I wrote this one, I was in Oakland area in Mid June the first time I was in the Bay area,

Spining photos in my mind, Just to fool me in the break
of time.
From the events from the past and yet to come, Where
will it lead me down this fucking road. time will only
tell the future of me.
LA seems so far away, Yet it's just over the hill and
down by the sea..

Dig, the 999 Eyes ringmaster, did our interview in character, and preached an apocalyptic sermon of the freak revolution against the "barons of bipedalism and the grinding heel of conformism." A showman to the hilt, Dig boasted that his troupe includes the last authentic collection of traveling freaks, including Pegleg (who, according to Dig, "has the Elephant Man's disease and was liberated from a bloodthirsty institution"), the Lobster Girl, and Jackie of All Trades, a "human tripod" from Eugene, Oregon, who saw 999 Eyes a few weeks ago and abandoned grad school to join the circus. There is also a collection of preserved freaks, including Patches the Two-Headed Calf, who made his first midway appearance in 1907.

999 Eyes has never performed at a dance club and I asked Dig how the cirque noir phenomenon had reached so far.

"The world has gotten a bit gray, hasn't it?" Dig asked. "It wasn't that long ago when conjoined twins could make a living, marry, become celebrities, but now they cut them in half and force them to live as cripples in institutions. As General Tom Thumb said when they shut down Coney Island: 'What am I supposed to do? Go on welfare?' People have accepted the yoke of homogeneity so readily—the more people are called on to live lives free of brightness and difference, the more some of us will refuse."

And the more people who will pay a few bucks to spend an evening surrounded by freaks, clowns, and other colorful refuseniks. n

brendan@thestranger.com

True Facts about Me

Pegleg was born in 1895. Severely inflicted with the genetic disorder Neurofibromatosis to the point of having one leg removed, Pegleg traveled the freakshow/museum circuit.
He stayed on until 1935 when scientists (whose goal it was to kill the freakshow for social control), stole him from the midway to study and experiment on to prove his condition was that of a sick human, and not of a Fabulous Freak.
Because funding for the project was cut, the scientists decided to freeze Pegleg until more funds could be obtained. The funding never came and poor Pegleg was forgotten.
One day, a kindly performer snuck into the basement of a medical anomalies laboratory to obtain a two-headed baby for her show and discovered the frozen man. After defrosting Pegleg, she set out to help him in his mission of revenge against the scientists who are still trying to destroy the freakshow/museum of mutantstrosities by institutionalizing, exploiting and abusing freaks for medical research and experimentation.

MODERN-DAY ELEPHANT MAN BENEFIT FEATURING NEQUAQUAM VACUUM, SYNCHRONICITY FREQUENCY, DJ YETI
(Jasmine Tree, ) It would sound like a really awkward punchline were it not so nullifyingly sad: Pegleg—the "modern day elephant man" featured in "Thee 999 Eyes ov Endless Dream Travelling Cirkus and Carnival ov the Damned" that passed through Portland about a month ago—returned home from the tour to find himself evicted, and subsequently homeless. Pegleg, who's neurofibromatosis has left his body severely deformed, is currently in his car in Long Beach. Tonight, Portland's Cirkus constituents are throwing a benefit to try and help bail out their friend in need, with performances by Nequaquam Vacuum, Synchronicity Frequency, and more. ZAC PENNINGTON