http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/S/scratch-monkey.html

[edit. huh - that's been edited to remove the actual story. Here's the story: http://edp.org/monkey.htm]

The jargon file has lots of great stuff in it (also see "Magic/More Magic"). Some versions have had some dubious stuff added, but that's a big old ball of flame waiting to happen, so I'll say read with caution :-)