The Park is a culturally rich place. In the past 30 years, zoocracy and freedom have given rise to much musical expression.
How much do you know about music in The Park? Take Our Quiz and Find Out!
OTD in 2011—Take our quiz!
A new survey indicates that 37% of Park Animals do not know how their government works.
Click on the Archons at the left to take our quiz and see how much you know!
OTD in 2015—Born a Skunk, Stinktier set to embrace life as a Zebra
Many Park Animals may believe that Faramund Stinktier has gone underground since his shocking revelation in September that he believes he was meant to be a Zebra. But nothing could be further from the truth.
The Reekabilly star, composer, and one half of the SCENTient Beings duo says he has no plans to retreat from Park life, nor to deny his own reality, however much it irritates certain groups in The Park.
“We only have one life and I would be doing myself a disservice to deny who I am for the whole of mine,” Stinktier says.
Not surprisingly, he also utters those words in the trailer for his new reality series, Life in a Different Stripe, set to début in January on Vertebrate Vision Television (VVTV).
The Mammalian Daily sat down with Stinktier for an hour-long interview in early October. The full interview will appear in the newspaper in the coming weeks. Here are a few highlights from our emotional meeting:
- Stinktier confirmed that he will seek an official change of his species status in the new year
- He says that life has become “more complicated” than it was before his announcement, but that he anticipated an even worse reaction to his news than he has received, “Although I would never say it’s been easy.”
- Stinktier has no immediate plans to change abodes or to attempt to join a Zebra herd. “I don’t expect them to embrace me with any zeal, but I hope they’ll come to understand that I am sincere.”
- Stinktier says he welcomes the opportunity to bring issues related to his own feelings and choices out in the open and would welcome the opportunity to become an advocate and a mentor to those in similar situations.
- He will continue his musical career full-time and has no intention of letting anything interfere with it.
- SCENTient Beings concerts and recordings are selling well, despite a boycott by Park Zebras.
OTD in 2015—Nesthetics gets the nod again to build Groundhog Day prognostication pad
It’s that time of year again.
The Department of Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations announced today that for the second year in a row, it has engaged the services of Nesthetics to build and service the Groundhog Day prognostication pad.
In a short statement released this morning, the department said it was impressed by the sturdiness and “forward-thinking design” of the company’s 2015 pad. That pad was the first in Park history to include colours other than green.
In fact, the pad’s blue base and its range of bright colours caused quite a stir. Romulus Bowerbird, the Nesthetics designer responsible for the pad, caused a stir of his own, too, when he defended his aesthetic choices during live coverage of the Groundhog Day ceremonies by saying that he thought green was overused but, “Many of my best friends are green.”
Nevertheless, Bowerbird is considered to be one of The Park’s foremost designers, and one who is not afraid to take chances or to risk failure.
In a prognostication of his own earlier in the week, Bowerbird tweeted out that he was sure his company would be “2 for 2 on Groundhog Day.” He said nothing, however, about an early Spring.
OTD in 2012—Chief Archon’s “Barrels full of Monkeys”remark spurs call for widespread change
A remark made by Chief Archon George Irving Nathan Gallagher Newt at an important event has spurred a call for widespread change in The Park’s political process.
During the Annual Account of the State of The Park on October 27, Newt was asked about the recent finding that striped and spotted Animals do not fare as well economically as Animals who have solid or mixed coats.
“When I became Chief Archon,” he said, “I looked around at those who were serving in the various [government] departments and I saw that they were all Dogs and Cats and Geese and Whales and Dolphins and Snakes and Toads. And I said, ‘Why are there no Monkeys working in the government?’ So I got a group together to look at the problem and they brought me barrels full of Monkeys.”
While some believe the remark was a “misunderstanding of the question,” many Animals were outraged at what they called the Chief Archon’s “total lack of sensitivity toward Park Animals.” More vociferous critics declared Newt “unfit for the job”.
Antoine Lézard, who recently assumed the presidency of the newly-formed Coalition Against Sortition in the Park (CASP) called the Chief Archon’s remarks “toxic” and said that this is “just one more example of the inadequacy of the present system of Archon selection.”
“In my opinion,” he said, “Newt is not qualified to be an Archon and he would not be an Archon if Park Animals had been able to select Archons directly. Newt owes his position to a lottery and it is the Coalition’s belief that governance of The Park is too serious a matter to be decided by lottery.”
Archons who have served throughout the 30 years since zoocracy was established have been selected through sortition. Also known as the “allotment” or “lottery” method, this is the system that was put in place by Jor, The Park’s first leader and the founder of modern zoocracy.
Proposals for change in the Archon selection process have been made for over a decade. Thus far, however, they have failed to gain traction, since many Park Animals are still wary of the direct selection process.
“Sortition allows for a balance of species in the Archon mix,” contends Sylvana Rana, of the anti-election group, Save Our Political System (SOPS). “Direct elections can become a personality contest and the result could be the loss of adequate representation of many species.”
In Lézard’s view, Park Animals need to “be more forward-thinking.”
“Direct selection works well outside The Park. There is no reason it wouldn’t work well here, too,” he says.
In the meantime, the Chief Archon, whose appointment ends on January 16, 2013, has refused to comment on the controversy he created.
OTD in 2012—Park celebrations “joyous” despite heavy police presence
Not even the presence of a record number of police officers could mar Park residents’ enjoyment of this year’s Autumn festivals.
In fact, according to its organizers, the 20th annual Harvest Festival saw its largest turnout in history on Thursday. Friday’s annual Snowbird Farewell was also an extremely popular event this year.
“We were a bit worried, what with the recent violence, that fewer Animals would show up,” said Cécile Bardot, who assumed the position of president of the organizing committee in March.
“But, as it turns out, we had nothing to worry about. It was a joyous, joyous occasion, full of food and fun and music and laughter…[it was] a real celebration of the work that we accomplished this year.”
And, although festival-goers did notice the police, many seemed not to mind.
“It’s unusual to see police here,” acknowledged Dewi Beruang, who has attended the last seven Harvest Festivals. “I just assumed they came to celebrate, just like we did, and they seemed to be having a good time,” she said.
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SEE ALSO:
Hundreds jailed after Noon Nuttiness protest turns violent
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Archons, PFO blasted over Human Direct Investment in Park
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Indeed, they did have a good time, according to Gareth Shepherd, President of the Federation of Canine Security Workers (FCSW), who oversaw security at both festivals. But, that wasn’t their prime objective.
“We were here to make sure that peace prevailed,” he said.
Aintza Kanariar, Director of Public Relations for The Park’s Department of Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations confirmed that the department felt the need for an obvious police presence at the two celebrations.
“We were sensing a degree of unrest in the populace, and with the two festivals coming so soon after the Noon Nuttiness fiasco, we didn’t think we could take any chances,” she said.
OTD in 2015—Less than three weeks left to confirm your eligibility for Archon selection: DPA
The Department of Political Administration (DPA) has issued a reminder to all Park citizens: you have until the end of October to confirm your eligibility to stand as a candidate for Archon.
“The department wishes to remind all adult Park citizens that, by law, they must confirm their eligibility to stand as candidates for Archon and they must do so by the end of October,” says the reminder.
According to the rules of zoocracy, illness constitutes the only exception to this rule. Animals who are ill and who believe they would be unable to fulfil their duties as Archon due to their illness are required to advise the department of their circumstances by submitting a Form 12.
“Since sortition is the method by which we select Archons, we depend on the full cooperation of adult citizens,” DPA spokesAnimal Antoinette Fourmi said in a radio interview this morning.
And lest you consider withholding your name for any reason, Fourmi reminded listeners that last year, one citizen did just that and found himself charged and convicted of “Cease to Care.”
“Because all of this was established at the time of zoocracy as an obligation of citizenship, we take it very seriously when Animals refuse to participate,” she said.
OTD in 2011—Inktvis and Krake perform at annual Snowbird sendoff
Inktvis and Krake, the current darlings of The Park’s musical scene, performed before a packed crowd at last night’s Snowbird Farewell. The pair played alongside The Canary Cousins and the rap group, The Tweeters, marking the first time in Park history that non-Avian musicians have been invited to perform at the annual festival.
“We were delighted that they accepted [our invitation],” said Arabella Hawk, spokesBird for the yearly event. “The more species that come out to participate in our celebration, the more the Avian citizens of The Park feel the love. It helps us to know that we’ll be welcome when we return in the Spring.”
The aquatic pair performed a selection of songs and instrumentals from their earlier recordings as well as their current hit, 3 Hearts, 1 Head. As the festival drew to a close, they returned to the stage to sing backup for The Canary Cousins during their encore of Life is Tweet.
OTD in 2016—On the docket: these are the trials to follow this October
The law courts will be busy this month, dealing with a number of high-profile cases scheduled to be heard by Mr. Justice Augustus Dindon.
Below is a list of trials to watch in October.
October 17: The Park v Gunnar Rotte: charged with disturbing the peace and inciting violence at a Stereotype Sunday event in August.
October 19: The Park v The Gang of Twenty-One: charged with committing crimes of a specist nature in connection with throwing spitballs at the director and other attendees at the premiere of the movie, WINK.
October 24: The Park v Paulus Koer: The police officer was charged with two counts of biting resulting in injury at a PIFF after-after party on October 5.
October 27: The Weather Makers, Producers and Sellers Alliance of The Park (WMPSAP), the Society of Concerned Park Cultivators, Planters, Growers, and Farmers (SCPCPGF), Runaway Rovers, Home to Roost, et al. v The Park and the Department of Holidays, Festivals and Celebrations: In the matter of Rule #7 and the restriction of the right to assemble and the right to exercise free speech at the annual Harvest Festival, the aforementioned groups request the overturning of the rule.
OTD in 2015—Slowly but surely, The Mammalian Daily is adding full bylines to its articles
Our astute readers probably have noticed something new on The Mammalian Daily’s web site. And many of them might be saying to themselves, “It’s high time.”
Yes, dear readers, we have embarked on a road that will lead to complete transparency in our reporting within the next few years.
In doing so, however, we are not responding to our critics—many though they’ve been— so much as we are moving forward of our own volition toward a goal we’ve had for some time.
As I explained at a press conference almost six months ago to the day, The Mammalian Daily has had a longstanding policy of anonymous reporting. This policy constituted part of the terms of our journalists’ contracts and for that reason we could do nothing but wait, either for those contracts’ expiration or for our journalists to agree to a new policy.
We’ve been fortunate to have several of our veteran reporters agree to have their names (and, thus, their species, in many cases) appear in the paper. So, let me introduce you to this handful of TMD trailblazers whose work is much respected by Park citizens. They will be joined shortly by others of equal merit.
Aivis Burunduks, TMD PIFF Reporter
Renée Simone Canard, TMD Gossip Reporter
Elspeth Duper, TMD Social Events Reporter
Bergrún Íkorna, TMD Business Reporter
Jaakkima Kuikka, TMD Mental Health Reporter
Johan Slon, TMD Music Reporter
