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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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...




Tuesday, June 23, 2015

SPECIAL OFFER ON ANDY WHITE'S ASTOUNDING NEW BOOK

The CFZ Publishing Group is very pleased to announce that we shall be publishing a new edition of this seminal work, which changes hands for the best part of five hundred quid these days. . 



The description of the original edition read:

Self-destructive behaviour - alcoholism, eating disorders, drug addiction, depression - has traditionally been viewed in an entirely negative light. This book invites the reader to rethink their attitudes towards self-destructive behaviour using the mythical tale of King Midas.

Now you can pre-order an autographed copy for a special low price of £9.99. Outside the UK you can still order the book for the same price but it will be delivered from the printer, and Andy will personally autograph an adhesive book plate which will be posted to you.

Order by post by sending a cheque payable to 'CFZ  Trust #1' to:

CFZ Publishing Group
Myrtle Cottage,
Woolfardisworthy,
Bideford, North Devon
EX39 5QR

Or online using the button below:



Trust me, you won't be disappointed. Check out Andy's blog here

If you want a personalised message, please tell us.

CRYPTOLINK: Monterey Bay has its share of monster stories

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. 
I so want the Loch Ness monster to be real. Same thing with the Yeti, Sasquach, the skunk ape of the Florida swamps. Vampires and zombies — not so much.
Long before scientists descended into the bone-crushing depths of the bay's submarine canyon and filmed some of the most remarkable creatures in God's blue ocean, folks always believed that some Nessy-like creatures inhabited Monterey Bay. People who worked the bay from Monterey, Moss Landing and Santa Cruz knew from the existing measurements of the day that it was a place of unimaginable depths and, possibly, the dark home of unimaginable monsters.
The most-often seen and reported on beast is a sad-looking creature the mariners call "Bobo." Randall A. Reinstedt, the county's leading authority on local sea monsters, ghosts, pirates and bogeymen, wrote the book, literally, on Bobo, or as some call him "the old man of Monterey Bay. Here's a blurb from his book "Mysterious Sea Monsters of California's Central Coast:"

CRYPTOLINK: Meet Pennsylvania's Loch Ness Monster, the Raystown Ray: Monsters of Pennsylvania

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. raystown ray photo.jpg
A 2007 tourist's photo remains the best photo of something in Raystown Lake that some believe to be a Loch Ness Monster-type creature they call Raystown Ray. (Submitted Photo)

A team from the Syfy channel's Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files visited Raystown Lake, an 8,300-acre, man-made lake in Huntingdon County, in 2010 in search of a Loch Ness Monster-type creature known as Raystown Ray. They splashed around the lake, diving in the murky waters at night. They took sonar readings. They photographed a floating log in the lake, basically recreating the most famous photo of Ray. They towed a dead carp around the lake as bait, snagging the bottom of the lake.

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.


  • NEWSLINK: Why Did Lion Kill Tourist in South Afric...
  • U’khand to begin count of elusive snow leopards fr...
  • NEWSLINK: The curious case of Ozzie the Sydney cat...


  • NEWSLINK: Border Force operation seizes items incl...
  • BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    Bigfoot Spotted by Two Fishermen
    Bigfoot Spotted by Two Fishermen. This report is from kentuckybigfoot.com I really like the work these guys are doing. Location: Ohio County, KY


    Watch: Indiana Bigfoot Witness
    Watch: Indiana Bigfoot Witness. Dave has been a registered nurse for 7 years and a chiropractor for 23 years, thus he is very familiar with human ...

    Was Bigfoot On Ridge Watching Me?
    While shooting a video update on my health issuses and recent hospital treatment, I may have had a Sasquatch watching over me as I filmed and ...

    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.

  • Nation's oldest bald eagle - a Minnesotan - dead a...
  • Vagrant bachelors could save rare bird

  • Nightingales show off their fathering skills throu...
  • THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN HAS NEWS

    The Gonzo Daily - Tuesday
    Yesterday was chaos with an endless stream of visitors, telephone calls and noisy animals. I did all sorts of things, but nothing worth noting. On the British butterfly front, however, there has been a European race swallowtail in south Devon, and two monarchs in Kent. The latter is basically a New World species though breeding populations of Monarch butterflies occurs on the Azores Canary Islands, Madeira, southern Spain, and Gibraltar and it is now thought that the majority of the individuals seen in the UK are more likely to originate from these areas rather than from across the Atlantic.
    The Gonzo Weekly #135
    www.gonzoweekly.com
    Friday Night Progressive, M Destiny, Alan Parsons, Michael Chapman, Bridget St John, Joy Division, Mumford and Sons,John Cale, Roy Weard, Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, Jon Anderson, and Yes fans had better look out!
    The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#135) is available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has M Destiny of Friday Night Progressive on the front cover together with an exclusive interview with him on the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the show. There is an exclusive look at Alan Parsons live by Doug, and live reviews of Bridget St John and Michael Chapman by John, Jon examines a book by Rick Buckler, one time drummer of The Jam, and has a mild rant about Paul Weller whilst urging caution about the generation gap, Thom waxes all poetical like, whilst the legendary Roy Weard continues his regular column. Xtul reveals a bit of the backstory, and there is a radio show from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive, and one from those jolly nice chaps at Strange Fruit. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and southern dibblers in high heeled shoes (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials having difficulty in fashionable footwear, 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:

    Bob Geldof, Neil Young, Robert Plant, Deen Castronovo, Florence and the Machine, Damon Albarn, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Tommy James, Pussy Riot, Galahad, Pink Fairies, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Sarah Streeter, John Boudreaux, Samuel McClain, Merrell Fankhauser, Hugh Hopper, Tommy James, Inner City Unit, Mick Abrahams and Guests, Pete Sears, Barbara Dickson, M Destiny, AlanParsons, Lee Walker, Joy Division, Mumford & Sons, John Brodie Good, Michael Chapman & Bridget St John, Roy
    Weard, Hawkwind, Richard Muirhead, Yes, Rick Wakeman, Chris Squire, Wyrd, The Jam, Rick Buckler, Xtul, Cher, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Britney Spears, Kanye West, Barbra Streisand, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dorothy Ashby, Neil Nixon, Tyr
    Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
    Issue 134 (John Shuttleworth cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo134.html
    Issue 133 (Liz Lenten cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo133.html
    Issue 132 (Daevid in Brazil cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo132.html
    Issue 131 (Boomtown Rats cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo131.html
    Issue 130 (David Peel cover)
    http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo130.html
    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?

    ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

    News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

    From CFZ-USA:

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Tuesday

    ON THIS DAY IN 1683 - William Penn signed a friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania. 
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • The curious case of Ozzie the Sydney cat, who turn...
  • New rewilding area to be launched in Europe
  • Majority rules when baboons vote with their feet
  • Giant 'Walking Bat' Once Prowled Rainforest Floors...

  • Alaska researcher investigates multiple endangered...

  • 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)