MY SoCal LIFE...

by Erkuden Sakana, Company Secretary:

It's official. Last week's motion to summon the wayfaring Misanthropes back to Headquarters' choleric bosom has been debated and subsequently quashed today. The Away Team's odometer will keep turning, us-stymied by the opposition. As a matter of fact the travelling contingent is extending its stay in Los Angeles, and now it's the Toronto-based coalition that's being called to join their colleagues across the the boarder. There is a gig in the works.

This latter turn of the tide stems from a liquid brunch earlier in the week with one of the Company's Hollywood patrons. It seems Mr. B, the owner of Screaming Hell Hogs Eat Shit and Die, wants to parlay the Company's visit into a private screening party and wants the Misanthropes in attendance. All of them.

(He who owns the Company's 35mm motion picture masterpiece (photo by Pepper, Polaroid by T-Bone)

Now, it isn't easy to convince all of the Misanthropes to drop everything, all at once, and pack their bindles, paid expenses or not. Especially now, with the post-postal strike backlog only just cleared up. But the visionary Mr.B knows how to sweeten the pot. He's enticed the Company with an exciting new commission none of the members could vote against.

The details still need hammering out between Mr.B's lawyers and the Company's legal department, but all will be revealed soon.

* * * *

THIS WEEK'S PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
Number of illustration initiated: 34
Number completed: 19
Number inducted: 11
Carried over to next week: 2

* * * *

DEFICIT OF A SALESMAN...

by Erkuden Sakana, Company Secretary:

(*the killer) by the Men And Women of the Misanthrope Specialty Co.

While most reports from the road indicate the travelling Misanthropes are having a mostly good time, chasing their tails all over the United States, another tempest is brewing in the Company teapot.

This week's tumult stems from from the Accounting Department's audit of the Away Team's finances, weighed against the Treasurer's reports from previous M.S.Co. tours. A sharp decline has been noted in the Retail Division's profits, prompting the Company's Chief Financial Officer to raise a red flag of admonition.

Beat the recession with these Lydia and Rufus' new coupons. Now in circulation.

The recorded profits from this weekend's Renegade Los Angeles was no more than $17. Last week's yield in San Francisco -- historically one of the Company's most profitable shows -- was similarly discouraging. Across the board, this summer's tallies have hit record lows. Tabling and booth fees, along with the cost of fuelling the Company fleet keep escalating, but the moneyed hordes are not coming out to buy in the same numbers as in years prior. Not by a long shot.

Perhaps there is something to this double dip recession talk radio keeps prattling on about.

Whatever the causes, the Away Team's adventure is running a deficit. Naturally, those within the M.S.Co. who voted against the tour in the first place are seeing red. Today, a motion to cut the tour short was put forward. Furthermore, the Company bean counters are petitioning for a three-year moratorium on touring altogether.

Trade in this dollar for to save eighty cents on any goods and services at participating retailers

The proposed changes to the Away Team's agenda was hotly debated via teleconference, but voting will not be held until next week. Things being left where they were at the end of today's protocols, the out come of next week's vote is difficult to predict. In the meantime, the tour is to continue on it's current trajectory until further notice.

* * *

photo of mysterious project in progress by Cottonwood Fields

Also on the Company's plate, a slew of exciting commissioned work. Posters, books, portraits, schmatta and so much more. Things are getting busier every week, and the administrators at Headquarters is breaking a frantic sweat trying to coordinate the increasing workload with its wayfaring Stateside workforce.

Stay tuned to this weblog for further details as they arise.

* * * *

THIS WEEK'S PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
Number of illustration initiated: 39
Number completed: 22
Number inducted: 15
Carried over to next week: 10

* * * *

POSSESSION OF STOLEN GODS...

Notes to Headquarters
by T-Bone, Company Bailiff;
edited by Arthur Corey, Communications Officer:

"Among other things, I am mailing you a yellowing letter-pressed admonition. A reproach and accusation before the fact, thinly veiled as humorous and maybe folksy.

(photo by T-Bone)

"Because even the faintest impulse to shoplift had failed to cross my mind until I found myself poked in the ribs with this card, and because the proprietors of the general store saw fit to drag their god into it, I saw fit to steal the wretched thing.

(photo by T-Bone)

"As a matter of fact, I stole every one of the cards I could find in that musty emporium of China-made hillbilly souvenirs and mildly racist tributes to the nobility of America's Indian warrior chiefs.

(photo by T-Bone)

"The store is in direct cahoots with the motel here, and the cashier is a mean, lemon-faced old hen, doing double duty as the motel desk clerk. She'd tisked her dry tongue at us the night before, shaking her head throughout the extended check-in process once she learned Cotton and I were checking into one room, unwed. She'd seethed and judged us in false silence from behind the counter before turning to straighten the Barely Legal magazines on the rack behind her."

(photo by T-Bone)

* * *

L.A. FAKERS...

by Tallulah Lastname, Company Clerk:

(promotional flyer courtesy of Renegade Handmade)

The M.S.Co. will be hocking its handmade goods in Los Angeles this weekend, at the Renegade Craft Fair.

