Monday 31 December 2018

DEAN FORD REVIEW

http://annecarlini.com/ex_cd.php?id=2479

Title - 'This Scottish Heart' [2CD]
Artist - Dean Ford
For those not in the know, much like myself, Dean Ford (actually born Thomas McAleese) is a Scottish singer and songwriter best known for his tenure as lead vocalist and frontman of the beat pop group Marmalade from 1966 to 1974.
Ford (credited as McAleese) co-wrote the group's worldwide hit "Reflections of My Life" with fellow band member Junior Campbell. Indeed, "Reflections of My Life" has sold more than two million units globally, and in 1998 the writers were awarded a Special Citation of Achievement by BMI for attaining radio broadcast performances in excess of one million in the U.S. alone.
Ford now brings us a wondrous 2CD album entitled This Scottish Heart via Shine On Records. This Scottish Heart includes thirty tracks that will amaze the listener with its strong melody, intelligent harmonies and catchy song-craft throughout.
Also inclusive of a re-visited, tasteful acoustic reworking of that very same hit, "Reflections Of My Heart," Ford's lyrics encompass all aspects of his life.
Having recorded the new album in a small kitchenette area entirely with his laptop computer, with almost all of the effort being performed and sung by the veteran musician, this beautiful, chock full of musical heart and soul goodness album finally allows Ford to relate the truth of his personal journey through these reflections of his life.
CD 1: A New Day | Little Man | Running Out Of Time | Natasha | The Blue Angel | Butterflies In June | Until The Day I Die | I Got You | God Is | Precious Little Boy | Merry Go Round | Cowboy Joe | Restless Heart | He's An Angel | Left My Heart In Mexico | When Will It End | Dreamland.
CD 2: Glasgow Road | This Scottish Heart | Glasgow Night | Bonnie Mary | Made In Scotland | A Song For Mary | Nineteen Fifty Three | Daddy | Buddy, Roy And Dion | Blue Horizon | Callander | For McDougall | Reflections Of My Life.
Amazon Purchase Link
Dean Ford @ Facebook!

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
This Scottish Heart
DCD - £10.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

2019 POSITIVE RESOLUTIONS
TO BREATHE DEEPLY &WELL
To co-create with willing accomplices
To listen more than i speak/feel more than i share
To use LIVE agents rather than VIRTUAL
To pursue every impossible moment
To release all the wilde birds
To track trace all possible Paradises
To seek solutions and panaceas
To link,engage,connect with all,each,every
To accept each experience as unique
To learn from every person encountered
To flow with harmony,peace and Light

To marry Life in all her ambient wisdoms

Sunday 30 December 2018

DEAN FORD REVIEW

 

DEAN FORD/This Scottish Heart:  He looks like a geezer but doesn’t sound like one.  One of the driving wheel’s of the 60s group Marmalade, Ford looks back at his life over a two disc spread and delivers it all in folkie fashion on a set recorded in his kitchen on a laptop.  It’s amazing what you can do these days.  Even it most of it is a look back over his life and times, it’s not an exercise in nostalgia---unless you’re looking for some easy rolling music that doesn’t hit you over the head.  Check it out.
(Shine On 1)

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
This Scottish Heart
DCD - £10.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

IT IS NOT THE COUNTING OF THE DAYS
THOUGH DAYS LEFT ARE TOO FEW
before"The New"changes all our numbering
Then,instead of counting,we will recount
all the wounds and flowers of our cycle.
Looking back has never been a good view-
we tend to compare/there has never been
a "good"without a "better"..Then we wish for MORE-
that"the best is yet to come"
and "Welcome in the New"-while these last few moments
are someone's birthday,a significance

lost to few...

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: O Baha'u'llah

Being Sunday I always post sacred music. The name of the deity may change, or even the deity Him/Herself but the spirit remains the same.

Friday 28 December 2018

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: I Believe In Father Christmas - single by Greg Lake

STEVE HILLAGE NEWS


Progressive rock trailblazer Steve Hillage and his band are to play three live shows in the UK — their first under the name of the Steve Hillage Band for ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

On The Track (of Unknown Animals) Ep. 98 (Festive issue, marine men, mystery rhinos etc)



Here we have the seventeenth episode of the relaunched webTV show by the Centre for Fortean Zoology, written and presented by Jon Downes and Charlotte Phillipson, their families and other animals. This episode contains: • A brief note of explanation • Wally the Comedy Rhinoceros • Rudolph the red nosed Saola • Those mystery seamen again • Freeman goes all Lovecraftian • Mystery rhinos • The large tortoiseshell • Corinna is cross with Wally • So is Bob Dylan (probably) • Gerald Durrell's mystery goldfish • Charlotte investigates • PRODUCT PLACEMENT - Animals & Men - Lars Thomas' new book - Jon's new novel • Watcher of the skies • New and rediscovered: New frog • New and rediscovered: New geckos • New and rediscovered: New cobra • New and rediscovered: New caecilian • New and rediscovered: New annual killifish • New and rediscovered: New catfish • New and rediscovered: New titi monkey • New and rediscovered: New siren • New and rediscovered: Rediscovered skink • Fair use • Coming next month • The Patreon campaign • The team says goodbye until next month

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

MEDITATION = SPIRITUAL AWAKENING
small
In this Uni-Verse
in the Order of Things
In the way we move in this world
we are small...We have tried BIG!-
Big Walls,Wars,Profits,Buildings,
We have projected BIG EMPIRES
but they did not last.They fell down like the Berlin Wall/
Small as Hadrian's Wall.Little as an orphanage.
Now we need-to return to Village.Bicycles.Pedestrians.Individuality.
World is old and tired/all sewn up with refugees /hot with flaming wars.
Cool it.Chill.Each of us has wars inside us-health,weakness,poverty.
Every one of us calls as birds do -to the forest inside of us.

Answer the call...

SPIRITS BURNING REVIEW

DJ Astros Psychedelic Music Blog

An Alien Heat is the 14th CD by international collective Spirits Burning established 1986 in San Francisco by its leader Don Falcone. I've been following their output since the debut album New Worlds By Design in 1999 but have sadly missed the two latest releases. Don has always collected some of the best musicians from several genres like space rock, electronic, psychedelic, progressive and art rock, and this release is no exception. Sci-fi writer Michael Moorcock has been involved before but this time his presence is stronger than before. I really like that since he is one of my favourite writers as well as an ex-member of my favourite band Hawkwind! Other musicians featured include people from Blue Ă–yster Cult, The Damned, The Groundhogs, Clearlight, Hawkwind, Chrome and Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, just to name a few. There are over 30 people involved altogether so I can only imagine how much work it has taken to get this all organized and produced! Don and his partners have made an amazing job, however. Lyrically Moorcock is involved in most of the 16 songs and he also sings and plays some harmonica.


The BĂ–C fans (myself included!) will love the classic rock/pop styled tracks like the opener "Hothouse Flowers", the excellent sci-fidelic "In the Future", "Fall in Love", "Back To 1896", "Seven Finger Solution" and the space rocking "To Steal a Space Traveller", perhaps the highlight for me. "Soiree of Fire" is a hypnotic, trippy and tribal-sounding piece that I also really like. The melancholic "Doomed" makes the shivers go though my spine, very effective as well! "Any Particular Interest" is something special too... Oh well, so many great tunes! More electronic side is presented with for example with the sort of Gothic rock sounding "Virtue & Mrs. Amelia Underwood" and "Dark Dominion", still bringing to mind BĂ–C a bit, though! There are also more atmospheric tracks closer to ambient but nothing completely afloat or ethereal. The use on violin and also acoustic guitar on a track or two adds some folk vibes too. All in all, this is another excellent sounding, interesting and highly enjoyable album by the Spirits Burning collective, well done! If you get the initial pressing, you will also get a bonus disc that includes all the tracks in instrumental form which is cool.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO



Spirits Burning is one of the most unique entities in the space rock galaxy. The group consists of one main member, Don Falcone, and many other participants from various  bands and projects...


Healthy Music In Large Doses is the latest offering from the Spirits Burning space rock collective, this time featuring keyboardist Cyrille 'Clearlight' Verdeaux. Clearlight is a project of French son..

Thursday 27 December 2018

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Mud - Lonely This Christmas

PRINCE CHARLES IS A FAN OF LEONARD COHEN....AND MORE

Montreal's beloved native son Leonard Cohen has been gone now for more than two years — he died Nov. 7, 2016 at 82 — and we miss him. But he ...
Leonard Cohen was one of the old-school individuals that knew a thing or two about the way things used to be and managed to put some of that into ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

JON ANDERSON NEWS


It's been decades in the making and still has no formal release date, but longtime Yes vocalist Jon Anderson is expected to finally be releasing his next ...


Just in the Saint Nick of time, founding Yes singer Jon Anderson has debuted a new holiday song on YouTube called “Love Is Everything.” The gentle ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

SO MUCH SPOKEN WITH DEVOTION
TO THE CORE&TRUTH OF ALL-
In parable.In metaphor.In Fable and in story line
They will believe you in the telling time.And remembering
a delight twice shared-by hearing and repeating there
is evidence of magical/miraculous/a change of state/that trance forms us..
That hearing becomes deep as fish beneath a frozen lake
And clouds conspiring to block sunlight.And every word translates
into separate apartment lives/as if a mirror camera revealed
all the secrets that you know and feel.Time unpeels its orange  skin.
What's heard becomes action/made in film wide screen.
And folk nod at Classical Wisdom expressed/through metaphors of life and death.
Underneath all language are spells cast.Incantations to the Dancing Spark.Call up Rumi-ask
what more can be required of us/to apply these fables/parables to our lives

that we,in turn,might(by Spirit)-survive...

Wednesday 26 December 2018

ZAPPASTUFF


Today (December 21) would've been Frank Zappa's 78th birthday. Combined as a solo artist and with The Mothers Of Invention, Zappa released over ...


Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore on this date in 1940. A prolonged battle with prostate cancer finally ended with Zappa's death in 1993, just a few ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
The Real Porn Wars
Book - £12.99

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Slade - Merry Christmas Everybody

LEONARD COHEN REVIEW


REVIEW: The poet himself needs no introduction. For over 50 years has won the hearts and minds of global listeners. His death two years ago was ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?


COLD &DARK&MOON COMBINE
in Sacred Winter Season.Fires (interior)warm the stillness
Shopping stops(pre- and post-sales)
Doors close /families within/gourmandising
Perhaps desultory fireworks in South Austin.
Traffic.Accidents.Cars collide like meteors.
All these Lights!(with vehicles beside them)
Trail of Parking .Stare at STAR WARS
What has Christmas to do with inflatables?
Strung Lights struggle /blinking,uncertain.
Stock Market dives like a shutdown.
Tis the Season.To stop.Meditate.
Scrooge?or Grinch?BAH! or HUMBUG?
Throw hope as projected trust into this dead Calendar.
Maybe a New Year?Perhaps Bethlehem this year?

Palestine with walls around.Soon we will have our own..

Tuesday 25 December 2018

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS


THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

SHARING,GIVING,GATHERING
UNDERNEATH THE DROSS&GLITTER
Empty AMAZON Prime parcels beneath full Malls
There is a cheerfulness..You can not blame the moon..
She is trapped in orbits like consumers.She will return
like astrologers to Bethlehem.It is the virtue of limits binds us-
that there are mountains beyond our clime
Rivers we will never see in flood.Giant etchings in earth
only GOOGLE can reveal(or drones @Gatwick)
The brightness of this Giving Season/Exchange of Gifts
The making of hand-made/home-made artifacts
The gathering of family,friends and strangers
Softening of hearts towards the dispossessed
Where cliches become kindness,and smiles bloom

as we do,beneath a cold and distant moon.

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Monday 24 December 2018

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: The Pogues Featuring Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale Of New York

SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM PRUDENCE THE RED NOSED REINDEER


HAWKWINDSTUFF

Hawkwind - 1981 Friday Rock Show Interview
http://www.hawkwindbootlegs.com Tommy Vance interviews Dave Brock and Harvey Bainbridge.

FOR THOSE OF YOU INTERESTED IN MY DAY JOB

Dear friends,

2019 Annual Report of the Centre for Fortean Zoology.

It is quite a humbling thought that this is the twenty fourth time I have sat down to write my annual report for the Centre for Fortean Zoology. An awful lot has changed over the years, and I must admit that back when I wrote my first annual report, sitting up in bed, upstairs in my little house in Exeter, recovering from a heavy cold, I had no idea that nearly a quarter of a century later I would be sitting down in what was then my parents’ house in North Devon, doing exactly the same thing.

