Bigfoot And The Baby

If you are sick of chasing after the seemingly non-existent DNA of "Flesh and Blood Bigfoot", or sorting out all that Mind Speak and Jet Lag from Inter-Dimensional Time Travel, then take a break and read this fabulous new book by Ann Gelder!

"A California novel about belonging and belief. It's 1986, and devout homemaker Jackie Majesky knows the world is ending. Apocalyptic portents--famine, war, the Chernobyl meltdown--have been piling up for months. Her comedian husband and punk-rock daughter see nothing amiss, but her new baby, Mollie, won't stop screaming. Jackie decides it's up to her to save the world, and her hapless family, from damnation. Joining forces with a charismatic businessman who knows how to soothe Mollie's cries, Jackie launches a wildly successful salvation-through-shopping program. She leads the most generous consumers to a domed paradise in the Mojave Desert, where she presides as mayor. But when a mythical creature finds his way into her city, Jackie must confront her faith in God, commerce, and the power of love."


Available here:  Bigfoot and the Baby

Reviews:

Ann Gelder's debut, BIGFOOT AND THE BABY, is a delightful black satire. Playing with themes of belonging and belief, Gelder examines the interplay of capitalism and religion in 1980's America. Those disenfranchised with the religion of consumerism will appreciate this tongue-in-cheek novel. ---- ForeWord Magazine

BIGFOOT AND THE BABY is a creative and complex dark comedy. Gelder has crafted a multifaceted, provocative story coupled with an edgy sci-fi vibe that spices the pot. The book focuses on a dysfunctional family mired in crisis and introduces irony and humor from the start. But satire keeps the wheels turning. BIGFOOT AND THE BABY will test your sensibilities and tease your imagination from page one. ---- Gloria Sinibaldi, Tahoe Daily Tribune

A satire of 1980's America, Ann Gelder's BIGFOOT AND THE BABY skewers a culture gone mad with consumerism, religious millennialism, and the obsession with celebrity. Gelder's satire is by turns savage and tender, but in the end she offers even the most misguided characters a tenuous redemption. ----Lawrence Coates, author of The Master of Monterey

About the Author:
Ann Gelder's work has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Crazyhorse, Flavorwire, The Millions, The Rumpus, Tin House, and other publications. She has taught literature at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, and has worked as an online producer and marketing consultant. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ann Gelder

I loved it!  And if you like satire, social commentary, dark humor, punk rock, living in bubbles and of course the mystery and myth of Bigfoot then you will too!  Although I will warn you that there is a lot less about Bigfoot than some of you may wish, "He" only shows up to punctuate and define our beliefs and inner psyche sporadically throughout....

AND another great book I recently read is "Bigfoot Blues" by Pamela Foster a native Humboltian!

"The daughter of a longtime Bigfooter enlists the help of her redneck friends to teach a sweet-talking city slicker a backwoods lesson in this rollicking tale by novelist Pamela Foster (Redneck Goddess, 2011) Samantha is a pretty, spirited bartender who manages VDs with her on-again-off-again boyfriend and business partner, Hawk. When a finely-dressed, big-city author named Mark Nielson wanders in the bar one evening for a meeting of the believers, the locals expect trouble. But Sam can't help but be swayed by the sexy stranger with eyes the color of that variegated moss along a late summer river, especially after the shabby treatment she's received from Hawk. Sweet talk and flowers wear down her quard Full of humorous asides and swelling with redneck pride, Bigfoot Blues blends together an eclectic group of believers and nonbelievers for an offbeat but delightful read."

Available now from Amazon.com.

Written by Pamela Foster, who was born and raised in Humboldt County and therefore knows about all things Bigfoot and all aspects of the local culture, "Bigfoot Blues" is the story of Samantha, the daughter of a crusty lifelong "Bigfooter", who was raised in the neighborhood Bar chock full of the numerous colorful locals, and who finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime during which she also unearths her authentic self and the key to love and happiness.  I was hooked from chapter one, and kicked myself for starting it right before I had to head out for the evening! But once home I barely put it down until I finished it a day and a half later.  I can also say that it was highjacked off my nightstand by a non-Bigfooter who read it all in less than a day, and who loved every second of it, so it's allure is definitely not confined to just the Bigfooting crowd.  

