Wednesday 19 November 2014

New Dinsdale Newsletter for Archive

Paul Cropper, a Fortean researcher from Australia, regularly sends me pieces of Loch Ness information he comes across during his investigations. So, I was happy to receive another Tim Dinsdale newsletter from him which I have now added to the archive.

It is titled "Commentary No.5" and appears to date from about 1980. You can access it at this link while the general link for the Tim Dinsdale newsletters is here and for the Rip Hepple newsletters is here.

One snippet that caught that my attention concerns an alleged land sighting.


Now, this is a third hand account from an ex-resident of Fort Augustus Abbey. Tim attempted to contact the witness' daughter, Sandra Smith, in Vienna, but with no success. It's some story, but there is little that one can do with it except state that no one else to my knowledge has ever reported a Loch Ness Monster in such an aggressive mood. Apart, of course, from Adamnan and his account of St. Columba's life!

Tim goes through some first hand accounts of monster sightings as well as everyday life at the loch - down to how he gets on with some bumblebees!

He ends his letter seemingly taking the decisive step of selling his "Water Horse" boat and determining to go back to land based watches. He expresses frustration with not getting the evidence he wished from years on the water. He had a couple of long neck sightings, but that was not good enough. He wanted the close up film which would finally vindicate him and the other monster hunters he knew.

Off the top of my head, it is not clear how he spent the final years of his life at Loch Ness. Did he stay on land or go back to his boat? Perhaps if somebody has some later newsletters, we can all find out.



Tuesday 18 November 2014

Comments Policy For This Blog

Given the recent variety of, shall we say, diverse comments I regularly receive for moderation, I thought it best to tighten up my rather loose comment policy. I first looked around at what others blogging websites do. Some are pretty tight, some unmoderated and some don't do comments (they let social media websites host the comments).

My thinking now runs along the lines of keeping comments on the topic of the post. If a comment diverges too far from the original subject of the post, then it will not be posted

For example, if a post appears on a folkloric aspect of the monster and a comment arrives about a Loch Ness Monster photograph, it is not likely to get approved - unless the comment argues a link between the two to the moderator's satisfaction.

Comments on subjects which have been discussed amply in previous articles and comments are likely to be rejected unless they can prove a new angle.

Comments which are general thanks and praise will be approved. We like those!

Comments which disagree with an article without giving a specific reason will be rejected. Note that generic reasons such as "I don't believe in the Loch Ness Monster" are not good enough.

Comments which are part acceptable but violate in others areas may be rejected.

Comments which make no sense, semantically or grammatically will be rejected.

Comments which the moderator deems weak, divisive, pedantic, libellous or trolling will be rejected.

Comments judged too large will be rejected.

Comments may not be approved immediately - I reserve the right of first refusal on replying to some comments which may involve a delay.

Comments may not be approved immediately - I may be on holiday, ill or involved in more important tasks.

Comments about conspiracy theories will be rejected.

Users who begin to hog and clutter the comments section of an article will be rejected - unless the subject is deemed important by the moderator.

If a comment wishes to alert the moderator to a news item or piece of information which he is not aware of, these may not be published but may be acknowledged. It is better to contact the moderator at lochnesskelpie@gmail.com.

Likewise, if you have a genuine question, email is preferred to a comment.

If you think your comment was rejected for the wrong reasons, you can email but ultimately it's not your blog and the Internet has plenty of other spaces for you to publish your thoughts!

This blog article will be included in the "ABOUT THIS BLOG" link on the right.

Have a nice day.