09/01/2012 by admin.

Another example of an iconic animal making a point on behalf of The Haymakers Survey. The latest involves a gorilla  at a zoo in France adopting a pose similar to Rodin’s The Thinker. 

The images were captured by the photographer Sophie Narses and shows the majestic ape appearing to be deep in thought.  A curious coincidence as in our novel Rodin’s The Thinker prompted Ben Whittenbury to first put together the questions in The Haymakers Survey.

Following on the heals of Sofia’s experience with Malik the lion (see 7 January post) we seem to be directed to the Norwegian philosophical novel Sophie’s World, which posed a series of questions designed to provoke thought about our place in this world - sound familiar?  This clip has a message for all the sceptics who humbug this project…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpvKzodPg3k

Posted in Q79 Have you ever looked into the shadows?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Q46 Do you value a good education?, Q32 Are you afraid of the dark?, Q23 Do you believe all the laws of physics? | No Comments »

18/05/2010 by admin.

President Obama today announced an enquiry into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.  The developing environmental consequences of the giant oil leak have been in the media spotlight for some time. Between 5,000 -10,000 barrels of crude oil per day have been gushing out of the underwater oil leak since 20 April after the Deepwater Horizon rig sank.  There are a range of ongoing efforts to contain the leak and attempts at reassurance from British Petroleum.  There’s now talk of litigation.

If we think about it the oil slick is a consequence of the world’s love affair with oil as a power source. The incident reminds us that this love affair carries risks beyond carbon emissions and arguably war to secure access to the resource. Curious then that a person named Mr HAYWARD is the Chief Executive at BP and that the incident took place in the Gulf of Mexico (which raises the X Factor poser once more).  

Teams of volunteers are working to help save local wildlife. Laudible but odd if we think about it as we (humanity) destroy nature bit by bit, sometimes unwittingly, then try to save her! This is the underpinning message in the Secret Inheritance. We need a new dawn!

It’s chaos really. Time for the Beatles Octopus’ Garden.

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

Posted in Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Q34 Have you ever restored something?, Q22 Do you love our Earth?, Q15 Do you sometimes fear the worst?, Q.8 Do you crave a better life? | No Comments »

31/03/2009 by admin.

Dr Nina Fedoroff, an influential science advisor in the US Government believes the human population has already exceeded planet Earth’s limits of sustainability, saying “there are probably already too many people on the Earth.” 

Its an issue we explore in our novel. Let’s review some of the latest facts about our crowded Earth:

• Current world population = 6.8bn
• Net growth by day = 218,030 people per day.
• Forecast for 2040 = 9bn.

There are many challenges around food production, access to fresh drinking water, aspirations for a ‘good life’, competition for limited resources and land, and the ceaseless encroachment into the natural world.  All this at a time when the world we know is under threat from rapid changes to the climate. What to do? Its a major global dilemna - with no obvious solution.  It makes us question, “The Meaning of Life?”  Time for some perspective…

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

Posted in Q51a How many people does it take to fill up the Earth?, Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Q.8 Do you crave a better life?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

11/02/2009 by admin.

A giant statue of a white horse has been chosen as the ‘Angel of the South’ at Ebbsfleet.  The winning design for the public art commission was by former Turner Prize winner, Mark Wallinger. The horse will be 33 times life-size - standing as high as Nelson’s column.  Organisers are hoping the horse will be in place for the 2012 Olympics. 

Mark has described the project as ‘tremendously exciting’.  We couldn’t agree more.  Mark featured earlier in our blog at the time of his Turner Prize success because of his bear costume.  Our story also features a white horse called Jim, drawn by Julia and Sarah early in our tale.  Significantly Ben’s account of Charles Lamb’s accident with his fears heightened for Mother Nature - personified as Lucy Ebbs - unfolded adjacent to the field where Jim was kept out at grass!  Its a stunning coincidence, made all the more profound given that the horse will 33 times lifesize - the number 3 being central to our story - and the links to Turner and Nelson.  Its all very puzzling. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR6z8GUywyc

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Q35 Do you trust your instincts?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

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 »

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 »

01/06/2008 by admin.

