bacon Number - or degrees of separation in Hollywood.

The Kevin Bacon number has become a famous way to measure the linkage between actors and other performers, in Hollywood. It is based on the idea that there are "six degrees of separation" between any two people on Earth. This label actually arose in a play title by John Guare, and not, as commonly supposed, in an academic thesis.

The notion that we are closely interconnected in a social network, only separated by a few individuals, was popularized by the social experiments of Stanley Milgram. He was not, however, the original conceiver of this understanding, though he is often credited with it. Michael Gurevich and Manfred Kochen, both did pioneering work in this area, prior to Stanley Milgram.

The "six degrees of separation" refer to the idea that everyone is connected through the people they know, to anyone they don't know, through their friends' friends. Thus if someone is your friend, that is one degree of separation; if they are the friend of a friend, that is two degrees of separation; the friend of a friend of a friend, would be three degrees of separation and so on.

Around 1994, an idea, "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" began to float around. The concept was simple: how many degrees of separation were there between Kevin Bacon and any other actor? It became a party trick for its inventors Craig Fass , Brian Turtle and Mike Ginelli who were all students at Albright College at the time. They would challenge people to throw the names of actors at them, then they would connect them to Kevin Bacon.

The Kevin Bacon number is a very simple way to measure the connectedness of an actor, in Hollywood. For instance, Tom Cruise has a Kevin Bacon number of 1. (This is because they both worked together in A Few Good Men in 1992); Rachel Weisz, who is successful, but not so successful as Tom Cruise, has a Kevin Bacon number of 2. (This is because she appeared in Confidence in 2003 with Andy Garcia, who then appeared in The Air I Breathe (2007) with Kevin Bacon). Incidentally, Laurence Olivier, the famed stage actor, who also worked in film, also has a Kevin Bacon number of 2. (This is because he appeared in Dracula (1979) with Frank Langella who went on to appear in Frost/Nixon with Kevin Bacon in 2008).

Now what really surprised me is to learn that both Ainan Celeste Cawley and myself have a Kevin Bacon number of 3. This is only in the expanded version of the Kevin Bacon number that includes documentaries and TV shows as well as films. If only films were allowed, Ainan would have a Bacon number of infinity because he has never been in a feature film. Ainan (and my) Kevin Bacon number of 3 arises because we were both in a documentary called The World's Cleverest Child and Me on Channel 4 with Mark Dolan, the presenter. Mark Dolan did a show called The 50 Greatest Comedy Films in 2006 in which Tony Curtis appeared. Tony Curtis then went on to appear in the Graham Norton Show 2007 with Kevin Bacon.

So there you are. The Kevin Bacon number just goes to show how small the worlds of tv and film are. Furthermore, even though neither myself nor my son have ever met Kevin Bacon, we are pretty close in the film world, being only three steps away. How odd.

(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.)

Fintan turns down Superhero opportunity.

A couple of days ago, Syahidah my wife, made an interesting proposition to Fintan, five.

"Fintan", she began, with the air of something important to come.

He looked up at her, hearing her tone and waited.

"If I sent you to a hospital and they could replace your arms and legs with metal ones - and made you superstrong, would you do that?"

His consideration took but an instant.

"No. Because then I would be heavy."

His eyes seemed to weary at the prospect of dragging so much weight around. That, therefore, put paid to Fintan's transformation into a superhero. He would rather be light on his feet, than clank around all day, great in strength, yes...but, more importantly to him, great in weight too.

As for my perspective: Fintan doesn't need to change, to become a "superhero"...for he is a hero, enough for me, such is his spirit. Be just the way you are Fintan - for that is more than enough.

(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.)

Happy Father's Day, 2009

Happy Father's Day, all. At least, it is Father's Day in Singapore...I am not sure if other countries celebrate it on the same day.

Syahidah and our children have been abundantly thoughtful today. I am grateful for all the surprise gifts - from each of them. Even Tiarnan, three, made something for me, so it was most pleasing. So, thank you to Ainan, Fintan and Tiarnan for your welcome gifts.

Syahidah went to exceptional lengths to make this a special day - and I am thankful for each of her surprises. Thank you, Syahidah!

As for my own father: Happy Father's Day, to you, too! (If you get to read this.)

(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.)

Tiarnan greets his Daddy.

Tiarnan was being settled down for a nap, today, by his mother, when I entered the room.

He looked up, in apparent fear and said, in alarmed tones: "Here comes a human being!"

His mother looked along his line of sight to see me there. She didn't laugh. She played along with his imagined drama and let it unfold.

I strode towards the bed, in weighty strides, to match the import of his introduction.

As I neared the bed, Tiarnan stood up, stretching himself a little beyond his not very great natural height. Then he declared, as if speaking of something of great power and import: "I am a human being!"

Thus it was that Tiarnan greeted his Daddy, this afternoon. With him around, I sometimes feel I have walked onto the set of a filmic epic in the midst of an important scene - for such is the way he conducts himself, in his everyday life. Though he is very, very small, he manages to be bigger than life. He is quite delightful, in his dramatic ways. Thank you, Tiarnan, for making an ordinary entrance into a room, by this particular father, into something of great moment. Now, sleep well.

(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.)