WE ARE BACK

Very tired after having travelled for 26 hours, but we are back home in Woolsery with Biggles and the boys. Biggles is following Corinna around like a shadow, determined not to let her out of his sight. He is quite pleased to see me, but he has always been a Mummy's Boy first and foremost....

There will be blogstuff done tomorrow but Graham will probably be head-honchoing for the next few days as I am already jetlagged to a ridiculous extent....

Excuses and Welcomes....

I'm rather late today in composing my blog posting. This is completely off-topic but last night I was out with my boyfriend Paul in Manchester. However, slightly on-topic was the decor of the bar we chose to spend the evening in. I wish I had photos. I was sitting for three hours just a foot away from a life-size wooden carving of a Komodo dragon. Over the other end of the room was another type of wooden lizard (also enormous) that I couldn't identify.

There were giant butterflies on the wall, gigantic plants in humungous vases, and they sold Dragon beer!

Anyhow, to business: today is the last Downesless day the CFZ in the UK will have to endure. Yesterday Naomi and Richie West waved goodbye to Jon and Corinna at the end of the 2010 Texas Blue Dog expedition. If you haven't been following the blue dog blog, then shame on you! The Downeses and Wests collected an unbelievable amount of evidence and information, and I for one, am hugely excited by it all.

And I'm sure that you will be excited at the prospect of having to read my witterings only once in a blue moon again, rather than the daily efforts of the last two weeks...

Welcome home, Corinna and Jon!!!

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: Bizarre Books on Beasts, part 1

Hello;

I was going to write about animals reactions to earthquakes today but I can`t find a crucial book I would have needed for that, so I thought I`d do a piece on bizarre book titles, as far as animals are concerned. So for all you bibliophiles out there, here we go. ( I have no idea as yet to how many parts this will run to; at least two, I expect.)

All the books in this list are to be found in Bizarre Books by Russell Ash and Brian Lake. (1987 Sphere Books, ISBN 0-7221-1292-0) The List is in alphabetical order by subject title, but A and The do not count. For example, A Nostalgia for Camels is entered under `N`.

(abebooks.com occasionally bring out lists of bizarre books they sell)

The Boys Own Aquarium by Frank Finn ( 1922) In Chapter 4 The Right Person For The Job. This item and the ones below are in Chapter 4 (unless otherwise stated)` “Authors whose Names are Remarkably appropriate – or totally inappropriate – to the subject of their books.”(1)

Farm Poultry Raising by Herbert Roderick Bird. (1948)

Fish Hooks in Africa and Their Distribution (1934) by Sture Lagercrantz, (Ch. 6)

The Imperial Animal (1972) Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox

The Principles of Insect Philosophy (1939) by V. B. Wigglesworth

The Rhinocesos* in Art from Durer to Stubbs (no date) by T. H. Clark This item in Chapter 6 `We have a Book On It Astonishingly specialized subjects.

[* I have this wonderful illustration by Dȕrer at home.]

Running Duck by Paul Gosling (1979)

There are No Problem Horses, Only Problem Riders, (1982) by Mary Twelveponies .

Wall Paintings by Snake Charmers in Tanganyika (1953) by Hans Cory.(Ch.6)

Finally today, Bizarre Books features their favourites selection of ethnographer Berholdt Laufer`s books: (Ch.6 pp 47-49)

“Merit Award for Books on Extraordinary Specialized Subjects. This coveted award goes to Berthold Laufer of Chicago (1874-1934) the distinguished author of a veritable library of over 100 fascinating works, mostly published in Leiden,by E.J.Brill or Chicago by the Field Museum of Natural History, including in chronological order of publication): 1906 The Bird Chariot 1913 Arabic and Chinese Trade in Walrus & Narwhal Ivory, 1914 Bird Divination Among the Tibetans, 1926 Ostrich Egg-shell cups of Mesopotamia and the Ostrich in Ancient and Modern Times, 1928 The Giraffe in History and Art *1 (2)

[ *! I own this one ]

1. Bizarre Books (1987) R.Ash and B.Lake Chapter 4 pp 22-31
2. Ibid pp 47-49

The Alarm Howling Wind

Love on this waste land,holds no dominion

I refuse to lay me down

On the grapevine,comes this saying,

Son you`ll reap whatever you sow

I sow the seeds of my love,

Deep,undying true love`s what I sow

Rich

Lindsay, and a Bowness video for consideration

Linden Adams has kindly sent the links below to more video and stills of the film taken of the bownessie monster on my cryptozoo-oscity blog. I thought CFZ people might also like to see it and perhaps discuss it.

http://www.lindenadamsphotography.co.uk/bownessie.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

On this day in 1895 the first screening of a motion picture took place when the Lumière brothers showed their first 45 second film ‘La Sortie des usines Lumière’ before a private audience in France.

And now, the news:

Kangaroo knocks runner unconscious
Michigan's lone wild wolverine found dead
‘Earths are common,’ NASA scientist says
Ghost Orchid Reappears in Britain After 23 Years
“Hobbit” island's deeper history
Fossil avian eggshell preserves ancient DNA

‘Egg’-cellent…

I did warn you a few weeks back that the egg puns would be coming near Easter)...