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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Thursday, July 02, 2015

CRYPTOLINK: Is it a bird, is it a plane, or is it a ... gully monster?

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 (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 

Is it a bird, is it a plane, or is it a ... gully monster?

The Pilbara is full of mythical stories, from monsters preying on pub-goers to UFO’s in the night sky.
Whether you believe them or not, thePilbara News put on its investigative thongs to go deep into the tales of mystery and intrigue in the region.

The gully monster

If you have ever walked home from a night out, you will probably have had to run the gauntlet of walking through the home of a truly terrifying creature that preys on red-eyed Pilbarians.
Much like the bunyip, big foot or the Loch Ness monster, there are no confirmed sightings of the gully monster, however, plenty of tired Pilbara residents heading home after a big night have reported encounters with the mythical creature, tipping them over on the path to home.
Most reports have come from those who spent the night at one of the region’s fine watering holes.
Michelle Joyce said she was attacked by an opportunist monster lurking around the Leisureplex after the Fluid Festival in May this year.
“It was around 12.30am in the morning after everything had closed down and I just wasn’t expecting it when it snuck up behind me,” she said.
“I took cover in the bushes and waited for my red-haired heroine, who came to save me.

Read on....

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

What has Corinna's column of Fortean bird news got to do with cryptozoology?

Well, everything, actually!

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.


TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS

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.

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS OVER...............THERE

The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
 
When the garden has been baked in a heatwave, I love the smell of summer rain. It was searingly hot and dry yesterday until the thunderstorms came, and now it is cool and damp. One, maybe two monarch butterflies have turned up in Hampshire, and Neil Young's new album seems rather nifty. However, it is a full moon, and I am ever so slightly vague today. But the lovely Liz Lenten has a nifty new website so check it out dudes: http://www.auburn.org.uk/
 
 
The Gonzo Weekly #136
www.gonzoweekly.com
 
Neil Nixon, Strange Fruit, weird records, Roger Chapman, Steven Wilson, Porcupine Tree, The Clash, Captain Beefheart, Grateful Dead, Roy Weard, Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, Jon Anderson, and Yes fans had better look out!
 
The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#136) is available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has Neil Nixon, author of '500 Albums you won't believe until you hear them' on the front cover together with an exclusive interview with him inside. There is an exclusive look at Steven Wilson live by Doug, and an overview of why the Grateful Dead are so important by John to coincide with the 50th Anniversary shows this coming week, Jon examines a book about the dark side of the Internet, and muses about Captain Beefheart, Thom waxes all poetical like, whilst the legendary Roy Weard continues his regular column. Xtul reveals a bit more of the backstory, and there is a radio show from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive, and one from those jolly nice chaps at Strange Fruit. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and spotted quolls with nothing to lose (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials in a devil may care mood, 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:
 
Captain Beefheart, Yes, Oasis, Courtney Love, Alice Cooper, Brian Wilson, Neil Young, Richard Hawley, Dalai Lama, Galahad, Vab Morrison, System 7, Spirits Burning, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Patrick MacNee, James Horner, Merrell Fankhauser, Hugh Hopper, Tommy James, Inner City Unit, Mick Abrahams and Guests, Pete Sears, Barbara Dickson,Neil Nixon, Steven Wilson, Lee Walker, The clash, John Brodie-Good, The Grateful Dead, Roy Weard, Hawkwind, Motorhead, Lemmy, M Destiny, Yes, Chris Squire, Xtul, Ed Askew, Elvis Presley, Spice Girls, Hanson, Neil Diamond, Donny Osmond, Beatles, Noel Gallagher, Black Magic Fools
 
Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
 
Issue 135 (FNP cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo135.html
Issue 134 (John Shuttleworth cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo134.html
Issue 133 (Liz Lenten cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo133.html
Issue 132 (Daevid in Brazil cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo132.html
Issue 131 (Boomtown Rats cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo131.html
Issue 130 (David Peel cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo130.html
Issue 129 (Clepsydra cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo129.html
Issue 128 (Louie Louie cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo128.html
Issue 127 (Roy Weard cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo127.html
Issue 126 (Atkins-May Project cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo126.html
Issue 125 (Mick Abrahams cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo125.html
Issue 124 (Karnataka cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo124.html
Issue 123 (Cream cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo123.html
Issue 122 (Anthony Phillips cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo122.html
Issue 121 (Annie Haslam cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo121.html
Issue 120 (Frank Zappa cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo120.html
Issue 119 (Eliza Carthy cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo119.html
Issue 118 (Dave Brock cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo118.html
Issue 117 (Daevid Allen cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo117.html
 
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:
http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/
 

* 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.com/…/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit
 
* 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 55 who - together with an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa 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 infantile orange cat?

CFZ PUBLISHING: Five new Kindle ebooks

We are the world's leading publishers of cryptozoology, fortean, and cryptozoology related books with over a hundred titles currently in print. We have also launched an imprint for fortean fiction, called - appropriately enough - Fortean Fiction..

The latest post on the CFZ Publishing Group blog begins as follows:
We are continuing to issue our back catalogue as “print replica” Kindle ebooks, which can be purchased from Amazon as an electronic alternative to the original paperbacks (which are still on sale)...
Click here to read the whole article.


FAREWELL TO RICHARD INGRAM

Today (Thursday) is Richard's funeral, and for various family related reasons I cannot leave North Devon today. Richard Freeman is at another funeral in Nuneaton, so there will be no CFZ presence at the ceremony, which if you would like to attend is - I believe - at 4:00 at Exeter Crematorium.

However, I asked Andy Phillipson, a friend of us all and a Bard affiliated to the Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids, who is rapidly becoming the de facto Padre of the CFZ, for a few words to speed Richard on his way to the next stage of the great adventure:

For Richard

Birth, life, death and rebirth
In an eternal circle
Your soul a blessing to this Earth
Your passion still warming all who knew you
The wheel has turned, your soul flies free, returning to spirit
Your rebirth, that you are remembered always by those who love you

Go well Richard



Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die. Mary Elizabeth Frye

NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Thursday

ON THIS DAY IN 1644 - Lord Cromwell crushed the Royalists at the Battle of Marston Moor near York, England. 
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Government takes action against the giant goldfish...
  • Chimpanzees may have a similar sense of right and ...
  • Meet Geophilus hadesi: The centipede from hell
  • Famous baby giant armadillo found dead

  • Mystery sea creature with 'fur and beak' washes up...

  • 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)