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...




Wednesday, July 31, 2013

CRYPTOLINK: (Big)foot in Mouth: Bigfoot Language

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.

Human characteristics are attributed to many legendary creatures. As part of this anthropomorphization, these mythological animals are often given language abilities. Fairies, elves, gnomes, goblins and genies of folklore speak human languages, and usually in addition to their own tongues. Many fiction writers have created artificial languages and writing systems for these creatures, including J. R. R. Tolkien’s Elvish languages. As for the undead, vampires retain the language skills they had when they were still alive. Zombies are no longer sparkling conversationalists, but they can still mutter “brains!” In popular paranormal theory, ghosts and spirits are believed to communicate with the living, although they often require a medium, or a device designed to contact the dead.

Cryptids are alleged animals whose existence has not been proven scientifically, like the Loch Ness Monster. According to legend, some cryptids are believed to have language skills too, especially hybrid-human creatures, such as Spring-heeled Jack, the Mothman, mermaids, and monkey men. An early version of the mythical goat-sucking chupacabra could allegedly understand Spanish, although not speak it. There are numerous anecdotal reports that the Indonesian cryptid Orang-Pendek (“small human”) communicates using vocalizations similar to non-human primates. What about the most infamous cryptid of all: Bigfoot?

Read on...

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

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. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna took the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.


DALE DRINNON: Tianchi monster, kraken, Benny's Blogs

New at the Frontiers of Zoology:

HIT PARADE FOR JULY (CFZ PRESS/FORTEAN WORDS)

UK

1. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (1)
2. Haunted Skies Volume Six by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (8)
3. Wildman! by Nick Redfern (-)
4=. Haunted Skies Volume Two by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (3)

4=. Haunted Skies Volume Five by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (-)
4=. Monstrum by Tony 'Doc' Shiels (-)


7=. Haunted Skies Volume One by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (-)
7=. Haunted Skies Volume Three by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (5)
7=. Those Amazing Newfoundland dogs by Jan Bondeson (6)
7=. Terror of the Tokoloshei by S. D Tucker (-)

US

1. The Cryptid Creatures of Florida by Scott Marlowe (4)
2. When Bigfoot Attacks by Michael Newton (6)
3. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (1)
4. The CFZ Yearbook 2013 (-)
5=. The Inhumanoids by Bart Nunnelly (3)
5=. The Journal of Cryptozoology Volume One edited by Karl Shuker (2)

5=. Cats of Magic, Mythology and Mystery by Karl Shuker (7)
5=. Wildman! by Nick Redfern (-)
9=. Big Bird by Ken Gerhard (8)
9=. Orang Pendek by Richard Freeman (-)

Last month's positions in this pinky colour, which I think is called cerise. Sales are quiet as they always are in the summer,  but I would like to say thank you for all the hard work Emsy has put in on the Facebook Group. Thank you honey.

A classic Scottish sea serpent on the radio



On Sunday night’s Morton Through Midnight show the regular cryptozoology feature Morton’s Mystery Creatures focused on a classic Scottish sea serpent report.

It was a clear, fine evening in 1882 when the captain and crew of the German steamer Kätie, en route from New York to Newcastle, sailing about eight miles off the Butt of Lewis, sighted something ahead in the water.

Captain Weisz recorded that there was a dark object lying on the surface of the water about 2 miles from the ship. At first it was thought to be an abandoned wreck, the highest part being the bow, the rest resembling the jumbled waterlogged remains of a ship. As the Kätie got nearer the crew could see the water eddying round it as though moving over something large beneath the surface. 

On getting nearer however, it became clear it wasn't an abandoned vessel they were seeing. Now the dark, hilly mass resembled dangerous rocks and cliffs. The captain, being familiar with the area, knew there were no such dangers in the vicinity, and so the mystery deepened.

The object lay quite still for some time; then out of the water rose a fin about ten feet in height, reckoned to be about 80 feet from the visible end. This fin moved a few times while the body gradually sank below the surface of the water; the highest end then rose up and was seen to be a tail of enormous dimensions.

The visible part of the creature was estimated to measure about 150 feet in length; the hills or humps, which were from three to four feet in height, and about six or seven feet apart, were smaller towards the tail. No head was observed before the creature disappeared from sight.

You can listen to this show on the following link morton through midnight  it is an hour and seven minutes into the show

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN THINKS AHEAD

For the last thirty years I have been trying to get hold of a copy of Ken Campbell's 'School For Clowns'. It was originally shown on an ITV children's programme, repeated once and then forgotten about. Even Ken didn't havce a copy. I know, because I asked him repeatedly. Now it has been released as an extra on the DVD box of  Dramarama and it is still as anarchically wonderful as ever. I laughed all the way through. It has to be said, however, that Corinna sat looking stony faced with her "my husband is an idiot, and furthermore a puerile one" expression on her lovely visage. Richard Freeman arrives later for a Weird Weekend meeting, and I am very much looking forward to showing it to him. I wonder whether he will like it as much as me...
 
Another visit to our old friend Thom the World Poet.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/07/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_31.html
 
 
Luke Haines honours Mick Farren with reading at Borderline show
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/07/luke-haines-honours-mick-farren-with.html
 
‘You never knew what somebody was going to do’: Greg Lake on King Crimson’s improvisational start
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/07/you-never-knew-what-somebody-was-going.html
 
 
 
 
*  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:
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
 
* 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 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and two very small kittens (one of whom is also orange) 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 orange cat?

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today


Yesterday’s News Today

On this day in 1965 the author J.K. Rowling was born.
And now the news:
  • Wildlife Trust appeal to buy Dambuster airfield
  • Scientists Erase the Memories of Sleeping Mice
  • Small Herbivorous Lizards Can Grow To the Size of ...
  • En Garde! Gang of Feral Cats Attack Woman, Dog in ...
  • Frenchman survives crocodile head bite
  • Central Africa forests could die as keystone speci...
  • Prairie butterfly sliding towards extinction
  • More protection needed for vulnerable wildlife in ...

  • Here's something a bit more interesting than your standard J. K. Rowling interview:

    Tuesday, July 30, 2013

    REV. GERALD SMITH: Marbled White in North Devon


    Hi Jon,
     
    Attached is a Marbled White Butterfly, taken yesterday and first seen on 23rd @ Trew Forest Plantation OS Landranger Sheet 190 - 290.205.
     
    In 17 years of walking this area we've never seen one before.
     
    GERALD.


    THE GONZO BLOG DOO DAH MAN RESUMES NORMAL SERVICE

    Today is already shaping up to be a fun-filled and confusing one. All sorts of stuff is happening. The Weird Weekend is looming down upon us. If you want to buy a ticket you should probably do it now. If you are one of my old friends who thinks that you probably have a chance to blag one off me successfully, again do it before it gets too late.
     
    Another visit to our old friend Thom the World Poet.
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/07/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_30.html
     
     
     
     
     
     

    *  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:
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
     
    * 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 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and two very small kittens (one of whom is also orange) 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 orange cat?

    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

    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. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna took the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.

    Bird Gut Boosts Wild Chili Seed Survival

    CRYPTOLINK: Hikers capture footage of mysterious 'Bigfoot' figure in the Canadian wilderness


    IT HAS been the stuff of legends for as long as hikers have been traipsing through the wilderness.
    But whether you believe this figure caught on camera by hikers in the Canadian wilderness is actually the legendary Bigfoot, or just a man in an ape suit, is all a matter of opinion.

    Either way the sighting of the figure, which appears covered in thick black hair and is seen lumbering across the mountain top, has sparked plenty of excitement among Bigfoot fans. In the footage the figure walks from the trees into the open, pausing briefly before disappearing back into the trees.

    It remains unclear exactly where the video was shot but it is believed to have been filmed on a trail near Mission, in British Columbia.

    Read on...

    CRYPTOLINK: Christian textbooks cull Loch Ness 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.


    SCOTLAND’S most renowned mythical creature has been axed by religious educators.
    • Creationist textbook culls Loch Ness Monster from lessons
    • Mythical monster was cited to disprove theory of evolution
    New editions of a Christian biology textbook will no longer contain the contentious idea that the beast may have been a real living creature. Writers of the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) biology textbooks had once taught that the existence of the Loch Ness monster disproved Darwin’s theory of evolution.
    But the educators have now dropped the creature from their teachings.
    Creationism is a religious position that largely believes the universe was created by a supernatural being. It focuses heavily on evolution and many of its followers reject the notion of a scientific explanation to the creation of life. It is estimated that around 2,000 students in the UK are taught creationism in private schools or through home schooling.
    The previous edition of the schoolbook said: “Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ in Scotland?” It continued: “‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.”
    It was also claimed that a Japanese whaling boat once caught a dinosaur. In the latest edition, both of these claims have been removed.

