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The SECRET HISTORY of the THIMBLERIG RESEARCH Group of Companies

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S: The Secret History of the THIMBLERIG RESEARCH Group of Companies

BC: Ever at the epicenter of tenacious enquiry and application of speculative solutions to the vexing enigmas of the cosmos, THIMBLERIG RESEARCH rekindles the sense of wonder and surprise in the world. It is the trailblazer to the unimagined by way of the untraveled. It is Art and Craft, Hokum and Humbug, and Mirth and Mischief... whose quest and mission is to blur the edges that separate Reason from Whimsy, and Harmony from Chaos, and to turn on the Blue Light in your head. Here, Jimmy Hickey, Minister of Information and personal assistant to Founder/Kingpin Dr. M. Djimbo Pez, illuminates the darkened corridors and shadowy nooks and crannies, that the quiet secrets of this enigmatic monolith may be revealed. | The THIMBLERIG RESEARCH Group of Companies | THIMBLERIG IMPRINTS O 2012 | c

FC: The SECRET HISTORY of the THIMBLERIG RESEARCH GROUP of COMPANIES Volume 1 | By JIMMY HICKEY

1: The SECRET HISTORY of the THIMBLERIG RESEARCH Group of Companies | As revealed by JIMMY HICKEY Minister of Information to THIMBLERIG RESEARCH and Personal Assistant to Founder/Kingpin Dr. M. DJIMBO PEZ | Author's Copyright 2012 A presentation of THIMBLERIG IMPRINTS

2: JIMMY HICKEY.... artist, writer, adventurer, inventor, Thaumaturgic Cartographer and mystagogue, presents here, for the first time ever in print, the hidden history of the vast and sweeping empire of one of the most colossal and influential, and yet profoundly cryptic and secretive institutions yet seen on this or any other planet. In his dual capacities as Minister of Information for the THIMBLERIG RESEARCH Group of Companies, and personal assistant to Founder/Kingpin Dr. Mustapha Djimbo Pez, he has had a key role in the founding, organization, facilities and endeavors of this largely unknown conglomerate leviathan. At the encouragement of Dr. Pez, he now casts a light into it's shadowy recesses and darkened corridors that it's mysteries may be revealed. | (1)

3: The THIMBLERIG RESEARCH MISSION STATEMENT | ... to blur the edges that separate reason from whimsy, and Harmony from Chaos. ... to fabricate, with words or pictures or objects, diverse places where the ordinary and everyday may be raised to lofty forms of magic. ... to create, with Art and Craft, unique worlds where unpredictability, spontaneity, and shenanigans are avenues to discovery. ... to be a beacon of luminous curiosity that inspires and educates those who accept this invitation to tiptoe into these worlds. ...to be a trailblazer to the unimagined by way of the untraveled. ...to turn on the blue light in your head. | (3)

5: Table of Contents | Thimblerig Research ............................................. 16 The Extraordinary Dr. Pez .................................................... 8 The Facilities and the Principals ........................................... 12 The Cabinets of Mystery......................................................... 26 The Flotsam and the Jetsom ................................................. 36 Thimblerig Small Arms ......................................... 40 Artenista Ordnance and Ironwerkz .................................... 50 The Congress of Wonders Light Orchestra ........... 52 The Instruments of Terror ................................................... 58 The Bones of Contention ........................................ 62 The Secret Library of the Unknowable ................ 66 Thimblerig Imprints .............................................. 74 The TwELVES Before Christmas ......................................... 76 The Menace of Middenslag .................................................... 77 Correspondences and The Short-Winded Essays ................ 78 The Brotherhood of Thaumaturgic Cartographers ................. 90 Waste Not Want Not............................................... 96 | (5)