Watch the Trailer Here:

Thank you so much for the signed copies of both your Books Pamela!  Click these links to read more about "Bigfoot Blues" and it's wonderful Author Pamela Foster and make sure you check out her other book Redneck Goddess as well!

See my Amazon Review for more. 

WILL ICON FILMS EDIT OUT THE LIES FOR NAT GEO TONIGHT?

November 17th, 2013
  UPDATE BELOW

Tonight on the National Geographic Channel the two hour US version of the Icon Films/Channel-4 three part special airs under the title "BIGFOOT: THE NEW EVIDENCE" and from all the evidence so far it looks like they will be going right ahead and including the lies of commentator Mark Evans, which I discuss below.

I can see from the caption under Justin's picture on the Nat Geo site that they are still spreading the falsehood that Justin claimed the hair sample he submitted to Dr. Sykes came from the juvenile that he shot, when he never made any such claim.

Dr. Sykes KNOWS this, and never claimed any such thing himself. So much for ever believing a damned thing that comes out of National Geographic again........

I posted comments under the Nat Geo website for this show (Bigfoot: The New Evidence) and I encourage anyone else who believes in the truth to do so also. Why make the effort? Because lies, untruths and misinformation, and those who spread them, should not be allowed to go unremarked upon, especially when the research subject is as controversial, fraught with hoaxers, unsupported subjective experiences, and tenuous evidence as that of Bigfoot. Whether it is Daisy's in Boxes, Frivolous Lawsuits brought by those with Fraudulent Copyrights, or worst of all Pseudoscientists claiming Angelic Origins for something that seems to act an awfully lot like a very real, top of the food chain, predatory species to this Zoologist, the truth matters.  Yes "truth" is often subjective, and different for each perceiver, but in a case like this, where a person's experience has been documented over and over again, in print and recorded media, letting someone else come along and twist it to suit his own mocking ego gratification should not be allowed.  It is not right and it should not be allowed no matter what you think of Justin and his story.  

If we ever want the real truth about Bigfoot to be known, or the subject to be taken seriously, we can not stand idly by and allow credible institutions like National Geographic to be allowed to air such drivel..............................   

Update:  I have finished watching the U.S. version which has been edited down from 3 hours to 2, and while still glossing over any evidence that did not fit into the "bears are responsible for everything paradigm" they did at least edit out most of the mocking and ridicule Mark Evans displayed in the U.K. Trilogy. But the lie that Justin claimed his hair sample came from the juvenile he shot was still front and center, so hopefully National Geographic, if not Icon or Mr. Evans himself can issue a retraction and apology before it airs again.  Because that would be the right thing to do.

A FEW FACTS CONCERNING ICON FILMS AND CHANNEL-4

OCTOBER 27th, 2013

Well I just got done watching the 2nd installment of the Icon Films/Channel-4 Bigfoot Mockumentary, and the host, Mark Evans, pretty much dismissed us all as "Fanatical Believers"....

Dr. Bryan Sykes

And this is what I have to say about the part involving Justin Smeja:

Presenter Mark Evans outright lied TWO TIMES when he stated that Justin claimed the hair sample, found 3 weeks after the shooting incident, was from either of the Bigfoot he shot, let alone the juvenile.  He has never claimed it was from the baby and has only, repeatedly, said that it was found in the general vicinity of where he shot the ADULT, three weeks later and under the snow where it was sniffed out by his dog.  I was there during the filming of Justin's segment and during the interview later between Professor Sykes and Justin, and he never claimed any such thing about the hair sample, it was only the boots that he claimed had the blood of the young one on them.  And I want to make it clear that what Dr. Sykes told us was that whatever was on the boots was too degraded to give viable DNA or to even show up as blood by Spectrophotometry.  He never claimed there was nothing on the boots to begin with. Justin wore those boots for approximately a year after the shooting incident, including all his subsequent hunting trips and the additional blood deposits those produced, before he turned them over to Bart Cutino of the Sierras Evidence Initiative for analysis, so what could have been viable evidence if the boots had been turned over immediately, was made nonviable after a years passing.  Commentator Mark could not even manage to get Justin's age right, he is 27 not 31 as Mr. Evans claimed...........

