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Archive for August 2010

The Great Bed of Ware

Following up belatedly to a story in The Hertfordshire Mercury back in June we did a search on wikipedia about the Great Bed of Ware. We we astounded to discover that the Great Bed was carved in 1590 by none other than a Hertfordshire carpenter named Jonas Fosbrooke! This is nothing short of remarkable. Jonas is one of the characters in our story. His profession used to be a carpenter.

the-great-bed-of-ware.jpg

Well leaving this to one side for a second the story about the Great Bed of Ware is that it’ll be returning to Ware in 2012 after a 140 year absence. The Great Bed’s currently kept in the Victoria & Albert musuem in Lodnon but will be loaned to Ware museum  Our novel mentions the Great Bed of Ware [page number to follow].  Mmmm still bemused. Here’s the wiki link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bed_of_Ware

The 33 of us are fine in the shelter

On 5 August the roof of the San Jose copper-gold mine near Copiapo in Chile collapsed trapping 33 miners some 700 metres underground. We’re delighted to report that after days of searching the miners have been located alive and seemingly well. Through a bore hole used to locate them they’ve sent a message to emotional loved ones above which translates to ‘The 33 of us are fine in the shelter’.

los-33.jpg 

Hours later cameras were lowered into the bore hole, taking the first images of the trapped workers. How amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryUuw385jKk&feature=related

Plans are now underway to find a way to evacuate the miners, but in the meantime Los 33 have to live in a cave. Uncanny given the Whittenburys’ discussion in a novel about life in a cave… and the conclusion of the first part of our trilogy has similarities.  The shape of Chile is a distinctive ribbon of land. Chile’s territorities include Easter Island in the Pacific, featured in another Watch story because humans exploited the environment. Chiliens also call their country the ‘pais de poetas; the country of poets.  We’re sure Charles Lamb, Samuel Coleridge and Percy Shelley would be most interested in these coincidences. It’s a strange old world.

Migaloo

In our novel Lucy Ebbs, Mother Nature personified, alerts us to the wonder of the albino in demonstrating the wonder of diversity on planet Earth. Since the Watch began we’ve seen many examples of albinos in nature, but none as dramatic as Migaloo the hunchback whale.

 migaloo.jpg

The unique and majestic creature has been filmed professionally for the very first time.  The only albino whale of its kind in the world, Migaloo was filmed close to Green Island off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.  Reef Magic Cruise’s owner Tim North said “It was a breathtaking sight that made your hair stand up on the back of your neck.” The idea to film Migaloo was to help show how precious he is and to help protect him. We whole heartedly agree.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QisofzOVwK8

The long lingering fog..

We have to get serious I’m afraid.

russian-wildfires.jpg

Amid a record heatwave Moscow is experiencing a blanket of thick smog caused by the worst wildfires in modern history. As the fires burn in peat bogs and forests dense plumes of smoke some 3,000km long can be seen from space. As temperatures remain above 100F the haze and smoke are causing serious health problems. People have resorted to wearing masks to protect themselves. The fires continue to burn across central Russia. The level of C02 in Moscow is more than three times higher than normal.  Red Square is at the heart of Moscow. 

moscow-smog.jpg

Red is associated with alarm - is this Nature’s way of telling us to STOP!  Well, in our novel (pages 135-137) Julia describes at length her experience under the day of the long and lingering fog. It introduced her to a young Malachi - the messenger - for the very first time. Is this the prelude to climate chaos on an ever increasing scale? Remember too that the Samoyed is native to Russia.

It’s also worth linking this to the curious halo cloud seen over Moscow a few months ago. http://watch.thehaymakerssurvey.com/?s=moscow 

What’s also remarkable is that on page 137 Malachi warns us twice… “I spy with my little eye something beginning with M”  Check out the book or the online version if you doubt us.

Solar Tsumani

On 1 August we launched online the second novel in The Haymakers Survey trilogy. It’s called ‘Uncle John’s Notebook - Earth Story’. http://watchthehaymakerssurvey.co.uk/ 

We’re tickled by a curious coincidence. On the same day a rare solar storm occured.

solar-tsunami-august-2010.jpg

The event was witnessed by astronomers worldwide. A huge flare burst out above a sunspot the size of the Earth.  The explosion caused a coronal mass ejection aimed directly at this planet. Experts said the CME would hit the Earth around 3 and 4 August sparking spectacular displays of the aurora.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_4HVKrzsbs

Dr Lucie Green of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory has been following the flare-ups. She said, “What wonderful fireworks the Sun has been producing”.  Maybe Mother Nature is celebrating the launch of the online serialisation of our second novel?

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