The outdoor extravaganza boast food, booze and hundreds of art mongers from all over the continent, along with hands-on crafty activities. So bring the whole family and stroll the sunny shanty-town of vendor tents clutching a beer in one hand and some sort of gourmet wrap or sandwich in the other; make a friendship bracelet, or whatever. Don't forget the sunscreen.

(click here for enlarged map)

You'll find the Misanthropes huddled in booth #170, along with sometimes touring companion, the Sweetie Pie Press.

And yes; Reverend Aitor will be on hand to scribble out Unflattering Portriats of anyone with the fortitude of self-esteem to solicit one, every hour on the hour. Gasp in horror as your every pimple is recorded for pus-terity; reevaluate your aversion to Botox as your crows feet and worry lines eclipse you smile; etcetra as a bunch of other stuff!

(portrait of the lovely Sara Guindon by Reverend Aitor)

To book your portrait appointment: simply click on the comments section at the end of this posting and claim any hour that isn't already claimed. Online sign ups are open until midnight, Friday night.

UNFLATTERING LOS ANGELES
at Los Angeles State Historic Park
DAY ONE
Saturday July 16, 2011

1pm - Available
2pm - Available
3pm - Available
4pm - Available
5pm - Available

All live portraits are done by donation. Pay what you can, or think it's worth. Sittings take about thirty to fifty minutes per person. Couples, oddly enough, count as two persons, so please book two slots.

DAY TOO
Sunday July 17, 2011

1pm - Available
2pm - Available
3pm - Available
4pm - Available
5pm - Available

Punctuality, by the way, is always in fashion. Please be aware that patrons arriving more than eight minutes late for their scheduled sitting may not be served.

* * *

FREEDOM OF REPRESSED...

by Heywood McGillicuddy, Chairman,
and Erkuden Sakana, Company Secretary:

Exhibit A: Misanthropy

True to its name, the Misanthrope Specialty Co. is rife with pet peeves. This should come a surprise to none; the Company members all wear their curmudgeonry on their dirty shirtsleeves. Furthermore, it's reflected in much of their creative output and merchandise.

One gripe which inevitably bubbles to the surface after a weekend of peddling wares at a show is a lack of decorum by trigger-happy photographers. Much disdain has been expressed for those shutterbugs, be they amateur or professional, who sidle up to the Company booth and, with no acknowledgement of the presiding merchant, proceed to photograph the merchandise. Doubly so if the photographers in question take aim at the Misanthropes themselves.

Exhibit B: Double misanthropy

Obviously, not everyone is of the same mind, but it is the general sentiment of the Company that having a blog, and the fact that one's cellular telephone is equipped with a camera shouldn't be taken as inference that one has been issued an all-access press pass.

In response to this, the Company passed a bill some time ago, authorizing its members to respond to such lapses in courtesy in kind.

Old policy:"No pictures, please"

The preferred, though unofficial, implementation of this policy has typically consisted of the interjection of a single digit into the photographers' field of view. This method, however, has not been for everyone, so it was recently put to the Company to find a more passive alternative for the deterrence of unauthorized photography.

The solution was voted in today, and will henceforth be in effect at all subsequent shows, craft fairs, etc.

New policy: "Ten dollars, please"

Rather than becoming indignant, or pretending to do so for the sake of confrontation, the M.S.Co. has decided to put a price tag on unsolicited picture-taking. The Company will be happy to sell you the photos you just took without asking for a measly $10. Exact change is preferred.

As for those individuals with the good sense to introduce themselves and state their intentions before they start clicking away, the Company is usually willing to waive its fee.

* * *

In other news, the Company is cranking out drawings at full throttle.

"American In Peril" by the Company Away Team

The Away Team, in particular, has been quite prolific since it was granted partial autonomy during the postal strike state of emergency. Despite the logistics being stacked against them, given their lack of studio space, sleep, showers and regular hours, the itinerant Misanthropes have their cushy Toronto-rooted counterparts beat in terms of drawings initiated, completed, and even inducted this week.

"Stupid Garbage" by the M.S.Co. Away Team

Perhaps the touring members of the Company are more intune with eachother than those left bickering in the Bunker. Or perhaps their standards for what gets inducted are simply lower. Regardless of the reasons for the imbalance in productivity, this week's numbers appear to have ignited something of a competitive spirit between the two camps.

* * * *

THIS WEEK'S PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
Number of illustration initiated: 47
Number completed: 30
Number inducted: 22
Carried over to next week: 10

* * * *

OREGON TRANSPLANT...

by Rufus Spaulding:

The Company has arrived in Portland, Oregon, after an epic drive from Colorado, through the windswept planes of Wyoming, the martian landscapes of Utah, and the potato-littered fields of Idaho.

(This is exactly what it's like to be visit Portland)

For those of you unfamiliar with Portland, much of it is accurately summed up in the Portlandia television program, and we like it that way. Some of the denizens of the City of Roses will even admit it, though strictly off the record.

* * *