The Mammalian Daily

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On This Day—September 12, 2016: The Beats gets bigger: lineup for music festival’s fourth year announced today

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Beats of Burden logo“Bigger” and “better” were the words most often uttered this morning as Beasts of Burden lead singer Alfredo Ox announced the lineup for the fourth annual Beats of Burden Music Festival.

“We know that bigger isn’t always better, but in this case it is,” Ox told the throng of reporters outside The Draft, the pub that he and his Beasts of Burden bandmates own.

“We asked ourselves, what could make this event better? How do we stay true to our purpose without this becoming just another music festival?”

The answer to that question, Ox said, was to bring the musical and other acts closer to that purpose.

“We want The Park’s refugees, who are the festival’s raison d’être, to always be within your sight or hearing. We want you —no matter what you’re listening to, no matter what you’re watching, no matter what you’re eating—to have our refugees front and centre in your mind. Yes, we want you to have a Whale of a time, and that’s no pun. NIML will be at the festival, down by the Tartan Crab Memorial Pond. But we also want you to remember that this is a charity festival, a festival with a purpose, not just a Porpoise,” he said, as the crowd groaned.

As far as the music lineup goes, many of these groups have performed at the festival before: Inktvis and Krake, Eggie and The Pigs, The Feral Four, The Canary Cousins, Banded Brothers, Spontaneous Generation, NIML, rapper Will.o.be., The Cynics, The Tweeters, Les Chiens Débraillés, GHC, Jargohead, Fish Rap, and The DomEstyx.

But there are newcomers, such as Belles and Whistles and Memes of Production and up-and-comers, including Erdferkel!, plucked just past Friday from the Beats in the Bar (formerly the Open Mic at The Draft), as well as last year’s pick, The Crumb Seekers.

Even bigger musical news comes in the form of Last Stand, the band whose members all hail from endangered species, and ZEAL, who begged off last year’s Celebration of the Winter Solstice because he refused to play at the same event as the SCENTient Beings’ Faramund Stinktier. The Beats will feature both, though they’ll play at different venues.

As well, Ox said he personally invited The Endeka Elephant Band, whose bassist, Zuberi Tembo, was killed this summer on a trip home to Africa. The band agreed to play on two of the three days of the festival, and Ox said he took that as a compliment.

“Zuberi Tembo was a refugee and I think the band wanted to honour that,” he said.

This year’s festival will introduce a new category, Spoken Word Extemporaneous (SWE), which Ox said he’s particularly excited about. And the comedy portion will feature Dalmanik and Woodruff Dalmatio, with a few “surprises” in store for Saturday.

Another first for the festival is the Rodent gymnastic troupe, “Out of the Box.” Ox was also proud to announce that the organizers of the annual Park ART Walk had agreed to resurrect their 2014 exhibit, “From Fear to Freedom,” which highlights the art of The Park’s refugees.

As usual, the Beasts of Burden will take the stage every day and night and they’ll be acting as auctioneers during Saturday night’s gala auction.

With all that, and the “long list of surprises” that Ox boasted about, it’s hard not to believe that this bigger Beats will be even better.

The Beats of Burden Music Festival will take place at venues throughout The Park 16-18 September 2016.

All proceeds from the festival go toward assisting The Park’s refugees.

On This Day—September 10, 2016: WINK: Most controversial opening film ever for PIFF 2016

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Park Interspecial Film FestivalIf controversy is a predictor of success, then award-winning director G.D Zebra’s WINK is set to be the most successful opening film ever at The Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF).

PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot announced the opening choice this morning at a press conference outside the Park Cinema. It didn’t take long for the hoots and howls to begin.

Flanked by the film’s director and one of its stars, Willem Leopard, Ocelot fielded questions from Park media while she ducked stones, sticks, and balls of mud. It is not clear whether these were intended for her or for Zebra and Leopard.

The film, which was produced by Kevin Kodkod (of Black Cats Can’t Jump fame), follows a group of striped and spotted Animals for a period of three years—before, during, and after they have their stripes and spots removed. The film records for “posterity and illumination” the group’s experiences, feelings, and fears—both as Animals of pattern and then as solid-coloureds.

Included in the film are interviews with popular Park musician and anti-stripe-removalist ZEAL, anti-sortitionist and self-described “naturalist,” director Douglas Cheetah, and SCENTIENT Beings composer and father of Reekabilly music Faramund Stinktier, who announced his transition to a Zebra last year.

Ocelot said the October 1 gala screening would be the film’s début.

“There be no sneak preview or even a trailer release,” she said.

The Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF) runs from 1-5 October 2016.

On This Day—September 6, 2014: SCENTient Beings to debut “reekabilly” at 2014 Beats of Burden Music Festival

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SCENTient

The popular Park duo SCENTient Beings will debut their new musical style, reekabilly, next month at the Beats of Burden Music Festival.

According to their publicist Hartwig Stinktier, the SCENTients took themselves off the stage last year after coming to the realization that their music required a “complete redo.”

The pair, who released their first recording, Beings and Nuttiness, two years ago got their first big break when the organizers of the Anixi Agrarian Jubilee booked them in 2012 .

“Their careers took off from there,” Stinktier says, “but they were never completely happy with what they were doing. They never felt their style really suited them.”

Enter Damien Skyle, best known as the manager of The Cynics. He convinced the duo to try out a number of different musical styles, including rap, but nothing felt quite right to them until they decided to fuse country music with “parts of their essential selves.”

“When I first heard it, it made me swoon,” Skyle writes on their newest recording. “It was fresh and it was organic, with just a tinge of melancholy. It was so right.”

Stinktier says the pair is “psyched” about debuting their new music at the Beats of Burden festival, since the proceeds go to assisting The Park’s refugee population.

“Their ancestors were refugees and they were treated unkindly by many,” says Stinktier. “The SCENTients have never forgotten that.”

Beats of Burden logoThe Beats of Burden Music Festival will take place in The Park
12-14 September 2014.

On This Day—September 5, 2015: UWT Art Gallery, Park Museum vie for art of endangered species

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Underwater Mammal ArtThe soon to be opened new art gallery at the University of West Terrier is engaged in a battle with the Park Museum for the opportunity to house and display a selection of works by members of The Park’s endangered species.

Although some of the pieces in question formed part of the 2015 Park ART Walk in August, most of the artists whose works were displayed have to date refused invitations from The Park’s art galleries in favour of private showings, most often at their own abodes.

“Obviously, this would be a real coup for us, but that is by no means the only reason we want to house the art,” said Bibiano Montanaro, spokesAnimal for the President of the University, in an interview on TMD Radio yesterday.

“As an educational institution, we feel we are the appropriate place for this art and that’s why we are engaged in this battle. But, I must say, we didn’t think we would have to fight at all, let alone this hard,” he said.

For its part, The Park Museum maintains that its mission is to house as much as it can that is representative of life in The Park.

“That means, past, present and even future,” says curator Dorika Pumi, who failed in her attempts as curator of the Park Museum of Contemporary Art (PMoCA) to attract artists who were members of endangered species.

And although Pumi contends that this “isn’t personal at all,” many in The Park’s art world believe otherwise.

“I don’t blame her for trying to redeem herself, but I don’t think she should do it on the backs of endangered artists,” says Anastazja Koci, an alumna of the Hani Gajah School of Art. Koci, who was shortlisted for the position of curator at the UWT art gallery, says she was taught by Pumi and maintains the utmost respect for her.

“But I think she’s pushing too hard on this,” she says.

On This Day—September 2, 2014: PIFF 2014 takes the political high road with choice of opening film

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Park Interspecial Film FestivalDirector-turned-producer Ulla Kojootti’s engaging collage film, 32 Short Films About Zoocracy, has been selected to open the 10th annual Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF) on October 1.

PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot made the announcement at a brief press conference this morning.

“We screened the film about a month ago and thought it would be perfect for the opening,” Ocelot said.

“It is a fine celebration of our struggle to establish and maintain Animal self-rule and it fits nicely with our own celebration of a decade of showcasing the work of Park filmmakers.”

The film is an unusual project for Kojootti, who is better known as a “lone Wolf” in the industry than as a collaborator. Her best known films, such as Coexistence, were written, directed and produced by her with no assistance from any other Animal.

Even so, Kojootti said in an interview recently, she was drawn to the subject “because I had been thinking about our life here in The Park and I wanted to know what others thought about it.”

She invited The Park’s film community to a discussion and, she says, “the idea began there.”

Kojootti invited 32 directors (one for each year of zoocracy in The Park) to make a short film about the subject either from their personal point of view or from that of their species. The result is what those who have seen it call a “brilliant, maddening, engaging, thought-provoking” film.

Ironically, Kojootti produced the work but did not direct any of the films. She has no regrets, though.

“Maybe we’ll do it again in a few years,” she says. “Then I will definitely save one [film] for myself.”

On This Day—September 1, 2014: University of West Terrier grants Noreen leave of absence to promote book

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UWT Coat of ArmsThe University of West Terrier has granted Noreen a leave of absence so that she can promote her first book, Lovely to Look At.

