Archives for October 2019

Original Publication Date: 27 October 2015

EDITORIAL

In some Animal languages, “hope” and “expect” are the same word.

But today, when the Archons and the new Park Finance Officer deliver their annual Account of the State of The Park, we may find those words have two very different meanings.

The hope that most Park Animals feel these days is rooted in our respect for the new head of the Park Finance Office (PFO). Valentina Abeja is thoughtful in a way that former PFO head Milton Struts ceased to be, if ever he truly was. She is not given to habits or rules and sees beyond what is to what she believes ought to be, and she seeks to achieve it through prudent stewardship and responsible fiscal policy. While her first budget was far from perfect, it spoke more to Park citizens’ aspirations than any of the four previous budgets had. It addressed our core beliefs and, yes, our core hopes. And, yet, it managed to hold our expectations at bay, if only for a year.

The flip side of this, of course, is that the last few sets of Archons have done very little of this in the political sense. They have kept the worst at bay but have not, to date, offered any real solutions to the growing problems of our maturing zoocracy. While we hope that we can recapture the harmony that was Jor’s vision and that led to the founding of The Park, our leaders have not forged any path for us to follow in order to achieve that. Thus, we are left to our own devices (literally and figuratively) to solve the enormous problems that face us.

Today’s Account will include an update on the “Report on the State of Hate in The Park” that the Archons requested of the Department of Well-Being and Safety (DWBS) four months ago. It speaks to our sorry state of affairs that so many of us are anxious to hear the interim results, if only to know where we stand and what measures must be taken to quell that rising tide.

If there is one aspect of today’s report that we can know for certain ahead of time, it is that something must be done to address the growing specism in The Park. The desire of an overwhelming number of us to deal with this problem head-on and to solve it, which was the impetus for commissioning the report, is the one bright light in all this darkness. We can only hope that, with the help of our leaders, we will be able to harness that desire and turn it into positive change.

POPS candidate Zachariah Skunk

Original Publication Date: 7 November 2011

Zachariah Skunk caused a stink last night when he took his place among the other candidates at the annual POPS all-candidates’ debate.

Because he announced his candidacy for Park Official Prognosticator of Spring (POPS) at the last minute, The Park’s Election Office had not had the opportunity to inform the other four contenders, who stood in amazement as the Skunk’s name was called.

“This is an outrage,” said Malinda L. Hamster, President of the Small Animal Hibernating Community (SAHC).

The Hamster did not elaborate, leaving spectators to wonder whether the “outrage” was the Skunk’s last-minute candidacy or his species.

According to rules that were put in place in 23 AZ (2003), subsequent to a the decision of Mr. Justice Augustus Dindon in the landmark case of “Spring’s Unsprung Heroes” vs the descendants of E. Bromley Groundhog, all species of Animals are eligible to enter the race to become Park Official Prognosticator of Spring. To date, however, only Animals belonging to the species Marmota monax have put their names forward.

The POPS election occurs today, ten days before the official date of hibernation. Aside from Zachariah Skunk, candidates for 2012 POPs are W. Chester Whistlepig, Alderina Woodchuck, Ingersoll Marmot, and Ulrica Gilda Groundhog.

Original Publication Date: 14 August 2013

Two days before announcing the roster of films that will screen at the 9th annual Park Interspecial Fllm Festival, PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot convened an early morning press conference to announce what she calls “the new rules.”

Exhibiting a no-nonsense attitude, Ocelot read from a prepared statement and then took questions from the media.

In the statement, she confirmed that PIFF 2013 would include a number of items that were introduced last year. Most notable of these was “Noon Nuttiness,” the name given to the practice of screening comedies only between the hours of 12:00 and 2:00 pm at the Park Cinema.

The difference this year, Ocelot said, is that patrons will not be allowed to bring any technological devices into the cinema. Last year, a riot broke out during a Noon Nuttiness screening, when angry protesters stormed the cinema and demanded that patrons hand over their cackle-enabled devices. The devices had been lent to the patrons by cackle’s parent company, GooseBook, so that filmgoers could share their favourite moments with friends.

“We cannot allow the Festival to be overtaken by theft and violence,” Ocelot said this morning. “And as a result, we decided not to renew the device-lending agreement with GooseBook at this time. We will be reviewing this option every year and making our decisions on a year-to-year basis,” she said.

Also returning in 2013 are PIFF Pockets, or pocket films, which are films that do not exceed three minutes in length and that have been made specifically for the Festival. Both pocket documentary and pocket fiction films will be screened at this year’s event, Ocelot said.

“We were overwhelmed by the number of submissions of pocket films this year. The popularity of this category exceeded our wildest expectations,” she said.

Once again, documentaries will make up a significant portion of the Festival’s offerings and, as an aside, Ocelot mentioned that she thought the Hot Dogs documentary category this year was “spectacular.”

The full lineup of films for the 9th annual film festival will be announced on Friday, August 16.  The Park Interspecial Film Festival runs from October 1-5, 2013.