THIRTEEN WITH DISASTER...

by Tallulah Lastname, Company Clerk:

T-Bone and Cotton are in Nashville, Tennessee. They were briefly joined by an additional hand-picked team of rag-tag Misanthropes, sent by Madame X to aid in the carrying out of yet another offshoot errand. The extra manpower was dispatched once it was learned that T-Bone's mission in the Music City coincided with the emergence of Brood XIX; a loud-buzzing swarm of cicadas that rises up by the millions out of the ground every thirteen years.

(Brood XIX in action)

Also known as the Great Southern Brood, this is the largest brood of thirteen-year cicadas, they're out in record numbers this year. The air is lousy with them. After over a decade of lying in wait as underground grubs, they have finally emerged; taking to the sky in the desperate hopes of humping and laying eggs in these last few days of their lives.

An overnight accumulation of dead bugs under T-Bone's
porch light (photo by T-Bone)

The streets are littered with big dead bugs. They're flying into people's faces, and bumping feverishly into streetlights all night. Cicadas are dropping dead, mid-flight, or raining down from the trees like autumn leaves, and the Misanthropes are collecting as many of the carcasses as they can.

Just as was the case with the Company's collection of ball moss in Austin, many of the local are thankful for Misanthropes ridding their properties of this perceived eye-sore, going so far as to make a financial contribution to the effort.

(photo by Reverend Aitor)

But all this raking up of expired insects is motivated by more than some sense of civic duty. The cicadas are being boxed up and shipped back to the Company's MVSEVM.

Already, there are five kilos of cicadas are on their way to Toronto, and the Nashville expedition is still gathering even more more.Madame X, the MVSEVM's curator, has plans for this bounty of specimens. Big plans.

* * *

NIGHTS of COLUMBUS...

by Erkuden Sakana, Company Secretary:

(photo by Erkuden Sakana)

Canada's postal workers are on strike. And despite the National Post's groundbreaking article, wondering if, in the age of e-mail, texts, and twitter, anyone will even notice, the absence of mail does infact affect many, including the M.S.Co.

(The news)

With much of the Company's work in progress stuck in transit, this marks yet another week that the M.S.Co. has failed to induct a single illustration into it's archives. A real thorn in the sides of those members hung up on routine and craving the bureaucratic sense of completion that accompanies the christening of finished drawings and voting on which ones make the cut. Needless to say, this only adds fuel to the harrumphing at M.S.Co. Headquarters.

But it isn't just Company protocols being hindered by the strike. This month's shipment to the Company's mail-order subscribers is also being held hostage by the striking postal workers; as are various, prints, cards and commissioned portraits purchased from the M.S.Co. through its Etsy shop and various other channels.

Even orgonite dealers are being affected by the strike

Rest assured, the Company is taking measures to minimize the impact of this hold-up. The wheels of production do keep turning, despite delays in the postal system. In the meantime, however, the Company has closed down its Etsy shop until further notice.

* * *

Meanwhile, south of the border, the touring misanthropes have pitched their camp in Ohio. The away team is on a procurement mission, combing Columbus' legendary thrift stores for much-needed supplies, and stocking up on pipe tobacco at Smokers' Haven.

(pressed and sliced flakes of delicious, delicious tobacco)

This is one of the Company's preferred brick and mortar tobacconists. Owner Premal Chheda's passion is pipes, and his shop caters primarily to enthusiasts of the brier. There is even a workshop in the back, where pipes may be brought in for repairs and refurbishing, and celebrated pipe maker Bill Shalosky can often be found hard at work on his handmade pipes.

(photo by Cottonwood Fields)

The Smokers' Haven gang was kind enough to bring the misanthropes in after hours. This week's away team meeting and illustration session was carried out in the indulgently smoke-friendly luxury of the the store's smoking lounge.

* * * *

THIS WEEK'S PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
Number of illustration initiated: 43
Number completed: 10
Number inducted: 0
Carried over to next week: 27

* * * *

GIVE PEACH A CHANCE...

by Tallulah Lastname, Company Clerk:

(I.C.E. flyer courtesy of the Indie Craft Exchange)

That's right folks, M.S.Co. is coming to Hotlanta for the Indie Craft Experience, and bringing its Unflattering Portrait Project with them. What better way to spend a sweltering weekend than at an event acronymed I.C.E., sucking on gourmet popsicles, surrounded by all manner of handmade splendour.

More details on the event will be posted on the Company web log as showtime approaches, but in sign-ups for Unflattering Portraits are open right now.

(photo by Reverend Aitor)

To book your appointment: simply click on the comments section at the end of this posting and claim any hour that isn't already claimed. Sign ups are open until midnight the day before.

The portraits are done by donation. They take about thirty to fifty minutes per person. Couples, oddly enough, count as two persons, so book two slots. And punctuality is always in fashion. Patrons arriving more than eight minutes late for their scheduled sitting will not be served.

