"Valentine Cawley", Stoned Tales, Stoned Poems.

Now, I have a doppelganger, it seems. There is, in this wide world, someone else ostensibly with the name, "Valentine Cawley". I find this somewhat irritating, I must confess, since this other someone is writing poems under the name Valentine Cawley.

I would like it made clear, here, that these poems are not mine. I didn't write them - and I don't know the one who did, though he bears my name.

The poems that I didn't write are to be found here: http://www.stonedtales.com/stoned-poems.html

Please don't think that they are mine.

I used to write poems, yes...when I was in my twenties. My own poems are very different from these ones. I prefer my own ones. They have more rhythm, they are smoother, the ideas are denser, yet fluid - at least, that is how I would describe them now. They each expressed something of myself.

Whatever you might think of the poems of this other "Valentine Cawley" - if that be his real name, I would like it known that they are not mine. This is important because otherwise confusion would be created as to my identity. Each poem embodies something of its author - and the fragments of personhood to be found in those poems, are not mine - they belong to someone else.

When I first read his poems, I thought they were very bad. He has since added another which seems rather better in some ways. It has a couple of interesting ideas. Now, that I look at them again, I can see some creativity in them - just a different sort to my own. I still prefer my poems, however. By comparison, I feel that his poems give a poor impression of my writing skills.

So, please realize that I have a doppelganger out there and if you come across something which doesn't fit the persona you believe me to have, that may be because it isn't by me, but by another of the same name (whether or not that name is really his, or not).

Incidentally, the site manager of Stoned Tales/Stoned Poems has been written to, twice, on the matter of whether or not Valentine Cawley, the "poet" is using his real name. No answer has been received, despite the fact that the first letter was sent about three months ago.

According to "Valentine Cawley"'s friend, he drinks a lot. I don't drink at all. So that is one way to decide which is which and who is who. Another is the fact that, according to his friend, this doppelganger smokes a lot - and I don't smoke at all. He also supposedly does a lot of drugs - which again, I don't do at all. So, no, I am not a heavy drinker, smoker and drug addict - I go near none of the three habits. So, again, don't confuse me, with him.

I am a different Valentine Cawley: a sober one, with three kids and a lot of responsibility. However, I do write books and have written poems. I also create in other ways. So, there is room for confusion, I suppose.

I hope the differences are now clear.

Thanks.

(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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Trading on another's success: Mr. Bean.

I noticed something surprising to me, yesterday. In Redhill, there is a shop selling soy milk products entitled: Mr. Bean. That should seem familiar to all who read this, but not because of this shop's success, but because of the origin of the name.

Is it right for a shop to name itself after an internationally recognized comic brand? Everyone the world over knows Mr. Bean: he is a character of universal fame, created by Rowan Atkinson. Yet, here, in sleepy Redhill, we have a shop boasting the same name. Curiously, they have a registered trademark symbol attached to the word Mr. Bean. So, if true, they have successfully registered someone else's name as their own. I puzzle at this. Did no-one in the trademarks and registry office notice that the name was the same as a famous, already existing one?

It gives a poor impression of Singapore's respect for copyrights and foreign trademarks, if a famous comic character can have its name stolen, locally, like this, with the official approval of the trademarks office. It gives the impression that, locally, any theft of identity and goodwill will be allowed, if only the right registry fees are paid.

Mr. Bean, to billions of people, is not a soy bean shop. Mr. Bean is a comic character. Yet, in using his name, the shop has won instant familiarity. Anyone seeing it will instantly feel that it is a familiar brand. They have, in effect, polejumped their way to being a household word, by stealing someone else's household word.

A more carefully regulated environment would not allow such an act of imitation. A more careful registry of trademarks office would have turned them down, for the very reason that they are obviously trading on someone else's name and reputation.

I wonder what the owners of Mr. Bean, the comic franchise would do if they learnt that a Singaporean company has taken their identity? Would they sue? Would the Mr. Bean shop go down burdened by massive legal costs? In a way, I would be happy to see it be so - for there is nothing worse, for a creator, than to see their creation used and abused by others.

I saw the Mr. Bean shop and I was thirsty - but I didn't go in for a drink. All I thought was: "That is so wrong." I rather hope that that is the thought of the majority and that they take a step back and consider what it means for a company to build its reputation on the fame of another. Does that seem a right thing to do?

Every time someone starts a company, it is an opportunity to be creative, to do something new - to build something that wasn't there before. This particular company, however, took the opportunity to capitalize on someone else's success, to build their brand by cannibalizing another. That, in some countries, would be seen as a crime of sorts. The question is: why is it not in Singapore, the squeakiest clean state of all?

Perhaps someone should ask them to change their name. Try something honest - virtually anything else will do. If they do so, I might even have a drink there - but I won't until the day they are not called Mr. Bean.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and nine months, and Tiarnan, twenty-six 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, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)