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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Monday, August 31, 2020

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 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.
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LAKE AND SEA MONSTER NEWS


The hunt for Lake and Sea Monsters is probably the most iconic branch of Cryptozoology. Following our successful Mystery Cat and BHM Study Groups, we feel that these sightings should also be archived and published in a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. Curated by Sally Watts and Richard Muirhead


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THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN SHOULDERS HER OBLIGATIONS



The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
Corinna's funeral went surprising;ly well. And I was touched by the response of so many people who wrote to tell me how much they had appreciated it. It was basically a CFZ state funeral presided over by Richard and myself, and I think it was a fitting send off. Yesterday I decided that we should do fun stuff rather than working so we went and filmed stuff for a forthcoming OTT. And so the wheel of life continues.
If you wish to remember Corinna in a formal sense, Donations to North Devon Hospice, please. They were absolutely wonderful to us all, and I cannot praise them highly enough; they deserve everything we can give them. I will certainly be doing something from the CFZ for them soon.
Many thanks to all of you who have written to me offering condolences and kindness. I am totally overwhelmed by your love and friendship. I will write back to you all, but my emotions are too raw at the moment.
But we do have a new episode of OTT
And a new edition of A&M for you
Like Marge Simpson, I never really knew what it meant, but keep on trucking!
The Gonzo Books site is now pretty well done, and there is also a new CFZ Publcations website at https://baboon.wixsite.com/website then tell me what a clever fellow I am. It even has a haiku to explain why some links are not finished:
"These links do not work,
now but they will do so soon,
we apologise"
YER EDITOR SEZ: THE DIGITAL PRAYER FLAG
You guys have been doing massive amounts of praying for Corinna. I believe that the outpouring of good vibes transmitted electronically, being a little like a Tibetan prayer flag. Find out more:
ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO SQUINT
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
YES To Release New Album
JON ANDERSON INTERVIEW
RICK WAKEMAN: Red planet stuff
GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire
And the CFZ Privacy Policy is here:
And, yes,
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 eleven 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 #405/6
CORINNA'S ISSUE
in this issue we say goodbye to my wife Corinna, the long time deputy editor of this magazine. She died of cancer a few days after the last issue came out. Apart from that, this magazine continues to go off on strange tangents that I never expect, but I am very happy to see it do so. What is in this week? Ooooh lots of things. Such as Good Vibrations, Frienbly Folk Records, Hawkwind, Wormstock, animal rescue with PAART, Reminiscences from Tony Klinger, and other stuff of interest.
And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive, AND Merrell Fankhauser, and the Real Music Club, but no sign of Strange Fruit this week, there is a column from Kev Rowland, and one from Tony Klinger, and C.J Stone, but Mr Biffo, and Neil Nixon, are on hiatus. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and dibblers who have got the blues (OK, nothing to do with tiny marsupials who are listening to the new Bob Dylan album, 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!!!
..And the last few issues are:
Issue 405-6 (Corinna)
Issue 403-4 (Covid Conspiracies)
Issue 401-2 (The Westway)
Issue 399-40 (Kosmik Ken)
Issue 397-8 (Liz Lenten)
Issue 395-6 (Diane Warren/Sharon Farber)
Issue 393-4 (Daria Kulesh)
Issue 391-2 (Little Richard)
Issue 389-90 (Ian Anderson)
Issue 387-8 (A Guy called Gerald)
Issue 385-6 (Tony Henderson)
Issue 383-4 (London Remixed)
">Issue 381-2 (Greta)
Issue 379-80 (Andrew Weatherall)
Issue 377-8 (The Future)
Issue 375-6 (Big Sean)
Issue 373-4 (End of the World)
Issue 371-2 (New Year)
Issue 369-70 (Christmas)
Issue 367-8 (Register to Vote)
Issue 365-6 (Rick Wakeman)
Issue 363-4 (Focus)
Issue 361-2 (Martin Springett)
Issue 359-60 (Robert Hunter)
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 a recently widowed old hippy of 61 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 a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention Archie and the Cats?
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THYLACINES IN THE NEWS

  

Brisbane Street Mall's Tasmanian tiger statues risk assessment still underway
"In terms of the thylacine public art installations, we are continuing to monitor and assess any impacts they are having on users of the mall," he said.

Tasmanian tiger pelt found in New Zealand reveals rich colours of the extinct thylacine
The thylacine pelt yields new knowledge about the extinct marsupial including hair coarseness, shape and colour; Its "chocolate", "honey" and grey ...

Thylacines Had More In Common With Coyotes Than With Wolves
Thylacines may have lived more like coyotes than like wolves, suggests a recent study, which looked at the extinct marsupial predator's body size as a ...

Brisbane Street Mall's Tasmanian tiger statues risk assessment still underway
"In terms of the thylacine public art installations, we are continuing to monitor and assess any impacts they are having on users of the mall," he said.
Tasmanian tigers, or thylacines, were a fox-like marsupial that became ... to their sheep, and the last living thylacine died in a zoo in Hobart in 1936.
The thylacine was a carnivorous marsupial. The last known living individual died in captivity in 1936. Its scientific name, Thylacinus cynocephalus, ...
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BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF

Regular readers will know that in recent years we have migrated the two specialist Study Groups – Mystery Cats (curated by Carl Marshall and Olivia McCarthy) and Lake and Sea Monsters (curated by Sally Watts and Richard Muirhead) – to their own standalone blogs, although when there are postings, notifications of them can be found on the main blog.

