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Archives for July 2016

Park ART Walk to honour bass player Zuberi Tembo with new logo

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Park ART Walk logo

IN MEMORIAM: Zuberi Tembo

The 2016 Park ART Walk will honour the Endeka Elephant Band’s fallen bass player Zuberi Tembo with the introduction of a new logo.

In a statement released this morning, the organizers of the annual event confirmed that they engaged the services of Hanad Maroodiga to redesign the logo “to reflect both Zuberi’s importance in The Park and the depth of our loss.”

Tembo was killed July 11 in his native Africa while he was on a trip home to visit family.

Maroodiga, who was born in The Park, is a graduate of the Hani Gajah School of Art. In a separate statement, he called it “an honour and a privilege to celebrate the life of such an important Animal.”

“Zuberi Tembo was an inspiration to all of us here. His courage in defecting from a circus to make his home in a foreign land and his undying love of music and of The Park made him a rôle model to so many. He will never be forgotten.”

The Park ART Walk organizers said the logo will become a permanent feature of the event.

Flyball Finals take on new significance

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Flyball DogSunday’s Flyball Finals will be exciting, for sure. But those attending the annual sporting event will feel a particular sense of pride this year. And a poignancy, as well.

“There is no doubt that Flyball has come a long way in The Park,” says Adrià Lebrel, president of the Park Flyball Association (PFA).

“It took years for us to accept it, and that goes for all ball sports. But it’s taken even longer for us to take pride in our abilities in that area. We’ve been far more willing to show reverence toward our athletes who wrestle, tunnel, race, or swim. Our ball athletes have had to work much harder for recognition and that’s a shame,” he says.

But, Lebrel says, it’s a testament to our ability to expand our minds that ball sports have finally gained our respect. And he credits Mammalian Daily Balls columnist and Park sports historian, Bailey, with helping to bring about the change in our attitude.

“Bailey worked hard to build respect for the ball. Before he started writing his column, none of us knew anything about ball history or its importance in the life of Canines and other Animals. He taught us about ourselves, and this year, with his work with the Park Museum on the flyball exhibit (Flyball and the Importance of Balls in the Everyday Life of Park Animals), he’s brought that full circle. We owe him a great deal of thanks.”

Still, come Sunday, we’ll also be feeling some sadness, due to the theft of Bailey’s basketball, which he’d lent to the museum for the duration of the exhibition.

“When he stands up to open the games, we’ll be feeling for him. There’s no doubt about that,” says Lebrel.

And then there were ten: Endeka Elephant Band member murdered on trip home to visit family

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AND THEN THERE WERE TEN

The ten remaining members of the Endeka Elephant Band gather to mourn their murdered friend and colleague Zuberi Tembo

BREAKING NEWS

The Endeka Elephant Band is in mourning today.

According to a spokesAnimal, the band’s bassist,  Zuberi Tembo, was killed yesterday afternoon, while on a trip home to his native Africa to visit his family.

The spokesAnimal said Tembo’s colleagues are “too devastated” to comment on the tragedy at this time, but they intend to release a statement and details of funeral arrangements in the coming days. The only word from the band thus far has been a formal statement of gratitude to the Archons, who have allowed the musicians to mourn together at the Ancient Open-Air Theatre.

The Endeka Elephant Band was formed thirty-seven years ago, three years before zoocracy was established in The Park. Seven of the band’s members were born in Africa and four were born in Asia. Three members escaped from zoological parks run by Humans and four members, including Tembo, sought refuge in The Park while on tour with circuses.

Zuberi Tembo leaves his current mate, Batini, daughters Goma and Dashiki and sons Jabari, Enzi, and Rashid. Tembo was forty-two years old.

Is “long haul” government the way of the future? New political group says yes

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Park ArchonsAre longer terms for The Park’s thirty-five Archons the solution to our current governmental stagnation?

A newly-formed political group thinks so.

The organization, which calls itself, “Park Citizens for Long Haul Government (PCLHG) released its first statement of principles and objectives today. And one of its most notable objectives is to change the length of Archons’ terms.

“We advocate lengthening the term of Archonship from one year to three to five years,” the statement says.

According to the group’s president, Stéphanie Musaraigne, the bold move would enable Archons to make a “full commitment” to governing over the long haul, instead of concentrating on short term goals and things that can be achieved within the one year mandate.

While the PCLHG’s statement stopped short of criticizing sortition, the current method of selecting Archons, it did imply that while the lottery method ensures a degree of fairness, it brings with it a certain amount of instability.

“There are many problems with sortition, which a Park of varied species and lifespans must address,” the statement said.

The PCLHG plans to hold a press conference later this week to further outline its objectives.

ZEAL to perform at Stereotype Sunday

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ZEALPopular Park singer ZEAL will perform at tomorrow’s Stereotype Sunday, it was announced today.

