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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Monday, July 20, 2009

40 YEARS AGO TODAY

I know exactly where I was 40 years ago today. I was in the 5th form classroom at Peak School, Plunkett's Road, Hong Kong, being given a dramatically boring history lesson on the English Civil War by a lady called Mrs Alexander who hailed from one of the six counties. I wasn't listening. I had already read Simon by Rosemary Suttcliffe, and what else was there that I could possibly want to know? I knew that in a few weeks time we were going back to England on holiday, and that we were going to visit Torrington castle in North Devon, where the climax of Suttcliffe's book took place, and that was far more exciting to me than the dull facts and figures being spouted to me in a deadpan accent from the imposingly aquiline lady at the front of the class. Anyway, something important was happening 384403 km away.


I had been following the progress of the moon mission for weeks, and I was feverishly waiting to see if the actual landings would be a success. I looked at my watch every few seconds, and at 17 minutes past two (Hong Kong time) I strode up to the front of the class and boldly said. "Excuse me Mrs Alexander, but I think that the class would like to know that the first men have landed on the moon!"


She glared at me. "I think you should pay more attention to what is happening on this planet, more specifically to the Battle of Naseby. Go and sit down, boy!" There were tears in my eyes; tears of sheer frustration and rage.


So I went to sit down and realised, not for the first and certainly not for the last time, that the adult world was stupid. I still think that the adult world is stupid, and when people tell me that "the trouble with you Jon is that you don't understand the real world" I still feel enraged and frustrated. Either I have never grown up, or I grew up with a bang 40 years ago, at the age of nine years and eleven months, and I am still not quite sure which.


Good Luck, Mr. Gorsky!

2 comments:

Retrieverman said...

You were ahead of me on the English Civil War. The first book I ever read on it was by Christopher Hill. And I read it just a few years ago.

I still don't get this "real world" thing.

Maybe if we all had teachers like this fellow:

http://hurherald.com/cgi-bin/db_scripts/articles?Action=user_view&db=articles_hurherald&id=35331

C-E B said...

The adult world is indeed very silly and I intend to avoid joining it as long as possible

Liz