Friday, January 30, 2015

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.


HO FOR THE G-B-D-D-M

The Gonzo Daily - Friday/Saturday
 
I was 12 in 1971, and never saw A Clockwork Orange during the brief time that it was in the cinema. Even if it ever got as far as The Odeon in Bideford (long since closed and turned into a block of sheltered flats for old people) my parents would not have let me go, and my cultural interests at the time were more involved with reading Biggles books by Capt W E Johns, or the William books of Richmal Crompton (both of which I still read today, by the way) than investigating the ultraviolence that Alex and his Droogs perpetuated upon society.
 
I finally saw it one night fifteen years ago, when together with several friends and my then girlfriend I went to the cinema in Exeter for a special late night showing. The most disturbing bit of the film for me took place about two thirds of the way through the film. Over to Wikipedia:
 
“Two years into the sentence, the Minister of the Interior arrives at the prison looking for test subjects for the Ludovico technique, an experimental aversion therapy for rehabilitating criminals within two weeks; Alex readily volunteers. The process involves drugging the subject, strapping him to a chair, propping his eyelids open, and forcing him to watch images of violence. Alex becomes nauseated due to the drugs.”
 
Today I became Alex. No. I did not disappear with some malchicks into Burgess’s terrifying Nadsat world. But I did sit in a chair whilst chemicals were put in my eyes, and I became mildly dizzy and queasy.
 
It was my annual diabetic eye screening, and when I came home after hanging around Bideford for three hours waiting for some medication, I was so tired and queasy I went to bed.
 
So an appypolly loggy lewdies and droogs. After having drencom in m’glazz, and a pain in m’gulliver I was forced to leave the blogs to this evening.
 
 
The Gonzo Weekly #115
www.gonzoweekly.com
 
Edgar Froese, Tangerine Dream, John Lydon, Grateful Dead, Jon Anderson, Yes, Hawkwind, and Daevid Allen fans had better look out!
 
The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#115) will soon be available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has Edgar Froese from Tangerine Dream on the front cover. As you may know he died about ten days ago. Inside there is a retrospective by Doug Harr and Rob Ayling remembers his relationship with the man who defined electronic music. I critique the extraordinary new John Lydon autobiography, and also burble on about The Grateful Dead. We have news about the Drones for Daevid concert in Brighton next week, and we send the legendary Roy Weard to a desert island. Xtul are on the road to Norwich, and there are shows from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive, and the titular submarine dwellers are still lost at sea. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and southern dibblers wearing new shoes (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials in search of snazzy footwear, 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!
 
You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:
http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/
 

* 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/…/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit
 
* 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 55 who - together with an infantile orange cat 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 infantile orange cat?

Thursday, January 29, 2015

FIRST CAMERA TRAP FILM OF AFRICAN GOLDEN CAT (Thanks to Richard Muirhead)



http://www.theguardian.com/environm...ootage-african-golden-cat-sheds-light-species



[​IMG] 
''Close-up of a mother African golden cat with her kitten. Photograph: David Mills/WCS/Panthera.''

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS...

The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/about.html
 
I am feeling a bit more human today. Thank you to everyone for your messages of support, and especially to Rob for his phone call last night. I really appreciate it my friend.
 
 
The Gonzo Weekly #114
www.gonzoweekly.com
 
Barbara Dickson, Pink Fairies, Genesis, Steve Hackett, Robert Wyatt, Stargrace, Jon Anderson, Yes, Hawkwind, and Daevid Allen fans had better look out!
 
The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#114) is available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has Barbara Dickson on the front cover and inside there is an interview by me in which she talks about her new album and her work with Troy Donockley, Doug goes back to 1976 and the Genesis 'Seconds Out' Tour, I critique the extraordinary new Robert Wyatt biography, and also burble on about Bob Dylan, we send the lovely Stargrace to a desert island, tell you about new Pink Fairies recordings, marvel at the intrepidness of Steve Hackett, and Xtul are on the road to Norwich, and there are shows from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive, and the titular submarine dwellers are still lost at sea. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and southern dibblers wearing new shoes (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials in search of snazzy footwear, 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!
 
You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:
http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/
 

* 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/…/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit
 
* 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 55 who - together with an infantile orange cat 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 infantile orange cat?

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF:



Lincoln Journal Star

'Simply a mystery' -- Strange tracks in snow appear near Curtis
She also heard from a Nebraska-based bigfoot investigator, who asked her to look for trees pulled down into arches or tipi-type shapes -- telltale signs ...

New Bigfoot Sighting From Lettuce Lake Park Florida
New video footage of footage of Bigfoot From Lettuce Lake Park Florida.

Ohio Bigfoot Hunters to Conduct Workshop on Evidence Collection
Creature Weekend is proud to announce that the Ohio Bigfoot Hunters will be conducting an Evidence Collection Workshop at the Creature Weekend ...
Drones do have legitimate uses and could prove helpful to reporters
I think one equipped with a thermal imaging camera was used on the show “Finding Bigfoot.” They didn't find Bigfoot, but the same sort of system ... 
Breakdown: Bigfoot caught on Camera
The Paranormal Review: I could not find the original footage for this bigfoot sighting or sasquatch sighting, if you have the link please leave me a

Bigfoot In The Snow?
Damn. This one is quit blurry. The Paranormal Review just did a fresh breakdown of a video they found while scouring the net. This one is ...