6: Founded 7 March, 1929 | THIMBLERIG RESEARCH

7: The THIMBLERIG RESEARCH Group of Companies was chartered in the early days of the last century by artist, writer, inventor, adventurer, Thaumaturgic Cartographer, and mystagogue Dr. M. Djimbo Pez and his Co-Adjutant and trusty sidekick Enoch Brasso Smeavey. The GRAND MISSION, with a firm embrace of the irrelevant, is to rekindle the sense of wonder and surprise in this world and others. Or in the immortal words of the aforementioned near immortal E.B.S., ".... turnin' on the Blue Light in yer 'ed!". Ever at the cutting edge and pointy end of future-retro technologies, the vast THIMBLERIG RESEARCH Facilities may (or may not) be found nestled in the arid an dusty hills near the tiny village of Westlake in the old Californ. This sprawling complex is the epicenter of tenacious inquiry and application of speculative solutions to the vexing enigmas of the cosmos. Within it's great exhibit halls, state of the art laboratories and clean rooms, there is to be found an astounding array of DoJiggers, Thingamabobs, and Whatchamacallets presented for the Erudition, Delectation, Amusement and Befuddlement of those who would pony up the admission fees to be granted entry. | (7)

8: The EXTARORDINARY Dr. PEZ

9: It has been said that the good doctor's sense of adventure and wanderlust was sparked when, as a mere baby, his cot and his nappy were lined with travel adverts and brochures for the likes of trans-oceanic zeppelin crossings, carnivals in tropic climes, jungle safaris, and ascents of snow capped mountains. Whilst on the Grand Tour with his Mummy and Da aboard the steam packet City of Valparaiso, the plucky young Djimmi was washed overboard during a raging williwaw. Search was impossible in the howling tempest and, lost in the crashing breakers and swirling mists, he was given up for dead. However, the canny lad was able to stay afloat, hanging on to a small crate of Chinese clarinet reeds that had surfaced among the flotsam and jetsom. To this day he cannot recall how long drifted on that storm tossed sea, but he does remember with crystal clarity a peculiar sound in the air above him, and the vice-like grip on his collar, and then feeling himself being raised above the waves just as he lost consciousness. He was rescued by the elusive and enigmatic Enoch Brasso Smeavey.... aeronaut, adventurer, and as some have said (though not in his presence), pirate, and perhaps even cannibal. He wrested the boy from the very fingers of Davey Jones, delivering him from a watery grave. He then flew young Djimmi to a land beyond the back of beyond, leaving him with close personal associates...a clan of wild men. These people took the boy in and raised him as one of their own. And as he grew to manhood, they taught him about the dreamtimes, and the songlines and the ways of the bush. He became skilled in the art of painting, using only pigments made from wild berries and goanna urine. He learned the mystical secret of circular breathing. And then one day, Enoch Brasso Smeavey returned. | More | (9)

10: Pez and Smeavey were away then, borne aloft on the aeronaut's steam flying machine, "The Cloudthumper". They flew on for days until at last they made landfall on a unnamed volcanic island, somewhere in the vast uncharted Mare Pacificum. It was here that Smeavey schooled Pez in the gentlemanly arts of swordplay and tango, as well as the FutuRetro Pseudo-Sciences, including Blaster/Emitter technology and Invisible Networking. It was here that Pez became a master adept of the little known Brannock Device. The bond was made... Master and apprentice, friend and trusty sidekick, Kingpin and Co-Adjutant. And thus, Thimblerig Research was born, dedicated from that day to this to the search for Truth and Knowledge and The Good Cigar, and to the principles of Bluff and Bluster and Sleight of Hand. | (10)

11: A rare photograph of the ever youthful but reclusive Dr. Pez holding a magnificent specimen of the Lymuian Farting Cockroach, long thought to be extinct. | (11)

12: A medieval wood engraving of Hieronymus Whigmaleery Pez in his Alchemy Atelier in the Chateau of the Black Prince of Finisterra. | (12)

13: The FACILITIES and PRINCIPALS | Whilst true that THIMBLERIG RESEARCH is in fact the beating heart of experimentation and innovation, it is nonetheless true that this colossus of the preposterous and irrelevant prefers not to toot it's own trombone. Here, in images culled from the historical archives, is a mere glimpse into the offices, workrooms, and laboratories, of this preeminent and multifarious edifice, and but a brief introduction to the tireless and dedicated handicraftsmen who toil therein. From it's humble beginnings in the converted cargo holds and staterooms of the shipwrecked and salvaged steam packet 'City of Valparaiso' to the township sized blocks of specialized industrial structures located in the arid and dusty hills somewhere near the tiny Village of Westlake in the Old Californ, THIMBLERIG RESEARCH continues it's mission to bring enlightenment and divertissements to an overwrought and gloomy world. | (13)

14: The salvaged and newly refitted steam packet 'City of Valparaiso' on the way to it's final berth in the arid and dusty hills of the Old Californ. It begins life anew as the world headquarters of the recently chartered THIMBLERIG RESEARCH. | (Inset) The City of Valparaiso, shipwrecked and run aground at Crabby Head, as the BTW Ketch LYMUW discourages looters.

