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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Friday, November 30, 2012

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's World of Whatever:
From CFZ Australia:
From CFZ Canada:

TODAY'S 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 should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012, Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.




  • SIGHTING EUROPE: Hungry lynx wanders into Polish t...
  • NEWSLINK: Leopard hunt continues, team seeks more ...
  • VICE & DIE ANTWOORD PRESENT: TOKOLOSHE - PART 1 (via Richard Freeman)

    DALE DRINNON: Surviving plesiosaurs, bigfoot genome, Benny's Blog

    NEW on Frontiers of Zoology. Most important development is the inclusion of Scott Mardis' full article on Surviving Plesiosaurs. Unfortunately Scott's illustrations did not go through with the Text and so we are planning to run them separately tomorrow if it is at all possible:
    And including one of the articles on genetics as  Dr Jeff Meldrum:
    Benny also has two new postings at the Ominous Octopus Ominbus:
    Benny's second link did not go through on the earlier Links posting (which left a blank space instead):
    http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2012/11/and-now-word-from-george-orwell.html
     There was another Cedar and Willow posting on the way but Blogger is not cooperating with me on the project and it shall have to wait for the bugs to get out another day.
    Best  Wishes, Dale D.    

    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES (CFZ)

    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. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.

    Waxwing ringing project gets underway in York

    I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    So, another working week has trundled to a close, and I have regained control of my office and my computers. What has the day got in store? Well tomorrow is Olivia's (my youngest stepdaughter's) 25th birthday, so she and her boyfriend and her sister are descending upon Casa Downes this evening for fun and jollity. Apart from that we are paying the telephone bill and buying some coal. What an exciting life we lead...

    A nice review of the Lost Broadcasts DVD by 'The Move'; a criminally under-rated band who launched the careers of ELO and Wizzard

    Our daily visit to the universe of the incomparable Thom the World Poet

    A Dutch review of the Live at the NEC DVD/CD package by Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford and Howe

    I don't usually do unsolicited testimonials for companies that are now't to do with Gonzo, but for this bunch I will make an exception

    I admire Yoko Ono very much. I think she is a brave and talented (and very beautiful) woman. But what the hell is she thinking about this time?

    A review of the Captain Beefheart DVD in our critically acclaimed 'Lost Broadcasts' series

    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 - imaginitavely - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link:
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html

    Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

    OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today



    On this day in 1982 the album “Thriller” was released. Jackson missed a trick by not having it released on Halloween but it didn't matter all that much as it went on to become the world's greatest ever selling music album.
    And now the news:
  • Gaza sewer crocodile captured - via Herp Digest
  • Mysterious stranding on Irish beach involved up to...
  • Human Disturbances Keep Elk On High Alert
  • Largest whale's acrobatic ambush
  • Fighting fish 'take a breather'
  • IUCN cries foul over trade in python skins but CIT...
  • TREE OF LIFE: You really must play with this (or a...
  • Interpol’s most wanted wildlife criminals

  • This is Thriller:

    Thursday, November 29, 2012

    THE ECLECTARIUM OF DOCTOR SHUKER - THE GREEN CHILDREN OF WOOLPIT



    Today, Dr Shuker enters his Eclectarium to investigate an enduring medieval mystery - the Green Children of Woolpit.

    Read on...

    INAPPROPRIATE CORNER: Wee wee eggs


    This next story - once again sent in by Richard Freeman - is probably inappropriate by Western standards, but certainly peculiar by anyone's...


    Urine eggs a delicacy in China (02:06)

    DONGYANG, China | Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:40am EDT
    (Reuters) - It's the end of a school day in the eastern Chinese city of Dongyang, and eager parents collect their children after a hectic day of primary school.
    But that's just the start of busy times for dozens of egg vendors across the city, deep in coastal Zhejiang province, who ready themselves to cook up a unique springtime snack favored by local residents.
    Basins and buckets of boys' urine are collected from primary school toilets. It is the key ingredient in "virgin boy eggs", a local tradition of soaking and cooking eggs in the urine of young boys, preferably below the age of 10.
    There is no good explanation for why it has to be boys' urine, just that it has been so for centuries.

