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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Friday, July 04, 2014

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 CELEBRATES

The Gonzo Daily - Friday
www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/about.html

I was up late last night writing deathless prose for the next issue of Gonzo Weekly and I overslept again this morning. My doctor has put me on an extra dose of quetiapine which makes me somewhat dozier than usual,and so my breakfast tea has now been replaced by a couple of pints of breakfast coffee. Luckily an old friend gave me a supersized mug for a Christmas present, and I actually find myself enjoying coffee in quantity far more than I thought I would.
I was sent a copy of Bryan Sykes et al's paper on the genetic examination of putative yeti and bigfoot hair (I am not sure whether it is a pirate copy or not, so I won't thank my benefactor by name) and, to my pleasure, I think it is an eminently reasonable piece of writing, unlike much of the newspaper reportage which has surrounded it. My critique of it can be read here: http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-sykes-paper-personal-view.html
And one last piece of news, as butterfly buffs will know, one of the rarest migrant butterflies to the UK is the long tailed blue. Occasionally, however, it arrives in large numbers and breeds here. Last year was one of those times. The first specimen of the year has been seen, much earlier than usual ...in Somerset! This is many miles from the hotspots of last year. Does this herald the beginning of another bumper year? It would be nice to think so, but don't hold yer breath!
Exploring the music is how Mayall keeps on delivering
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/exploring-music-is-how-mayall-keeps-on.html
Nick DeRiso's review of albums of the year so far including Jon Anderson
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/nick-derisos-review-of-albums-of-year.html
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_4.html
GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Yusuf - Peace Train
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/gonzo-track-of-day-yusuf-peace-train.html
E-BOOKS FROM THOM THE WORLD POET
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/e-books-from-thom-world-poet.html
Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart "Make Believe It Real" Belgian Review
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/spirits-burning-bridget-wishart-make_3.html
The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#84) is here to read or download at www.gonzoweekly.com. It has Mick Abrahams on the front cover and features an exclusive interview with this legendary guitarist who amongst other things founded both Jethro Tull and Blodwyn Pig. It also has a letter from Daevid Allen in hospital, Echo and the Bunnymen live, an archive chat between Tim Rundall and Mick Farren and Keith Levene remembering his days as guitarist in The Clash. There are also new shows from Friday Night Progressive, and from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and boxing kangaroos (OK, no pugilistic 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!!!
The full list of artists featured is: Mick Abrahams, Yes, Jon Davison, Rick Wakeman, ABWH, Jon Anderson, Allman Brothers, Lana del Rey, Kurt Cobain, Frances Bean Cobain, Prince, Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson, Robert Plant, Daevid Allen, Michael des Barres, Hunt Emerson, Keith Levene, Auburn, Liz Lenten, Atkins-May Project, Clepsydra, Renaissance, Galahad, Eric Burdon, Elvis Presley, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Felix Dennis, Eli Wallach, Gerry Conlon, Teenie Hodges, Bobby Womack, Clearlight, Rocket Scientists, Aviator, Ant-Bee, Steve Hillage, Erik Norlander, The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger, Neil Young, Echo & the Bunnymen, Mick Farren, Hawkwind, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Beatles, Erasure, Osmonds, One Direction, Spice Girls, Ozzy Osbourne, Monkees, Alice Cooper, Weird Weekend, Gazpacho, Subject to Thoughts, The Symphony of Screams, Nine Treasures
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
*  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?

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



Journal Club: DNA analysis indicates Bigfoot may be a big fake
SUMMARY: A newly-published genetic analysis of hair samples suspected as being from a cryptic primate known by various names such as "bigfoot"

EDITOR'S NOTE: No, it doesn't. It indicates that some researchers gave hair samples in good faith that turned out to be something else

Parabreakdown: Bigfoot Photographed In Virginia?
Cryptomundo Craig Woolheater
Photographs of Bigfoot. Bigfoot captured on camera in Virginia off the shore of the Intercoastal Waterways. Finally, a photo that is not blurry nor hidden 

Yeti, Bigfoot legends debunked through DNA analysis
A man in an ape costume stood outside a Palo Alto hotel where a media conference was held announcing the claim that a deceased bigfoot or

Bigfoot genome probed by scientists
Bigfoot genome probed by scientists. Quicklink submitted by John Moffett Permalink Related Topic(s): Bigfoot; Scientists, Add Tags 

Scientists claim they've used DNA tests to prove Bigfoot doesn't exist
Bad news, would-be cryptozoologists. Looks like you can go ahead and delete that stack of old Finding Bigfoot episodes from the DVR. Dr. Brian 

EDITOR'S NOTE: No, they don't and no, they haven't

No Bigfoot DNA Identified in Call for Hair Samples
Mysterious Universe Paul Seaburn
An international search for Bigfoot and Yeti hair samples and the subsequent genetic analysis been completed and, depending on your perspective, 

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Bloody hell, a truthful headline

Dread Central

The Gasp Menagerie: Newly Stabilized Patterson Bigfoot Film Released
The Gasp Menagerie: Newly Stabilized Patterson Bigfoot Film Released The Patterson-Gimlin film is the holy grail of cryptozoology. It's just that simple ...

Wow, Tibetans Get Their "Altitude Gene" From an Extinct Species
The variant of the EPAS-1 gene, which affects blood oxygen, is common in Tibetans - many of whom live at altitudes of 4,000m all year round.

Science Delivers a Big Blow to Bigfoot
Reported sightings of Yeti, Bigfoot, Sasquatch and the Abominable Snowman circle the globe, but Oxford researchers decided it was time to bring the 

Still no evidence of Bigfoot
Here's the latest hard science on the hard to believe. I offer no comment, lest I arouse the ire of the pseudo-scientific community that nowadays 

New Bigfoot Image Finds Creature in Virginia
Goodbye, fuzzy images of Bigfoot. Hello, high definition images of Bigfoot … well, it's something, and it's purportedly on Virginia's Intracoastal 

Wednesday, July 2, 2014
In typical moronic Dyer fashion, he claims to have busted another person with NO evidence shown and no proof. You know, just like his many Bigfoot 

Dr. Bryan Sykes Encourages Bigfoot Researchers To Continue The Search
With all the ridiculous headlines since the release of the Sykes "Bigfoot" DNA paper, you'd think that Dr. Bryan Sykes was out to debunk Bigfoot.

The Sykes paper: A personal view

Last night I was sent a copy of Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates by Bryan C. Sykes, Rhettman A. Mullis, Christophe Hagenmuller, Terry W. Melton and Michel Sartori. And it was most enlightening.

There is nothing in it that anybody in the cryptozoological community could possibly object to.  At no point do Sykes and his co-authors claim (as they were quoted in the popular press some months ago) that they have hammered the last nail into the coffin of the yeti.  What they do say is: “While it is important to bear in mind that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence and this survey cannot refute the existence of anomalous primates, neither has it found any evidence in support” which is an entirely different thing.

After the television show last year it was suggested by Sykes that the unknown bear species in the Himalayas could be a hybrid between the brown and polar bears.  This rang alarm bells with me, because the nearest population of polar bears is thousands of miles away, and if so where did the daddy bear come from?  However, in this paper they qualify this statement: “If they are hybrids, the Ladakh and Bhutan specimens are probably descended from a different hybridization event during the early stages of species divergence between U. arctos and U. maritimus.”

This makes perfect sense, and I am quite prepared to admit that I could have just got the wrong end of the stick from the TV show. I have got the wrong end of the stick before, and no doubt will do so again.

Finally, the authors write:  “Rather than persisting in the view that they have been ‘rejected by science’, advocates in the cryptozoology community have more work to do in order to produce convincing evidence for anomalous primates”, I would again, agree with this totally.  And would like to say that in my opinion cryptozoology is not, and never has been, “rejected by science”.  Cryptozoological concepts have, on many occasions, been rejected by individual scientists – something of which I have had personal experience – and that is an entirely different thing. 


If Sykes et al do manage an expedition into the Himayalas to look for this unknown bear species, and it should be pointed out here that at least one unknown bear species has been postulated from the region for many years (Eberhert 2002, for example) I for one am very much looking forward to reading their results and findings.

KARL SHUKER: The 'Other' Encounter Between a British Saint and a Lake Monster

As revealed here by Karl Shuker, St Columba wasn't the only British saint to confront a ferocious lake monster.

Read on...

MUIRHEAD'S MYSTERIES: You Tube video of an alleged Hong Kong seal/mermaid

C'MON DOCTOR N


My dear fellow, how long have you known me? My idea of a mean joke is to release radioactive landcrabs into your hotel room, run up your bar bill to astronomical proportions,  or burn your house down, not indulge in poor puns LOL

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today