The most exciting and puzzling crop circle of 2008 has appeared in Wiltshire.  Despite ample space to do otherwise, the circle appears to straddle a footpath, which interests us because Ben spoke about the need for humanity to stray from the path towards a more sustainable life-style.  The formation is huge - about 300 metres in diameter.  The structure is a collection of musical harmonies.  The crop circles ‘music’ seems to be based on a triangle with 11 marks on each of the 3 sides, making a total of 33 marks. At its outer edge are 3 small circles, which could represent art, love and nature.  The spiral nature of the formation intriques us, together with the ratchet like features, which suggest that all our actions are linked in the pathway of life on Earth - the circle at the centre arguably representing the, ‘Planet Blue in a Sea of Black’.

http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/2008/barbury/barbury2008a.html

Posted in Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Q54 Do you enjoy a bit of a mystery? | No Comments »

21/04/2008 by admin.

A Yorkshire Terrier has been sent a polling card in his name to vote in the forthcoming local elections.  The card reads ‘Bobby Huckvale’ and advises the three-year old dog where to go to cast his vote on 1 May.  Swindon Council say the dog was sent the card because his details were on the electoral register.  Although knowingly providing false information on an electoral registration form is a criminal offence, we were struck that this particular dog had, in effect, been given the chance to ‘have his say’.  Assuming the 3Bs in BOBBY resemble hearts when turned sideways then an anagram of BOBBY HUCKVALE reads C UK HAY LOVE

Further East, and we find the secretive street artist Banksy’s been up to his tricks again, performing perhaps his most audacious stunt yet. In the heart of London’s  West End an image entitled ‘One Nation Under CCTV’ has appeared in the wall of a Post Office just yards from a CCTV camera.

A child in a red jacket is painting the writing on the wall whilst being filmed by a police officer accompanied by a barking dog.

Posted in Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q57 Have you ever spied on anyone?, Q56 Do you believe rules are there to be broken?, Q11 Do you believe in justice?, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

09/04/2008 by admin.

The influential artist David Hockney has donated his largest work, Bigger Trees near Warter to Tate Britain, home of Stubbs’  Haymakers painting.  The landscape - 12 metres long and 5 metres tall - was first exhibited last year at the Royal Academy.

It was painted in situ on 50 individual canvases that fit together like a jigsaw.  Trees especially have caught his imagination - we know the feeling! Oh an anagram of DAVID HOCKNEY is C KIND HAY DOVE!

Proposals to protect honey bees in England and Wales have been announced, with the Government seeking advice of 44,000 bee keepers. Numbers have fallen by 30 percent in the past 50 years. One of the main causes has been an invasion of foreign bacterial diseases which have been thriving thanks to higher temperatures in recent decades.  The Farming Minister, Lord Rucker to the House of Lords has said the English honey bee population could be wiped out within 10 years.  Sir David Attenborough recently said, “If bees and butterflies disappeared, you wouldn’t have any food on your table.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niEZaD_G6PM

What do you think of it so far? Rubbish! Well plastic rubbish. The quantity of rubbish on British beaches has increased by over 100% over the past decade, and most of it is due to plastic. Not only is the rubbish ugly, its also a threat to wildlife. As Emma says, “its like living in the dark ages.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7339737.stm

Posted in Q78 Do you want to be part of the picture?, Q79 Have you ever looked into the shadows?, Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Q31 Are you a charitable neighbour?, Q21 Have you ever hugged a tree?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

02/04/2008 by admin.

Graffiti artists from around the world are set to leave their mark on the Tate Modern. The riverside gallery will let six graffiti artists loose on its exterior walls, turning them into a display area for the first time. Each mural will measure 15 metres by 12 metres and will cover the wall facing the river Thames. Among the artists are the Italian Blu, who takes macabre inspiration from death and the body, New Yorkers Faile, twin brothers from Sao Paolo Os Gemeos, photographer JR, Barcelona’s Sixeart and Nunca, whose inspiration is South America.  We’re especially interested in JR - given the indirect reference to JR from the CBS TV series Dallas spotted by Caleb Hitch when adding footnotes to Charles Lambs’ journal.  JR was played by the actor Larry Hagman -whose name conceals A Hay Man!  Here’s a picture from his heyday! Note the dashing top hat?

Across town, the Royal Mint has unveiled the winning entry of a competition to design the first new British coin series in 40 years - since The Beatles topped the pop charts with Hey Jude.   The six designs on the 1p through to the 50p coins can be pieced together to form a complete image of the royal shield of arms. The £1 coin features the complete shield.  It is the first time a single design has been used across a range of coins in this way.  The new coins will appear in the summer.  Take a look:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7320000/newsid_7327400/7327485.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q74 Do you like puzzles?, Q47 Do you know your history?, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »