The Arts, Entertainment, and Culture

Does of Peace add “new dimension” to Beats of Burden music fest: Alfredo Ox

September 17, 2014 By Aednat Eilifint, TMD Arts and Entertainment Reporter

The Does of Peace: music festival’s star attraction

Jargonhead may have been the headliner and the SCENTient Beings may have unveiled their new “reekabilly” sound but, according to The Beasts of Burden’s lead singer Alfredo Ox, the real stars of this past weekend’s music festival were the Does of Peace.

The Park’s new peacekeepers even got a shout-out from Ox when he leapt to the Beats of Burden stage on Friday night, ostensibly to welcome back our estivators. In an unexpected twist, Ox used the occasion to praise the Does, who he said, “grabbed an opportunity where there was none and made us the beneficiaries.”

“They’ve added a whole new dimension to peacekeeping and to our lives and I want to thank them for that,” he concluded.

Doves of Peace spokesBird Georgina Golub concurred on Sunday.

“They were fantastic … and not just in an auxiliary way. They’re absolute naturals and an important addition.”

SCENTient Beings to debut “reekabilly” at 2014 Beats of Burden Music Festival

September 6, 2014 By Aednat Eilifint, TMD Arts and Entertainment Reporter

The SCENTient Beings will debut their new music at next week’s Beats of Burden festival

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.”

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

PIFF 2014 takes the political high road with choice of opening film

September 2, 2014 By TMD Reporters

Director-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.”

University of West Terrier grants Noreen leave of absence to promote book

September 1, 2014 By Nienke Varken, TMD Education Reporter

The 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.

The full announcement can be read here.

AVN TV to turn its lens on Humans

August 28, 2014 By Juho Morsk, TMD Media Reporter

This Autumn, the AVN Television Network (AVN TV) will begin broadcasting a new live television series that will focus on Humans as they spend time in The Park.[pullquote]This show is truly for the Birds. It will be amazing … watching them watch us watching them.” – AVN TV Program Director Izrine Corneille [/pullquote]

AVN’s Chief Executive Officer Orville Condor and Program Director Izrine Corneille made the announcement at a press conference this morning.

“We [at AVN TV] have a unique perspective on The Park, and we want to use that perspective to serve our customers,” Corneille said. “This show is truly for the Birds. It will be amazing … watching them watch us watching them.”

Corneille said the show will be broadcast for two hours (one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon) every day of the week. The network’s initial contract with the show’s producers calls for the series to run for 12 consecutive months.

“We wanted to show Humans in every season, starting with the Autumn,” Condor said.

The show is scheduled to begin on September 22.

AVN Television is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AVN Media, a Park-based media corporation whose holdings also include AVN Radio, CLucK Radio and The Avian Messenger.

Beasts of Burden to hold pre-festival open mic night at pub they own

August 25, 2014 By Aednat Eilifint, TMD Arts and Entertainment Reporter

Beasts of Burden to host open mic at pub

Come one, come all! And bring your instruments, too!

The Beasts of Burden are planning to hold a pre-festival open mic night on August 31st at The Draft, the pub by the Wishing Well that is owned by the musical group.

According to their manager Ignatius Herder, the band wants to give Park residents a chance to “warm up” in advance of the Beats of Burden Music Festival, which they founded last year.

“It’s a party … to celebrate a party,” Herder said.

All Animals are welcome to join in the fun, but the Beasts request that those who wish to play or sing add their names to a list that will be posted outside the pub on Wednesday morning.

“It will be a great time but be prepared to stay out all night,” Herder says.

“And, if we find some unknown Park talents, we will invite them to perform at the festival.”

Open Mic night at The Draft on 31 August: Doors open at 6:00 p.m.

The Beats of Burden Music Festival: 12-14 September

Millicent Hayberry to host “Chipmunk Chinwag” after Mixed Nuts screening

August 23, 2014 By Aednat Eilifint, TMD Arts and Entertainment Reporter

Actress Millicent Hayberry, who played the late Park writer Imogen Aardeekhoorn on both stage and screen, will host a “Chipmunk Chinwag” following the free encore screening of Mixed Nuts, her publicist has confirmed.

“Millicent will take questions about the film production, but she will also answer audience queries about Aardeekhoorn herself. Since the writer’s death last month, the public has exhibited an interest in her personal life as well as her professional life. Imogen and Millicent were friends and Millicent feels reasonably qualified to answer some of these questions,” the publicist said.

The free encore screening of Mixed Nuts is scheduled to take place at the Ancient, Open-Air Theatre at 6:00 p.m. on October 2.

The Park Interspecial Film Festival will run 1-5 October, 2014.

PIFF 2014 to honour Aardeekhorn

August 22, 2014 By Aednat Eilifint, TMD Arts and Entertainment Reporter

The 2014 Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF) will honour the memory of writer Imogen Aardeekhoorn.

At a press conference held this morning, PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot confirmed that the festival will host a free encore screening of last year’s hit Mixed Nuts at the Ancient, Open-Air Theatre on October 2 at 6:00 p.m.

“Playwright Imogen Aardeekhoorn was as beloved in The Park as she was important to our film industry,” Ocelot said. “We could think of no more fitting a tribute than to offer this screening of her brilliant work.”

“Imogen would have been very pleased and humbled by this gesture,” says the film’s producer Victoria Sciurini. Sciurini worked closely with Aardeekhoorn as the latter adapted her memoir for the big screen.

“She worried about translating the work to film after its huge success on stage. But, as I knew it would, that worry turned out to be unfounded.”

The Park Interspecial Film Festival will run from 1-5 October, 2014.

DWBS to move forward on plan to track Human foot traffic in Park

August 20, 2014 By Thaddeus S. Loris, TMD Health and Safety Reporter

BREAKING NEWS
The Department of Well-Being and Safety (DWBS) announced today that it is moving ahead with its plan to track Human foot traffic in The Park.

At a press conference held this morning, DWBS Director of Public Relations Cornelius Kakapo confirmed that the 2014 Archons had signed off on the controversial plan after several weeks of intense debate.

“This is a major milestone,” said Kakapo. “We are moving in the direction of ensuring the safety and security of Park Animals.”

The monitoring plan, which is scheduled to commence in mid-September, was originally proposed by an ad hoc group after the publication of what they called “disturbing” statistics surrounding the number of accidental deaths of Park Animals that occurred due to “trampling” and other types of collisions with Humans. The leader of the now-dissolved group was Fatima Formiga, great-great granddaughter of the renowned Park poet Aubrey Ant. Ant, a seventh generation Park citizen, was best known for his poem, “If the Shoe Fits.“

In a statement issued this morning, Formiga said she was “extremely pleased” to hear the news. She also wrote that it was “an honour for me and my family to have played a part in the solution to this devastating problem. It shows the power that poetry can have.”

To read Aubrey Ant’s famous poem, click here: If the Shoe Fits.

Park ART Walk: Saturday, August 16

August 15, 2014 By TMD Reporters

The organizers request the honour of your presence at the following event:

Park ART Walk
Saturday, August 16, 2014
10:00 am – 7:00 pm

The Park ART Walk is a one-day, juried art exhibition that showcases the artistic expression of Park residents. Showings will take place at participating art galleries, shops, theatres and cinemas. This year’s jury will include curators from the Park Museum of Contemporary Art and the Kipos Gallery.

The 2014 Park ART Walk will focus on the art of The Park’s refugees.

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