    ROB AYLING: Fear and Loathing on the way to Area 51

    Well sports fans. Its hot hot HOT!! in the city and its also a three day weekend here in the US. I have one more meeting in Vegas before I hit the open road !!!

    It's just me, a hire car, a vague map and then nothing, the abyss......

    Where shall I go ? Visit the Aliens at Area 51 ? But its a holiday weekend they may have gone back to their home world ? Even Government employee's time off right ? But, sadly Area 51 the US Governments worst kept post cold war secret isn't on the map... Maybe the Feds actually still think no body knows about it ? So shhhhhhhhh you didn't hear here - right kids !!

    Well, well, well... What do we have here ? "London Bridge" in red ink, with the map scale and the typography that makes London Bridge about 44 miles long... Hey, I don't need a map to find a bridge 44 miles long !! Or do I ? Maybe I will go there, but I am worried I may get arrested for laughing too much, that anyone would be stupid enough to;

    A). Buy a bridge
    B). Buy the wrong bridge.
    C). My personal favourtie here, ship it to another continent, not just another country, but another FREAKING continent !!

    I know I will keep that is reserve, pending me needing a good belly laugh !

    Mmmmmm I see "Barstow" ..... "We where only 50 miles outside of Barstow, when the drugs really started to kick in....". Ahhhh Dr Thompson salute you. The American Dream needs you !!

    The "Fiscal Cliff" draws closer and all of Wall Street have already bought their Hand Gliders but the man of the street hasn't a clue how its going to screw with him and it isn't his fault.

    If the ordinary man has any responsibility for this fiscal head fuck. It lies in believing what our so called "leaders" told him. No one told him it was the Bankers telling our "leaders" what to say.

    Well it looks like I need that "Belly Laugh" after all, it the 44 mile bridge for me. As an unexpected visit to Bat Country maybe a bit too much for this road warrior to take.

    Until next time.................


    Best Wishes,

    KARL SHUKER: CATS OF MAGIC, MYTHOLOGY, AND MYSTERY - IT'S HERE! AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER AT LAST!



    My latest book, Cats of Magic, Mythology, and Mystery: A Feline Phantasmagoria (CFZ Press: Bideford, 2012), 322 pages long, almost 300 illustrations, and in full colour throughout, is now available to pre-order!!

    DALE DRINNON: Another turtle-like Plesiosaur/Mummies of Uyghir/ Benny's Blog

    Newest at Frontiers of Zoology:
    New at Frontiers of Anthropology, a blog left lying dormmant far too long:
    Benny's new posting on the Ominous Octopus Omnibus Blog:

    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES (CFZ)

    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. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.



    I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    Well, the computers are just about sorted now, and for the first time in about ten days I have my office and working environment back. It is still full of frogs, but I don't mind that...

    So,once again let us start off the day with a visit to Texas Thom down in Austin...

    I have a problem. I have never been able to link up a tape recorder/data recorder/computer to my telephone, and so until recently I have had a terrible time trying to record telephone calls, which is - as I am sure that you can imagine - quite a problem when I am a journalist. Then I discovered http://www.recordyourcall.co.uk/ who are bloody fantastic, surprisingly cheap, and via whom I have done all my interviews for Gonzo Daily, and the newly launched Gonzo Weekly. Yesterday I was due to speak to Michael Des Barres about his fabbo new Christmas single , so I picked up the telephone at the appointed time, and rang him via those jolly nice 'Record Your Call' people, only to find that.......

    An interesting (if unintentionaly surreal) French review of the ABWH live at the NEC

    A review of the Move DVD which somewhat misses the point

    Some odds and sods from the Gong gig at Shepherd's Bush Empire the other day

    A lot has written about this newly released DVD of a 1981 concert by Muddy Waters during which the Rolling Stones and various other luminaries took the stage.  It has been heralded as an artefact of an event of quite some historical significance, so my mother-in-law, Prudence the dog, the orange cat and I sat down to watch it. Like all these things, it turned out to be both more and less impressive that we had been led to believe.

    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 - imaginitavely - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link:

    Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

    OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today



    On this day in 1898 the author C. S. Lewis was born. Lewis is best remembered for writing the Chronicles of Narnia.
    And now the news:
  • Ancient Microbes Found in Buried Antarctic Lake
  • Ice Age warmth wiped out lemmings, study finds
  • Woman arrested after 'joyriding manatee in Florida...
  • Brazilian fisherman chokes to death after trying t...
  • Military's dogs of war also suffer post-traumatic ...
  • Wild coyote attacks, kills family's dog in Hazelwo...
  • Dogs Hear 'Get the Ball!' Differently Than You
  • Darkened Fjord Waters Mean Fewer Fish, More Jellyf...

  • How to make Turkish delight the easy way:

    Wednesday, November 28, 2012

    CFZ CANADA: A rant with which we have to agree

    http://cfz-canada.blogspot.com/2012/11/just-stop-rant.html

    WELL DONE CORINNA

    Many congratulations to Corinna who took over doing the CFZ News Blog from Gavin Lloyd Wilson a couple of years back. This week she posted the 10,000th post. Well done baby!

    CFZ PEOPLE: Dave Braund-Phillips

    I want to apologise to my beloved nephew David B-P (pictured here with Col Blashford-Snell and some old hippy). He came over yesterday to help, and worked tremendously hard fixing the new computer (its only parts of the old ones that don't work properly now) and all his ageing uncle did was to fall asleep.

    Thank you my dear boy. I very much appreciate everything you do for me. One day you will be ringmaster of this circus, and so knackered that you fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon...

    DALE DRINNON: Big Muddy exposed/Cedar and Willow/Benny's Blog


    Bst Wishes, Dale D.

    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES (CFZ)

    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. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.






    I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    We have still got computer issues, and I haven't had my network working properly for over a week now, so please if you are expecting something from me via the Internet, please be patient. All good things come to them wot wait. Today I am planning to interview Michael Des Barres, and I very much hope that the preorder button for Karl Shuker's new - full colour - cat book will be up and running. Keep yer fingers crossed.
     
    This brief bit of gossip in the Daily Express tells us nothing that we didn't already already know about Rick's reimagining of Journey to the Centre of the Earth but contains the best conjunctivitis joke EVER!!!!!!!
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/rick-wakeman-in-daily-express.html
     
     
    Radio show news from the lovely Judy Dyble, who is someone else that I hope to be interviewing this week
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/judy-dyble-writes.html
     
     
    As any fule kno, my favourite male singer is Scott Walker, and Epizootics is the first full song released from his new album
     
    which comes out next week. For the record, my favourite female singer is Marianee Faithfull)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/epizootics-is-first-track-to-be-aired.html
     
    The Atkins May Project is a synthesis of two remarkable talents; Christian guitarist Paul May and former Judas Priest and Holy Rage singer Al Atkins. In this multi-part series we go through the twenty songs which have appeared on their two albums so far, and let Al and Paul tell us the secrets behind the sounds.
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/exclusive-song-by-song-with-atkins-may_28.html
     
    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 - imaginitavely - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link:http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
     
    Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

    OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today


    On this day in 1963 the comedian and writer Armando Iannucci was born. Iannucci is best known for creating tv series including “the day today” and “the thick of it”.
    And now the news:
  • Villagers mystified by strange animal
  • Muscle Powers Spearing Mantis Shrimp Attacks
  • Identical sea snakes are 2 completely different sp...
  • New species of lion discovered - In Ethiopian zoo?...
  • Antarctic marine wildlife is under threat, study f...
  • MEPs vote to close 'shark finning' loopholes
  • Largest Network Of Marine Reserves Announced
  • Council threatens dinosaur extinctio

  • Star Wars as described by Malcolm Tucker:

    Tuesday, November 27, 2012

    HIT PARADE FOR NOVEMBER (CFZ PRESS/FORTEAN WORDS)


    UK

    1. Haunted Skies Volume Six by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (2)
    2=. Haunted Skies Volume Three by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (-)
    2=. Haunted Skies Volume Two by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (6)
    2=. Haunted Skies Volume Two by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (3)
    5=. Quest for the Hexham Heads by Paul Screeton (5)

    5=. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (6)

