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...




Tuesday, July 07, 2015

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From CFZ-USA:

WEIRD WEEKEND 2015: The return of Shosh

One of the undoubted stars of last year's event was Shoshannah McCarthy who is a qualified vet working in Staffordshire. She is also my step-daughter, but that is by the by. She is back this year, and will be talking about feral cats, as an invasive species, their impact on wildlife and much more. It promises to be a fascinating hour.

If you want more WW info:
http://www.weirdweekend.org/
If you want to buy tickets online:
http://www.weirdweekend.org/ticket.htm
If you want a picture of a comedy rhinoceros:
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QOvIot-i6rY/hqdefault.jpg

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.

  • NEWSLINK: Big cat sightings reported around Amaril...
  • NEWSLINK: Fewer tiger subspecies, better protecti...

  • NEWSLINK: London River Junk Recycled Into Big Cat ...
  • WEIRD WEEKEND 2015: Provisional Programme

    And so dear friends, I realise with a start, that we have only got five weeks left until the Weird Weekend. All sorts of things have been happening behind the scenes, and there have been several lineup changes. However, despite the fact that it says “provisional programme” at the top of this blog post, I sincerely hope that it is considerably less provisional than it would have been 6 months ago…

    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.


    BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    Those of you who doubt Dr. Squatch's evidence, what do you think of this footprint?
    That's what i thought,unless bigfoot's wearing a slingback wedge with a 3" heel xx .... He is the biggest buffoon in the Bigfoot community. Delete.

    Monday, July 6, 2015
    To document Bigfoot reports and encounters and the history of bigfoot in Trimble,Carroll and Henry Counties of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky.Follow ...

    This Lady Has One Of The Strangest Bigfoot Stories We've Ever Heard
    Youtube user Cosmic-Jungle Desiree tells her story of a spiritual encounter and her connections with the sasquatch. She must know a lot about bigfoot ...

    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN EMULATES POULTRY

    The Gonzo Daily - Tuesday
     
    Jessica is really shaping up well as a publishing assistant. I only wish that she had been here twenty years ago. She truly is going to be better at this than I am. 2013 was an amazing year for British butterflies, with an influx of long tailed blues which even bred here, possibly for the first time. There were only a couple of sightings last year, but today Bug Alert announced that one was seen in an Exeter garden. Here's hoping it is the vanguard of another boeticus invasion.
     
     
    The Gonzo Weekly #137
    www.gonzoweekly.com
     
    Chris Squire, The Fall, Suzanne Vega, Grant Lee Buffalo, Roy Weard, Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, Jon Anderson, and Yes fans had better look out!
     
    The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#137) is available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has the late Chris Squire of Yes on the front cover together with a series of tributes to him inside. There are accounts of Suzanne Vega and Grant Lee Buffalo live, John muses on The Fall, and Jon examines a book about the a bloke who went to see the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, and spent fifty years cataloguing British Butterflies, there is Hawkwind news and an important Gong Family update, Thom waxes all poetical like, whilst the legendary Roy Weard continues his regular column. And there is a radio show from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive, and one from those jolly nice chaps at Strange Fruit, and one from the wonderful Canterbury. 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:
     
     Chris Squire, Morrissey, The Beatles, Culture Club, Sir Paul McCartney, Barbara Dickson, Nick Holland, Gilli Smyth, Van Morrison, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Canterbury sans Frontieres, Bruce Rowland, Val Doonican, Third Ear Band, Arthur Brown, Inner City Unit, Hugh Hopper, Pete Sears, Captain Beefheart, Brand X, Lee Walker, Grant Lee Phillips, John Brodie-Good, Suzanne Vega, Gerry Leonard, The Fall, John Haylock, Roy Weard, Hawkwind, Yes, Steve Howe, U2, Morrissey, Michael Jackson, Sid Vicious, Nick Cave,  Neil Nixon, Virginia Astley, Cnoc An Tursa
     
    Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
     

    Issue 136 (Neil Nixon cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo135.html
    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, and a small kitten 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, 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, and the adventurous kitten?

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Tuesday

    ON THIS DAY IN 1917 - Aleksandr Kerensky formed a provisional government in Russia
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Rope-chewing technique an easy way to screen monke...
  • Why insects are marvels of engineering
  • Video of Scottish kayaker saving dolphin entangled...

  • Badger cull to begin in NI to combat bovine TB

  • 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)