    DALE DRINNON: Intellectualism is not democratic, Kong's brontosaurus, Benny's Blogs

    New at the Frontiers of Zoology:

    USFWS to hold public meeting on jaguar critical habitat on July 30

    July 29, 2013
     

    USFWS to hold public meeting on jaguar critical habitat on July 30

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold a public information session and public hearing on the proposal to designate critical habitat for jaguars on Tuesday, July 30, 2013 in Sierra Vista.
     
    The meeting will be held at Buena High School Performing Arts Center at 5225 Buena School Blvd., Sierra Vista. The informational portion of the meeting will be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m., and the public hearing will occur from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
     
    In 2012, the Arizona Game and Fish Department submitted comments to the Service on the jaguar critical habitat proposal. Because lands in Arizona and New Mexico make up less than one percent of the species' historic range and are not essential to the conservation of the species, the department has asked that the proposal be withdrawn.
     
    Conservation of the species is entirely reliant on activities in the jaguar's primary habitat of Central and South America to be successful. The six areas identified as proposed jaguar critical habitat in Arizona already offer protection to the species through the Endangered Species Act. The vast majority of the proposed critical habitat area is public land that is already under federal management jurisdiction or federally-approved conservation plans.
     
    Game and Fish believes that the unwarranted designation of critical habitat for jaguars would likely result in denial of access to lands for jaguar conservation and research efforts; fewer observations of jaguars being reported; and, less timely sighting reports from people that do choose to report a jaguar.
     

    RSPB: Discover the night-time nature near you

    Welcome to our new-look e-newsletter!
    Hello Jonathan
    When the sun shines the world can generally seem a happier and healthier place. But don't be fooled - our natural world is still very much under threat and we continue apace with our work protecting it and challenging Government to tackle the loss of nature. This month, we're also excited about our new event - Big Wild Sleepout. Read on to find out more about this, plus much, much more.
    Sleep outside and fundraise for nature
    children in sleeping bags
    Take part in Big Wild Sleepout - supported by Rightmove and Blacks - between 9-11 August. Put up a tent, build a makeshift shelter or, if you're brave enough, simply sleep out under the stars. You can do it in your own garden, or join us at an organised RSPB sleepout event where we're hosting a range of sleepouts and other night-themed events.

    You'll not only discover the night-time nature near you, but by getting friends and family to make a donation towards your adventure, you'll also be raising money for conservation projects that protect birds, wildlife and the places they live.
    > Find out more
    Meeting the big challenge
    Mike Clarke, RSPB Chief Executive, shares his thoughts on growing public support for nature as the most powerful way to meet the challenges our natural world faces.
    > Find out more

    view of Bowland
    July's tip for your garden
    flowers growing in garden border
    To make your lawn a real home for nature, give your mower a rest and leave your grass to grow a bit taller. The flowering plants that bugs love will benefit and longer grass won't dry out so quickly.

    Take part in Giving Nature a Home for other simple tips like this to give nature a home on your doorstep.
    > Get your tailored tips
    Share and win!
    Share how you're giving nature a home and encourage others to do the same. Simply upload your photos to Facebook or Instagram or tweet us.

    And by sharing it with us, you'll be in with a chance of winning some amazing prizes to help make your garden or outdoor space even more wildlife friendly!
    > Find out how to enter

    minibeast home
    Relaxed walking and cycling holidays tailored to you
    We've teamed up with Headwater Holidays - experts in walking and cycling holidays - to bring you a brilliant offer on a range of wildlife focused, self-guided holidays that you can enjoy at your own pace.

    Book a Headwater break and receive five per cent off the price of your holiday. And for every holiday booked we'll get a seven per cent donation towards our conservation work. It's a win-win situation!
    > Where will you go?

    woman on a Headwater walking holiday
    What's on in your area
    family camping out
    This month we're focusing on Big Wild Sleepout events. From sleeping out at Ynys-Hir nature reserve, home to this year's BBC Springwatch, or enjoying a night of moth-trapping and bat detecting at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, to camping out at the magical reserve of Coombes Valley, or joining a guided walk along the shores of Loch Lomond, these are just some of the events running across the UK.
    > Find a Sleepout event near you