A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XI

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part X

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part IX

Back in Town

I am back in town again. Rome was great! I made some awesome photo's like me at the Trevi Fountain.
You will see some photo's this week!

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part VIII

BlogShares Contest: Dead Blogs

This time not a post about sheep.
Flapser: What? Not about sheep?!

Nope. You see. Weblogs like these are in the virtual world. Some - foolish - people out there think I am virtual too. But I can promise you: I am a very much alive plush toy sheep!

So. I am alive. This weblog is quite alive.

One thing that is also alive and virtual is BlogShares. It is a virtual stock market for weblogs. You can trade in weblogs and weblog ideas and it is really fun. Besides that, if I wanted to trade in the real stock market, I'd have a problem. Toy sheep still can't open a bank account. We are not taken seriously. Nevertheless I enjoy myself at BlogShares. Out there, I am a billionaire!

And now at BlogShares there is a contest. To categorise all the thousands of blogs listed, there are industries and sub-industries. Industries like Religion, Web Technology, Animals and Pets and Portuguese. With this contest you have to propose a new industry. And write about it in your blog. And that's what I am doing right now!

Flapser: But Youssouf, do they already have an industry called sheep?
No, they don't. But - unfortunately - there are not that many sheepish weblogs out there. And it must be an industry that is - like - really needed at the moment. How much I would love to have sheep added as an industry, I will not propose it :(

Flapser: What will you propose?
Dead Blogs. I will propose dead blogs. Below I will explain why.

Industry Proposed

I propose the new industry Dead Blogs as sub-industry of Weblogs.

Description

Dead Blogs are weblogs that have not been updated in three months. Nothing is happening on these weblogs. After a dead weblog is being updated frequently - say at least twice a week - for a month, they can be considered alive again.

History

People love to do things in their spare time. The activities they deploy can be called hobbies. The biggest hobby of them all is starting a new hobby. People tend to start new things "Hey, that's fun!", but give up after one or two months or even after the first attempt. Weblogs are such a hobby as well.

The majority of the weblogs being initiated are not updated anymore after a month or just very infrequent. People who continue with their weblog and find it to be a true hobby might end up with a very much alive and popular blog. The opposits of dead blogs are the most popular blogs around. They have what dead blogs do not have. They have daily posts, are interesting, each post is heavily commented by readers. People use those weblogs as their starting page, they can identify themselves with the weblog. Hundreds of sites and other weblogs make links to these blogs. They are so much talked-about, that posts on those blogs can sometimes even lead to citations in regular news papers. These blogs are growing, linked to often and of high value. They are interesting to invest your BlogShares dollars in.

Dead blogs don't have all of that. Nobody wants to link to them. If there happens to be a scarce post, nobody comments. The blog is not growing. Nothing happens actually. You probably do not want to invest your BlogShares money in them, because the investment will not benefit you. If a blog is in this industry, you might reconsider buying shares.

Sometimes though, dead blogs can become alive again. Suddenly the blog owner gets the spirit and starts blogging. If the blog has proven to be alive, with regular posts for over a month, you can vote against the dead blog industry.

It is interesting to realize that most blogs ever created are within the industry of Dead Blogs. It might be one of the most voted blog industries, though the average blog value will very low.

Modern Non-Blog Resource

I think there is no big need to refer to a lot of non-blog resources. The industry exists, is quite apparent. Just have a look at the discussions by doing a Google search.

Blog Examples

• 
  sawthefuture.blog @BlogShares, direct: Jacobs Quebecois Adventure



• 
  do i really want to touch that with my hand? @BlogShares, direct: do i really want to touch that with my hand?

Considerations

I started writing this proposal when there was little discussion about dead blogs and indexing at BlogShares. Currently the discussion is more alive with cleaning up the index to remove dead blogs.
Still, this industry is valid.

A blog is dead according to the industry definition if no posts have been made for three months. A dead blog should be removed from the index after six months.
This industry can help cleaning up the index. Reporting a dead blog as error report can be a hassle and costs more time than a vote. The advantage of voting a blog for the Dead Blogs industry can be benificial for both the voter and the index. The voter gets chips and karma for his vote, which would not be the case with reporting an error. The benefit for the index, is that potential six months dead blogs can be detected early, after three months, just by looking at the blogs in the Dead Blogs industry. The industry or global moderators can keep track of dead blogs easily and remove them when they are dead for over six months. This will limit the search by moderators and hoping for error reports.

