21/03/2010 by admin.

A volcano that has been dormant for almost 200 years has erupted in Iceland.

The eruption was in a mountain pass beside the Eyjafjallajokull glazier and 100 miles or so from Reykjavik - the world’s northern most capital of a sovereign state and only slightly south of the Arctic circle. Seismic activity in the run up to the eruption began around Christmas 2009.  Over the past 1,100 years Eyjafjallajokull has erupted just 3 times - in 920, 1612 and December 1821-Spring 1823.  Its the last dates that fascinate us as this covers almost the entire period of Charles Lamb’s journal.

Iceland is also a Nordic country.  In Norse mythology Yggdrasil is the world tree. As explained in our novel it is generally considered to mean ‘Odin’s Horse’. Yggdrasil is so central to Charles Lamb’s story and inspired the Blakesware Set to devise The Haymakers Survey. Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda.  It is preserved in the medieval manuscript Codex Regius. Well, surprise, surpise - the original manuscript for the Poetic Edda is displayed in the Culture House in Reyjavik.

Malachi refers to the Codex Regius on page 177 of our novel. He says’ They stretched out strings of Gold and fastened them under the hall of the moon’.  He said this to show that there is a secret hidden force with a conductor controlling everything … call it the Earth Spirit!

All very curious and fascinating, don’t you think. What does this relatively innocuous volcanic eruption really mean? Listen afresh to the words of this song. As Ice says, “It’s a hell of a concept!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp-is6S_b_g

Posted in Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q35 Do you trust your instincts?, Q22 Do you love our Earth?, Q26 Do you take poetry seriously?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted? | No Comments »

16/03/2010 by admin.

‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ are the opening words from arguably one of the most popular poems in the world.  Commonly known as ‘Daffodils’ or ‘The Daffodils’ the poem is usually considered William Wordsworth’s most famous work.  William is one of the romantic writers to feature in our novel and such is our admiration for his work that we chose to adapt his poem as our entry for the Copehagen climate change conference video competition (see end).  Perhaps it was aired at some point during the proceedings but there is a subsequent curiosity of which we wish to tell.

The inconclusive outcomes from the conference were a disappointment to many whilst the subsequent coldest winter in 30 years coupled with the debate on the validity of climate change data has left the issue side-lined in many people’s mind.  But we wonder - here we are in mid-March and the question is ‘Where are all the daffodils?’ 

In recent years warmer winters have meant that the much loved flower has been in bloom in January or early February. Not this year and at the same time snowdrops can still be seen at an incredibly late date.

In response visitors to the Lake District in Cumbria, which inspired William’s poem, have been urged to report the appearance of daffodils on Twitter.  Cumbrian tourist expert Eric Robson said ‘its almost unheard of to have no daffodils in the Lake District by mid-March.  The project’s been called ‘Daff Watch’ and is perhaps an inspired attempt to encourage visitors to an area usually playing host to golden daffodils.

We think there’s a subtle message here - the daffodils are very late and the snowdrops linger well passed their usual end!  Given the significance of Mr Wordsworth in our story is this Mother Nature’s way of protesting to humanity in stark terms that the hour is late for action to preserve the natural world? Indeed the late presence of the Snowdrops appears to reaffirm this as in our novel they feature strongly as Yggdrasil’s friend - a sign that there is still hope to turn things around at this late hour. 

We do not mean to preach but there’s no need to apologise for being passionate about something. There are also many that expect us to fail but we believe it is our common duty to act today to save our tomorrow.  Industry continues to expand apace to feed a seemingly ceaseless hunger for economic growth as the human population soars ever upwards - this as the natural world is stripped away and many species are on the edge of extinction.  Time to revisit our video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRF8EAgIgK8

Posted in Q66 Do you have a favourite flower?, Q72 Are you a good time keeper?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q54 Do you enjoy a bit of a mystery?, Q35 Do you trust your instincts?, Q51 Have you ever taken part in a protest?, Q26 Do you take poetry seriously? | No Comments »

05/03/2010 by admin.

Today is World Book Day and as if by magic a few people have asked me when the sequel might be ready - which is nice and reassuring. If I’m honest it’s a little way off just yet but in the meantime I’ve been prompted by several subscribers to honour the day in some way as the book’s all about helping to preserve our fragile world.

Well I put my thinking cap on and realised that in Charles Lamb’s journal Lucy Ebbs (Mother Nature personified) refers to the Earth moving (page number to follow) which is odd as the recent Earthquake’s we’ve seen all seem linked to The Haymakers Survey.  Elsewhere on our Watch we’ve already mentioned the devastating Haiti quake (sounds like Hayti).  Whilst the quake in Chile on 27 February was so powerful at 8.8 on the Richter scale that a NASA scientist has reported that the quake has literally knocked the Earth’s axis and shortened the length of each Earth day by 1.26 microseconds - uncanny that it should happen in Chile given the references to the Arctic in the novel, but more significantly we have two references in the book to the Axis Mundi - on which all things turn! (page refs to follow).

If that’s not sufficient to feed our curiousity - we have the Eureka moment. On January 9 2010 there was a quake of 6.5m in the Pacific ocean with an epicentre 33 miles west of the nearest major city of Eureka. No significant damage was reported but the amusing thing is that when the Blakesware Set gathered and thought up the Haymakers Survey questions when Malthus cried ‘Eureka’ in celebration (page 345 and on the Journal sample on the main site).

We speculate -is planet Earth protecsting against our behaviour? Our live to work, work to earn, earn to consume life style that is so stressful to many, futile and belittling to our species and threatens to destory the delicate eco-system of life on Earth. Behaviour which some argue undermines what humanity is really about. Mmm it make me wonder… let’s show our true colours… they are beautiful like the rainbow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbZDjnWtK1A

Posted in Q72 Are you a good time keeper?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q51 Have you ever taken part in a protest?, Q23 Do you believe all the laws of physics?, Q22 Do you love our Earth?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted? | No Comments »