I've been wondering lately if it isn't about time these three things weren't clarified; these are three different things going on in "footery". The field is exactly what it implies, you get out there and you look. Sadly within this class of folks, there also falls the scope of prokill/nokill and romantic/scoftic, and those who see the monkey behind every single tree and stick structure. The prokill want to shoot it, alledgedly for science (yes, I'm no kill), the no kill folks might just be happy to see the thing. The romantics vary in extreme, but on the extreme start draing circles around stuff, and the scoftics, well, are likely the most leveled headed, they might actually question things.

As for the armchair guy, you have some good work done there also, a gent by the know of tirademan has a true gift for finding old newspaper clippings on the subject, and a guy named mangani has put together an impressive map, as have the BFRO, like em or not, their map is a good one. That brings us to "the internet folk", and in this reporter's opinion these folks come ina few flavors as well... The habituators, the film reconstructers, among others, but then there's my favorite, the kind that think the internet forums actually matter past a point. Yes, they're a place where people come together to talk about the subject, but it's also the place where the "mods" seem to go powermad and try to control the information, as if they are the only source of it. You get the flame wars, the bannings, those stupid childish bannings, and the obsession with sock puppets. These are manifestations of that place we call the internet, where people get to play all kinds of games, some very stupid. They dont reflect reality or anything really important. The sad fact is that most if not all internet forums have become gated communities with their own set of the "cool kids", which will usually ban all those the "undesirables" and or drive them out. None of them have any more information than the others, and most of them seem to have their fair share of bickering.

This is not to take popshots at the sites with Sighting databases and actual research group portals, thats a whole different post, but the forums are just for entertainment, IF, you dont atke the whwole thing too seriously, which many sadly do. These are the same types who think there's a valid competition to the endgame of this search for an answer, they might justs fail to realize that magic body might be found by anyone. There is no inevitable discovery day, no group seems any further along than any other and that is the truth. The mods can keep trying to keep out those pesky sockpuppets, some even think they are the biggest and most important forum, and the sockpuppets keep making it a game to sneak back in, but in the end it just proves that forums are more entertainment  than anything else, and thats only if you're able to get over yourself

Dont get me started on the conferences

Some have called this a year of Apathy but I'll be writing this from a more personal perspective as much as a big picture one. This year really was no improvement over 2008, if anything the dark spots on footery were more numerous. But in the crevices of a dysfunctional community, there are potential rays of hope as well. The first major dust up of the year came from the AIBR and the Yakima Conference. These began to decline when Scott Herriot was informed by the Friends of Roger Patterson he wasn’t welcome at the Conference. He aired his thoughts publicly and the situation quick to degrade from there. After his tirade the lead drama queen of the Bigfoot Forums (miss)used his forum as a pulpit to spout off about the whole affair, and then subsequently stormed out of the AIBR, again, like such a Drama queen.

Not soon after the first Soap Opera controversy arose over some form of inner mechanisms of the AIBR BOD, I have heard it was of a financial nature but it' frankly not my business nor quite how I see it. There was in my opinion more to it, essentially the AIBR had a secondary agenda going on behind the scenes, in the form of some of the Higher Ups maneuvering over time to bring their friends into the group's BOD and marginalizing some of the existing ones, essentially a power a grab. Bottom line, it failed, and the would be usurpers were essentially shown the door, which I think is better for that group as a whole. They got the chance to throw the bums out in effect, first the head of the BFF, then one of his Lieutenants and their followers who seem to have wanted to take over the inner workings of the Aibr, just like they failed to do with the BFRO years before. The first potential ray of hope for the AIBR is from my opinion, they have as I said thrown the bums out and get a chance to start over in that regard, also they get a chance to possibly rethink some of their policies. Their so called “Ethics Committee” is the prime example, it was a joke since it could’t maintain it’s own impartiality, but with it’s likely architects gone, maybe the AIBR might actually concentrate on the research and not on other people’s affairs. It wasn’t the best start of the year but it gave one of the bigger groups a chance to better itself.

The next item up for bids is the MK Davis fascination with the nonexistent Bigfoot Massacre as part of the greater PGF saga. He is manipulating the film in effect to make the case for an absurd theory, plain and simple. He is embarrassing himself, footers everywhere as are most of his followers, especially those of a certain southern Fried pro-kill group. As long as the rest of us see this for the base crap it is, thats all the mention this deserves.

On to Michigan.....

The sad thing about the MRP caper is that it could have been nothing more than a Research Group sharing their evidence as best it was, but that was not to be..... In all it’s forms, the “Project” was audio of a mediocre nature, sounding mostly human with the rest sounding like recognizable animals. Troubles began when the hard questions began getting asked. It was quickly revealed that “heavily forested” land was actually a strip of woods along a river and farmland. So what else was embellished. When these questions were raised, someone found the area on google maps, it was linked to BY ME, on the JREF, which brought me personally into the controversy, and then a member of the TBRC linked to it asking the same questions. Rather than address them the MRP squad instead screamed their site had been outted as another member claimed it hadn’t because they faked the map. That proved to be a blatant lie, and the rest of their story fell apart. The site was genuine, but it wasn’t as advertised, and then came the monkey suit owned by the land owner and a bunch of other troubling details.

The bottom line, this was hoax, the footery world’s elitist snobs have been hoaxed for a period of years and either were duped or partially aiding and abetting it. Making the situation worse, as it was discussed on the bigfoot forums, it was discussed elsewhere as well, but the BFF modsquad made it clear they felt like they owned the conversation. They made attempts via personal message, via email and by posting on other forums (SFB) to try to draw the conversation to the BFF where they could direct traffic. Why? Paul Vella due to a false belief in his standing in the footery world, Teresa Hall, Jayleed and Redratsnake because they are friends of the MRP project. Counselor, maybe justs did it out of ego, who knows. They tried to censor out the hard questions and banned a number of long time BFF members, myself included as part of that effort. They went into a die hard witch hunt, removing the undesirables. In the end, some of the bigger names in footery got taken down a peg and were shown for what they are, in the way.

So, what’s next for the New Year? Hopefully those mentioned will melt away and it will actually be a bout the research, not the bullshit. One can hope.

This is a brief response to recent blog post citing exchanges on the JREF forum, that make bigfootery look bad. This party needs to look in the mirror as well as the bigger picture. This person has an unhealthy obsession with bashing other Ohio area footers himself, and seems to ignore the shenanigans that go on on the BFF, BFD and other forums, and that most discension is caused (Think over the long term of several years) has been caused largely by the same people, who after presenting evidence and being asked hard questions took their ball and went home. Plenty of blame to go around...

Sorry we haven't posted much in a bit, so here's something new, I am experimenting with video and audio in the field using a solar power source, one a flex solar panel, the other a solid one with an internal power pack. Optimally I want to have a dual camera/recorder system able to record over several days. I have the panels, just need the sun to cooperate now.

Well, maybe not so new, it's been done in various forms before but I'm beginning an audio recording project for the next few months, involving a good deal found on H2 zooms, given a good price I will get several and spread them put to listen for commotion in conjunction with trail cameras. Whether this turns into a squatching research or local wildlife project will be a test of time....