Sierra Evidence Initiative

I can only imagine that Dr. Sykes is not pleased with the way this "documentary" series engaged in skimming over scientific facts that support the idea that there is still an unknown hominid running around in the Himalayas, and instead claimed the exciting discovery of a new hybrid bear species disproved the possibility of anything else, as well as the way the host mocked the subjects of episode two. As I stated above I was there during the interview between Professor Sykes and Justin Smeja, and at one point the good Dr. had to stop the cameras and reprimand Mr. Evans and remind him that he was not going to tolerate disrespectful lines of questioning that implied the witness was being less than truthful. And Dr. Sykes conveyed to me after the interview that he believed Justin's story and was disappointed he could not help to back it up with any DNA corroboration.

I know many of you have dismissed Justin as a liar, or an amoral Bigfoot murderer, but I would just like to go on record as saying I have spent a considerable amount of time with him and do not believe he is a liar. I believe that Justin believes what he is saying is actually what he experienced. I have spent days and nights in the field with him and I have watched him under very adverse and emotional conditions and I do not believe he is lying. He has gained nothing from going public with this story except grief and threats and financial loss. I know him to be, from over a year of personal interaction with him, a person who tells the truth, no matter how hurtful he knows that truth will be to others. And the only reason he went public with his story is that he believes in the truth, and he wanted to understand what it really was that he shot. It would have been much easier for him to stay quiet, as so many others who in the past who have had a sighting or may have killed one have done. Believe what you want, that is what everyone in Bigfooting does anyway despite any evidence that refutes erroneous ideas, or supports those they don't want to be true...

I was there when Dr. Sykes gave Justin the results of his boot analysis, and his tears where genuine, because it was the last hope he had for getting people to believe what happened really happened.  He was genuinely shaken and upset.

Bigfoot Evidence

Do I agree with Justin's current desire to shoot another one?  HELL NO!  But I understand that the reason he now feels the need to do so is because no one, not even some members of his family, are going to believe him until he does.  And after the flippant, rude and mocking dismissal of the host Mark Evan's, you can understand why some people do believe that a body is the only way anyone is ever going to prove they exist, "that no one is going to believe they exist until someone does kill one."

And I will add that on the second day Justin and I met up with the Icon Film crew it was within a few hours of them experiencing the "wood knock response" that took place during another segment of the show, and they were all genuinely excited and convinced that it was not due to any other humans in the area, as there was no sign of anybody else around.  This did not stop Mark Evans from then dismissing it in retrospect as "just some other bigfooters in the area knocking back"....

Bigfoot DNA Sequenced In Upcoming Genetics Study

I do feel guilty that I told Justin that he could "trust this film crew" based on my erroneous belief that they were from the BBC, a belief in turn based on the misinformation being spread at the time by a certain self-promoting "ologist" / Pseudo-scientist who attached himself to Dr. Sykes study early on, and who had been throwing his good name and that of the BBC around in numerous public statements of self-promotion on his own and other's blog sites. The film crew was British yes, but that is about where any similarities to the esteemed reputation of the British Broadcasting System end.

My friend Adam Davies had this to say after we had watched the first installment of this series which contained Dr. Sykes revelation of his data that supported a new "Bear Hybrid" existing in the Himalayas: 

"I think it's exciting. It’s just one type of the `Yeti` though. I have interviewed people in Nepal who know the difference between a Yeti and a bear. The anatomical analysis done by the presenter was also very superficial. The explanation given for the divergent toe found in Yeti prints was wholly inadequate. The analysis of records was also flawed. I chose not to appear in the program myself. There are accounts of Yetis written many centuries earlier that describe a `wildman`. I could go on. I do think Professor Sykes is a decent honourable man. That is why I have said that people should wait to see all the results gathered and his experiences which will be detailed in his book. I know there is plenty more to come yet. But I don't hold my breath for the second episode personally. Sykes analyses the evidence as he finds it. This is an exciting find but it's just one part of the explanation of the Yeti, not the whole."  Adam Davies

http://www.awesomehospital.com/2010/10/dr-bigfoot-for-the-cbldf/

Pictures from the 2 days we spent with the film crew:

Icon's less than forthright host pretending to meet Justin
 for the 1st time in my truck

"Recreating" the blood on the boots using hot sauce.......

Justin and Professor Sykes were filmed talking for over an hour, too bad they didn't include most of this footage as it would have been very enlightening.

Good Company, good conversation, a beautiful vista, 
and my favorite, Newcastle, what more could a Zoologist long for?

IS THIS BIGFOOT HAIR?

Could this be the DEFINITIVE proof that we have been looking for???  

The proof we need to finally convince the world ONCE AND FOR ALL that those of us who spend way too much time in the woods thinking about what could be lurking behind every tree we pass-by, have in fact been engaged in the valid pursuit of an extremely large but unknown creature.  A creature who walks upright and is frighteningly similar to us, yet so completely different that they haunt our dreams, both waking and sleeping, for a greater majority of our lives than almost anything else??

Do we finally have what it takes to bring this topic MAINSTREAM?  

I was handed the above sample while up in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range a few days ago.  My friend said here you go, I just found some of what I know has been submitted for DNA analysis to at least one study currently under way.  I looked at what was in my hand, and then back at him, and incredulously asked "Black Moss"?  There are people who think Black Moss is Bigfoot hair?"                                                                

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bryoria_nadvornikiana.jpg

Yep he said, I have witnessed this myself.  This was hard for me to comprehend, as anyone who has spent much time at all in the forests of North America will have quickly come across at least one variety of this common lichen of the Genus Bryoria.  It grows in trees and bushes and when it falls is found laying around in clumps or tangles amidst other debris. Yes it is usually greenish, grayish, or brownish in color, but can come in a wide variety including yellow and black, as in the variety found in this picture, Bryoria nadvornikiana, which is also found in lighter colors here: 

http://www.sharnoffphotos.com/lichens/bryoria_nadvornikiana.html

If we take a closer look at my above sample we can see that the hair-like clump has curls and stems coming out in an abundance of directions all branching off of each other, as well as having a very fibrous appearance in general.  

Close-up of Sierra Lichen Sample

When I touch it, it is very course, heavy and almost rubbery, not something I would ever think of as characteristic of hair, and especially not correlating to the description of the kind of hair the witnesses I have talked with have conveyed as seeing on Bigfoot.  This clump could almost be described as "pubic-like" though much thicker and heavier than that, but does not conform to the way that the hair of any animal, including us Homo sapien members of the Kingdom Animalia, is known to grow.

Further close-up of my sample

As you can see it did not take any special equipment, like a microscope or spectrophotometer, to do a little leg work to determine that this is not hair or fur, as hair/fur does not grow in a branching, divergent fashion off of other shafts, as this lichen sample does.

And closer still

All I needed was my cell phone camera set on it's maximum 4X close-up setting.

For more information on mammalian hair growth please follow this link: Structural Characteristics of the Hair of Mammals

So for me this lichen is a great example of why it is so important to do the proper follow up work when we are out in the woods trying to collect evidence and calling ourselves "Field Researchers".  Even as amateurs, without scientific training or access to laboratories and collections of known specimens to use for comparison, everyone now has the great resources available on the internet, which can allow for the proper due diligence when determining if something is or is not related to Bigfoot.  Did you take a picture of something you think was a Bigfoot?  Then it is of utmost importance to go back at a later time and investigate what is still present where that picture was taken, so you can show that what you are claiming is a creature is in fact no longer there, and so you can take measurements of the surroundings to determine the size of the object in your picture.  Did you find something you think could be a biological sample from a Bigfoot and which could provide DNA for a definitive analysis and proof of an unknown species? Then please do your best to rule out any other more probable explanations before jumping to the conclusion that what you have found must be from Bigfoot.  

Remember the Principal of Occum's Razor, which in a nut shell states that the theory with the fewest assumptions should be used first.  In other words, don't automatically assume you have something from a Bigfoot, just because you don't know what it is in your hand.  Use the Scientific Method and first try to prove to yourself that what you have is NOT Bigfoot in origin, then if you have ruled out all other explanations you can proceed with the analysis needed to show that it is!

Possible explanations can become needlessly complex. It is coherent, for instance, to add the involvement of Leprechauns to any explanation, but Occam's razor would prevent such additions, unless they were necessary.

You can read about and see more pictures of the Bryoria Lichens at the links below:

Bryoria nadvornikiana 

Bryoria Species 

Lichen Index 

Bryoria Images