Tuesday, December 29, 2009

BIGFOOT'S BLOG'S ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! BIGFOOTER TO RETIRE?


Well, today is the
ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY
of our humble
BIGFOOT'S BLOG!

A whole year, in which we could have written at least one book with this material, and gotten rich and famous, for sure. But no, we persisted in obscurity, eventually gaining over 13, 000 web hits on our oblique Bigfoot musings and goofy Sasquatchian rantings. It's been a fun ride so far, and we thank you ALL for reading!

Frankly, we now grow a bit tired of The Bigfoot Wars, of Bigfoot Controversy, of the constant Blobsquatches, of all of that. We never want to hear the word, "massacre," again! It's been a full ten years now since we began to take a more serious interest in Sasquatching, since we had our first potential Encounter. We still love Bigfoot, but...

BUT NOW, we are thinking we might just retire...
 ...into UFOlogy!!!
 At least a stranger weirdo book nerd is more likely to meet an available woman companion in that field!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!
Here's hoping that 2010 is a better year, with no recession, no wars, nor human cruelty, and no... no Bigfoot massacres!

Best to all of you OUT THERE,
Steve
Bigfoot Books, Willow Creek, CA
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"Anybody who says that agencies of the United States government are not witholding information about flying saucers are either lying, ignorant, or both."
-- Stanton Friedman, UFO Researcher

Image to left: Found on the internet, original source and artist UNKNOWN.














The U.S. Government hasn't maintained secrecy regarding UFOs It's been leaking out all over the place. But the way it's been handled is by denial, by denying the truth of the documents that have leaked. By attempting to show them as fraudulent, as bogus of some sort. There has been a very large disinformation and misinformation effort around this whole area. And one must wonder, how better to hide something out in the open than just to say, 'It isn't there. You're deceiving yourself if you think this is true.' And yet, there it is right in front of you. So it's a disinformation effort that's concerning here, not the fact that they have kept the secret. They haven't kept it. It's been getting out into the public for fifty years or more.

--Dr. Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut

NOW, TAKE A STEP BACK AND THINK ABOUT HOW THE ABOVE QUOTE MIGHT APPLY TO... SASQUATCH AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO AND PRESENTATION IN MAINSTREAM CULTURE!


Images above: two classic cinematic saucers and one "ancient astronaut" from the Renaissance.

STILL OUR FAVORITE RADIO SHOW, since 1989:
COAST-TO-COAST A.M.! (And yes, they DO have Bigfoot on there.)


Oh Lordy, but do we ever miss THE WEEKLY WORLD NEWS!

A friend of ours, perhaps concerned, sent us the following message. We quote:
Steve, To find true happiness, you really need to find yourself a woman who is as versed in Bigfootology as you. Where and when was the last credible sighting of Bigfoot in your esteemed opinion?
Where was the last credible sighting of a woman Bigfootologist?

Sunday, December 27, 2009

BLUE CREEK MOUNTAIN AND BLUFF CREEK BIGFOOT TIMELINE, RESPONSE TO OUR PREVIOUS BLOG ON PAULIDES. Now with January 4th 2010 Update!

In response to an emailed criticism we received regarding our previous post on our experiences with David Paulides of NABS we offer the following response.

One might wish to read our previous post... HERE first.

If you'd rather not read about our DP/NABS soap opera, click on down to the bottom half where we cover the timing of Bigfoot events in that crucial year, 1967. There is more to follow, as we are setting out to document these timeline issues from every source available. Look for that in the months to come!
"Dave Paulides treated me with disrespect. Those insulting things he said and implied about me, to me, are real--he DID say them, accusing me of things I did not do, or exaggerating what I did, just like he accused John Green and Bob Gimlin, really. I did not make any of that stuff up. If only you could see and read the emails he sent to me. He demanded that I not publish or distribute them, and I won't, especially as he wrongly thinks I'm sending his emails to Daniel Perez. It bothered me how much hate he seemed to have for Daniel Perez (who is a good guy), so I looked into it. I gave Daniel an interview shortly after I interviewed Dave, and it seemed to drive Paulides off the deep end. It did indeed confirm to me so many things others had told me, and made me have to re-evaluate the guy's whole methodology and attitude among the BF world. I gave him a chance to reply, and he very rudely cut me off, with insults I did not deserve. If you look at what I wrote it is mostly just me trying to get Dave to see where I was coming from, and then when he did not reply I looked into what he had said and done, and what others had said about him and his works.

I am not the one making slanderous accusations and insinuations against good men like Green. Paulides is... or he was, anyway. He basically accused them of murder, of being liars and frauds, by implication. That is SERIOUS. And when I first got email to that effect from Paulides, and then read more about it from Cryptomundo and BF Times, I decided to look into it even more. When I saw that I was not the only one he had been so rude to I figured someone should speak up. Dave, I think, needs to think twice about how he is acting, and show more respect to others, especially those who have lain the path out before him. I gave him his chance to reply to Perez, and then to me, but he rudely and insultingly rejected both. He cut me off in the middle of what I thought was a civilized conversation that was to be published on this blog. I was left with no other option than to publish what I did already have, and to look into the situation more deeply. I DID think much about just not writing it; but I'd spent all this time already writing to Dave on the timeline subject, and trying to get him to see what I was saying, and I finally decided to just publish it.

Sorry if it offends you. Someone had to say it. I didn't start it, Paulides did. I merely held up the mirror. It is not as you put it, "mean-spirited vindictive rage," but just the cold hard facts of my experience with the guy. I am not acting out of anger, but rather a desire for justice, and for truth. I wasn't about to just take it lying down; I HAD to say something. Why should Dave be able to do and say what he does, and not have someone respond to it? I merely looked at it all with a critical, objective eye, and I wrote about and reported on what I saw.

I think it needed to be said. It is a public matter when Dave is out there saying the things he says. He would not talk to me about any of it after a point. I tried. I don't know why so many are so afraid of saying what they think. Paulides shouldn't be able to just arrogantly walk over people. I think it was Dave who created the discord you speak of when he started going around and implying that Gimlin and Green were liars and murderers. It is THAT I am talking about, more than just Dave's personal behavior or my own interactions with him. It goes beyond personal matters, and that is why I published it.

Why should Paulides be able to go around acting like a playground bully, but I not be able to publish something in response? Be fair. These things go both ways.

He seems to bully others in his demeanor and statements. I've heard about it from a lot of folks. He tries to act smoothly in public, but then disparages them or cuts them off rudely, or insinuates things behind the scenes into the Bigfooting world. Like this 'very dark secret, really' stuff. Like the things he said about Daniel Perez. Like the things he said at Bigfoot Discovery Days about Michael Rugg and others there. Acting like only HE is a REAL researcher, NABS the ONLY professional group, etc. It's there in the stuff I put on the blog entry. He has not said bad things about me *publicly* that I know of, but he still acted like a bully and insulted me for no reason at all. It just left a real sour taste behind, and I didn't feel like leaving it lie and shutting up. Sorry. Everyone is afraid on the playground to speak out against bullying, lest they get 'beaten up.' But someone, somehow, has to speak up, and I did.

Examples? You saw it RIGHT THERE in my blog. A large section in there is not my criticisms, but those of OTHERS. And there are the links for information. Surely you know of Paulides' accusations of Green and Gimlin? Well, you do now, it's right there in my blog. I didn't just cull that from my own feelings. It's out there in the public record. I just collected this stuff and put in it one place with my own thoughts and interactions with the man.

Generally, I think it is arrogance that he displays. He talks down to others, assumes he is somehow the biggest, greatest, most real Bigfooter on the planet. This just bothers me. It needed to be confronted.

Dave has done some really good work which I respect still, so it was disappointing to me that he behaved in the way he did towards me. And I was trying to warn him that such behavior among others puts a bad light on his work and the subject.

