Do they owe us a living?

My cousin has just sent me this. She has been giving me good advice since 1963, and so - as al2ways - I am doing as she suggests and passing this on. If this is true it is just another example of this execrable government behaving like fascists and not even making the trains run on time....


If you drive a car, please read -

Sarah Kennedy was talking about this proposed car tax scheme on Radio 2. Apparently there is only one month left to register your objection to the 'Pay As You Go' road tax.

The petition is on the 10 Downing St website but they didn't tell anybody about it. Therefore at the time of Sarah's comments only 250,000 people had signed it and 750,000 signatures are required for the goverment to at least take any notice.

Once you've given your details (you don't have to give your full address, just house number and postcode will do), they will send you an email with a link in it. Once you click on that link, you'll have signed the petition.

The government's proposal to introduce road pricing will mean you having to purchase a tracking device for your car and paying a monthly bill to use it. The tracking device will cost about £200 and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver. A non working mother who used the car to take the kids to school paid £86 in one month.

On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked. Somebody will know where you are at all times. They will also know how fast you have been going, so even if you accidentally creep over a speed limit in time you can probably expect a Notice of Intended Prosecution with your monthly bill.

If you are concerned about this Orwellian plan and want to stop the constant bashing of the car driver, please sign the petition on No 10's new website (link below) and pass this on to as many people as possible. Sign up if you value your freedom and democratic rights -



http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax

Big Bird Book

Ken Gerhard's book on Big Bird is now on sale from CFZ Press.



I have been interested in cryptozoology for about forty years now, and have been working professionally at it since about 1990. Of the main groups of mystery animals, one of the most shamefully neglected are the flying monsters; `things with wings`, as Janet and Colin Bord once described them.

It was a flying monster, which provided me with the first big challenge of my cryptozoological career. I spent some years on the track of a zooform entity known as `The Owlman of Mawnan`; a grotesque flying `thing` that terrorised girls and and young women in the vicinity of Mawnan Old Church in southern Coprnwall.

It soon became obvious that the owlman was too fantastic a beast to be a bona fide flesh and blood animal. It was too strange, too weird, and furthermore it had been reported in a part of the world where the chances of a large, unknown species of flying animal were – realistically – very low indeed.

However, during my researches, I quickly discovered that the owlman was only one of a whole host of giant winged creatures that had been reported across the globe. In 1932-3 – for example - the Percy Sladen Expedition went to West Africa. In charge of the team was Ivan T. Sanderson, a well-known cryptozoologist and writer. While in the Assumbo Mountains in the Cameroons, they made camp in a wooded valley near a steep banked river. They were out hunting near the river when Sanderson shot a large fruit-eating bat. It fell in the water, and as Sanderson was carefully making his way in the fast moving current, he lost his balance and fell. He regained his balance when his companion suddenly shouted "Look out!"

"And I looked. Then I let out a shout also and instantly bobbed down under the water, because, coming straight at me only a few feet above the water was a black thing the size of an eagle. I had only a glimpse of its face, yet that was quite sufficient, for its lower jaw hung open and bore a semicircle of pointed white teeth set about their own width apart from each other. When I emerged, it was gone. George was facing the other way blazing off his second barrel. I arrived dripping on my rock and we looked at each other. "Will it come back?" we chorused. And just before it became too dark to see, it came again, hurtling back down the river, its teeth chattering, the air "shss-shssing" as it was cleft by the great, black, dracula-like wings. We were both off-guard, my gun was unloaded, and the brute made straight for George. He ducked. The animal soared over him and was at once swallowed up in the night."

Bernard Heuvelmans – “The Father of Cryptozoology”, reprinted this story in his seminal 1958 work, On the Track of Unknown Animals. However, Sanderson’s original account had also been an inspiration to the man who was my greatest hero; the coinservationist and zookeeper Gerald Durrell (1925-95). He even spent time on two of his West African expeditions in 1949 and 1957 trying to find the beast. Well, I thought, if both Durrell and Heuvelmans take such accounts seriously, then there must be something in it.

I can’t remember when I first heard of the North American `Big Birds`, but it must have been in the late 1980s. The stories fascinated me, and I wished dearly that someone could write a book specifically about them.

In 2004 I was in America making a pilot for a TV series for Discovery. Although the series was never made, and I never got paid, the trip was by no means a failire. One night, after I had spent the day interviewing witnesses to a strange, blue, dog-like creature outside San Antonio in Texas, I met up with Texan cryptozoologist, and musician Ken Gerhard, and his lovely wife Lori.

It soon became obvious that we had a heck of a lot in common, and by the end of the evening we were firm friends. We spent hours talking about our various projects, and promised that we would collaborate on various ventures in the future. It was only at the end of the evening when Ken – almost as an afterthought – told me that he was planning to write a book about the `Big Bird` reports. Was he, I asked diffidently, looking for a publisher? It turned out that he was, and so, one balmy November night in San Antonio, only a stone’s throw from The Alamo, with the sounds of crickets, treefrogs, and the trickle of running water from the hotel’s ornamental fountain, in the air, the deal was done.

Just over two years later, I find myself sitting in my study in rural North Devon, reliving the memories of that night. Ken, old friend: It is a true honour to be able to publish such a remarkable book.

Buy it now on Amazon

P.s. Because of the way that Amazon.co.uk work, I am listed in the search engines as co-author, which I most definitely am not!!! I would hate anyone to think that I am trying to steal Ken's thunder...

The Lion sleeps Tonight

A few minutes ago I had a telephone call from my friend and colleague Chris Moiser. Clinton Keeling, the veteran zoo historian, promotor of `Zoologica` animal-exhibition, editor of `Mainly about Animals` magazine, and one time owner of a zoo in the Peak District died this morning. Apparently he had fed and cleaned out his animals, and was sitting down working on his new book when a massive heart attack killed him almost instantly. One could not wish anything more appropriate.

The thoughts and prayers of all at the CFZ go out to his widow Pam.

I knew Clin for many years, and although we didn't always get on, I always held him in the highest regard. The world of zoology is, tonight, a poorer place

Justified and Ancient

I have just seen that Robert Anton Wilson died a few days ago aged 75. God Bless the old Bugger....

His last blog entry read:

"Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night
Various medical authorities swarm in and out of here predicting I have between two days and two months to live. I think they are guessing. I remain cheerful and unimpressed. I look forward without dogmatic optimism but without dread. I love you all and I deeply implore you to keep the lasagna flying.Please pardon my levity, I don't see how to take death seriously. It seems absurd. RAW "

He died four days later. He was a great man.

PS. O a completely different tack, the Mongolia movie has only been up a couple of hours, and 48 people have seen it already!

The lair of the Red Worm

The Mongolia documentary, filmed by Richard Freeman in 2005, and edited by yours truly over the last few weeks, is now up on CFZtv.

PART ONE: http://www.cfztv.org/red1.htm
PART TWO: http://www.cfztv.org/red2.htm


It is our most ambitious film yet, clocking in at just under an hour. It is in two parts unfortunately. The irony is that one of our media consultants told me some weeks ago that we should do this, explaining that the "MTV Generation" have short attention spans, and would prefer to see a documentary in small, bite-sized chunks.

My answer was unprintable!

I have a damn sight more faith in the people who watch CFZtv than that! I am perfectly aware that 90% of the stuff on YouTube is under three minutes, and aimed at the so-called "MTV Generation", but 90% of the stuff on YouTube is complete nonsense. In the same way as we refuse to dumb-down the content of our books and magazines simply to appeal to the lowest common denominator, even though it will sell more books, I will not do that with our films either.

If the "MTV Generation" really only have an attention span of ten minutes, then it is about time they grewq up and joined the real world! I really have no intenbtion of pandering to such idiocy.

Nope, the real reason that the film is in two parts, is that our production values are getting so complex now, that even though I have a brand new (OK it was brand-new in September, which probably means - in the current technological climate that the bloody thing is now practically obsolete), dual processor computer, I just did not have the processing power for one, full length, movie.

So maybe the "MTV Generation" have won out after all.

(But don't bet on it)

Who knows where the time goes?

I was appalled when I realised that I have not made a blog entry in the last six weeks.Back in the days before I had a blog of my own (I know this sounds like I am saying that it was in the dim and distant past, when it was only about eighteen months ago, but a heck of a lot has happened in the intervening year and a half),I used to sneer derisively at those folks who only managed blog entries every month or so. "Bloody idiots! Starting something that they can't be bothered to keep up!" I used to grunt to myself, sounding more and more like my irascible old Dad with every passing day.

Once again I find myself eating my words, which is something that happens more and more as I get older and wiser. Life is - as John Lennon once said - something which happens to you when you are busy "making other plans". OK, he got shot a few weeks after he released the song in which these sage lines appeared, which was probably more confirmation than he needed of what was undoubtedly a truism of the first magnitude, and although the stuff which has happened in the last few months at CFZ Mansions is a mere bagatelle compared to the events outside the Dakota Building on the 9th December 1980, enough things have transpired to prevent me from keeping up this blog as I would have wished.

