Kia ora and welcome back!
I hope you all enjoyed your break and you’re feeling a little refreshed or a little fresh in the warmth of a Dunedin winter. If the heating in your flat doesn’t work all too well this time of year I highly recommend a box of beers or bottle of wine to warm the soul.
This week in Critic we’ve got a few features to do with Cryptozoology. For those who are unfamiliar with the term Cryptozoology, it is the search for creatures like fairies and mermaids or hominids such as Bigfoot and the Waitakere Yeti.
Watching clips on YouTube of those from organisations such as the Bigfoot Research Organisation or the United Bigfoot Research Society froth over videos of what appear to be a man or woman walking around in a bigfoot costume is something that I encourage you to do if you’ve got a spare minute or two early in the semester.
The first sighting of the hominid “Bigfoot”, or as he’s known in some parts “sasquatch”, came in 1811 in a small Canadian town named Jasper. I have absolutely no doubts that this first sighting of Bigfoot was actually an incredibly hairy, naked man in need of a shave, out back of the town knocking boots with a young lady that wasn’t his wife. Once startled I’m sure he decided to run off to deny any accountability.
Since that day, I believe those with any sense of humour have decided to play on that alleged sighting, drawing large footprints in the snow and running around the far distance in monkey suits hired from the local parties supply store.
But that’s just my uneducated opinion. If you’re after a more informed opinion then I highly recommend that you turn to the feature on Cryptozoology by Anthony Marris (page 18) for an in-depth look at the history of these creatures.
As for your first week back I hope you enjoy all that is on offer this Re-O! I have absolutely no doubts that those lecture theatres will be full each morning this week!
On another note, today I saw our ‘devout’ resident vegan, Joe putting cows milk in his coffee…More on this next week.
Hugh Baird
Critic Editor