The Gonzo Daily: Wednesday
This morning I came into the office to be greeted, almost immediately, by a headline reading something to the effect of "Is this another Montauk Monster?" and a series of pictures of a noisome carcass on a Staten Island beach.
Well, as those of you with long enough memories will remember, the so-called Montauk Monster was a dead raccoon, hairless and bloated, that washed up on a beach near the notorious Plum Island experimental Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) which was established by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1954.
The raccoon had been found dead by a bunch of stoned surfer types who decided to give it a Viking Funeral, making a makeshift raft for it, and setting it all on fire before putting it out to sea. It was one of those ideas which probably made perfect sense when you were wasted, and although it has been a long time since I was in that condition, I recollect that mindset quite well. When the corpse washed up again near Plum Island, a lot of people jumped to unwarranted (though not entirely surprising) conclusions, and the legend of the Montauk Monster was born with several people who really should have known better jumping on the bandwagon.
When they sent us the pictures of the Montauk creature all those years ago, Richard and I took a good look, said that it was a small carnivore, possibly a raccoon or a skunk, and forgot all about it.
We were as a result ignored.
So, this time around I want to lay out our stall in advance. We have sent the pictures to four different people: animal bone experts @MelanieGbones and @Skull_Bloke whom I know from Twitter, our old warhorse Lars Thomas from Copenhagen, and my lovely wife Corinna.
The Twitter contingent have shot my original idea down in flames and said that it is not a North American River Otter (something with which Corinna concurs) and they suggest that it is another raccoon. Corinna suggests because most raccoon claws are dark and these aren't that it might be an opossum, and Lars is out and about doing fieldwork, but will get back to me later.
No-one can say the CFZ aren't on the ball this time around.
Toodle-pip
YER EDITOR SEZ:
THE DIGITAL PRAYER FLAG
You guys out in readership land recently did massive amounts of praying for my wife Corinna. And that now - at least at the moment - she appears to be cancer free. I am convinced that these two things are related, with the outpouring of good vibes transmitted electronically, being a little like a Tibetan prayer flag. Having used it to such good effect - I want to try it on a larger scale. I am still trying to work out the details, so watch this space.
Blessed be.
ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO PRINT:
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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?
AND THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE GONZO MAGAZINE:
And so, this issue we bring you Kev Rowland, the Antipodean maven of PROG, we bring you strange news from Sendelica, Steve Andrews’ remarkable new album, Hawkwind news, Psych and Reggae in Todmorden, whilst Jon gets all Erisian as well as bumbling on about Political Correctness
Hail Eris!
And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive AND Strange Fruit AND 'cos there was a Full Moon last week, an episode of Canterbury Sans Frontieres, there are columns from Kev Rowland, Mr Biffo, C J Stone, and Roy Weard, but Neil Nixon and the irrepressible Corinna are on hiatus. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and potoroos who are fallen for a ruse (OK, nothing to do with tiny marsupials who are easily obfuscated, 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:
Danny Baker, Michael Jackson, Woodstock 50, Jarvis Cocker, Bart Lancia, Cruise to the Edge, John Lennon, Zeestuff, Pink Floyd, Dee, Dave Harris, Richard "Rick" Wright, Richard Freeman, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Canterbury Sans Frontieres, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Tardar "Grumpy Cat" Sauce, Edgar Leon Rausch, Michael Ray Wilhelm, Sol Yaged, Daniel Fernandez, Alfred Janson, Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff), Eric Moore, Charles "Chuck" Barksdale, Melvin Edmonds, Fleming Begaye Sr., Malcolm James Prentice Black ONZM, Luther Jennings, Pekka Airaksinen, James Barney "J.R." Cobb Jr., The Fall, America, Michael Bruce, Joey Molland's Badfinger, Kev Rowland, The Progressive Underground Vol 1, Alan Dearling, Psych Night, Sistas in Reggae, Sherbet Tripod, Bonnacons of Doom, Amelia Harmony, Instrument of Jah Soundsystem, Sound Dimensions, Steve Andrews, Bloodlost, Crossing Eternity, Crystal Palace, Cyrcus Flyght, Dare, Deathgrave, Doomsday Outlaw, Fargo, Tony Klinger, Mr Biffo, Roy Weard, Chris Stone, Discordianism, Hawkwind, The Wild Colonial Boy, Jonathan Downes, Martin Springett, Thom the World Poet, Pilgrim's Guidebook, Bob Dylan
And the last few issues are:
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!
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, three other cats, 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 elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention Archie and the Cats?
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