This has been a peculiar year, even by CFZ standards, and can probably be – if I may be forgiven for sounding like a quintessential football manager from the 1970s – judged as ‘a game of two halves’, the second of which – beginning from the third week in July – has been dominated by the fact that my darling wife Corinna, who is also the administrator for the Centre for Fortean Zoology, has been seriously ill, which means that most of her CFZ activities have sadly had to have been curtailed.

She is better than she was, but we will be awaiting the results of more tests at the end of February before we have any big idea of what the diagnosis, and therefore the prognosis, is.

However, the year began in a very brisk and business-like manner, as our old friend and colleague, Carl Marshall, began a series of visits down to the CFZ, here in Devonshire. While the CFZ trees were still dormant for winter, Carl carried out a long series of pruning operations, designed to make the CFZ grounds not only more neat and tidy, but to allow more sunlight in than there has been in recent years. The garden was originally designed by my father and grandmother for long, hot summers, and cold, dry winters. However, as anybody who has lived in the United Kingdom and especially the Westcountry, in recent years will know that these conditions are largely something of the past. We have not been immune to the problem of global climate change here, and both the house and the grounds have suffered considerably from the almost incessant rain. Even on times when other parts of the Westcountry are having relatively mild weather, the fact that Hartland Point, a peninsula at the base of which the CFZ is situated, sticks out into the Bristol channel, and – as a result – our weather patterns have always been more violent than those found in the rest of the county. It is like a little ‘micro county’, similar – I believe – to The Burren, in Ireland, although our micro-biotope is not quite so interesting.

Carl, Graham and I have, therefore, been re-designing the CFZ grounds to make them more suitable for wet weather, and so as well as the much needed work on the trees, Carl has been straightening paths, introducing plants that thrive in soggy conditions, and re-landscaping the pond, something which took an enormous number of stones, and which is not finished yet as we are still hoping to scavenge some more stones from one of the building activities taking place elsewhere in the village.

Graham and Carl have also carried out some much needed repair work to the museum building, which will – in the fullness of time – not only become a museum again but be curated by Carl, who learned his craft working for many years at Stratford Butterfly Farm.


  • Publishing

After a couple of years in the relative doldrums, the publishing schedule for CFZ Press and its sister imprints has started anew.

This year, we published three titles:
  • The Seal Serpent by Rob Cornes and Gary Cunningham 
  •  ISBN/SKU:9781909488557
  • ISBN Complete:9781909488557
  • Publication Date: 9/21/2018
  • On Sale Date: 9/24/2018
  • Page Count:370
  • Spine Width: 0.76600  in
The Seal Serpent is a critical reappraisal of the theory that a pinniped (seal, sea lion, fur seal, walrus) could have evolved a long neck becoming the source of numerous tales of sea serpents or lake monsters from around the world; a mammalian equivalent of the plesiosaur.
The theory which has been around for over a hundred years is given a fresh perspective by Rob Cornes (The Surreal Seal Campaign, CFZ yearbook 2007) and Gary Cunningham (co-author of The Mystery Animals of Ireland 2010).
The authors evaluate the evidence for such an animal and build a speculative framework for its existence. They uncover previously unpublished reports which may strengthen the theory but also uncover a number of innacuracies and alternative explanations which may explain other historic accounts.
 From the bunyip of Australia to the beachwalker and skrimsl of Iceland, the fabled horse eels of Connemara to Pal Rai Yuk in Alaska the authors undertake a global investigation.
 Along the way they stumble upon an unexpected, previously unexplored but potentially game changing (or new paradigm) possibility to explain some lake monster identities; a unique possibility which should intitate a review of witness reports from Loch Ness and Ireland, among others...


