Saturday, November 17, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
If music be the food of whatever.....
My new album, together with every piece of music that I have released since 1995 (except for the CD with Lionel Fanthorpe which is copyrighted to Voiceprint) is now up on a dedicated section of the CFZ site.
Please check it out HERE
Feel free to download as much as you like, but if you are feeling generous, make a donation to CFZ funds.
Enjoy!
PS. My earlier albums, together with a selection of live recordings and some other odds and sods will be posted over the next few months, as and when I have the energy. And for those of you who are Amphibs fans, you may be interested to know that Dave Penna is visiting us on wednesday, and a reunion of some sort may not be as out of the question as I have always implied..
Please check it out HERE
Feel free to download as much as you like, but if you are feeling generous, make a donation to CFZ funds.
Enjoy!
PS. My earlier albums, together with a selection of live recordings and some other odds and sods will be posted over the next few months, as and when I have the energy. And for those of you who are Amphibs fans, you may be interested to know that Dave Penna is visiting us on wednesday, and a reunion of some sort may not be as out of the question as I have always implied..
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Normal service will.... etc etc
Guys,
forgive me for having been somewhat elusive over the past few days. Ever since the horrible events of early September my health has been shot to buggery, and both my bipolar disorder and my diabetes have gone from being reasonably controlled, to being all over the place.
At the moment it is the turn of my bipolarshite and I am feeling as mad as a bagfull of cheese. No doubt it will pass - it usually does, and I will be back in the driver's seat, but for the moment I am keeping my head down, playing twelve year old computer games, listening to Al Stewart, and sucessfully resisting the temptation to drink myself into a coma.
Dealing with bipolar was much easier when I could drink or drug it away, but now I am completely drug free, and I only drink occasionally, so the twin crutches that helped me deal with this filthy bloody disease for years have disappeared. And when I am in this condition I know that I am an even bigger pain in the arse without drink or drugs than I would have been with them. So I am drinking diet ginger beer, trying not to smoke too much, and attempting not to be irksome to my loved ones...
Remember me in your thoughts, and prayers to whichever deity you favour. I need them
love
J
forgive me for having been somewhat elusive over the past few days. Ever since the horrible events of early September my health has been shot to buggery, and both my bipolar disorder and my diabetes have gone from being reasonably controlled, to being all over the place.
At the moment it is the turn of my bipolarshite and I am feeling as mad as a bagfull of cheese. No doubt it will pass - it usually does, and I will be back in the driver's seat, but for the moment I am keeping my head down, playing twelve year old computer games, listening to Al Stewart, and sucessfully resisting the temptation to drink myself into a coma.
Dealing with bipolar was much easier when I could drink or drug it away, but now I am completely drug free, and I only drink occasionally, so the twin crutches that helped me deal with this filthy bloody disease for years have disappeared. And when I am in this condition I know that I am an even bigger pain in the arse without drink or drugs than I would have been with them. So I am drinking diet ginger beer, trying not to smoke too much, and attempting not to be irksome to my loved ones...
Remember me in your thoughts, and prayers to whichever deity you favour. I need them
love
J
Thursday, November 01, 2007
On The Track Episode 2 and other stuff...
Just in case that you thought it would never happen, may I suggest you have a look at On The Track a new permanent home for the new CFZtv project: a monthly webTV show giving all the latest news from the CFZ and cryptozoology news from around the world.
The second edition is now up, and I think that it is a marked improvement on the first!
Thanks to everyone who made suggestions after episode one last month, and you should be glad to see that I have taken them on board. Many thanks especially to those of you who said such kind things about my music. I can, therefore, happily announce that I have a new album due out in the next few weeks. It is called Twilight over England and following in the worthy footsteps of Radiohead it will be available as a download, with the payment being via paypal in the form of a voluntary donation of whatever you want to give to CFZ funds.
