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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Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Monday, July 16, 2012

I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

It is a strange day today. Everything is a bit overshadowed by the death of Jon Lord. It will come as no surprise that this is featured heavily on today's blogs. I would like to thank everyone who contributed, particularly Rick Wakeman, who forgave me for intruding upon his private grief. Goodbye Jon, my life would have turned out completely different if it had not been for you, and that's not hyperbole. I was brought up in Hong Kong in the 1960s, in a world where the swinging sixties hardly intruded, and - for my family at least - the British Empire ethos reigned supreme. Every evening when Children's TV had finished there was a five minute musical interlude, usually featuring classical musicians. One evening it featured a bunch of hairy looking geezers and a song called 'Black Night'. I saw them, was entranced, and thought 'I want a bit of that'. I was eleven, and my life has never been the same since.

Well, actually, it is Roy Webber meeting Robert Plant, and it was four years ago so it hardly counts as up-to-the-minute news. But for some reason Google News Alerts flagged it up as a new story (which as there are no words is also an oxymoron). But it is a very good picture (from Bob Harris' website) and deserves to be cross-linked to as I shamelessly promote the Gonzo artist pages for Wally and Jackson Webber.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/wally-meet-led-zeppelin.html

Michael is a busy chap at the moment. The release of his rather smashing new album 'Carnaby Street' has unleashed a torrent of media interest. One of the many things that I admire about him is the way that the different interviews he gives are markedly different. He finds something new and interesting to say to each interviewer, which is a rare and admirable skill.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/30-days-out-interview-michael-des.html

Last night I was busily sitting down doing as little as possible when Corinna called to me from the other room that Jon Lord had died. I immediately went and posted this.. http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/jon-lord-1941-2012.html

Martin Stephenson is a very warm and eminently human singer-songwriter. I know that you could rebuff that statement by saying, "of course he's human - we didn't think he was a praying mantis, or a long beaked echidna", but you know what I mean. He is a man of talent and compassion, and he makes friends wherever he plays, as reviews like this one bear testament.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/link-martin-stephenson-darwen-library_17.html

Both Corinna and I tried to write obituaries for Jon Lord last night. He was probably my favourite prog musician, and responsible for a large chunk of the soundtrack to Corinna's and my lives, together and separately. But neither of us could do him justice. So We asked the people most qualified to do so; his fellow musicians; two who knew him and one who was influenced by him.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/jon-lord-1941-2012-rip.html

We have news of an exciting forthcoming release from Gonzo - another volume in the highly acclaimed 'Lost Broadcasts' series. This time the featured artists are 'The Move', one of the great British rock bands of all time. Wayhay!
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/whats-coming-up-from-gonzo.html

And finally, an all-star cast including Rick Wakeman, Marc Almond, and my old boss Steve Harley pay tribute to the late great Marc Bolan in a special event later in the year. That is something well worth looking forward to.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/rick-wakeman-boy-george-marc-almond.html

And that, my dears, is that. I shall be back tomorrow...

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:

HAUNTED SKIES: Sun (The) 27.10.67.


OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/


On this day in 1920 Gordon Gould, the inventor of the laser was born.

And now the news:

Lasers were used recently in the opening ceremony of that big eye tower thing from Lord of the Rings in London:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FMdD9Lahg

WEIRD WEEKEND 2012: Latest news





With only five weeks to go, there will be a lot of Weird Weekend news for you. One change from previous years is that the sunday evening dinner will be held at the Community Centre rather than the pub. This means that the monies raised will go towards village children's charities rather than the commercial sector.






Apart from that, there are a few changes to the programme. The latest version is here:





If you have not yet done so BUY YOUR TICKET NOW

DALE DRINNON: Cedar and Willow/Benny's Blog



Latest up on Cedar and Willow: Wonder Woman of the Silver Age:http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/07/misses-america-and-wonder-women-silver.htmlThis one was delayed because it was giving me an unusually hard time with technical errors. The next part is actually the Lynda Carter part and it is about half-finished now. This version includes Mary Ann Mobley and Phyllis George. Thie next one will be the greater part of the series finished and then some mopping-up left over for the modern comics.
Benny has a blog up on Wonder Women also
http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2012/07/wonder-woman.html
and one up on the obscure comic Herbie (Popnecker)
http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2012/07/herbie.html

Best Wishes, Dale D.

Loch Ness monster spotted in Caerphilly

Earlier this year there was somewhat of a furore after an American artist put a model Loch Ness Monster into a river. It was soon removed, but it seems that in the UK we are more friendly towards crypto themed artists...

Old Nessie in Caerphilly
Old Nessie in Caerphilly

PEOPLE in Caerphilly maybe wondering what is lurking in the moat after a monster was seen in the water.

A sight normally associated with a Scottish loch caused a huge amount of excitement when a monster was spotted in the moat around Caerphilly Castle. The monster is believed to have escaped from a new art gallery in the town, where it was part of an exhibition entitled Barry's Zoo. The 20ft creature is the work of Rhondda sculptor Barry Lewis.

Read on...