07/01/2012 by admin.

A lion named Malik has reacted fiercely to a young girl staring at him through strengthened glass in his enclosure at Wellington Zoo. The moody lion swipped his front paws against the 33mm glass, perhaps to defend his meal, but Sofia aged 3 stood firm. She seemed surprised but didn’t kepy her cool.  Its not the first time Malik has charged the glass and is probably because he’s trying to eat his food and is trying to chase off possible rivals.

However, perhaps Malik had a deeper message - afterall in our novel Wellington chaired the meeting of the Blakesware Set, the group behind the Haymakers Survey.  And, Malachi the messenger and voice of the animal kingdom is likened to the lion statue around which the magic of time travel in our story unfolds. Malachi is also abbreviated many times in the story, including to Malik.  Maybe Malik the former king of the jungle is letting us know that nature’s patience with humanity is fast running out?

Here’s the video clip..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0RWuyqkzeE

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q51 Have you ever taken part in a protest?, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted? | No Comments »

21/12/2011 by admin.

This year’s most popular video on You Tube features a talking dog - some 79 million hits and counting. Curious as I’m sure Malachi our very own messenger and speaking dog in The Haymakers Survey would be a number one fan. It’s jolly good fun.

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

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, 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?, Q17 Can you speak another language? | No Comments »

19/12/2011 by admin.

At picturesque Carmarthenshire, ‘The Garden of Wales’ bundles of hay lay strew across raliway tracks after a commuter train struck a lorry carrying a hay trailer. 

Fortunately only a few passengers experienced minor injuries on the crossing at Whitland.  Seeing all that hay on the tracks makes for quite a sight and its interesting to us that Whitland translates to ‘The Old Whitehouse’, which is curious as in our novel Charles Lamb takes a serious fall adjacent to an old white house and claims that ‘it is all over.’  His journal also records how ‘The Blakesware Set’ speculated on the impact of the railways as the industrial revolution began to take a grip. Is Mother Nature telling us to derail the runaway train that is human exploitation of planet Earth?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFJ3KayeUTc

Posted in Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q51 Have you ever taken part in a protest?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted?, Q.3 Do you have a good imagination? | No Comments »

12/12/2011 by admin.

Our Haymaker Caleb Hitch asked us to report that in Vancouver, Canada a cheeky black bear surprised everyone by hitching a ride on a rubbish truck in the centre of the coastal seaport city.  The British Columbian Conservation Officer Service suspect the bear climbed aboard in North Vancouver.  The bear was tranquilisedand caught in tarpaulin before being returned to a rural area.

The bear took the ride in Downtown Vancouver, close to Point Grey - one of Canada’s most affluent areas. Point Grey is also home to a diverse and ecologically appreciative populace.  Maybe Fanny Ebbs - the distraught Lady in Grey in our novel - would have something to say about the bear’s actions.  She symbolises the impact of the industrial revolution on the natural world. Maybe the bear was making the point that we’re throwing nature in the rubbish?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9EMWQGeWmc&feature=related

Hardly a teddy bear’s picnic?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuNf70eV6sY

Posted in Q76 Are you going to take action now to save our world?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q17 Can you speak another language? | No Comments »

30/10/2011 by admin.

Our 26 October ‘Ides of March’ post anticipated Mother Nature would put on a show to the developed world as a wake up call.  

Well, surprise surprise. Just days after North-Eastern Americans were basking in an Indian Summer, temperatures plummeted 40 degrees as heavy snowfall swept in. New York City and the East Coast were hit with snowfall before Halloween for the first time since records began.

Parts of the North East received more than two feet of snow as records for October tumbled.  This is climate chaos in action. Warmer global temperatures is bringing more extreme weather events.

Take Thailand the ‘Land of the Smiling Faces’ is experiencing prolonged flooding after heavy monsoon rains in July. Much of the country is underwater with many thousands of people displaced with the threat of insect-borne disease. 

It’s a humanitarian crisis, possibly forewarned by the recent celestial vision in the Eastern hemisphere.

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q14 Do you believe your stars?, Q16 Have you ever had a psychic experience?, Q12 Is our Earth enchanted? | 1 Comment »

29/10/2011 by admin.

This year’s X Factor talent contest apears cursed. 

The calamaties have come thick and fast:

• Claims by contestants that the X-Factor mansion is haunted.
• Goldie, one of the final 16 contestants, pulled out prior to the first show and had to be replaced by Sami Brooks
• In a sing-off, Sami’s mentor Louis Walsh decided to keep Kitty and Sami should leave the show. Sami then suggested Louis should be pensioned off!
• Complaints from viewers about the unreasonable number of adverts between performances
• Ratings have crashed - 2 million less than in 2010 
• Accusations and rumours of bulling amongst some contestants
• The girls’ band Rythmics had to change their name because it clashed with a children’s charity - they’re now called Little Mix
• Due to his faith Ashley Baptiste, member of The Risk, decided being in a boy band wasn’t for him and choose to leave the show. He’s been replaced by Ashford Campbell one of the members of NuVibe, with some arguing about the legality of this as NuVibe were voted off a couple of weeks ago.  
• The ‘Hex’ has even spread to the judging panel - with arguments breaking out with Kelly Rowland missing this weekend’s show due a ‘throat infection.’

Perhaps the Hex Factor is because humanity is falling to demonstrate to the Earth’s creator that we have what it takes to be its guardian. Our novel anticipated this - see the free opening sequel. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YPdeFknh34

Posted in Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q70 Do you like to look at the stars?, Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q54 Do you enjoy a bit of a mystery?, Q40 Can you play a musical instrument?, Q.8 Do you crave a better life?, Q10 Have you ever seen a ghost?, Q18 Do you let your heart rule your head?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion? | No Comments »

26/10/2011 by admin.

Friday 28 October is the UK cinema release date of ‘The Ides of March’ movie.

It’s a political drama thriller directed by George Clooney.  It seems to be an interesting story based on the Kennedy’s about politics leading to a loss of integrity with everyone involved, no matter how noble to beging with, compromising their morals to stay ahead in life. In many ways this sums up how humanity as a whole approaches the sustainable living agenda.

Is that why in our novel Malachi (The Messenger) warns us to beware The Ides of March or has Mother Nature something sinister planned for this Friday? Is it Time? We’re not ones to make predictions here or stick our neck out for fear of ridicule but let’s see.

Here’s the movie trailer..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McCt-_yYLpo

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q54 Do you enjoy a bit of a mystery?, Q35 Do you trust your instincts?, Q16 Have you ever had a psychic experience?, Q15 Do you sometimes fear the worst? | No Comments »

25/10/2011 by admin.

We have another example of a rare albino, this time it’s a wombat from Ceduna, Australia. 

The endearing animal is being nursed back to health after being found alone and unwell. The wombat, named Polar, was found close to death dehydrated and exhausted by shearers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZoo6rkxqJI

The name Ceduna is a corruption of the local Aboriginal word Chedonna and is said to mean ’sit down and rest’ which is what Ben Whittenbury did when the idea of The Haymakers Survey came to him.

We’ve done some thinking of our own. In urban slang the definition of WOMBAT is Waste Of Money, Brains And Time. Is this aimed at us given our wait in vain for the world’s media to take any notice of this project? Alternatively it might be aimed at humanity in general as we waste our talents in pursuit of largely selfish pursuits whilst the planet’s resources get swallowed up. Lest us forget that in Charles Lamb’s journal he reports how Mother Nature highlights the significance of albino in illustrating the value of diversity on planet Earth.  Maybe this gives you a whole new way of looking at the day?

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q63 Do you like the way you look?, Q43 Do you believe in happy endings?, Q34 Have you ever restored something?, Q22 Do you love our Earth? | No Comments »

22/10/2011 by admin.

In 1484, a scurrilous note was pinned to the door of St Paul’s Cathedral. It read quite simply, “The Catte, the Rattee and Lovell our dogge rulyth all Englande under a hogge.”  The brief, cryptic, satarical poem lampooned some of the highest born in the land, including Richard III who feared the poem would be used as proganda to lead a rebellion. 

In our novel Malachi warns us of the significance of the poem, perhaps directed at the inept way in which leaders across the globe are able to adopt a truely sustainable approach to living - being weighed down instead by economic crisis and war in the Middle East. 

Its fascinating then that an Occupy camp has set up outside of St Paul’s Cathedral. The group, Occupy London Stock Exchange, are protesting about the way financial institutions have mismanaged affairs in recent years.  Their presence has led to the cathedral being closed to visitors for the first time since the end of the Second World War.  The decision was taken for health and safety reasons. 

A spokesperson for the group, who gave her name as Lucy, said, “It was felt by everyone that we really wanted to stay and continue with the protest. This protest is massive, it affects everybody, everyone’s watching at home right now. It’s not just about a few people who have got some tents in St Paul’s, it’s not a stunt, it’s not a spectacle.”

Remember readers - in Charles Lamb’s Journal, Lucy’s the name of Mother Nature. Perhaps there’s a deeper spiritual message to all of this - that we should turn away from greed, money and possessions and live to saviour the beauty of the Earth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0qQyW0W0Rw

Posted in Q62 Have you ever helped the poor?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q51 Have you ever taken part in a protest?, Q36 Should a good life cost the Earth?, Q28 Have you ever lived in poverty?, Q33 Do you believe in life after death?, Q22 Do you love our Earth? | No Comments »

14/10/2011 by admin.

The fabulously talented Lady GaGa has appeared on the Jonathan Ross show with a sheep. She turned up with Kevin the Ram and took a seat on a sofa made of bales of hay. The pop artist wore a jade suit for her chat with Wossy - an outfit that has an uncanny resemblance to that worn by Mother Nature in The Haymakers Survey. The pastoral set was inspired by scenes from the video promoting her latest single “You and I”.

Our diarist Charles Lamb would be delighted by the sheep connection and the haybales speak for themselves. It really is about “You and I” as each and every one of us has a clear responsibility to care for our planet, rather than behave like sheep. We’d be GaGa not too.  This is the clip from the show…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw9vkW4YevM

And here’s the brilliant video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9YMU0WeBwU

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q61 Have you ever worn fancy dress?, Q58 Do things happen for a reason?, Q40 Can you play a musical instrument?, Q22 Do you love our Earth? | No Comments »