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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Thursday, January 31, 2019

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN KEEPS ON KEEPING OM

YER EDITOR SEZ:
 
Despite various health problems within my extended family, and a tax bill several times the size that I was expecting, mostly due to stealthy changes in the law that I was not aware of, I feel remarkably cheerful today. This is quite possibly helped by the fact that I went to bed both sober and relatively early last night after a jolly evening chatting crypto stuff with Carl. OTT#99 is now out and will be plugged shamelessly over the next few weeks, and the newsletter is ready to go.
 
And whilst on this upbeat note, Auburn featuring the delightful Liz Lenten, are just about to release a new album. I am very fond of Liz, and her music is sublime, so this is fantastic news all round.
 
Corinna is on holiday with the girls this week, and although I miss her a lot, she is in desperate need of time away. Carl is here until Saturday to help me and Graham look after Mother as well as doing various other things that need to be done. Corinna's health is still not right; however she has been on some pretty heavy duty meds for about a month now, and although she is still in intermittent discomfort, the pain is now being pretty well managed. We go back to the hospital at the end of February and will play it by ear until then. We would both like to thank the people all around the world who have sent us their good wishes, and included her in your prayers. 
 
THE DIGITAL PRAYER FLAG
 
A prayer flag (Lung ta) is a colourful rectangular cloth, often found strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes. Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers to gods, which is a common misconception; rather, the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space. Therefore, prayer flags are thought to bring benefit to all. By hanging flags in high places the Lung ta will carry the blessings depicted on the flags to all beings. As wind passes over the surface of the flags, which are sensitive to the slightest movement of the wind, the air is purified and sanctified by the mantras.
 
I believe something similar happens with positive vibes transmitted electronically. And so, please forgive me when I write about Corinna's health problems every day, but I am convinced that these electronic Lung ta and the resulting torrent of good vibes that has been the major contributory factor to the aetiology of her illness so far.
 
Blessed be.
 
ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO PRINT:
 
FOR THOSE OF YOU INTERESTED IN MY DAY JOB
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Chad Mitchell Trio - T...
ZAPPA HOLOGRAM FOR UK
JOEY MOLLAND NEWS
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
THE GARDENING CLUB REVIEW
 
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 #323/4
THE WHAT HAVE WE GOT HERE? ISSUE
 
In this unscheduled, but very welcome issue of yer favourite magazine, the legendary Irvine Welsh visits Todmorden as told
by his landlady, Jon insults a radio show host, watches A Series of Unfortunate Events and remembers touring with Steve Harley, Graham brings us up to date with the world of Hawkwind, Alan introduces us to Skinny Living and Neil recounts the weirdest George Harrison conspiracy theory.
 
Hail Eris!
 
And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney, Friday Night Progressive, AND Canterbury Sans Frontieres BUT Strange Fruit is on jiatus due to technical issues AND there are columns from Kev Rowland, and C J Stone, Roy Weard and Mr Biffo BUT Neil Nixon, and the irrepressible Corinna are 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:
 
A Series of Unfortunate Events, Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), Stella McCartney, The Beatles, ABBA, In Continuum, Elton John, Jimmy Page, The Specials, Roger Waters, Steve Harley, Richard Freeman, Friday Night Progressive, Canterbury sans Frontieres, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Ahmed Imtiaz Bulbul, Tara Emily Simmons, Marcel Azzola, Maxine Brown, Ulises Butron, Edwards McKenna, Marcelo Yuka (stage Name Marcelo Sources), Windsor Davies, Reggie Grimes Young Jr, Teresa Ryan (aka Lorna Doom), Christopher John Wilson, Debi Martini, Oliver  "Tuku" Mtukudzi, The Fall, Tony Palmer, The Chad Mitchell Trio, The Deviants ixvi, Mick Farren, Alan Dearling, Irvine Welsh, Giggy, Waka, Phil Bayliss, Neil Nixon, Skinny Living, Tash Bird, Kev Rowland, Dreamfire, Dokken, Bullet, Caliban, Crematory, Blodwyn Pig, Corinna Downes, Mr Biffo, Roy Weard, CJ Stone, Hawkwind, Jon Downes, The Coldharbour Diaries, The Wild Colonial Boy, Martin Springett,Thom the World Poet
 
And the last few issues are:
 
Issue 323-24 (Irvine Welsh)
Issue 321-22 (Discordianism)
Issue 319-20 (Brix Smith)
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?

CFZ MONTHLY NEWSLETTER #40

Dear Friends,

For those of you not in the know, at the beginning of each month, we send out a newsletter to all members of the CFZ. The most recent (which went out a few minutes ago) included articles on OTT, plans for the future, Zooform Phenomena, an out of place ermine, a very weird squirrel, an Indian lemur, Patreon, a new book on Scandinavian mystery animals, a new book on the long-necked seal hypothesis, Jon's new novel,, Notes and Queries etc.

The infrastructure of the Centre for Fortean Zoology has changed rapidly over the last few years and truthfully doesn’t look like its going to stop changing anytime soon.

The newsletter costs a quid a month (or the equivalent in your currency) and is delivered straight into your inbox by a plethora of tiny invisible elves, or email if you prefer it that way. You can sign up for it here:

If you want to view a sample issue click here: http://tinyurl.com/pw7rw9l

Search for India’s lost Namdapha Flying Squirrel

SUPPORT THE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN

This project is being organised by the IUCN SSC Small Mammal Specialist Group (SMSG), which we have been a long term supporter of. Durrell's Head of Conservation Knowledge, Dr Richard Young, is the co-chair of the group and for the last three years we have hosted the SMSG programme officer position.

On The Track (of Unknown Animals) Ep. 99 (Thylacine, Giant tortoises, Loch Ness, wildmen, WWN etc)



Here we have the eighteenth episode of the relaunched webTV show by the Centre for Fortean Zoology, written and presented by Jon Downes and Charlotte Phillipson, their families and other animals. This episode contains: • A brief note of explanation • Jon sleeps while Charlotte tuts • A gorilla with a sack on its head • The new Butterfly house at Jersey Zoo • Galapagos giant tortoises • Hooray for evolution through natural selection • Charlotte's interesting facts • Humpback whale sexual shenanigans • A mystery whale • The Crypto's cryptids: Ron Murphy • Something peculiar at Loch Ness • A new "Thylacine" photograph • Richard Freeman disagrees • Dr Max (hey) in Moscow • Charlotte and Corinna make sexist generalisations • PRODUCT PLACEMENT - Weird Weekend North • Watcher of the skies...with comedy results • New and rediscovered: Graham gets assertive • Jon changes direction • New and rediscovered: New spider • New and rediscovered: Several new freshwater crabs • New and rediscovered: New shark • New and rediscovered: New forest snake • New and rediscovered: New Chinese frogs • New and rediscovered: New lizards in Tibet and Brazil • New and rediscovered: New leaf tailed gecko • New and rediscovered: Two new US crayfish • Fair use • Coming next month • The Patreon campaign • Congratulations to Col Blashford-Snell • The team says goodbye until next month

CRYPTOLINK: Kirkdate fish monster

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 


Mystery still surrounds a menacing sea creature found in the middle of Kirkdale as Echo readers can't decide what it is. The skeleton of a large fish or ...

NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)



New Book on the Loch Ness Monster
Not surprisingly, it is entitled "Photographs of the Loch Ness Monster" with the subtitle of ... The author can be contacted at lochnesskelpie@gmail.com.

Is there an unidentified creature living in Loch Ness?
Loch Ness Monster ... Mind you, there are a few eccentric folks who spend a lot of time at the loch side in the hope of a picture that would make them ...

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.



  • Rare great black hawk rescued after suffering fros...
  • Haida Gwaii home to northern goshawks, rare geneti...
  • The Albatross-like bird that can sniff out fish up...


  • Wildlife lovers upset by bird ensnared in discarde...
  • BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF




    Sightings of a bigfoot alleged recently at Sutton Lake in central West Virginia may have a historic precedent. Old news clippings that refer to a wildman ...

    Another Bigfoot sighting reported near Provo, Utah
    The Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization has been following up on reports of another Bigfoot sighting in the Provo area. Some experts, however ...

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Thursday

    ON THIS DAY IN -  1606 - Guy Fawkes was executed after being convicted for his role in the "Gunpowder Plot" against the English Parliament and King James I.
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk


  • Snowed in: Wolves stay put when it's snowing
  • Desperately Horny Australian Cane Toads Ride Snake...
  • Protected Chilean sea lions are the 'enemy' of fis...
  • Indonesia tsunami raises fears for endangered Java...
  • Gray wolf arrives at New Mexico zoo for recovery p...

  • 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)