CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track: 10/13/12

Saturday, October 13, 2012

HAUNTED SKIES: Update

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2012/10/haunted-skies-update-10th-october-2012.html

Richard Muirhead telephoned me this morning with this story, which made me laugh so much that I cried. In fact it provoked a joke about The Residents that also made me laugh so much at my extreme wittiness that I cried. If you don't understand click here...

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Biology prof says eyeball may belong to big squid photo

Associated Press

This Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 photo made available by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shows a giant eyeball from a mysterious sea creature that washed ashore and was found by a man walking the beach in Pompano Beach, Fla. on Wednesday. No one knows what species the huge blue eyeball came from. The eyeball will be sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, FL. (AP Photo/Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Carli Segelson)

MIAMI — Word that a giant eyeball washed up on a South Florida beach has created a buzz on the Internet and in the marine biology community.

The huge, blue eyeball may have come from a deep sea squid or a large sword fish, said Heather Bracken-Grissom, an assistant professor in the marine science program at Florida International University in Miami.

A man found the eyeball while taking a morning stroll along Pompano Beach just north of Fort Lauderdale. He contacted state wildlife officials, who took possession of the softball-sized eyeball.

As soon as pictures hit the Internet on Thursday, Bracken-Grissom said she started talking with her colleagues.

"Any time something weird and crazy washes up on the beach, it's definitely interesting," she said.

The professor and her colleagues concluded that the eyeball's lens and pupil are similar in shape to that of a deep sea squid. She noted that a deep sea squid's eyeball can be as large as a soccer ball and can easily become dislodged.

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Today's Fortean bird news

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that - whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot, or lake monsters - it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean Zoologist to be interested in. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.

KARL SHUKER IN CONFERENCE WITH NESSIE

I can scarcely believe that it has been 25 years since I wrote this article, which I re-read recently for the first time in a very long while, recounting the highly significant symposium on the Loch Ness monster organised by the International Society of Cryptozoology and hosted by the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh in 1987. So here it is, presented online for the very first time as a ShukerNature exclusive - a retrospective of a unique event in cryptozoological history, and yes, I was there!

http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2012/10/in-conference-with-nessie-at-edinburgh.html

TODAY'S BIG CAT ROUND UP

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012, Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.

Here is the latest tranche of news...

NEWSLINK: More on that Arizona mystery cat

NEWSLINK: Mysterious Indian leopard death

NEWSLINK: India big cat census

CFZ CANADA: Bless the Beasts and the Children

At a recent conference, I spoke about Cryptozoology in general and the local sightings in southern Ontario. In the audience was a brilliant 8 year old boy named Billy. Billy had done a book report on a book I wrote several years ago, and has a budding interest in Fortean Zoology. Billy’s eagerness to learn is inspiring. Sadly, very little is available for his age group by way of factual information on animals unknown.

This begs the question, “what exactly are the “accepted principles of orthodox zoology”?

Read on...

INAPPROPRIATE CORNER: The Mathematics of Boneless Pork Rectums

Ever wonder what’s in those delicious dumplings? What gives them that special tang? The flavor [sic] that cannot quite be named? Wonder no further! For the secret has been revealed.

And the secret is…boneless pork rectums, finely diced. All the hush-hush is over because, through carelessness, these boxes were allowed to be photographed just before they were hustled into a restaurant in Taiwan. But now that their presence has been revealed to the world, the silence surrounding dumpling recipes can be broken.
Take a careful look at the labels. Not only are these rectums boneless—all the best ones are—but they are inverted! Culinary insiders have long known that it is only in the cheapest dumplings that one finds non-inverted rectums.
This is almost certainly because inverting a rectum is a tedious, labor-intensive process, requiring specialized skills and arcane knowledge available to only a few. We can only imagine that the apprenticeship leading to a mastery of inversion is long and grueling.

Read on...

I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

The weather has been totally atrocious for the last few days. The road from Clovelly was under a foot of water, and I( am really quite glad that I haven't had to go anywhere. The stone falling out of our chimney yesterday (probably dislodged by the weather) threw me badly, but there doesn't seem to be any more damage since. I'm in a strange place at the moment. There are a hundred and one things that need to be done, and nowhere near enough time to do it all. It also doesn't help that I was off with the black eyed dog for much of yesterday, and am still not my brightest or best this morning. However, I am sure things will work out in the end. They usually do.

Fantastic news. Carnaby Street by The Michael Des Barres Band has been chosen as first-round nominee for Best Rock Album in the 55th Grammy Awards!
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/stop-press-carnaby-street-by-michael.html

Our daily visit to the life of Thom the World Poet
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_13.html

My Brother-in-law Antony sent me a Led Zeppelin link which will be of interest. Thanks dude...
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/off-topic-my-brother-in-law-sent-me-led.html

Look what I found yesterday whilst pootling about on the Internet - some previews of the forthcoming Renaissance album. Ypu have read Annie Haslam talking about the album on these very pages. Now you can hear bits of it. Whooppee!!
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/preview-of-new-renaissance-album.html

I also found this rather tasty little morsel - a new Auburn track from their current acoustic lineup
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/auburn-acoustic-tie-me-down.html

Whilst on the subject of Auburn. Here is a very peculiar picture of Auburn bassdude Jevon with a purple cat. The two of them are on the way to the Edinburgh gig...
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/whilst-on-subject-of-auburn.html

So, we have come to the third and final part of my interview with Michael Des Barres the other day. I was quite surprised how it ended up as three parts, because it was only meant to be a quicky. However, when Michael and I get chatting, we talk for ages. And we talk about Bob Dylan, Damon Albarn, John Lennon and what killed Elvis, as well as all the stuff that we were supposed to be talking about.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/exclusive-interview-michael-des-barres_13.html

And finally a review of one of the more peculiar rock music autobiographies that I have read: Neil Young's 'Waging Heavy Peace'
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/book-review-waging-heavy-peace-hippie.html

The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...

The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The Editor is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1957 Chris Carter was born. Carter has created, produced and written some of the most successful paranormal based TV series ever made including The X Files, Millennium and The Lone Gunmen.

Talking about paranormal entertainment, should you find yourself in Plymouth tomorrow, or any Saturday this month (or on the 30^th and 31^st of October) at 2 or 3pm meet me by the big shrimp statue at the Mayflower Steps and for the low price of £6 you could go on the world's most interesting paranormal walking tour: “The Strange History of Plymouth Tour”. Don't miss out!

And now the news:

The trailer for the epic first X Files movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEPwMWA6Rtk