06/04/2009 by admin.

Tate Britain is rereating an interative exhibition from nearly 40 years ago. When it first showed in 1971 US artist Robert Morris’s ‘Bodyspacemotionthings’ featured cylinders, ramps and weights on chains.  The exhibit closed after just 4 days when audiences went wild, including ‘going wild’ on seesaws.  However, the relaunched exhibits will be much safer as they will have to conform with current health and safety rules.

So, how does all this relate to ‘The Haymakers Survey’? Well, Tate Britain is home to the ‘Haymakers’ painting by George Stubbs which triggered Ben Whittenbury’s pursuit as Nature’s Champion as recorded in our novel.  A novel which includes a scene where Julia and Sarah use a discarded cart as a make-shift seesaw.  On it they discuss the appearance of the ‘Lady in Grey’ who represents the spread of the industrial world over the natural world.  As they swing to and fro Malachi climbs aboard to keep everything in balance - which is what humanity needs to do much better. 

Posted in Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q60 Have you ever experienced deja vu?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q46 Do you value a good education?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q.3 Do you have a good imagination?, Q23 Do you believe all the laws of physics?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

02/02/2009 by admin.

The South-East of England has experienced its heaviest snow fall for nearly 20 years, bringing travel chaos, school closures and causing millions of people to take the day off work.  So far, some parts of London have had 8 inches of snow, covering the heart of government with a blanket of snow for politicians to enjoy.

So, Global Warming is just a rouse right? Let’s look at this from ‘The Haymakers Survey’ perspective. In early February 1823, Charles Lamb’s journal begins (pages 374 and 375), “A magnificent deep white snow has settled about the [Ware] Uplands… changing it into a fairytale land.  I wish Hans [Christian Anderson] and Albert [Thorvaldsen] had remained to witness it. Hans could have recounted his Snow Queen tales, and Albert could have borne witness to the majesty of Yggdrasil in deep snow - yes Gaia for he claimed the real magic of the tree is only witnessed at that time.”

Later that day the journal records how Charles witnessed 12 snow angels perfectly formed about the tree and how Lucy - Mother Nature personified - invited Charles to, “look at the snow. Isn’t it simply beautiful?… Wonderful isn’t it how no two snowflakes are alike.” The young Malachi stretched up to greet her and she said, “Hello, my little polar bear - enjoying the snow are we? Make the most of it my friend for it will disappear befor you can say Jack Frost.”

What’s more, the journal [page 289] records how William Turner’s painting ‘Snow Storm: Hannibal Crossing the Alps’ features in the Gallery to serve as a warning to learn from Napoleon’s demise and turn back whilst the chance still prevails rather than press on and face defeat.  Captured by the Curator’s Assistant, it warns of the might of Nature!

Interesting too that the snow brought commerce and travel to a standstill on a day when a report by the Children’s Society invited us to review our relationships with our children - promoting love and fun!  Did a forgiving Mother Nature intervene on our behalf?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gaOcwWrKTJY

Poignant too that across the other side of the globe, the South-East of Australia,  a country so strongly linked to Britain, are experiencing record temperatures of 40 degrees plus over a sustained period, causing power outages in Melbourne.

Here’s a special report on the snowfall on behalf of Sky News… enjoy!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qa3DcGqqBQ&feature=channel_page

Posted in Q53 Do you prefer to keep warm?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q46 Do you value a good education?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q22 Do you love our Earth?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales? | No Comments »

23/01/2009 by admin.

Barrack Obama has been sworn in as President of America for the second time in as many days because one word - faithfully - was spoken out of place during Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony.  The Chief Justice at the US Supreme Courts, Jonathan Roberts, administered the oath at the White House. 

The decision to repeat the oath was taken out of caution, but President Obama joked, “We decided it was such fun.”  Given the new President’s Green credentials, maybe the erroneous first oath was somehow meant to be.

Meanwhile, hundreds of tonnes of wood are beginning to wash ashore off the coast of Kent and Sussex in England. 

The load fell from the Sinegorsk cargo ship in the English Channel on Monday. The vessel is now berched at Southampton.   The incident follows a similar event last year when the Ice Prince shed at 2,000 tonne-load off the Sussex coast.  We see this as another timely reminder of the tragic deforestation taking place across the globe and the extent to which much of it is wasted needlessly.

Finally, we return to Mayfair, recent host of the Rose Cloud experience. 

On this occassion we report on a £22m property which has been taken over by a group of young ‘posh-squat artists’.  The group are occupying a house in Clargy’s Mews is owned by TimeKeeper Ltd who discovered the occupation last month when they spotted a Christmas tree inside.  As the group face immediate eviction they have been holding open days under the theme of an ‘Open School of Thought’.   Our curiosity is the link between the May Fair which featured at the beginning of Charles Lamb’s journal; Art, a central theme in our project; and TimeKeeper.  As the artists suggest, it makes you think!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QWKdokcvM7A

Posted in Q56 Do you believe rules are there to be broken?, Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q60 Have you ever experienced deja vu?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q21 Have you ever hugged a tree?, Q.2 Are you an art lover?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

18/01/2009 by admin.

Sadly, the much loved TV presenter, Tony Hart has died, aged 83.

For some 50 years, the presenter inspired children to paint and draw.  He designed the original Blue Peter badge and developed the delightful animated clay character, Morph.  His shows included Vision On, Smart and Hartbeat.  Fellow artist, Rolf Harris, described Hart as a, ‘talented and gentle man”.  In an interview last year, Tony said not being able to draw after suffering two strokes as, “The greatest cross I have to bear.”

We admire Tony so much as an ambassador of one of the three aspects of our project represented by hearts - Art! Thank you Tony for all the joy and fun you brought to so many.  Your creativity and vision lives on.  Lets celebrate…

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iVR83ooN0gc&feature=PlayList&p=D1C0D633D6A90070&playnext=1&index=2

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UcCHRW8G9yY&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jSMRPKM1evk

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q78 Do you want to be part of the picture?, Q42 Do you enjoy drawing?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q.3 Do you have a good imagination?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

12/01/2009 by admin.

British actress Kate Winslet aged 33 from Reading has scoped two Golden Globe Awards in Hollywood. She won best actress for her role in Revolutionary Road and she also won best supporting actress for her role in The Reader.  The actress, whose featured on our Watch several times due to her link to Titanic, had 5 previous unsuccessful nominations.  She was in shock after her win and made an emotional and chaotic acceptance speech.  Given the iceberg that awaited the Titanic, was this an unwitting representation of a world on the verge of climate chaos?

We find the doube award curious given the reference in our story to the theory that there’s an identical world to ours somewhere in the Universe with an identical you reading this Watch item simultaneously. Why not wave to them now. Go ahead what harm can it do?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=k6WohNq4ucY&feature=related

Posted in Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, 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 »

10/11/2008 by admin.

Tinker Bell, arguably the most famous fairy in the world, has been immortalised in wax at Madame Tussauds musuem in London.  The figure is the smallest ever created at the attraction, measuring just 5 and a half inches.  The artists involved in the pixie’s creation worked studiously to re-create her in a perfect life-like form  - in a way that reveals her magic and love.  At the attraction, children can see Miss Bell at Pixie Hollow, the home of the fairies in Never Land.  All delightfully enchanting given Sarah’s desire in our tale to see a real fairy at Never Land and the, yet to be fully explained, role of the Shadows’ poem.

Let’s celebrate…

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

We do love a green fairy…

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uwyCfi6qcS0

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q25 Do you believe in fairies?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.3 Do you have a good imagination? | 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 »

26/07/2008 by admin.

Another interesting anniversary - Mick Jagger has reached 65 - making him a pensioner.  The global rock icon, energetic lead singer for the Rolling Stones, has thrilled fans for the last 40 years.  In spite of his age Sir Mick just keeps going.  In our story, our friend, Bill Darvill compared one of the sacred stones Sarah shared with him as a, “Rolling Stone, probably Mick Jagger!”  Play on maestro…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuGjBNSRi1c

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q40 Can you play a musical instrument?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q.4 Have you ever wanted to stop the clock? | No Comments »

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 »