Thursday, July 31, 2014

CRYPTOLINK: Sea Serpents and the Hippocampus in Abominable Science

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. 

Daniel Loxton and Donald Prothero’s Abominable Science! Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids is an admirable book. I admire it immensely. I have used it in my freshman writing classes. If you haven’t bought it already, I encourage you to do so immediately.

However, I have some reservations about Loxton’s chapter on Sea Serpents. In chapter 5, “The Evolution of the Sea Serpent: From Hippocamp to Cadborosaurus,” Loxton argues that the classical hippocampus, hippocamp, or hydrippus is behind legends of sea serpents. The hippocamp is a sea monster that is part horse and part fish (or vaguely fish-like).
Read on...
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NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)



Southampton University students have designed a Loch Ness Monster-shaped pedalo for a charity ...
STUDENTS from Southampton have designed a Loch Ness Monster-shaped pedalo which will be used by seafaring adventurers. The six-metre ...

Nessie Culture at the Commonwealth Games
LOCH NESS MONSTER ⋅ Glasgow Boy
For something that is not meant to exist, the Loch Ness Monster continues ... is not an exact representation of what swims in the waters of Loch Ness
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TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS

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 are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking.
  • UK SIGHTINGS: Is this the Beast of Bodmin? Student...
  • NEWSLINK: Leopard' on the loose in Surrey! Hunt fo...
  • VIDEO: Beverly + Dereck Joubert: Life lessons from...


  • VIDEO: The Science of a Cheetah's Speed

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    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES


    What has Corinna's column of Fortean bird news got to do with cryptozoology?

    Well, everything, actually!

    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.




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    BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    Interview with Legendary Bigfoot Researcher Robert Dominguez
    Bigfoot Evidence ⋅ Matt K.
    Bigfoot blogger and podcaster Johnny McBigfoot of Monster X Radio recently interviewed a good friend of mine, Robert Dominguez. Robert has been ...

    Bigfoot Deer Kill Site, and a Trail of Depressions in Tall Grass
    This could quite possibly be the work of a Bigfoot, however the land owner did not want us to go into his woods. He said he had lived in harmony with 

    The Great Bigfoot Debate - Kill or No Kill, Why Argue?
    See that image up there? That is Justin Smeja, a man who claims to have shot two bigfoot, and fatally wounding one of them. A small juvenile in fact

    Megan Fox Admits She Believes In Bigfoot
    Megan was at Comic-Con promoting her new movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The subject of the interview eventually turned to Bigfoot and this is 

    Bigfoot thieves got more than they bargained for, says owner
    The owner of a Bigfoot yard statue in Hopewell Township says would-be thieves tried to make off with the 300-lbs decoration. ( Bill Kalina photo ...

    West Richland's Bigfoot hunter dies at 92
    She recalled Laughery and two other men once gave a presentation on Bigfoot to the senior center residents. The peculiar subject caught her ...


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    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN TIPS A WINK

    The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
     
    This is becoming somewhat of a pattern this week: Dead rock star and interesting butterfly news. The dead rock star is Dick Hunter, one of my favourite guitarists. I first fell in love with his playing when I heard Lou Reed's 'Rock and Roll Animal' album back in the summer of 1975. His beautifully crafted solos and stylish arrangements made that album a perennial favourite for me.
     
    The butterfly news is that there have now been four sightings this year of the Camberwell beauty. The Camberwell Beauty is a rare migrant to the British Isles, originating in Scandinavia and mainland Europe. In some years there is a relatively-large influx of individuals, as occurred in 1846, 1872, 1947, 1976, 1995 and 2006, where individuals were reported throughout the British Isles. Like many migrants, this butterfly does not maintain a sustainable breeding population here since mating only occurs after hibernation and those adults that do manage to overwinter successfully are so few in number that the chances of finding a mate is small. None of the immature stages has ever been found in the wild in the British Isles. The Aurelian by Moses Harris, published in 1766, gives this butterfly the name "The Grand Surprize" or "Camberwell Beauty", based on 2 individuals that were caught in Cold Arbour Lane near Camberwell in 1748.
     
    Here endeth the lesson for today.
     
    Concert Review: Yes classics a thrill at Meadow Brook
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/concert-review-yes-classics-thrill-at.html
    GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Clearlight - Infinite Symphony
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/gonzo-track-of-day-clearlight-infinite.html
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_30.html
    A SLEW OF JON ANDERSON/JEAN LUC PONTY STORIES ALL SAYING EXACTLY THE SAME THING
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-slew-of-jon-andersonjean-luc-ponty.html
    Mastering Engineer Maor Appelbaum Relies On Sennheiser HD 600 In Creating New Yes Album
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/mastering-engineer-maor-appelbaum.html
    CORKY LAING: Life on the Rock: Keeping the rock 'n' roll faith
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/corky-laing-life-on-rock-keeping-rock-n.html
     
    The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#88) is available to read or download at www.gonzoweekly.com. It has Joey Molland, the last man standing of the mighty Badfinger on the front cover and an interview with him inside. It also includes an exclusive interview with the author of a new biography of The Waterboys, with an exclusive extract from the book. Yes fans will find a critique of the new album and a rundown of the extraordinary events that took place yesterday as Jon Anderson launched his new band. Elsewhere in the issue Doug Harr interviews the founding members of Brand X and Galahad release the cover art for their forthcoming EP.  There are also new shows from the wonderfully eccentric Jaki and Tim on their Submarine, and from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and from M Destiny (hopefully fully recovered from his recent illness) a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and mysterious clues (OK, no peculiar objects left by malefactors, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
     
    Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
     
     
    All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
     
    To make sure that you don't miss your copy of future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
    http://eepurl.com/r-VTD
     
    As well as the Gonzo Weekly, there is a daily service called - wait for it - The Gonzo Daily, and you can subscribe for free HERE:
    http://eepurl.com/OvPez
     

    *  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 an orange kitten named after a song by Frank Zappa 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 kitten?
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    MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: RARE SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY IN CHESHIRE

    Today`s Macclesfield Express July 30th 2014:


    “ A nature lover got a shock after a rare butterfly flew into his back garden. David Tolliday,59, was just about to tuck into his tea when he noticed the unusual looking insect land on his ivy plants. And as a member of Cheshire Butterfly Conservation Society David, of Gleneagles Drive in Tytherington, [Macclesfield] immediately identified the rare silver-washed fritillary.

    But it was only after calling the conservation society to record what he had spotted that he discovered how rare it was, as his was only the fifth recorded sighting of the species in Cheshire in the last 20 years…” It is a very scarce butterfly in Cheshire with the last known breeding in the county being in the 1930s. It is the rarest butterfly I have ever seen in this part of the country. “It was also a real thrill to have such an uncommon butterfly in my back garden, I would have liked to have seen it anywhere, but to have it right in the garden of my home was great.” (1)


     1. Macclesfield Express 30/7/14 page 21



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    NEWS FROM NOWHERE - THURSDAY

    ON THIS DAY IN BEATLES HISTORY
    1966 - In Birmingham, AL, citizens burned Beatles albums and memorabilia. The incident arose from a John Lennon interview with Maureen Cleave in "Datebook" magazine. 

    1968 - The Beatles' Apple Boutique in London closed after heavy losses.
  • Underwater elephants: Mixed impacts of the world's...
  • British turtles are booming
  • Supportive moms and sisters boost female baboon's ...
  • Thai Airways bans shark fin from cargo flights
  • Greek landfill site puts sea turtles at risk
  • Deep-sea octopus broods eggs for over four years -...
  • Full extent of tiger farming revealed

  • Future of Italy's Tuscan palios in doubt after hor...


    • AND TO WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK...
    (Music that may have some relevance to items also on this page, or may just reflect my mood on the day)
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