Day: July 2, 2020

by William Skink

While I have already put up one post today about Spider McKnight, someone with that kind of name really deserves probably at least TWO posts about them. It is a reflection of how cool and radical this person is.

At Linked-in, Spider has this to say:

I’m working on updating this profile. For now, just know that I am devoted to radical storytelling. Stories make connections and connections make change.

Change can be how things become different over time, hopefully for the better. Change can also be the coins left in your pocket after buying something like a coffee cup.

What kind of change is Spider McKnight going after?

In addition to owning Six Pony Hitch, which was the focus of my first post about Spider, this entrepreneur and RADICAL STORYTELLER also owns Crazy Love Co.

Do you live in Missoula’s exclusive Rattlesnake neighborhood and want to buy a coffee cup that says RATTLESNAKE with a bike on it? Spider has the coffee cup for you. Want some t-shirts that say LOVE LIKE A VETERAN or LOVE LIKE A LEGEND or LOVE LIKE A LOCAL (there is both a Missoula version of this t-shirt, and a general one), well, Spider has t-shirts for you.

Spider has so much crazy love, here is a crazy list to prove it:

We love manatees. And leaf blowers. And filmmakers. We love the environment and making things that are 100% post-consumer recycled. We love entrepreneurs. We love using water-based ink and never, ever using toxic chemicals on our t-shirts. We love Land Cruisers. And veterans. And Halloween. Just like everyone, we love lots of things. We love way more things than we hate. So why is it that the world is so focused on the bad things?

We started Crazy Love Co. to remind ourselves and others that when you focus on the people, places, and things that you love, you feel better. And you like others better. And you take care of our planet. And you are nicer. And, eventually, the world gets better for everyone.

What do you have Crazy Love for? In these grumpy times, it’s the best question to ask.

Love really is all we need.

If you are jobless and worried about the future, take a love strand from Spider’s love web. That is all you need.

Of course, it also helps to get taxpayer money from the TIF stash in these “grumpy times”.

Spider McKnight looks like a shameless huckster to me, peddling ubiquitous consulting services our local government is addicted to along with t-shirts and coffee cups.

But I’m glad this huckster swooped in so quickly to try and financially exploit racial injustice, because it allows me to use my figurative broom to sweep out another dark corner of our little valley.

I see you, Spider, and I am NOT impressed.

by William Skink

Six Pony Hitch is not a band name like Three Dog Night. Six Pony Hitch is a Brand Strategy and Design Agency in Missoula, Montana.

24 hours ago I had never heard of Six Pony Hitch, but thanks to this Missoulian article, I now know Six Pony Hitch exists, and there is apparently some fall out over a racial research project. Also, this agency was involved in getting paid to help develop the Missoula Downtown Plan.

Before getting into all that, let’s look at how SPH describes itself. Here is a screen shot from their website:

Discovering order in seeming chaos sounds like either a globalist wet dream or a dungeons and dragons quest. Whatever you can pitch to local government for some govt cheese, I guess.

Meshayla Cox of the Montana Racial Equity Project isn’t down with this research, stating “That research that we’re wanting to do is just stalling a process that needs to just happen already”. She goes on to say “We don’t have to take the time to prove that our experiences are real.”

I agree with Cox, this is a stalling process. And further more, why has Six Pony Hitch inserted itself into this conversation, especially since they’ve had a previous business relationship with the city of Missoula?

Here’s more from the article:

Many members of the public, in addition to comments submitted to the City Council via email, said they did not support the proposal for the research project. The proposal came through Six Pony Hitch from a team of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community members who include Wilena Old Person, Jamar Galbreath, Laurel Warner, Alex Kim, Ku’au Ahina, Brad Hall and also from Six Pony Hitch owner Spider McKnight, who is not BIPOC.

I was already having a hard time taking this brand strategy and design agency seriously with a name like Six Pony Hitch, but to expect me to further absorb the fact the person behind this thing has the name Spider McKnight? Come on, man, this is just to absurd.

How all this came about is further explained in the article:

A statement from Six Pony Hitch and LEARN Missoula read by Council President Bryan Von Lossberg stated that City Council reached out to Six Pony Hitch due to the firm’s status of being on the city’s preferred vendor list for communication and their work on the Downtown Master Plan.

Do you see the con going on here? Do you see the perpetrators of NEWSPEAK selling their wares?

I am glad to know more of the names of the players suckling government largesse and eagerly exploiting racial injustice, and I am glad they have names like Spider McKnight and Six Pony Hitch.

If you ever need the ponies to come to your rescue, here’s more about what they can do for you:

Whether we are helping you launch a new company onto the international stage, retooling branding gone wrong, solving internal communications and operations issues, or even creating new products, we can help you tackle the most difficult of issues.

Ok, Pony, you got systemic racism during a global pandemic. How much will that cost to “fix”? Asking for a broke-ass college town.