  • Curious Countries: The Mystery Animals of Scandinavia and the Baltic States by Lars Thomas 
  • ISBN/SKU:9781909488571
  • ISBN Complete:9781909488571
  • Publication Date: 10/22/2018
  • On Sale Date: 10/22/2018
  • Anniversary Date:
  • Page Count:256
 Have you ever wondered what lurks out there in the deep, dark woods of the North? This book presents a choice selection of monstrous beings and fabulous creatures from Greenland, across the North Atlantic to Scandinavia, and the Baltic States. Meet the Giant Gull of Greenland, the terrifying Skrimsl of the Icelandic wilderness, the trolls that stomp through the impenetrable Nordic woods, and the puk-dragons guarding the houses on the Baltic Coast. This is the book where zoologist Lars Thomas tries to make sense of all the very strange beings that live in these Curious Countries.
  • Zen and Xenophobia: What happened after The Song of Panne by Jonathan Downes 
  •  ISBN/SKU:9781909488564
  • ISBN Complete:9781909488564
  • Publication Date: 10/7/2018
  • On Sale Date: 10/7/2018
  • Anniversary Date:
  • Page Count:262
Three years ago, I wrote a book called The Song of Panne, which told the story of how my dear, long suffering wife Corinna and I ended up having a hairy humanoid forest Godling (to steal Kipling's nomenclature) living in the airing cupboard in what used to be my father's dressing room. You can take it as fiction if you like, or you can believe every word I say. Believe it or not, it truly doesn't matter to me one way or another. This book continues the story roughly from where it left off, although the vast majority of it tells the story of a few days in the Autumn of 2015, and explains some of the things left hanging in the first book. I would like to think that you can read this book as a standalone volume, although - as an impecunious author with wife, family, animals and forest Godling to support - I could always do with the cash if you would like to buy the previous book. 
Although some of the characters in the book are real (whatever that means), in order to protect my kneecaps, it is probably better if you assume that everybody here except for me and Corinna is completely made up.
I would warn you that if you are of a nervous disposition, or easily offended, you will find parts of this book both offensive and upsetting. There is sex, violence, drug abuse, occultism, pornography, firearms, politics, religion, and not a little sociology. But there is also love, kindness, faith, and redemption.
Unfortunately, in these peculiarly decadent days, people are no longer happy to pay money for things like magazines and music, which they feel is their right to get for free, over the internet. This is why, some years ago, we started putting out Animals & Men for free. However, we accompanied it with hard copy volumes in paperback, which were for sale for those who wanted them. Unfortunately, the manufacturing costs of said magazines are high enough, and sales figures low enough, to make the continuation of this economically unviable. But, however, we are totally against the idea of making Animals & Men a purely digital publication, and so, although we haven’t worked out the details just yet, we intend to start issuing the magazines from after issue 57 as omnibus volumes of about three hundred pages.

I have also had people write to me about two other CFZ publications, which do, I will admit, appear to have lapsed recently. These are, of course, the CFZ Annual Yearbook, and the Journal of Cryptozoology. Dealing with the latter first, there will be another issue once enough submissions have been received. It is sad that, although for many years people have been complaining that there is no peer-reviewed journal dealing with cryptozoological matters, when somebody goes to the effort and expense of publishing one, far less submissions are received than one would have otherwise thought. Sadly, much of the same can be said about the CFZ yearbook, because it seems that people are much happier to write things on social media, where there is instant gratification, than they are to write things for print media. Again, many apologies for the bellyaching, but future issues of both publications will not arrive until we have enough submissions.


  • Events

In April, Glen Vaudrey promoted the third Weird Weekend North. Tickets for the fourth event are already on sale.

The provisional running order for Weird Weekend North 2019

Saturday
10:45 Rob Gandy -Ruskington Horror
12:00 Nathan Jackson - BHMs: The World Over
14:00 Carl Marshall - British Big Cats
15:15 Christopher Josiffe - Gef! The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose
16:30 Glen Vaudrey - The Risley Silverman mystery, alien encounter or something else
18:30 James Newton - Dogmen
19:45 Richard Freeman – The Hunting of the Gul: Tracking hominids in Tajikistan.


