CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track

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...

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

KARL SHUKER: Winged Pestilence - The Chinese Hua Fish

Karl Shuker introduces a winged snake-fish from China that is synonymous with ill fortune.

Read on...

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN TRIES HIS BEST TO BE EFFICIENT BUT OFTEN FAILS MISERABLY

Yesterday I was tired so went to bed for a nap just after 6:00pm. I woke up at gone 11:00 this morning, so after sleeping for seventeen hours I guess that I needed it. Thirty one years ago when I harboured ambitions to be the Brian Epstein of South Devon, I picked up a hitch-hiker in the little village of Starcross. He was carrying a guitar and looked interesting. It turned out that his name was Mike Davis, and I was immediately entranced by his music. He has the Lou Reedesque wild talent to be able to turn out something unique, and often strangely beautiful, from four chords strummed basically in the background. Last weekend he gave me his latest set of demos, and once again I am entranced. I have been wanting to do something with his music any time this past thirty years, and - just possibly - now is the time I can actually do it..

Another visit to our old friend Thom the World Poet.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/08/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_27.html

Today's Track of the Day is by Sex Gang Children
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-gonzo-track-of-day-sex-gang.html

Stephen Stills' New Supergroup The Rides Talk New Album, Tour and Future Plans
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/08/stephen-stills-new-supergroup-rides_27.html

Tribute to a Lost Friend: The Late Joey Covington to Be Honored at The Hood
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/08/tribute-to-lost-friend-late-joey.html

TOTALLY OFF TOPIC: Sondre Lerche Covers Scott Walker's 'The Plague' in Decay
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/08/totally-off-topic-sondre-lerche-covers.html

At Home With The Majoun Traveler, excerpt of a film by Flame Schon
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/08/at-home-with-majoun-traveler-excerpt-of.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 same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html

* 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 54 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and two very small kittens (one of whom is also orange) 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 orange cat?

CRYPTOLINK: Hello Nessie, it must be that time of year... amateur photographer snaps 'large black object' moving beneath waters of Loch Ness

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.

An amateur photographer has captured an eerie photo from the shore of Loch Ness which could encourage those who believe in tales of a monster living beneath the surface of the lake.

The image was taken by David Elder at Fort Augustus, at the south-west end of the 23-mile-long body of water in northern Scotland.

It shows a long bow wave apparently caused by some sort of disturbance on the surface of the loch.

Scroll down for video

Mystery: This bizarre picture of an unexplained phenomenon was taken from the shore of Loch Ness

The 50-year-old photography enthusiast insists the only thing that could have caused it is 'a solid black object under the water'.

Mr Elder, from East Kilbride in Lanarkshire, was able to take still photos as well as filming a video of the mysterious scene.

'We were at the pier head at Fort Augustus and I was taking a picture of a swan at the time,' he said.

'Out of the corner of my right eye I caught site of a black area of water about 15ft long which developed into a kind of bow wave.

Read on...

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

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 took the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.