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...

Search This Blog

WATCH OUR WEEKLY WEBtv SHOW

SUPPORT OTT ON PATREON

SUPPORT OTT ON PATREON
Click on this logo to find out more about helping CFZtv and getting some smashing rewards...

SIGN UP FOR OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER



Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Wednesday, April 25, 2018

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.





THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN HAS TORTOISES

The Gonzo Daily: Wednesday
 
So things continue to trundle on.Graham is off to America next week and has only a few windows of weather opportunity to finish doing what he needs to do with the museum roof, and with the roof of Corinna's and my bedroom (part of the ceiling of which has fallen in). We are filming with Charlotte this afternoon, Carl's car has packed up and I have a whole string of appointments about the ulcer on my leg. But apart from that....
 
Forgive me for always banging on about our webTV show, but it matters a lot to me, and I would be grateful for as many people as possible to see it, and spread the tidings of it far and wide:
 
 
And if you fancy supporting us on Patreon:
 
And by the way chaps and chappesses, a trip to the Jon Downes megastore seems to be in order: if you want to make me a happy fellow, you can:
 
buy my novel:
buy the record by the main protagonist of the novel who isn't me in an elephant mask, honest:
buy my single:
 
But for now, here is the news:
 
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Osibisa Woyaa yaa (We ...
Liberace's last interview with Oprah
ZAPPA NEWS
LEONARD COHEN IN THE NEWS
 
Gonzo Weekly #283
THE BACK TO THE VINYL FUTURIST ISSUE
 
In the week where it has been announced that the recorded music industry in the UK has had its best year since Britpop, John looks at Record Store Day 2018 from the point of view of a Gonzo reader, Alan does some extraordinary things in Lithuania, Doug looks at an unfairly overlooked Genesis album, and Jon mutters on about Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, and global reapolitik.
 
#Hail Eris!
 
And there are radio shows from Strange Fruit, AND Mack Maloney, AND Friday Night Progressive is on hiatus this week, there are columns from all sorts of folk including Neil Nixon, Kev Rowlands AND the irrepressible Corinna, although Roy Weard, C J Stone, and Mr Biffo are sadly absent this week. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and southern dibblers who have stood around in twos (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who have paired up under last weekend's blue moon, 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!!!
 
This issue features:
 
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Corky Laing, Morrissey, Kino, Sting, The Damned, Nick Mason, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Tom McBride, Maurice Reedus Jr., Deborah Coleman, Irwin Gage, Arthur William Bell III, Barbara Bush, Randy Lynn Scruggs, Rick Wakeman, Natural Gas, Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, Michael Bruce, Man, Doug Harr, Genesis, Alan Dearling, Uzupis, Poliarizuoti stiklai, Uprising Tree, Nerius Peciura, Rakija Klezmer Orchestra, Baltasis Kiras, Sen Svaja, Arklio Galia, Balandos, John Brodie-Good, Record Store Day 2018, Kev Rowland, The Billy Lester Trio, Joe Elliott's Down 'N' Outz, Blood Red Saints, Blues Pills, Brad Garton & Dave Soldier, Bugenhagen, Christina, Hawkwind, The Blackheart Orchestra, Martin Springett, Pink Floyd, Elvis, Jerry Garcia, Elton John, Neil Nixon, Roddy Frame, Manic Street Preachers
 
And the last few issues are:
 
Issue 282 (Neil Finn and Fleetwood Mac)
Issue 281 (Carl Palmer)
Issue 280 (Steve Andrews)
Issue 279 (Biffo)
Issue 278 (The Beatles)
Issue 277 (Auld Man's Baccie)
Issue 276 (Dukes of the Orient)
Issue 275 (Martin Gordon)
Issue 274 (Steve Took)
Issue 273 (Live Dead 69)
Issue 272 (George Butler)
Issue 271 (Mark E Smith)
Issue 270 (Eric Clapton)
Issue 269 (Narnia)
Issue 267-8 (Happy New Year)
Issue 265-6 (The Who)
Issue 264 (John McLaughlin)
Issue 263 (The magic Band)
Issue 262 (DikMik)
Issue 261 (Leonard Cohen)
Issue 260 (Amsterdam Squat Festie)
 
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:
 
SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.
 
* 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.co.uk
 
* 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 58 who - together with a Jack Russell called Archie, an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and two half grown kittens, one totally coincidentally named after one of the Manson Family, purely because she squeaks, puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish. 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 Archie and the Cats?

NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Wednesday

ON THIS DAY IN - 1590 - The Sultan of Morocco launched his successful attack to capture Timbuktu. 
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Genome assembly of donkey reveals clues on how it ...
  • Why some beetles like alcohol
  • Snake hunters getting ready for rattlesnake festiv...
  • Texas Proposes Ending Unsustainable Commercial Wil...

  • Rare Scottish dinosaur prints give key insight int...

  • 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)