WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

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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Wednesday, May 02, 2012

NEIL ARNOLD REVIEWS: The Beast of Boggy Creek

Thank goodness 'The Beast of Boggy Creek' has been written. For those of you in the know, 'The Legend Of Boggy Creek' was a '70s drive-in movie that not only terrified teenagers across the world, but also inspired many people to become monster hunters and cryptozoologists – it changed my life. The movie, directed by Charles B. Pierce tells the story, in docu-drama style, of the small town of Fouke, Arkansas, and the rumour of a hairy, bipedal creature ransacking farms and peering through cabin windows before slinking off into the darkness. The film became a cult classic. A film way ahead of its time.

Ever since the film hit small town theatres and VHS players, there has been much confusion and debate as to what actually happened in Fouke to inspire such a film. The name Bigfoot became a household name a few years previous when the famous Patterson-Gimlin film purported to show a real, upright walking man-beast. However, the facts behind the 'Fouke Monster', except with mention in a book by resident Smokey Crabtree, remained foggy, until now.

Lyle Blackburn has written a fascinating account of the 'Fouke Monster' scare. The author has taken the time to traipse through the backwoods and river bottoms of Arkansas in search of myths, legends, eye witnesses, newspaper reports and evidence, and not only does he shed new light on this forever intriguing story but goes a long way in proving that the film, 'The Legend Of...' was just the tip of a very strange iceberg.

Whether you believe in Bigfoot is not the question here, sceptics should find this riveting too, because Blackburn remains focused on the task at hand - that being to dig deeper into the archives and swamps, to strip away the layers of media frenzy, and cast aside the monster hunting mania, and presents a wondrous account of high strangeness. I could not put this book down, and believe that it is the only work to once and for all collate all information available - historical and modern - to present the Boggy Creek enigma as a case file.

The book is littered with impressive illustrations, photo's from old newspapers and archives, and actual photo's taken during Lyle's visits to the area. Lyle writes with incredible atmosphere, and so those who were not appreciative of the 'Boggy Creek' movie at the time will be able to lap up the scenery as if they've been transported back in a time warp. Some things are far stranger than the fiction of the media, and in 'The Beast Of Boggy Creek' we have a vital cryptozoological book that, like the eerie film, will stand the test of time. This is the sort of book I'd love to have written, and all praise must go to Lyle Blackburn for giving the mystery the exposure and respect it deserves. I recall back in the early ‘90s wondering why such a book had never been written, and so started a manuscript which ended up as a small article called ‘Behind The Legend of Boggy Creek’. I knew I couldn’t traipse back and forth between Kent, England and Arkansas, USA but Lyle’s work has been worth the wait. Snap your copy up NOW!
10/10

118 Tigers in Kaziranga


Camera traps spot 118 tigers in Kaziranga
Times of India

GUWAHATI: Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage Site, has recorded a rise in the number of tigers, according to the latest camera-trap technique used to make estimates of big cat population in an area. According to Aaranyak, the NGO that carried ...

ANOTHER 'SASQUATCH' VIDEO

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/strut-zone/2012/04/video-maryland-turkey-hunter-sees-bigfoot-season

"Saw a squatch turkey hunting today,” the comment made under this recent video post, seems just a little low-key to me. Yawn. If I were this guy, I’d have written something close to a stream-of-consciousness rant. Wouldn’t you?

Read on...

CFZ PUBLISHING GROUP REVIEWS IN 'MAGONIA'





DALE DRINNON: Frontiers of Anthropology/Benny's Blog

My Yahoo email account has been compromised and was closed to me earlier this morning: I suspect the Gmail has been compromised as well, I am only getting a very few messages in there. Currently I have access to both accounts but I cannot say how long it shall last. I have changed the passwords to both accounts, the second time in two weeks.

Currently at Frontiers of Anthropology I have commentary from an allied Blog Owner concerning the recent articles added on the blog concerning Human Giants:
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/05/added-commentary-on-recent-giant.html

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/05/ow-language-exchange-as-indicating.html

Benny's blog has a piece on Harpo Marx and the unique Classification he had of Actresses working on the movies in his time:
http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2012/05/harpo-speaks.html

Currently Blogger is not responding well to me and I shall be unable to finish any of the currently outstanding Blogs until the problems are resolved.

Please be aware that attempts to reach me by my regular email accounts could fail while the problem is on. I also recently detected hacker activity at my Facebook account and changed my password there. When I had that account fixed, the trouble on the other accounts took over.

