01/01/2009 by admin.

We wanted to mark our first post of 2009 with an iconic statement - a reminder of our purpose.  Our readers will be aware of the symbolism of the sinking of the Titanic neary 100 years ago, when it infamously struck an iceberg and sunk following complacency and arrogance that the ship would never sink.

Well, the two co-stars of the marvellous Titanic movie, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, have reunited after 10 years to make the movie ‘Revolutionary Road’.  How apt!

Here’s the famous clip of the ship striking the iceberg - a poignant warning to all those complacent about the likelihood of impending human induced climate change on our world.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nMMD-XeCFiM&feature=related

And here’s the link to Leo’s site devoted to his movie, ‘The 11th Hour’.

http://11thhouraction.com/seethefilm

Posted in Q78 Do you want to be part of the picture?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q.5 Do you believe in fate?, Q.4 Have you ever wanted to stop the clock?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

21/12/2008 by admin.

Our readers will be aware of the significance of the X Factor poser in our narration. Well, the saga continues for the winner of this year’s contest Alexandra Burke now tops the pop tree with her powerful cover version of the song, Hallelujah.  The version has two fewer verses than the original and includes a key change.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=wAaw6VWpk4A

Alexandra’s closely followed in the charts by a more sombre but much acclaimed version by Jeff Buckley, first released in 1984.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=AratTMGrHaQ

It;s the first time in 51 years that the same song has occupied the top two positions in the UK pop charts - and the first time ever at Christmas.

A remarkable trinity of the song’s presence in the Top 40 is completed by Leonard Cohen’s original version, released in 1984.

We wonder whether the trilogy represents Art, Love and Nature?  Is it a call to arms from God - afterall the Hebrew meaning of the word Hallelujah is a request for a congreation to join in praise (of a divine force’s influence on The Haymaker’s Survey)?

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q52 Do you believe in miracles?, Q46 Do you value a good education?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q33 Do you believe in life after death?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

08/11/2008 by admin.

For one week only, the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral will be lit up was part of search for answers under, ‘The Question Mark Inside’ project to help celebrate the 300th anniversary of the completion of the topping out of the cathedral.  The project seeks to answer the question, “What are the things that make modern life worthwhile and what does St Paul’s Cathedral mean in that context?” A stream of possible answers will appear as text projections on parts of the Cathedral.  The projections will run from the 8th to the 15th of November.

Most curious given the reference to St Paul’s Cathedral in our tale and the role of questions in our story! It makes you think?

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q52 Do you believe in miracles?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

02/11/2008 by admin.

Hertfordshire hero, Lewis Hamilton from Stevenage, snatched a last gasp opportunity to become the youngest ever Forumla 1 Motorsport Champion.  Entering the penultimate bend at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lewis took 5th place to secure the points he needed for victory in the 2008 Championship.  It was a thrilling climax to the season which demonstrated that it’s never too late to succeed. How ironic that his triumph should happen in Brazil - home to the threatened Amazon rainforest.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TfUBVdgcFEo&feature=related

Posted in Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.4 Have you ever wanted to stop the clock?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

20/10/2008 by admin.

Today, St Paul’s Cathedral celebrates 300 hundred years since its completion.  One of the most beautiful and iconic symbols of London, was completed on its designers 76th birthday.  The magnificent building has stood proudly for 3 centuries.  Amongst the cathedral’s memorials are special monuments to Admiral Nelson and the Duke of Wellington, in the South transept and the North aisle.  Both are buried in the cathedral.

However, the significance for us is that in our story, Malachi recites the lampooning poem, “The cat, the rat and Lovell the dog, rule all England under a hog,” once affixed above the entrance to St Paul’s as satirical criticism of the leaders of the day.

Here’s a famous image of the Cathedral surviving the Blitz during World War II.

As if to celebrate, Mother Nature has put on a show this autumn in the parks and woodland of England. The combination of a wet summer, a mild frost and some warm September days has led to some spectacular autumn leaf colour - and we all know the significance of the autumn equinox in our story and talk of the golden hues of autumn.

Here’s a song called Autumn Leaves which seems to capture Charles Lamb’s feelings about Lucy Ebbs.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=K7-haKkFnT8

Finally, we have a word from one of the two surviving Beatles members - Ringo Starr!

Ringo officially became a Beatle on 18 August 1962. In a ‘Peace and Love’ video message to fans, the Beatle - real name Richard STARKEY - said that from 20 October he would no longer be responding to requests from fans for autograph signings as he was too busy.  

 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mdyBzgSpYbc&feature=related

Some have reacted critically to this, but we understand and given the pivotal role of The Beatles in our project, we do wonder if this is a coded message that the end of the series of coincidences relevant to The Haymakers Survey has arrived? Only time will tell! If so, it’s been a real pleasure to reveal everything and we hope you have enjoyed the show! Maybe the time has come to focus on the sequel!  In the meantime, let’s follow his advice and “Act Naturally”

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9heOFFlAcFY&feature=related

Love,

Billie Shears

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q26 Do you take poetry seriously?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

12/10/2008 by admin.

As the world’s governments seek solutions to the global credit crunch and rescue the fragile financial services we’ve noticed that the Disney Movie, Mary Poppins, has appeared on television a lot recently, including today.  The story revolves around the Banks’ family:

Here we marvel at the Fidelity Fiducia Bank Sing Along, with Mr Banks at the heart of everthing! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt9JpYRulSk

In our tale, we found some old pennies embedded in rocks in our garden; coins dated from the Maundy Ceremony. Did we unwittingly foresee this financial crisis emerging?  Is the real solution a global culture change - a world built around love and respect for Mother Nature as our tale suggests, rather than growth, profit and greed.

Let another Banksy give us a steer - this time the artist and his bizarre fake ’Pet-Shop’ which aims to encourage people to think about the way we treat animals.  Why not take a look…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1laBLYjuqM&feature=related

The set includes a proverbial white rabbit, mentioned by Malachi in our story!

Meanwhile, an EU commissioned study has put the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 and $5 trillion dollars.  the figures come from the various services that forests perform, such as providing water and cleansing carbon.  The study leader believes the rate of loss dwarfs that currently being experienced by the financial markets.  It’s not only continuous, it’s happening year after year, after year.  For us, the greatest risk we run is not valuing nature as much as we should!  Here’s a supporting video from IUCN:

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

Posted in Q38 Have you built a house of cards?, Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q15 Do you sometimes fear the worst?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

14/09/2008 by admin.

Noel’s HQ is an inspirational show where ordinary people do extraordinary things.  It’s just the kind of thing our very own local champion, Ben Whittenbury would do. The magic of The Haymakers Survey is spreading! Our project about the power of art, love and nature is designed to help change the world - encouraging local champions and a new way of living, that sees a world beyond the grey, money and needless regulation.  Three cheers for Noel…

Well, the funds raised from our ‘not for profit’ scheme, in partnership with the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust is currently supporting the campaign to save Balls Wood Nature Reserve.  Together we can!

http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/hertfordshiremercury-news/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=332073

We’ve given many examples on this blog about the syncronicity of our tale and world events, well we now have a very local and in many ways most extraordinary experience to tell you about.  Our story reveals how it seems that long ago a man called Ben Whittenbury was once involved in a confrontation with the Murderous Pie Man of Ware!  Well, at a fair at Castle Hall in Hertford today some distant relatives of the orginal Benjamin Whittenbury came to our book stall.  The odds against the union must be very high. It was a most remarkable and humbling experience.

Posted in Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q56 Do you believe rules are there to be broken?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Q.8 Do you crave a better life?, Q.5 Do you believe in fate?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

17/07/2008 by admin.

Our policy with the Watch has largely been to avoid commentary from politicians and other influential people.  However,  Ben was determined to flag this speech from Al Gore, which issues a challenge to America to end its dependence on carbon based fuels within 1o years.  Its a generational moment.  We have an opportunity to take a giant leap for human kind. Now, didn’t Malachi say something similar in our tale! Let’s spread the call beyond the shores of America - let’s make this a world-wide mission!

http://www.youtube.com/user/WeCanSolveIt

Posted in Q76 Are you going to take action now to save our world?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

03/07/2008 by admin.

Columbia pictures has announced plans to direct a new film about the great detective, Sherlock Holmes.  In a comic remake, the film will star Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen.  Sarah will be pleased as she’s a fan of both actors - pity none will be Earth Detectives though…

New research suggests that the risk of extinction for many species has been seriously underestimated - by up to a hundred times greater in some cases.  Key factors have simply been ignored, including the ratio of the number of males to females.  Professor Alan Hastings from the University of California, Davis, said, ”There may be many species - and some will not be the large, charismatic ones, but things like insects and other smaller ones that are still very important - where we may be underestimating the risk by quite a bit.”The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified more than 16,000 species threatened with extinction. One in three amphibians, one in four mammals, one in eight birds and 70% of plants so far assessed for its Red Lists of Threatened Species are believed to be at risk.

Posted in Q54 Do you enjoy a bit of a mystery?, Q57 Have you ever spied on anyone?, Q48 Have you ever played solitaire?, Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q11 Do you believe in justice?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

10/05/2008 by admin.

Ha Youngwoong, a cute three year old South Korean boy has become a worldwide hit performing The Beatles song Hey Jude, attracting over 4m hits! 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqXYwNDrU8k

Ben thinks the boy wonder has much promise. He’s truely obsessed with The Beatles and is wooing fans with his performances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dDhW_jJye8&feature=related

Closer to home, Ebbsfleet United FC won the FA Trophy at Wembley Stadium today.  Prior to May 2007 the club was called Gravesend and Northfleet.  The club is unique as, since February 2008, it’s been owned by the web-based venture MyFootballClub, whose members may vote on team selection and player transfers, instead of those decisions being made exclusively by the club’s management and staff as at most other clubs.  Lucy Ebbs would be delighted that such a team in her name has been victorious. 

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q40 Can you play a musical instrument?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q17 Can you speak another language?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »