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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Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Monday, July 01, 2019

On The Track (of Unknown Animals) Ep. 104 (mystery corpses, new shark, animal rescue, etc)



Here we have the twenty-third  episode of the relaunched webTV show by the Centre for Fortean Zoology, written and presented by Jon Downes and Charlotte Phillipson (who returned to the fold after doing her exams), their families and other animals. 

This episode contains:

• The triumphant return of Charlotte
• Wally is obsequious
• Another Montauk Monster?
• The original Montauk Monster
• Charlotte gets the giggles
• Another weird "carcass"
• Patreon and Jon's Dad
• Iranian mystery animal
• Desert dwarves
• Jon pretends to be Roger Daltrey 
• Corinna shoots him down in flames
• Rescuing fieldmice 
• Mother's Birthday
• A shrew in a shoe
• Wildlife Gardening
• Cultural appropriation
• Eris and ancient Troy
• Palmate newt adventures
• Graham takes Jon to task
• Watcher of the skies...with comedy results
• New and rediscovered:  
     - New and rediscovered: Rediscovered agama
     - New and rediscovered: New pipefish
     - New and rediscovered: New shark
     - New and rediscovered: Novataxa
• Fair use
• Coming next month
• Jon and Archie twat about on social media
• The team says goodbye until next month
_________________________________

CFZ NEWSLETTER #45

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,Devon pine marten at last, mysterious corpses, cryptozoology novel, Richard Muirhead's new book,  Patreon, 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: http://tinyurl.com/jtsq7ew

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

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





A paranormal investigator claims he is planning a mission to find New Zealand's very own Bigfoot.​. Marc Coppell said he hoped to capture footage of ...


Amy Bue of Youngstown and of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO), which investigates Sasquatch sightings in the United States, ...


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 IS QUITE NICE


The Gonzo Daily: Monday/Tuesday
https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/

Unlike the protagonist of the Boomtown Rats song, I actually quite like Mondays. The whole week is spread out in front of you with a broad vista of things that one is sure that one is going to achieve. OK, by Thursday lunchtime one realises that one has achieved nothing, qand that in only a day and a half one can get pissed and do nothing for a few days. But that is life I am afraid. And I am still in the enthusiastic phase at the moment.

BTW, is there anyone out there who is relatively social-media and/or Patreon savvy? We really need a bit of help ewith these two things, 'cos we are getting a little bogged down.

Toodle-pip

YER EDITOR SEZ: THE DIGITAL PRAYER FLAG
You guys recently did massive amounts of praying for Corinna, and she now 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 once 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.

Find out more:
https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/p/a-prayer-flag-lung-ta-is-colourful.html

Blessed be.

ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO PRINT:

https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-gonzo-track-of-day-handel-in-rome.html
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY:  Handel in Rome (Psalm...
https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/yes-en-passant.html
YES EN PASSANT
https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/cohenthings.html
COHENTHINGS
https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/thom-world-poet-daily-poem.html
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2019/07/frank-zappa-news.html
FRANK ZAPPA NEWS

For those of you who are interested in such things, the Gonzo Privacy Policy is here:

http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/p/privacy-policy-this-privacy-policy.html

And the CFZ Privacy Policy is here:
http://tinyurl.com/y7b9rlog
And, yes,
http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/p/privacy-policy-this-privacy-policy.html

CHECK OUT THE GONZO STORES:

UK
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/
US
http://www.gonzomultimedia.com

AND OTHER STUFF FEATURING VARIOUS GONZO CONTRIBUTORS:

Our webTV show:
https://www.facebook.com/OnTheTrack/posts/632561497117057
And if you fancy supporting it on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/CFZ

And by the way chaps and chappesses, a trip to the Jon Downes megastore may seem to be in order:
https://gonzotesting.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-notion-of-shopkeepers.html
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:

Gonzo Weekly #343/4
THE STRANGEFOLK ISSUE
http://www.gonzoweekly.com/

This week we celebrate the return of the lovely Liz Lenten of Auburn, with a spectacular new slice of Americana. Doug is back with a look at Depeche Mode, Alan writes to Teresa May and Nicola Sturgeon, goes to see Baltic Crossing, and attends a Street Music Conference,  Graham talks Hawkwind, while Jon eulogises Storm Chorus, and is bamboozled by Bob Dylan.

Hail Eris!

And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive AND Strange Fruit there is a columns from Kev Rowland, but Mr Biffo, C J Stone, and Roy Weard, 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:

Bob Dylan, Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, Storm Chorus, The Hollow Men, Rebecca Denniff, David Owen, The FLK, The Beatles, Brian Epstein, Glastonbury 2019, Extinction Rebellion, Joy Division, Miles Davis, Dr. John, The Who, Alan Dearling, Republic of Užupis, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Canterbury Sans Frontieres, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Enrico Nascimbeni, Paul "Lil Buck" Sinegal (born Paul Alton Senegal), Richard Stephen Shaw (aka Bushwick Bill), Spencer Ward Bohren, Chuck Glaser, Tre Da Kid (born Edward Montre Seay), André Coelho Matos, Sergio Augusto Bustamante, Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (aka Dr. John), Mikey Dees, Karlheinz  Miklin, Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli KBE, Grande Ufficiale OMRI, Rick Wakeman, Arthur Brown, Gregg Kofi Brown, Norma Waterson feat. Richard Thompson, Martin Carthy, Danny Thompson and Eliza Carthy, Paice, Ashton & Lord, The Mitchell Trio inc. John Denver, Liz Lenten, Auburn, Thomm Jutz, Doug Harr, Depeche Mode, Street Music, Mykaell Riley, Tony Lidington aka Uncle Tacko, Kelvin Mason, Lotte Reimer, Sarha Moore, Vivian Doumpa, Gina Arnold, Chester Bingley, Kate Jones, MSFN Workshops, George McKay, Michelle Bagnall, UEA, Kev Rowland, Jizzy Pearl of Love/Hate, Jungsu Choi Tiny, Kataklysm, Surmiser, Torture Rack, Power Trip, Klaus Schulze, Baltic Crossing, Kristian Bugge, Tony Klinger, Mr. Biffo, Digitiser, C J Stone, Hawkwind, Jonathan Downes, The Wild Colonial Boy, Martin Springett, Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters

And the last few issues are:

Issue 343-4 (Auburn)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-341-2.html
Issue 341-42 (America)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-341-2.html
Issue 339-40 (Kev Rowland)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-339-40.html
Issue 337-38 (Zee)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-337-8.html
Issue 335-36 (Raz)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-335-6.html
Issue 333-34 (Nepal)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-333-4.html
Issue 331-32 (Scott Walker)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-331-2.html
Issue 329-30 (Charlie X)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-329-30.html
Issue 327-28 (Hawkwind)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-327-8.html
Issue 325-26 (Gonzo)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-325-5.html
Issue 323-24 (Irvine Welsh)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-323-4.html
Issue 321-22 (Discordianism)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-321-2.html
Issue 319-20 (Brix Smith)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-319-20.html
Issue 317-18 (Christmas)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-317-18.html
Issue 315-16 (Steve Miller)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-315-16.html
Issue 313-14 (Hawkwind)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-313-14.html
Issue 311-12 (Extinction Rebellion)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-310-11.html
Issue 309-10 (Steve Hillage)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-309-10.html
Issue 307-8 (Michael Moorcock)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-307-8.html
Issue 305-6 (Maartin Allcock)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-305-6.html


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:
http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/

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?

NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Monday/Tuesday

ON THIS DAY IN -  0096 - Vespasian, a Roman Army leader, was hailed as a Roman Emperor by the Egyptian legions. 
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Nashua man pleads guilty to smuggling monitor liza...
  • Warmer water linked to higher proportion of male f...
  • Parasitoid wasps may turn spiders into zombies by ...

  • Features that make Male lizards sexy to females ar...

  • 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)