In an announcement dated today and posted on the University’s web site, The President and Governors of the University confirmed that Noreen will take a leave of absence this Autumn from her duties as adjunct professor in the Department of Human Studies. Her leave will begin on September 15 and she will resume her duties at UWT on January 12, 2015.

According to her publisher, Noreen’s book is scheduled to be released in early October. 

On This Day—August 31, 2012: Douglas Cheetah at work on new documentary

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Renowned Park film director and proud University of West Terrier alumnus, Douglas Cheetah, is hard at work on a new documentary that he says will be ready for release in time for the 2013 Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF).

Best known for his controversial 2007 (25 AZ) film, Black Cats Can’t Jump, Cheetah has turned his attention to the interspecial family which, he says, can be found in all parts of the world.

“We think of it [the interspecial family] as existing solely outside The Park and, always, with Humans as part of the mix,” he says. “But that isn’t true at all. I found interspecial families everywhere, including in The Park. And, in many cases, it was because a conscious choice had been made, rather than as a result of some kind of hardship.”

Most interspecial families, he says, suffer from misunderstanding and there is a deep prejudice against them because they are associated with enforced domestication.

“Of course, that is the foundation of many of these families outside The Park,” Cheetah says. “But not all. And among the families I studied, there were several that had no Human members. Some had made the choice to open their homes and families to other species without any prompting; some had done so as a response to some familial or environmental disaster. Either way, these families are not what we in The Park tend to think they are. A great many of them are happy and loving groups who support each other and who have had success in their lives. They are valuable to each other and to the wider world. I think their story is well worth telling,” he says.

On This Day—August 29, 2015: Organizers move Beats of Burden Music Fest to third weekend in September

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Beats of Burden logoThe Beasts of Burden announced today that the Department of Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations has approved their application to change the date of their annual music festival, The Beats of Burden.

In a written statement released to all Park media, the Beasts’ lead singer Alfredo Ox said the group made the application in June when they realized that this year’s concert would take place before some of The Park’s residents returned from estivation.

“This has always been an inclusive festival and we were shocked to learn that if we kept the original date, our estivators would not have the chance to attend. We feel very fortunate that there was an opening in The Park’s calendar and we are grateful to the Department of Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations for honouring our request,” the statement reads in part.

The Beasts of Burden established the festival just two years ago to support The Park’s refugees and the three-day event has become one of our most popular celebrations.

The Beats of Burden Music Festival will take place 18-20 September 2015

On This Day—August 27, 2016: Belles and Whistles to join lineup at Beats of Burden festival in September

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Beats of Burden logoThe Park’s newest singing duo, Belles and Whistles, confirmed today that they will be performing at this year’s Beats of Burden music festival in September.

The duo, who were secretly mentored by Thisbe and the Barkettes, made their début on June 30 at the Concert for Charity in honour of Enforced Domestication Awareness Month (EDAM). Since then, their manager Retriikka Spanieli says, they’ve been working on producing their first collection of songs, which they describe as “an eclectic mix.”

“The duo has an amazing range and an ability to perform in a multitude of genres,” Spanieli told The Mammalian Daily in a telephone interview.

According to Spanieli, the duo’s main goal at the moment is to convince audiences that they are their own musicians, and not an extension of the Barkettes.

“They love the Barkettes, as we all do, but they have an identity of their own and ambitions beyond becoming a carbon copy of The Park’s most successful singing group,” Spanieli said.

The Beats of Burden Music Festival takes place in The Park September 16-18, 2016.

 

On This Day—August 25, 2013: Banded Brothers to hold benefit concert for Avian population

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In response to The Department of Well-Being and Safety’s latest advisory to The Park’s Avian population, the musical group Banded Brothers announced that it will hold a benefit concert this Spring.

“We are very concerned about our population’s vulnerability outside The Park,” said the band’s manager Kostas Kotsifas. “And this new warning makes it seem even more urgent for us to help.”

The DWBS advisory, which was issued three weeks ago, alerts The Park’s Avians to the dangers they may face when flying outside The Park. It reads, in part:

Be vigilant at rest stops and when visiting the nests of friends. Be aware that traps have been set by Human “researchers” who will attempt to tag or band your feet. If you are captured, head back to The Park as soon as you are set free. It is important that you access the services of the Park Hospital for the Afflicted and Infirm as soon as possible.

The benefit concert will take place at the Ancient, Open-Air Theatre on May 19, Kotsifas said. Tickets will go on sale May 1. All proceeds from the sale of tickets will go to a special fund that the Banded Brothers have established to help offset the cost of medical care.

“Band removal is very expensive, as the Brothers know from experience,” Kotsifas said.

The Banded Brothers also have partnered with the University of West Terrier School of Medicine to establish a multifaceted health programme called the Avian Health Initiative (AHI).

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