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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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Monday, December 24, 2018

2019 Annual Report of the Centre for Fortean Zoology.

Dear friends,

2019 Annual Report of the Centre for Fortean Zoology.

It is quite a humbling thought that this is the twenty fourth time I have sat down to write my annual report for the Centre for Fortean Zoology. An awful lot has changed over the years, and I must admit that back when I wrote my first annual report, sitting up in bed, upstairs in my little house in Exeter, recovering from a heavy cold, I had no idea that nearly a quarter of a century later I would be sitting down in what was then my parents’ house in North Devon, doing exactly the same thing.

This has been a peculiar year, even by CFZ standards, and can probably be – if I may be forgiven for sounding like a quintessential football manager from the 1970s – judged as ‘a game of two halves’, the second of which – beginning from the third week in July – has been dominated by the fact that my darling wife Corinna, who is also the administrator for the Centre for Fortean Zoology, has been seriously ill, which means that most of her CFZ activities have sadly had to have been curtailed.

She is better than she was, but we will be awaiting the results of more tests at the end of February before we have any big idea of what the diagnosis, and therefore the prognosis, is.

However, the year began in a very brisk and business-like manner, as our old friend and colleague, Carl Marshall, began a series of visits down to the CFZ, here in Devonshire. While the CFZ trees were still dormant for winter, Carl carried out a long series of pruning operations, designed to make the CFZ grounds not only more neat and tidy, but to allow more sunlight in than there has been in recent years. The garden was originally designed by my father and grandmother for long, hot summers, and cold, dry winters. However, as anybody who has lived in the United Kingdom and especially the Westcountry, in recent years will know that these conditions are largely something of the past. We have not been immune to the problem of global climate change here, and both the house and the grounds have suffered considerably from the almost incessant rain. Even on times when other parts of the Westcountry are having relatively mild weather, the fact that Hartland Point, a peninsula at the base of which the CFZ is situated, sticks out into the Bristol channel, and – as a result – our weather patterns have always been more violent than those found in the rest of the county. It is like a little ‘micro county’, similar – I believe – to The Burren, in Ireland, although our micro-biotope is not quite so interesting.

Carl, Graham and I have, therefore, been re-designing the CFZ grounds to make them more suitable for wet weather, and so as well as the much needed work on the trees, Carl has been straightening paths, introducing plants that thrive in soggy conditions, and re-landscaping the pond, something which took an enormous number of stones, and which is not finished yet as we are still hoping to scavenge some more stones from one of the building activities taking place elsewhere in the village.

Graham and Carl have also carried out some much needed repair work to the museum building, which will – in the fullness of time – not only become a museum again but be curated by Carl, who learned his craft working for many years at Stratford Butterfly Farm.


  • Publishing

After a couple of years in the relative doldrums, the publishing schedule for CFZ Press and its sister imprints has started anew.

This year, we published three titles:
  • The Seal Serpent by Rob Cornes and Gary Cunningham 
  •  ISBN/SKU:9781909488557
  • ISBN Complete:9781909488557
  • Publication Date: 9/21/2018
  • On Sale Date: 9/24/2018
  • Page Count:370
  • Spine Width: 0.76600  in
The Seal Serpent is a critical reappraisal of the theory that a pinniped (seal, sea lion, fur seal, walrus) could have evolved a long neck becoming the source of numerous tales of sea serpents or lake monsters from around the world; a mammalian equivalent of the plesiosaur.
The theory which has been around for over a hundred years is given a fresh perspective by Rob Cornes (The Surreal Seal Campaign, CFZ yearbook 2007) and Gary Cunningham (co-author of The Mystery Animals of Ireland 2010).
The authors evaluate the evidence for such an animal and build a speculative framework for its existence. They uncover previously unpublished reports which may strengthen the theory but also uncover a number of innacuracies and alternative explanations which may explain other historic accounts.
 From the bunyip of Australia to the beachwalker and skrimsl of Iceland, the fabled horse eels of Connemara to Pal Rai Yuk in Alaska the authors undertake a global investigation.
 Along the way they stumble upon an unexpected, previously unexplored but potentially game changing (or new paradigm) possibility to explain some lake monster identities; a unique possibility which should intitate a review of witness reports from Loch Ness and Ireland, among others...
  • Curious Countries: The Mystery Animals of Scandinavia and the Baltic States by Lars Thomas 
  • ISBN/SKU:9781909488571
  • ISBN Complete:9781909488571
  • Publication Date: 10/22/2018
  • On Sale Date: 10/22/2018
  • Anniversary Date:
  • Page Count:256
 Have you ever wondered what lurks out there in the deep, dark woods of the North? This book presents a choice selection of monstrous beings and fabulous creatures from Greenland, across the North Atlantic to Scandinavia, and the Baltic States. Meet the Giant Gull of Greenland, the terrifying Skrimsl of the Icelandic wilderness, the trolls that stomp through the impenetrable Nordic woods, and the puk-dragons guarding the houses on the Baltic Coast. This is the book where zoologist Lars Thomas tries to make sense of all the very strange beings that live in these Curious Countries.
  • Zen and Xenophobia: What happened after The Song of Panne by Jonathan Downes 
  •  ISBN/SKU:9781909488564
  • ISBN Complete:9781909488564
  • Publication Date: 10/7/2018
  • On Sale Date: 10/7/2018
  • Anniversary Date:
  • Page Count:262
Three years ago, I wrote a book called The Song of Panne, which told the story of how my dear, long suffering wife Corinna and I ended up having a hairy humanoid forest Godling (to steal Kipling's nomenclature) living in the airing cupboard in what used to be my father's dressing room. You can take it as fiction if you like, or you can believe every word I say. Believe it or not, it truly doesn't matter to me one way or another. This book continues the story roughly from where it left off, although the vast majority of it tells the story of a few days in the Autumn of 2015, and explains some of the things left hanging in the first book. I would like to think that you can read this book as a standalone volume, although - as an impecunious author with wife, family, animals and forest Godling to support - I could always do with the cash if you would like to buy the previous book. 
Although some of the characters in the book are real (whatever that means), in order to protect my kneecaps, it is probably better if you assume that everybody here except for me and Corinna is completely made up.
I would warn you that if you are of a nervous disposition, or easily offended, you will find parts of this book both offensive and upsetting. There is sex, violence, drug abuse, occultism, pornography, firearms, politics, religion, and not a little sociology. But there is also love, kindness, faith, and redemption.
Unfortunately, in these peculiarly decadent days, people are no longer happy to pay money for things like magazines and music, which they feel is their right to get for free, over the internet. This is why, some years ago, we started putting out Animals & Men for free. However, we accompanied it with hard copy volumes in paperback, which were for sale for those who wanted them. Unfortunately, the manufacturing costs of said magazines are high enough, and sales figures low enough, to make the continuation of this economically unviable. But, however, we are totally against the idea of making Animals & Men a purely digital publication, and so, although we haven’t worked out the details just yet, we intend to start issuing the magazines from after issue 57 as omnibus volumes of about three hundred pages.

I have also had people write to me about two other CFZ publications, which do, I will admit, appear to have lapsed recently. These are, of course, the CFZ Annual Yearbook, and the Journal of Cryptozoology. Dealing with the latter first, there will be another issue once enough submissions have been received. It is sad that, although for many years people have been complaining that there is no peer-reviewed journal dealing with cryptozoological matters, when somebody goes to the effort and expense of publishing one, far less submissions are received than one would have otherwise thought. Sadly, much of the same can be said about the CFZ yearbook, because it seems that people are much happier to write things on social media, where there is instant gratification, than they are to write things for print media. Again, many apologies for the bellyaching, but future issues of both publications will not arrive until we have enough submissions.


  • Events

In April, Glen Vaudrey promoted the third Weird Weekend North. Tickets for the fourth event are already on sale.

The provisional running order for Weird Weekend North 2019

Saturday
10:45 Rob Gandy -Ruskington Horror
12:00 Nathan Jackson - BHMs: The World Over
14:00 Carl Marshall - British Big Cats
15:15 Christopher Josiffe - Gef! The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose
16:30 Glen Vaudrey - The Risley Silverman mystery, alien encounter or something else
18:30 James Newton - Dogmen
19:45 Richard Freeman – The Hunting of the Gul: Tracking hominids in Tajikistan.


