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...

Search This Blog

WATCH OUR WEEKLY WEBtv SHOW

SUPPORT OTT ON PATREON

SUPPORT OTT ON PATREON
Click on this logo to find out more about helping CFZtv and getting some smashing rewards...

SIGN UP FOR OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER



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...




Thursday, March 01, 2018

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: Similipal, Satkosia on tiger trail
  • NEWSLINK: Death of female jaguar hard for research...
  • NEWSLINK: Belfast zookeeper's dog helped raise aba...
  • ARTICLE: Wild Ideas: No cougars in Virginia... so ...

  • NEWSLINK: Family shocked to see 3 male cats having...
  • 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 BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS AHEAD OF THE GAME TODAY AT LEAST

    The Gonzo Daily: Thursday
     
    It is supposedly the coldest winter for 27 years, but - peculiarly - I don't remember the winter of 1990/1 being a particularly harsh one. And I was on tour with Steve Harley for much of it, so I would have been aware of the vagaries of the winter. However, out washbasin outlet pipe has frozen for the first time ever, and we are romping through gas like a gas bottle romping thing. And we have a snowstorm scheduled for lunchtime. Oh joy!
     
    ciaou....
     
    Forgive me for always banging on about our webTV show, but it matters a lot to me, and I would be grateful for as many people as possible to see it, and spread the tidings of it far and wide:
     
     
    And if you fancy supporting us on Patreon:
     
    But for now, here is the news:
     
    THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Frank Zappa Peaches En...
    IAIN MATTHEWS IN THE NEWS
    YES IN THE NEWS
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    HAWKWIND NEWS
     
    Gonzo Weekly #275
    THE APOCALYPSE WOW ISSUE
     
    In this massively groovy issue we meet Martin Gordon (ex of Sparks and Radio Stars amongst others) to talk about his excellent, if apocalyptic, new record, Alan discovers an art enclave near Portsmouth, Doug goes to see Bananarama, and Jon watches Riverdale
     
    Hail Eris!
     
    And there are radio shows from Strange Fruit, AND Mack Maloney, although - for technical reasons beyond our control - Friday Night Progressive is on hiatus this week. TheRE ARE columns from all sorts of folk including Neil Nixon, AND the irrepressible Corinna, although Roy Weard, C J Stone, and Mr Biffo are on a break. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and southern dibblers who have gone for a snooze (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who have probably got hangovers and have decided to have a little rest, 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:
     
    Riverdale, Chic Ft Nile Rodgers, Wilderness Festival, George Harrison, Elton John, The Rutles, Soft Cell, John Lydon, Damon Alban, Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Shaun "Stormin MC" Lewis, Didier Lockwood, Little Sammy Davis, Boyd H. Jarvis, Billie Johnson, Klaasje van der Wal, William Franklin Graham Jr. KBE., Norm Rogers, Nuray Hafiftas, Rapee Sagarik, Barbara Dickson, Jessica Lee Morgan, Rick Wakeman, Billion Dollar Babies, Tangerine Dream, Martin Gordon, Doug Harr, Bananarama, Alan Dearling, Portsmouth, Kev Rowland, Playgrounded, Primitive Man, Pulsing Dark Absorptions, Riddlemaster, Scour, Security Project, Signs of the Swarm, Smothered Bowels, Hawkwind, Jon Downes, The Wild Colonial Boy, Martin Springett, Michael A. Duffy, The Beatles, Traveling Wilburys, The Who, Prince, Grateful Dead, Paul McCartney, Neil Nixon,
    Wild Man Fischer
     
    And the last few issues are:
     
    Issue 274 (Steve Took)
    Issue 273 (Live Dead 69)
    Issue 272 (George Butler)
    Issue 271 (Mark E Smith)
    Issue 270 (Eric Clapton)
    Issue 269 (Narnia)
    Issue 267-8 (Happy New Year)
    Issue 265-6 (The Who)
    Issue 264 (John McLaughlin)
    Issue 263 (The magic Band)
    Issue 262 (DikMik)
    Issue 261 (Leonard Cohen)
    Issue 260 (Amsterdam Squat Festie)
    Issue 259 (Out come thee Freaks)
    Issue 258 (The Devil's Jukebox)
    Issue 257 (Judge Smith)
    Issue 255/6 (John Lennon)
    Issue 254 (Mr Biffo)
    Issue 253 (Dana Gillespie)
    Issue 252 (Cropredy)
    Issue 251 (Scott Walker)
    Issue 250 (Jamms)
    Issue 249 (Bill Bruford)
    Issue 248 (The Selecter)
    Issue 247 (Don Airey)
    Issue 246 (Steve Hackett)
    Issue 244-5 (Summer Special)
     
     
    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.co.uk
     
    * 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 58 who - together with a Jack Russell called Archie, an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and two half grown kittens, one 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. 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 Archie and the Cats?

    NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)



    Cast Your Vote for the Best 2017 Loch Ness Monster Sighting
    The pictures and videos you took on your vacation to Inverness may not be of the real Loch Ness Monster, but for some people they could be worth big bucks in the 2017 edition of the annual 'Best Nessie Sighting' contest put on by Inverness Courier. This is the 20th time the contest has been held and ...


    Now the Loch Ness Monster is to feature on a new set of 10p coins issued by the Royal Mint to represent “what makes Britain great”. ... of the North to a zebra crossing, ten of the coin designs were influenced by the public vote, including Tea, Fish & Chips and Cricket, as well as the Loch Ness Monster.

    James Bond, fish and chips, a full English breakfast, the Loch Ness Monster and even queuing are some of the designs in a collection of “quintessentially British” 10p coins that go into circulation today. The 26 new 10p designs, unveiled by the Royal Mint, are intended as an A to Z of what makes Britain ...

    BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF




    Racking up almost 40,000 hits in less than a week, viewers added their own opinion on what they saw. Some viewers even believe they could make out two smaller animals following the main beast. One posted: “It's real and it has two young ones as well. “The Bigfoot leaves them behind and walks ...

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Thursday

    ON THIS DAY IN - 1498 - Vasco de Gama landed at what is now Mozambique on his way to India. 
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Zebra mussels spotted in Lady Bird Lake; Lake Aust...
  • 'Evolution in real time': silent crickets still si...
  • Recordings spout secrets behind blue whale behavio...
  • Alien honeybees could cause plant extinction

  • Deep-sea fish use hydrothermal vents to incubate e...

  • 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)