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, May 31, 2013

KARL SHUKER - A SURPRISE OF SERVICALS



If the word 'cute' were a cat, it would be a servical kitten - Karl Shuker reveals the purr-fect feline hybrid.

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.


DoC endangered bird teams to merge

CRYPTOLINK: Best States For Bigfoot: The Best Places To Spot The Elusive Ape-Man


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.
Bigfoot. Sasquatch. Yeti. Skunk Ape.
Best States For BigfootNo matter what it's called, cryptozoologists (and wanna-be cryptozoologists) across North America have been obsessed with finding the elusive giant ape-man in the wilds of the country's forests for generations.
Even though Bigfoot sightings have been recorded in every state in the country, except Hawaii, not all Bigfoot habitats are created equal. Real estate blog Estately has crunched the numbers and compiled a list of the best states for Bigfoot to live based on the number of sightings, forest cover, (human) population density, proliferation of roadkill and state laws governing the hunting of mythological creatures.

CRYPTOLINK: Comparisons Between "Sea Serpents" and Mammal Anatomy

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.

 


 painting by Thomas Finley, based off of a sighting of an alleged unknown animal in Loch Ness.
This alleged animal's pinnae (ears) and mane of hair support the theory that such unknown vertebrates are mammalian in identity
(if they exist).
I have recently been working on creating comparative images between photographs or eyewitness drawings which are allegedly of the unknown aquatic animals known as "sea serpents" and anatomy of known animal species. While some people may feel that this is a waste of time or is subject to error, I think that making such comparisons may help us gain a better idea of what these animals are and thus may possibly allow us to eventually be able to predict where their likely habitats and behaviors would be. I had originally posted these comparative images to the Bizarre Zoology Facebook page, but I thought that it may be beneficial to viewers if I shared them here. The reports of long-necked unknown animals which suggest that these animals have body hair, whiskers, horn-like structures or pinnae (ears), dorsal humps, wide mouths, an undulating swimming motion, toleration of cold water, neck flexibility in the vertical plane, and toleration of changes in environmental salinity relating to fresh or salt water indicate to me that these animals are mammals, and I have thus chosen to compare the photographs of these alleged unknown long-necked animals in this article to mammal anatomy. I specifically compared this data to anatomy of sea lions, as reports and evidence suggests that these animals are most likely long-necked pinnipeds which are of the family Otariidae. However, I have also included a comparison with a drawing depicting a short necked "sea serpent" and have found it to also be similar to the anatomy of a species of marine mammal (Basilosaurus cetoides).

Read on...

Loch Ness Monster sighted in Australian bushland? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

 I was out at work when I noticed something stirring in the bushes. I quickly reached into my pants and grabbed my mobile telephone. I took this quick snap before exiting the vehicle and investigating. By the time I entered the bushes, it was long gone. Could this be the fabled Loch Ness Monster? If so, he could be anywhere. He could even be in your backyard.

 JD: Emu? Or cardboard cut out?

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN SINGS OCCASIONALLY

Prudence wandered around the house in a daze yesterday for most of the day. I have never seen a dog look so blitzed since a dog of my acquaintance accidentally ate a couple of pieces of ummmmmmm herbal fudge, about twenty years ago. Poor dear. However, this morning she is back to normal. I feel so sorry for her: not only is she going to have an operation on Monday, but she will be confined to the kitchen for six weeks as she won't be allowed on the sofa or chairs in case the climb destroys her recovering ligaments. Post operative recuperation is nasty enough for humans who understand what is going on, but for an (admittedly not very clever) dog, who is trusting and affectionate and wants nothing more than cuddles and fussing, it must be horrid. Poor dear.
 
Graham and Dave B-P returned home after a whole day spent doing electrical and plumbing stuff in Exeter. All things being equal, Matthew and Emma O will be moving into my house in Exeter in July. This carries on the noble tradition of it being occupied by the CFZ family...
 
The Gonzo Track of the Day is from Dave Bainbridge. Expect a feature and interview with him sooner than soon:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-gonzo-track-of-day-dave-bainbridge.html
 
Another visit to our old friend Thom the World Poet:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_31.html
 
In which I subvert a scientific poster for the amusement of Mick Farren:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/have-you-seen.html
...and whilst on the subject of Mick Farren, check him out at Rock's Back Pages
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/mick-farren-at-rocks-back-pages.html
 
 
 
Gonzo Web Radio has a monumentally groovy new feature - introducing 'Strange Fruit':
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-new-feature-on-gonzo-web-radio.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) 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?

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's news today


Yesterday’s News Today

On this day in 1271 BC Ramesses II (aka The Great) became Pharaoh of Egypt.
And now the news:
  • Your daily dose of nightmare fuel: squiggly ant-pa...
  • Whale of a sight in Boston Harbor
  • Fipronil named as fourth insecticide to pose risk ...
  • Decoding the Genome of the Camel
  • New Serengeti Road proposal to go ahead?
  • Dolphin-Assisted Birth: Nice, or Nuts?
  • Shepherd ‘kills brown bear with his bare hands aft...
  • Zambian truck driver bites and stabs giant python

  • Ramesses II was known to the Greeks as Ozymandias: