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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Friday, November 20, 2009

WHAT'S GOIN' ON

Life is a little fraught here at the CFZ at the moment, although one would probably not know it from the scenes of cosy domesticity here as I type. I have just come off three weeks of antibiotics and am ravenously hungry and trying to resist the temptation of sending Oll up to the shop to spend large amounts of money that I cannot afford on food that isn't good for me. Greediness and diabetes aren't a good mix, I'm afraid.

We are having computer problems at the moment. Not only has Corinna's blog somehow found itself reset and all her pictures before last week (since 2006) have mysteriously disappeared but the saga of our 'pdf-ing' still rumbles on. I have tried various non-acrobat pdf-making programmes, but the fact that the CFZ Press settings for MS Publisher specifically were set up with Acrobat v.6 in mind, seems to negate me using anything else. So, if anyone has a copy they don't want I would be very grateful.

We are also having problems uploading pdfs to the printers, so Predator Deathmatch (which is, by the way, a smashing book) has been delayed. However, I hope that we shall be able to sort this out today and things will be as they should be again.

Animals & Men #47 is continuing apace and I have every hope that it will be available in time for Christmas. I sincerely hope so, at any rate.

So that is a snapshot of what is happening here at CFZ Central. Graham is in the Isle of Man, Lizzy is asleep on the sofa, Corinna and I are slaving over red-hot computers and Oll is feeding the menagerie. Business as usual I guess.

DUCKS DELUXE

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1227395/Most-people-ducks-bath--lot-arent-rubber.html


This story has no cryptozoological relevance whatsoever, (unless you feel like pretending that these are pink-headed ducks or something), but is included purely because my darling stepdaughter Olivia sent it to us because it is almost unbearably cute.

SAVE THE U.S. CLEAN AIR ACT



Center for Biological Diversity

Center for Biological Diversity

Dear reader.

Right now, some in Congress are trying to gut the strongest law we have on the books for reducing carbon pollution and fighting global warming -- the Clean Air Act.

The Clean Air Act has protected the air we breathe for four decades, and provided benefits worth $22.2 trillion in decreased healthcare costs and reduced lost work time in the first two decades alone. Despite this proven track record, the Act is under attack.

Scientific consensus is clear: We must reduce the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million (ppm) or below to avoid global catastrophe. Unfortunately, pending climate legislation isn't going to get us to 350 ppm -- but the Clean Air Act could.

In fact, the Clean Air Act is the only existing environmental law that could get us to the 350 ppm goal. Yet climate legislation currently working its way through Congress bars the Environmental Protection Agency from setting a science-based cap on carbon pollution under the Act's National Ambient Air Quality Standards provision. There are also threats afoot to gut other sections of the Act that, if implemented, could dramatically reduce carbon pollution soon.

Take immediate action for the Clean Air Act by emailing, calling, and meeting with your senators. Click the link below to learn how.

Click here to find out more and take action.

If you have trouble following the link, go to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/content.jsp?content_KEY=6635.



Please take action immediately.

Donate now to support our work.

Coal plant photo by J.C. Willett, USGS.


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THIS HAS GOT TO BE A F.O.A.F TALE

This is totally off topic but it is such a peculiar news story that I felt that we had to comment upon it. Surely this cannot be true? This has to be some kind of legend or folktale because if not, give me an address or telephone number. Oliver and I will have liposuction and end the CFZ financial crisis at a stroke.

'Fat for cosmetics' murder suspects arrested in Peru. Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing dozens of people in order to sell their fat and tissue for cosmetic uses in Europe. The gang allegedly targeted people on remote roads, luring them with fake job offers before extracting their fat to sell it for $15,000 (£9,000) a litre.

Other suspected gang members, including two Italian nationals, remain at
large. Read On

BETH DOES IT AGAIN

Beth from Hartland Wildlife Rescue has done it again. Here is the North Devon Journal story about how she and others rescued a baby seal near Hartland, but we have also some unpublished photographs of the rescue guaranteed to up the aaaaaaaaaaw factor....
















THE REALITY OF THE ARCHIVING PROJECT

Theo Paijmans made a perfectly valid comment on yesterday's update to the Archiving Project. He wrote: 'There's just one problem I'm having though with the files: they seem not to be properly referenced.'

You are perfectly right, mate; some of them have no references at all. We do have reference codes for some of the postings, and those (if they haven't been published already) will be published soon. However, the CFZ archives have come from many different sources over the years including scrapbooks collated by children and OAPs (and everything in between), and - sadly - quite often the sources are missing.

We are in the process of indexing the whole thing (which reminds me; Karen, can you contact me?), but then must come a long trenche of detective work to try and isolate those elusive sources.

Volunteers for all stages of this laborious project will be welcomed with open arms.

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1984 the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) institute was founded.
And now, the cryptozoology and related topics news of the day from the CFZ daily news blog, helmed by Mr Gavin Wilson.

Owl stuck in chimney
Meet the man who cooks and eats road kill
Duck-feeding fine dropped
A-ha, so they managed to ‘duck’ the fine then.