04/12/2008 by admin.

A British discoverer claims to have found the world’s largest rock sculptures and is poised to prove his claims.  Latest satellite imaging techniques were used to search the Peruvian mountains for ancient shapes and formations.  The collosal images include one of a ’sacred lamb’ and another of a staring human face with the forehead marked with an X.  As the details began to emerge, the explorer, Bill Veall - which is so similar to Bill Darvill - says he felt disbelief, then excitement and amazement.  The sculptures could be up to 5,000 years old, although there are doubters who claim the images have been doctored as part of an elaborate hoax.  Take a look…

Our interest is the role of sculptures in helping to reveal the truth, the Peru link to Malachi, Charles Lamb’s journal, and the X Factor question posed for the human race.  Truth or simple coincidence - you decide?

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

01/10/2008 by admin.

One of the greatest names in boxing, Mohammed Ali, has been cut into a cornfield in Arizona, USA.  When they heard of the news, Ali, and his wife  flew over the site in their helicopter to check out the artwork from the air and could not believe their eyes.   Here’s the video…

http://multimedia.boston.com/pub/m/21065701/muhammad_ali_s_likeness_carved_into_corn_field.htm?pageid=14155

This is strange given the role of crop circles in our story and the presence of the famous black boxer, and proclaimed Haymaker, Bill Richmond.  Let’s compare the two…

Three times world heavyweight champion, Ali was famed for saying, ‘I am the greatest’.  A poet and prophet, his real name was Cassius Clay ‘oh those treasures in jars of clay!’  He certainly knew how to deliver the knockout punch!

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

27/09/2008 by admin.

Earth’s most ancient rocks, with an age of £4.8bn, have been found on the shores of Hudson Bay.   The sample of ‘Greenstone’ is estimated to be 250m years older than any previously identified.  The stone may reveal evidence of the earliest life on Earth.  The Professor of Geology leading the study said, “The rock contains a very special chemical signature - one that can be found in very, very old rocks only.  Nobody has found that signal anywhere else on Earth. Everyone is so excited!”  As Rev. North asked in out story, ‘What do these stones mean?” Lets take a closer look at the image of the Greenstone. 

Notice the X at the heart of the stone?  Is the really a poser,”Do we have the X-factor?” as explored in our story? A signal that we need to adjust our way of life to live in balance with the natural world. Perhaps Bill Dan has the answer…

Bill is a performance artist who has been wowing crowds in San Fransisco Bay with his amazing designs involving resting different sized rocks on top of each other.  His gravity defying work has led many to refuse to believe he doesn’t use glue or some other trickery.  If you’re watching Bill, we believe in the magic of the stones.

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

Let’s consult the Rolling Stones for advice on what humanity needs to do to avoid eviction from planet earth.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ8xM83fMhU&feature=related

Meanwhile Yves Rossy has succeeded in his quest to make the first single jetpack flight across the English Channel. It took him just 10 minutes to fly across the 23 mile stretch of water. History is littered with man’s attempts to fly like a bird and now someone has achieved that dream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzrKlEtxTx4

Posted in Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q65 Have you ever wished you could fly?, Q46 Do you value a good education?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q23 Do you believe all the laws of physics?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

20/09/2008 by admin.

The Corpus Clock, perhaps the strangest clock in the world has been unveiled by Professor Stephen Hawkins at Cambridge University.   The 24 caret gold-plated £1m mechanism features a giant grasshopper and has 60 slits cut into its face which light up to show the time.

The clock’s creator, Dr John C Taylor says he wants to make time keeping interesting.  He turned the clock inside out so people can literally see the seconds being ‘eaten up’.  he wanted to depict time as a destroyer - to show that once a minute has gone you can’t get it back again!  Let John explain further…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHO1JTNPPOU

Curious this should happen as time is of the essence given the environmental challenges today and in the years ahead.  Some music maestro..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntm1YfehK7U

The final verse is especially relevant to our tale!

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q72 Are you a good time keeper?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself?, Q.4 Have you ever wanted to stop the clock?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

17/09/2008 by admin.

