03/10/2011 by admin.

Yesterday, Britain basked in the hottest October day EVER. At Gravesend in the South-East of England temperatures soared to 29.9 degrees C, eclipsing the previous record set in 1985.

The warm front led many thousands to head to the coast with Bournemouth and Brighton proving especially popular.  The hottest October day followed the hottest April in Britain on record.

Our weather is so topsy turvy. Time for story of inspiration, collaboration and the magic that happens when the world is turned upside down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoVKQ5G3t1g

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q35 Do you trust your instincts?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself? | No Comments »

22/03/2011 by admin.

Knut, the world’s most famous polar bear, has died at just 4 years of age. 

 Rejected by his mother he was put in an incubator and raised by humans from a cub at Berlin Zoo. His story captured the imagination of an adoring public and was adopted by many as an icon on tackling climate change.  Polar bears can live for up to 30 years in the wild. 

His premature death from brain damage has provoked renewed debate about the ethics of keeping large animals in zoos.  Comments on the BBC website are wide ranging including, human arrogance in interfering with nature’s course, our sentimentality in relating to wild creatures, the role of status species in zoo’s as ambassadors for their breathen in the wild, and the importance of not judging nature by human standards. 

Whatever your view Knut’s short life should be cherished - we loved the polar bear champion. Maybe his early death is another signal that we need to act quickly to address the threats to the natural world.

Posted in Q48 Have you ever played solitaire?, Q50 Do you miss someone you love?, Q33 Do you believe in life after death?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself?, Q18 Do you let your heart rule your head?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion? | No Comments »

12/04/2009 by admin.

“Be proud of your faith!” These were the words of Archbishop Vincent Nichols the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church spoken on a day of hope and renewal for Christians the world over.  His Easter message was especially interesting to Julia given Lucy Ebbs’ words to her through dreams recorded in our novel (eg see page 65), ”I need to tell you - you hold the key.  You must never break faith Julia. Can you promise me that?”

How curious then that the new archbishop said, “Be proud of your faith and don’t be afraid to live by it and act on it and be as deeply as rooted as you can in that faith and as open to the world as you can. We all need to take a bit more time to live life a bit more deeply, with a bit more reflection, a bit more spirit. We are so rushed.”

Readers of our novel will be familiar with the importance of the word, “rush” as part of an anagram key to the central message within it.  Perhaps its worth reminding ourselves of what happened in Julia’s dream immediately after she’d heard Lucy speak. Here’s the extract: “Julia looked at her cupped palms. Rotating within it was a tiny Earth - she literally had the whole world in her hands.”  

What does it all mean? Let’s have some music….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmd83LIADnE

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q68 Does the Earth have a spirit?, Q52 Do you believe in miracles?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself?, Q22 Do you love our Earth? | 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 »

23/09/2008 by admin.

The autumn equinox is a key part of our story, so it comes as no surprise that the London edition of the cultural and events magazine Time Out is celebrating its 40th Anniversary edition.  The edition features a look back over previous iconic covers, interviews with global celebraties and identifies 40 London Heroes since the birth of the magazine.

So, we have a significant TIME OUT anniversary on the Autumn Equinox! Are we out of time to take remedial action to save our natural world? Let’s consult the Cranberries…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O28YoOIaXMA

Posted in Q78 Do you want to be part of the picture?, Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q35 Do you trust your instincts?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself?, Q.4 Have you ever wanted to stop the clock? | 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 »

18/02/2008 by admin.

The developed world’s passion for bottled water has been called into question.  Most of it is imported, bringing ethical and environmental concerns.  In Britain, we have perfectly drinkable tap water, yet the ‘love-affair’ for bottled water has gone unchecked and has grown significantly in the last few decades.  Pity those in the developing world deprived of fresh drinking water.  It brings a new perspective to Samuel’s prophetic words, ‘water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink!” To find out more view…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7250000/newsid_7250000/7250011.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1

A 70 million-year-old fossil of a giant frog has been unearthed in Madagascar by a team of scientists.  The fossil has been named Beelzebufo or ‘Frog from Hell’.  The 16in long frog is thought to have had an agressive ’sit-and-wait’ temperament and been a formidable predator.  Just imagine such a ’sit-and-wait’ frog in a jar!

A study released today by Virgin Media shows Britons are racing through life faster than ever and will hit meltdown if they do not change their habits.  We are bolting our meals, spending money like there’s no tomorrow and not even slowing down to share some love.  Psychologist Honey Lancaster-James said Britons were now living life at a ‘crazy pace’.  She said, “The question we have to ask ourselves is, where is this going to end?” Any wonder that we struggle to respond to the challenges of our climate in chaos?

Posted in Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q69 Do you put off to tomorrow what you could do today?, Q28 Have you ever lived in poverty?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself?, Q15 Do you sometimes fear the worst?, Q22 Do you love our Earth?, Q.4 Have you ever wanted to stop the clock? | No Comments »

28/11/2007 by admin.

Tate Britain have put on a special display to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Blake.  It includes items from the permanent collection, but also some recently discovered work never before exhibited.  It’s curious that this landmark should occur in the year of our Watch, for the mystic artist and poet, managed to have a discreet yet profound impact on the Blakesware Set and, ‘The Haymakers Survey.’  

Across London, a new gallery at London’s Natural History Museum, will showcase a collection of gems, cystals and meteorites from around the world.  The specimens were chosen for, ‘their beauty, rarity and history’ and are described as ‘the creme de la creme’ of the mineral world.  Perhaps they ought to add the Royston Cave stones to the collection?

Hertford museum are running an exhibition celebrating local peoples passion for Dr Who, featuring a locally made Tardis, Dalek and K9, the robot dog.  This is very curious given Sarah’s love of Dr Who and her time travel antics.  

Posted in Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself?, Q23 Do you believe all the laws of physics?, Q16 Have you ever had a psychic experience?, Q.3 Do you have a good imagination?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

28/09/2007 by admin.

George Stubbs - painter of the inspirational Haymakers - would be delighted to learn that his home town of Liverpool is to mark the return of the European Capital of Culture to British shores next year.   The year long celebrations will include the biggest public artwork deisplay ever commissioned by a British city.  Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will led the opening ceremony and also perform in June at Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC.    

A community nurse from Suffolk was amazed to find an egg within another egg!  She took the egg to work and shared it with her friends… they were astounded too. Here it is…

Another survey about workers failing to take a break or a holiday. One in five say they work too many hours, while half feel they do not get enough sleep. One in three complain of being stressed about work routine, with many fearing they do not get enough fresh air or exercise.  Senior managers are least likely to take breaks.  Just think of all those lost opportunities to enjoy art, love and nature!

Posted in Q59 Do you like surprises?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q40 Can you play a musical instrument?, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself?, Q.9 Do you feel in control of your life? | No Comments »

16/08/2007 by admin.

 Another new phenomenon in space! This time it’s a colossal star that’s hurtling through space at extraordinary speeds and leaving a 13 million light year tail in its wake. The behaviour of the star, called Mira, has left scientists baffled as they don’t understand the physics involved.  13 million light years - that’s one huge Galactic footprint! Questions 23 and 70   

In America’s deep-south, things keep self-combusting due to the parched conditions. Question 53  

Scientists claim to have made photons travel faster than the speed of light, something that was supposedly impossible. Traveling faster than light makes the prospect of time travel real, but with bizarre consequences – someone could arrive at a destination before leaving it! Questions 24 and 72

Posted in Q72 Are you a good time keeper?, Q70 Do you like to look at the stars?, Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q24 Do you get enough time to yourself?, Q23 Do you believe all the laws of physics? | No Comments »