Dave Paulides is a public figure, publicly propounding theories, spreading at one time this idea that Green and Gimlin were murderers, disparaging other researchers, etc. Hence, he may be criticized publicly. That is the way debates work. My criticism of him was not ad hominem. It was just a criticism of his massacre theory involvement and treatment of others including myself. You should see all the stuff I COULD have published. I held A LOT back, believe me.

The "Massacre Theory" is where the "CRAP" you speak of lies.

I believe ethics apply across the public/private line. If Dave treated me badly that is only one small thing, but that it involved Green and Gimlin, and got out publicly on Cryptomundo, one of the largest sites on the internet for this subject, made it a very public issue. This, too, compounded itself upon the festering controversy already going over MK Davis' more recent ideas. In short order it was all over the global internet, and Paulides did nothing like apologize to those guys. You should see the horrible slander, even coming to the point of implied death threats against Green, that can be found on the GCBRO forums, and from folks like "Monster Hunter" Jim Lansdale.

I am simply acting in their defense, really, of Green and Gimlin, as that is where I started talking to Dave in the first place. My own grievances with the guy came later, and pale in significance. So, I am really blogging against the Massacre Theory, and only secondarily saying Dave should not have said those things he did. I am not trying to be the "playground monitor," as you suggest, but I do have a right to speak up against injustice and slander.

If I went around to Bigfooters saying to various people, "privately," that [YOU] were a murderer and a liar, would you not think that wrong? Would you not want someone to speak in your defense? Would you like to be bullied into feeling like you had to take a lie detector test and sign some paper to prove that you are the good person that you are? Would you want your entire sincere life's work and character questioned in that way? No, you wouldn't, I'd bet.


Hence, it was Dave who got in there and committed grievous insults against the living and the dead. It is a huge insult to accuse someone like Green, putting him in the position of having to take a polygraph test (and at his age!) just to prove his innocence. I'd think that, before putting out this "crap" kind of accusation, some decent evidence could have first been assembled. There was nothing convincing at all put forth.

There will be unrest in the Bigfoot world where bullshit resides, as I will comment upon it, plain and simple.

And no, I was well aware that Henry May came up with the term "massacre," or is credited as doing so.
But I don't understand what difference it makes WHAT you call it. If you say that a Bigfoot family was ruthlessly slaughtered by certain individuals, and then covered up with backhoes and a lifetime of lying, then what SHOULD it be called?

I looked into it as deeply as I could, even spending over a month interviewing MK Davis. I also talked with MK back in June for over three hours about this issue. Back then he was very specific. Since he has backed off. I was unable to be at the Ohio Conference you mention, unfortunately, and never found a way to obtain the recordings of MK announcing his new theory. In any case, I'd thought that MK's statements were made more in the private after-conference talks. There is a difference. MK is a gentleman about it. Dave was kind of rude and mean-spirited. So, I am not really too bothered by MK. I like the guy, actually. But these ideas--they are poison.

Please explain to me why calling it a Massacre is any different from saying that there was a slaughter, a killing, an ending of life, or whatever?

How is what I am doing "tabloid" journalism? I've spent some good part of the last few months trying to get to the bottom of this. I've done PLENTY of "homework" on this issue. Check my current blog post [this one, below]. You will see the tip of the iceberg of evidence that there could not have been and was not any kind of massacre at Bluff Creek. I feel I have honestly inquired about it at great length with the two principle proponents of the issue. I also spoke with Loren Coleman and Daniel Perez. I have also spoken at great length with many others who have felt Paulides' "wrath," including the organizers of the Yakima Round-Up, Linda Martin of Bigfoot Sightings, etc. I don't know why you would consider my honest and straightforward, though admitedly also personal, presentation of the issue as somehow sensationalizing the thing. How, now?

I am not trying to "damage" Bigfoot research. I am doing what I am doing for the GOOD of research. I think this "massacre" or WHATEVER you call it is just wholly toxic, and yes, an EVIL kind of theory. Whether you call it a massacre or not, these guys are calling the ones they claim were there "killers." It is an especially serious accusation, as BOTH of those guys  believe Sasquatch to be HUMAN. That is ALL I am pointing out about it, and it matters not what term is placed on it. Gun shots, blood, guts, skins, bloody hands, it all adds up... "massacre." If not, what do MK, Dave, You? think it was, then???

Thanks for talking. I am thinking about it, deeply. I did not want to publish what I did the way I did, but I felt drawn in, as it was necessary, the more I thought about it. I had wanted it to be a nice talk between me and Dave, but no, I guess not."
Steve
Bigfoot Books

*****************************************************
An interesting comment was left by MATTHEW MONEYMAKER of the BFRO on our previous blog post. Read it with our comments HERE, or read the full prior post HERE. Or for your convenience HERE:

"Wow ... I must say I would not have predicted that Paulides would buy into the 'massacre' nonsense. It's so laughably absurd ...  I can only assume that Paulides has such a boner for making a sensational, high-profile revelation, as a direct result of his detective prowess ... that he unduly inflates the likelihood of situations that would put him in the position to do that. His drive to become the great detective who cracked the case, has made him a bit irrational. So far he has bragged a lot about being the first to do various types of investigations ... that he was not the first to do. It's pretty amazing how much he claims to be a trail blazer along such well worn trails ... and now thinks the "massacre" idea has some validity.
I've always been struck by Paulides consistent misrepresentations that he's the only full-time, professional, sponsored bigfoot investigator in existence... He somehow thinks that his training puts him in a different league than other investigators. If we're gonna play that game, then I'll inform him that lawyers are better, smarter investigators than cops."
--Matt Moneymaker
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And now: Notes on the 1967 Timeline of events from Onion Mountain, to Blue Creek Mountain, and finally the Bluff Creek Patterson-Gimlin Film.
These events note the actions of John Green mainly during the time, but also cover the locations of the main figures--Bob Titmus, Roger Patterson, Bob Gimlin and Rene Dahinden--accused in the "Bluff Creek Massacre Theory." These locations of individuals and timings of events completely DISPROVE that theory.

From our notes, taken so far mostly from Green's SASQUATCH: APES AMONG US:
* FEBRUARY 1967: Green and Dahinden head south, visit Roger Patterson, visit Willow Creek and hear of recent BF "activities" on Bluff Creek, meet Syl McCoy

* "LATE AUGUST 1967" (not too specific): Syl McCoy of Willow Creek calls Green at home re. tracks found on Onion Mountain

* Green contacts Harold McCullough for tracking dog (White Lady)
* Drives south with McCullough, Dale Moffit and dog, sees tracks
* Meets Al Hodgson of Willow Creek, also Mrs. Bud Ryerson, drives home to Canada (probably a two day drive).
* Even LATER AUGUST 1967: First day after getting home Green is called re. Blue Creek Mountain tracks by Bud Ryerson, contractor on the Bluff Creek project.
* SAME AFTERNOON: on a plane with Moffit, Rene Dahinden and White Lady, calls Al Hodgson for provisions to be at Orleans airport.
* NIGHT: Arrival at BCM site, dog reacts but they don't want to track in the dark.
* NEXT DAY, MORNING: No dog response
* EVENING: Return to Orleans for phone calls, return to Bluff Creek area with pilot, go to older Onion Mountain tracks, find new 12-inch prints.
* NEXT DAY: To BCM again, 2 small sets one large of tracks found (590 counted not destroyed by road activity)


* VAGUE ("2 days") (Now EARLY SEPTEMBER): Don Abbot arrives from B.C. Museum; they hear word of sandbar tracks just downstream from future PGF site. THIS IS THE SANDBAR AREA, apparently, where the film that MK is looking at came from.
* Flight back to Canada

* SEPTEMBER: Patterson on BF expedition in Mt. Saint Helens area. Upon return home hears that Al Hodgson has called his wife about the tracks found in Aug-Sept. in Bluff Creek area. Begins to plan expedition.