There are fourteen tracks:
1 All because of You
2 The Unknown Terrorist (Usama's Hymn)
3 Leap of Faith
4 Ratop (Instrumental)
5 Underwater Chicken Music (Skippo)
6 Amerikan Synergy (The King is Dead)
7 Time after Time (Picnic beneath the Lake)
8 I've been bitten by the yellow shark (Instrumental)
9 Wardance
10 Sing me to sleep
11 The man who killed the moon (Your mother is a slut)
12 Bernadette
13 Endgame
14 Opium Tea
The two instrumental tracks are featured on this month's edition of `On the Track`. Track 6 features an astounding guest appearance by CFZ stalwart David "Geordie Dave" Curtis, doing his best Elvis impersonation while I vent my spleen on the current American president. (Note to all my American friends, and other US readers of this blog - I have always had great fun in the USA, and I have many American friends. It is merely the upper echelons of your present government that I find repellant. There is a heck of a lot that I admire about the USA, and I would hate to be accused (again) of xenophobia.
I am also not anti-military. My brother is a high ranking officer in the British Army, and I come from a military family. It is the political motivations for recent events that I find dubious. Some wars are sadly justified. The recent spate have not been.
Whilst on the subject of covering my back, I have made a few comments about Young Earth Creationists in this month's `On the Track`. On the whole I live and let live, and I know that some of my theories about life, the universe, and everything do not meet with universal approval, but I am getting severely annoyed by being inundated with eMails claiming that I will go to hell because I believe that our planet is over 4.5 billion years old!
I am not coming at this from the viewpoint of an atheist either. Although I rarely mention either my political or religious beliefs on this blog, I am a churchgoer, and I do believe in both a creator and an intercessionist God. I merely have no peoblem with reconciling this belief with any of the scientific evidence for the true age of the Universe, or for the mechanisms of evolution.
Anyway, off my soap box! I hope that you enjoy our new ventures, and I look forward to reading the feedback (though not the inevitable hate mail).
The second edition is now up, and I think that it is a marked improvement on the first!
Thanks to everyone who made suggestions after episode one last month, and you should be glad to see that I have taken them on board. Many thanks especially to those of you who said such kind things about my music. I can, therefore, happily announce that I have a new album due out in the next few weeks. It is called Twilight over England and following in the worthy footsteps of Radiohead it will be available as a download, with the payment being via paypal in the form of a voluntary donation of whatever you want to give to CFZ funds.
There are fourteen tracks:
1 All because of You
2 The Unknown Terrorist (Usama's Hymn)
3 Leap of Faith
4 Ratop (Instrumental)
5 Underwater Chicken Music (Skippo)
6 Amerikan Synergy (The King is Dead)
7 Time after Time (Picnic beneath the Lake)
8 I've been bitten by the yellow shark (Instrumental)
9 Wardance
10 Sing me to sleep
11 The man who killed the moon (Your mother is a slut)
12 Bernadette
13 Endgame
14 Opium Tea
The two instrumental tracks are featured on this month's edition of `On the Track`. Track 6 features an astounding guest appearance by CFZ stalwart David "Geordie Dave" Curtis, doing his best Elvis impersonation while I vent my spleen on the current American president. (Note to all my American friends, and other US readers of this blog - I have always had great fun in the USA, and I have many American friends. It is merely the upper echelons of your present government that I find repellant. There is a heck of a lot that I admire about the USA, and I would hate to be accused (again) of xenophobia.
I am also not anti-military. My brother is a high ranking officer in the British Army, and I come from a military family. It is the political motivations for recent events that I find dubious. Some wars are sadly justified. The recent spate have not been.
Whilst on the subject of covering my back, I have made a few comments about Young Earth Creationists in this month's `On the Track`. On the whole I live and let live, and I know that some of my theories about life, the universe, and everything do not meet with universal approval, but I am getting severely annoyed by being inundated with eMails claiming that I will go to hell because I believe that our planet is over 4.5 billion years old!
I am not coming at this from the viewpoint of an atheist either. Although I rarely mention either my political or religious beliefs on this blog, I am a churchgoer, and I do believe in both a creator and an intercessionist God. I merely have no peoblem with reconciling this belief with any of the scientific evidence for the true age of the Universe, or for the mechanisms of evolution.
Anyway, off my soap box! I hope that you enjoy our new ventures, and I look forward to reading the feedback (though not the inevitable hate mail).
