Forgive me for lazy posting (1)

The last few weeks hhave been ridiculously hectic, and I haven't had a chance to post anything much. As most of you know, Corinna and I are getting married on the 21st, and before then I have had to get the following things off my desk:

1. Issue one of Exotic Pets magazine. If you want more informaton check out the website

2. Neil Arnold's fabulous book on zooform phenomena

3. Marcus Matthews's equally fabulous book on mystery cats.

4. Issue 14 of Tropical World

5. Mark's book of Dorset folklore

These have all been done. But I still have to finish:

6. Issue 41 of Animals & Men

7. Karl Shuker's fabulous `Extraordinary Animals Revisited"

8. Nick Redfern's also fabulous `The Man Monkey - a British Bigfoot`

as well as organising the wedding, the Weird Weekend, finishing the aviary block, and a hundred other things. So guys, please forgive me if the only thing you get posted today are copies of the press releases I have been busily mailing out....


byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Just another reason why females are the dominant gender....

The last two weeks have been ridiculously hectic. We had a visit from Mr Biffo, the LAPIS Conference, an eel hunt at Coniston Water, and to cap it all, Corinna and I went to see Peter Gabriel at the Eden Project..

We have also published three new books and nearly finished the debut issue of our new Exotic Pets magazine.

I meant to write it all up - honest - but have been pipped at the post by my intended who has chronicled the last two weeks on Her Blog with far more flair and aplomb than I would have done.

So check it out...

Something old, something new

I don't usually bother to write posts about the music I am listening to. When I remember, I update the `on the office hifi today` box, but I don't usually bother to lay my musical trip onto people. Everyone who knows me will attest that I have an irritatingly diverse range of tastes (at the momrnt Nico and Dr Dre are top of my list, but it won't last).

However, I recently received two albums that are so good, I decided that I really had to share them

Firstly, the eponymous CD from Judas II. They are the new project from Crass bass player Pete Wright. They are a weird acousticy prog punk that sound more like the wonderful Comus than any other band I have heard recently. Fantastic low fi production, which sadly nobody will ever have heard of. Do yourself a favour and buy it Here

Secondly: Memory almost Full by Paul McCartney. Many people hhave never forgiven him for - as they see it - breaking up the Beatles. This is grossly unfair, but it has to be said that with a few exceptions, such as `Band on the Run`, `Flaming pie` and `Venus and Mars` he has made almost completely uninteresting and self indulgently suburban records ever since the fab four parted company. Even the few good albums are seriously flawed, and I long ago dismissed him as an artistic irrelevance.

The new album, which it has to be said has all the hallmarks of a swansong, is absolutely fantastic. The old bugger has got it back. It is an unashamedly joyous (but sometimes understandably introspective) look back at a remarkable life.

For the first time in many years he has made an artsistically peerless record, and even the filler is far better than anyone had any reason to expect.

When I'm 64 eh?

Redfern gets about.........

Our Nick is flying the CFZ flag far and wide these days. Most recently he was interviewed by Lisa Shiel, author of `Backyard Bigfoot`, for her blog. The entire text can be read HERE .......

This is a little strange.......

From the Greenock Telegraph:

THESE are the sensational images of a big cat claimed to be roaming wild on a Gourock hillside. It was captured on a mobile phone at Faulds Park.

Just seconds earlier office girls had entered the Amazon warehouse, unaware of what was behind. And youngsters on a nearby housing estate were setting out for school.

The huge black beast appeared out of bushes and strolled across a car park as workers turned up at 8.30am. One said: “There were people going in and out of the building, but it was not fazed by anyone.”

Now Gourock councillor George White has called for action. He said: “It is a matter of great concern if there is a big cat roaming wild in Gourock.

“I will be asking officials to investigate. It is their responsibility to protect the public.”

Big cat expert Sandy Smith of Kilmacolm said he was delighted the big cat had been captured on film.

He said: “A lot of people think talk about big cats is all a bit of kidology.
“Maybe this picture will make them take notice. “I know what I saw and I am 100 per cent certain they are roaming the area.”

Sandy, who set up Scottish Big Cat Investigations after sighting a big cat near Kilmacolm cemetery three years ago, said he would be looking to authenticate the picture.

The Gourock sighting is one of a number since then. In March two window cleaners were startled when a black beast ran across the road at Auchenbothie Gardens, Kilmacolm. In January a Greenock couple found a big cat prowling around their front garden in Fairrie Street, Greenock. And in February last year a man in Inverkip came across a dead deer he claimed had been ripped apart by a big cat.

The Dragons of Africa

PRESS RELEASE: DRAGON HUNTERS RELEASE FILM OF THEIR AFRICAN EXPEDITION

A team of British cryptozoologists from the Centre for Fortean Zoology have released a film, documenting their expedition into the swamps and jungles of West Africa, in search of a dangerous dragon-like monster known as the Ninki-Nanka.

The six person team visited the Gambia and Senegal last summer, to investigate the legend of a monster so awful, locals believe that to look upon it is death. The Ninki-Nanka is said to resemble a gigantic crested serpent and provokes terror in the locals even to this day.

“One man was so frightened of the monster he refused to enter a swamp where, years before, a sighting of the beast had caused a whole village to be abandoned. We had to speak to him from behind a bush, where he was hiding in terror,” said Richard Freeman, Zoological Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology.

The team spoke to many people who claimed their relatives or friends had seen the dragon, and had subsequently died. One man, who claimed to have seen the beast himself, described it as a monstrously huge snake with a horse-like head, and a crest. He believed that only a herbal potion from a holy man saved him from the Ninki-Nankas’ curse. When shown pictures of an Apatosaurus, a Komodo dragon, a Nile monitor lizard, and a Chinese dragon, he chose the Chinese dragon as being most like what he saw.

The beast was also blamed for causing a lorry to crash, as it slithered out on to a rural road. The team visited the crash site, where the lorry is still on the side of the road.

They spoke with keepers at a sacred crocodile pool, who recount an ancient song to keep the monster at bay, and were even given a supposed Ninki-Nanka scale for examination.

The team also investigated two other unrelated mysteries; a supposed sea serpent carcass - buried on a beach by an amateur naturalist - and the continued existence of a tiny lizard known only from five museum specimens.

Just as tangled as the African forests, are the jungles of the mind, where legend, and superstition, are entwined with natural history. The film goes some way towards exploring both of these shadowy places.

The music for the film was composed especially by Paul Whitrow, a Bristol-based record producer from the legendary Bristol recording studio, Channel House, best-known for his work with Portishead, John Getty, The Mission, Alison Moyet, Imogen Heap, and cult indie band, the Blue Aeroplanes, as well as Japanese production company Creativeman.

Mike Williams flies the CFZ flag down under

At the risk of sounding like a Beach Boys cover band .... we get around