* VARYING DATES, either OCTOBER 1st P-G departure (Murphy), or "A little over a week" (Patterson) or just "a few days" (Green) before filming. So... sometime between October 2nd and October 21st Patterson and Gimlin are in Bluff Creek.

* OCTOBER 20TH: PATTERSON-GIMLIN FILM SHOT
* OCTOBER 21ST: They hit the road home (a full day's drive)
* OCTOBER 22ND: FILM FIRST VIEWED IN YAKIMA. Present: Green comes from Canada; Dahinden was in SF at filming time, promoting the tracks found BCM/OM, cannot get to film site due to weather; Titmus has come from Kitimat, Canada as well (ALL OF THEM WERE IN OTHER AREAS AT TIME OF FILMING).

* SOMETIME AFTER, BEFORE TITMUS ARRIVES: Jim McClarin goes to site. Lyle Laverty also at site, photographs tracks. Others also witness, mostly locals to the area/forest workers

* LATER OCTOBER to EARLY NOVEMBER: TITMUS in Bluff Creek area for a number of days, finds film site and casts tracks NINE OR TEN DAYS AFTER OCT. 20TH FILMING.

* JUNE 1968: After snows clear and roads reopen, John Green at film site with McClarin, makes film, documents dimensions.

So, the timeline is really pretty clear. Green was in the Bluff to Willow Creek area three times that summer-fall. A busy guy.

IF there were a "conspiracy" how come McClarin, Laverty and the others also independently at the film site DID NOT SEE ANY EVIDENCE of the "Massacre," blood, guts or bones? Or were they, too, lassoed into the inner circle of "liars"? Implausible.

Here's another thing. We think MK Davis and others are exaggerating the "RED" colors of the film(s). We live in the area of Bluff Creek, and have seen the film site on October 20th, August and other times of the year. Really, there is little pure red in the area, save for the poison oak, in the fall. There is A LOT of reddish brown however, as in the ferns that die off. I have them in my yard, and it looks a lot like what MK is calling red. They are NOT red, however. I am going to ask my Natural History buff friend about this. Mostly the trees are not red, as in the eastern USA, but rather YELLOW, and then they wither to LIGHT-TO-REDDISH BROWN. So, if MK is exaggerating the reddish tones found in brown, then he is certainly also exaggerating dirt and mud into... "blood."

RELATED LINKS:

CRYPTOMUNDO blogs about this and previous entry on BIGFOOT'S BLOG!
BIGFOOT MASSACRE MESS ENDS DECADE

Squatchopedia PGF TIMELINE.

Bill Miller's great indictment of the "Theory,"
The Massacre at Bluff Creek.

Another earlier CRYPTOMUNDO article,
Bigfoot Massacre Theorist, John Green and Coverup

And read this: AN EARLY ARTICLE BY THE BLOGSQUATCHER

Images: Blue Creek Mountain, tracks and Green investigating; Titmus at Hyampom, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin with track casts, John Green's book and his cast collection;, John Green at Bluff Creek with the dog White Lady. Do you really think these lifelong investigators "massacred" a Bigfoot family? Come on! If your do, then you must throw out nearly all of Bigfoot history in North America. What more convincing theory do you have to replace all this with?

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BONUS FEATURE, UPDATE!!! The following was in reply to the talk above, it is our further reply, done 4 January 2010. If you care, this little missive lays it all out there, and nails it shut. We really do wish to NEVER mention the word "Massacre" again, though surely it will rear its ugly head again.

MORE BLUFF CREEK BIGFOOT MASSACRING: An Open Letter to XXXX

Well XXXX [NAME REMOVED],

I sent you that email because (don't you remember?), YOU had brought up the issues to me. We had a lengthy discussion about them by email, right?

You're certainly entitled to your opinions, and I frankly don't mind at all. Reading your email did, though, make me feel kind of ill in the pit of my gut. Such anger, such rage (as you've put it earlier). If I worried I'd offend someone I'd never be able to write anything. There would always be someone to take offense; and even if I wrote innocuous drivel someone would be offended by that.

But look, my "interviews" were all specifically entitled "Interview and Discussion." I made this clear to all to whom I talked, that I wanted to engage in discussion of issues. It is too easy to just take the words from the horses' mouths, let people say only what they want to say with no challenge or discussion, sticking to only safe and comfortable topics. I am aware of journalistic conventions. I simply choose to not follow this idea of the non-existent objective interviewer. On my blog, in the actions I take there, I am engaged as one investigating the world of Bigfoot every bit as much as those that I am interviewing. There is no inherent hierarchy in discourse, save if you are a fascist. The perspective of both participants is inevitably there, and cannot be erased. If the world needed yet another interview of Paulides or Davis talking about the very same things they have already said and talked about then I would do such an interview. The fact is that I wanted to explore NEW territory. To a healthy and inquisitive mind this should not be a problem. Don't express my "own damned opinion," you say??? Whom are YOU to say such a thing? It is my blog, I will say what I like. I am not here to serve you nor the ego of someone who will not openly talk about things that matter. It only reveals their own weaknesses, not mine, if they cannot reply sensibly.

In my interview with Joshua Blu Buhs everything went civilly and with jocular conviviality, even when I was challenging him. He didn't mind, and I think his responses challenged me to think better. That is a productive discourse. And, interestingly, he is NOT part of the Bigfoot community. What does it say about certain bigfooters if they cannot engage, if they have such thin skin that they react with outrage like I feel Paulides did? What is WRONG here? MK Davis agreed to the interview I did, and its format. It was all revealed to him BEFORE it even began what I was going to ask. In what way did I transgress? I only "laid my cards on the table" after he started hedging away and sending responses that had nothing to do with my questions. How do YOU know "nobody likes" my kind of approach??? I have had plenty of readers praising the work I've done, especially for its unique approaches. And how in the world do you get that my honest questions are expressive of "cynical personal opinions"? WHAT so-called CYNICISM have I expressed? NONE. It is called: a critical attitude. I am very skeptical, however, about lunatic theories that have no basis at all in fact, especially if they damage the veracity of the subject at hand. They were not "driven away" by my questions; they had certain areas where they would not talk, that is all. The ones who wouldn't talk preferred to remain silent rather than speaking out sensibly about their own prior ideas. I can't help that. And they have all had every chance to rebut anything subsequent to their interviews, and I've made that utterly clear.

All of my questions to Dave in the discussion/interview were civil and respectful. He allowed me some room to challenge certain ideas, and I did so. Everything went fine. I spent over a week of serious work making him look good, editing his responses for a better presentation (spelling, punctuation, a number of grammatical issues), and thinking generally how to engage him in a hearty and interesting discussion. He was NOT open and welcoming of certain questions, as you suggest. Frankly, I found it a bit annoying to have to tip-toe around what I sensed were his angry zones, to not step on his toes, to get him to talk about things beyond his straight PR line for NABS. He was open enough to do the interview, which I appreciated. However, once I said that I was also talking to Perez about an interview he really got outraged and outrageous, in my opinion. I mean, I put in all this effort and once I published the interview/discussion, which I had presented to him in full for his approval, all I got is a blunt "DISAPPOINTED," with some rather vociferous accusations coming from him that were absolutely TOTALLY UNPROVOKED, TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR. A couple of weeks later, when I published the Perez interview, he just couldn't handle it. He was obviously already angry over NOTHING, but then utterly blew his top when I sent an email to Perez saying that Dave had asked me what his (Perez') sources were for P&G going to Murray Field to send the film. Dave says, implies basically, but clearly, that Gimlin must be lying about this. This is just discussion, not at all personal (save for Bob)--I just wanted to know, like Dave, what the source was. But rather than join the inquiry he'd rather dismiss Perez and insult him. And then he blew his top and started berating ME. For what? NOTHING. Perhaps he is jealous of Daniel's obviously superior knowledge and experience in this field of Bigfoot?

