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, May 22, 2015

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.

  • Shot Kentucky mountain lion remains a mystery
  • NEWSLINK: Fate of tiger that killed guard hangs in...
  • NEWSLINK: Rajasthan launches inquiry into tiger at...

  • NEWSLINK: Police feared for safety of spectators a...

  • ANIMAL WELFARE: Fox Killed By York And Ainsty Foxhunt After Meeting At Home of David Cameron's Father In Law

    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.


    BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF




    Watch: Eyewitness Retells His Bigfoot Sighting From 1980
    Eyewitness Clynn Josephson talks about his shocking encounter with a Bigfoot in 1980 on Oxford Peak, Idaho while searching for gold with his ...

    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN HOPS AND SKIPS

    The Gonzo Daily - Friday/Saturday
     
    Golly what a long strange trip it's been. This week I mean.
     
    Everything was going as normal until Tuesday evening. Monday had been fairly productive and straightforward, and on Tuesday Jessica and I had spent a long, complicated day correcting proofs and were feeling really rather pleased with ourselves. Helen, Jessica's mum, who has been housekeeper here since my parent's day came in to see us in the office. She was being very affectionate, and obviously wanted something. "Would we be able to adopt another kitten?" She asked in a voice like honey and treacle mixed up into a potion by someone invented by Enid Blyton.
     
    "Christ, not another cat", I began, and then noticed a smug look on Helen's face. She obviously knew something I didn't. Then the pin dropped. "Corinna has already said yes, hasn't she?" I said, realising that I would have to cooperate with the inevitable. Helen nodded, and she, Jessica and Corinna went to collect said kitten from one of Helen's many relatives in Hartland.
     
    Not altogether to my surprise, when they returned several hours later Jessica was also clutching a kitten. I did my best to sound stern and resolute and insist that this little one (with whom I immediately fell in love would be our last. After all, I said, we now have four cats (Poppy McGregor, Lilith Tinkerbell, Captain "Peanut" Frunobulax the Magnificent, and the kitten), and that is enough for anybody. However, Helen's household now has ten cats, and much though I love her, I am not sure that she is that good an influence on my beloved wife.
     
    The kitten has the temporary name of 'Squeaky' (more because of the noise she makes all day long than because of the Manson Family connotation).
     
    But then things got weirder.  Wednesday morning dawned bright and sunny, or at least I suspect it did, because after a late night up with Squeaky I overslept by a few hours. I hate oversleeping and coming down late, So I was not in the best of moods when I did eventually come downstairs. When I hobbled into the office, the kitten poking out of the front of my shirt as if I had somehow become a marsupial overnight (being a father figure rather than a mother figure, shouldn't that be a 'Pa-Supial'?) I found to my horror that the hard drive containing all the Gonzo, Wyrd and Music files had gone tits up. Some of it was backed up, but equally some of it wasn't.
     
    There are some jolly useful people at a Data Recovery form in Barnstaple who have the drive now, and I am reliably informed that it looks probable that I shall get some if not all of my missing files back, but the whole process is taking longer than usual which is why I have not been operational for the last few days. However, I have always been proud of the fact that The Gonzo Weekly, like the Pony Express always gets through and like the Windmill Theatre we never close. So there is a magazine this week, even though it is somewhat more truncated than usual.
     
    And guess what?
     
    Despite all the crap that has happened, I still haven't had a cigarette!
     
    I have to admit that I am feeling rather proud of myself.
     
     
    The Gonzo Weekly #130
    www.gonzoweekly.com
     
    David Peel, John Lennon, Gryphon, Lester Bangs, Malachite, Britannia Potts, Roy Weard, Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, Jon Anderson, and Yes fans had better look out!
     
    The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#130) is available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has David Peel on the front cover together with the intriguing story of how the FBI got him and John Lennon confused inside. There is a look at Gryphon live by Doug, Jon examines a new collection of Lester Bangs' writings, and talks about a very weird weekend, whilst the legendary Roy Weard continues his regular column. We send Nigel Hewlett-Beech to a desert island, There is a peek at some rare Yes memorabilia, and a look at the story of Silver Machine, Neil Nixon reports on an even stranger album than usual, Wyrd meets Britannia Potts, Xtul gets even more peculiar, and there are radio shows from Strange Fruit and from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and pademelons trying to choose (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials having difficulty in making choices, 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:
    Liam Gallagher, Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, Kurt Cobain, Slash, Malcolm Young, AC/DC, Weird Weekend, Kim Kardashian, Bear Grylls, Steve Ignorant, Slice of Life, Steve Hackett, Elvis Presley, Eliza Carthy, Tim Eriksen, Galahad, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, B B King, Mick Abrahams & Sharon Watson, Tommy James, Hugh Hopper, Third Ear Band, WMWS, David Peel, Strawberry Alarm CLock, Eliza Carthy & Jim Moray, Magic Michael, David Peel, John Lennon, Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Jon Wiener, Gryphon, Roy Weard, Hawkwind, Nigel Hewlett-Beech, Malachite, Yes, Steve Howe, Palos Verdes, Alan White, Rick Wakeman, Lester Bangs, Xtul, Neil Nixon, And the Native Hipsters,Rolling Stones, Paganini, Grateful Dead, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Dalriada
     
    Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
     
    Issue 129 (Clepsydra cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo129.html
    Issue 128 (Louie Louie cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo128.html
    Issue 127 (Roy Weard cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo127.html
    Issue 126 (Atkins-May Project cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo126.html
    Issue 125 (Mick Abrahams cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo125.html
    Issue 124 (Karnataka cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo124.html
    Issue 123 (Cream cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo123.html
    Issue 122 (Anthony Phillips cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo122.html
    Issue 121 (Annie Haslam cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo121.html
    Issue 120 (Frank Zappa cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo120.html
    Issue 119 (Eliza Carthy cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo119.html
    Issue 118 (Dave Brock cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo118.html
    Issue 117 (Daevid Allen cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo117.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/…/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit
     
    * 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?

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Friday/Saturday

    ON THIS DAY IN 1455 - King Henry VI was taken prisoner by the Yorkists at the Battle of St. Albans, during the War of the Roses. 
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk


  • Scientists using new technology to track endangere...
  • Smaller satellite sensors help scientists follow y...
  • Vietnamese man arrested in Russia with body of Sib...
  • Zambia begins hunting of big cats again


  • Why are so many whales dying on California's shore...


  • 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)