Sunday
11:00 Andy Ross – The Durham Puma
12:00 Steve Jones - Ghosts I have met; Steve Jones weirdest happenings
14:00 Steve Mera - UFO portals and their connection to the paranormal
16:00 Weird Weekend North Quiz
17:00 Bob Fischer – TBA



  • Expedition

This year’s expedition took place in July, when Richard Freeman, Dr Chris Clark and Dave Archer went to the former Soviet Central Asian republic of Tajikistan. They were in search of contemporary accounts of an alleged man-beast, known locally as the Dev or the Gul (the origin of the English word ‘ghoul’). They had originally assumed that it would be a local manifestation of the almas or almasty, which have been reported all the way across Central Asia, from the Caucasus (actually in Europe) in the West, to Mongolia in the East. However, they found that, much to their surprise, the creatures described to them were significantly different to the animals that had been described to them during their two expeditions to Kabardino-Balkaria in 2008 and 2017. Richard Freeman writes:

“Before I visited Tajikistan I thought the creature would be the same species as the almasty of Russia. However, the two seem different. The almasty could, according to witnesses, reach seven and a half feet tall. The gul was more like a man in height, if far broader across the shoulders. More tellingly is the strange structure of the hand. All the witnesses stress that the thumbs were further back on the hand than a human thumb. If you were going to make up a story about seeing a monster, would the thumbs be the first thing you described?
The hands of fossil hominins, such as Homo erectus or Homo habils, seem more like modern man in structure. Even the more primitive australopithecines had a hand structure more man-like than ape-like. 
The shape of the hands of the gul, as described by witnesses, looked more like those of a chimpanzee or those of Ardipithecus ramidus, a 4.4 million year old hominin, that was twice as ancient as Homo habilis. Does this mean that the gul is a descendent of Ardipithecus ramidus, or one of its relations? 
Possibly, but not necessarily: the strange hand shape may be a relatively recent development, perhaps an adaptation to climbing, but all of this is just speculation. Only a specimen will answer these riddles once and for all. It seems that the gul may be a whole new chapter in hominology.”
Perhaps most interestingly of all, were the reports that they received of recent sightings of what appear to be Caspian tigers. The Caspian tiger, which has recently been re-classified as being contiguous with the Siberian tiger, although it was intermediate in size between that enormous subspecies and the more well known Bengal tiger, was allegedly hunted to extinction in the second half of the twentieth century.

Here, we should point out that the latest studies, according to Carlos A. Driscoll, Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, Gila Kahila Bar-Gal, Alfred L. Roca, Shujin Luo, David W. Macdonald and Stephen J. O'Brien in their paper, Mitochondrial Phylogeography Illuminates the Origin of the Extinct Caspian Tiger and Its Relationship to the Amur Tiger (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004125), have suggested that the two ‘subspecies’ only diverged about two hundred years ago.

The most recent thinking goes even further, and reclassifies all of the tiger subspecies, putting all six of the mainland Asian subspecies into one: the Mainland Asian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and the three island subspecies, two of which are probably extinct, being reclassified to the Sunda Island tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica).

The taxonomy of all cat species seem to be in a permanent state of flux, and so I think that it would be unwise to write off all these previously known subspecies just yet. One thing that we found particularly disturbing, is that on his return to the UK, Richard sent details of these sightings of the Caspian tiger to various conservation organisations which deal with tigers, and of all the letters he sent out, only one sent an answer and they were not the slightest bit interested. I found something similar in 2017, when Richard came back from Karbadino-Balkaria with a number of new records of the striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) in areas from which they had supposedly been extirpated. Again, despite several emails, we received no reply, even from scientists who are – allegedly – specialising in this particular species. It is occurrences like this that – sadly – characterise the relationship between some mainstream scientists and the discipline of cryptozoology.


  • Those we have lost

HEATHER MATTHEWS was one of the finest ladies whom I have ever had the privilege to know. She is best known to Weird Weekend visitors over the years as being the mother of British mystery cat researcher, Marcus Matthews, and her enthusiasm and continual good humour endeared her to a long line of people who attended the Weird Weekend between 2006 and 2016. Widowed at an unhappily early age, she not only ran her little farm in Wiltshire but brought up and looked after her son, who had a specific set of medical needs. I shall miss her very much indeed.


