Cats and other Cryptids

Mark Honeychurch - 9 December 2024

Okay, so maybe cats aren’t cryptids, but we own two of them and sometimes I wish they were mythical beings rather than very real little monsters who regularly tear holes in my furniture.

It’s nearly Christmas, and I’m busy trying to juggle everything that comes with having three kids who all have end-of-year events, plus my own events. Things are getting so hectic that I accidentally booked a colonic irrigation overlapping with my work Christmas party. Yep, for those of you who have listened to me talking about this, it’s finally happening! Bronwyn messaged me a few weeks ago with a link to a Facebook post announcing that a new colonic facility has opened in central Wellington. Prior to this, I had been trying to arrange to visit a clinic two hours away, in Palmerston North - and my one booking that I managed to make fell through when the colonic machine broke and a spare part took too long to arrive from the US.

This time my appointment is confirmed for the 17th of December, I’ve paid my deposit and filled in the paperwork, and I’ve organised for my support people - Bronwyn and Tim - to be there to (metaphorically) hold my hand while I go through this weird, unnecessary procedure. Rest assured, there’ll be an article about my experience in the not-too-distant future.

In this week’s newsletter, Bronwyn looks into a set of videos she’s been sending me links to for weeks. It’s another one of those internet fads that my kids have known about for months, but haven’t told me about - AI cat videos of heroic or tragic cats, along with catchy pop music sung with meows. Bronwyn has looked into who’s been creating these videos, and why.

We have the second part of Katrina’s look into some of the more esoteric cryptids in New Zealand, along with the re-publication of an old article Jim Ring wrote back in 2008 for our journal where he saw a strange, rare phenomena that could easily be mistaken for an aquatic cryptid by someone who didn’t understand the science behind what they were seeing.

I’ve been dared by the committee to write about Jonathan Ayling, the CEO of the Free Speech Union who’s been on my radar for a couple of years now. It was good to be able to confirm the suspicions I had about him last time I looked into his background, and the more I’ve delved the worse it’s looked.

Finally, for those who didn’t make it to our AGM (and that’s most of you!), we have a copy of Bronwyn’s end of year President’s Report, so that you can see what we’ve been up to, and what we’re planning to do in the next 12 months.