I did not betray personal email from Dave to Daniel. I did not set Dave up. I didn't do anything but promote his product and ask a few sensible questions. I had never said one bad thing about Paulides to people at this point, and yet I had HEARD such bad things uttered constantly by MANY in the field. I tried to remain neutral, but Dave DRAGGED me into the mess. I am not going to just sit by and watch as someone acts the way he did, accusing me of disloyalty, backstabbing, dishonesty (even implying that I'd try to rip him off for his products), having ulterior motives, etc. It was HE WHO SAID THESE ORIGINAL NASTY THINGS, not me. Regarding Paulides' work: YES, a lot of the stuff he has done is very good, and intriguing. However, much of it is NOT original, and he does not GIVE CREDIT nor much of any citation for things that he has obviously gotten from other writers and researchers. I can prove this by textual analysis, and I will. A vastly superior book on Native American Bigfoot culture is RAINCOAST SASQUATCH. It puts Tribal Bigfoot down several notches, in my own humble opinion. Perhaps it is Dave, not John Green, who needs to take a lie detector test: Did you (or did you not) secretly derive ___ from John Green's books, and use it without citation? OK, just kidding.

In what I published I was actually just reiterating much of what is out there in the PUBLIC RECORD. Many had already spoken out. I had some criticisms of Dave's reported behavior in public, of his apparent arrogance (one researcher told me he has an ego the size of Everest), of some of the things in his books and blogs that are factually misconceived. But I also felt he had done me serious personal insult--and I wrote about all of that stuff. That is all. I didn't want to, but felt I had to at that point, especially as I felt someone should have the courage to speak out. I have actually received WAY more praise than criticism over what I wrote.

I cannot help it if you are older than me. I can't have been in this field longer than someone of a previous generation, really. Patterson was dead when I was a little child. What are you, in your sixties right? I have been interested in Bigfoot since childhood. I got involved in studying it seriously after I finished graduate school. Before that I simply never had the time. In the last ten years I have read nearly every book on the subject out there, all the major ones and most minor ones with any merit, many more than once, and I have studied deeply in certain areas (such as Bluff Creek). I don't, surely, know everything, and I admit it--that is why I admire and give credit to people like Daniel Perez and Loren Coleman, or John Green. Had I done this work in school I would only have to write the dissertation to get a Ph.D. I have studied all the major web sites, and read much of the worthy and fine content on yours. I have seen nearly every available Bigfoot documentary and feature film. I have gone to a number of conferences. What more do you WANT from me? Because I was not schmoozing with Dahinden or whatever I am somehow not allowed to speak or comment? Shall I kiss your ring before I am allowed? I am perfectly well informed on the issues on which I speak, and I try to the best of my ability to get to the truth in those matters. I do not just ramble or speak off the cuff, or with rage, or whatever, as you imply.

I communicate widely with people into Bigfoot, but of course I was not there to be involved in the early days. I have always respected John Green, and meeting him and seeing him in action only proved it to me again a hundred times that he is a good and honorable man, not one to live a life of lies and deception. Same goes for Bob Gimlin. Surely, they are not perfect; neither are you, nor am I myself. I could not get involved with the folks you mention, as they were distant, older, out of my sphere of interaction. I did not know when I opened my store in Willow Creek that I would suddenly become part of the world of Bigfoot Researchers. But it happened, and I've found it fascinating. From there I have slowly gotten involved with people I'd before thought of as somewhat legendary. I do NOT advocate "genuflecting" before anyone, not Gimlin or whomever; nor will I accept your silly implication that I bow before your own "seniority" in these areas of study. One can be older, but not necessarily wiser. There is no way you can criticize my activities based on the length of time I've been involved. I am capable. I have a rich and deep and ongoing education and breadth of knowledge. I was trained in academia to utilize logic and critical acumen, and I have studied Philosophy, Science, and contemporary Critical Theory, not to mention Psychology and Social Science. I have two advanced post-graduate degrees. I don't mean to brag, because I really don't care, but my qualifications are actually quite high, whatever the intellectual endeavor. Since the early 1980s I have made it a serious back burner project to study "paranormal" and fringe thought. I am looking at it now in a social, political and philosophical culture-criticism context. I am working on a book on these issues, involving Bigfoot.

Hence, I have been into these things basically since the time YOU had your XXXX [date removed for privacy] sighting that got YOU into this stuff. Since you said in an online interview that you had absolutely NO interest in crypto topics prior to that, then, actually, I have been doing "THIS" longer than you have! Well, not just in the area of Bigfoot, I'll admit it. BUT, I HAVE BEEN DOING BIGFOOT LONGER BY FAR THAN DAVE PAULIDES, if you want to venture into that kind of territory. Who are you to question that? Just because you've had a particular more narrow focus longer than I have? No, sorry. If you want to imply I don't know what I am talking about, PRESENT THE EVIDENCE! Where have I made an error? I have confirmed everything I can from the wide variety of sources. I have consumed the vast bulk of credible (and sometimes incredible) information on Bigfoot that is available. There is no way you can say what you have said and back it up. Thus, it is merely you trying to insult me. OK, fine, whatever. I really don't care what you say about me. It's OK.

These "massacre" slanders out there, though, are toxic and evil, and I only felt the more convinced of this truth after observing Gimlin in action at the Yakima Round-up. I like MK, from my interactions with him, but his ideas of the last couple of years are, I believe, utterly unfounded. And it has the sad consequence that they amount the to virtual tarring and feathering of good people. How can he say the things he does without some at least slightly decent evidence? And there IS NO DECENT PROOF of a bloodbath at Bluff Creek. That Paulides would fall for such crap disturbed me deeply, as I'd really enjoyed Hoopa Project in most ways. I was at least glad to have him working in the area where I live and getting to some good, new information. It was only later that I started to get folks telling me stuff about him, but when I got that "dark secret" email from him and saw it on Cryptomundo and in Bigfoot Times, I really had to re-evaluate my position. The interview was me trying to see the good side of Dave. I believe I showed a lot of that. Didn't I? Well, I really did sincerely try.

In fact, here, it seems to me that it is YOU who are consumed with rage and vindictiveness. Look, it was DAVE who was the "angry man with no social graces," and it is you here who are being intolerant of the views of others. I am not angry. I feel the truth has been offended. Logic has been offended. History has been offended. Good reputations of others have been damaged by bad theories. I am trying to correct those things where I detect the BS. There is a lot of it in bigfooting, I'm sorry to say... a lot of thin-skinned folks trying to prove their positions rather than investigate the truth. Thankfully, this is not all of us.

I have plenty of researchers on my side. I'll stick with them. I have plenty of good readers who know what I am doing and why, and frankly, I could not do a good job if I did not eventually say things that would offend some people. I KNEW you would react to what I wrote, as I'd seen you in other public forums jump all over people who even dared question certain sacred cows. What "damage" to my blog or myself do you think I need to rectify? I have only revealed the truth, as I saw it--I have not lied or distorted ANYTHING. The more proper question is, how is Dave, how MK, going to repair the mess that THEY have stirred up? I have no worries, I'm not invested in some stake here--I am only exploring an area of interest that I find interesting. The blog is a hobby. No one pays me a dollar to do it. I will continue to explore and find the truth to the best of my ability even if I do end up tipping over a few sacred cows, offending some already borderline individuals. If you weren't so biased, you'd see that IT IS I WHO AM THE SENSIBLE ONE HERE! But since Dave does not want me to forward his emails, I cannot prove it to you.

I wouldn't talk about this stuff publicly...
[LARGE EDIT OF PERSONAL ISSUES BEST LEFT UNSAID]
Huh? Look in the mirror...???

Do you really believe that Green is a wretched life-long liar, that Gimlin is a murderous glad-handing fraud? Or what? Do you cling to MK and Dave just because they support the "HUMAN hypothesis," or what?

