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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Thursday, April 16, 2009

MUIRHEAD'S MYSTERIES: Golden maids all in a row

Richard Muirhead is an old friend of the CFZ. I have been friends with him for 40 years now, since we were kids together in Hong Kong. He is undoubtedly one of the two best researchers I have ever met; he and Nigel Wright both have what Charlie Fort would have no doubt called a wild talent; a talent for going into a library, unearthing a stack of old newspapers, and coming back with some hitherto overlooked gem of arcane knowledge. Twice a week he wanders into the Macclesfield Public Library and comes out with enough material for a blog post..


Dear folks

First I must apologise: I was going to present extracts from my newspaper archive of reports of octopi strandings along the south coast of Britain from 1937-1977 but lack of time means I am unable to do so today.However I will be at CFZ Headquarters in Devon early next week so if there is enough time then and it is O.K. with Jon I will present the information from there. Meanwhile,I have a report from the winter of 1814 of SOMETHING like an octopus or jellyfish off Brighton.:

“During the last few days,a great number of the fish called Golden Maids(1) were picked up at Brighton beach,and sold at good prices.They float on shore quite blind,a state to which they are reduced by the snow; and it is a fact well known,that after heavy falls,these fish are always thus found in great abundance…”

And,wonders never cease….

“On the morning of the 18th ult the frost was so severe,that a wood pigeon was taken alive in Pilfirrane-garden, near Dumferline,having its feet frozen to a cabbage,on which it had alighted but a few seconds before!”
Both stories: Macclesfield Courier. February 12th 1814.page 2.

(1) Golden maids: a cursory glance at Google couldn`t reveal what `Golden Maids` were or are.

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