Monday, October 29, 2007
SOUTH AMERICAN MONSTER HUNT
SOUTH AMERICAN MONSTER HUNT
For Immediate Release: 2007-10-24
On the 14th November 2007, five members of the Centre for Fortean Zoology – the world’s largest organisation dedicated to the search for mystery animals – leave the UK for South America, on their most ambitious expedition yet. They will be searching the remote swamps and jungles of Guyana. They are looking for three elusive, potentially lethal, and hitherto undiscovered animals.
· The giant anaconda
· The didi
· The water tiger
As far as we are aware, this is the first cryptozoological expedition in search of evidence for the existence of these three animals that has ever been mounted. After months of complex negotiations, we can also announce that the expedition is sponsored by Capcom – one of the world’s leading video game publishers, who are concurrently launching Monster Hunter Freedom 2, their exciting new game for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable (PSP).
The expedition will take the five members, and their guides, deep into unexplored swamps in the west of Guyana. The area is so remote and poorly known that it doesn’t even have a name.
· The anaconda (Eunectes murinus) is the largest known snake in South America. The largest specimen shot was 28ft (9m) long. However, in the past, reports have come in from Guyana of anacondas of mind-boggling proportions, 40-60ft (12-18m) long. In some areas these giants are referred to as manatorro (the bull killer). As recently as last year, a specimen estimated at being 40ft (12m) long was observed by a party of native hunters. The giant snake frightened them so much that they fled. The target area for these monster serpents is a series of remote lakes in the grasslands.
· The didi is a more nebulous beast. It is said to walk upright like a man and be armed with scythe-like claws. It is alleged to tear out the tongues of living cattle, and leave swathes of terror in its wake. Although this last attribute may well be apocryphal, the claws in particular recall the supposedly extinct giant ground sloths or mylodonts. These bear-sized herbivores supposedly died out ten thousand years ago, but reports from across the Amazon, and surrounding areas, suggest they may well still survive.
2
· The water tiger is an aggressive aquatic animal said to have pointed teeth and webbed, humanlike hands. In the past, it was reported to have attacked both people and livestock. The water tiger may be based on reports of the rare giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) which can grow to a length of 6ft (1.8m).
The group intend to interview native witnesses to gather information on the animals and search the grasslands and lakes for evidence. They are being guided by Damon Corrie - a chief of the Eagle Clan Arawak tribe – who is also one of the few people to have visited the area in question.
The group consists of:
· Dr Chris Clark, engineer
· Lisa Dowley, photographer
· Richard Freeman, cryptozoologist
· Jon Hare, science writer
· Paul Rose, journalist
Photographs, a press pack, and further information are available, and expedition members are available for interview. Please contact Jon or Corinna at the CFZ Press Office on +44 (0)1237 431413.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
+ The Centre for Fortean Zoology is a non profit-making organisation, which was founded in 1992. Over the last 11 years we have mounted expeditions to Central America, Thailand, Mexico, Mongolia, Sumatra, West Africa, various parts of the United States, as well as numerous investigations in the UK.
+ Further information on the CFZ can be found on their website, www.cfz.org.uk
+ CFZ Press are now the world’s most prolific publishers of books on mystery animals.
+ The honorary life President of the Centre for Fortean Zoology is renowned explorer, author and soldier Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his pioneering Operation Drake and Operation Raleigh expeditions during the 1970s.
+ The CFZ is looking for corporate and private sponsors.
+ The CFZ make their own documentary films which can be seen at http://www.cfztv.org
+ `Lair of the Red Worm`, the 60 minute film of their 2005 expedition to Mongolia has now been seen by 27,000 people.
For Immediate Release: 2007-10-24
On the 14th November 2007, five members of the Centre for Fortean Zoology – the world’s largest organisation dedicated to the search for mystery animals – leave the UK for South America, on their most ambitious expedition yet. They will be searching the remote swamps and jungles of Guyana. They are looking for three elusive, potentially lethal, and hitherto undiscovered animals.
· The giant anaconda
· The didi
· The water tiger
As far as we are aware, this is the first cryptozoological expedition in search of evidence for the existence of these three animals that has ever been mounted. After months of complex negotiations, we can also announce that the expedition is sponsored by Capcom – one of the world’s leading video game publishers, who are concurrently launching Monster Hunter Freedom 2, their exciting new game for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable (PSP).
The expedition will take the five members, and their guides, deep into unexplored swamps in the west of Guyana. The area is so remote and poorly known that it doesn’t even have a name.
