Monday, Oct. 29, 2001
When Ned was a boy he liked few things more than throwin’ rocks at boats down
on the shores of the ol’ Pomak river. Them boats would steam on by, their big
paddlewheels a splooshin’ along like so many scum filters in the aquariums.
The ladies in their hoopty skirts and the gentlemanly types in their bowties
and ice cream suits would wave to Ned from the boats, holdin’ them Martinis
and smilin’ like it was time to get a picture taken to send to some poor kids
in Somnabiqua so they’d know who was the folks sent them all that pocket
change and lil’ bits of crackers and rice kernels. Them folks would smile and
wave at little Neddy, and Ned would sure as April rains throw rocks at them
peoples and try to knock them right out of their four-dollar shoes. When Ned
was especially small, his flung rocks only made it about half-way and them
ladies and gentlemen would laugh at Ned, pointing their fingers and breaking
sweet wind in his direction. But each year that went by them peoples laughed
a little less and looked a little more concerned, and some of them even took to
carryin’ umbrellas out on the deck in case Ned should hit a growins spurt and
gain some extra yardage.
Finally, when Ned was eight he was able to fling them rocks right up onto the
decks of them boats, and them peoples who formerly had been laughin’ would
yell and duck and sometimes throw rocks, and deck chairs, and Cuban waiters
back at Ned. These were high times, and Ned would often find himself on the
banks of the Pomak, doubled over with laughter or sometimes with a gushin’
head wound from a particularly well-returned stone. One time this was the
case, and Ned done fell over, with laughin or with takin a head shot, it’s
not Ned’s time to recall which it was, but when Ned was on the ground some
Gypsies come along and scooped Nedder right up into a sack and onto them
horses.
Them Gypsies done built a little wooden cage for Ned, just big enough for him
to crouch inside, with designs and little dancin’ bears painted all up it and
down it. They would carry Nedro from town to town, where they’d set up a
little stage in the woods and charge the townfolk a nickel to watch Ned dance
and sing little songs, and play poker with a little miniature monkey named
Migglio.
Neddle and Migglio was fast friends, as they bonded over knowin’ that Migglio
was scooped up by them Gypsies in much the same fashion, one day when he was
flingin’ fig newtons at the King of Morocco. Ned an’ Migglio was
inseperatistable in them days, sittin’ in their wooden cages and singin’ Al
Jolsen songs in them two-part harmonies.
One day Ned and Migglio come up with a plan to escape from them Gypsies. Them
caravan of Gypsies was comin’ back through the town where Nedder was from, and
that night after Ned and Migglio done finished their show, Migglio went and
hid in a big cast-iron pot while Ned went back to his cage like nothin’ was
the wiser. Them plan was for that Migglio to wait until everyone was sleepin’,
then go an’ grab the keys to Ned’s cage, and they’d be off like two jackals in
a bobsled.
Ned sat up an waited for them Gypsies to fall asleep, but at the same time he
done gone an’ fell asleep hisself. Them Gypsies woke Ned up for dinner and they
all ate some monkey soup and then them Gypsies went asleep. Ned waited and
waited, but Migglio never come. Late into the night, when the moon were high
as an opera star in a coca farm, it donned on Nedder. That little monkey
bastard! Migglio done left without Ned!
Ned decided enoughs was enoughs so he stuck he legs out through the bars of
his little wooden cage, tipped it on over and scrambled out of Dodge like a
turtle made of wood. When Ned got home his parents was mad at him for stayin’
out for eight months without permission, on a school night no less, and for
not being there to tuck in the hedgehogs at night. They busted Ned out of his
wooden cage and he went to tuck them hedgehogs in, cursing that
little bastard monkey Migglio all the while.
Milestones
the commune's scratch 'n sniff look at last year's office potluck
Opportunities
Pants a Capitalist
Free Virus Baggies
Take a Kitten, Please
the commune book selections
the commune's Bear in Rearview
the commune's Big Book of Duke
Faces of the commune
the commune 100: Leaders and Revolutionaries
the commune 100: Traitors and Noodledicks
FAQ Shwartz |
Site Map's Somewhere in the Glovebox |
Search In Vain |
Contract Ick
Privacy Police |
Terms of Gary Busey |
Reprints & Persimmons |
Press Eject Now
Lookin' a Gassed Horse in the Mouse
It is a dream that one day a giant mouse will come to town driving a fire truck, and everyone will give that mouse money, but Nedmiller will be out of money.
Lost My Way on the Slow Gray Train
Ned and the Titanic were like peas in a pod, and he entertained the guests and crew day and night with his inflatable pacemaker and a metal box that he claimed to contain Spain.
Check His Nipples, He May Be the King
But in truth, when one truly studies the unpublished crumbs and discarded scraps of History, an entirely different story comes into focus. It is the story of Ned Nedmiller and the Laughing Machine.
Please Hamlet Don't Hurt 'Em
It’s a day that will live in infancy forever and never, that damnable day the Kaiser gunned down ol’ JFK.
Rubber Ain't My Brother
Time to set the record straight, Pop'n Fresh. Who's in the kitchen with Dinah? Neddikins Nedmiller, them's the cat! Surprise!