Thomas Steenburg Talks About The Late Bigfoot Researcher Rene Dahinden
These interviews with Thomas Steenburg are great. In this one he speaks on the late Rene Dahinden, and his friendships with the legends of the ...

Bigfoot Of Stevens County Reports
Grassman58Sharing some of the stories and reports of bigfoot sightings we have been researching at the locations around Stevens County

Bigfoot's backyard? 'Sasquatch' sighted in Prospect Park
A Fort Greene videographer claims to have shot footage showing the legendary Sasquatch lumbering around a wooded area of Brooklyn's backyard ...

Bigfoot Footage from Lettuce Lake Park, FL
Check out video footage recently sent in to Bigfoot Evidence. The witness said he was canoeing in a swamp outside of Tampa, Florida, when he 
This Video Tells Where Bigfoot Is From, and It's Not Earth
With as many questions as there are about bigfoot, some people even speculate if they are from Earth at all. Some believe the squatches come from ...

Bigfoot - Todd Standing
This is a short comparison made by Phil Poling of a photo reported of a Sasquatch. It was presented by Todd Standing. Are they one in the same

Oregon Bigfoot Sightings 2015
Oregon Bigfoot sightings, recent bigfoot sightings There are currently 1406 published reports in the database. We are currently working on a backlog ...

Bigfoot in Brooklyn, Skunk Ape in Florida, Yeti in Boston
Three videos appear this week of a Bigfoot in Brooklyn, a Skunk Ape in Florida and a Yeti in Boston.

Bigfoot Track Find In Nebraska During The 1980's
Nebraska isn't exactly known for its thriving bigfoot population. According to the BFRO website, there has only been 14 reports filed for the state.

Bigfoot sighting in East Texas near Lufkin
Bigfoot Sightings: For several weeks I have heard strange noises in the woods. I've caught glimpses of a shadowy figure in the woods on my property

More Details on The Falcon Project
There's been a couple of people who've publicly announced their involvement with the Falcon Project, but details have been scared. Dr. Jeff Meldrum

Snowy sasquatch spotted in Newcomerstown
This six-foot solid concrete statue of Bigfoot draws more than just a lot of looks from passers-by along Main Street in Newcomerstown -- it gets many ...

Bringing in Bigfoot With a Blimp Gets a Boost
The Falcon Project, using a blimp to track and find Bigfoot, announced that Bigfoot expert Jeff Meldrum joined the team as scientific adviser.

Bigfoot's backyard? 'Sasquatch' sighted in Prospect Park
“I don't know what it is, but it looks like Bigfoot,” a man going by the name Russell Strark said. “I don't know what to say, man, I've never seen ...

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: Scottish Alien Big Cat Being Called ...
  • UK SIGHTINGS: Could this prove Big Cat living in t...
  • NEWSLINK: Golden Oaks Village News
  • NEWSLINK: Lion Man's New Park In South Africa Caus...
  • NEWSLINK: Zombie Cat: Kitty Needs Week to Recover ...
  • NEWSLINK: Leopard spotted with three cubs in Kumba...
  • NEWSLINK: Oregon Lion Encounter Opens for Season
  • NEWSLINK: Letters: White tigers born of bad practi...
  • NEWSLINK: Are big cat claims exaggerated?

  • UK SIGHTINGS: Shropshire man says he has seen big ...
  • NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)



    Loch Ness Monster to star in £2m north of Scotland tourism campaign
    The Loch Ness Monster is to be at the centre of a £2m tourism campaign to bring more visitors to the north of Scotland. More than 200,000 overseas ...

    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.



    Wednesday, January 28, 2015

    MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES:MAMMOTHS IN MALAYA IN 1884?

    (no caption)Today I present a story (which may or may not be new) I found a couple of days ago. I am NOT definitely saying this was a mammoth, so indeed I am sitting on the fence. Not with the mammoth (or whatever it was) because the fence would probably collapse.

    The story is in the New York Tribune of Sept 22nd 1884:

    TWO MAMMOTHS FROM QUEDAH

    ALLEGED REPRESENTATIVES OF AN EXTINCT SPECIES – RESEMBLANCE TO ELEPHANT

    “A large crowd witnessed the unloading on Saturday,from the steamer Werra,of two strange animals, imported by Charles Reiche & Brother,and supposed to be Mammoths,technicaly known as elephas primigenius, and generally considered an extinct species. Years ago, Mr Reiche was informed by seafaring men who had visited the Malay Peninsula, that the inhabitants had told them of a peculiar species of pachyderm, seen near Queddah, an inland town. Their branch house at Alfred, Germany, was instructed to secure a specimen of this animal,if possible,and after a tedious hunt in the mountain near Queddah, these two animals were captured by the natives. They were transferred to Mr Reiche`s agent at Singapore,and placed in charge of John Penja, who accompanied them here. They were seen yesterday by a Tribune reporter, in a small stall in the hold of the Werra. They kept up a constant rocking movement of the body until they were placed in a cage, and removed from the ship. There are two females, four and a half and two and a half feet in height. Their length equals their height.

