Of Hunger and Hobbits.

My eldest son, Ainan, 12, has turned into a hobbit. No, that does not mean he has become short and stocky with furry feet – it means he has become someone who is ever hungry.

Yesterday is an example. He had dinner – twice. Then, an hour or so later, he started prowling around the kitchen, muttering: “I want food.”

He eats like there is a hole in the bottom of his stomach and the food is all just falling out, once swallowed. It is funny to see him like this. You see, when he was very young – from a toddler to a preschooler, he just hated eating. As a toddler he once even asked: “Why do I have to eat? The chair doesn’t do it. The table doesn’t do it. The towel doesn’t do it. Why do I have to do it?” He really didn’t want to eat.

Now, he is rather different. The end of one meal is just the beginning of another, for him. Like a hobbit, he has first breakfast and second breakfast. Last night, he had his first dinner, followed about 45 minutes later by his second dinner – and was looking for his third, within an hour!

I rather think he is beginning to grow. He is quite tall already for his age – at about 163 cm, for a 12 year old. I am curious as to whether he will one day be taller than me. He is certainly giving himself the fuel for such growth.

Happy eating Ainan! May you soon grow to be taller than your Daddy! Hopefully, though, you won’t be heavier...

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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Brotherly love vs. Harry Potter.

Which is more powerful in the life of a child: brotherly love or the magical wizard, Harry Potter, lord of the box office? Well, yesterday, that was put to the test.

Syahidah had planned to take Fintan and Tiarnan to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This seems quite apt since they are both "half-bloods", themselves...though, I have yet to secure the title "Prince" for them!

When Syahidah arrived at the cinema, where I waited, she had only Tiarnan in tow. Fintan was nowhere to be seen.

The story turned out to be a sweet one. On leaving for Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, Syahidah noted that Fintan was hesitating.

"Are you coming?", she asked him.

"I don't want to see Harry Potter: Ainan will be lonely.", he said, looking at his brother who was soon to be left behind.

Syahidah objected that he would not.

"You can't see it...but he is very upset.", he said, concernedly. Perhaps the "upset" he thought he saw, was the thought of being left home alone, without his brothers.

Syahidah relented and let Fintan stay with his brother. She was touched to see that he cared so much about his elder brother that he would forego the film she knew he so wanted to watch.

As it went, however, it was lucky that Fintan didn't go to see Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince - for it was a dire concoction. Syahidah judged it as being up there with Transformers 2 as among the worst films she can recall seeing. Truly, Hollywood is churning out trash these days. She particularly criticized the PLOT as utter nonsense - and that would seem to be J.K "I don't plagiarize, honest" Rowling's fault. She also observed that it had disturbingly close similarities to elements of the Lord of the Rings - except that LOTR was fun, well put together and skillful - none of which could be claimed for Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince.

Now, I wasn't able to see Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince myself, at that time...even though I had gone to the cinema: so I consider myself lucky not to have wasted another couple of hours in a darkened room.

Given the creative poverty of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, it is fortunate that Fintan's brotherly love is stronger than his taste for all things Potter. It seems, therefore, that his brotherly love has wisdom in it, too, as well as sweetness.

(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.

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IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

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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.)

Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix

I have just taken my family to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was not the experience publicity had led us to suppose - but it did have its lessons, all the same.

Much of the film was concerned with what happens when an institution tries to repress the individuality and expressiveness of its people. Hogwarts school comes under the baleful influence of the Ministry of Magic, which seems mainly to be informed by paranoia and is more than a little drunk on power. Through the lens of this film, one could suppose that J.K. Rowling is examining the nature of totalitarianism, everywhere.

What is telling about the people in this film is that the children do not allow themselves to be repressed forever. This too, is true to life in most countries of the world and in most institutions where repression has been exerted too long and too hard. However, it is not always the case and, in this sense, the film is not true to what can actually happen in real life. Sometimes, the people just give in and accept their repressive situation - at least on the scale of human lifetimes.

Yet, being Hollywood, of course, the children rebel and reassert their individuality. I suppose that J.K Rowling is stating here, that she believes the desire to be individual and expressive cannot be held down for too long - for when it is repressed a desire to rebel builds up and over time, there can only be an explosion of sorts. So, too, is it in Harry Potter.

A child watching this could learn the lesson that individuality is important and must be nurtured and, at times, even fought for. The children of the school fight for many things - but one of them is simply the freedom to be themselves.

Yet, there is an unconscious irony here. You see much of the Potter themes are derivative and echo other works by other prior authors. Indeed, so obvious are some of the borrowings from other works that Ainan piped up at one time: "Why is this like the Lord of the Rings?", he enquired, not best pleased.

It is like the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's has a "Dark Lord"...and Potter has a, well, a "Dark Lord". Frodo Baggins has a direct connection to the "Dark Lord" through his Ring - and Harry Potter has a direct connection to the "Dark Lord" - through his mind. Tolkien has Gollum who says "My precious." a lot. Potter has a very Gollum like figure who says "My mistress." a lot. There is a baddie in Potter that looks remarkably like the blond twins, in styling, from The Matrix...I could go on, but you should get the idea by now. Harry Potter is many things but it could never be accused of being original.

This is a pity, in many ways. Harry Potter is the most successful book series, of its kind, at any time. Yet, it is founded on "borrowing" themes and ideas present in prior, greater works. That it succeeds is only because its audience is too young to know where everything comes from - though Ainan is only 7 and he noticed the borrowings from the Lord of the Rings, himself. Usually, however, this derivativeness will pass a child by - and so it is that Potter can succeed.

So, the film left me with mixed feelings about it. One theme is important for children to understand: that the freedom of self-expression should be preserved - but the story is actually an example of the denial of that freedom. J.K Rowling imitates so many others through her work, that one could say she is a potent counter-example of free expression. It is a blow against the creative spirit to derive her works from the works of others. It is a blow against those who had the individuality to create their own original works. In this sense, Rowling works against the very theme that she proposes as central to this film. In a derivative world, the individual creator cannot be free to be themselves, without suffering the indignity of imitation.

It would be good to see more actual originality in Rowling's works. Perhaps it is just a function of being old enough to have seen and read quite a lot - but that background knowledge does make the entire Harry Potter franchise look like a patchwork quilt of other people's ideas. It is tiring to see such tired material up on the screen.

The film was unable to hold Ainan's and Fintan's attention and from about half way through they were getting restless and a little bored. Ainan is 7 and Fintan has just turned 4 - to give you some idea of whether it is right for your child. They preferred to play with each other, in the second half, than watch the antics on the screen. This is not their usual response to a film, by the way.

We shan't be going to another Potter movie. In that way, we will be expressing our freedom to choose, as advised by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

(If you would like to read of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and no months, or Tiarnan, seventeen months, go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)