Now, we are doing the same for the BHM Study Group, curated by Glen Vaudrey and Nathan Jackson

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NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Thursday

ON THIS DAY IN - 1189 - England's King Richard I was crowned in Westminster.

And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk


  • NOVATAXA: Leptobrachella neangi • A New Leptobrach...

  • NOVATAXA: A New Rain Frog Species of the Genus Pri...


    • 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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    Sunday, August 30, 2020

    THE WEEKEND HENS ALL HOP



    The Gonzo Daily - Sunday
    So I have been a widower for two weeks now, and I still have not come to terms with it. My emotions are all over the place, and the fact that I am beset by all sorts of minor mishaps is not helping. There will be no more blogs until later in the week, because of the funeral on Tuesday and its inevitable emotional aftermath. My main computer has died on me which is annoying. Everything of importance has been backed up, but it is an inconvenience, and another reason why I will be offline for the next few days.
    Corinna's funeral will be on Tuesday 1st September at 3:40pm. Because of COVID-19 there will be severe limits on the number of people who can attend, and there will be no meet up afterwards. It will be livestreamed so that everyone who loved her, at home and abroad will be able to participate.
    If you wish to view the livestream please go to http://www.cfz.org.uk/corinna/
    Then log in to obitus.com using the username: Zive7597 And the password: 444541
    If you wish to remember her in a formal sense, Donations to North Devon Hospice, please. They were absolutely wonderful to us all, and I cannot praise them highly enough; they deserve everything we can give them. I will certainly be doing something from the CFZ for them soon.
    Many thanks to all of you who have written to me offering condolences and kindness. I am totally overwhelmed by your love and friendship. I will write back to you all, but my emotions are too raw at the moment.
    But we do have a new episode of OTT
    And a new edition of A&M for you
    Like Marge Simpson, I never really knew what it meant, but keep on trucking!
    The Gonzo Books site is now pretty well done, and there is also a new CFZ Publications website at https://baboon.wixsite.com/website then tell me what a clever fellow I am. It even has a haiku to explain why some links are not finished:
    "These links do not work,
    now but they will do so soon,
    we apologise"
    YER EDITOR SEZ: THE DIGITAL PRAYER FLAG
    You guys have been doing massive amounts of praying for Corinna. I believe that the outpouring of good vibes transmitted electronically, being a little like a Tibetan prayer flag. Find out more:
    ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO SQUINT
    LEONARD COHEN'S REPUBLICAN ROW
    GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: We Plough The Fields And ...
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    Fairport's Cropredy Connection 2020
    Gonzo Weekly #405/6
    And the CFZ Privacy Policy is here:
    And, yes,
    AND THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE GONZO MAGAZINE:
    Gonzo Magazine #405/6
    CORINNA'S ISSUE
    in this issue we say goodbye to my wife Corinna, the long time deputy editor of this magazine. She died of cancer a few days after the last issue came out. Apart from that, this magazine continues to go off on strange tangents that I never expect, but I am very happy to see it do so. What is in this week? Ooooh lots of things. Such as Good Vibrations, Frienbly Folk Records, Hawkwind, Wormstock, animal rescue with PAART, Reminiscences from Tony Klinger, and other stuff of interest.
    And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive, AND Merrell Fankhauser, and the Real Music Club, but no sign of Strange Fruit this week, there is a column from Kev Rowland, and one from Tony Klinger, and C.J Stone, but Mr Biffo, and Neil Nixon, are on hiatus. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and dibblers who have got the blues (OK, nothing to do with tiny marsupials who are listening to the new Bob Dylan album, 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!!!
    ..And the last few issues are:
    Issue 405-6 (Corinna)
    Issue 403-4 (Covid Conspiracies)
    Issue 401-2 (The Westway)
    Issue 399-40 (Kosmik Ken)
    Issue 397-8 (Liz Lenten)
    Issue 395-6 (Diane Warren/Sharon Farber)
    Issue 393-4 (Daria Kulesh)
    Issue 391-2 (Little Richard)
    Issue 389-90 (Ian Anderson)
    Issue 387-8 (A Guy called Gerald)
    Issue 385-6 (Tony Henderson)
    Issue 383-4 (London Remixed)
    ">Issue 381-2 (Greta)
    Issue 379-80 (Andrew Weatherall)
    Issue 377-8 (The Future)
    Issue 375-6 (Big Sean)
    Issue 373-4 (End of the World)
    Issue 371-2 (New Year)
    Issue 369-70 (Christmas)
    Issue 367-8 (Register to Vote)
    Issue 365-6 (Rick Wakeman)
    Issue 363-4 (Focus)
    Issue 361-2 (Martin Springett)
    Issue 359-60 (Robert Hunter)
    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 a recently widowed old hippy of 61 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 a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention Archie and the Cats?
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