    The animals bear a general but not detailed resemblance to an elephant. Their trunks have an upward curve;the elephants trunk curves backward. Their ears are flapping, but run parallel with the body, while the elephant`s hang more like a hound`s. A protuberance on the back resembles the hump of a camel {like the one discovered by Blashford-Snell`s team in Nepal in 1992-R?} The larger animal,excepting the trunk and legs,is thickly covered with a coat of dark brown hair, from three to eight inches long. It resembles bristles,and in some places there is an undergrowth of hair as soft as wool. The smaller animal is covered with a dark,fuzzy down. The age of the larger specimen is put at six years,and of the small one at two years. They have voices entirely out of proportion to their size,and when the keeper pulled the larger one`s ear she gave a howl that caused the spectator`s to flee. They are fed on hay,oats and bran,mixed with boiled rice.

    (no caption)Mr Reiche was asked why he thought the animals were called mammoths. “Because” , he replied, “of their resemblance to them. Bones of the mammoth have been found in Europe and Asia for many centuries,but the first complete specimen was found in 1799,by a Tungusian, named Schumachoft, deeply imbedded in a glacier on the shore of Lake Oncoul. He saw it again in 1803,and the ice having melted he removed the tusks.”

    Here is a story from the Singapore Free Press July 29th 1912 of another small hairy elephant:

     http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article.aspx?articleid=singfreepressb19120729-1.2.34&sessionid=5f52732155c34caf906714ab2605d2fc&keyword=hairy+elephant&search=advanced&fromdate=&todate=&articles=1&advertisements=1&illustrations=1&letters=1&obituaries=1&miscellaneous=1&newspaperTitles=&fuzzysearch=Off&token=elephant%2chairy

    In his book Pygmy Elephants by Matt Salusbury ( 2013) pp 142-3 he comments on  a list by Osborn, published in 1942, “ the tentative list included the hairy Malaysian elephant calf Elephas indicus hirsutus from London Zoo in 1914,probably a one off freak…”

    Karl Shuker in Alien Zoo (2010) mentions mammoths in Thailand in December 2000.


    NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)



    io9

    Man Claims Boat Collision Proves Existence Of Loch Ness Monster
    io9
    A man who once rented boats on Loch Ness has come forward, claiming that "flesh and black skin an inch thick" was found clinging to one of his ...

    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.




    HOORAY FOR THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    The Gonzo Daily - Wednesday
    I am not feeling too good this morning, and so, after the blogs are done - I shall be disappearing into the sitting room to wrap up warm, listen to Hector Berlioz, cuddle Archie, and write deathless prose on my iPad. It is nothing serious, but I  apologise to everyone in advance, but I shall not be easy to get hold of today. Normal service will be resumed blah blah blah...
    The Gonzo Weekly #114
    www.gonzoweekly.com
    Barbara Dickson, Pink Fairies, Genesis, Steve Hackett, Robert Wyatt, Stargrace, Jon Anderson, Yes, Hawkwind, and Daevid Allen fans had better look out!
    The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#114) is available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has Barbara Dickson on the front cover and inside there is an interview by me in which she talks about her new album and her work with Troy Donockley, Doug goes back to 1976 and the Genesis 'Seconds Out' Tour, I critique the extraordinary new Robert Wyatt biography, and also burble on about Bob Dylan, we send the lovely Stargrace to a desert island, tell you about new Pink Fairies recordings, marvel at the intrepidness of Steve Hackett, and Xtul are on the road to Norwich, and there are shows from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive, and the titular submarine dwellers are still lost at sea. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and southern dibblers wearing new shoes (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials in search of snazzy footwear, 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!
    You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:
    http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/

    * 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/…/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit
    * 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 55 who - together with an infantile orange cat 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 infantile orange cat?

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Wednesday

    ON THIS DAY IN 1521 - The Diet of Worms began, at which Protestant reformer Luther was declared an outlaw by the Roman Catholic church. 

  • Growing mussels: Precious freshwater shellfish are...
  • Giant polar bear shocks travellers on Tube
  • Why is so little attention paid to Madagascar's in...
  • Millions of GMO mosquitoes could soon be released ...
  • Obama push to expand Alaskan refuge
  • Rep. Ken Andrus (Idaho) opposes salamander bill, c...
  • Campaign launched to deal with problem of abandone...

  • Zoo offers creepy way for lovelorn to get even wit...

  • 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)

    Tuesday, January 27, 2015

    CFZ PEOPLE: J T Downes ISO



    My father would have been 90 today. Happy Birthday Dad

    BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF:



    Is The US Forestry Service Hiding Bigfoot?
    Bigfooter and enthusiast William Jevning thinks that not only does the U.S. Forest Service know about bigfoot, but they also go to lengths to hide the ...

    Breaking: Very Compelling Footage of Skunkape/Bigfoot From Lettuce Lake Park Florida
    About an hour ago, a reader of Bigfoot Evidence, Matt M. (no relation to Matt Moneymaker), sent us a video that completely blew our minds.