  • Study groups

As regular CFZ watchers will know, we have been working on a whole series of specialist ‘Study Groups’ for many years now. I am not going to pretend that it is an original idea; most of my ideas aren’t. It is something which I got from the Amateur Entomologist Society [AES], who have had specialist study groups for decades, most notably the Phasmid Study Group, amongst several others. We started the BHM Study Group under the aegis of Paul Vella at the beginning of the century, and the Big Cat Study group soon after, but as you know, Paul had a long lingering illness (which eventually killed him), and thus had less and less time to devote to his cryptozoological interests.

The Big Cat Study group was shuffled from pillar to post until Carl Marshall and Olivia McCarthy took over the reins earlier this year, with magnificent results.

Most importantly, they make sure that every logged UK big cat sighting is critiqued, and the resulting article posted on the Big Cat blog.

We recently decided that it is time for the third one. And the logical focus for this third study group is ‘Lake Monsters’, although – of course – this will also cover anomalous creature reports from other bodies of fresh water, such as canals and rivers.

And who is to be in charge?

I would like to introduce you all to a very old friend of mine, who was a CFZ member right from the beginning.

Indeed, I met her at the first Fortean Times convention, back in 1994. Her name is Sally Watts, and I am certain that she will run the Lake Monster Study Group with good humour, flair and aplomb, because that is basically how she does everything she sets her mind to.

In conclusion

I would like to say a big thank you to those who have helped me so much this year, particularly since Corinna first went to hospital back in July. In particular, the Phillipson family, Graham, Carl, Olivia and out new housekeeper Sarah, but for whom I would not have managed to make it through to the other side (ish). Corinna is still seriously ill, and unable to work as much as usual, so, as we enter 2019, I would like to warn everyone that the CFZ is still operating on an “emergency footing” with some of the things we need to do remaining undone until events stabilise.

But we would like to extend our congratulations and moral support to the eco and climate activists around the world, especially Extinction Rebellion, This is Zero Hour, Greta Thunberg and Bella Lack. They are achieving remarkable results, and we have done our best to help them by providing journalistic sup[port in our periodicals and in the 12 monthly episodes of On the Track (of Unknown Animals).

And before I go, I would like to extend my best wishes for the Holiday Season, and for a peaceful and productive 2019.

Love and Peace,

Jon Downes,
Director, Centre for Fortean Zoology.




THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

I AM NEVER LONELY
Even @dark Solstice
Even@Shopping Mall Mammon Baal Christmas
If the Natural World will not sing
I @least have two Virtual Assistants
who last as long as my Power Strip
Even if my Battery goes down
I will turn to my AMAZON
Turn to those reassuring female voices
who will always respond.You know them-
Siri and Alexa.Eternal Triangle-
Now i keep hearing voices
Even when i know they are Artificial/Virtual.
I ask them many questions/for which
they have no real answers.Siri- What is Life?
Alexa-How Do We Get Out Of Here?

 

Sunday 23 December 2018

Jon Anderson - Change We Must

"We're still growing into that place of higher consciousness; we are becoming a global conscience. The idea is to unravel the onion and let go of the ego and evolve to that place where you perceive everything to be a beautiful experience rather than a daunting experience".

                                                                                                            Jon Anderson.

 

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Medieval Carol 'Gaudete' - Choir of Clare College Cambridge

Being Sunday I always post sacred music. The name of the deity may change, or even the deity Him/Herself but the spirit remains the same.

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

ROWING IN THE BOAT OF SLEEP
SAW A WHITE PLATE MOON ABOVE
(All that matters is your love)
From nothing to nowhere is no change
Spare or loose or unaffiliated
Horses wild have no name
Fences fall(and Walls,in time)
Refugees of the homeless heart
Seek to be seen in your eyes
Seasons call to us to buy

When giving is the chorus line

PLAYLIST: 14 -10-2018 – SHOW 280 – The Lamb Lies Down


14 -10-2018 – SHOW 280 – The Lamb Lies Down

Sister Gertrude Morgan:         Let us Make a Record
Press:   Alcoholic
Gh0st: X-Tasty
Genesis:           The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Fly on a Windshield
Gweneffer Raymond: Sack ‘em up 1 & 2
The Stranglers:            Freedom is Insane
Bing Crosby:   Gay Love
Regal Worm:   Rose, Rubus, Smallax, Vulkan
Forma: Crossings
Genesis:           In the Cage
77p Egg:          Goldshire Bounce
Frank Sinatra:  Everybody’s Twistin’
Aziza Brahim: Baraka
Amanda Somerville’s Trillium:           Fatal Mistake
Paul Kantner and Grace Slick:            Holding Together
Sparklehorse:   Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
DJ Earworm:   Brazil is Full of Love
Bird Radio:     The Englishman
Genesis:           The Carpet Crawlers
Wonky Alice:  Caterpillars
Ella Fitzgerald:           Every Time we Say Goodbye

