The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
THE ONLY WAY I GET MY KICKS
I really dislike The
Daily Mail. Their level of journalistic integrity, does - I believe - leave a
lot to be desired. Unfortunately a lot of the twaddle they write is on subjects
that I know nothing about so I can't really comment. However, today they proudly
proclaim that "Britain's first wild beaver for 500 years has been caught on
camera for a second time - but this time gnawing on a tree in the dead of
night", and then promptly contradicting it in the headline which proclaims that
there have not been beavers in the UK for 800 years. None of these assertions
are true. If I remember correctly, (and I can't be bothered to find my copy of
Harting's 'British Animals Extinct Within Historic Times') the last wild ones
were trapped at Loch Ness in the year of the Spanish Armada, which actually
means that they have been missing from our landscape for 425 years, not 500, or
800. Except they haven't: One of a pair was shot in Essex in (I think) the
1970s, and there were at least two beavers on the River Axe from the 80s and
90s. Whether they are the remnants of the original population (which I doubt,
but this is what the paper is implying) or were the result of deliberate or
accidental introduction I don't know.
But like the wild boar before it, the beaver does
seem to be on its way back, which can only be a good thing. And it gives me a
chance to make a 'Pop Will Eat Itself' joke which is always good. And today we
bought a new car, so I can't resist!
One good thing that's on my side
It's a big bad
car, it's out of sight, beaver patrol
* 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: www.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 54 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?
Virginia Wade; Harry of "Harry and the Hendersons"
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