Monday, May 14, 2018

BIG CAT ROUND UP

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.

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN HOPS, SKIPS AND JUMPS

The Gonzo Daily: Monday/Tuesday
 
I spent large amounts of yesterday trying to understand the EU GDPR legislation. The trouble is that the advice I have been given both online and offline seems completely contradictory. I have four mailing lists: two for the CFZ and two for Gonzo. The smallest has 14 email addresses on it, the largest has over 1,500. None of them has any confidential information attached; they are all just lists of email addresses, no names, mailing addresses, credit card numbers or vital statistics.
 
I have been advised that I need to do all sorts of things. But I have also been advised that I don't have to do anything. This whole thing is beginning to do my head in.
 
However, Graham is in Boise, Idaho, although he has not as yet met "the filthiest people alive".
 
Also: Many apologies to the people who could not read yesterday's post (and many thanks to Terry for bringing this to my attention. You can see it here:
 
 
Changing the subject completely, is there anyone reading this who has any experience in coding apps? Even more importantly, if you do, would you be prepared to lend your expertise to us for a few hours? Email me please at jon@eclipse.co.uk.
 
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:
 
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY:  Valentina Igoshina -"...
HAWKWIND NEWS
YES AND ALUMNI NEWS
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
ROB AND SANDY IN THE NEWS
 
 
Gonzo Weekly #285
THE AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ISSUE
 
As Netflix streams (almost) the entire output of the Monty Python team plus a whole bunch of documentaries, we take a nostalgic look at these Titans of Comedy. Doug remembers Mr Rogers, Corinna looks at Hawkwind on eBay, John looks forward to upcoming gigs, and bemoans recent bankruptcies, Biffo talks about the toxic fandom of Ricky Gervais and Alan goes Busking.
 
#Hail Eris!
 
And there are radio shows from Strange Fruit, AND Mack Maloney, AND Friday Night Progressive, there are columns from all sorts of folk including Neil Nixon, Kev Rowlands AND the irrepressible Corinna, and Roy Weard, and C J Stone, and Mr Biffo. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and long nosed potoroos who have stood around waiting for other potoroos (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who have decided to stage a reading of the Samuel Beckett classic, 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:
 
Monty Python, Wayne Kramer, MC5, John Lennon, Julia Baird, Selfridges, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Suede, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Vladimir Borisovich Sapunov, Dick Williams, Abi Ofarim, Tony Cucchiara, Stephen "Steve" Coy, Tony Kinman, Gayle Shepherd, Ben Graves, Carl Perkins, Big T, David William Goodall AM, Ashton, Gardner, Dyke & Co., Michael Bruce, Man, Karnataka, Doug Harr, Fred Rogers, Alan Dearling, Street Performing, Jonny Walker, John Brodie-Good, upcoming gigs, Gibson Guitars, Oppo, Shure, Business Catalyst, Kev Rowland, Birzer Bandana, Bleeding Gods, Broken Cross, Colin Edwin/Robert Jurjendal, Corrosion of Conformity, Discipline, Flaming Row, Martin Schnella & Melanie Mau, Mr Biffo, Roy Weard, Chris Stone, Hawkwind, The Wild Colonial Boy, Martin Springett, Jon Dunn, Jerry Garcia, Elvis, Beatles, Offspring, Victoria Beckham, David Bowie, Jimii Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Mark Fry
And the last few issues are:
 
Issue 284 (Straqngelove)
Issue 283 (Record Store Day)
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?

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





Eric Spinner investigates Bigfoot sightings in New Jersey. The latest occurred on April 7 and he said he deemed it credible. The report that Bigfoot was ...


According to the passenger he was looking out of the window when he spotted the Bigfoot-like creature striding along a hedgerow as the train pulled ...



Devon Live reported the sighting was made to the British Bigfoot Sightings group – a team of researchers who collect and investigate sightings of ..
Bluegrass Bigfoot Hunter, Charlie Raymond
Come out to the Bob Kirby Branch to hear the founder of the Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization, Charlie Raymond! Charlie will share eyewitness ...

NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)




It is one of the main sites for reported sightings of the legendary Loch Ness Monster. The site joins Edinburgh Castle as one of the most popular ...

NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Monday/Tuesday

ON THIS DAY IN -  1264 - King Henry III was captured by his brother in law Simon deMontfort at the Battle of Lewes in France. 
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Brain activity of free-flying bats
  • Most primitive kangaroo ancestor rediscovered afte...
  • Wildlife haven of Sulawesi much younger than first...
  • A new hope: One of North America's rarest bees has...



  • 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)