HAUNTED SKIES: Update for the beginning of May

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/05/haunted-skies-update-1st-may-2012.html

I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN


It is Thursday and I am running mildly late. However, today's bloggystuff includes some really exciting stuff, although I am afraid there are no pictures of Graham posing in a garden centre for you today.

First up, Jon interviews Liz Lenten, mainperson of 'Auburn' who have just done a smashing new album which presses all the right buttons as far as we are concerned:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/exclusive-auburn-jon-meets-liz-lenten.html

We have the second part of the Michael Des Barres interview in which he eulogises the Sex Pistols amongst other things:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/exclusive-michael-des-barres-interview_03.html

We have a link to a Dutch review of the Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman album (and remember folks we have a Jon Anderson interview for you tomorrow):
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/link-dutch-revciew-of-andersonwakeman.html

We have French and Swedish reviews of the incomparable Troy Donockley:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/link-swedish-review-of-troy-donockley.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/link-french-review-of-troy-donockley.html

We have a Belgian review of Merrell Fankhauser:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/link-belgian-review-of-merrell.html

And last (but by no means least, because he spotted me on American TV last night talking about 'The Beast of Dartmoor') an interesting investigation into the music of 'Genre Peak':
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/link-singled-out-genre-peaks-wear-it.html

Talk soooooooon.......

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 2000 the first geocache was placed and it's co-ordinates were posted online, starting the 'sport' of Geocaching.

And now the news:

A nuclear bunker geocache:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1

HAS CFZ-NZ DEISCOVERED A NEW SPECIES OF INSECT?

Jon,

That species of fly I posted on my Facebook yesterday, I got an e-mail this morning regarding my enquiries to the entomologist At the Department of Conservation is not sure but it may be a new species and they want to examine the specimen.

Quite exciting, the New Zealand CFZ may have discovered a new species of fly or a hereto unknown immigrant.

I shall keep you informed.

As Lars said in his reply(*) it does have a fungal infection but the veins on the wings match an unusual species.

Take care

Tony

(*) Lars Thomas I cant identify the fly for you, I am not familiar with NZ flies, but the poor thing has a severe fungus infection, thats the reason for the white stripes in between the dark ones. His abdomen (It looks like a he because of the big eyes) is swollen with fungus threads, pressing on the outer plates and even sticking out here and there.

GLEN VAUDREY: 1946 Mystery Animal


Today for a mystery animal to make it into the media it has to be a beast, and not just any beast but the beast of somewhere. The culprit is usually described as a big cat and a danger to livestock and children, but back in 1946 mystery animals were a bit softer as this piece from the Essex Newsman Herald highlights.

HIT PARADE FOR APRIL (CFZ PRESS/FORTEAN WORDS)

UK

1. Haunted Skies Volume Four by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (5)
2. Karl Shuker's Alien Zoo by Karl Shuker (-)
3. Haunted Skies Volume Three by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (-)
4=. Haunted Skies Volume Two by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (-)
4=. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (3)
6=. Haunted Skies Volume One by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (6)
6=. Dark Dorset by Mark North and Robert Newland (-)
8=. Dead of Night by Lee Walker (1)
8=. The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: London by Neil Arnold (-)
8=. Big Cats loose in Britain by Marcus Matthews (6)
8=. When Bigfoot Attacks by Michael Newton (-)

US

1. When Bigfoot Attacks by Michael Newton (1)
2. Snap by Steven Bredice (2)
3. Dark Ness by Tabitca Cope (-)
4=. The Inhumanoids by Barton Nunnelly (7)
4=. Haunted Skies Volume Four by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (-)
6. Left Behind by Harriet Wadham (6)
7=. Monsters of Texas by Ken Gerhardand Nick Redfern (-)
7=. Haunted Skies Volume One by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (10)
7=. CFZ Yearbook 2012 Edited by Jonathan and Corinna Downes (7)
10. Orang-pendek: Sumatra's forgotten ape by Richard Freeman (4)


Last month's positions in this pinky colour, which I think is called cerise. This was a weird April saleswise: we sold much better than usual, especially in the USA, probably because of all the hard work Emsy has put in on the Facebook Group. Thank you honey..

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE SEARCH ENGINES

The other day I was looking up Karl Shuker's books on Google, and this came up:
http://news.yahoo.com/woman-lost-ark-lotto-ticket-entitled-1m-001711454.html

I am actually lost for words...

CFZ PEOPLE: Ant James

Ant is my brother-in-law, and a better brother-in-law it would be hard to find. Happy Birthday dude...

...and his little sister says