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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Tuesday, August 12, 2014

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IN THE DRIVING SEAT

The Gonzo Daily - Tuesday
I had every intention of going to bed last night. I decided that Mother and I would cook our evening meal before I did so. Mother was chopping onions while I was in the sitting room fielding enormous numbers of telephone calls. I never drink alcohol this week, doing my best to remain sober and healthy so as to deal with the stresses and strains of organising the biggest Fortean Zoological conference in the UK. However one of my telephone calls was interrupted by a Godalmighty row from the kitchen. Someone unexpected was coming in through the back door. Prudence and Archie, suspecting a malefactor, rushed into the kitchen barking furiously and intending to rend said malefactor limb from limb. The malefactor turned out not to be a malefactor, but Davey "Geordie Dave" Curtis clutching a bag full of cans of broon ale. So my good intentions were all for naught and I have a hangover this morning.
In an undisclosed location near Swanage in Dorset a number of European map butterflies (Araschnia levana) have been seen and photographed. This is not a native species to the UK, and is non migratory, but considering the fact that they are currently advancing their range in Europe, and the excellent summer we have had they  could be the offspring of a vagrant female earlier in the year, rather than just having been released by a well meaning idiot. If they are natural vagrants has the UK got another new butterfly species in the offing? This species was deliberately introduced in 1912 when the butterfly became established in the Forest of Dean in Monmouthshire, and Symond’s Yat in Herefordshire. The well-known entomologist A.B. Farn was so opposed to the deliberate introduction of a foreign species that, in 1914, he deliberately collected and destroyed every individual he could find. However, the ultimate demise of the colonies is believed to be the result of additional (and unknown) factors. One specimen was recorded in 1982 but apart from that these are the first known British specimens. Cop a load of this: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7848
The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#90) is available to read or download at www.gonzoweekly.com. It has the legendary Steve Bolton on the cover and an interview with him inside, in which he casually drops more names than I have ever heard in an interview before, including Keith Richards and Dr John, as well as his first band Atomic Rooster and the currently reformed 6foot3. We also have Tony Palmer remembering his friend Felix Dennis and a feature about the reissued edition of Palmer's 'The Trials of Oz'. Gentle Giant fans will find a critique of the new box set of 'The Power and the Glory', critiqued by Doug Harr. There are also new shows from the wonderfully eccentric Jaki and Tim on their Submarine, and from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and from M Destiny (hopefully fully recovered from his recent illness) a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and long nosed potoroos (OK, no weird little marsupials, 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!!!
Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
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!
To make sure that you don't miss your copy of future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
http://eepurl.com/r-VTD
As well as the Gonzo Weekly, there is a daily service called - wait for it - The Gonzo Daily, and you can subscribe for free HERE:
http://eepurl.com/OvPez
*  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/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 54 who - together with an orange kitten named after a song by Frank Zappa 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 kitten?
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