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...

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Wednesday, June 13, 2018

CFZ PEOPLE: Joan James (aka Mother)

Mother is 89 today. Happy Birthday


THE LAST WEEK AT THE CFZ-USA BLOG

CFZ-USA

  • LAKE MANITOBA MONSTER
  • IRISH LAKE MONSTER
  • NEKOHABITORI - CRYPTID OF JAPAN
  • IS THE GORILLA DESCENDED FROM A HYBRID?
  • CREATURE WITH MANY EYES
  • UNEEKA - AN UNUSUAL HYBRID
  • BIGFOOT ATTACK
  • BIGFOOT KILLS
  • HORSES WITH CURLY HAIR
  • THEORY OF THE MIND
  • BIPED IN ARGENTINA
  • THUNDERBIRD IN ILLINOIS
  • BIGFOOT AND THE HERMIT
  • ABSURD-LOOKING ENTITIES
  • WILLIAMS LAKE MONSTER
  • LITTLE PEOPLE OF USA
  • MONSTER OF ACHILL ISLAND
  • THE SEA SERPENT IN IRELAND
  • JARJACHA - PERUVIAN CRYPTID
  • MYSTERY ANIMAL ON CCTV FOOTAGE
  • RAPUNZEL ANNOTATED
  • FOTSIAONDRE - SHEEPMAN OF MADAGASCAR
  • POMBERO IN PARAGUAY
  • NATIVE AMERICAN WATER BABIES
  • FAIRIES - HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
  • OLDEST BIGFOOT PHOTOGRAPH - 1894.
  • HUNTING FOR BIGFOOT
  • DOGMAN - TWO ENCOUNTERS IN MICHIGAN
  • IS MOKELE-MBEMBE A DINOSAUR?
  • GRIFFINS AND BIG BIRDS
  • COULD NEANDERTHALS HAVE REACHED CALIFORNIA?
  • IS THERE A TOKOLOSHE ABOUT?
  • APOTAMKIN - NATIVE AMERICAN SEA-SERPENT
  • SPACE-TIME AND FAERIES
  • DAKWA - MONSTER OF THE CHEROKEE
  • SEA TROWS
  • ALIENS - FINNISH CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
  • GREEN-CLAWED BEAST
  • BIGFOOT HANDPRINT
  • LIZARD MAN FESTIVAL
  • WHAT IS BIGFOOT?
  • LIGHT ENTITY IN MEXICO
  • THE AMAZONS OF SOUTH AMERICA
  • BIGFOOT BEHAVIOR
  • LAKE ELSINORE MONSTER
  • SEA SERPENTS
  • VIRGINIA BIGFOOT SIGHTING
  • DID GIANTS EXIST?
  • BATSQUATCH ENCOUNTERS
  • WHAT IS A LEITXU?
  • FORTHCOMING BIGFOOT LECTURE
  • OLDEST KNOWN FOOTPRINTS
  • BIPEDAL CANID IN PENNSYLVANIA
  • CREATURE OF LBL
  • SELECTION OF YOU-TUBE BIGFOOT VIDEOS
  • STRANGE ANIMALS IN ENGLISH FOREST
  • A LOOK AT CRYPTID WHALES
  • BIGFOOT IN DAYLIGHT
  • BIGFOOT IN SWEDEN
  • BIGFOOT IN TEXAS
  • LAKE MINNETONKA MONSTER
  • BIGFOOT IN THE 21st CENTURY
  • ALIEN IMPLANTS AND ABDUCTIONS
  • BIGFOOT IN BRITAIN
  • BAT-WINGED CREATURE AND UFO
  • ZITIRON - CREATURE OF DUTCH LEGEND
  • DAVY CROCKETT AND THE APE-MAN
  • LEKA SIGHTING
  • SECOND STRONG NESSIE SIGHTING 2018
  • WAS CHINESE LAKE MONSTER ON VIDEO?
  • VEGETABLE MEN/SPACE FAIRIES/ALIENS
  • DID THE CHOCTAW-BIGFOOT BATTLE TAKE PLACE?
  • ANIMALS AND MEN - LATEST ISSUE
  • DOES BIGFOOT ROAM KENTUCKY?
  • REPTILIAN IN CALIFORNIA
  • BIRDMAN IN KILKENNY
  • SHEEP-DOG HYBRID
  • COURTS OF THE FAIRIES
  • BEASTS IN THE AIR
  • BARMANU - WILDMAN OF PAKISTAN
  • DAVENPORT DEVIL - WINGED CREATURE
  • BIGFOOT RUN OVER
  • IS CRYPTOZOOLOGY A SCIENCE?
  • HUGE WINGED HUMANOID IN MILWAUKEE
  • FINNISH MYTHICAL BEINGS
  • GAMBO - MYSTERY AFRICAN CARCASS
  • OGOPOGO - CANADIAN LAKE MONSTER
  • ENDANGERED SMALL MAMMALS
  • MYSTERY APE OF CHILE
  • CRICK SAYS OUR GENES COME FROM SPACE
  • BIGFOOT OF THE CHOCTAW
  • HAUT - SOUTH AMERICAN ANIMAL
  • FAIRY CENSUS 2014-17
  • DOGMAN AND TWO BOYS
  • ALMAS - RUSSIAN WILDMAN
  • WHITE COLD PEOPLE
  • COONIGATOR - CREATURE OF VERMONT
  • WHAT FLEW ABOVE MEXICO CITY?
  • GUIRIVILU - UNKNOWN ANIMAL
  • THE MONTANA CANID
  • WEREWOLVES OF IRELAND
  • BIGFOOT IN FLORIDA
  • MONSTROUS ANTARCTIC INSECTS
  • MONO GRANDE - SOUTH AMERICAN PRIMATE
  • KIKIMORA - CREATURE OF SLAV MYTH
  • PENTAGON AND METASCIENCE
  • MONSTERS OF NEW BRUNSWICK
  • SCIENTIFIC DISAGREEMENTS
  • RENDLESHAM FOREST MYSTERY: NEW RESEARCH
  • KUMI LIZARD - NEW ZEALAND CRYPTID
  • GIANTS AND ALIENS
  • SLEEPING GIANTS
  • GASSINGRAM
  • PUKWUDGIE
  • BIGFOOT AFLOAT
  • BIGFOOT IN OREGON
  • MONTANA BEAST STILL NOT IDENTIFIED
  • HUNTING BIGFOOT IN BRITAIN

  • BAT-WINGED HUMANOIDS IN MISSOURI
  • MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: A mystery white cat in Lincolnshire

    Hi dudes,

    I recently bought a book from the Oxfam Online Shop titled Lincolnshire Folklore by Ethel H.Rudkin , ( 1936) which is packed full of folklore curiosities, including many animal references. One which caught my beady eye was the Commonpiece cat, at Gunthorpe, Lincolnshire (on pages 30 -31). 

    "Some three hundred yards from the hamlet of Gunthorpe, on the Trentside road leading to West Stockwith, is an opening in the bank, the end of a lane,known as Commonpiece Lane. This spot iss aid to be haunted by a species of white cat;and those who have seen it say it is of abnormal size. This apparition was quite common forty or fifty years ago. ( i.e  c. 1880s).  I remember when I was a boy returning from Stockwith one Sunday evening in late September, and being overtaken by Mr Joe Jenkins, a local Wesleyan preacher...he asked me if the cat had been seen lately? or if I had seen it.I had not, but asked him, "Have you sen it, Mr Jenkins?" and he replied, "Scores of times!" it always crosses the road from the river and runs through the opening in the bank; it is white, and nearly as large as a pig." (The story then goes on to describe how a man was walking down the same road on a snowy night when he saw the cat and aimed a kick at it, whereupon it vanished. He returned the next morning and saw his own footprints but not the spoor of the cat!)

    "It is known that human bones lie buried beneath the bank just here, for about seventy years ago some farm-labourers unearthed a skeleton whilst earthing up a pie of potatoes (sic). The bones were reburied. Nothing is known as to the identity of this skeleton, whether it is the body of some person who had met with foul play  , or someone who had been found drowned, and the body buried near the place where the body was discovered - a common practice years ago. ( Per C.K.S. Gunthorpe.)

    Source: Lincolnshire Folklore   Ethel H.Rudkin    Gainsborough Beltons, Church St  1936

    BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    Tennessee Bigfoot
    Michael writes "Enjoy this documentary film as we journey on a cross country road trip that raises more deep questions than it provides answers.

    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS IN THE DRIVING SEAT

    The Gonzo Daily: Wednesday
     
    Today is Mother's 89th birthday, and she appears to be having a lovely time. She has asked me to thank everyone who has set their good wishes. This afternoon Charlotte comes over for the playthrough of OTT and later there will be cake and ice cream. I have just bitten the bullet and bought 1m 6f Gambusia affinis to be delivered on Friday. Iam extremely nervous, but very excited. I sincerely hope that the male will have already put his pair of retractable hemipenes to use and that the feales will be pregnant already. I am very nervous about having only one male.
     
    Watch this space.
     
    And for those of you who are interested in such things, the Gonzo Privacy Policy is here:
     
     
    And the CFZ Privacy Policy is here:
     
     
    But for now, here is the news:
     
    THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: James Brown - Get up o...
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    GONZO PEOPLE: Joan James (aka Mother)
    LEONARD COHEN AT GONZO
    RICK WAKEMAN IN THE NEWS
    YES NEWS
     
     
    Gonzo Weekly #290
    THE OVERNITE SENSATION ISSUE
     
    We continue to trawl the counterculture with this particularly groovy issue, in which Jon talks to Frank Zappa’s younger sister about her book, her brother and other things, Jeremy goes to see Wreckless Eric, Doug goes to see Echo and the Bunnymen, Alan goes to see Woody Pines, Graham riffs on Hawkwind, Jon writes about Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, and there is loadsa other stuff as well ….
     
    #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, and Roy Weard, and C J Stone, and Mr Biffo and Kev Rowlands AND the irrepressible Corinna . There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and tiger quolls who are havinga little snooze (OK, nothing to do with small dasyurids who are a little sleepy, 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:
     
    Pink Floyd, Nick Mason, Ringo Starr, Jon Anderson, Damon Albarn, Prince, Yes, Morrissey, Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin, Marc Ogeret, Robert Maksymilian Brylewski (also known as. Afa and Robin Goldroker), Edward Harrington (aka Eddy Clearwater), Razan Ashraf Abdul Qadir al-Najjar, Sinan Sakic, Demba Nabé, Ralph Santolla, Brian Browne, Eliza Carthy, Kate Rusby, Rick Wakeman, Paice, Ashton & Lord, The Mitchell Trio, Patrice Zappa, Frank Zappa, Doug Harr, Echo and the Bunnymen, Alan Dearling, Woody Pines, Jeremy Smith, Wreckless Eric, Kev Rowland, Sex Dumpster, Soniq Theater, Soul Doubt, Umphrey's Mcgee, Usurpress, Voidhanger, Alghazanth, Animal Drive, Besvarjelsen, Chris Stone, Hawkwind, The Wild Colonial Boy, Martin Springett, The Durrells, Nick van der Leek
     
    And the last few issues are:
     
    Issue 289 (Misty in Roots)
    Issue 288 (Paula Frazer)
    Issue 287 (Boss Goodman)
    Issue 286 (Monty Python)
    Issue 285 (ELP)
    Issue 284 (Straqngelove)
    Issue 283 (Record Store Day)
    Issue 282 (Neil Finn and Fleetwood Mac)
    Issue 281 (Carl Palmer)
    Issue 280 (Steve Andrews)
     
     
    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.



    NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Wednesday

    ON THIS DAY IN -  1415 - Henry the Navigator, the prince of Portugal, embarked on an expedition to Africa. 
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk


  • Managed hunting can help maintain animal populatio...
  • New Zealand has its own population of blue whales
  • Are humans causing cancer in wild animals?
  • How animals holler
  • Giant Chinese salamander is at least five distinct...



  • 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)