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...




Friday, November 24, 2017

CFZ PEOPLE: Happy Birthday to Nick Redfern

Image may contain: 1 person, hat

ANIMAL WELFARE CAMPAIGN

Wow, we’re on fire! MPs are dashing to defend themselves and reassure the public -- but it’s not enough until the vote’s overturned! Let’s overwhelm them with our rush to defend the animals -- sign now!
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Sign now

Animals can’t feel pain -- that’s what MPs just voted, scrapping key animal protections. But it’s not too late to stop their heartless vote! Join the urgent call for the House of Lords to overturn this outrage and share everywhere you can. Sign with one click!
Sign now
Dear friends across Britain,

MPs just voted that animals can't feel emotions or pain. It's our government at its most cruel and heartless -- but a massive outcry from the public can overturn this outrage.

EU law protects animal welfare, but as we fumble towards Brexit Britain, MPs just voted to remove this vital safeguard, reducing animals to deaf and dumb creatures that exist purely for our benefit.

The vote narrowly passed in parliament and will go to the Lords -- that’s our chance. If we can create a massive outcry from right across the country, we can give the Lords the backing they need to reject this heartless amendment. Add your name, with one click, and tell everyone:

Lords: Stop the Heartless Animal Vote!

To the House of Lords:

"As citizens across Britain, we are horrified by the parliamentary vote that animals aren’t sentient beings. The vote strips animals of the rights they had under EU law -- and so we urge you to amend the EU Withdrawal Bill when it comes to the House of Lords."

Lords: Stop the Heartless Animal Vote!

Wagging tails, excited little lambs, cats that nuzzle your arm -- it’s obvious to everyone that animals have feelings and are aware of their surroundings. It’s been proven in over 2,500 scientific studies.

There can only be one reason to deny animal sentience, and that’s to exploit them. Strip away that recognition and there’s no reason to worry about animal testing, barbaric hunting games, and gruesome slaughterhouses. But we won’t have it.

When this bill arrives at the Lords, let’s make sure they have the backing they need to overturn this outrage -- we need to make it massive! Let’s show our government want compassion and humanity looks like -- sign now with one click!

Lords: Stop the Heartless Animal Vote!
There are many beliefs that unite our community across the world, but surely one of the most beautiful is the understanding that we don’t own or rule the planet -- we share it with every other being. It’s why time and again we’ve risen to the challenge of defending animals around the world. Let’s make sure this time isn’t any different.

With hope and determination,

Mike, Alex, Antonia, Bert and the whole team at Avaaz

More information:

MPs vote 'that animals cannot feel pain or emotions' into the Brexit bill (Independent)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-bill-latest-animal-sentience-cannot-feel-pain-...

Yes, Animals Think And Feel. Here's How We Know (National Geographic)
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150714-animal-dog-thinking-feelings-brain-science/

After 2,500 Studies, It's Time to Declare Animal Sentience Proven (Live Science)
https://www.livescience.com/39481-time-to-declare-animal-sentience.html

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



12 year old boy films bigfoot
In Maine, a teenager thought he had filmed the giant anthropoid that haunted the forests of North America, the mythical Bigfoot. For the monster hunter, Bill Brock, an occasional host on a Discovery Channel show, the most convincing proof of the Bigfoot's existence since the famous Patterson-Gimlin film ...

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/PHOTO: 2 more tigers dead in Nagpur divis...
  • NEWSLINK: Leopards attack three in Mandvi
  • NEWSLINK: Uttarakhand villagers set fire to farm l...


  • NEWSLINK: Leopard enters Dhirenpara school, mauls 



  • 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.

    Giant finches invade Scotland

    GOODNESS ME, IT IS THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    The Gonzo Daily: Friday/Saturday
     
    Last night saw the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu “Burn the Shard” erm… happening in London. I stayed up following the action as best as I could via social media and it seemed that a splendid time was had by all, and the overall vibe (as far as I could make out from the various info-streams was that it was wilder and more anarchic than the events in Liverpool last summer.
     
    Certainly the “Welcome to the Dark Ages” event didn’t have the participants told that they should “run” if approached by the police, or have the Ice Kream van, containing a grubby Ronald McDonald and spewing out yellow smoke as it careered down the Queen’s Highway. Some of the pictures which were posted on Instagram by my acquaintance the lovely Mary Epworth, looked like the event was the epicentre of a riot. Perhaps the afterparty is what was portrayed by the Aftermath Dislocation principle, except that the cops were replaced by a gaggle of MuMushocktroops all wearing yellow ponchos.
     
