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...

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Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Thursday, August 02, 2018

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS WAITING

The Gonzo Daily: Thursday
 
YER EDITOR SEZ:
 
Much love and gratitude to all the people around the world who have sent us their love and positivity, and who have written or messaged us. Special thanks to Hayley for our conversation on Tuesday; it helped a lot, to Lizzy, and of course to La Famille Phillipson for everything. Corinna is currently being prayed for across the world by adherents of a bunch of different religions, and we are overwhelmed by the kindness that has been shown us. The second case conference takes place tomorrow, and I suspect that we shall hear more about Corinna's condition and prognosis then.
 
Two other friends and collaborators are ill - In Hungary and Holland respectively - and my love goes out to you both. If you want to contact me, please feel free, but please use emails or Facebook Messenger to contact rather than telephone, so that we can keep the lines open and not alarm Mother. And please contact me rather than my darling wife.
 
And please keep on sending the love. because, after all, All you Need is Love.
 
ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO PRINT:
 
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY:  Love - John Lennon/Pl...
YES feat ARW NEWS
LEONARD COHEN NEWS
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
GARDENING CLUB REVIEW FROM WAY BACK WHEN
 
OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF FROM THE GONZOVERSE:
 
For those of you who are interested in such things, the Gonzo Privacy Policy is here:
 
And the CFZ Privacy Policy is here:
And, yes,
 
CHECK OUT THE GONZO STORES:
 
UK
US
 
AND OTHER STUFF FEATURING VARIOUS GONZO CONTRIBUTORS:
 
Our webTV show:
 
And if you fancy supporting it on Patreon:
 
And by the way chaps and chappesses, a trip to the Jon Downes megastore may seem to be in order:
 
AND THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE GONZO MAGAZINE:
 
Gonzo Weekly #297
THE REMEMBER WILKO ISSUE
 
In this strange and rather poignant issue, Richard Stellar discovers the incomparable Shir Ordo, Jon talks about Roger Daltrey and Wilko Johnson, Corinna has been in hospital, Alan revisits the The Grunwick dispute and strike action and associated street art, Phil goes to see Roger Waters, John goes to see Canned Heat, Graham looks at what we know about the forthcoming Hawkwind album, and Jon writes about Evelyn Waugh. REDEFINING ECLECTIC eh?
 
#Hail Eris!
 
And there are radio shows from Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney, AND Friday Night Progressive, AND there are columns from all sorts of folk including Kev Rowlands, Neil Nixon, C J Stone, but the irrepressible Corinna, Mr Biffo and Roy Weard are on hiatus.  There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and red kangaroos who've lost their shoes (OK, nothing to do with the largest extant macropods who are in a quandry with regards their footwear, 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:
 
Roger Daltrey, Nick Cave, Wilko Johnson, Shir Ordo, paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Morrissey, Yoko Ono, David Bowie, Billy Gibbons, Z Z Top, Patrick Williams, Lucy Ferry, June Jacobs, Elbert Howard, Rick Wakeman, Michael Bruce, Natural Gas, Roger Waters, Canned Heat, UPF, Universe Infinity, Unruly Child, Vantomime, Vespero, Zero for Conduct, Abjection Ritual, Aborted Fetus, C J Stone, Hawkwind, Evelyn Waugh, The George Garabedian Players and the Awful Trumpet of Harry Arms.
 
And the last few issues are:
 
Issue 295-6 (Robert Berry)
Issue 294 (Bow Wow Wow)
Issue 293 (Stonehenge)
Issue 292 (Rolling Stones)
Issue 291 (Alien Weaponry)
Issue 290 (Frank Zappa)
Issue 289 (Misty in Roots)
Issue 288 (Paula Frazer)
Issue 287 (Boss Goodman)
Issue 286 (Monty Python)
Issue 285 (ELP)
Issue 284 (Straqngelove)
Issue 283 (Record Store Day)
Issue 282 (Neil Finn and Fleetwood Mac)
Issue 281 (Carl Palmer)
Issue 280 (Steve Andrews)
 
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 58 who - together with a Jack Russell called Archie, an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and two half grown 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 Archie and the Cats?
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BIG CAT ROUND UP

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. 

There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking.
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BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF




The adult website Pornhub said Tuesday that searches for "Bigfoot" – as in the giant biped of North American lore – have shot up 8,000 percent since ...
Stephen Colbert tackles Bigfoot erotica as congressional race gets ... werewolves, a political scandal centered around Bigfoot erotica was inevitable. 
... between Fouke-area residents and the Fouke Monster — a shaggy, Bigfoot-esque creature said to roam the nearby woods and swampy waterways.


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LIZ BITAKARAMIRE: Rare Book Sale For A Good Cause

It has been quite a while since I last put my two penn'orth in on the CFZ blog but I have not been idle in that meantime. I have been working for Caritas, a little social action charity in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, which seeks to end poverty and homelessness, promote community cohesion and much more!

We have recently been donated a massive slew of books, of varying theme, but many of them caught my eye as being of potential interest to our cryptozoological community so I thought I'd share.

The books will be uploaded to both Amazon and Abe Books in the near future, but in the meantime, if you fancy doing something nice for charity, whilst also treating yourself to an informative tome about beekeeping, or a guide to the birds of South Africa, please email l.bitakaramire@caritassalford.org.uk

P.S. You can also sign up to our e-newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/dv87oL


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NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Thursday

ON THIS DAY IN -   1887 - Rowell Hodge patented barbed wire. 
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk
  • Tourism preventing Kenya's cheetahs from raising y...
  • Zigzag elm sawfly attacking trees in UK, warn expe...
  • Cocaine in rivers harming endangered eels, study f...

  • Zebrafish's near 360 degree UV-vision knocks strip...

    • 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)
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    Wednesday, August 01, 2018

    LET'S HOPE THAT IT IS GOOD NEWS FOR THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    The Gonzo Daily: Wednesday
     
    YER EDITOR SEZ:
     
    Once again I feel like the little bloke on the MoD steps delivering the daily bulletin during the Falklands War. There is no news, one way or the other for you. Corinna is doing OK, and we are waiting to hear from the hospital. The issue of Gonzo Weekly (#297) which should have been out on Friday is now up. I know that many of you told me to leave it and concentrate on Corinna, but both of us have decided to just go on with things as normally as possible, until we know what is happening. There will not be an issue for this weekend, but I would like to think that there will be one next week. The CFZ Monthly newsletter (#34) has also come out today, and I would like to thank Richard Muirhead and Olivia for their help with it.
     
    Two other friends and collaborators are ill - In Hungary and Holland respectively - and my love goes out to you both. If you want to contact me, please feel free, but please use emails or Facebook Messenger to contact rather than telephone, so that we can keep the lines open and not alarm Mother. And please contact me rather than my darling wife.
     
    And please keep on sending the love.
     
    ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO PRINT:
     
    Gonzo Weekly #297
    THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY:  The Beatles - All You...
    HAWKWIND NEWS
    PATRICK MORAZ AT NAMM
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
     
    OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF FROM THE GONZOVERSE:
     
    For those of you who are interested in such things, the Gonzo Privacy Policy is here:
     
    And the CFZ Privacy Policy is here:
    And, yes,
     
    CHECK OUT THE GONZO STORES:
     
    UK
    US
     
    AND OTHER STUFF FEATURING VARIOUS GONZO CONTRIBUTORS:
     
    Our webTV show:
     
    And if you fancy supporting it on Patreon:
     
    And by the way chaps and chappesses, a trip to the Jon Downes megastore may seem to be in order:
     
    AND THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE GONZO MAGAZINE:
     
    Gonzo Weekly #297
    THE REMEMBER WILKO ISSUE
     
    In this strange and rather poignant issue, Richard Stellar discovers the incomparable Shir Ordo, Jon talks about Roger Daltrey and Wilko Johnson, Corinna has been in hospital, Alan revisits the The Grunwick dispute and strike action and associated street art, Phil goes to see Roger Waters, John goes to see Canned Heat, Graham looks at what we know about the forthcoming Hawkwind album, and Jon writes about Evelyn Waugh. REDEFINING ECLECTIC eh?
     
    #Hail Eris!
     
    And there are radio shows from Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney, AND Friday Night Progressive, AND there are columns from all sorts of folk including Kev Rowlands, Neil Nixon, C J Stone, but the irrepressible Corinna, Mr Biffo and Roy Weard are on hiatus.  There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and red kangaroos who've lost their shoes (OK, nothing to do with the largest extant macropods who are in a quandry with regards their footwear, 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:
     
    Roger Daltrey, Nick Cave, Wilko Johnson, Shir Ordo, paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Morrissey, Yoko Ono, David Bowie, Billy Gibbons, Z Z Top, Patrick Williams, Lucy Ferry, June Jacobs, Elbert Howard, Rick Wakeman, Michael Bruce, Natural Gas, Roger Waters, Canned Heat, UPF, Universe Infinity, Unruly Child, Vantomime, Vespero, Zero for Conduct, Abjection Ritual, Aborted Fetus, C J Stone, Hawkwind, Evelyn Waugh, The George Garabedian Players and the Awful Trumpet of Harry Arms.
     
    And the last few issues are:
     
    Issue 295-6 (Robert Berry)
    Issue 294 (Bow Wow Wow)
    Issue 293 (Stonehenge)
    Issue 292 (Rolling Stones)
    Issue 291 (Alien Weaponry)
    Issue 290 (Frank Zappa)
    Issue 289 (Misty in Roots)
    Issue 288 (Paula Frazer)
    Issue 287 (Boss Goodman)
    Issue 286 (Monty Python)
    Issue 285 (ELP)
    Issue 284 (Straqngelove)
    Issue 283 (Record Store Day)
    Issue 282 (Neil Finn and Fleetwood Mac)
    Issue 281 (Carl Palmer)
    Issue 280 (Steve Andrews)
     
    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 58 who - together with a Jack Russell called Archie, an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and two half grown 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 Archie and the Cats?
    Posted by at No comments:

    CFZ MONTHLY NEWSLETTER #34

    Dear Friends,

    For those of you not in the know, at the beginning of each month we send out a newsletter to all members of the CFZ. The most recent (which went out a few minutes ago) included articles on OTT, the Tajikistan expedition, a tatzelwurm in fiction, a black hare, a strange cow, Patreon, a new book on vampires, Notes and Queries etc.

    The infrastructure of the Centre for Fortean Zoology has changed rapidly over the last few years and truthfully doesn’t look like its going to stop changing anytime soon.

    The newsletter costs a quid a month (or the equivalent in your currency) and is delivered straight into your inbox by a plethora of tiny invisible elves, or email if your prefer it that way. You can sign up for it here: http://tinyurl.com/jtsq7ew

    If you want to view a sample issue click here: http://tinyurl.com/pw7rw9l
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