Sunday
11:00 Andy Ross – The Durham Puma
12:00 Steve Jones - Ghosts I have met; Steve Jones weirdest happenings
14:00 Steve Mera - UFO portals and their connection to the paranormal
16:00 Weird Weekend North Quiz
17:00 Bob Fischer – TBA



  • Expedition

This year’s expedition took place in July, when Richard Freeman, Dr Chris Clark and Dave Archer went to the former Soviet Central Asian republic of Tajikistan. They were in search of contemporary accounts of an alleged man-beast, known locally as the Dev or the Gul (the origin of the English word ‘ghoul’). They had originally assumed that it would be a local manifestation of the almas or almasty, which have been reported all the way across Central Asia, from the Caucasus (actually in Europe) in the West, to Mongolia in the East. However, they found that, much to their surprise, the creatures described to them were significantly different to the animals that had been described to them during their two expeditions to Kabardino-Balkaria in 2008 and 2017. Richard Freeman writes:

“Before I visited Tajikistan I thought the creature would be the same species as the almasty of Russia. However, the two seem different. The almasty could, according to witnesses, reach seven and a half feet tall. The gul was more like a man in height, if far broader across the shoulders. More tellingly is the strange structure of the hand. All the witnesses stress that the thumbs were further back on the hand than a human thumb. If you were going to make up a story about seeing a monster, would the thumbs be the first thing you described?
The hands of fossil hominins, such as Homo erectus or Homo habils, seem more like modern man in structure. Even the more primitive australopithecines had a hand structure more man-like than ape-like. 
The shape of the hands of the gul, as described by witnesses, looked more like those of a chimpanzee or those of Ardipithecus ramidus, a 4.4 million year old hominin, that was twice as ancient as Homo habilis. Does this mean that the gul is a descendent of Ardipithecus ramidus, or one of its relations? 
Possibly, but not necessarily: the strange hand shape may be a relatively recent development, perhaps an adaptation to climbing, but all of this is just speculation. Only a specimen will answer these riddles once and for all. It seems that the gul may be a whole new chapter in hominology.”
Perhaps most interestingly of all, were the reports that they received of recent sightings of what appear to be Caspian tigers. The Caspian tiger, which has recently been re-classified as being contiguous with the Siberian tiger, although it was intermediate in size between that enormous subspecies and the more well known Bengal tiger, was allegedly hunted to extinction in the second half of the twentieth century.

Here, we should point out that the latest studies, according to Carlos A. Driscoll, Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, Gila Kahila Bar-Gal, Alfred L. Roca, Shujin Luo, David W. Macdonald and Stephen J. O'Brien in their paper, Mitochondrial Phylogeography Illuminates the Origin of the Extinct Caspian Tiger and Its Relationship to the Amur Tiger (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004125), have suggested that the two ‘subspecies’ only diverged about two hundred years ago.

The most recent thinking goes even further, and reclassifies all of the tiger subspecies, putting all six of the mainland Asian subspecies into one: the Mainland Asian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and the three island subspecies, two of which are probably extinct, being reclassified to the Sunda Island tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica).

The taxonomy of all cat species seem to be in a permanent state of flux, and so I think that it would be unwise to write off all these previously known subspecies just yet. One thing that we found particularly disturbing, is that on his return to the UK, Richard sent details of these sightings of the Caspian tiger to various conservation organisations which deal with tigers, and of all the letters he sent out, only one sent an answer and they were not the slightest bit interested. I found something similar in 2017, when Richard came back from Karbadino-Balkaria with a number of new records of the striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) in areas from which they had supposedly been extirpated. Again, despite several emails, we received no reply, even from scientists who are – allegedly – specialising in this particular species. It is occurrences like this that – sadly – characterise the relationship between some mainstream scientists and the discipline of cryptozoology.


  • Those we have lost

HEATHER MATTHEWS was one of the finest ladies whom I have ever had the privilege to know. She is best known to Weird Weekend visitors over the years as being the mother of British mystery cat researcher, Marcus Matthews, and her enthusiasm and continual good humour endeared her to a long line of people who attended the Weird Weekend between 2006 and 2016. Widowed at an unhappily early age, she not only ran her little farm in Wiltshire but brought up and looked after her son, who had a specific set of medical needs. I shall miss her very much indeed.


  • Study groups

As regular CFZ watchers will know, we have been working on a whole series of specialist ‘Study Groups’ for many years now. I am not going to pretend that it is an original idea; most of my ideas aren’t. It is something which I got from the Amateur Entomologist Society [AES], who have had specialist study groups for decades, most notably the Phasmid Study Group, amongst several others. We started the BHM Study Group under the aegis of Paul Vella at the beginning of the century, and the Big Cat Study group soon after, but as you know, Paul had a long lingering illness (which eventually killed him), and thus had less and less time to devote to his cryptozoological interests.

The Big Cat Study group was shuffled from pillar to post until Carl Marshall and Olivia McCarthy took over the reins earlier this year, with magnificent results.

Most importantly, they make sure that every logged UK big cat sighting is critiqued, and the resulting article posted on the Big Cat blog.

We recently decided that it is time for the third one. And the logical focus for this third study group is ‘Lake Monsters’, although – of course – this will also cover anomalous creature reports from other bodies of fresh water, such as canals and rivers.

And who is to be in charge?

I would like to introduce you all to a very old friend of mine, who was a CFZ member right from the beginning.

Indeed, I met her at the first Fortean Times convention, back in 1994. Her name is Sally Watts, and I am certain that she will run the Lake Monster Study Group with good humour, flair and aplomb, because that is basically how she does everything she sets her mind to.

In conclusion

I would like to say a big thank you to those who have helped me so much this year, particularly since Corinna first went to hospital back in July. In particular, the Phillipson family, Graham, Carl, Olivia and out new housekeeper Sarah, but for whom I would not have managed to make it through to the other side (ish). Corinna is still seriously ill, and unable to work as much as usual, so, as we enter 2019, I would like to warn everyone that the CFZ is still operating on an “emergency footing” with some of the things we need to do remaining undone until events stabilise.

But we would like to extend our congratulations and moral support to the eco and climate activists around the world, especially Extinction Rebellion, This is Zero Hour, Greta Thunberg and Bella Lack. They are achieving remarkable results, and we have done our best to help them by providing journalistic sup[port in our periodicals and in the 12 monthly episodes of On the Track (of Unknown Animals).

And before I go, I would like to extend my best wishes for the Holiday Season, and for a peaceful and productive 2019.

Love and Peace,

Jon Downes,
Director, Centre for Fortean Zoology.




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NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)




Sightings of the Loch Ness Monster have reached another record for this century after a woman claims to have spotted Nessie over the internet.


It was dark in colour and nearer the east shore of the loch," said Gary Campbell, recorder of the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register.
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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.



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THE GONZOI BLOG DOO-DAH MAN WRAPS

The Gonzo Daily: Christmas Eve
 
YER EDITOR SEZ:
 
This is not a time of the year of which I am fond, and - to be honest - my inclination is to hide, ostrichlike, with my head in the figurative sand until it is all over. But I have already had the best Christmas present that I have ever had, or an ever likely to have.. and those of you who have been following the aetiology of Corinna's illnbess will already know what that is. She is still in intermittent discomfort and some pain, but it is mostly under control. Thank you all of you for your kindness and good wishes, and for contributing to my digital noosphere "prayer flags". I am convinced that they have done, and continue to, do a lot of good, and that they are the reason that the aetiology of Corinna's illness ios going so much better than it could have been.
 
Although the blogs may not be as substantial as usual, they will continue throughout the Festive Season, and I will be around if you need to email me. Blessings on you all..
 
ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO PRINT:
 
 
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: The Pogues Featuring K...
SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM PRUDENCE THE RED NOSED REI...
HAWKWINDSTUFF
FOR THOSE OF YOU INTERESTED IN MY DAY JOB
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
 
OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF FROM THE GONZOVERSE:
 
For those of you who are interested in such things, the Gonzo Privacy Policy is here:
 
 
And the CFZ Privacy Policy is here:
And, yes,
 
CHECK OUT THE GONZO STORES:
 
UK
US
 
AND OTHER STUFF FEATURING VARIOUS GONZO CONTRIBUTORS:
 
Our webTV show:
 
And if you fancy supporting it on Patreon:
 
And by the way chaps and chappesses, a trip to the Jon Downes megastore may seem to be in order:
 
Meanwhile I continue to pretend that I am a popstar, because now I have sold eight whole copies of my new album Coldharbour. If I continue at this rate I will get a silver disc sometime at the beginning of the next millenium. Coldharbour, by the way, can be found here: https://jondownes1.bandcamp.com/releases
 
I think it is really rather good, but then again I would say that wouldn't I?
 
I do have good news to impart: Lars Thomas' book about the mystery land animals of Scandinavia and the Baltic States has been uploaded, and over at Gonzo the first volume of Kev Rowland's The Progressive Underground is also imminent. And at Fortean Fiction, my latest novel - 'Zen and Xenophobia' - vaguely a sequel to 2015's 'The Song of Panne' - is now available.
 
 
! would warn you that if you are of a nervous disposition, or easily offended, you will find parts of my novel both offensive and upsetting. There is sex, violence, drug abuse, occultism, pornography, firearms, politics, religion, and not a little sociology. But there is also love, kindness, faith, and redemption. And it's a cracking good yarn. Or I think so, at any rate. All I would say on the subject before bidding you farewell is Caveat Lector. And I'm not gonna explain what that means, because because if you don't know what that means then you probably shouldn't be reading the book in the first place.
 
AND THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE GONZO MAGAZINE:
 
Gonzo Weekly #307/08
THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE
 
And so we reach another year and the members of the Editorial team go all Bag Productions on you. Alan started the "War is Over" ball rolling and Jon runs with it. Richard looks at Extinction Rebellion, and Carl wonders what moral lessons we can learn from The Walking Dead, Jon writes about The Residents, and Graham looks back on the last year on Spaceship Hawkwind.
 
And - as always - there's lots of other stuff as well.
 
#Hail Eris!
 
And there are radio shows from Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney, AND Friday Night Progressive, AND there are columns from Kev Rowland, and C J Stone, and Mr Biffo and Neil Nixon, and Roy Weard although the irrepressible Corinna is on hiatus.  There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and rock wallabies who've blown a fuse (OK, nothing to do with the relatively small macropods who are having electrical problems, 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:
 
John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, Brian May, New Order, Portugal. The Man, Robbie Williams, Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Friday Night Progressive, Jerry Donald Chesnut, Arthur Maia, Joe Osborne, Nancy Sue Wilson, Roger, John "Ace" Cannon, Perry Morris Robinson, Lucas Starr, Fred Wieland, The Fall, Tony Palmer, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Deviants IXVI, Mick Farren, Rick Springfield, Jack White, Gorillaz, Suede, Chaos Chaos, Penelope Trapps, Marianne Faithfull, Tay Davies, The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Bobby Beausoleil, Alan Dearling, Richard Foreman, Extinction Rebellion, Kev Rowland, Scientist, Sense of Fear, Shadygrove, Peel, Stepfather Fred, Stone Broken, Subsignal, Tax the Heat, Carl Marshall, Geordie Jackson, The Walking Dead, Digitiser, Mr Biffo, Roy Weard, Chris Stone, Hawkwind, The Coldharbour Diaries, Jonathan Downes, The Wild Colonial Boy, Martin Springett, Charles Bobuck, Hardy Fox, The Residents, Neil Nixon, Diamanda Galas
 
And the last few issues are:
 
Issue 317-18 (Christmas)
Issue 315-16 (Steve Miller)
Issue 313-14 (Hawkwind)
Issue 311-12 (Extinction Rebellion)
Issue 309-10 (Steve Hillage)
Issue 307-8 (Michael Moorcock)
Issue 305-6 (Maartin Allcock)
Issue 303-4 (kOZFEST)
Issue 301-2 (Ringo Starr)
Issue 299-300 (Aretha Franklin)
Issue 298 (Alan in Hungary)
Issue 297 (Shir Ordo)
Issue 295-6 (Robert Berry)
Issue 294 (Bow Wow Wow)
Issue 293 (Stonehenge)
Issue 292 (Rolling Stones)
Issue 291 (Alien Weaponry)
Issue 290 (Frank Zappa)
Issue 289 (Misty in Roots)
Issue 288 (Paula Frazer)
Issue 287 (Boss Goodman)
Issue 286 (Monty Python)
Issue 285 (ELP)
Issue 284 (Strangelove)
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 59 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?
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NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Christmas Eve

ON THIS DAY IN -  1814 - The War of 1812 between the U.S. and Britain was ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium. 
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk
  • Rare Sumatran tiger rescued from beneath shop in I...
  • Protected northern red-legged frog re-discovered -...
  • Drop your weapons! Autotomy, the shedding of a bod...
  • Eyeing echidnas: Study models echidna forelimbs to...
  • Frogs breed young to beat virus

    • 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)
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