In a press release issued this afternoon, ZEAL’s manager, Lukas Numbat, confirmed the singer’s participation in the weekly event:

“It is with great pleasure that I announce on behalf of ZEAL that he will be performing tomorrow at the Ancient Open-Air Theatre during The Park’s Stereotype Sunday.”

According to the Department of Well-Being and Safety (DWBS), the event’s host, ZEAL will receive no compensation for his performance.

“It is not our policy to pay Animals who attend the event,” says Cornelius Kakapo, director of public relations for the DWBS.

This is the first time that any artist has performed at the event. Special guests in the past have included historians and other academics, and experts in the field of mental health.

According to Kakapo, ZEAL’s performance came via a suggestion from Holstein Fashion president Balbino Ko, who has agreed to cover ZEAL’s costs, including transportation, food, and accommodation for his band and backing singers. A passionate advocate for The Park’s striped and spotted population, ZEAL has performed at charity events in support of Holstein Fashion’s EQUALSS charity.

ZEAL is expected to use the occasion to debut his new single, “Crossing the Line.” Kakapo says he expects tomorrow’s event to be “extremely well-attended.”

Literacy rates lowest in Park’s feral communities: study

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FeralLiteracy rates are lowest among members of The Park’s feral communities, according to a study conducted last year at the University of West Terrier.[pullquote]It was one of Jor’s [The Park’s first leader and the founder of modern zoocracy] core beliefs that we must foster interspecial harmony through knowledge. I think we are failing him at the moment.”—Domoina Fossa, lead researcher, UWT F. Varrah Flanagan School of Education [/pullquote]

The study, which was commissioned by the 2015 Archons and the Department of Well-Being and Safety (DWBS) in association with the Park Education Working Collective (PEWC), was conducted by researchers at UWT’s F. Varrah Flanagan School of Education.

The results of the study were published yesterday in the academic quarterly, Journal of Education Theory and Experience (JETE).

“I find these results quite troubling,” head researcher Domoina Fossa said in an interview on TMD Radio this morning. “What they say to me is that not only do we need to work harder to encourage our newest residents to avail themselves of The Park’s educational opportunities, but we have to actively sell the benefits of education to them.”

Fossa, who was the lead researcher in a study five years ago that found the majority of Park Animals were home-schooled, said her new study was a not a follow-up, but a more focused approach to the problem.

“We narrowed our focus by narrowing our field of study and by using a very precise definition of ‘feral,’ she said.

That definition, she told TMD Radio, excluded all moral values and belief systems and used only data related to territory of origin, time spent as a resident in The Park, living conditions, and way of life.

“We deliberately didn’t include time spent with Humans, because we thought that would muddy the waters,” Fossa said. “Many members of our feral communities have known Humans and have used their aid, but it hasn’t changed their way of life.”

Fossa said she expects a “swift and strong” reaction to the study’s results.

“Low literacy rates endanger the principles of zoocracy and interspecial harmony. It was one of Jor’s [The Park’s first leader and the founder of modern zoocracy] core beliefs that we must foster interspecial harmony through knowledge. I think we are failing him at the moment,” she said.

Park Museum to present Holstein Fashion’s EDAM Collection

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Penguin in Holstein Fashion outfit

From Holstein Fashion’s EDAM Collection: “Spots and Stripes Forever”

The Park Museum announced today that it is collaborating with Holstein Fashion to present the company’s EDAM Collection as part of a new exhibition.

In a post on the museum’s web site, the Board of Governors said Dorika Pumi, head curator of the museum’s art gallery, will work closely with Holstein Fashion and Designs by Holstein to present the fashion house’s creations “in context.”

Entitled, Creations from the EDAM Collection, the exhibition “will shine a light on the plight of those who experience enforced domestication,” the post says.

The designs of the EDAM Collection were commissioned exclusively for The Park’s Enforced Domestication Awareness Month. The creations will be showcased with written commentary and the museum plans to invite experts in the field of enforced domestication, extinction anxiety, and interspecial relations to conduct seminars and Q & A sessions during the exhibition.

According to the web post, Creations from the EDAM Collection will open on August 1, 2016.

To read the full announcement, click here.

Security workers threaten bark-to-rule action over right to bite policy

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FCSW President Gareth Shepherd

Gareth Shepherd, President of the Federation of Canine Security Workers

The Federation of Canine Security Workers (FCSW) is threatening to stage a bark-to-rule action unless Park administration reinstates the right of officers to bite offenders “when necessary.”[pullquote]Right now our hands—and our mouths—are tied. We have nothing to back up our claim to authority.—Gareth Shepherd, President, Federation of Canine Security Workers (FCSW)[/pullquote]

The federation of over four hundred officers, which forms the backbone of The Park’s Police Force, has been in talks with administration regarding this issue for the past two months. But so far, says FCSW president Gareth Shepherd, they have come to no satisfactory resolution.

“Park administration doesn’t appear to understand our position in this matter,” he told The Mammalian Daily this morning.

“We are asking for the right to bite only as a last resort. Right now our hands—and our mouths—are tied. We have nothing to back up our claim to authority,” he said.

Even though The Park’s Police Force has had a no-biting policy in place for almost twenty-five years, several FCSW officers have been charged with doing so in recent years. Shepherd, himself, was suspended from duty in February of 2013, after he was charged with biting members of Les Amis de Hieronymous (The Friends of Hieronymous) during a roundup. He was later cleared of the charges and reinstated.

The FCSW’s position is that the realities of modern Park life make a change in policy necessary, but Park administration says it remains unconvinced.

“This seems like a step backward to us and until we view it otherwise, we are not inclined to alter the policy,” a spokesAnimal told the Mammalian Daily.

Harmonious Humphrey and Hannah one year on: what have we learned?

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Harmonious pair

Harmonious pair celebrate first anniversary of working with Stereotype Sundays

It’s been one year since the Department of Well-Being and Safety (DWBS) introduced Harmonious Humphrey and Harmonious Hannah to The Park’s Stereotype Sundays.[pullquote]”We have to do all we can to prevent the younger generation from developing this fear of the other. If it takes a pair of gigantic stuffed Animals, that’s all right. Just so long as we don’t expect toys to do all the work for us.”—Gunnar Rotte, journalist and counsellor [/pullquote]

The pair of stuffed toys, commissioned by the DWBS to foster interspecial harmony in the hearts and minds of The Park’s youth, have spent every weekend (notwithstanding the theft and recovery of Hannah) being hugged, cuddled, bitten, pulled at, and spat on by Animals of all ages. The question is, what has been accomplished?

“I think we made a very good start,” says Cornelius Kakapo, the DWBS Public Relations Director who famously said a year ago, “It is far easier to plant a seed than it is to relocate a tree.”

“We haven’t seen the kind of shift in attitudes that we might have wanted, but I think that was an unreasonable expectation.”

According to Kakapo, the key to the harmonious pair’s success is to get young Animals interested in our differences and similarities.

“We’re using Hannah and Humphrey to create curiosity in young Animals,” he says. “That’s the reason they’re so big.”

That curiosity, the DWBS hopes, will lead to an exchange of information about different species that will, in turn, create greater understanding.

Gunnar Rotte, whose own experiences in The Park have taken him on a whirlwind tour from being a journalist to a public enemy to a counsellor at the Extinction Anxiety Clinic, says we have nothing to lose in employing the stuffed toys. But he cautions against expecting “huge gains.”

“We have to do all we can to prevent the younger generation from developing this fear of the other,” he says. “If it takes a pair of gigantic stuffed Animals, that’s all right. Just so long as we remain vigilant and we don’t expect toys to do all the work for us.”

Where’s the comma? Ancient Open-Theatre rebrands itself for a new era

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AOAT

The new logo of the Ancient Open-Air Theatre

What’s in a comma?[pullquote]Many of us in The Park gave up separating adjectives with commas decades ago. We took some time with it because we didn’t want to shock our supporters. But the theatre is ancient and it doesn’t need archaic grammar to tell us that twice.”—Carlota Tuatara, head of the Ancient Open-Air Theatre[/pullquote]

More than you might realize, says the head of The Park’s oldest theatre.

In an interview with The Mammalian Daily this week, Carlota Tuatara, head of the Ancient Open-Air Theatre—or AOAT, as it will be known in some circles—explained the recent rebranding of The Park’s most revered venue.

“You might not think that it makes a difference, but it does, and it’s a huge difference,” Tuatara said. “That comma is redundant and never should have been put in the theatre’s name in the first place.”

Tuatara and her board of directors contend that the comma’s position after the word “ancient” is grammatically “archaic.”

“Many of us in The Park gave up separating adjectives with commas decades ago. We took some time with it because we didn’t want to shock our supporters. But the theatre is ancient and it doesn’t need archaic grammar to tell us that twice,” she said.

As for the theatre’s new logo, Tuatara says they looked for “simplicity above all.”

“This theatre was built to be functional and to last. We wanted a logo that said that loud and clear. ‘Here’s the stage. Here are the seats.’ We pored through thousands of submissions before we decided on the one that really spoke to us,” she said.

So, what else will be changing at the AOAT?

While Tuatara was coy about any further changes, she was effusive about the possibilities the future holds.

“We took this theatre from classic drama to the Toe-Hair Contest and huge, multi-artist concerts. We’ve done wonders over the years, making it relevant to the daily life of Park residents and we’re looking to build on that success in the future,” she said.

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