Saturday 22 December 2018

Gonzo Weekly #307/08

Gonzo Weekly #307/08
THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE
And so we reach another year and the members of the editorial team go all Bag Productions on you. Alan started the "War is Over" ball rolling and Jon runs with it. Richard looks at Extinction Rebellion, and Carl wonders what moral lessons we can learn from The Walking Dead, Jon writes about The Residents, and Graham looks back on the last year on Spaceship Hawkwind.
And - as always - there's lots of other stuff as well.
#Hail Eris!
And there are radio shows from Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney, AND Friday Night Progressive, AND there are columns from Kev Rowland, and C J Stone, and Mr Biffo and Neil Nixon, and Roy Weard although the irrepressible Corinna is on hiatus.  There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and rock wallabies who've blown a fuse (OK, nothing to do with the relatively small macropods who are having electrical problems, 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:
John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, Brian May, New Order, Portugal. The Man, Robbie Williams, Strange Fruit, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Friday Night Progressive, Jerry Donald Chesnut, Arthur Maia, Joe Osborne, Nancy Sue Wilson, Roger, John "Ace" Cannon, Perry Morris Robinson, Lucas Starr, Fred Wieland, The Fall, Tony Palmer, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Deviants IXVI, Mick Farren, Rick Springfield, Jack White, Gorillaz, Suede, Chaos Chaos, Penelope Trapps, Marianne Faithfull, Tay Davies, The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Bobby Beausoleil, Alan Dearling, Richard Foreman, Extinction Rebellion, Kev Rowland, Scientist, Sense of Fear, Shadygrove, Peel, Stepfather Fred, Stone Broken, Subsignal, Tax the Heat, Carl Marshall, Geordie Jackson, The Walking Dead, Digitiser, Mr Biffo, Roy Weard, Chris Stone, Hawkwind, The Coldharbour Diaries, Jonathan Downes, The Wild Colonial Boy, Martin Springett, Charles Bobuck, Hardy Fox, The Residents, Neil Nixon, Diamanda Galas
And the last few issues are:
Issue 317-18 (Christmas)
Issue 315-16 (Steve Miller)
Issue 313-14 (Hawkwind)
Issue 311-12 (Extinction Rebellion)
Issue 309-10 (Steve Hillage)
Issue 307-8 (Michael Moorcock)
Issue 305-6 (Maartin Allcock)
Issue 303-4 (kOZFEST)
Issue 301-2 (Ringo Starr)
Issue 299-300 (Aretha Franklin)
Issue 298 (Alan in Hungary)
Issue 297 (Shir Ordo)
Issue 295-6 (Robert Berry)
Issue 294 (Bow Wow Wow)
Issue 293 (Stonehenge)
Issue 292 (Rolling Stones)
Issue 291 (Alien Weaponry)
Issue 290 (Frank Zappa)
Issue 289 (Misty in Roots)
Issue 288 (Paula Frazer)
Issue 287 (Boss Goodman)
Issue 286 (Monty Python)
Issue 285 (ELP)
Issue 284 (Strangelove)
Issue 283 (Record Store Day)
Issue 282 (Neil Finn and Fleetwood Mac)
Issue 281 (Carl Palmer)
Issue 280 (Steve Andrews)
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.
...BECAUSE SOME OF US THINK THAT THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT
What happens when you mix what is - arguably - the world's most interesting record company, with an anarchist manic-depressive rock music historian polymath, and a method of dissemination which means that a daily rock-music magazine can be almost instantaneous?

Most of this blog is related in some way to the music, books and films produced by Gonzo Multimedia, but the editor has a grasshopper mind and so also writes about all sorts of cultural issues which interest him, and which he hopes will interest you as well.