Thursday, June 30, 2016

NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)




Nessie hunters have been left scratching their heads after a dog walker found what appears to be the remains of the legendary 'monster' washed up ...




RSPB: Give Moths a Home this Summer

The RSPB encourages the public to give moths a home in their gardens this summer by planting food for moths and their caterpillars.

Morwenna Alldis, spokesperson for the RSPB South West said: “In our UK gardens and green spaces we have recorded a staggering 2,400 different species of moth to date. And yet these furry flutterers are often overshadowed by their flashy cousins, the butterflies, who paint our summers with a rainbow of colour. But let’s not forget that moths have eye-catching markings too – a jersey tiger moth, cinnabar or elephant hawk-moth can out-bedazzle any painted lady.

“Similar to butterflies, moths undergo several stages of metamorphosis before reaching adulthood. They start life as caterpillars, which then pupate in a silken cocoon, before poking-out a feathery antenna to read the air for the first time. In fact, moth’s antennae help them to sense smell and navigate their flight. Most of our UK moths fly at night, whereas butterflies are daytime lovers. And when a moth lands it typically keeps its wings open, unlike butterflies who tend to close their wings when resting.

“Here at the RSPB we think it’s time to start showing our garden moths some love. Moths are vital pollinators for some of our wild flowers and trees. Perhaps a harsh truth to stomach, but moths are vital links in nature’s food chain too. They are also an important food source for bats and birds. At this time of year moth caterpillars are fed to many of our garden bird chicks including blue tits, great tits and robins. By following our simple planting top tips, you too can help give moths a home in your own garden.”

Plant Food for Moths                                                                                                    
Morwenna explains: “Moths need to drink nectar for energy, so grow nectar-rich plants which flower throughout spring, summer and autumn. If you have the space, create a moth-friendly border around your garden. If space is limited, simply plant the below in amongst your other flowers or in pots scattered around your garden.

For night-flying moths in summer plant:     
·         Nicotiana alata - grow in the flower bed
·         Jasmine - a climber to grow up a trellis 
·         Honeysuckle - a climber to grow up a trellis or into a tree
·         Hemp-agrimony - a perennial plant about 1m tall, with soft, lilac heads of flowers, that will form a bigger and bigger clump each year
·         Sweet rocket - a beautiful plant for the flower border you can grow from seed each year.

For night-flying moths in autumn try:

·        Ivy
·         Michaelmas daisy
·         Sedum spectabile

Feed Your Caterpillars
Morwenna continues: “As well as providing sustenance for adult moths it’s vital to give young, soon-to-be moths something to munch whilst in their caterpillar phase. Butterfly Conservation advises that whilst some moth caterpillars will eat a variety of plants, most species rely on just a few specific types, if not only one. So the best method to ensure you’re keeping every caterpillar happy is to grow a variety of plants – the greener your garden the better.

“Native plants are preferable (although the caterpillars of the elephant hawk-moth delight on fuchsias); especially native trees such as birch, oak and willow, which are a favourite dinner for moth caterpillars. To get a better idea of what native plants you should choose, look around you local area and mimic what already grows there naturally. 
“Planting a native hedge that includes a variety of species, is also an excellent way to nourish caterpillars, as well as providing safe highways and byways for our small garden mammals to move. It’s also really beneficial to leave an area of your garden un-mown so that some of your native grasses and weeds can thrive to feed the caterpillars, including: dandelions, docks, brambles, nettles and bedstraws.

If You Build It They Will Come – Enjoy Spotting Your Garden Moths
Morwenna says: “You’ve spent a few hours in the garden adding some nectar giving and caterpillar munchable plants and your garden is now a veritable moth Eden – next step is to take time out to enjoy the benefits of your work and spot the moths and caterpillars that now call your garden home. Take a night time stroll around your garden and let your torch reveal your garden moths enjoying a sip or two of nectar from your flowers. If you have an outside light, turn it on and see what moths are attracted to it – always have your moth guide to hand. Or set-up an overnight moth trap – an exciting activity, that always thrills children and adults alike and opens your eyes to the tremendous variety of wildlife that we share our homes with.”


To find out how you can give even more nature a home in your garden and create your own personalised plan based on your location, visit: www.rspb.org.uk/plan

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS HOME

The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
 
After a gap of a week during which I bought my young granddaughters pretty hats and took them to the zoo where they admired a family of Indian porcupines, and giggled at the red buttocks of the Sulawesi crested macaques, just as children have ever since the Good Lord first made Sulawesi crested macaques for small children to giggle at, the travelling circus has returned. Archie ran around chasing his tail and barking joyously until settling on my lap exhausted. And I had 1,200 emails this morning. And so the great dance continues.
 
