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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Monday, April 15, 2013

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







DALE DRINNON: Another Thunderbird photo, Teggie and Afanc, Loch Ness anniversary, Benny's Blogs

New at Frontiers of Zoology:

CRYPTOLINK: Benton County woman starts Bigfoot-tracking club


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, usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.

Jaymi Trimble's fascination with Bigfoot began when she watched the famous Patterson-Gimlin film at the Princess Theatre in downtown Prosser.
She was 11, and became "totally intrigued," she said.
She still is. Trimble, now 49, is starting a group in the Tri-Cities for people who want to read about, research and track the mysterious creature, also called sasquatch.
The first meeting of her Northwest Bigfoot group is 1 p.m. Sunday at the Mid-Columbia Libraries' branch at 1620 Union St., Kennewick. Bill Laughery, a former game warden and Bigfoot tracker whom Trimble calls a mentor, is scheduled to appear.
"I know that there's interest in our community. I thought this would be a great way for people to get together, share ideas and go out (on treks)," Trimble said.
She has read dozens of books on Bigfoot and spent hundreds of hours researching in the field. She said she's found tracks in the Blue Mountains, making casts of two of them, each 16 to 18 inches long. She said she alsohas heard vocalizations -- "a very unusual, distinctive sound" she describes as a combination of a horse cough and braying.
But if the species really exists, roaming the wilderness, how has it stayed hidden so long? Trimble has heard that question before. Think about the panda, she said; so familiar now, the black-and-white bear wasn't widely known until the last century.


Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/04/12/2555140/tri-city-woman-starts-bigfoot.html#storylink=cpy

CRYPTOLINK: Olympia Beer Searches for Bigfoot


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, usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.


Olympia Beer has partnered with Bigfoot experts to sponsor what may be one of the most comprehensive searches for Bigfoot ever conducted in North America. A grand prize of $1,000,000 will be paid to any person who finds “irrefutable evidence” of Bigfoot’s existence in compliance with the contest’s official rules. The yearlong contest launched this week.
“we know first hand how important Bigfoot is to the people here,” says Evan and Daren Metropoulos, owners of Pabst Brewing Company and Olympia Beer.
Evidence must include conclusive DNA evidence and visual proof of a live physical body. Visual proof of footprints, bone fragments, inconclusive skeletal remains or any other non-definitive evidence of Bigfoot will not suffice as “irrefutable evidence.” Any photo or video taken of Bigfoot is not enough.
If Bigfoot’s existence is indeed proven through the contest, the grand prize winner will be paid in 40 yearly installments of $25,000.
More information can be found at www.olympiabigfoot.com.
Olympia Bigfoot

CRYPTOLINK: Cornish black dogs

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, usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.



Few areas of the UK are as deeply swathed in myth and mysticism as Cornwall.
And this week’s CCN Fortean Report moves on from modern-day UFO sightingsto one of the great popular spook stories of all time – the accursed ‘Black Dog’.
Sightings of ghostly Black Dogs in the Duchy were interpreted either as portents of death, apparitions from the ‘other side’, simple manifestations of evil, or the embodiment of Satan himself.
Sometimes the ethereal visions turned out to be nothing more than forlorn lost farm dogs, and village hysteria would be ended abruptly by a no-nonsense farmer going and catching the errant beast.
But other bizarre sightings continue to fascinate to this day.
Superstitious tales of devil-dogs flourished in Cornwall’s thriving mining and maritime communities, so our first this week, and one of the most widely known, is the much-feared ‘Black Dog of Penzance Harbour’.

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN MEETS POLITICIANS

Yesterday was a strange one. I spent the afternoon filming with a local Councillor in Appledore, and saw a field full of little egrets. There were seven or eight of them - the most I have ever seen in the same place. They really are magnificent birds and it is wonderful to have them back in the UK after so many years. Things are beginning to calm down after the last few hectic weeks, which is probably a good thing because I have a whole pile of CDs to listen to and books to read. Now, I hope that I will have a bit more time to do them justice.
 
 
 
Totally off topic - an interview with Penny Rimbaud from Crass
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/off-topic-nature-of-your-anger.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 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and a not very small orange kitten (who isn't) 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 cats?

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today


Yesterday’s News Today

On this day in 1452 Leonardo da Vinci was born. Leonardo was a clever chap and among his many achievements were making some rather good paintings, inventing things that almost worked (but still looked cool), having a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle named after him and being in Assassins Creed II.
And now the news:

  • Couch Potatoes May Be Genetically Predisposed to B...
  • Crash-landing monkey immortalised
  • Chimpanzees Use Botanical Skills to Discover Fruit...
  • 'Strikingly Similar' Brains of Human and Fly May A...
  • South Africa Rhinos Under Threat From Poaching
  • Mammoth skeleton unearthed in Mexico City - video
  • Heat Could Be Stifling Turtles’ Swimming Abilities...

  • Turtle power!