15: Universal Flux Fluid Manipulation in Forward Cargo Hold | Packing, Shipping and Receiving in Steerage | Accounts and Human Resources in the Grand Salon | (15)

16: The Early Years.... | (16)

17: The Whizins Experience | (17) | (17)

18: The door shingle to The Great Council Hall and Associate Chairs; shared spaces with The Brotherhood of Thaumaturgic Cartographers. These rooms were places of unparalleled creativity and supersonic flights of fancy. Unfettered glee and merriment filled the dusty corridors. There were also rumors (albeit unsubstantiated) of cabalistic ceremonials and ritual bloodlettings taking place on the seam which divides the night from the day. If only those walls could speak... | (18)

19: (19)

20: (20)

21: (21)

22: The Blue Room in the Village | (22)

23: (23)

24: (24)

25: (25)

26: The CABINETS of MYSTERY | (26)

27: At times risking life and limb and personal fortunes, THIMBLERIG RESEARCH and it's agents have scoured the four corners, hidden nooks and crannies, and soft white underbelly of this world and others, in search of the artifacts of man and nature, from the preposterous to the sublime. This astonishing array of Thingumabobs, Whatchamacallets, Doojiggers and Doodads is then cleaned and categorized, cataloged and archived. Then begins the mind-numbing process of selection as these articles are organized into collections which harken back to the "Schoolboy's Museums" of long ago. These collections are then placed into reliquaries large and small, to serve as touchstones of discovery and wonder. Their purpose is for Amusement, Education, and Befuddlement, and to blur the distinctions between Reality and Whimsy. They appear to be the handiwork of Archaeologists...... or Alchemists. Each is a work of Art. | (27)

28: (28)

29: (29)

30: (30)

31: (31)

32: (32)

33: (33)

34: The Wee Reliquaries | (34)

35: (35)

36: The Flotsam and The Jetsom | The castoffs of the cosmos and the leave-behinds of the Hoi Polloi are gathered to be re-purposed, and through the application of Punksteam and Futuretro technologies, they are reconfigured into Articles of Great Utility and Artfulness. | (36)

37: This is the only known photographic image capture of doubtless the most obscure and enigmatic article of Flotsam and Jetsom Utility ever to be constructed. This fully functional Blaster/Emitter was fabricated in the early years after the turn of the century by none other than Phineas Crumpt, Grandmaster and Chief Potentate of the equally obscure and enigmatic BROTHERHOOD of THAUMATURGIC CARTOGRAPHERS, to facilitate escape from medium security detention center in an undisclosed desert location. | Cobbled together from bits of plumbing, a discarded 8-Track player, Chinese clarinet reeds, and a small flashlight, it was a technological achievement without equal. Sadly, it went missing a number of years ago and is now only a half-forgotten footnote to history. Grandmaster Crumpt refuses to speak of it to this very day. | (37)

38: (38)

39: (39)

40: THIMBLERIG SMALL ARMS | (40)

41: Ever at the cutting edge and pointy end of futuretro technologies, and dedicated to the principles of overconfidence, bluff and bluster, Thimblerig Small Arms Pty. Ltd. assembles by hand a line of extraordinary Blaster/Emitter type Sporting Weapons for the Enthusiast, the Discriminating Collector, and the High-Principled Citizen-Adventurer. Each has undergone rigorous test simulations in the laboratory, on the ordnance range and in the wilds of the bush. Each is a Work of Art. | (41)

42: (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (1) The Pneumocatalytic DeAnatomizer (2) The Cloud Burster (3)The P1pSQK "Pipsqueek" Galvanic Dissimulator (4) The Mu Meson Transmoogrificator

