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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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Dr Jack Lantern's out of hours call

Each year my lovely wife Corinna writes a scary story for Hallowe'en. This year she has surpassed herself...

http://cryptochick.blogspot.com/2012/10/dr-jack-lanterns-out-of-hours-call.html

CRYPTOLINK: The Jersey Devil


Jersey Devil HuntsPinelands Preservation Alliance Program Manager Russell Juelg, of Shamong, NJ, tells stories about the New Jersey Devil deep in the Wharton State Forest, Burlington County, NJ on Thur., Oct. 30, 2003.  After telling stories of people who claim to have seen or heard the Jersey Devil, Juelg takes visitors on a Jersey Devil hunt through the dark woods in the Pinelands. (AP Photo/Tim Larsen)

It never fails. Any time a group gathers around a fire, or drives down the darkened streets of South Jersey — especially during the extra-creepy month of October — the stories begin.

They have been told for centuries. The stories of the thirteenth child of Mother Leeds. The legend that has spawned movies, books, hunting trips and scared campers that is quintessential, as well as unique to, the state of New Jersey.

The Jersey Devil.

It’s the namesake of North Jersey’s hockey team and has been spotted for hundreds of years terrifying residents and visitors alike.

Read on...

CRYPTOLINK: Issie - The Japanese Sea Serpent

A statue of Issie located in the shore of Lake Ikeda, Kyushu Japan

Pictured above is a little known creature called Issie. This sea serpent is named after the famous Loch Ness monster, nick named Nessie, found in Loch Ness in Scotland. Issie, on the other hand is found in a caldera lake (a lake fed by rain water that develops in the crater of an extinct volcano)named Lake Ikeda located in Kyushu, Japan. This creature is estimated to be 30 meter long with two humps on its back measuring 5 meters, or 16 feet high. There is no agreement on the origination of Issie but a popular mythological story says Issie was a mare who lived happily on the shore of the lake with her foal. When her foal was kidnapped by a samurai, Issie went crazy looking for her. In her despair she jumped into the lake and transformed into a sea serpent and lived there ever since. She occasionally surfaces from the depths in the incessant search for her lost foal. 


SHERI'S BLOG: Day 5 – Tuesday


We have a visitor this week. Sheri Myler, a student from the North of England is doing a week's placement with us. She is already very keen on cryptozoology and eager to learn. I confidently predict that she will be an asset to the cryptozoological community in years to come. However, we decided to put her to work, and each day she will be blogging about what she has been doing...

Today was supposed to be the day I was to have my fifty hour appraisal filled in, so obviously, today was the day I forgot to bring in my portfolio. It will have to be done tomorrow now, which shouldn’t really make too much difference. Hopefully, I won’t leave it in the museum or somewhere.

This also meant that I didn’t have my notes to help me write my blog, so it took twice as long. Then, a small amount of more time was spent doing the animal rounds and the discussion during them was slightly more in depth.

After a tea-break, came a lecture and lengthy discussion about cryptozoology. This involved guessing whether or not certain animal existed and/or if the abilities attributed to them by locals are true. I feel I did fairly well. This was followed by more specific discussion into dragons, in particular the megalania, and some quiet reading time around this topic.

This was followed by some free time, so I checked facebook, which slowed the computer down so much it had to be restarted. Then work resumed and The Journal of Cryptozoology was proof-read and corrected and, so, should be about ready for publication. The website has now also been set up.

The blogs, and other things that are usually done in the morning, are being done this evening so that we can depart for the museum in Barnstaple earlier tomorrow. Tonight’s cat hunt will follow, presently. Hopefully, there will be something exciting waiting, around a corner, to be seen. 

RICHARD FREEMAN: Keep the kids away this Samhain


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.




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.





  • NEWSLINK: Ranthambhore's 'fearless' big cat claims...
  • USA Sighting: Big black cat in Kentucky
  • NEWSLINK: Tigress found dead in Chandrapur
  • NEWSLINK: Tiger kill in India
  • NEWSLINK: Tiger Conservation
  • USA SIGHTING: Texas
  • I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    And so, for the first time ever I am posting two lots of blogs in the same day. Tomorrow we are starting off at an unholy hour, and I would rather make sure that everything is done fine tonight rather than have to rush in an unseemly hour tomorrow. In the meantime, I am listening to Neil Young's second peculiar album of the year and enjoying is massively. And if you are in Barnstaple tomorrow between 11-4 come to the museum by the clocktower. We will be doing all sorts of peculiar things.
    We start off with our daily visit to Thom the World Poet who has issues with the Texas cops
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_4285.html
    I found this enthusiastic but rather strange review of Michael Des Barres' album by some dude in Germany. I have noted before
    how online translations sometime produce strange and surrealistically beautiful resuls. This is one of them...
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/link-i-think-this-german-reviewer-likes.html
    NeilYoung really is a strange old sod. But no sooner had I finished this latest critique of his album 'Americana' than his second album of 2012 'Psychedelic Pill' arrives on spotify...
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/neil-young-weird-old-bugger.html
    The Gonzo issue of The Move dvd in the 'Lost Broadcasts' series is certainly getting a lot of interest...
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/german-review-of-move-dvd.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 Editor 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



    On this day in 1926 master escapologist and un-masker of fraudulent mediums Harry Houdini died.
    Also it's Halloween today so expect a cavalcade of diminutive beggars and vagabonds at your door dressed as “Gang-dam Style” or “Twilight the Vampire”.
    And now the news:
    With this clip I think we can safely say that Gangnam Style is an old meme:

    CFZ PEOPLE: Rosie Curtis


    Rosie Curtis is 16 today. We have known her for over ten years, as can be seen from this picture of her and Richard F when she was about five. It is her dad's "favorite pic of her as a child", and we can see why. Her father (our dear friend Davey C) writes: "I am truly blessed. In a world full of bad news, to have not one, but two fantastic daughters whom I am immensely proud of and who have never let me down is a bloody miracle!"

