what a week!

Dear Friends,

It is a shock to realise how long it has been since I made a proper posting on this blog, and how much longer it has been since I made a post that wasn’t either a re-hash of a CFZ press release, or something appertaining to my then forthcoming wedding.

Well. We have done it. Corinna is now Mrs. Downes, and furthermore she has made an honest man of me. Stop that sniggering in the back row.

As everyone who reads Corinna’s blog will know, the day after the wedding we went to The Eden Project, where we saw the Dirty Pretty Things and The Pet Shop Boys. The first band were slightly disappointing, despite a strong and varied debut album. I have a sneaking suspicion that in a sweaty little club they would have been magnificent. Dwarfed by the splendour of The Eden Project, they were less so, although Carl Barat claims that he and his compadres have spent the summer hanging out in graveyards writing new material, and that the second album will be released early next year. I am quite looking forward to it, but regretfully admit that I don’t think that either Barat or Doherty are any where near as good separately as they are together, and I hope that The Libertines will eventually forget their differences and make a third album.

The Pet Shop Boys, however, were magnificent. There can be no better start to married life than an evening of high camp and gay disco. Much to my surprise, unlike the Dirty Pretty Things, The Pet Shop Boys’ performance was majestic and suited to what was essentially a festival crowd perfectly. But enough of this. If you wanna read someone’s ramblings about contemporary music there are far better places to go than this blog.

What is happening with the CFZ, I hear you ask? What is new in the world of monster hunting? While you were poncing around singing along to ‘Left to my own Devices’ what was happening in the world of cryptozoology?

Well, Bernard Heuvelmens once wrote that there are lost worlds everywhere. This is an assertion that I have always believed to be true, but even I was somewhat taken aback when I discovered that there is a potential major cryptozoological mystery on our own figurative doorstep – OK, in an area of thick woodland at Huddisford – a mile or so from the village.

This is where things begin to get strange. Avid readers of Corinna’s blog (and here I would like to take grave exception to her verbal assertion to me only a few minutes ago that I only persuaded her to write a blog so I didn’t have to do it so often) will know, only a few days before the wedding Corinna, Richard and I spent an evening at Huddisford on the track of an eight foot black cat. She told the story better than I possibly could, and there is no point in repeating it here. However, the implications of the sightings at Huddisford are immense.

Yes, sightings – plural!

Over the past few years there have been a whole string of sightings in the region. Interestingly, some of them are of a powerful black creature, but others describe a smaller brown one, with thick set shoulders and a nasty mastiff like face. As regular readers of this blog will know, this is getting dangerously close to the animal postulated by Di Francis. I wonder how many more times this year I will have to use my blog space in eating humble pie and apologising for my previous cavalier attitude towards Di’s theories. The further I go in my descent into British big cattery, I become more convinced that to dismiss Di Francis’ theories out of hand would be both unscientific and unwise.

Also in the week before the wedding, we finished work on Nick Redfern’s delightfully nutty new book – Man Monkey a British Bigfoot. This will be available in the next few days, and looks set to be a massive success. It is the first dedicated book on British BHM phenomena and furthermore tells the story of the quest from Nick’s delightfully idiosyncratic perspective. Even I turn up in one chapter as my 2003 encounter with the Beast of Bolam is put under the microscope.

Next out of the starting gate is Karl Shuker’s impressive update of his 1990 book Extraordinary Animals Worldwide. Extraordinary Animals Revisited will – we hope – be available in the next couple of weeks.

Before the end of the summer we have the Weird Weekend, issue 41 of Animals & Men, two more books, issue 2 of Exotic Pets, and even some sort of a honeymoon.

Dudes, the future is so bright that it is good job I don’t have hangovers any more, ‘cos I would then be forced to wear shades, and that would just look pretentious.

Onwards and upwards.

For those of you who were not able to make it

The service

And more....

The bride and her mother

The rain stayed off just long enough for everyone to be photographed in the garden


The bride, the groom, and the boys (and girls) of the old brigade

Bride, groom, sisters, brothers, neices and nephews

Bride, groom and brother/padre

The bride's mother (R) and the nearest thing the groom still has as a mother

The lovely bridesmaids (Shosh - left; Olivia - right) and their lucky menfolk

Bride, groom, both brothers, and both sister-in-laws

And here is a Wedding Announcement.....

We are Happy to announce that

Jonathan and Corinna

were married on the

21st July 2007

at All Hallows Church,

Woolfardisworthy, North Devon

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways........

1. You let me keep amphibians in the kitchen
2. You wanted a broadsword for your bithday present
3. You rule over the ever changing circus that is my life like a benevolent empress
4. When there are 23 people staying the night you don't bat an eyelid (I do, but you don't)
5. You understand chickens
6. You indulgently put up with my silliness
7. You (only two nights ago) drop the dinner plans and rush out with me after big cats
8. You think that hunting for a giant earwig is a jolly good idea
9. You have even more extreme tastes in music than mine (and you once saw Henry Cow)
10. You have a mind that can think of chickens dressed as plankton
11. You are a far better novelist than me
12. You like my friends
13. My friends like you
14. You understand my madness
15. After two and a half years you still never fail to surprise me (and I expect it will be the
same after 20)
16. You have given me a family
17. You were magnificent at my father's funeral
18. You uncomplainingly do what needs to be done, even when there is a crisis
19. You love me
20. I love you
21. We are getting married on saturday...


For various reasons the wedding is for family and quasi-family only. But if at one in the afternoon on saturday you remember us in your prayers, or hoist a pint to us, that would be wonderful...

Apologise for lazy posting (4)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2007-07-09
THE MOST IN-DEPTH STUDY YET OF BRITISH BIG CATS

Big Cats: Loose in Britain is an impressive tome. At 368 pages, it is the largest book ever written on the subject. Author, Marcus Matthews began writing on his remote Wiltshire farm in 1987! The book focuses on the 1970s and 1980s, when the idea of exotic predators roaming the British countryside started to become widely known. Scouring newspapers, writing to local councils and police forces, Marcus began to amass a huge amount of data, and during the years he was contacted by over 1,000 witnesses.

As well as this, Marcus has hit the road on the track of the beasts themselves looking at animal kills, footprints, film and photographs. He has been lucky enough to spot big cats in the UK himself on three occasions. With hundreds of one-to-one interviews with witnesses under his belt Marcus has produced an incredibly detailed volume. This is no armchair researcher, but a man who works in the field, and as a country farmer knows his animals.

Two decades worth of research is now, for the first time, available to the general public. After languishing unpublished for 17 years, the Centre for Fortean Zoology is now proud to present this legendary book.

· Paperback: 384 pages
· Publisher: CFZ Press (13 Jun 2007)
· Language English
· ISBN-10: 1905723121
· ISBN-13: 978-1905723126
· Product Dimensions: 25.2 x 18.2 x 2.2 cm

Marcus is available for interview. Photographs and review copies are also available. Please telephone Jon, mark, or Corinna on 01237 431413 for details

Apologies for lazy posting (3)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2007-07-09

MONSTERS AS YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD SEEN THEM BEFORE
“SAMEBITOS, JACUKUS AND POPOBAWA, OH MY!”

Have you ever heard of the Damascus apartments hound? No? Well, how about the otoroshi or the malapas? No again? It is unsurprising, as almost no-one in the west has any knowledge of these obscure monsters.

All that is about to change with the publication of a new and unique book by fortean research Neil Arnold. Monster! The A to Z of Zooform Phenomena is the very first book of its kind to be published. It is an encyclopaedia of strange creatures from all the world’s cultures. Unlike more familiar creatures such as sea serpents, yeti and bigfoot, who are likely to be real animals unknown to science, the creatures in Neil’s book fall into a strange and poorly understood category known as zooform phenomena.

Zooform ‘creatures’ are not animals at all, but paranormal manifestations in animal form. Perhaps the best known are the black dogs of British legend. Neil has catalogued such oddities as the kama-itachi of Japan – weasel-like creatures said to attack victims with sickle like claws in a maelstrom of wind, and the arrancalenus, or ‘tongue ripper’, of Nicaragua that is said to resemble a cross between a cat and a turkey and tears out its victims tongues.

Stories range from the absurd like the Zulu basket monster (said to resemble a basket with legs) to the horrific, for example the tale of a monstrous maggot-like entity said to have killed a number of people in a Yorkshire village.

From ancient legends to modern day urban scares, from the streets of Tokyo to the wilds of Brazil, Monster! is a veritable menagerie of the bizarre. So, if you don’t know your tezzy parlour pigs from your fence rail dog, this is the book for you.

