12/06/2008 by admin.

The unicorn has always been a creature of mythology. Well, in a nature preserve in the Tuscan town of Prato, near Rome, visitors are amazed to see fantasy become reality. Okay, the animal is a deer with a single horn at the centre of its head.   Experts say, single horn deer are rare, but one with a horn exactly in the centre seems almost unique.  Take a look:

This is yet another ’Haymakers’ curiosity given that, when discussing the lion head statue, Captain Lewin told Charles Lamb,”it was either a lion or a unicorn, but the lion beat the unicorn all around the town.”  Most odd!

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q68 Does the Earth have a spirit?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales? | No Comments »

10/06/2008 by admin.

Hot on the heels of the Paddington Bear celebrations is a story about another animal that has a fondness for wellington boots.  Bizarrely, a North Yorkshire piglet called Cinders has an aversion to mud.  In desperation, her owners provided her with some specially made wellies. She loves them and now happily walks in the mire. Bless her!

Now, if our memory serves us well, this is the same breed of pig that had a lovely heart shaped marking on it last year.  Curious all this given Ben’s wish to restore the pig sties at Noblin Green farm to their former glory.  

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q43 Do you believe in happy endings?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales? | No Comments »

23/04/2008 by admin.

A pocket full of posies, atishoo, atishoo we all fall down! Readers of ‘The Haymakers Survey’ will know the significance of the rhyme in helping to open eyes and see the big picture.  Curious then that we have discovered an amazing video of a baby panda sneezing: the panda being the adopted logo of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

baby_panda_sneeze.wmv

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

30/03/2008 by admin.

Leona Lewis, winner of the 2006 edition of the X-Factor talent show, has become the first British female solo artist to top the US pop charts in over 20 years with her song Bleeding Love.  She becomes only the third British female in chart history to manage the feat.  Curious this as early in our account of events in ‘The Haymakers Survey’ we asked whether we - the human race - have what it takes to tackle the environmental issues we now face? Do we have the X Factor? This is the promotional video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF84pIhP5UM

So far there have been over 37 million viewings - fairy tales do come true! Strange too that the lyrics themselves could almost be a plea from Mother Nature herself!

Posted in Q52 Do you believe in miracles?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q47 Do you know your history?, Q43 Do you believe in happy endings?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales? | No Comments »

25/03/2008 by admin.

An 18th century masterpiece long presumed destroyed has been found languishing in the corner of an English country house! In the turmoil of the French Revolution, the picture disappeared. The whereabout of the French artist Jean-Antione Watteau’s La Surprise has since been a mystery.  

The original was only known about because of a 19th century copy in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace.  Watteau was one of the most brilliant painters of his time.  The work is due to go to auction and is expected to fetch £5m. It will be exhibited by Christie’s in London from July 5 - 8, which includes Earth Day.  We really do enjoy surprises!  Maybe Uncle John Plumer had something to do with this?

A University of Cambridge academic claims that Walt Disney animated films, such as Bambi, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty have played an important role in educating the public about the environment.  In his book, The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation, Dr Whitely argues that the films’ cute animals have systematically encouraged generations of children to ally themselves with the natural world and protect it.  ‘For decades, Disney films have been enabling children to explore how they feel about the natural world… and tell us more about the environment and the way we relate to it than we tend to accept.’  We do love a happy ending!

The results of a Name Experiment conducted by Professor Wiseman of Hertfordshire University, will be announced today at the Edinburgh International Science Festival.  Nearly 7,000 people took part in an online surveyMr Wiseman asked visitors to a website to imagine that they were about to walk into a room and meet 10 women and 10 men. They were given a list of male and female first names and asked to identify which they thought were the most successful, attractive and lucky. Strong voting trends emerged, with James (13%) and Elizabeth (11.6%) being seen as the most successful, compared to Brian (1.8%) and Lisa (1.8%). The “luckiest” names were Jack (15.5%), Lucy (12%) and Katie (11.8%), whereas people named Helen (1.57%) and John (2.31%) were seen as far less fortunate.

Posted in Q59 Do you like surprises?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q54 Do you enjoy a bit of a mystery?, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

09/03/2008 by admin.

It’s been a weekend of shocks in the English FA Cup with the underdogs triumphant against the big boys! Against all the odds, Portsmouth beat Manchester United on their own ground; then Barnsley from the championship defeated Chelsea; and Cardiff from the same division beat Middlesborough from the Premiership. The remaining game same West Bromich Albion, also from the Championship reach the last four.  This remarkable set of results means that for the first time in 100 years only one club from the top flight is represented in the semi-finals of the oldest cup competition in the world!

Posted in Q59 Do you like surprises?, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales? | No Comments »

04/03/2008 by admin.

The world’s first Hexapus or six-legged octopus has been found in a lobster pot off the coast of North Wales.  Marine experts at Blackpool’s Sea Life Centre believe it’s the first know case of a six-legged octopus ever found. They’ve named him Henry! Octopuses are renowned for having three hearts, blue blood and the ability to alter their skin complexion in the blink of an eye.  Really weird eh! Take a look…

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales? | No Comments »

04/02/2008 by admin.

In a scene out of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, a Malaysian family was startled to return home to find their apartment ransacked and a thief snoozing on the bed.  The burglar, who had also helped himself to food from the kitchen, remained fast asleep under a blanket until police arrived to take him away. Householder V. Sathya said his nine-year-old son discovered the intruder when he entered his bedroom after the family returned from a shopping trip. He shouted and ran out of his room. Even then the burglar did not wake up and carried on sleeping while holding on to one of his wife’s purses.  V. Sayhya said, “I guess my wife’s cookies were just too irresistible for him.” The 29-year-old thief tested positive for drugs and was under investigation for trespassing. 

Meanwhile, in another part of the Universe, a smiley face has been seen. LOL! An amazing life-like face with a giant smile has been found on the Red Planet.

The amazing image was captured by a satellite, thousands of kilometres away.  The latest picture comes after a satellite image last month showed a man-like figure on Mars. 

Posted in Q43 Do you believe in happy endings?, Q70 Do you like to look at the stars?, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales? | No Comments »

23/01/2008 by admin.

In Australia, over 3,000 tonnes of sand has been merticulously carved into some wonder sculptures of scenes from famous fairytales.  This is yet a further curiousity, given the significance of sand in ‘The Haymakers Survey’ and Charles Lamb’s fondness for nursery rhymes and fairytales. Here’s one of a lion, a frog and of Gulliver, mentioned by Charles in his journal.

Posted in Q37 Do you know how to have fun?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

20/07/2007 by admin.

Something truly fabulous; puppy love!

In Japan, a Chihualwa puppy has been born with a natural heart-shaped pattern on his coat. The dog was named, Heart Kun. He has become a national star and its claimed has brought good luck to many visitors. Charles, as we know, had a thing for heart shapes. So, we ask again, is nature telling us something? Try Questions 6, 39 and 75.

Flash floods again in the UK, with 2 months of rain forecast to fall in just one day. This time parts of central London have suffered from the extreme conditions. Question 9

We’ve been on crop circle watch again. During July we’ve seen one like the web-log where we discovered the locket.

http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/2007/hatgatecottage/hatgatecottage2007.html

Another has appeared that resembles a honey comb and has within it a cube, which could well be a dice.

http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/2007/tootbalden/tootbalden2007.html

And, so Sarah says, we have a circle that looks just like Malachi – they say it’s a duck, but we don’t agree. http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/2007/whiteshill/whiteshill2007.html

Question 68 applies

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q68 Does the Earth have a spirit?, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Q.9 Do you feel in control of your life?, Q.6 Do you believe in fairy tales? | No Comments »