Can't we all just get along?
Best, really.
Please cool it,
Bigfoot Books

*****************************************************
ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS:

"If you cant take it, then don't dish it out, hu-man!

Me go back to hibernate now. Grrr."


*****************************************************

This blog's text is copyright 2009 Bigfoot Books Intergalactic. Quote freely but please provide a citation and link back to this blog. Thanks!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Merry Abominable Christmas! Plus... AN OPEN LETTER TO DAVID PAULIDES OF NABS; More on BLUFF CREEK MASSACRE THEORY, TIMELINE ISSUES



MERRY ABOMINABLE SNOW SEASON TO ALL!!!

(Is that PC enough?)

Perhaps you remember this cool Abominable Snow Monster of the North, from the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated TV special  production, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." This was probably our own first exposure to hairy cryptid hominoids, predating our first viewing of the Patterson-Gimlin film. Plus, you've just got to love the Island of Misfit Toys!



And now, Squatchploitation continues to new, Himalayan pinnacles! View Jack Link's company's TWELVE DAYS OF SQUATCHMAS animation and song. We here at Bigfoot Books do promote, however, a mainly vegetarian diet. We're not sure that Bigfoot would want to eat beef jerky, given that it is loaded with nitrates and is most likely made out of disgusting byproduct parts from carcasses and may contain harmful prions that would cause Mad Sasquatch Disease.

NEWS FLASH: This week we knocked off an appreciative email to Daniel Perez regarding his latest issue of BIGFOOT TIMES, and now he's posted it on his blog. READ IT HERE, or go and bookmark BIGFOOTTIMES.NET now. We mainly talk about the PGF in the letter to the editor. Go and subscribe to BF TIMES, it will do you some good, for sure. This month Daniel announced the very well-deserved selection of BILL MUNNS as "BIGFOOTER OF THE YEAR." It is our feeling that we now have the data and historical perspective to do a full re-evaluation of both the film's Bigfoot subject AND the timeline issues. To us Bigfooters this should be of singular importance: that we put the puzzle pieces together and throw out the ones that obviously don't fit. What remains is the truth of the matter, all "Bluff Creek Massacres" be damned (unless, MK and Dave, you can actually PROVE that thing!).


Check out Munns' CREATURE GALLERY. And the essential site for new data on the Patterson-Gimlin Film, THE MUNNS REPORT.


WHY DOES DAVE PAULIDES HATE US??? Our Recent Experiences with Mr. NABS.

Anyway, it looks like we have stepped into the middle of a major bigfooting shitstorm. We'd interviewed David Paulides earlier, hoping to get him to open up on some of the more controversial issues he has raised or that surround his attitude and public behavior and written statements. However, he declared he'd only talk about non-controversial things. So, we talked a lot about Ray Crowe and the Track Record product that NABS has recently released. However, at the end of that blog we placed a small "Coming Soon" slug about an interview with his arch-rival, Daniel Perez. Dave became angry. "Disappointed" was how he put it, bluntly. And for what? Just for interviewing Mr. Perez, and not being "loyal" to Mr. Paulides. Apparently, Dave does not understand the concept of objective and investigative journalism.

As soon as the Perez article was published he seemed to flip his wig. He thinks we are Perez' spy or something, as we'd sent a question Dave had asked us on to Daniel, as Dave was questioning Daniel's sources in regard to an issue of the P-G Film timeline. This is NORMAL in any field of inquiry... to INQUIRE. But just because we sent that question to Daniel, and Daniel replied back to BOTH Dave and us, now Paulides thinks that we were forwarding his emails to Perez. Perhaps Dave, using his awsome "investigative abilities and training" could have looked at the email more closely and seen that it was not US who sent any preceding material to Perez, but rather it was Daniel who chose to add Paulides' email to the reply list. Instead, he got it all wrongly, like he does often enough in his two books. Read more closely, Dave.

Now, in Paulides' book, we are "disloyal, a backstabber, dishonest, not to be counted on," etc. So, we may as well write what follows. He even rudely implied that we might not pay him for products he'd sent for the store. He accuses US of ignoring facts and not doing research when, in fact, it is HE who won't read our email, who won't consider any of the information included below. He'd rather think he is the first to interview Al Hodgson, or the first to read the 1992 Green-Gimlin interview. Sorry Dave, you're a late-comer to this party (so are we). All this despite the obviously discoverable fact that it is his own misunderstanding and hot-headed emotional reaction that has led him to this point, he has cut off all communications with us and vows to never do another interview with anyone ever again. “NABS,” his "group," even had a special "meeting" the next day with humble us as Issue #1 on the agenda, and they are now establishing a no-interview, no media policy. Dave seems to like to do things this way. Perhaps it gives him that grand feeling of power that he misses getting from law enforcement?

Well, NABS, good riddance, we suppose. With an attitude like that who really WANTS to hear from you, anyway? But it is incredibly rude to just cut off communications like that, after unjust recriminations to boot. Dave, you should be glad that I did NOT write the kind of fairly critical review of your two books that I WOULD have written had I not been interacting with you via email and in a business relationship. Perhaps now I will go back and write those. Believe me, I liked those books in great part, but they are not, um... PERFECT. Not at all. Some of the factual and grammatical errors are, frankly, embarrassing.

It is sad, Dave. Look, who defended you in every case we could, against constant criticism from others around in the bigfooting community? Who promoted constantly and sold your books, not to mention maps, patches and stickers, in our shop? Who gave you a full blog entry to say whatever you wanted and to promote your product, The Track Record? Who edited your grammatical and spelling errors out of that interview so that you would look better in it? Who got this product set up on Amazon.com for sales there, and designed a nice product listing page for you? Who has an ad flier in his window promoting your new book and a large sticker promoting your organization? Who also got your book placed in the stock of the most popular bookstores in Humboldt County based solely upon our recommendation? Who still has promotional links on our blog for your website? That was US, Dave, WE at Bigfoot Books did that for YOU. Now, Dave, who is backstabbing whom? Who is being disloyal? It certainly is not us! It is you who, in apparent paranoia, is doing it to us. And we've heard repeatedly about how you have done this kind of things to other bigfoot researchers. Cut enough bridges, Dave, and who will eventually be left on your "side"? NO ONE.

We first encountered Dave, we are certain, when a man whom we later recognized from the author photo on his book came in to our shop here in Willow Creek, sometime in 2007. His first book had not come out yet, and no one knew whom he was at that point. He didn't announce to us that he was a "professional" Bigfoot researcher, but rather played the part of the tourist and tried to pick our brain for information. We'd asked him what his interest in Bigfoot was, as he seemed curious about ours, and the subject in general. He said he was just looking into some things, now that he'd retired from being a police officer, that he'd always been interested in but didn't have the time to explore. He played naive, as if it was casual interest, and he'd just begun to think more seriously about it. Actually, it seemed to us, he was trying to hide his identity, using his supposedly awesome interrogative and investigative skills. The professional thing to do, when encountering a colleague in any given field, is to INTRODUCE yourself and your projects and area of interest. Rather, we were left later with a sour feeling, especially as many of our ideas for our own research projects then seemed mysteriously to turn up in Paulides book. Now, we're not saying that he stole them, necessarily; but it just doesn't ring with collegiality and openness of discourse that should exist in any growing, collaborative field of knowledge. Rather, it seemed the behavior of a spy, a snooper, especially as, when we later came into contact with him to sell his products, he never once let on that he had met us nor been in our shop before. Beyond sneaky, this seems almost duplicitous to us. It's just  plain odd.

