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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Monday, November 17, 2014

CRYPTOLINK: Loch Ness monster's cousin? Believers claim evidence of creature in Lake Champlain

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. 

Loch Ness monster

Since the 17th century, sightings have been reported of a mysterious creature in Lake Champlain. Now, two true believers think they have hard evidence that something monstrous is lurking in the lake's murky depths.

Over the years, it's been described as having a long snake-like body and a flat, horse-like head, and being roughly the size of a yacht. This rumored creature has become lovingly known as "Champ", or "Champy," and some people believe it to be a distant relative of Scotland's fabled Loch Ness Monster.

Most evidence of Champ comes in the form of blurry photos or recounted sightings, most of which have been discounted, according to Motherboard. But two cryptozoologists—people who study unknown animals like the Loch Ness monster—have used underwater recording equipment to capture loud clicking sounds, which they claim constitute evidence of Champ's existence.

Read on...

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.


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.

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  • BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    Best of Bigfootage: Tree shaking bigfoot or a hoaxer?
    A father and son captured video of what they thought was a Bigfoot in the woods, shaking a tree.

    Strange Photo Emerges of Bigfoot with Prey? (Video)
    This photo is being shared via YouTube by Dale Boswell. Not sure what to make of it. Some are suggesting it shows a bigfoot with a dead animal, ...

    Anaheim Hills residents going ape over gorilla-like creature sighting
    Baby Bigfoot or just a guy in a gorilla suit? Whatever it is, folks over at the Anaheim Hills Buzz Facebook group are going ape trying to decipher the ...

    Bigfoot found in china
    In the following incredible account, a "Bigfoot (Chinese Yeren)-human hybrid man" was found in China . The Wildman has been a part of the folklore of 

    5newsonline.com
    Should Arkansas hunters be concerned about more mountain lions?
    "People say that they see bigfoot, and we can't prove that they're here without documentable evidence. We're not saying they're (mountain lions) not ...

    Bigfoot might be hiding at my old house
    Back in 1974, I was at least 99 percent positive that Bigfoot existed. In those days, they showed a half-price matinee every Saturday afternoon at the 

    'Bigfoot Vocalization' Captured in Alabama
    Dorothy Sullivan, co-founder of the Alabama Bigfoot Society, says the audio recording was taken earlier this week from an area they had recently ...

    The Dogman stalking America's woods
    And, earlier this month, this fuzzy photo was taken in the woods of eastern Texas. Is it Dogman? Or is it a Bigfoot shouldering its next meal?

    Someone Shot a Bigfoot in 1968, North of Carson, Wyoming, Here's a Photograph of It
    Blogger Robert Lindsay is back! He's got a couple of great stories, starting with the usual Rick Dyer Hoax of The Month. The one thing we're mostly 

    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN PLAYS CATCH UP

    The Gonzo Daily - Monday
    It was a long and rather peculiar weekend. We finished the magazine on time, at about 2:00am on Saturday morning and went to bed. But when we arose, bright and shiny to greet the new day we found that the FTP server for all the external websites that we use (CFZ, Gonzo Weekly etc) was down, and so there was no way that we could publish it. It eventually saw the light of day on Sunday lunchtime. However, the rest of the weekend was spent recording with Mike, and we have finally nailed my favourite of his songs. I first tried recording Woman I know, about twenty five years ago, but I think we have the definitive version now. And yes that IS me on guitar. Peculiarly, although my galloping Carpal Tunnel Syndrome means I can no longer play bass, I can still pluck at the odd solo like this one.
    Yesterday I heard Dave Bainbridge's new album, which cuts a magnificent swathe through the worlds of folk rock, prog and all sorts of other things. I was expecting it to be good - after all, Dave is a peerless musician, and one of the founders of Christian folk rock outfit Iona, but I wasn't expecting it to be THIS good. It was far more rocky than I was expecting, and also far more stylistically diverse. I was expecting more of a folk rock influence and nowhere so much voyaging into the areas first explored by The Mahavishnu Orchestra, for example. But this is a good thing. I enjoyed it immensely. Bainbridge is obviously a producer like me who values different sound textures, and the music presented traverses a wide range of musical emotions, from the frankly sexy to the frankly scary. Celestial Fire is a lovely album which covers far more musical territory than I had been expecting, and bodes well for future outings from this fascinating artist.
    Pink Fairies, Rocket Scientists, Blodwyn Pig, Mick Abrahams, Pink Floyd, Jon Anderson, Yes, Nick Redfern, John Lennon, Hawkwind, and Daevid Allen fans had better look out! The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#104) will soon be available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/.
    It has The Pink Fairies on the cover, and features an interview with Andy Colquhoun about the current and future plans of the band including the long hoped for studio material. Rob Ayling visits legendary blues guitarist Mick Abrahams in his studio and find out about his exciting new album made with some very A-List sparring partners. Erik Norlander is very cagey about the new album from Rocket Scientists. But there's more! There is news about Daevid Allen, Doug Harr goes to see America and also gets hitched, Jon waxes lyrical about the new Pink Floyd album and then gets all existential.  Xtul are still in the deep woods, and Corinna finds some real Beatles tat. Jon looks at a peculiar book about Jon Lennon and we send the mighty John Ellis (ex Vibrators and Stranglers and sidesman to Peter Gabriel and Peter Hammill to a desert island. There are also new shows from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive, and the massively talented Jaki and Tim are back with their submarine and Maisie the cow. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and turtles having a snooze (OK, no soporific chelonians, 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:
    Issue 102 (Steve Hillage cover)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-gonzo-weekly-102.html
    Issue 101 (Tommy James cover)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/10/gonzo-weekly-101.html
    Issue 100 (Jon Anderson cover)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/10/gonzo-weekly-100.html
    Issue 99 (Judge Smith cover)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/10/gonzo-weekly-99.html
    Issue 98 (Matt Malley cover)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/10/gonzo-weekly-98.html
    Issue 97 (Evelyn cover)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/09/gonzo-weekly-97.html
    Issue 96 (Oz cover)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/09/gonzo-weekly-96.html
    Issue 95 (Mick Rogers cover)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/09/gonzo-weekly-95.html
    Issue 94 (John Ellis cover)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/09/gonzo-weekly-94.html

    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:
    http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/

    *  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 55 who - together with an infantile orange cat 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 infantile orange cat?

    JUST IN CASE ANYONE WONDERS WHAT I WAS RECORDING THIS LAST WEEKEND

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Monday

    ON THIS DAY IN 1798 - Irish nationalist leader Wolfe Tone committed suicide while in jail awaiting execution. 

  • International protection increased for 31 species
  • Wild Uncovered – Exciting talent supporting conser...
  • Born Free Foundation outwits the poachers, crusadi...
  • $1 million raised to save Snow Leopards
  • Insects were first to fly
  • Whoosh: ‘Salmon Cannon’ Shoots Fish Upstream to Sp...
  • RSPB records successes and declines of species on ...
  • New mechanism for growth control discovered
  • A positive step for Polar Bears

  • Puppy smuggling risks rabies outbreak, Dogs Trust ...

  • 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):