    7. Karl Shuker's Alien Zoo by Karl Shuker (-)
    8=. Weird Waters - The Lake and Sea Monsters of Scandinavia by Lars Thomas (5)
    8=When Bigfoot Attacks by Michael Newton (-)
    10. Sea Serpent Carcasses: Scotland by Glen Vaudrey (-)

    US

    1When Bigfoot Attacks by Michael Newton (7)
    2. Haunted Skies Volume Six by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (6)
    3. Orang Pendek by Richard Freeman (-)
    4. Big Bird by Ken Gerhard (-)
    5. Monsters of Texas by Ken Gerhard and Nick Redfern (-)
    6=. Haunted Skies Volume Five by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (8)
    6=. Man Monkey by Nick Redfern (10)
    6=. The Inhumanoids by Barton Nunnelly (4)
    6=. Karl Shuker's Alien Zoo by Karl Shuker (-)
    10. The Mystery Animals of Pennsylvania by Andrew Gable (3)

    Last month's positions in this pinky colour, which I think is called cerise. Sales have picked up now theOlympics and the Jubilee are over, quite possibly due to all the hard work Emsy has put in on the Facebook Group. Thank you honey.

    TODAY'S 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 should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012, Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.



    MATT SALUSBURY: Skull of Barbary lion (maneless li...

    DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot, Lake Champlain, Benny's Blog

    At Frontiers of Zoology:
     
     
     New at Benny's Blog, The Omenous Octopus Omnibus:

    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES (CFZ)

    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. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.

    Chromosome ends hold clues to a bird's longevity

    KARL SHUKER - MY FIRST WHITE TIGER!


    How I rediscovered a precious, seemingly long-vanished memento of my first-ever sighting of a white tiger...

    Read on...

    I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    The computer problems continue, but life goes on. Corinna is presently working on the new edition of Billy James and Zoot Horn Rollo's book about life with Captain Beefheart, whilst I am still trying to find workarounds for day to day tasks while half my computer is offline...
     
    Longtime Jefferson Starship guitarist Mark “Slick” Aguilar is in need of a liver transplant and an online campaign has been started to help him raise funds to pay for the bills he expects to incur because of the operation.
     
    PRIDE of Dunfermline Barbara Dickson is now also officially the 'Pride of Scotland' after she picked up a prestigious award in recognition of her achievements.
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/link-barbaras-pride-of-scotland-award.html
     
    Magick Brothers’ acoustic format provides what is perhaps the most organic setting for Daevid Allen’s surrealalchemical soundscapes. This early live recording is a delightful insight into the modus operandi of this lovely little ensemble. The accompanying video footage makes this already desirable package unmissable!
     
    The Atkins May Project is a synthesis of two remarkable talents; Christian guitarist Paul May and former Judas Priest and Holy Rage singer Al Atkins. In this multi-part series we go through the twenty songs which have appeared on their two albums so far, and let Al and Paul tell us the secrets behind the sounds.
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/exclusive-song-by-song-with-atkins-may.html
     
    Another interesting review for the recently released ABWH live album
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/abwh-german-review-translated.html
     
    Our daily visit to the incomparable Thom the World Poet
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_27.html
     
    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 - imaginitavely - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link:
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
     
    Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

    OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today


    Today is the feast day of Saint Congar of Congarsbury. A minor local saint, known mainly for putting his staff in the ground and it having sprouted into a tree according to legend, however it is in the annual commemoration of him by the good folk of Congarsbury in Somerset that his legacy can be seen. At precisely 2:23 pm the church bells of the town ring out a peel with an unusual rhythm that goes something like “da-da-da-de-da-da”. The townsfolk then gather in the village green and form the processional “Congar line” they then march through the town to the tune of the church bell chanting “Dah! Dah! Dah! Da! Dah” Hey!” in an attempt to drive the Devil out of the town. It is also customary for those not participating in the “Congar line” to leave bottles of wine on tables outside their houses for the brave participants to take crafty swigs from as they pass.

    It is from this age old British tradition we derive the modern “Conga” from favoured at office Christmas parties when people have had way to much to drink.

    As I've had people accusing me of occasionally putting in random facts I've just made up into these blogs before you can check out Saint Congar's wikipedia page if you don't believe me http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congar_of_Congresbury .

