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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Sunday, January 24, 2021

HO HO HENS

 The Gonzo Daily: Sunday

So what can I tell you? I am being remarkably efficient, probably due to the input of my new office assistant Lilith Tinkerbell who spends nearly all day, every day, curled up under my left arm whilst I attempt to write deathless prose. But as, for reasons you will all know, are you practically nothing from April till mid-September, there is still a bloody great backlog for me to deal with. And there is still all the stuff to do with being a widower which we are trying to sort out as well. But we shall get there in the end….
And the latest OTT:
ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO SQUINT
BEATLES: look what my mate Louis found
LEONARD COHEN: It’s not a hymn
Tribute to Syd Barrett
GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky -...
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
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 #425/6
THE WALRUS WAS PAUL ISSUE
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 Paul McCartney, Carpetface, Covid Connections in Lithuania, Whisky Priests, Lady Killmore, Gardening Club and more....
And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive, AND Merrell Fankhauser, and the Real Music Club, AND Strange Fruit, and Mr Biffo, there is a column from Kev Rowland, but C.J Stone, Mr Biffo, Tony Klinger 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 425-6 (Paul McCartney)
Issue 423-4 (KLF)
Issue 421-22 (Christmas)
Issue 419-20 (John Lennon)
Issue 417-8 (gIG)
Issue 415-16 (Phideaux)
Issue 413-14 (Rick Wakeman)
Issue 411-12 (Extinction Rebellion)
Issue 409-10 (Covid)
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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NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Sunday

ON THIS DAY IN - 1848 - James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California. The discovery led to the gold rush of '49.

And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk


  • BBC: 'Relentless' dog attack on Richmond Park dee...
  • Chupacabra in the Carolinas?

  • THE GUARDIAN: One of our ravens is missing


    • 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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    Friday, January 22, 2021

    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 Richard Freeman and Richard Muirhead 



  • More ogopogo facts
  • Turning Turtle
  • Ogopogo facts
  • Siberian lake monster

  • AC/DC guitarist shot fireworks and the Loch Ness
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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,aggregated ny Guin Palmer, curated by Glen Vaudrey and Nathan Jackson

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    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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    GOODNESS ME IT'S THE GONZO BLOG DO-DAH MAN

     The Gonzo Daily: Friday

    So, what have I got to tell you today? The sad truth is not very much. Yesterday I finished putting together the February issue of the Village News, early for once, and assuming that I can keep my energy levels up, I will be going back to putting the final touches to one of the most exciting projects that CFZ Press have ever put together.
    The widespread civil insurrection that would overthrow democracy in the United States has singularly failed to happen which has disappointed many but has come as a relief to most. I am in the latter subset.
    And the latest OTT:
    ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO SQUINT
    -
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    Fab4Cast talks to Mark Lewisohn (#1, Writing The B...
    Remembering Robert Calvert
    Kev Rowland appears on Tracy's Prog World
    GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Hawkwind - The Watcher, w/...
    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 #425/6
    THE WALRUS WAS PAUL ISSUE
    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 Paul McCartney, Carpetface, Covid Connections in Lithuania, Whisky Priests, Lady Killmore, Gardening Club and more....
    And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive, AND Merrell Fankhauser, and the Real Music Club, AND Strange Fruit, and Mr Biffo, there is a column from Kev Rowland, but C.J Stone, Mr Biffo, Tony Klinger 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 425-6 (Paul McCartney)
    Issue 423-4 (KLF)
    Issue 421-22 (Christmas)
    Issue 419-20 (John Lennon)
    Issue 417-8 (gIG)
    Issue 415-16 (Phideaux)
    Issue 413-14 (Rick Wakeman)
    Issue 411-12 (Extinction Rebellion)
    Issue 409-10 (Covid)
    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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    BUY: Jon ‘s book about Hong Kong

    JON WRITES: Anybody who has been a CFZ watcher at any time this last thirty years, will know that I have been promising to write a book about my childhood in Hong Kong, and my early introductions to the arcane world of Fortean zoology. 

    Well, half a century after I first thought of the idea, and over forty years since I actually started writing the bloody thing, the first edition is finally out.

    For those of you who are interested in the more Fortean aspects of the stories, let me assure you it includes a bunch of musings on the subject of the final Hong Kong tiger, what happened to Hong Kong’s foxes, accounts of mysterious apes in the heavily forested areas on the south of the island, the complicated story of St. John’s macaque, rumours of giant earthworms, and all sorts of other things besides. 

    I stress that it is the first edition, because there are still a few minor typographical errors needing to be sorted out. Louis and I are working on them on as we speak, and so the first edition – especially one signed by me – is likely to become a collector’s item in very short order. And you can purchase one of these rare objects by clicking on the link below...





    ABOUT THE BOOK: Jonathan Downes is the director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, and he is undeniably one of the best known cryptozoologists in the English-speaking world. Jon has dedicated his life to searching the world for mystery animals and trying to make sense of the mysteries of Mother Nature. These preoccupations started over half a century ago, in a place which - for all intents and purposes - no longer exists and which contemporary readers may struggle to comprehend.


    Between 1961 and 1971 the Downes family lived in Hong Kong, which is where, surrounded by exotic animals and oriental folklore, he first fell in love with the natural world and the mysteries therein.


    This is not only the story of his early life, but also the story of one of the last generations of children brought up in the aegis of the British Empire, when it was still a global entity upon which the sun had not set. The author takes an unprejudiced look at the last decades of British rule in the Orient, through the eyes of the child of a senior member of HM Overseas Civil Service. 


    This book has taken a lifetime to write and it examines his Colonial world at face value, neither exaggerating or shying away from the truth. It is a book about love, hate, mental illness, prejudice, duty and compassion. As such it can be frightening, touching and confusing. It will make you angry, happy and sad, but above all it is about a whole pantheon of wonderful animals. Six decades later the author has not lost his childlike wonder at these creatures and at the magnificence of the world around him.

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    NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Friday

    ON THIS DAY IN - 1666 - Shah Jahan, a descendant of Genghis Khan and Timur, died at the age of 74. He was the Mongul emperor of India that built the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz-i-Mahal.

    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk


  • Situation with Africa’s elephants

  • DAILY MAIL: MORE STORIES Carrie Symonds 'is defini...


    • 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)

    Posted by at No comments:

    Thursday, January 21, 2021

    YES IT'S THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

     The Gonzo Daily: Thursday

    I watched the inauguration ceremony with Louis yesterday. I was, as I have noted elsewhere, dealing with the aftermath of a night of severe heartburn, and so I was in less than a positive state of mind. I was, therefore, all set up to be snarky about the ceremony. The last time I watched a presidential inauguration was for President Clinton nearly 30 years ago, and I remember it being somewhat of a circus.
    I don’t know whether it was the twin threats of Coronavirus and the Proud Boys, or whether President Biden is naturally a more sombre character, but the ceremony was far more restrained, and much to my surprise I found myself quite moved by it, and not at all snarky. The poor bastard has inherited a whole gamut of problems, and I pray that he will be up to the challenge.
    And the latest OTT:
    ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO SQUINT
    America complete August 2017 interview
    MARK LEWISOHN - In conversation with the Dutch Bea...
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Syd Barrett - Octopus
    When Phil Spector threatened to kill Leonard Cohen
    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 #425/6
    THE WALRUS WAS PAUL ISSUE
    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 Paul McCartney, Carpetface, Covid Connections in Lithuania, Whisky Priests, Lady Killmore, Gardening Club and more....
    And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive, AND Merrell Fankhauser, and the Real Music Club, AND Strange Fruit, and Mr Biffo, there is a column from Kev Rowland, but C.J Stone, Mr Biffo, Tony Klinger 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 425-6 (Paul McCartney)
    Issue 423-4 (KLF)
    Issue 421-22 (Christmas)
    Issue 419-20 (John Lennon)
    Issue 417-8 (gIG)
    Issue 415-16 (Phideaux)
    Issue 413-14 (Rick Wakeman)
    Issue 411-12 (Extinction Rebellion)
    Issue 409-10 (Covid)
    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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