I will draw a discreet veil over a plethora of family problems which boiled up to a head over what is euphemistically described as `The Festive Season`, but even without them, and I shall not bother to go into the lurgy that laid me low for the last ten days, but the CFZ has been such a hive of activity since the end of November that I have had to prioritise on what I have been able to do.

In the last six weeks we have published and dispatched 400 copies of the latest issue of Animals & Men, we have republished the last two books of our back catalogue which had not been converted into a paperback (perfect bound) format, we have finally published `Strength through Koi` (my extremely silly collection of short stories about fish, complete with one of the silliest covers that Mark North has ever produced: a spoof of the 1990 Led Zeppelin box set, with a giant fish flying over a crop circle in the shape of Adolf Hitler's face!
We have been working on a number of new books which will appear in the next few weeks.These include Ken Gerhard's book on the thunderbird, Marcus Matthews' semi-legendary book on British big cats, Neil Arnold's A-Z of Zooform Phenomena, and Karl Shukers, revised and expanded update of his seminal `Extraordinary Animals Worldwide`.

We have also pretty well finalised the Weird Weekend lineup for this summer (August 17-19). So far, confirmed are:

Ian Simmons
Adam Davies
Matt Williams
Jon McGowan
Darren NaishPaul Vella
Gregoriy Panchenko
Nick Redfern
Richard Freeman
Chris Moiser
Charles Paxton
Mike Hallowell
Ronan Coghlan

I think you will agree that this is possibly the best line-up ever to grace the stage of a UK Fortean Convention.

On top of this, I am now legally able to start major renovations to the house, and preparations for the building work on the museum, which will start next week. On top of this all, Corinna is in the process of moving in with me, and we have tentatively set a wedding date of July 21st.
And it's only the third week of the year! 2007 is also our fifteenth anniversary, and we have a hectic schedule of events planned for the next 12 months.

So, dear readers; It is my New Year's resolution to try and write this blog more regularly...........But I wouldn't bet on it.

Love, and a Happy New Year (if it ain't too late to say it)

Jon

............I forgot

I forgot to add what a hive of activity this place is today either. Corinna is preparing dinner after having been proofreading all day. Oll is in the Dining Room printing out the CFZ Christmas cards, and Richard is printing out the latest edition of Animals & Men. Mark is doing the final tweaks to my 1995 book `The Smaller Mystery Carnivores of the Westcountry` (the last of my cryptozoological back catalogue to come out in paperback form), which will be available in about ten days, and I have just finished doing the final revisions to my long awaited book of short stories about fish.

It's called Strength Through Koi, and I find it mildly entertaining. To quote from the introduction:

"Koi carp were certainly lucky for me. As anyone who has ever read my autobiography – Monster Hunter – will know, the beginning of the 21st Century was a particularly bleak time for me. Beset with health problems, I was also facing the threat of imminent bankruptcy. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] was in the financial doldrums; it was costing an arm and a leg to keep going, and all of our regular sources of funding had dried up!

For years I have augmented my income by working as a `hack` writer, penning throwaway articles for anyone who will pay me. Regularly, I would get the bus into Exeter City Centre, and sneak into W.H.Smiths and peruse the magazines for sale, and make a surreptitious list of any new publications whom I could approach to buy an article from me.

One day in the late winter, I was doing just this when I found a copy of a magazine called Koi Carp. With my tongue firmly in cheek, I telephoned them, and asked whether they would be interested in an article – or even a series of articles – about the fortean aspects of their hobby. Much to my surprise and gratification they accepted, and so I started work on my first article.
I had been so used to working for fly-by-night publications, that I had stopped taking a long-term view of my writing work. I was lucky if a series I wrote lasted three issues, so the fact that I knew next to nothing about the fortean aspect of koi carp keeping didn’t really matter. However, on this occasion, I was hoist by my own petard, as the series carried on for nearly two years! After six or seven issues, I bit the bullet, and started to employ the old journalistic adage that one should never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Some of the stories that follow are true. Some are mostly true, others have a germ of truth, and even the ones that I made up are based on true events. I think my proudest moment as a journalist came, after the publication of “They Saved Hitler’s Koi”, when Simon Wolstencroft, an old friend of mine, and then editor of a sister-magazine to the one for which I was working, sent me the following email.

1. How did you think you would get away with having this printed?
2. How did you get away with it?

For goodness sake, don’t read these stories looking for any firm insights into the history and culture of koi keeping, but I hope that they may give you some little amusement, because that was the spirit in which they were written.
"