UNFLATTERING I.C.E.
DAY TWO:
Sunday June 12, 2011
1:00 pm - Sydney Huggins + 1
2:00 pm - Sydney Huggins + 1
3:00 pm - Kelsey C.
4:00 pm - Tofu Baby

* * *

THE SKYLINE'S THE LIMIT...

by Tallulah Lastname, Company Clerk:

The Company convoy has stopped in Louisville, KY, en route to Columbus, OH. It's a favourite pit stop for many of the misanthropes. A relaxing place to stroll around, restock and sample the various bourbons Kentucky has to offer.

(logo courtesy of Skyline Chili)

While in town, the hungry food tourists of the Company discovered a new regional culinary delight known as as Skyline Chili.

(photo of deliciousness by Reverend Aitor)

Technically, a Cincinnati restaurant chain, Skyline has made it's inroads into Kentucky. It is loved enough for its chili-based fare to be consider as local Louisville's own hot brown.

It's garbage food. But it's delicious garbage food.

Among the restaurant's signature dishes are the 3-, 4-, and 5-Way Chilies. In short, three variation of a plate of steaming spaghetti, smothered in secret recipe chili, covered in finely-shredded cheese. Best when accompanied by a chili dog.

(Skyline Chili 3-Way eating contest)

Named after the view of the Cincinnati skyline founder Nicholas Lambrinides admired from his first restaurant's location, Skyline's chili recipe is a tightly clutched family secret. It's distinct flavour has spawned a number of attempted imitations, giving rise to what is now regarded as Cincinnati-style chili; characterized by a thinner, differently-spiced sauce than that of it's better-known Texas counterpart.

* * *

WHOSE THE MOSS?

by "Madame X", Head Curator of the M.S.Co. MVSEVM
of Natural and Artificial History:

(photo by Erkuden Sakana)

Today on the Company agenda, the preparation of new exhibits for the M.S.Co. MVSEVM of Natural and Artificial History.

(photo by Heywood McGillicuddy)

One of the benefits of having a greater number of misanthropes abstain from this year's tour has been the ability to not just to keep the MVSEVM open and running through the Summer months, but also to develop and advance the MVSEVM's programming and exhibits.

* * *

(photo by Cottonwood Fields)

Also in MVSEVM news, the Austin expedition has yielded a treasure trove of indigenous epiphytic air plants. Known locally as ball moss, tillandsia recurvata is a member of the bromilliad family, and close relative of Spanish moss. Despite its moniker, it is not a moss but a flowering plant.

(photo by Reverend Aitor)

The stuff literally grows on trees in central Texas, affixing itself to the shaded interior branches and drawing all of its nutrients from the moisture in the air trough their leaves and stems, rather than from soil, or the trees themselves. Their roots serve only to anchor them in place.

Ball moss has an unfortunate reputation among many of the locals. They are erroneously thought to be parasitic, damaging the trees they grow on. Commonly regarded as an unsightly pest, nobody objected to the misanthropes coming onto their property and climbing their trees to fill shopping bag after shopping bag of ball moss. One elderly homeowner even thanked the team, going as far as to bring out a pitcher of sweet tea and offering the Company five dollars for their troubles.

(photo by T-Bone)

Headquarters eagerly anticipates the shipment of what T-Bone insists on referring to as "a mean case of ball moss."

* * * *

THIS WEEK'S PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
Number of illustration initiated: 18
Number completed: 8
Number inducted: 3
Carried over to next week: 3

* * * *

DOMY A SOLID...

by Tallulah Lastname, Company Clerk:

(photo by Cottonwood Fileds)

The Misanthrope Specialty Co.'s time in the silicone hills is drawing to a close, but the Company is leaving it's indelible stain behind. A little something for Austin to remember the misanthropes by.

(photo by Cottonwood Fields)

Domy Books, Austin's impecably curated bastion of zines, special interest periodicals, art comics and video now purveys a select assortment of Company wares. The Company became acquainted with Domy's co-founder, Russel Etchen at last weekend's Renegade. They hit it off immediately, discussing bootleg releases of You Can't Do That On Television, The Vacant Lot, and the Hilarious House of Frightenstein. Truly the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

(photo by Reverend Aitor)

Domy Books also maintains a gallery space, in wherein sundry events and exhibitions are produced, highlighting the stores intersecting ideas and sensibilities.

Presently, the gallery is exhibiting As Above, So Below: The Art of the Secret Society, a breathtaking collection of traditional artwork and imagery from various American fraternal lodges. If you love all seeing eyes and mystical masonic iconography half as much as the men and women of the M.S.Co., you'd be wise to drop by Domy Books. The Exhibit runs until June 9, 2011.

* * *

THE REVELATION OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION...

by Erkuden Sakana, Company Secretary:

(photo by Cottonwood Fields)

T-Bone and Cotton have broken away from the the Away Team. They are on a secondary mission, drifting from motel to motel in an effort wrap up T-Bone's mysterious five-year Bible Project.

Short of a a couple of mentions in M.S.Co. Subscription Service and a one-night airing at the 2009 Stay The Night exhibition, the Company's Bailiff has remained disinclined to disclose the details of his ongoing bookwork to the public. His reasons for this, are very much his own.

(photo by T-Bone)

As the project inches closer to completion, however, it's beginning to looks asthough the veil of secrecy may soon be lifted. Atleast that's what T-Bone seems to be hinting, lately.

* * *