25/03/2009 by admin.

We have yet another example of mischevious grey squirrel behaviour.  Oonagh Nutt from Moira, County Down has seen her home overrun by our furry friends. They first came into Mrs Nutt’s garden from from an adjoining park about 6 years ago, but 18 months ago they decided to move in to her house - about the time when we began our Whittenbury Watch!  The squirrels have caused serious damage and their behaviour has been unruly to say the least - growling and barking, scratching and chewing!  Mrs Nutt has spent thousands trying to tackle the problem and says the local council have been less than helpful. 

So we have a person with the surname Nutt overrun by malicious grey squirrels - curious this given the role of squirrels and nuts in our tale. Its one of many we’ve seen involving grey squirrels. What are they trying to tell us? Its a most befuddling thing…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDWnuddCf0E

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q17 Can you speak another language?, Q15 Do you sometimes fear the worst? | No Comments »

23/02/2009 by admin.

A 26 year old Latin scholar is being hailed as a University Challenge genius.  Gail Trimble led her team from Corpus Christi College, Oxford to victory over Manchester University in the grand final of the general knowledge show. 

Miss Trimble’s performance has been judged as remarkable given she scored two-thirds of the 1,200 points accumulated by Corpus Christi College Oxford in the four qualifying rounds leading up to the final.  Even the show’s host, Jeremy Paxman, was stunned by Gail’s vast array of knowledge. 

Yet her stunning performance has attracted an array of comments - some of which were not particularly pleasant, claiming she’s too clever and smug! Quite ridiculous. We say let’s celebrate her achievement - especially as Malachi likes to see Latin in the headlines! What say the Malachi? “Tacta alea est” - ‘The Die is Cast’ (page 39).

Here’s a video carrying some highlights and an interview on the BBC Breakfast Show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCj4wjV-oqM

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q46 Do you value a good education?, Q17 Can you speak another language?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion? | No Comments »

07/01/2009 by admin.

During our watch we’ve seen examples in Nature of delightful markings on animals each linked in some way to our tale, such as heart shapes.  Now we find a Smiley Cephalopod - a squid with wonderful markings etched on his skin pigmentation. The specimen below was collected by the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium where director Mike Schaat managed to capture it on film.

Readers of our novel will know of the role of a smiley face in helping to spread our message and Ben’s wish to restore a pig farm to former glory - interesting!

RUNAWAY HORSE AT THE MOVIES

An escaped farm horse shocked film-goers when it ran through the automatic doors of Cineworld in Boldon, Sunderland, England. A witness said the horse, one of three to escape from a local farm, was scared by a little girl blowing a raspberry outside of the complex. The animal ran straight for the cinema entrance and took a brief tour of the foyer and a corridor, startling and surprising those inside.  Fortunately, the horse quickly fled and was soon recaptured. Nobody was hurt.  Tim Hamlyn a spokesperson for Cineworld said, “It’s certainly the first time I’ve heard of this happening and I’ve worked in cinemas for six years.”  Perhaps it wanted to see the mati-neigh!

Interesting from our perspective given the role of the runaway horse at sunset on the autumn equinox close to the start of our tale (see Novel extract).  After all, the bizarre incident occurred in Sunderland. Perhaps Mother Nature wants the movie makers to sit up and take notice of our little adventure?

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q78 Do you want to be part of the picture?, Q68 Does the Earth have a spirit?, Q59 Do you like surprises?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q17 Can you speak another language? | No Comments »

19/09/2008 by admin.

Today, BBC Three Counties Radio Beds, Bucks and Herts featured an item about a crop circle at Barton le Clay in Bedfordshire, which was first reported on 14 August.  The radio announcer described the circle as extraordinary and questioned how it could possibly have been made by human hands. Well, the circle is the closest to Noblin Green we’ve witnessed during our watch so we decided to take a closer look.  Here’s a picture of the circle:

Commentators describe it as a ‘key circle’ and focus on the mysterious inner pentagram - a shape which was very important to the Pythagoreons. For us the circle seems to resemble a spider’s web - our fabled Web of Life! 

It’s also curious that the circle was in a field at Barton le Clay, given our ‘treasures in jars of clay!’

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q17 Can you speak another language?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted? | No Comments »

05/09/2008 by admin.

A parrot named Luna from New Jersey has fooled emergency services into an attempt to rescue a damsel in distress.  Concerned neighbours had called the police after they heard cries of, ‘Help me! Help me!” Police resorted to knocking the front door down, only to find a parrot was reponsible.  The owner wasn’t especially surprised as seven years ago Luna alarmed authorities by mimicking a baby’s cry for hours on end, triggering a visit by child welfare officials fearing an abandoned infant!  This is all very familiar given our story.

Meanwhile, in Kent, England, Leonard an African Grey has been showing off his repetoire of impersonations and moves.  The parrot was missing for about 4 days but has now returned home.  Here he is performing Beethoven’s Fifth and doing Dalek impressions - all features from our story!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7600955.stm

However, Sarah pointed out that this is nothing compared with Einstien’s performance. Now here’s a real superstar…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSDFzg8_Wfg

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q17 Can you speak another language?, Q.5 Do you believe in fate? | No Comments »

19/08/2008 by admin.

Scientists have discovered that Magpies are able to identify their own reflection in a mirror; the first time that self-recognition has been seen in non-mammal. Dr Helmet Prior from the Geothe University in Franfurt found carried out the tests on 5 hand-reared birds, placing coloured stickers on the birds in places where they could only be seen in the mirror.   The magpies became focused on the stickers and sometimes succeeded in removing them.  What’s curious about the discovery is that Malachi refers to the ode, ‘one for sorrow, two for joy’ early on in our tale. The tune is, of course, synonomous with magpies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWqXZEngVc8

Dolphins have also been putting on a show off the coast of Australia.  It seems a wild dolphin is teaching other memers of her group to ‘tail-walk’.  Due to illness, one of the group spent a short time in a dolphinarium 20 years ago and may have picked up the trick there. Experts from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society cannot understand why the dolphins are doing it.  Maybe they’re trying to tell us something?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKqutWejmTk&NR=1

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q17 Can you speak another language?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted? | No Comments »

29/05/2008 by admin.

The world’s rarest rhinoceros has been captured on film in the jungles of Java, Indonesia.  There are only 60-70 of the animals left in the wild. Curiously, the female rhino charged the camera, sending it flying. The footage provides a unique glimpse of the animal in its natural habitat.  Stephen Hogg, from WWF, who designed the hidden camera was baffled by the rhino’s attack, as they use infrared lights as illumination so as not to scare the animals away when the camera operates.  Perhaps the animal is rying to tell us something?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7424918.stm

Posted in Q76 Are you going to take action now to save our world?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q57 Have you ever spied on anyone?, Q56 Do you believe rules are there to be broken?, Q51 Have you ever taken part in a protest?, Q54 Do you enjoy a bit of a mystery?, Q17 Can you speak another language? | 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 »

11/04/2008 by admin.

Jonas recently discovered this amazing video from Thailand of an elephant called Hong painting her ’self-portrait’. On a first viewing we were speechless.  take a look…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LHoyB81LnE

We just had to find out more about the elephant involved. Whilst doing so it became clear to us that although there are many elephants listed on the site below who have been trained to use a paint-brush, none come anywhere near this beautiful animal.  Curious that an animal renowned for ’never forgetting’ should paint itself holding a flower! Is this Mother Nature’s way of alerting us of the need to show her more respect? We think it is.

http://www.elephantart.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=69

Posted in Q66 Do you have a favourite flower?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q42 Do you enjoy drawing?, Q17 Can you speak another language?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

19/03/2008 by admin.

The Arctic is losing its old thick ice faster than in previous years. Olde flows are thicker and less saline than newly formed ice, meaning they can survive warmer spells better. Ice more than two years old now makes up about 30% of all the ice in the Arctic, down from 60% two decades ago. The shrinking of Arctic ice has global implications, as its white surface reflects solar energy back into space whereas the open ocean absorbs it.

“Bah humbug” was, of course, an exclamation made famous by Charles Dickens’ character Ebenezer Scrooge  - a cynical and negative businessman preoccupied with a selfish pursuit of money. It’s  a phrase also used by Bill Darvill during one of our discussions about climate change. Well, a Norwegian sailors has spied icebergs with markings that reminded  him of humbug treats that he used to eat as a child. Jonas says they remind him of a barcode! What price for the planet blue in a sea of black?

Experts have been left stumped by the marking’s origins.  Here’s the images taken by Oyvind Tangen from his research vessel.

“Bah Humberg”

Posted in Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q17 Can you speak another language?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »