14/11/2008 by admin.

Many happy returns to Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, who is celebrating his 60th birthday today.

The life of the heir to the throne of the UK and Commonwealth has been eventful and not without controversy, especially on his marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales.  The Prince is well known for his interest in the environment, conservation and natural foods. The landmark anniversary is significant to us given the reference in our story to the Prince of Wales’ heraldic badge.  It consists of three white feathers above a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coronet reads ‘Ich Dien’ - German for ‘I Serve’. Legend has it that the feathers represent those from an ostrich - another feature in our novel.

We can do all the mind games and play with your brain, but the coincidences just keep rolling in! We simply present the truth. In Mother Nature we serve!

Here’s the Prince’s thoughts on the world’s rainforests…

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Cqo1Aksv4

Posted in Q76 Are you going to take action now to save our world?, Star Question - what happened to the blue ribbon?, Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q55 Do you believe in truth?, Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth? | No Comments »

13/09/2008 by admin.

Sir Cliff Richard has celebrated 50 years in showbusiness by publishing an auto-biography. Sir Cliff used to live in a council house at Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. The house was tiny and he had to share a room with one of his sisters. It was in 1958 that he burst on to the music scene with the song, ‘Move It’ with a style initially based on Elvis.  Sir Cliff has has number one’s in each of the four previous decades. The relevance of the anniversary to to our story is simple - for early in our tale Sarah asks Julia about Peter Pan and Netherland! Sir Cliff seems to defy his years, so was fondly dubbed, the Peter Pan of Pop!  He was also the front singer of ‘Cliff Richard and the Shadows!’

A devout Christian, Sir Cliff has remained a Bacholor Boy throughout his career. What can we say, other than Congratulations!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iArJm9gBvg

Posted in Q79 Have you ever looked into the shadows?, Q80a Do you keep a diary?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q62 Have you ever helped the poor?, Q40 Can you play a musical instrument?, Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q31 Are you a charitable neighbour? | No Comments »

10/09/2008 by admin.

Scientists have switched on the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland in the hope of shedding light on one of the fundamental questions in physics, ‘What is mass?’ 

The current favoured model involves a particle dubbed as ‘The God Particle’.  The enormous experiment is designed to throw light on this - to understand how Nature works - and on the mysterious ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’ that makes up the large majority of the Universe.

The LHC is the biggest and most complex machine in history, taking 13 years to construct at a cost of 5bn.  The experiment involves sending two beams in opposite directions  - revolving about a huge circle of magnetic tubes. Dr Shears a particle physicist from the University of Liverpool said, “We will be looking at what the Universe was made of billionths of a second after the Big Bang.”

The project has not been without its critics with some fearing the formation of a black hole that might swallow the Earth!  We’re not merchants of doom but it’s curious that the experiment is taking place within the proximity of Lake Lucerne - the source of inspiration for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstien.

Scientists clearly hope that the LHC experiment will live long in the memory. Perhaps they’ll adopt an iconic song to remind them of the day, for a study using Beatles music has been set up which catologues 3,000 recollections of Beatles related memories.   For a long time people have noticed that music is a great way to remember events from the past.  See www.magicalmemorytour.com for details.

Our Beatles choice to make the launch of the LHC is ‘Revolution’ … It’s going to be alright!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87yq372R4Ts

Posted in Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q79 Have you ever looked into the shadows?, Q46 Do you value a good education?, Q29 Could you live without machines?, Q23 Do you believe all the laws of physics?, Q15 Do you sometimes fear the worst? | No Comments »

29/08/2008 by admin.

The eccentric and controversial popstar, Michael Jackson, has celebrated his 50th birthday. It’s not for us to judge his personal life. We just wanted to share some things he said in an interview to a US breakfast show today. He said how much he enjoyed making people happy through his music.  The anniversary is curious as in May 2007, the singer auctioned a red-military jacket similar to that discovered Ben during our adventure.

During his interview, the fallen icon said his happiest time was during the release of the album, ‘Off the Wall!”  Did he have the Royston Cave in mind?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDzxl_Q0qYE&feature=related

He also had a huge hit with the song, Ben…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSqo17o2a1w

Another amazing video is ‘Don’t stop till you get enough’! Just take a look at those stones? They look just like those sacred to the Royston Cave. As Michael said, ‘The force, it’s got a lot off power!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_hz2am90Hk&feature=related

So, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Michael once performed the ‘Earth Song’!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Hcd60VoRM

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q76 Are you going to take action now to save our world?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q61 Have you ever worn fancy dress?, Q54 Do you enjoy a bit of a mystery?, Q40 Can you play a musical instrument?, Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q39 Do you believe in magic? | No Comments »

22/08/2008 by admin.

A man who threw a message in a bottle into the sea when he was just a boy has been reunited with his note 23 years after the event!  Donald Wylie was just 11 when he tossed the bottle into the water at Sandside beach, Orkney.  It was found by eco-volunteers clearing a beach at Fife, Scotland and traced to Mr Wylie, now 33.   The organiser of the beach clean-up said, ‘The message in a bottle was quite a find and surprised us all. It’s remarkable that it should turn up after all this time.”  Maybe the discovery is a coded SOS from Mother Nature?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeQ2yXE1mpU

Meanwhile, the sprinter, Usain Bolt, has been at it again, collecting his 3rd Olympic Gold and his 3rd World Record. Quite a feat! This time he was part of a quartet, the 4×100 relay.  They ran the distance in just 37.10 seconds, smashing the existing record, set in 1992, by 0.3 seconds. A fantastic champion. Congratulations Usain.

Let’s celebrate with some Chariot’s of Fire…

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

Posted in Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.5 Do you believe in fate? | 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 »

17/04/2008 by admin.

One of the heroines of modern English poetry, Miss J. Hunter Dunn, has died.  She featured in ‘A Subaltern’s Love Song’ a poem of enduring appeal by John Betjeman; who went on to become poet laurette.  Although written  in 1941 to celebrate their engagement, their love was never fulfilled.  In 1965, Joan Hunter Dunn spoke glowingly of the moment that Betjeman told her he had written a poem about her, and how the knowledge brightened the drab war time days.  

 The opening verse reads:

“Miss J. Hunter Dunn, Miss J. Hunter Dunn, Furnished and burnish’b by Aldershot sun’. 

An anagram of ALDERSHOT reads EARTH SOLD!

Here’s an image associated with Miss J Hunter Dunn, capturing Betjeman’s idealised vision. “Love-thirty, love-forty, oh! weakness of joy.”

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q50 Do you miss someone you love?, Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q26 Do you take poetry seriously? | No Comments »

05/04/2008 by admin.

It’s been more than 20 years since Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” topped the charts, but it is once again proving popular thanks to  to the phenomenon known as “RickRolling.

It began around March 2007, when bloggers and online social networkers started casually linking to the song’s video via YouTube. RickRolling was a psych-out for readers who would click on tantalizing hyperlinks, only to fall prey to a young Astley’s blonde bouffant and lively dance moves.  On April Fools’ Day, YouTube RickRolled users by linking to the video on all of its home-page features. The video was viewed 6.6 million times in one day!

So, what’s this got to do with ‘The Haymakers Survey?” Well, Caleb Hitch always thought the popstar was called Rick Ashley an anagram of which is HAY SICKLER and the lyrics from the song so capture Charles’ feelings for Lucy.  Fear not Mother Nature - We’re Never Gonna Give You Up! Here’s the link. Be warned, some of the comments contain foul language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

Posted in Q59 Do you like surprises?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q56 Do you believe rules are there to be broken?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q18 Do you let your heart rule your head? | No Comments »

28/03/2008 by admin.

A team of British animators has created a computer-generated model of a human heart so realistic it could transform surgical training. Every vessel and valve has been reproduced with remarkable accuracy.

The animators are following in the footsteps of Leonardo de Vinci, the Renaissance artist, whose depictions of the way the heart valves open and close, the muscles expand and contract and blood flows in and out remain so precise that his drawings influenced the operations are conducted by surgeons.

India’s Virender Sehwag has hit the fastest recorded triple-century in Test cricket history on day three of the first Test againt South Africa in Chennai. Sehwag reached 100 (for Art) before lunch and 200 (for Love) after, before reaching 300 (for Nature) from just 278 balls in the evening session.  he becomes only the third batsman to score 300 twice in Test cricket.  “You have to play your shots and maintain your run rate,” said the batsman, after a magnificent performance.

The oldest known recording of the human voice was aired on BBC Radio 4 and led to the presenter having a fit of giggles.  Apparently the 160 year old recording of Clair de Lune by Debussy was likened to a bee buzzing about in a bottle.  The amusing mishap by Charlotte Green was welcomed by many listeners…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7310000/newsid_7318200/7318249.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1

Posted in Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q56 Do you believe rules are there to be broken?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q46 Do you value a good education?, Q42 Do you enjoy drawing?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.9 Do you feel in control of your life?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

19/01/2008 by admin.

Capital of Culture is such a wonderful accolade. Culture isn’t culture unless it’s shared, so as part of the project, the people of Liverpool have been invited to create their own treasure boxes in which to store items of special value to them - things with a cultural meaning to them.   Curious this given Ben Whittenbury’s little habit of storing all the Haymaker discoveries, our treasures, in his wooden rider box!  The city is also set to host the UK tribute for the International National Holocaust Day witha dramatic multimedia exhibition  that sees a life-size replica of Anne Frank’s bedroom assembled in the Anglican Church. Another coincidence, given that Sarah was inspired by Anne’s words, wisdome and values.  

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q80a Do you keep a diary?, Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Q47 Do you know your history?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q11 Do you believe in justice? | No Comments »