· The anaconda (Eunectes murinus) is the largest known snake in South America. The largest specimen shot was 28ft (9m) long. However, in the past, reports have come in from Guyana of anacondas of mind-boggling proportions, 40-60ft (12-18m) long. In some areas these giants are referred to as manatorro (the bull killer). As recently as last year, a specimen estimated at being 40ft (12m) long was observed by a party of native hunters. The giant snake frightened them so much that they fled. The target area for these monster serpents is a series of remote lakes in the grasslands.
· The didi is a more nebulous beast. It is said to walk upright like a man and be armed with scythe-like claws. It is alleged to tear out the tongues of living cattle, and leave swathes of terror in its wake. Although this last attribute may well be apocryphal, the claws in particular recall the supposedly extinct giant ground sloths or mylodonts. These bear-sized herbivores supposedly died out ten thousand years ago, but reports from across the Amazon, and surrounding areas, suggest they may well still survive.
2
· The water tiger is an aggressive aquatic animal said to have pointed teeth and webbed, humanlike hands. In the past, it was reported to have attacked both people and livestock. The water tiger may be based on reports of the rare giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) which can grow to a length of 6ft (1.8m).
The group intend to interview native witnesses to gather information on the animals and search the grasslands and lakes for evidence. They are being guided by Damon Corrie - a chief of the Eagle Clan Arawak tribe – who is also one of the few people to have visited the area in question.
The group consists of:
· Dr Chris Clark, engineer
· Lisa Dowley, photographer
· Richard Freeman, cryptozoologist
· Jon Hare, science writer
· Paul Rose, journalist
Photographs, a press pack, and further information are available, and expedition members are available for interview. Please contact Jon or Corinna at the CFZ Press Office on +44 (0)1237 431413.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
+ The Centre for Fortean Zoology is a non profit-making organisation, which was founded in 1992. Over the last 11 years we have mounted expeditions to Central America, Thailand, Mexico, Mongolia, Sumatra, West Africa, various parts of the United States, as well as numerous investigations in the UK.
+ Further information on the CFZ can be found on their website, www.cfz.org.uk
+ CFZ Press are now the world’s most prolific publishers of books on mystery animals.
+ The honorary life President of the Centre for Fortean Zoology is renowned explorer, author and soldier Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his pioneering Operation Drake and Operation Raleigh expeditions during the 1970s.
+ The CFZ is looking for corporate and private sponsors.
+ The CFZ make their own documentary films which can be seen at http://www.cfztv.org
+ `Lair of the Red Worm`, the 60 minute film of their 2005 expedition to Mongolia has now been seen by 27,000 people.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
A New Venture
This is something I have been thinking about doing for a while. If it works it will be a monthly show on CFZtv, and I am considering licensing it to other web tv stations. What do you think?
Friday, September 28, 2007
Just had a phone call...
...from the lady at NuttyWest to whom my letter (below) was addressed.
Yes I can have a £2000 overdraft guarantee, yes I can have a debit card, yes to everything else I asked for, and the matter of compensation has been forwarded to their customer care division.
But THIS beggard belief. One of the reasons my accounts were colsed turns out to be that there was a "conflict" in my home address....
They had two addrsses for me:
J.Downes
Myrtle Cottage
Woolsery
Bideford
EX39 5QR
and
J. Downes
Myrtle Cottage
9 Back Street
Woolfardisworthy
Bideford
EX39 5QR
The fact that there are two different spellings for my village ain't my fault, and they should have checked out that the postcode was - in fact - the same.
Idiots..
Yes I can have a £2000 overdraft guarantee, yes I can have a debit card, yes to everything else I asked for, and the matter of compensation has been forwarded to their customer care division.
But THIS beggard belief. One of the reasons my accounts were colsed turns out to be that there was a "conflict" in my home address....
They had two addrsses for me:
J.Downes
Myrtle Cottage
Woolsery
Bideford
EX39 5QR
and
J. Downes
Myrtle Cottage
9 Back Street
Woolfardisworthy
Bideford
EX39 5QR
The fact that there are two different spellings for my village ain't my fault, and they should have checked out that the postcode was - in fact - the same.
Idiots..
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