    I wish I had been there. But…
     
    What the Fuuk was it all about. What the Fuuk was going on? I am sure that Vicky Pea will explain it all in the fullness of time, but in the meantime I am as confused as everyone else. But as Noël Coward said:
     
    “I went to a marvellous party
    We played the most wonderful game”
     
    Except, of course, that I didn’t! I watched it all on my iPad whilst snuggled up in bed with a neurotic Jack Russell terrier and a self-opinionated orange cat.
     
    And while this was going on, in Liverpool, members of the Art’s Lab were parading around the streets dressed as crows.
     
    Truly we are living in marvellous times.
     
    Forgive me for always banging on about our webTV show, but it matters a lot to me, and I would be grateful for as many people as possible to see it, and spread the tidings of it far and wide:
     
     
    And if you fancy supporting us on Patreon:
     
    But for now, here is the news:
     
    THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Pink Faries - Do It
    COMING THIS WEEKEND
    FRANK ZAPPA NEWS
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    ANIMAL WELFARE CAMPAIGN
     
    Gonzo Weekly #261
    THE LAMENTING LEN ISSUE
     
    Marking the anniversary of Leonard Cohen’s death, we take a look at the outpouring of grief the tributes manifest, Alan looks at Matthew Smith’s Exist to Resist, Richard presents part three of the Steve Kimock story, and Jon looks at Black Mirror and Netflix.
     
    Hail Eris!
     
    And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney, Strange Harvest, Friday Night Progressive and Canterbury Sans Frontieres. We also have columns from all sorts of folk including Neil Nixon, Roy Weard, C J Stone, Mr Biffo and the irrepressible Corinna. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and long nosed potoroos who have done lots of poos (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who have been at the laxatives, 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:
     
    Black Mirror, Beatles, Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, Prince, Alan White, Elton John, Walter Becker, REM, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Charles Henry Mosley III, Frederick Lee Cole, Chad Hanks, Little Mama, Keith Barron, Michael ‘DikMik’ Davies, Lillith and Nilly, Barbara Dickson, Jessica Lee Morgan, Rick Wakeman, Billion Dollar Babies, Tangerine Dream, Peter Perrett, Jeremy Smith, Alan Dearling, Exist to Resist, Matthew Smith, Leonard Cohen, Richard Foreman, Steve Kimock, Kev Rowland, Thy Art is Murder, Travelin Jack, Trem do Futuro, The Two Tens, Ultranova, Venom Inc., Mr Biffo, Roy Weard, Hawkwind, Martin Springett, David Bowie, Gerald Scarfe, Pink Floyd, Chopin, Queen, Elvis, Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison
     
    Marking the anniversary of Leonard Cohen’s death, we take a look at the outpouring of grief the tributes manifest, Alan looks at Matthew Smith’s Exist to Resist, Richard presents part three of the Steve Kimock story, and Jon looks at Black Mirror and Netflix.
     
    Issue 260 (Amsterdam Squat Festie)
    Issue 259 (Out come thee Freaks)
    Issue 258 (The Devil's Jukebox)
    Issue 257 (Judge Smith)
    Issue 255/6 (John Lennon)
    Issue 254 (Mr Biffo)
    Issue 253 (Dana Gillespie)
    Issue 252 (Cropredy)
    Issue 251 (Scott Walker)
    Issue 250 (Jamms)
    Issue 249 (Bill Bruford)
    Issue 248 (The Selecter)
    Issue 247 (Don Airey)
    Issue 246 (Steve Hackett)
    Issue 244-5 (Summer Special)
     
     
    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:
     
    SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.
     
    * 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.co.uk
     
    * 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 58 who - together with a Jack Russell called Archie, an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and two half grown kittens, one totally coincidentally named after one of the Manson Family, purely because she squeaks, puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish. 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 Archie and the Cats?

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Friday/Saturday

    ON THIS DAY IN - 380 Theodosius I makes his adventus, or first formal entry, into Constantinople
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Pet Snake Nearly Kills Teen: Why the Inland Taipan...
  • Crocs take a bite out of claims of ancient stone-t...
  • What do piranhas and goldfish have in common?
  • Zebra scat science improves conservation efforts
  • Powerful lawmaker wants to ‘invalidate’ the Endang...
  • Endangered turtle making a slow and steady comebac...
  • 'Hobby zoos' face calls for crackdown after second...
  • Dinosaur-Age Shark with 300 'Frilled' Teeth Caught...


  • 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).