43: (Above) Dr. Pez brandishes The LectroDynamizer during field tests whilst on the hunt for Bigfoot in the mountainous wilds of the old Californ. | (43)

44: "The Biscuit Tin of Doom" Plasma-Duelers | (44)

45: The Whigmaleary Plasofusionator MK2 "The Iron Claw" | (45)

46: The SMEAVY MK1 "Big Fella" | (46)

47: The SMEAVEY MK1A "Short Stroke" | (47)

48: The SCARAB | (48)

49: (49)

50: (50)

51: (51)

52: The CONGRESS of WONDERS LIGHT ORCHESTRA | (52)

53: The dark days of the Great Depression. THIMBLERIG RESEARCH operations funds were at a low ebb, and Dr. Pez himself was reduced to selling the first genetically modified apples on the only busy street corner in the tiny village of Westlake. One night, over pints of stout at The End of the World Pub and Chowderhouse, E. Brasso Smeavy, co-adjutant and trusted sidekick to the aforementioned Dr. Pez, offered an observation. "What these troubled times require are jolly divertissements. Much like those times of old in ancient Rome... only without the lions, perhaps. I propose that we charter and form something of a musical nature. We shall blend my considerable logistical skills with your unparalleled mastery of obscure musical instruments of this world and others, and thus we shall bring unbridled glee and merriment to a morose and gloomy population. I ask only for the opportunity to be concertmaster. Pez considered this proposition for the briefest of moments before answering..... | More.... | (53)

54: "Done and done. Order us same again, E.B. I'm goin' to the jacks." And thus The Congress of Wonders Light Orchestra was born. | (54)

55: Busking for pennies that long hot summer in Stonetown, Zanzibar, Dr. Pez Toots his own trombone. | (55)

56: (56)

57: (57)

58: The INSTRUMENTS of TERROR | (58)

59: (59)

60: (60)

61: (61)

62: BONES of Contention | (62)

63: Ever since the dust up on the island concerning the little greyheaded bushwoman brandishing a whalebone knife long enough to row a boat with, the good Dr. has had a keen regard for the implements of utility and art fashioned from skeletal remains. With saw and file and grit he has formed these artifacts, to be as touchstones to our own primitive histories, and reminders of our latent utility. "well... ", he quips, "we're all that on the inside." | (63)

64: (64(

65: (65)

66: The SECRET LIBRARY of the UNKNOWABLE | (66

67: Reliquaries of the Indescribable .... from the Mundane to the Marvelous. | (67)

68: (68)

69: (69)

70: (70)

71: (71)

72: (72)

73: (73)

74: THIMBLERIG IMPRINTS | (74)

75: Words...... from humble beginnings as chicken scratches timidly rendered in a candlelit back room of the family country estate, to Steam-Age Industrial Word-Smithing at the Mighty Myth Forges of THIMBLERIG IMPRINTS. | (75)

76: A jolly holiday tale of merry-making and mayhem, of good intentions paving the road to ruin, of grand theft auto, home-wrecking, floods and fireworks, pizza, beer and bad cigars, with a dozen renegade Christmas elves.... hell-bent for mischief and the perfect wave. | The TwELVES Before Christmas | (76)

77: The MENACE of MIDDENSLAG | Wherein the Brotherhood of Thaumaturgic Cartographers, after the rescue of shipwrecked Dr. M. Djimbo Pez, seek to disable, dismantle, and topple forever, MIDDENSLAG, a most horrifying and formidable fortress, and the very point of convergence of all knavery and malefaction. And in it's giant poisoned electric brain sits it's eyes, ears and malevolence in the person of Moloch Slyboots... who, after uncounted eons of inflicting fear and misery on humankind, has grown weary of his responsibilities, and now casts a wide net for a suitable successor. | (77)

78: and Short-Winded Essays | Correspondence | (78)

