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, March 26, 2015

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

What has Corinna's column of Fortean bird news got to do with cryptozoology?

Well, everything, actually!

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.


BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



Artist's metal Bigfoot sculptures gain popularity
Bigfoot is, indeed, around. Mark Wilbanks has one out in his front yard in the woods surrounding Bloomburg. The apelike creature, supposedly found ...

Bigfoot Photograph From North Georgia? (Video)
These series of photographs were sent to the YouTube channel Legends Beware a couple days ago. According to the channel, this was sent to them 

'Bigfoot' photo from SW Colorado sparks discussion
SILVERTON, Colo. – A seven-year-old photo allegedly showing 'Bigfoot' gallivanting through a field near Silverton, Colorado is gaining new ...

CFZ PEOPLE: Ross Braund-Phillips



Happy Birthday my dear boy

CFZ PUBLISHING GROUP: Karl Shuker on Pygmy Elephants

A recent issue of Fortean Times magazine (FT 320, November 2014) carried a review of Matt Salusbury’s book Pygmy Elephants: On the Track of the World’s Largest Dwarfs, published by CFZ Press. The review was written by one of Britain’s best-known cryptozoologists, Dr Karl Shuker.

Dr Shuker gave the book a rating of 9 out of 10, summing up Matt Salusbury’s achievement as follows:
His diligent compilation, presentation and analysis of the hitherto disparate history and facts about these enigmatic animals, plus his own addition of important new data to their archive of material as exclusively revealed in this book, make it a publication very deserving to be read by everyone interested in such creatures. 

Read on... 

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN ON HIS OWN

The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
Thursday's child, apparently at least, has far to go. And today is Thursday and I have lots to do. Last night I went out to a meeting about the Centenary book of Woolsery men who fought in WW1; a fascinating and very poignant project. I have also resumed work on 'The Wild Colonial Boy'; the story of my childhood with animals in Hong Kong, which I have been working on, on and off (but mostly off) for years. I am terrible at my authoring work ethic. I have so much more to write each week that work on my own books tends to be shoved to one side, which is why I have only put out one proper book (and a small collection of short stories) in the past decade, whereas I did five or six i the decade before that (depending on how you define 'proper' books). This blasted cold still hasn't completely gone, and it is sometimes two steps forward and one step back, but the general trajectory is one of vague improvement. Corinna seems to have it now, and I am praying hard to the Patron Saint of Mothers in Law that Mum doesn't get it, because it is specifically rather nasty.
The Gonzo Weekly #122
www.gonzoweekly.com
Anthony Phillips, Genesis, Hunkley's Heroes, Nick Lowe, Andy Fairweather-Low, Paul Carrick, Graham Parker, Suggs McPherson, Robert Calvert, Nax Blake Hawkwind, Jon Anderson, and Yes fans had better look out!
The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#122) is another bumper one at 90 pages and is available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has Anthony Phillips on the cover, and an article and interview with him inside. Roy Weard reports on a very special benefit concert in aid of ailing Wings and Grease Band guitarist Henry McCullough, and we send an insect geneticist to a desert island. Neil Nixon reports on an even stranger album than usual, Wyrd goes avant garde and there are radio shows from Strange Fruit and from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive, and the titular submarine dwellers are still lost at sea, although I have been assured that they will hit land again soon. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and pademelons trying to choose (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials having difficulty in making choices, 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!!!
This issue features:
Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Spandau Ballet, Ronnie Wood, Kanye West, Cream, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Mick Abrahams, Firemerchants, Dee Palmer, Atkins May Project, Wagner, Hawkwind, Karnataka, Paul Buff, Frank Zappa, Charli XCX, Garth Brooks, 5 Seconds of Summer, Ed Sheeran, Albert Maysles, Andy Fraser, Anthony Phillips, Hinkley's Heroes, Roy Weard,Henry McCulloch, Tony O'Mally, Graham Parker, Don Mescall, Suggs McPherson, Nick Lowe, Andy Fairweather-Low,Paul Carrick Hawkwind, Yes, Rick Wakeman, Wally, Geoff Downes, Chris Squire, Neil Nixon, Osbournes, 1D, Beatles, Nirvana, Alarm Will Sound, Golden Resurrection, Indicco, Martolea
Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
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:
http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/

* 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.com/…/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit
* 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 an old hippy of 55 who - together with an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the infantile orange cat?

NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Thursday

ON THIS DAY IN 1780 - The British Gazette and Sunday Monitor was published for the first time. It was the first Sunday newspaper in Britain. 
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Badger vaccination roll out after success of West ...
  • Meet the 'magic rabbit': The VERY cute creature wh...
  • World's top zoo organisation accused of links to T...

  • African elephants could be extinct 'within a decad...

  • 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)