Friday, April 03, 2020

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

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 here on the main blog.

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


THYLACINES IN THE NEWS





Mr Waters said he, and others, use "basic, citizen science" to find "concrete evidence" of the thylacine's continued existence — employing various types ...


The production team will receive $50,000 funding from Screen Australia to develop the documentary before it is aired on SBS Viceland. Thylacine hunter ...

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 HIDES IN A BUSH

The Gonzo Daily: Friday/Saturday
The lockdown or whatever you want to call it, is really beginning to kick in. Poeple are beginning to get stir crazy and relationships are getting frayed. Not ours; we are fine, but as I type this I have one of the younger members of my nextended tribe almost in tears on Messenger because his woman dpone left him. As far as we are concerned, Corinna was much better yesterdat than the day before, and I hope that the trajectory will continue in this direction.
And, yes, in the midst of all of this I managed to get the latest episode of On The Track out, in which I channel my inner Francis Ford Copolla...
The eagle-eyed amongst you will probably have noticed that the Gonzo Multimedia websites have changed and are in a process of flux, so there are no individual sales links at the moment. But check out www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk for a thing of wonder. The Gonzo Books site is now pretty well done, although there are still nine authors who need personal pages. You can find it ay www.gonzopublishers.com and 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:
https://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/p/a-prayer-flag-lung-…
Blessed be.
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/…/a-notion-of-shopkeepers…
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 #381/2
THE PLAGUEY GENESIS ISSUE
www.gonzoweekly.com
In this undeniably unusual issue we go to London Remixed, say goodbye to Genesis P-Orridge, read about the rehabilitation of the Manson girls, ask whether art is tainted by the moral behaviour of the artist, look at the new Trevor Rabin box set, go see Steve Hackett in New York, examine the America (the band) 50th Anniversary box set, and - oh yes - talk about the global pandemic which currently threatens the wellbeing of the human race (WE DO THAT QUITE A LOT), and we join PAART with their animal rescue mission. And much more...
And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive AND Canterbury sans Frontieres, AND Merrell Fankhauser, but no sign of Strange Fruit this week, there is a column from Kev Rowland, and one from C.J.Stone, although Mr Biffo, Neil Nixon and Roy Weard, are on hiatus. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and antichinuses who have lost their shoes (OK, nothing to do with tiny marsupials who are searching for their footwear, 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:
Coronavirus, Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding, Morrissey, Michael Jackson, Roy Harper, Genesis P-Orridge, Trevor Rabin, America, Bart Lancia, Steve Hackett, Friday Night Progressive, Canterbury Sans Frontieres, The Merrell Fankhauser Show, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Konstantin Valentinovich “Kuzya UO” Ryabinov, Doriot Anthony Dwyer, Eva Pilarová (née Bojanovská), Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (ne Neil Andrew Megson), Hubertus Richenel Baars (aka Richenel), Donald Vernon Burrows AO MBE, Marcelo Peralta, Eric Taylor, Thái Thanh (born Ph?m Th? Bang Thanh), Sergio Bassi, Jason Rainey, Wray Downes, Eric Weissberg, Hellmut Stern, Kenneth Ray Rogers, Jerry Slick, Jean Leber, Dan Wooding, Tres Warren, Julie Ann Felix, Michael Josef Longo, Emmanuel N'Djoké Dibango, Rick Wakeman, Gerry Beckley, The Waterson Family, The Fall, Richard Wright and Dave Harris - Zee, Chasing the Monsoon, PAART, Alan Dearling, London Remixed Festival, Brass Off, Diddy Sweg, Ceilidh, Break Out Brass, Brasstermind, Ed Cox, E-Coli, BCO: Grime Orchestrated, Tshok, Gnawa Blues Allstars, Copper Viper, Wanton String Band, Tom Vague, Kev Rowland, Mystery, Orgiya Pravednikov, Landmarq, C.J. Stone, Jonathan Downes, The Wild Colonial Boy, Karlene Faith, The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten
..And the last few issues are:
Issue 383-4 (London Remixed)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-383-4.html
">Issue 381-2 (Greta)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-381-2.html
Issue 379-80 (Andrew Weatherall)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-379-80.html
Issue 377-8 (The Future)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-377-8.html
Issue 375-6 (Big Sean)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-375-6.html
Issue 373-4 (End of the World)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-373-4.html
Issue 371-2 (New Year)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-371-2.html
Issue 369-70 (Christmas)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-369-70.html
Issue 367-8 (Register to Vote)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-367-8.html
Issue 365-6 (Rick Wakeman)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-365-6.html
Issue 363-4 (Focus)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-363-4.html
Issue 361-2 (Martin Springett)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-361-2.html
Issue 359-60 (Robert Hunter)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-359-60.html
Issue 357-8 (King Crimson)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-357-8.html
Issue 355-6 (Elfin Bow)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-355-6.html
Issue 353-4 (Melanie S Jane)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-353-4.html
Issue 351-2 (Royal Affair)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CE…/gonzo-351-2-fvxuatzgf.html
Issue 349-50 (Experimental Sonic Machines)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-349-50.htm
Issue 347-8 (Gary Duncan)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-347-8.html
Issue 345-6 (RDF)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-345-6.html
Issue 343-4 (Auburn)
https://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo-343-4.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
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 60 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 and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention Archie and the Cats?

NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Friday/Saturday

ON THIS DAY IN - 1513 - Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida. He had sighted the land the day before.
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Deadly Fungus Could Decimate Salamanders in the US...
  • Learning from the bears
  • Less offspring due to territorial conflicts
  • Imperiled Yellow-legged Frogs Protected Under Cali...
  • Snap!

  • Australia fires: 113 animal species 'need emergenc...

  • 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)