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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Saturday, August 17, 2013

SHERI THE CFZ INTERN: Day 8 – Thursday


Reluctantly I arose from a real bed for the last time. There was very little of my cereal left – not enough for even half a bowl. I therefore combined the remnants with two variety pack boxes to create an adult’s portion. At some point after this, I put up my tent with some help from Matt, and by that I mean that he did most of the work. There was some confusion about which camp bed was to go where, but this was sorted out in the end.

There was a fair bit of lounging around while we waited for all the various guests and speakers to arrive. Slowly they trickled in until the trickle became a rushing river. The rapids tore through the house and flooded the garden, ever growing in its gaiety, inebriation and drama. Eventually, however, the dam had to break. The masses flowed away, leaving only sediment behind. It took several hours until things had quietened down enough to sleep. 

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

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 took the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.


Receives Two New Antipodes...

DALE DRINNON: Eastern bigfoot, many finned, Benny's blogs

Ongoing bugs at Blogger are keeping Benny and me down to a minimum of blog postings lately. Today mine are donations and Benny was only able to get the one out.
New at the Frontiers of Zoology:
New at Benny's Other Blog, The Ominous Octopus Omnibus:
Best Wishes, Dale D.

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS HAVING A VERY WEIRD WEEKEND

The first day of the Weird Weekend went rather well yesterday. With only one notable exception, everyone behaved perfectly. There were between 70-90 people in each talk, all the available food got eaten, various books were sold, and a small child got lodged in the Tunnel of Goats. I even began to enjoy myself on several occasions.
*  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 same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
* We should probably mention here that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!

*  Jon Downes, the editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and two very small kittens (one of whom is also orange) - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon, which he shares with various fish and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus... did we mention the orange cat?

CRYPTOLINK: Group seeks area Bigfoot information

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.


LEETONIA- A local group of Bigfoot researchers is seeking information about Columbiana County sightings.
The Genoskwa Project, a Bigfoot research and investigation group founded by Paul Hayes of Canton and Dan Baker of Sebring, will hold an information session at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Leetonia Community Public Library, 181 N. Walnut St.
According to Baker, the group is seeking information about four reported Bigfoot sightings this year near Franklin Square, including one in which two alleged Bigfoot stopped traffic on the state Route 45 hill south of Salem on July 7. He said all information collected from residents with personal experiences with a Bigfoot is held in strict confidence.
In addition to seeking information, the group will share evidence of Bigfoot, the reported sightings of which are prevalent in Ohio, Baker said. He said some of the items that will be shared include a footprint cast from the famed Patterson-Gimlin film in 1967 that shows a midtarsal break, indicating a difference from that of an arched human foot; a film that shows the 21-degree difference in gait between Bigfoot and humans; first-hand experiences from the researchers including reported sightings by Hayes in Stark County and Baker in Carroll County; and audio recordings of possible Bigfoot. There will also be a question-and-answer session and an opportunity for one-on-one sharing of experiences.

CRYPTOLINK: Sasquatch sightings not for the cynical


A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.

Near the end of last month, B.C.-based software and app maker PlayMobility lit up the Internet with two videos of supposed Sasquatch sightings in the wilderness around Mission.

The company reportedly put out a call for videos of the apelike humanoid and ended up with two submissions from the same area, one from a couple hiking in the woods in which a hairy figure scrambles up a hillside in the distance, while the other video shakily pans from the closer encounter with the surprisingly not surprised Bigfoot and back to the group of Chinese tourists noisily snapping photos with wide-mouthed expressions of wonder on their faces.

Now, PlayMobility had just launched Legend Tracker, its app for tracking the journeys of legendary creatures like the big-footed biped. But I am sure that was just a coincidence.

If you’re a little more cynical, you will say, “But surely, this is a publicity stunt — and a cheesy one at that.” But is playing on people’s sense of wonderment really such a bad tactic?

Besides, who wants to live in an imagination-less world?

While Sasquatch (also known as Bigfoot) is especially popular in the Pacific Northwest, sightings have been reported from all over.

This summer, there have been sightings of the mighty “manimal” in Florida, Virginia, California, and of course, right here at home in B.C. Just a month or two ago, I was shown a picture of a big footprint — it must’ve been two feet long and about 10 inches wide — taken not far from Merritt.

Face to Face with Rick Wakeman: Brian May



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OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today


Yesterday’s News Today

On this day in 1930 the poet and author of the children's sci-fi novel The Iron Man, Ted Hughes, was born.
And now the news:

  • Viral Videos May Harm Cute, Threatened Animals
  • First Documented Report of Swimming and Diving in ...


  • A short interview and reading from The Iron Man: