CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track: 09/13/14

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...

Saturday, September 13, 2014

RAINES EXPLAINS

GONZO WEEKLY #95

India probes identity card for monkey god Hanuman

The card showed a picture of the monkey god, complete with iris scan and fingerprints

Authorities in India are investigating how Hanuman, the monkey god, has been issued a biometric identity card.

The card photo features the character from the Hindu epic Ramayana wearing gold and pearl jewellery and a crown.

It emerged when a postman attempted to deliver the card, but could not find a Hanuman at the address.

When he looked at the photograph he realised it was probably a prank. It is not clear who the iris scan and fingerprints on the card belong to.

The card lists Hanuman as "Pawan-ji's" son (the god was known as son of Pawan in Hindu mythology) and lists a mobile phone number and an address in the western state of Rajasthan.

Hanuman is generally depicted with a human body, a red monkey's face and a tail. There are temples dedicated to Hanuman all over the country.

Read on...

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.

NEWSLINK: Why dozens of India's Asiatic lions are ...

UK SIGHTINGS: UPDATED WITH VIDEO: Mystery beast c...

NEWSLINK: Mountain lion attack leaves six-year-ol...

VIDEO: Lioness Shows Trust in Man with Her Newborn...

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.

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF

Bigfoot Tabloids and Raunchy Movies

Ghost Hunting Theories ⋅ Sharon Day

A tabloid reporter makes a shocking cryptozoological discovery while investigating a recent rash of Bigfoot sightings in this comedy featuring beer,

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS A LITTLE OVER SUBSCRIBED

The Gonzo Daily - Saturday

www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/about.html

It is Stupid O'Clock in the Morning

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_20.html
Renaissance review
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/renaissance-review.html
Corky Laing’s First Concert
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/09/corky-laings-first-concert.html
PLAYLIST: Strange Fruit #87
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/09/playlist-strange-fruit-87.html
GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Vaughan Williams ~ The Lark Ascending
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/09/gonzo-track-of-day-vaughan-williams.html
Peter Gabriel, Mick Rogers, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Paula Frazer and U2 Fans, had better look out! The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#95) will soon be available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/.

It has the one and only Mick Rogers, singer/guitarist with Manfred Mann's Earth Band and the legendary Aviator on the cover, and an exclusive interview with the man himself inside. Doug Harr meets the lovely and massively talended Paula Frazer, and Jon critiques the new U2 album and is critical about its marketing. There are also new shows from the wonderfully eccentric Jaki and Tim on their Submarine, from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit from Canterbury sans Frontieres presented by Matthew Watkins, and from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and long nosed potoroos (OK, no weird antipodean macropods, 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:

Issue 94 (John Ellis cover)http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/09/gonzo-weekly-94.html
Issue 93 (Jaki Windmill cover)
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/08/gonzo-weekly-93.html
Issue 92 (Weird Weekend cover)
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/08/gonzo-weekly-92.html
Issue 91 (Galahad cover)
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/08/gonzo-weekly-91.html
Issue 90 (Steve Bolton cover)
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/08/gonzo-weekly-90.html

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!

You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:
http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/

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?