A rare upside down rainbow has appeared in the skies above Cambridgeshire.  The arc was formed by sunlight bouncing of ice crystals high in the atmosphere.  It appeared in the sky for just the briefest of moments but was caught on camera by a local astronomer, Dr Jacqueline Mitton.  Dr Mitton, who has a doctorate in astrophysics from Cambridge University, said, ”I’m 60 and I’ve never seen anything like this before.”  Seen against a setting sun, the dazzling sight was accompanied by a phenomenon known as ’sun-dogs’ , which are gleaming spots on a halo around the sun.  The Dr added, “It was just an amazing combination of events that happened at the same time.”

Arc rainbows are rarely seen outside of the polar regions. What’s interesting about the location is that the Royston Cave is on the Herts/Cambs border! Our readers will know of the significance of the cave in our story.  Beyond that, our curiosity is simple - first, our story begins against a setting sun; second, Charles Lamb’s journal recalls how he observed 3 rainbows simultaneously at a time when Malachi emerged from beneath the centre of the arc; and, third the sun-dog event is strange, given that  our Samoyed, Malachi is the messenger! 

Let’s celebrate with a song…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A2Jt4WOxN8

As if to herald the rainbow, the famous hourly Greenwich time ‘pips’ on BBC radio stations were a little late this morning!  The delay was unprecedented and put down to a computer error. Listen in…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7621996.stm

Meanwhile, across town, the artist Damien Hirst has donated a a pair of his heart-shaped butterfly paintings to two London children’s charities, amounting to a £1.4m gift. 

It represents a slice of the record-breaking £111m raised from auction of his work at Sotherby’s.  The amount is ten times the amount raised by a previous auction dedicated to one artist.  His famous animal corpses in tanks were the best sellers. One, the Golden Calf, went for £10.3m.

So, what does this mean for us? Well - the heart is the most obvious link, but beyond that we’re interested in the 111 or Nelson.  Readers may recall Malachi’s reference to the supposed misfortunate number, related to the admiral’s downfall.

Posted in Q72 Are you a good time keeper?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q23 Do you believe all the laws of physics?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

08/09/2008 by admin.

Artists in Caracas, Venezuela, have used the living human body as a canvas. Amongst the exhibits was Nature Personified, which is very curious given Charles Lamb’s perception of Lucy Ebbs in his journal.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7602547.stm

The exhibition coincided with a £3 trillion rescue package by the US Government for the American lending company, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  “What does this have to do with the environment?”, you may well ask.  Well, in our story did not Fanny plead to Ben for help, quote, “Please, I implore you, we have been waiting for so long.”  Is this life imitating art?  In some ways, the company’s logo resembles Keeper’s Cottage.

Posted in Q68 Does the Earth have a spirit?, Q78 Do you want to be part of the picture?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q61 Have you ever worn fancy dress?, Q52 Do you believe in miracles?, Q.3 Do you have a good imagination?, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

06/09/2008 by admin.

One of the most important parts of our story is a poem called Shadows, which includes the verse:

“Ah, be ours the task to stop it, ours the task this Earth to keep. With imagination blot it, woe decry industrial creep. Woe decry that icy tear, “Forget me Not,” the time is Near.”

In our tale, the poem was passed to Julia by her Grandmother who advised her to, “Look out for the signs. You have the gift…”  Charles Lamb’s journal reveals how the poem came about and who wrote it - that it captures concerns about the impact of machines upon Mother Nature.

Julia wondered if events in the poem were beginning to unfold in the world and at home. Well, Sarah believes the presence of a 50ft mechanical spider creeping about the streets of Liverpool (home of the Beatles) in icy rain represents the line, ‘woe decry industrial creep.’  The creation is by the french company La Machine.  The spider is made out of steel and popular wood and is operated by up to 12 people.

Here’s a video of the spider caught in the snow!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool08/video/08/lamach_lee_snow.shtml

A read of the poem inspired Julia to examine the 12 white stones our dog, Malachi, had helped to discover.  Funny then how a Labrador was discovered with 13 golf balls in its stomach - one of which had turned black and was decomposing.  The dog named Oscar had apparently swallowed the balls when accompanying his owner about a golf course in Fife, which is strange in itself as Malachi passed Ben a fife to help inspire his thoughts and actions on the survey. 

Commenting on the operation, the local vet said he’d never seen anything like it, claiming it was just like a magic trick!

Posted in Q29 Could you live without machines?, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q26 Do you take poetry seriously?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.3 Do you have a good imagination?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

10/07/2008 by admin.

Liverpool, The Beatles’ home city, held its first ever Beatles day today.  As if in celebration, two significant items of Beatles related memorobilia achieved remarkable sums at a rock and pop auction at Christies in London.

Top of the Pops was the hand-painted drumskin used on the front cover of the world famous 967 album Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.  It sold for over £540,000, well in excess of the £150,000 pre-sale estimate.  The drum was designed by Sir Peter Blake. It’s regarded as arguably the most iconic image associated with The Beatles and the album cover is the most famous of all time, capturing the spirit of the Sixities. Ringo Starr summed the album with the words, “It was flower power coming into its fullest. It was love and peace…”

A close second were John Lennon’s hand written lyrics for the iconic ‘Give Peace a Chance’ which became an anthem for peace campaigners.  The lyrics reached over £420,000 - more than double the pre-sale figure.  They were written in black felt pen on a piece of white-card.  John gave the lyrics to Gail Renard a 16 year-old girl who dodged tight security at a hotel in New York to request an interview for her college magazine.

It goes without saying how significant the Lonely Hearts Club Band is to our story, and there’s flower power, of course, and Charles Lamb spoke of securing a peace between humanity and nature - no more exploitation of our world’s precious resources! Here’s the lyrics below…

As if to drum home the point, researchers say that one third of the world’s coral species are under serious threat due to pollution, coastal development, over-fishing and climate change.  These are the stark findings from the first ever global survey of its kind. The figure is alarming and the wider consequences frightening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBgh_YmY4lU&feature=related

Posted in Q66 Do you have a favourite flower?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q51 Have you ever taken part in a protest?, Q40 Can you play a musical instrument?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | 1 Comment »

07/07/2008 by admin.

Readers of The Haymakers Survey will know the significance of 7 July in the story in helping to bring the ‘action now on nature’ message to the world. They’ll also know of the specific role played by Sir Peter Scott, founder of the WWF and designer of the panda emblem used by the charity.  Our story also features two identical characters - Ben Whittingbury and Captain Richard Lewin.

Curious then that a 12 year old Giant Panda, rescued from a recent quake zone in China, has given birth to twins.  They’re the first pandas to be born in captivity in 2008. Here’s the video. Warning - high cuteness factor!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7492999.stm

Meanwhile couples in London have today tangoed in silence to promote a sense of ‘compassionate togetherness’ . Wearing headphones as they danced on seven bridges and seven railway stations, it reminded Ben and Julia of their silent tango to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, as recorded in our story. Shall we dance…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7F2X3rSSCU

Maybe some were dancing in memory of lost loved ones, for it seems the spectacular sight of red poppy fields are becoming a rare-sight in Britain.  Numbers have declined dramatically over the past century because of the wildspread use of weedkillers.  Conservation charity, Plantlife, say, “It’s very sad poppy fields have become such a rarity, as they have provided the inspiration for many famous paintings.” The plant is synomous with remembrance as thousands grew on disturbed ground near the trenches during World War I.

Posted in Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q76 Are you going to take action now to save our world?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q50 Do you miss someone you love?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q13 Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

23/05/2008 by admin.

Dramatic evidence of the break-up of the Arctic ice-cap has emerged.  Scientists have found major new fractures during an assessment of the state of giant ice shelves in Canada’s far north. They found a network of cracks that stretched for more than 10 miles on Ward Hunt, the area’s largest shelf.  The scientists were astonished to see these new cracks, saying: “It means the ice shelf is disintegrating, the pieces are pinned together like a jigsaw but could float away. We’re seeing very dramatic changes; from the retreat of the glaciers, to the melting of the sea ice.  What’s happening to the ice shelves is part of that picture.” 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7417123.stm

After the record Arctic melting last year, all eyes are now on what happens to the sea ice this summer.

Perhaps this explains why Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ has been put back on display in a Norwegian museum, having been largely restored after it was damaged during a heist in 2004.  The painting is not quite its former self, carrying a humidity stain in the bottom left-hand corner. The painting, of course, features within our story to represent nature’s torment at our destuctive hands. We see its restoration as a message of hope for the future.

Let’s celebrate with this version of Norwegian Wood, by The Beatles.  Look out for the man in the shadows!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG0xiweOaMw

Posted in Q79 Have you ever looked into the shadows?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q76 Are you going to take action now to save our world?, Q43 Do you believe in happy endings?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q34 Have you ever restored something?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »