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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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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

RIGHT ON LOREN

Over on Cryptomundo, Loren was musing on tulpas and wrote:

Yes, for those who have created an imaginary feud between myself and the Center for Fortean Zoology folks, you should realize that Creatures of the Outer Edge was the inspiration to a generation of thought-form/zooform Fortean CFZers, including Jon Downes, Nick Redfern, and several others, apparently. Any change in my thoughts on thoughtforms has not changed my respect for those who have considered these theories valid for their own worldviews. To each to their own sense of the phenomena, I say, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.

Loren is perfectly right. This has gone on for far too long. Read my lips: THERE IS NO FEUD BETWEEN THE CFZ AND CRYPTOMUNDO, AND THERE NEVER HAS BEEN. Loren and I have disagreed over certain things in the past. We have also agreed on certain things. So what?

Two of his books in particular, Mysterious America and Creatures of the Outer Edge, are seminal works and inspired me to get involved in the Fortean universe in the first place, and I am very pleased to be able to call him a friend.

Capisce?

ANOTHER SEA MONSTER THAT ISN'T



It obviously ain't a sea monster, but what is it? I have a sneaking suspicion, but I shall keep my counsel until I have given everyone else a chance.

FRISWELL'S FREAKY FEATURES: Animal World

Some months ago Alan Friswell, the bloke who made the CFZ Feegee Mermaid and also the guy responsible for some of the most elegantly macabre bloggo postings, wrote me an email. He had an idea for a new series for the bloggo. Quite simply, he has an enormous collection of macabre, fortean, odd and disturbing magazine and newspaper articles, and he proposed to post them up on the bloggo.




















Apologies to Lizwiz

I owe an apology to young Lizwiz who telephoned last night just as I was going to bed, to tell me about her triumphal appearance at the Catholic Women's League giving a lecture about Cryptozoology in general and the CFZ in particular.

Dear girl. I am sure it was magnificent, and I look forward to seeing the video when you post it down to me.

Sadly I was not just going to bed, but you got me in the middle of a diabetic moment, and so I had to rush off precipitately. I hope that you are not offended... Nah! I wasn't offended! I hope you're much better soon. WizLiz

LINDSAY SELBY: Loch Quoich kelpie?

Loch Quoich (Gaelic Loch Cuaich) is about 24 miles northwest of Fort Williams in Scotland. With Loch Garry it forms part of the Glen Garry hydroelectric project from the 1950s, which was completed in 1962. The dam built on Loch Quoich is the largest rock fill dam in Scotland at 960 feet (310 metres) long and 114 feet (35 metres) high. The dam flooded some of the old settlements in the area, including Glen Quoich Lodge. A single-track road goes along the loch shore to Kinloch. The fishing there is by boat only and it is mainly for brown trout and Char.
The loch is said to be home for a water monster described as a large serpent-like creature with a horse-like head. It is typical description for a Kelpie or water horse.

The Duke of Portland related that after becoming tenant of the salmon angling in Loch Quoich, he was told by the forester, hotel keeper and fishing ghillies of a beast. I think this was in the late 1800s, but have been unable to find and exact date.

In Peter Costello's book “In Search of Lake Monsters” (1975 ed. Granada Publishing ltd page 153) is the following story. I have paraphrased it.

A certain lord, not named, ( n.b.I wonder if this was also the Duke of Portland?) used to fish in Loch Quoich and one day whilst fishing there, he saw a monster lying on the shore close to the water. He swore the two ghillies with him to secrecy in case people thought they were drunk. A fishing party is said to have seen the monster swimming under the water the same time period (no date given).

In the Northern Chronicle newspaper in 1933 there were reported some stories about the Loch Quoich creature but they were not substantiated so could have simply been rumours after the reports in 1933 of the Loch Ness creature.

The loch is quite isolated and it could be that any reports of anything seen in the loch were hushed up by the local dignitaries. It could just be the usual folktales of the Kelpie. There doesn’t seem to be any historical record of tales about a kelpie, though. If anyone knows any more about this isolated loch, please post a comment.

DEWEY INSECTS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1260946/The-stunning-pictures-sleeping-insects-covered-early-morning-dew.html

Robert Schneck writes: "Hi Jon, The subject line might not sound promising, but look at the pictures."

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1912 the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people. I mentioned a few days back, on the anniversary of the ship’s departure from Southampton, about the less than true tale of the mummy’s curse but that is far from the only tale that has been invented to claim that the disaster had paranormal causes. One story holds that the Titanic’s hull number was 360604 and had been written in a sloppy manner so that when held up to a mirror it read ‘no pope.’ The fact that the real hull number of the Titanic was 401 is conveniently ignored by the originators of this myth. There is also a myth that a riveter was trapped in the hull during construction and his vengeful spirit cursed the vessel, but as that is said about almost any steel ship that has a run of bad luck, that again is probably best taken with a pinch of salt.

And now, the news:

Blue Stork Finds True Love in Spite of Curious Color
Spot the unusual pony
Beauty and the Beast
The new faces of Royal Animail: New stamp collection featuring Britain's at-risk mammals is released
Bittern booming at RSPB Leighton Moss
Mum’s terror as a scorpion joins her on the family sofa
"The defendant does not have a stable address..."
Elephant kills trainer at Pennsylvania circus
Mammals feature on new Royal Mail stamps

International post can be sent by air mammal.

LIZ CLANCY: A Vaguely On-Topic Whinge

Pleeease spare a thought today for little Lizzy Clancy, who has been up since four, and has a very long day ahead of her, at the end of which she will be advertising our wares, so to speak: she is due this evening to give a talk on the CFZ to the Catholic Women's League of Heywood, Lancashire (or Greater Manchester if you believe certain nefarious sources...) after a day hunched over the editing suite at the film lab where her course is taking place.

She also realises it is a sad state of affairs to suddenly find herself at 5am typing about herself in the third person....