GLEN VAUDREY: Whole Wide World #18

18. Honduras
Within Honduras can be found perhaps one of the most celebrated Mayan cities: Copán. Today, rather than being known as a lost civilization leaving behind fabulous lost cities, the Mayans are better known for their long count, which is said to end in 2012. This has given rise to a number of end-of-days prophecies; however, I doubt any of them will match the terror of the prospect of having to watch the film 2012 again.

Away from the prophecies of doom we find the Wihwin, a mysterious amphibious creature that is said to resemble a horse but with prominent fangs. It is claimed to inhabit the Caribbean coastal waters of Honduras and to occasionally come ashore for some reason perhaps known only to itself.

WEIRD WEEKEND SCRAPBOOK: Marquee Moon

The Weird Weekend is great fun but the one thing I don’t look forward to is putting up the marquee each year. We have two marquees - a new one and an old one. Neither have instructions so it’s like putting together a three dimensional giant jigsaw designed by the makers of the sadistic Japanese game show ‘Endurance’. The older marquee is held together by bits of gaffer tape and string. It took Graham, Oll and myself till 11 at night to get the bloody thing up.

The garden part is a nice evening to catch up with folks you haven’t seen in a while. Luminaries such as Dr Dan Holdsworth, Glen Vaudrey and Perry of the 4-teans were all there. For me the nicest part of the evening was catching up with the former landlord of the Farmers Arms Alan Lindsey and his lovely wife Jenny. I’d not seen them in over a year after they moved to the sunnier climes of exotic Bideford.

I well remember the first time we had a piñata a few years ago. It was in the shape of a dragon and just about as though as a real one. It shattered all sticks used on it including Jon’s walking stick. In the end Dave had to hack it apart with a garden spade. This year’s piñata, in the shape of an Apatosaurus caved in after one tap from a tiny girl! Mind you it had been in storage for 12 months.

WEIRD WEEKEND SCRAPBOOK: Oll Lewis

Oll Lewis: Weird Weekend Scrapbook Thursday

One of the highlights of the Weird Weekend for me is the cocktail party, mostly because it is a time when I meet up with old friends that I haven’t seen for months. This year was no exception, I met and had a chat with some friends from LAPIS who I hadn’t seen since my talk at their conference in June and with Alan and Jenny, the old landlords of the village pub, who I hadn’t see for nearly a year.

Another highlight of this year’s party though was finally getting to see the much talked about lynx that Max had uncovered during his volunteer work at Bristol Museum, which he will be talking about on Saturday. I’ll be giving my talk “The Man Who Humbugged Barnum” tomorrow so I’m looking forward to that, maybe I’ll see you then if you couldn’t make the cocktail party.

WEIRD WEEKEND 2011: Shuttle service.

Just a quicky, but if you want a lift from Barnstaple please let us know upon which train you will be arriving. Petrol prices are too high these days for us to meet trains on spec...

HAUNTED SKIES: FROM THE ARCHIVES - North East Evening Gazette 1967

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/08/from-archives-north-east-evening.html

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1612 the trial of the Samlesbury Witches began in Lancashire.
And now the news:

Thanks a bunch! Europe's oldest (and grumpiest) go...
Dark Legend: Preserved Corpses in Tahoe? (via Chad...
First vampire bat bite death in U.S. reported
Like Humans, Chimps Are Born With Immature Forebra...
Huge snake found in engine during MOT
McCall, Idaho: the Monster of Payette Lake (via Ch...
Hen lays egg-stra large egg

Ain't nobody here but us chickens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3fCiLw5UIk