Neil is available for interview, and press photographs and pictures are also available. Telephone Mark, Jon or Corinna on 01237 431413

Product details
· Paperback: 396 pages
· Publisher: CFZ (23 May 2007)
· Language English
· ISBN-10: 1905723105
· ISBN-13: 978-1905723102
· Product Dimensions: 24.1 x 18.3 x 2.3 cm

Apologies for lazy posting (2) - see previous post

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2007-07-09

RUSSIAN SCIENTIST COMES TO TINY DEVON VILLAGE

For three days this August, from the 18-19, the sleepy North Devon village of Woolsery will host the world’s largest conference on the subject of mystery animals.

One of the speakers lecturing at this year’s Weird Weekend (the 8th annual event) is a Ukrainian biologist who has spent years hunting for the Russian equivalent of the yeti. Grigoriy Panchenko has been on the trail of the almasty - as the beast is known in the Caucasus Mountains - for more than a decade. In 1991, in a barn on a remote farm, he saw one of the creatures himself. He also claims to have bones from a dead almasty that are currently being examined by a team of scientists in Paris. Grigoriy will be revealing his findings for the first time in the west.

Grigoriy is heading a line up of speakers at the three-day event. Organised by the Centre for Fortean Zoology - the world’s only full time mystery animal research organisation - the Weird Weekend is the largest event of it’s kind in the world. Other speakers include:

· Adam Davis - an explorer who trekked through the Congo investigating reports of living dinosaurs
· Mike Hallowell - a researcher who investigated a dragon worship cult reputed to have practiced human sacrifice well into the 20th Century (Mike claims to have seen the beast himself!)
· Paul Vella - a forensic computer scientist, who will present his analysis of the 1968 bigfoot film
· Dr Darren Naish - who will speak about the possible survival of creatures assumed to be extinct on remote island chains
· Ecologist Oll Lewis - will talk about Welsh lake monsters
· Dr Charles Paxton – will talk about the mathematical likelihood of sea serpents
· Ronan Coghlan, from Ireland - talking about fairy lore
· Richard Freeman - speaking about giant eels
· Nick Redfern, who will be coming all the way from Texas - giving a lecture on the man-monkey of Ranton (a simian phantom reported from Staffordshire)

As well as talks, there will be displays and exhibitions that will include live exotic insects, British big cats, wildlife photography, and fortean art. Book dealers will be selling rare and out of print books on strange creatures, and other esoteric subjects. Monster maker Anthony James, who has worked in film, theatre and television, will be giving a workshop on how to build your own monster.

Tickets cost £20 for the whole weekend or £10 per day. They are available from the Centre for Fortean Zoology at:

http://www.cfz.org.uk/conferences/weirdweekend/ww2007/ww07index.htm
Or by telephone: 01237 431413

The Centre for Fortean Zoology Myrtle Cottage
Woolsery
Bideford
North Devon
EX395QR

Tel:01237 431413

NOTES FOR EDITORS:


+ The Centre for Fortean Zoology is a non profit-making organisation, which was founded in 1992. Over the last 11 years we have mounted expeditions to Central America, Thailand, Mexico, various parts of the United States, as well as numerous investigations in the UK. Further information on the CFZ can be found on their website, www.cfz.org.uk.

+ C F Z director Jonathan Downes has written numerous books on the subject of mystery animals. The latest, entitled `Monster Hunter` is his long awaited autobiography.

+The honorary life President of the Centre for Fortean Zoology is renowned explorer, author and soldier Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his pioneering Operation Drake and Operation Raleigh expeditions during the 1970s.

+ The CFZ is looking for corporate and private sponsors

Forgive me for lazy posting (1)

The last few weeks hhave been ridiculously hectic, and I haven't had a chance to post anything much. As most of you know, Corinna and I are getting married on the 21st, and before then I have had to get the following things off my desk:

1. Issue one of Exotic Pets magazine. If you want more informaton check out the website

2. Neil Arnold's fabulous book on zooform phenomena

3. Marcus Matthews's equally fabulous book on mystery cats.

4. Issue 14 of Tropical World

5. Mark's book of Dorset folklore

These have all been done. But I still have to finish:

6. Issue 41 of Animals & Men

7. Karl Shuker's fabulous `Extraordinary Animals Revisited"

8. Nick Redfern's also fabulous `The Man Monkey - a British Bigfoot`

as well as organising the wedding, the Weird Weekend, finishing the aviary block, and a hundred other things. So guys, please forgive me if the only thing you get posted today are copies of the press releases I have been busily mailing out....


byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee