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OTD in 2016—Park Museum confirms basketball theft

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Flyball and the Importance of Balls in the Everyday Life of Park Animals

The basketball seen above was stolen from The Park Museum last night, police say

BREAKING NEWS

The basketball that belongs to Mammalian Daily sports columnist and balls specialist Bailey has disappeared from The Park Museum.

The ball—seen in the middle at the top of the display at left— was lent to the museum by Bailey and formed an important part of the “Flyball and the Importance of Balls in the Everyday Life of Park Animals” exhibit, which opened on May 8.

In a joint statement released early this morning, the museum and Park Police confirmed the overnight burglary.

“We regret to inform the public that The Park Museum will be closed today, as a result of an overnight burglary. Park Police will be on site for the duration of the day, gathering evidence and speaking to witnesses. Any Animal who has any knowledge of this crime or who saw anything suspicious in the area surrounding the museum yesterday afternoon, evening, or overnight, should contact Park Police right away,” the statement said.

All lands around the museum have been cordoned off for the investigation. A spokesAnimal for the police said they hoped to recover the ball as soon as possible.

“The first few hours are crucial and although the crime was not discovered until very early this morning, we are hopeful that we’ll be able to recover the ball intact today,” she said.

OTD in 2017—Tickets for Burrow Theatre’s Aracari gala opening performance go on sale today

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aracari-gala-ticket-with-border

Tickets for the gala opening of the second in Gianfranco Colocolo’s three-part mystery series will go on sale this afternoon at one o’clock, The Burrow Theatre announced this morning.

Aracari, which was written by the award-winning author of Murder at the Fishbowl, has been in previews for a few weeks and will begin its regular run on 3 June. The opening also marks the directorial début of the trilogy’s star, Millicent Hayberry, for whom Colocolo wrote the rôle of the “chirpy” detective.

The production was delayed by a month due to what Hayberry told The Mammalian Daily was a certain “post-hibernation sluggishness,” but she says she is fit and well and looking forward to the theatre season.

“The response to the previews has been overwhelmingly positive and I’ve gained a lot of energy from that,” she said. “I am so grateful to all who attended and particularly to those who offered feedback on the performances.”

Hayberry, who is best known for her portrayal of the late author Imogen Aardeekhoorn in both the stage and screen productions of Mixed Nuts, credits Colocolo with giving her a “second career.”

“I never would have thought I’d have such a good time playing a detective,” Hayberry said. “I was reluctant to shed my Mixed Nuts image, but Gianfranco has given me a second life.”

OTD in 2015—Two rival Park chefs engage in war of words over award-winning artist’s work

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Two fuming chefs

Tribute gone wrong: “A Change of Hugh” by award-winning artist Hugh Biri has sparked a war of words between rival Park chefs

It was meant to be a tribute, but something went terribly wrong.

When award-winning artist Hugh Danlami Biri decided he wanted to add his voice to the cause of equality for striped and spotted Park Animals, he thought it best to use his considerable artistic talents to do so.

Enter his latest masterpiece, or as some are calling it, his “miss-terpiece” entitled, “A Change of Hugh.”

Biri’s tribute—a 76 cm x 51 cm painting in custom watercolours—was meant to highlight the professional similarities of two great (and striped) Park chefs, Tab Tricolore and Mikko Tiikeri, by differentiating them by coat colour.

“They have hair of similar colour and I was trying to pose the question, ‘What if we changed their colour? Would they be any less great in their kitchens? Would their restaurants be any less spectacular?’ Obviously, not,” Biri said in an interview on TMDTV.

“I thought we could then apply that logic to stripes and spots. Would they cook any better if their coats were of a solid colour? You see, when you say it out loud, it’s ridiculous,” he said.

Unfortunately, Biri’s logic was lost on the subjects of the painting, both of whom were quite disturbed by the change of hue.

“I wish they’d come to me right away and said, ‘We don’t like it.’ But they didn’t. They went after each other and, for that, I am very sorry,” said Biri.

Indeed, each chef blamed the other for what both agreed was a travesty.

First, Tab Tricolore accused Mikko Tiikeri of tinkering with the painting and darkening Tricolore’s hair, making him look ridiculous and effectively blackening his reputation. In response, Tiikeri claimed he had video evidence that Tricolore had removed the original painting from the Park Museum of Contemporary Art (PMoCA), where it is currently hanging, and replaced it with the darker one.

Biri says that would be next to impossible.

“It was difficult enough for me to do and, with all due respect, Tab Tricolore does not have the training to do that kind of work. I spent two months developing the colours and it took even longer to apply them,” he said.

Biri, who won the first Maple Tree Television (MTTV) Merging Artist Award* in 2012, has worked for years with a number of well-known Park artists developing watercolours. He says that success in the field takes time, patience, know-how, “and a little bit of luck.”

In the meantime, the two chefs, who had previously been on good terms, are not speaking to each other, nor to Biri.

“It’s a sad, sad situation and I don’t know what to do about it,” Biri says.

*Merging artists are artists who work in only one field of the arts and who collaborate with one or more other artists who work in another, distinct field.

OTD in 2014—Park Museum to mark Enforced Domestication Awareness Month

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Park Museum

The Park Museum will open part of a ground floor wing to host an exhibit marking June’s Enforced Domestication Awareness Month

The Park Museum, which is scheduled to open officially in the Autumn of 2014, has announced that it will use part of a ground floor wing to host an exhibit marking June’s Enforced Domestication Awareness Month.

In a press statement released today, the Museum’s Board of Governors said the exhibit, which is tentatively entitled, “It Could Happen to You,” will open to the general public on June 1.

A Museum spokesAnimal confirmed that the Board of Governors decided to open the Museum ahead of time “because this is such an important issue.”

“The Board felt it was incumbent upon the Museum to take a stand in the face of the growing number of our citizens who have been taken. They felt they couldn’t wait another year, so they met with their construction advisers and that part of the Museum has been certified for safe use,” the spokesAnimal said.

The Museum does not plan to charge Park residents to visit the exhibit, the spokesAnimal confirmed.

OTD in 2014—Thisbe and The Barkettes to appear together at Anixi Agrarian Jubilee

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halcyondaysMAMMALIAN DAILY EXCLUSIVE

Thisbe and the Barkettes are planning to appear together on May 20 at the 2014 Anixi Agrarian Jubilee.

According to a source close to the popular singing group, the decision was made “in the last few days”  and “it was unanimous.”

The source, who spoke to The Mammalian Daily on condition of anonymity, said Thisbe has missed her audience over the past several years.

“While The Barkettes [Estelle, Lorraine, Carmen and Mercedes] have performed together on a number of occasions, Thisbe has not sung with them since 2007. Her health is still in a fragile state, but she says she now feels well enough to perform and she believes that getting back onstage will make her stronger,” the source said.

Though the source refused to comment on the reunion rumours posted recently on the gossip web site headsNtales, he did say that they have been in the studio in the past month “looking around” and they are contemplating a comeback recording.

Thisbe was last seen in public at the debut of “I Love a Man in a Collar,” Rauf Wiedersehen Shepherd’s documentary about the group that opened the 2012 Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF).

OTD in 2016—Fowl Ball fully hatched: organizer touts mature event for 2016

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Fowl Ball

The Park’s third annual Fowl Ball will take place on Tuesday, May 31, 2016

The Fowl Ball is all grown up and ready to be the “main event”of The Park’s Spring social season.

“We had some growing pains, there’s no doubt about that. But we’re happy to say we’re over them and we’re ready to move forward as a mature event,” Rafael Ortega said this morning.

As the sole guest on Toro Talk Radio’s Yannis Tavros show, the Ball’s chief organizer had the opportunity to expound on his goals for the charity affair and some of them seemed quite lofty. But Ortega had an answer for any doubters:

“Birds like to think big and fly high,” he said.

Ortega has achieved many of his goals thus far. In two short years, he has made the Fowl Ball one of the most anticipated events on The Park’s social calendar. And it has brought in more money than Ortega anticipated it would do in the course of five years.

Indeed, on its own, the Ball has funded the establishment of The Park’s first retirement residence for wounded and elderly members of the Avian community. The residence is set to open this Autumn, but Ortega says he won’t be spending the time between now and then “sitting pretty” or resting on his laurels.

“My goal is to make the Fowl Ball not just a signature event, but a Park institution,” he told Tavros.

Doubters: consider yourselves warned.

The Park’s third annual Fowl Ball will take place on Tuesday, May 31, 2016. Tickets are on sale now and are available at all Park retailers, as well as at the Ancient, Open-Air Theatre. 

OTD in 2017—Noreen nominated for literary award for UWT speech on Human architecture

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Official NoreenBREAKING NEWS: Noreen has been nominated for a Chitter Radio Literary Award.

In an announcement this morning, CRLA director Guadalupe Tucán confirmed Noreen’s nomination in the speech category for her address at a University of West Terrier forum this past Autumn.

The Mammalian Daily advice columnist and adjunct professor of Human Studies served as chair of the two-day October event, which discussed the effects of Human architecture on other Animals. Other participants included faculty members in the UWT Schools of Architecture, Medicine, and Economics and Social Science, as well as community architects and professionals working in the fields of physical and mental health.

Noreen’s speech, which was entitled, “Doors, Screens, Walls, Halls: The Ins and Outs of Human Architecture,” was exceptionally well-received at the event, according to university officials and forum participants.

This is Noreen’s first CRLA nomination.

The Chitter Radio Literary Awards will be held on June 15, 2017.

OTD in 2017—Month Without Metaphor director “revises and remakes” Park media circus

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mwm-flyersFive years after The Park’s first media circus, the new director of Month Without Metaphor is about to “revise and remake” the event for a different purpose.

In an announcement this morning, Ronald Grouse confirmed rumours of his recent talks with Rodolfo van de Gier, president of the Association of Media Outlets of The Park (AMOP), who was in charge of the 2011 event. Grouse’s announcement said the two have agreed to work together on a “new kind” of media circus that will have an “altogether different” purpose, but it offered scant details.

“We are planning to host a two-day event toward the end of the month that will have the full participation of Park media. We also extended an invitation to The Park’s literary community, including writers, publishing companies, and journal editors, as well as representatives of the University of West Terrier’s Cuthbert School of Journalism. Together, we are hoping to have a full and open discussion about the dissemination of information, the use of language and the responsibility of all those who are involved in communication,” the announcement said.

No exact times or locations were mentioned, nor whether the “fun and games,” such as playing reporter or hosting a mock interview, would be included in the new event.

OTD in 2016—Park Museum’s Flyball exhibition to open at noon on Sunday, May 8

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Flyball DogThe Park Museum announced today that its first exhibition dealing with sport will open at noon on Sunday, May 8.

Flyball and the Importance of Balls in the Everyday Life of Park Animals will feature more than five hundred works that illustrate the relationship of Park Animals to balls and sport. These works include oil and watercolour paintings, photographs, sculpture, works in metal and glass, and textile impressions, all of which celebrate balls and the way they inform Park life.

The exhibition was co-curated by The Park Museum’s resident curator Dorika Pumi and Mammalian Daily Balls columnist and sports historian Bailey.

This is the first time that Bailey has been involved in what he calls “institutional” work. In an interview on TMD Radio this morning, he talked about his association with the museum and the generous donation of his private collection of balls to the exhibition.

“I was honoured to be associated with The Park Museum. They are real professionals and serious about their work,” he said. “I didn’t hesitate for a minute in making the donation, which was my idea, in fact.”

He went on to praise the museum’s staff and said he had a “great working relationship” with them.

“The dedication of museum staff and the meticulousness they brought to their work impressed me. We’ve developed a mutual understanding and respect that goes beyond this exhibition and I hope I will be able to work with them again.”

Flyball and the Importance of Balls in the Everyday Life of Park Animals will run until the end of October.

OTD in 2014—Park novelist’s unused titles to be auctioned off for charity

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Renowned Park writerIt’s a veritable title wave!

Renowned Park novelist Hentrick Olifant announced that he is retiring from fiction writing and has decided to auction off all his unused titles.

In a short statement released today, Olifant thanked his readers for their many years of loyalty and said his plans for the future do not include novel writing.

“My days of writing fiction are over. With the years left to me, I would like to pursue other endeavours, including rest, but before I do so, I wish to thank my many readers for their loyalty. As you well know, my life in The Park predates zoocracy and should I decide at some point to resume writing, it would most likely be in the form of history or personal memoir,” the statement said.

Olifant is known as one of The Park’s most prolific writers and experts estimate that the number of titles put up for auction could be in the thousands.

“He is a great thinker as well as a great writer and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes up in the auction,” says Park historian Pieter Paaard.

Best known for his novel, Grasses, Leaves, Bamboo, Bark, which won the 2006  award for fiction at the Park Annual Literary Awards (now Chitter Radio Literary Awards), Olifant also served as a Park Archon in 27 AZ (2009).

According to his representatives, Olifant intends to donate all proceeds from the title auction to Park charities.

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