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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Sunday, February 21, 2016

CFZ "PEOPLE": Pal Clancy (1999-2016)



“The Power of the Dog”
 
THERE is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware        5
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
 
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie—
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.        10
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
 
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs        15
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find—it’s your own affair
But … you’ve given your heart to a dog to tear.
 
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!).        20
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone—wherever it goes—for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
 
We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way,        25
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we’ve kept ’em, the more do we grieve:        30
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long—
So why in—Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

                                                                    Rudyard Kipling


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.

THE GONZO HOPPING HEN

The Gonzo Daily - Sunday
And for no real reason Sunday's notifications are done in rhyme
 
Richard Freeman was here last night
so me and him and Graham drank wine
and a groovy time was had by all
and we're all feeling surprisingly fine
 
So there!
 
Eric Burdon and The Animals Perform Hit After Hit
The Byrds' Roger McGuinn To Be Honored by UNC for ...
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Shree Krishna Govind H...
GONZO WEEKLY #170
 
Gonzo Weekly #170
www.gonzoweekly.com
 
Dave Bainbridge, Iona, Beach Boys, The Strawbs, Patrick Barkham, Electric Light Orchestra, Mr Biffo, Roy Weard,  Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, and Yes fans had better look out!
 
Dave Bainbridge from Iona and The Strawbs is on the front cover, together with an interview with him inside.
Doug writes about ELO, while Jon gets all intense about the new Brian Wilson biopic, and reviews a book by Patrick Barkham. There are radio shows from Strange Fruit, and Mack Maloney, the latest installment of the saga of Xtul, and columns from all sorts of folk including Roy Weard, A J Smitrovich, Mr Biffo and the irrepressable Corinna. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and pademelons ouyside zoos(OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who have escaped from captivity, 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:
 
Brian Wilson, Don McLean, Tyga, Eagles of Death Metal, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, Prince, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Project/Object, Marillion, Eric Burdon, Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Nelle Harper Lee, Denise Katrina Matthews ("Vanity"), Viola Beach, Lee Chester Ulmer, Margaret Forster, Paul Christian Gordon, Inner City Unit, Brand X, Gregg Kofi Brown, Nucleus, Captain Beefheart, Third Ear Band, The Selector, Genre Peak, Mick Farren and Jack Lancaster, Rick and Adam Wakeman, Dave Bainbridge, Electric Light Orchestra, Neil Nixon, Wild Man Fischer, Gavin Hughes, Roy Weard, A J Smitrovich, My Day's LPs, Mr Biffo, Hawkwind, Xtul, Barry Booth, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Liam Gallagher, 1D, Furor Gallico
 
 
Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
 
Issue 169 (Wildman Fischer)
Issue 168 (Wakeman/Bowie)
Issue 167 (Paul Kantner)
Issue 166 (Spirits Burning)
Issue 165 (David Bowie)
Issue 164 (Free Festivals)
Issue 163 (Lemmy)
Issue 161-2 (The Christmas Double Feature)
Issue 160 (Frank Zappa)
Issue 159 (Jon Anderson and Matt Malley)
Issue 158 (Billy Sherwood)
Issue 157 (Drones for Daevid)
Issue 156 (Rick and Emmie)
Issue 155 (Pink Fairies)
Issue 154 (Steve Ignorant)
Issue 153 (Martin Barre)
Issue 152 (4th Eden)
Issue 151 (Corky Laing)
Issue 150 (Roger Dean)
Issue 149 (Tony Palmer in Space)
Issue 148 (Wally Hope)
Issue 147 (Thom the World Poet cover)
Issue 146 (Bee and Flower cover)
Issue 145 (Dave Brock cover)
Issue 144 (Percy Jones cover)
Issue 143 (Billy Sherwood cover)
Issue 142 (Daevid Allen and Spirits Burning cover)
Issue 141 (Rick Wakeman cover)
Issue 140 (Jaki Windmill cover)
Issue 139 (Raz cover)
Issue 138 (Galahad cover)
Issue 137 (Chris Squire cover)
Issue 136 (Neil Nixon cover)
Issue 135 (FNP cover)
 
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:
 
SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.
 
* 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 56 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 young lady called Jessica. 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?

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

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

From CFZ-USA:

GONZO WEEKLY #170

Gonzo Weekly #170
Dave Bainbridge, Iona, Beach Boys, The Strawbs, Patrick Barkham, Electric Light Orchestra, Mr Biffo, Roy Weard,  Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, and Yes fans had better look out!
Dave Bainbridge from Iona and The Strawbs is on the front cover, together with an interview with him inside.
Doug writes about ELO, while Jon gets all intense about the new Brian Wilson biopic, and reviews a book by Patrick Barkham. There are radio shows from Strange Fruit, and Mack Maloney, the latest installment of the saga of Xtul, and columns from all sorts of folk including Roy Weard, A J Smitrovich, Mr Biffo and the irrepressable Corinna. There is also a collection of more news, reviews,  views, interviews and pademelons ouyside zoos(OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who have escaped from captivity, 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:
Brian Wilson, Don McLean, Tyga, Eagles of Death Metal, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, Prince, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Project/Object, Marillion, Eric Burdon, Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Nelle Harper Lee, Denise Katrina Matthews ("Vanity"), Viola Beach, Lee Chester Ulmer, Margaret Forster, Paul Christian Gordon, Inner City Unit, Brand X, Gregg Kofi Brown, Nucleus, Captain Beefheart, Third Ear Band, The Selector, Genre Peak, Mick Farren and Jack Lancaster, Rick and Adam Wakeman, Dave Bainbridge, Electric Light Orchestra, Neil Nixon, Wild Man Fischer, Gavin Hughes, Roy Weard, A J Smitrovich, My Day's LPs, Mr Biffo, Hawkwind, Xtul, Barry Booth, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Liam Gallagher, 1D, Furor Gallico
Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
Issue 169 (Wildman Fischer)
Issue 168 (Wakeman/Bowie)
Issue 167 (Paul Kantner)
Issue 166 (Spirits Burning)
Issue 165 (David Bowie)
Issue 164 (Free Festivals)
Issue 163 (Lemmy)
Issue 161-2 (The Christmas Double Feature)
Issue 160 (Frank Zappa)
Issue 159 (Jon Anderson and Matt Malley)
Issue 158 (Billy Sherwood)
Issue 157 (Drones for Daevid)
Issue 156 (Rick and Emmie)
Issue 155 (Pink Fairies)
Issue 154 (Steve Ignorant)
Issue 153 (Martin Barre)
Issue 152 (4th Eden)
Issue 151 (Corky Laing)
Issue 150 (Roger Dean)
Issue 149 (Tony Palmer in Space)
Issue 148 (Wally Hope)
Issue 147 (Thom the World Poet cover)
Issue 146 (Bee and Flower cover)
Issue 145 (Dave Brock cover)
Issue 144 (Percy Jones cover)
Issue 143 (Billy Sherwood cover)
Issue 142 (Daevid Allen and Spirits Burning cover)
Issue 141 (Rick Wakeman cover)
Issue 140 (Jaki Windmill cover)
Issue 139 (Raz cover)
Issue 138 (Galahad cover)
Issue 137 (Chris Squire cover)
Issue 136 (Neil Nixon cover)
Issue 135 (FNP cover)
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:

SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.

NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Sunday

ON THIS DAY IN 1848 - The Communist Manifesto was published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Baby dolphin dies after being paraded on beach for...
  • Beavers bring environmental benefits
  • Lizards- Four Legs Good-Two Legs Better for Hurdli...
  • Beautiful and incredibly rare baby albino sea turt...

  • Study of Asian common toad reveals three divergent...
  • 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)