He's alienated a lot of others, including numerous folks we know personally. Here's what BIGFOOT FIELD REPORTER, Sharon Lee, had to say about Dave's behavior at this year's BIGFOOT DISCOVERY DAYS:
"Finally, the most difficult presentation to sit through was that of David Paulides. Now, I am pretty new to this world of bigfoot research, 6 years. I have not had time to read every book written on bigfoots because almost EVERYONE has written a book. So, I had no idea who this Paulides guy was, but I guess I should have! In his words, he is the best researcher. His organization is the best. He doesn't consider individual people researchers. He insulted Michael Rugg, the host of the event, by telling Mike that he was not a researcher, but just a museum curator. He then went on to talk about what a bad rap he gets, and how no other organizations will step forward to work with him. Gee, I wonder why? This guy had no shortage of arrogance! I felt really badly for Mike Rugg. He has dedicated his life to bigfoot research and to be insulted at his own event that Paulides was invited to, was so disrespectful."


Image: Bigfooter Elders at the 2003 Willow Creek International Bigfoot Symposium, including Bob Gimlin (in hat), Al Hodgson, and John Green (in back, hidden).

In a public comment Believe It Tour's Brad Pennock reported, "Yeah, David Paulides talked a lot about how the Patterson/Gimlin story details didn't add up, but then emphatically stated he believes the Bigfoot in their movie is real. WTF?" This goes along the lines of what Paulides has been  promoting non-publicly, using an email rumor campaign: the "BLUFF CREEK MASSACRE THEORY." Yes, Dave claims that he came up with the very same theory that MK Davis propounded earlier, but to have found it independently, in some archival materials and film found in the Western Bigfoot Society/Ray Crowe archives that NABS  had purchased. The rumor campaign? Much like MK's tactics, it was conducted within the Bigfoot researcher community, and began to spread out like a virus. There was nothing really new here--we'd heard all of it before from MK either personally or over the WWW. However, as outed and published on CRYPTOMUNDO by Loren Coleman, and then in the BIGFOOT TIMES by Daniel Perez, there was apparently something more sinister going on here, something more like defamation, and it was aimed at the most respected names in the Bigfoot field.

Daniel Perez and Loren Coleman both published and quoted Paulides as writing (yes, we got a variant of these odd emails from him, too),

"I actually got my hands on a fairly old copy of the PG film, full framed with segments on it nobody has seen. It is in the experts hands and many of our impressions of what actually occurred is playing out. I actually believe that John Green and Gimlin are harboring a very, very dark secret, really."

The "Secret"? It is a theory that claims John Green, Bob Gimlin, Rene Dahinden, Roger Patterson and Bob Titmus participated in the slaughter of a Sasquatch family, and that the clip known as the PGF is just a small piece of the killing action. In stating or at least implying things like this, Paulides is not only scandalizing the names of these two elder statesmen of Bigfooting, but he is also besmirching the honorable memory of nearly all the late greats, who aren't around anymore to defend themselves against such outrages: Patterson, Dahinden, and Titmus. He is not just dragging their names in the dirt, but more: he is accusing them of MURDER. If you buy into Dave Paulides' notion that Bigfoot is fully HUMAN, then what else can we call the slaughter of a whole family of them in Bluff Creek? This is serious shit, and ex-cop Dave should KNOW BETTER.


Dig even deeper into this crazy "Massacre" theory if you'd like. The best place to start is probably where it ends, really--the page on Cryptomundo.com where JOHN GREEN GIVES HIS RESPONSES to Paulides' accusations and MK's ideas. There are handy links in this article which will take you back into the story.
Or read MASSACRE MANIA CONTINUES for more info and graphics on the MKD theory.
AND READ THIS NOW: The Massacre at Bluff Creek; Bill Miller debunks the massacre with the help of John Green's original film, found on the West Coast Sasquatch Reasearch site. But be careful: it's through the looking glass in there!

"The more I try to explain the stranger it seems that anyone could think this stuff up, let alone actually go public with it, let alone have anyone else believe it." -- John Green, August 24, 2009

Linda Martin, on BIGFOOT SIGHTINGS, had some interesting points to make in her entry, David Paulides Responds to the Bigfoot Massacre Issue. She, too, has told me she has been CUT OFF from Dave's holy communication. Oh well, Linda!

And this, perhaps the real source of Paulides' anger, is what Daniel Perez had to say re. the misguided "Massacre" theory in his September 2009 issue of BIGFOOT TIMES: "M.K. Davis, sorry to say, has already lost all credibility and now David Paulides isn't very far behind." Then Perez quotes John Green from a September 5th statement: "Can you believe that Paulides could actually have been involved in criminal investigations with serious consequences? The mind boggles. I don't understand these people, but I don't think it's likely Paulides will now be taken seriously by legitimate researchers."

And then a reader of our blog, asking for total anonymity, sent us the following statement:
"I'm guessing Paulides hates or is hated by a lot of people. His writing and research are awful and he's got incredibly thin skin, even for the Bigfoot community. It's scary to think this guy was a cop. I wouldn't trust him to investigate my missing newspaper."

Dave, if you've gone and shot yourself in the foot, you shouldn't blame it on others.

Images: Both from the 2007 Willow Creek PGF Celebration, by Steven Streufert. Above, the Bigfoot swag table including Roger Patterson's book and bust of Bigfoot statues (one of these is now in our possession!); Below, Bigfoot footprint tracks provided by Cliff Barackman, including some of the PGF Patty.

Be sure to check out NABS/Dave's "Blog #67 Professional Investigations" found by scrolling down on the NABS BLOG page. Here, among other things, Dave finally admits (after many earlier claims) that he was not the first to utilize affidavits in Bigfoot research. Nope, it was John Green. Here Dave makes the most hypocritical statement we can imagine. Talking about OTHER researchers he ends up simply describing himself: "...the world of Bigfoot is one of the most dysfunctional arenas in any spectrum imaginable. It’s a place where many can’t work together, most don’t have friends, a majority of research “groups” are a group of one and almost all have an ego the size of Texas." Mr. Paulides, if you want us to believe you, stop being so secretive, so combative, so arrogant, so presumptuous and... show us these "Experts" already? Who ARE they? Are they even there? What are their credentials? Is NABS really just Paulides and Pratt with some financial backers and a lot of hot air, or can we really believe in the credibility of your evidence and methodology? It is hard to believe in its value if it is hidden behind what seems like the smoke, mirrors and stage curtains normally used by magicians and charlatans and snake oil salesmen. Come out into the open Dave, share the world with other researchers and thinkers in the field, don't be something like a paranoid recluse. But you're going to have to play nice....

What follows is the discourse from after our own fiasco with Dave, with data following that was originally meant to be published as a brief interchange here on this blog, with our open letter to Paulides, and pieces of our discussion that we can publish--our own words and synopsis of his--without asking his permission.

*********************************************
AN OPEN LETTER TO DAVE PAULIDES OF NABS:

13 November 2009
Willow Creek, CA  (Revised slightly Dec. 23, 2009)

Dave,

I wish you would not be so angry. About what? I did not forward your mail to Daniel. I simply asked him a question you had raised about the mailing/sending of the PGF. This is NORMAL in an inquiry, to ask questions, to debate and mutually consider evidence.

I cannot help it if you and Daniel Perez are enemies. I do not deserve to be treated the way you are treating me, simply because I interviewed him. Your reaction is really rather extreme, and if you asked me, unworthy of a researcher and author of the stature you want to be.

If you would take a step back from your knee-jerk emotional reaction you would see that I never took sides between the two of you, and simply asked both of you about your ideas and opinions. I had no obligation to defend your work after Perez’ comments, but if you’d look you would see that I DID defend you in the interview. I am not responsible for Daniel’s views. I gave you the right of rebuttal, which you refused, to your own detriment, I think.

If you asked me, I would say that your attitude does NOT further the cause, nor does it make you look good in the bigfooting community. We are all in this endeavor together, and trying to be secretive, combative, alienating others, displaying arrogance, and not being open with research results surely will not help us find Bigfoot and the truth any time sooner.

Here is an option, one I consider much more amenable and mature:
We should just drop the anger and the argument, carry on like before with the things we do.

Look:
* I never acted as a "spy" for Perez.
* I never tried to set you up or betray you.
* I never sought to take sides with you or him.
* I acted in good faith in wanting to know what you and he think.

So far in my interviews I have chosen subjects I am in touch with. I bought a bunch of books from Buhs, so I asked if I could interview him. You and Daniel both were writing to me so I figured it would be cool to interview both of you. MK Davis and Bobbie Short both commented on my blog, so I figured I'd interview them. I am talking to Matt Moneymaker lately a bit, and have asked him, too. There is NO CONSPIRACY in these matters, save my own intellectual curiosity and desire to get to the bottom of things, to the truth. You should not take offense to that.

This:
The only thing I really ever said to Perez about you was that I thought the "massacre" theory was kind of crazy, back when MK was spreading it around; and I asked him why he thought you'd gotten involved with it. I admit, I was and am truly puzzled about that; but you would not answer those kind of questions. If you close doors then I am forced to inquire with other researchers, books, or internet sites. Do you want to have your say or not? Other than that I didn't go divulging private words to him. You asked about his sources on an issue, and I asked him about them. Where's the crime, Dave?

I mean you no harm. I do not want to be your enemy. I'm glad you're out there doing your research, and am open-minded to all your other ideas and theories. I enjoyed your books. I promote(d) them and your organization every chance I have (had). I have been ON YOUR SIDE all along, in these regards.

I believe:
You have misunderstood me, and reacted to something that was not even a problem at all, save in your own mind.
To see threats that are not there, to act out against them, this is what is called "paranoia."

If I have done you any harm tell me what I've done and I will apologize if it was really wrong.
Really.
Don't make more out of this than is there.
I sent an email to Daniel to ask him about the Murray Field issue, no more.
I DID say in there that I agreed with him that there is a basic PGF timeline that makes sense, and that if you remove certain inconsistently remembered or reported things then it is more clear. I DID NOT MALIGN YOU TO HIM. What exactly do you think I said that was a slight against you? Or are you imagining what I MIGHT have said? Is your imagination running away with you? Well, I didn't say it.

Yes, OK, this is just my opinion. I do not think that they took the Bald Hills route. That is not to say anything bad about YOU. Can we not disagree about certain things??? To discuss ideas and conduct a serious study of anything requires that we not take things personally.

Really, I am not trying to take sides on this just to get web hits, as you imply. Why would I need web hits? I don't make a cent on doing this, you know. What I really want to know is: WHAT IS THE TRUTH? The truth about the PGF timeline. THAT is what I care about. YES, I have read the Green-Gimlin interview you mention, a number of times. I agree, there are problems with the time statements Bob makes. I am VERY CURIOUS as to why so many differing statements were made by various people. But that DOESN'T mean that P. and G. or Al Hodgson were... LIARS!

Read this one, then, yourself: http://www.bigfootencounters.com/biology/pgf_history.htm
by Christopher Murphy

I have another email where I have compiled all of this stuff [ed. note--see this below] I've been noting about the timeline, which I am going to send to you. In there I am making honest analysis and questioning things. I do sincerely hope that you will read it. This is some kind of toxic issue. Every time I try to talk about it a whole lot of people get pissed off to high heaven.

I do NOT sit around with Daniel Perez joking about you. BELIEVE me, OK? I do not want to alienate you. That is absolutely NOT my intention. In my opinion I have done you NO wrong, okay? Please tell me, why are you so angry at ME? I think you are getting angry where no anger is due. I am NOT backstabbing you.

If I have done some actual harm, please: PRESENT THE EVIDENCE. At least try to make sense.

Best,
Steve, Bigfoot Books
*********************************************

What follows is an interchange that was going on right before Paulides “banned” us from his sacred presence. We have taken out Dave’s actual words, as he does not want us to publish them. We have, instead, given a brief paraphrase of them for context only. His statements are summarized under “YOU” below. Make of this what you will--it is a fragment of a sadly aborted discourse, and we hate to just waste the material. Our words are in capitals, only because we wanted to intersperse our words into his email as a mode of reply--we DON’T mean to be yelling by using this mode, we just don't want to retype it and remove it from its original context.

Image: The winding, often confused road Bigfooting usually takes. A sign on Bigfoot Towing, in Happy Camp, CA.

*********************************************
Dave: Here is what I have to say about what you said about the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film and Timeline, in your first email, before you became enraged, interspersed in CAPITALS:

BIGFOOT BOOKS: DAVE, THERE IS ILLOGIC, INCONSISTENCY, AND INCOMPLETE CONSIDERATION IN MUCH OF WHAT YOU SAY IN YOUR EMAIL.

YOU: Dave too literally assumes that we have to believe Gimlin or not, totally missing that there is ambiguity in memory, and he may not have paid ultra-close attention to ALL details of that day. Questions Perez sources, which is what we asked Daniel about. Questions issue of bringing film to airport.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: ALL GIMLIN IS SAYING, IN MY VIEW, IS THAT THEY WENT TO TOWN TO *DELIVER* THE FILM. TO SAY "MAIL" COULD EASILY MEAN, "PUT IT ON A PLANE." ESPECIALLY AS HE SAYS HE DOESN'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHERE THEY WENT. YOU CAN'T BE TOO LITERAL OR NITPICKY IN INTERPRETING ORAL STORIES. IT IS NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE, HOWEVER MANY AFFIDAVITS YOU GET SIGNED. YOU KNOW WELL, WITNESS REPORTS DIFFER WIDELY.

YOU: Dave questions how P. and G. could have gotten casts, etc. when it was raining so hard that night. Totally not getting that it only rained later, in the early morning. Dave seems not to have really absorbed the primary sources on these matters.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: THEY HAD GOTTEN THE CASTS OUT, TWO OF THEM, THAT AFTERNOON. GIMLIN COVERED UP THE PRINTS BEFORE THE RAIN GOT THAT HARD. IT WAS A DELUGE AS HE RETURNED TO CAMP, SPRINKLING OR JUST STARTING TO RAIN AS HE LEFT, AS ROGER CONTINUED TO SLEEP. THE RAIN CAN CAUSE MUDSLIDES ON BLUFF CREEK ROADS, ESPECIALLY THE MUD ONES, WITHOUT EVEN BEING THAT BAD. THE ROAD CAN HAVE PROBLEMS WHILE THE FILM SITE SANDBAR DOES NOT, SEE? THE CREEK WOULD HAVE STAYED IN ITS BANKS IN A NORMAL RAIN, ONLY A REAL 100-YEAR TYPE FLOOD WOULD INUNDATE THE ENTIRE SANDBAR.

YOU: Dave thinks it unbelievable that Gimlin went back to the film site (2- 2.5 miles on a dirt logging road with the sun beginning to lighten the sky) that night, in the rain, and that he should have been too afraid to do it with Bigfoots running around. (We think Bob was tougher than that, for sure.)

BIGFOOT BOOKS: HE DIDN'T WALK, HE RODE THE HORSE. AND THAT 2 MILES OR SO WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH EASIER WITH THE WELL-LEVELED LOGGING ROAD THERE AT THE TIME. HE HAD THE CASTS ALREADY. THE ONES YOU KNOW OF, THE TEN, WERE CAST BY BOB TITMUS, 9-10 DAYS LATER. BECAUSE BOB HAD COVERED THEM UP WITH TREE BARK THEY STILL HELD FORM TO BE CAST LATER. AND RE. THE THREAT OF "BIPEDS," WELL, MAYBE HE FIGURED SHE OR THEY HAD LEFT THE AREA. AND FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN AND HEARD OF GIMLIN... YES, HE DOES INDEED HAVE NERVES OF STEEL. HE'S A TOUGH GUY, AND BRAVE, AND NOT A LIAR, EITHER.


YOU: Dave thinks they were at Hodgson’s between 8:00 or 9:00, when they were there around 6:15; chooses to believe the Hodgson version of the story of them coming by after sending off the film, even though that is absolutely impossible within the given time frame, even that given by Al himself (Al says they came by earlier, a little after 6:00) and is contradicted by Gimlin’s own account. Dave also believes in the Bald Hills Route story, by the way, even though that is even more impossible.

Image: The great Al Hodgson, still alive and kickin', presents in front of Patty at the 2007 Willow Creek PGF Anniversary gathering. Photo by Steven Streufert.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: NO, AS THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY THEY COULD HAVE MADE IT TO *ANY* POST OFFICE BEFORE CLOSING TIME, AND THE WILLOW CREEK POST WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST AS GOOD. THE *ONLY* REASON TO GO TO EUREKA WAS FOR A SPECIAL AIR DELIVERY FROM THE AIRPORT OR WHATEVER COURIER WOULD HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE FOR OFF-HOURS SERVICE. SEE? NO REASON TO GO TO THE EKA POST OFFICE. NO RUSH TO GET THERE BEFORE GOING TO AL'S IF ROGER KNEW OF A WAY TO HAVE IT SENT BY PRIVATE PLANE OR AIR COURIER SERVICE. WHICH STORY DO YOU WANT? DID THEY GO TO THE POST OFFICE OR NOT? DID THEY MAKE IT TO AL'S SHORTLY AFTER THE 6:00 HOUR OR NOT? WHATEVER HOUR, THE POST OFFICES WERE CLOSED, AND THEY COULD NOT HAVE EVEN MADE IT TO THE LOCAL WCK ONE ON TIME. SO WHY EVEN MENTION 9:00??? IT IS AN OBVIOUS MIS-STATEMENT. AL SAYS SIX OR SO--DO YOU BELIEVE HIM OR NOT??? IF YOU BELIEVE HIM THEN THEY WENT RIGHT TO HIS STORE.

YOU: Dave says, after believing absolutely self-contradictory things, that this somehow proves that the film was taken on another day. This is not logically consistent, however. And that it rained later has nothing really to do with anything. But as Dave can’t get the facts straight he comes up with an even more implausible and non-parsimonious theory of what happened. The timeline is NOT impossible, we argue, if you take out the obviously incorrect statements.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: RE. THE 8 0R 9:00 TIME, WELL, MAYBE BOB JUST MADE A WRONG ESTIMATE OF THAT, AS IT ONLY WOULD TAKE ABOUT TWO HOURS FROM THE FILM SITE TO WILLOW CREEK, HENCE A 6:00 ARRIVAL PLUS OR MINUS MAKES COMPLETE SENSE, AND AGREES WITH AL HODGSON'S STATEMENTS. GOING TO THE AIRPORT OR WHEREVER AFTER THAT MAKES TOTAL SENSE, TOO. RULE OUT BALD HILLS, RULE OUT EUREKA FIRST, AND LO, IT ALL ADS UP PERFECTLY. DANIEL PEREZ HAS DISPROVED THE SHOWER STORY--THEY MAY HAVE STOPPED THERE THE DAY AFTER, ON THE WAY HOME, APPARENTLY, BUT NOT THE SAME DAY.


Image: Willow Creek Museum's Bigfoot Collection exhibit of some Bigfoot history, this one covering the 1958 Jerry Crew track finds from Bluff Creek.

YOU: Dave argues that we gave Daniel the softball treatment in our interview. Au contraire! That we should have been defending HIS Hoopa Project and Tribal Bigfoot, as if that were our obligation somehow, as if that had much of anything to do with the fact that Daniel was just expressing HIS opinion. He then denigrates and questions Daniel’s investigative talents.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: SORRY, BUT WHAT AMMO NOW DID YOU GIVE ME? BEFORE THE INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL? HARDLY ANYTHING. WE BARELY TALKED ABOUT ANY OF THIS, AND THE THINGS YOU SENT TO ME WERE *AFTER* THE INTERVIEW WAS COMPLETED. BESIDES, IT IS NOT MY JOB TO DEFEND YOUR BOOK, IN AN INTERVIEW WITH A RIVAL RESEARCHER, BUT RATHER JUST TO ASK THE INTERVIEWED SUBJECT WHAT HE/SHE MAY THINK. IT IS YOUR JOB TO DEFEND YOUR OWN POSITION, AND I HAVE FREELY OFFERED THIS TO YOU. YOU SEEM ADAMANT TO REJECT THAT BASED UPON SOME FALSE PRESUPPOSITIONS ABOUT MY MOTIVES. YOU COULDN'T BE MORE WRONG.

DAVE,  I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REALIZE IT, BUT THERE ARE A CLEAR MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN THE BIGFOOTING WORLD WHO HAVE FOUND REASON NOT TO LIKE YOU OR TO RESPECT YOUR RESEARCH. I MEAN, LIKE THE IMPRESSION YOU MADE IN FELTON THIS YEAR--JUST FOR AN EXAMPLE--A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE FELT GRAVELY INSULTED BY YOUR STATEMENTS, INCLUDING THE ORGANIZER, MICHAEL RUGG. I WASN'T THERE, SO I CAN'T REALLY COMMENT COMPLETELY; HOWEVER, I WISH YOU KNEW HOW DAMN MANY TIMES I'VE DEFENDED YOU AND YOUR WORK FROM CRITICISMS. ALMOST UNIFORMLY BIGFOOTERS HAVE TOLD ME BAD THINGS ABOUT YOU, THAT THEY DID NOT LIKE YOUR ATTITUDE, OR FOUND YOUR WORK LACKING IN SOME REGARD. I, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT YOU DID GOOD WORK AND SEEMED LIKE A GOOD GUY. I HAVE BEEN ALMOST ALONE IN DOING SO, AND HAVE HAD TO DO SO IN ALMOST EVERY CASE YOUR NAME HAS COME UP. BUT LOOK, I AM NOT AGAINST YOU. I WOULD CONTINUE TO DEFEND YOU, SAVE IN THE CASE THAT YOU TAKE A BAD ATTITUDE IN RESPONDING TO ME, IF YOU LEAVE THE NASTY THINGS YOU JUST SAID ABOUT ME, OR IMPLIED, STANDING AS THEY ARE. IF THAT IS THE KIND OF PERSON YOU ARE THEN I WOULD BE FORCED TO ADMIT IT AND AGREE WITH ALL THE OTHERS. I SINCERELY *HOPE* THAT IS *NOT* THE CASE, DAVE.

BEST,
STEVE, BIGFOOT BOOKS
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OK FOLKS, MAKE OF THE ABOVE RELATIONS AND FRAGMENTS WHAT YOU WILL.
Think of Mr. Paulides as you like--these are just our own current views and experiences. We exercise our First Amendment right to FREE SPEECH in doing so, but in no way wish to claim that you should believe as we do. We are open to a change in attitude in Dave, but somehow feel we should not expect it. We do hope that solipsism and egotism don't cloud his mind forever, and he can get on with the more serious topics wherein he may just contribute something worthy to the field of Bigfoot research. Hoopa Project and Tribal Bigfoot were pretty darn fascinating books. Let's hope he does come around!

Image: The Heat Miser is all fired-up over this! From "The Year Without a Santa Claus," another fine Rankin/Bass stop-motion Christmas treasure.

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ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS:

Me hibernate!!! Get out my cave, hu-man! Me break scrawny hu-man neck. ZZZZ. GRRR. ZZZZ.
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All words in this blog entry are just the opinons of Bigfoot Books. DISCLAIMER: You might want to investigate the issues and form your own opinions before coming to any conclusions about the subject matter discussed. These are just our personal experiences and views, and are in no way meant to be construed as absolute statements of fact and truth.
Copyright 2009, Bigfoot Books Intergalactic.

Image: One of Shipton's 1950s Yeti snow prints.

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