    Hear Hear.

    Happy Birthday my dear...

    CFZ CANADA: The accepted principles of Orthodox Zoology

    Founded in 1989 by writer James A. Clark, scientist Dr. Paul LeBlond and journalist John Kirk, the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club (B.C.S.C.C.) is a scientific body which follows the accepted principles of orthodox zoology in regard to establishing the existence of new species of animals. Their mandate is to ascertain where these animals fit into the greater picture in the realm of natural history. They are adamantly against any “ludicrous paranormal, occult or supernatural viewpoints”.  The BCSCC claims to be rigidly scientific and does not entertain speculative “pseudo-scientific notions” or “quasi-scientific nonsense.”

    This begs the question, “what exactly are the “accepted principles of orthodox zoology”?

    Read on...

    NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE BLAH BLAH BLAH

    As regular readers will be aware, tomorrow I am partaking in and basically running a fun day for local children at Barnstaple Museum. It means that I will be up and out of here at some ungodly hour, and so tomorrow's blogs will be published late tonight, and there won't actually be any tomorrow.

    I also won't be reading my emails until late tomorrow evening, so if you have emailed me and not had a reply, you know why.

    Toodle-ooh

    SHERI'S BLOG: Day 4 – Monday


    We have a visitor this week. Sheri Myler, a student from the North of England is doing a week's placement with us. She is already very keen on cryptozoology and eager to learn. I confidently predict that she will be an asset to the cryptozoological community in years to come. However, we decided to put her to work, and each day she will be blogging about what she has been doing...


    This day began with the animal rounds. A slight deviation from the usual routine was that, after several minutes poking around a pot of mud, there was found to be no large worms left. So, instead, Cromwell, the pike, was given four smaller ones.

    Addendum to the normal activities during the animal rounds was the cleaning of the glass of one of the fish tanks, which had become rather murky. This involved the cleaning of the magnet that keeps the glass clean as well and, after some time of doing this, I realised I had been flicking specks of muck onto my jumper. I hope it does not stain.

    Then, before blogging and re-commencing work on Eberhart, was a meeting/ tea-break, discussing, amongst other things,  the distribution of the day’s tasks and some rather bizarre correspondence from someone referring to himself as ‘The Wizard’.

    Much of the rest of the day was spent in the same vein as the previous few days, with editing. Though there was a brief lull, due to inexplicable technical difficulties, which gave me some time to look at shoes online. The day drew to a close with a fourth big cat hunt, which was shorter than previous hunts. I saw more cat action on the way back to my B&B, where there was two cats mewling at each other, unhappily. 


    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.



    DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot, pterosaurs, Benny's Blog

    New At Frontiers of Zoology: 

    I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    Life is remarkably busy at the moment. Richard arrived late yesterday afternoon and work continued on the new edition of George Eberhart's two volume encyclopaedia of cryptozoology from about ten years ago. Sheri the intern has continued to make great progress and I am sure we shall miss her when she leaves us on thursday. Last night Richard and I watched a couple of Gonzo DVDs: one by the first lineups of Renaissance, and the collection of songs by The Move in the Lost Broadcasts series. As regular readers will be aware, tomorrow I am partaking in and basically running a fun day for local children at Barnstaple Museum. It means that I will be up and out of here at some ungodly hour, and so tomorrow's blogs will be published late tonight, and there won't actually be any tomorrow.

    I also won't be reading my emails until late tomorrow evening, so if you have emailed me and not had a reply, you know why.

    Toodle-ooh

    A brief note about the disruptions of the next few days...

    I will be doing a brief interview with Helen on the subject sometime over the next week, but in the meantime, here is an account of last weekend's Club Artyfartle in her own words...

    In Greece it seems that they are big fans of The Move, and having seen the Gonzo DVD by the band last night it is hard not to agree with them...

    I have just discovered a blog by a 20-year-old who writes like a dream. I have no idea whether the person who writes is male or female, black or white, able bodied or in a wheelchair, but whoever (s)he is (s)he can write like an angel. There are only two entries on the blog so far, but as this one mentions Captain Beefheart, and there is a jolly good Captain Beefheart DVD available on Gonzo, I think that I am perfectly justified in giving Universal Vibration a plug. 

    Our regular daily visit to the life and work of Thom the World Poet

    Well, yesterday I solves a little personal mystery of mine which has been mildly bugging me for the last four decades (give or take a couple of years). In the early seventies I used to occasionally spend the weekend with a school friend called Tim. He had an older brother whose name is lost deep within the sands of time, and he had a poster of a beautiful woman on his bedroom wall. The woman on the poster on my mate's elder brother's bedroom wall was none other than Keith Relf's sister Jane, singer with the earliest incarnation of  Renaissance and now on a Gonzo DVD...

    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 Editor 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?