    And now the news:
  • Rare Bryde's whale killed by ship in New Zealand's...
  • American Samoa ends shark fin trade & shark fishin...
  • Eating Right Key to Survival of Whales and Dolphin...
  • Headshaking in Horses: New Treatment Has 50% Succe...
  • Secret Service investigates GIANT LIZARDS as 'pote...
  • More on the plight of the WESTERN HEDGEHOG in the ...
  • Cameroon deploys Special Forces to counter poachin...
  • Grevy's zebra moved to Ol Pejeta

  • A version of the conga by early goth pioneers Black Lace:

    Monday, November 26, 2012

    ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

    News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

    From Nick Redfern's World of Whatever:

    TODAY'S 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 should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012, Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.



    MATT SALUSBURY: Huge feral cat in Oregon

    STRANGE SIGHTING ON DARTMOOR


    Dear Mr Downes

    I thought an incident that occurred several years ago on the edge of Dartmoor may be of some interest to you. I have never really been able to make much sense of it but thought you may be interested.

    I’m writing this account around 12 years after it occurred however I can remember it quite clearly, I think it was around 1998 – 1999, I was staying at the Haldon Lodge caravan site near Kenford in Devon.
    I spent a great deal of time in the Haldon hills especially around the Bird of Prey watching point and the surrounding pine woods. On one occasion while alone I explored a really dense area of pine trees, literally moving on hands and knees to get through the area. I was heading for a clearing on the hill side that was visible from the caravan park. After maybe half an hour or more I came across a huge clearing surrounded by trees. It was in this area that I encountered something that I could not really work out.

    Shortly after emerging from the tree line I immediately spotted what looked like a large hairy shape sitting on a tree stump. At first I thought it looked like a man in a fur coat however it was a blistering hot day. What ever it was I believe I was seeing it from behind. I was a little on edge but decided to move a little closer. On doing so I noticed what looked like the back of a head although only the top, again this appeared to be hairy and connected to the main body and I noted that its colour was a brown/ grey colour. I could not tell if it was fur or hair but could now get a good gage of its size. What ever it was it was big, easily the size of a very large man and very wide. It was at this point that I took one step closer and what I presumed was the back of the head moved down and slightly to the side as if moving around. It was at this point I had had enough and moved back towards the trees what ever it was it had now changed position and appeared to be looking in my direction. Once in the trees I ran as quick as could towards the road.

    As I have noted the clearing was really hard to get to, took a great deal of time to reach and surrounded by dense trees on all sides so I was at a loss as to what this was, I can’t really see this as a man in a costume as this was not an area people visit and again it was vey hot.

    I re visited the area several years latter and located the tree stump in question. It was apparently clear that what ever it was was huge. When working out the distance between where I was standing and the size of the stump, it was Cleary very big, bigger than an average sized male.

    Do you no if there have been any other or similar sightings in the area or parts of Devon if so I would be interested to hear of them?

    Kind regards

    Ben  

    INTERESTING, BUT ABOUT AS MUCH OF AN ALIEN AS I AM


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    DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot as owl/Cedar and Willow

    New at Frontiers of Zoology:
     
    New at Cedar And Willow:
     

    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES (CFZ)

    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. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.




    I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    And so another week begins, and a vista of possibilities lies before us. Hopefully, by the end of the day, my computer will be up and running again and things will be relatively back to normal. In the meantime check out Judy Dyble's fantastic new album which sounds exactly what one would have hoped from someone who has warbled with both King Crimson and Fairport Convention. I am pleased to report that Karl Shuker's long awaited book on mysterious cats (our first full-colour tome) will be available to preorder in a few days. In the meantime I intend to take mother out to Asda...
    We start off this jolly week with our daily visit to the Texas home of Thom the World Poet
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_26.html
    And now to some pictures of Martin Stephenson and Helen McCookerybook on stage in Darwen last weekend
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/helen-mccookerybook-and-martin.html
    What were the members of Hawkwind doing 40 years ago today?
    A mini biography of the ever wonderful Judy Dyble
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/judy-dyble-at-real-world.html
    A sneak preview of the wonderful new album by Barbara Dickson
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/barbara-dickson-sneak-preview-of-new.html
    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 - imaginitavely - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html  Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?