RAWLINSON END REVIEW
GENRE PEAK REVIEW
RAZ REVIEW
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Erik Norlander - The G...
 
And now I am on the want again. It is time, once again, for me to remind you all about this year's Weird Weekend featuring our very own Steve Ignorant, sponsored by our very own Erik Norlander, compèred by me and the return of  Nuneaton's Mr Entertainment, Barry Tadcaster with his pal Orang Pendek, and featuring a whole cornucopia of high strangeness and cerebral silliness. It would make me very happy if I could sell some more tickets..
 
find out all about the Weird Weekend
buy tickets to the Weird Weekend:
 
Gonzo Magazine #187-8
 
The last two weekends are covered by the bumper issue - The Gonzo Summer Special with a mixture of old and new stuff for your delight and amazement! We interview Bridget Wishart and Ian Jones from Karnataka, Alan goes to see Neil Young, Erik Norlander's new album, John B-G goes on a pilgrimage to the West Coast of America, Doug
eulogises Security Project, Orrin talks about German psychedelic folk, we send the legendary John Hughes to a desert island, Jon reviews a book by and about Frederick Forsyth and burbles on about British comics, we interview Karnataka about a very special concert, while Corinna talks about shopping with mother. Just another day chez Gonzo.
 
And there  are radio shows from Strange Fruit, and Mack Maloney, and Friday Night Progressive. We also have columns from all sorts of folk including Roy Weard, Mr Biffo, Neil Nixon and the irrepressible Corinna. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and pademelons outside zoos(OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who have escaped from captivity, 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:
Karnataka, Gorillaz, Erik Norlander, Lana Lane, Ringo Starr, All-Starrs,Cliff Richard, Morrissey, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour,Helen Joanne "Jo" Cox, Henry Campbell Liken McCullough, Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman, Robert Allen "Bobby" Curtola, CM, Tom Leppard, Rick Wakeman, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, Brand X, Third Ear Band, Captain Beefheart, Jim Jones, Gram Parsons, Mick Abrahams, Barbara Dickson, Bridget Wishart, Spirits Burning, Peter Gabriel, Alan Dearling, Neil Young, John Brodie-Good, Paul Kantner, The Jungle Book, Roy Weard, Orrin Hare, Krautfolk, Mr Biffo, Xtul, Hawkwind, John Hughes,Frederick Forsyth, Marc Bolan, Elvis, Mitch Mitchell, Robert Johnson, Ginger Spice, Neil Nixon, Robert Calvert
                                                                                   
Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
 
Issue 186 (Beatles)
Issue 185 (Judge Smith)
Issue 184 (Mick Abrahams)
Issue 183 (Daevid Allen)
Issue 182 (Wally)
Issue 181 (Beatles)
Issue 180 (Beltane)
Issue 179 (Gregg Kofi Brown)
Issue 178 (Viv Stanshall)
Issue 177 (David Gilmour)
Issue 176 (Joey Molland and The Raz Band)
Issue 175 (Larry Sanders)
Issue 174 (Keith Emerson)
Issue 173 (Pink Fairies action figures)
Issue 172 (4th Eden)
Issue 171 (Keith Levene)
Issue 170 (Wildman Fischer)
Issue 169 (Wildman Fischer)
Issue 168 (Wakeman/Bowie)
Issue 167 (Paul Kantner)
Issue 166 (Spirits Burning)
 
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:
 
SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.
 
 
* 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.co.uk
 
* 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 56 who - together with an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and two small kittens, one totally coincidentally named after one of the Manson Family, purely because she squeaks, puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish. 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, and the adventurous kittens?

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF













Cumberland County, Kentucky Bigfoot Encounters
Radio interview of bigfoot encounters in Kentucky. Discussing recent Cumberland County Bigfoot sightings. Review the full reports at ...

A group of campers is hot on the trail of Bigfoot at Ruffner Mountain and they're learning survival skills along the way. "Prepared , Not Scared" is a one ...

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.








NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Thursday:

ON THIS DAY IN - 1908 - A meteor explosion in Siberia knocked down trees in a 40-mile radius and struck people unconscious some 40 miles away. 
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk


  • Rays Don't Stray: Giant Mantas Stick Close to Home...
  • Spot the bee: scientists release hundreds of numbe...
  • Rediscovering a wasp after 101 years
  • Finding Dory, Killing Dory: Your 'Dory' Might Have...
  • EU plans to help fight wildlife crime
  • Invasive species could cause billions in damages t...
  • The sculpture controlled by bees: Wolfgang Buttres...
  • Woman attacked by bear while running marathon in N...
  • Giant crab horde gathers in Aus


  • 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)