79: Retrieved from the archives and collected here, is but a small sampling of letters, dispatches and communiques between Dr. M. Djimbo Pez and various colleagues and associates. Parties to the exchanges include various members of the Brotherhood of Thaumaturgic Cartographers, and Hieronymous Jupiter Whigmaleery, a partner in the Artenista Ordnance and Ironwerkz endeavor, and a rather surprising missive directed to one T. Puffer, who seems to be something of an outsider. There is also a rather long letter involving the Secret Library of the Unknowable and directed to what appears to be a discussion group. Not included here, but worthy of mention, are the hundreds of bottled messages that have been netted from stormy seas or washed up onto the desolate beaches of deserted desert islands.... wherever troubled waters run deep. Each is addressed to the good Dr. and though the contents cannot be revealed here, suffice it to say that their importance cannot be underestimated. Perhaps, once redacted, they will make their way into later editions. | (79)

80: A coded reply to Phineas Crumpt's enigmatic invitation to attend a midnight meeting on the Moon. Who new at the time how events would unfold... that we would each be presented with the severed and shrunken heads of our forebears? | (80)

81: (81)

82: (Above) A mysterious and cryptic note found rolled inside an equally mysterious Didgeridoo left at the Thimblerig Research side delivery door. The didge is now an Instrument of Terror. | (Right, and following page spread) Correspondences concerning a Mr. T. Puffer, and a 100 Lymuw piece gone missing from The Integraton near Area 51 in the desert dunes of the Old Californ | (82)

83: (83)

84: (84)

85: (85

86: (86)

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89: A series of short missives exchanged with Hieronymus Jupiter Whigmaleary concerning the possible chartering of Artenista Ordnance and Ironwerkz and the design and development of the Faradaic Smooth-Bore Melon De-Anatomizer... a lorry-mounted fieldpiece of gargantuan proportions, charged by propane, butane or ordinary hairspray, and capable of propelling a ripe cantaloupe along a straight line trajectory the length of two Hurley pitches at the speed of sound. The level 9 security project still proceeds at a slow but deliberate pace, and HJW has submitted documents regarding transport and test-firing at an undisclosed ordnance range somewhere to the North. | (89)

90: The Brotherhood of Thaumaturgic Cartographers | (90)

91: Seen here are a small number of magic lantern images depicting this legendary but elusive league of semi-mystical eccentrics. They scour the Borderlands and Fringes of this world and others, searching always for Truth, Levity, and a Good Cigar. The cryptic message "Keep the Key. Bury the Head. Drink the Light. Feed the Monkey." often appears in their communiques and dispatches. It's meaning is unknown, and even experts refuse to discuss the matter. (left) The extremely rare 100 Lymuw coin. Worth a king's ransom and essential for the purchase of influence in the end times. | (91)

92: (92)

93: (93)

94: (94)

95: (95)

96: NOT WANT NOT! | Images which, in some cases may defy categorization, could not be included in this edition, due to limitations of Time and Space. | (96)

97: (97)

98: (98)

99: (99) | The AFTERWORDS | We have now had but a brief peek at many of the facets of THIMBLERIG RESEARCH... and while it may have been illuminating, it is my fond hope that this unique and unusual entity will remain provocative, and unpredictable. As always, the Founder/Kingpin Dr. M. Djimbo Pez is ever on the hunt for mystery and shenanigans, giving high promise for future wonderments, and thus, materials aplenty for a second volume of The Hidden History of the THIMBLERIG RESEARCH Group of Companies. I extend my most profound gratitude to Dr. M. Djimbo Pez for his encouragement and for taking time away from his truly busy schedule to be interviewed and to proofread the manuscript. A thousand thanks also to Professor Enoch Brasso Smeavey for his humerous anecdotes and invaluable technical assistance... and for the Hula Girls. Special thanks also to Phineas Crumpt, Viktor Von Riesling, Renson Whistlestick, Newton Fripp, Maximus, The Man of Mystery, and Ulysses Faustus, of The Brotherhood of Thaumaturgic Cartographers for their most candid insights. The true story of The Thimblerig Research Group of Companies is only beginning... the Mission is clear, and the road is long. More information may be found in these public places; http://www.flickriver.com/photos/46795274@N08/sets/ https://www.facebook.com/ThimblerigResearch EXCELSIOR!

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Jimmy Hickey
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  • Title: The SECRET HISTORY of the THIMBLERIG RESEARCH Group of Companies
  • An historical examination of the vast and sweeping empire of one of the largest and most influential, and yet profoundly cryptic organizations yet seen on this or any other planet.
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  • Published: over 5 years ago
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