When you buy stock from the Hot Stock tips, you buy stock because of the potential increase in value. An advantage for the BlogShares users is that they see right away that a blog is in the Dead Blogs industry, which might cause a reconsideration whether to buy stock or not.

Furthermore, most blogs in existing are dead, so this industry would be more than appropriate and valid.

I do hope Youssouf's Sheeplog will never be voted into the Dead Blogs industry...

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part VII

Sheep News: Colin the Sheep Is Innocent of All Blame

Don't you just love modern technology? I'm off to Rome and I managed to find an internet access point to post this!
(Actually, I scheduled this post after reading the news yesterday)

A truly sheep interest story (vs. human interest). Will the angry mob fleece this sheep?

A BLACK sheep who was threatened by an anti-social behaviour officer for eating flowers at a town cemetery has been let off the hook.

...

Following extensive investigations, the finger was pointed at eight-month-old Colin, who cheated death as a lamb but was rescued and reared as a pet by Stroud resident Treena Deburiatte.


Was Colin wrongly accused? Would sheep do such a thing?
Read the full story at ic Wales - Colin the Sheep is innocent of all blame.

Off to Rome!

Hurray! I am almost off to Rome!
I hope Flapser will post something nice for you.

Skiing in Kirchberg in 2001

Back in Februari 2001 I went skiing in Austria. For the first time of my life.
Quite exiting. Usually I end up travelling to warm places. I originate from Jordan, so a cold, freezing and snowy environment was quite new to me.

But it was great! I went to Kirchberg, in the southern Alps of Austria. The skiing area is called Kitzbühler Alps.
Luckily I have a warm fleece.

Here you can see me looking out over the piste, near the ski lift on the top of the mountain. Great view!



And just a bit zoomed...


One of the more scary things was skiing down the black piste! It was so steap that I could not see the mountain below. Didn't know what was coming. Quite a thrill. One benefit of being a plush toy sheep: you can't break your bones when you fall...



A bit zoomed, still standing at the top of the black piste. It goes down all the way. So did I. I did not fall actually, but people should look out better for skiing sheep. They crossed my path without noticing me way too often.


I love the snow!

Rome Rome Rome Your Boat!

Actually, I will not be going by boat, but by plane.
Wednesday I will leave for five days to Rome in Italy. The only Rome I have seen before was the Metropolitain (subway) in Paris (Rome is a subway station).

I am looking forward to seeing Rome! I am accompanying a friend on a business trip, so unfortunately not five days of looking around. But two will do as well!
If you want a preview of Rome, have a look at the tourist info. I have seen Roman ruins in Turkey, but not the real stuff.

Ciao!

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part VI

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part V

SheepShopping: Christmas Time

SheepShopping Tip

I am a plush toy sheep myself. I know where to find new plush friends.
And of course I know where and when to find new sheep. In all forms.

There are several periods in a year when it is extra beneficial to get out and shop for sheep. The Christmas period is one of them.

Christmas is about the celebrating the birth of Jesus. Officially. But most people just take the opportunity to celebrate with the whole family, give presents, decorate the Christmas tree and have luxurious dinners. Still the relegious aspect can be found in almost any home. Angels, Christmas stables, you name it, it's there.

Since all those people wanting to have nice Christmas decoration, shops sell them as well.

Christmas stables

A good Christmas stable includes shepherds and sheep. You can buy them at the big department stores or home decoration stores. Those are mainly the standard stables.
But, the more interesting stables - and thus the more interesting sheep - can be found at different stores.

In third world aid shops or Fair Trade stores (for the Netherlands, see Fair Trade winkels) you can find Christmas stables from all around the world. Columbia, Mexico, Peru, Indonesia, India, South-Africa. You name it. Exotic sheep are always fun and it is socially concious as well! Another advantage: they usually also have very cheap and fun miniature stables (made out of tin cans, calabash or coconut fibers). You won't see those anywhere else.

Of course you can find your flock of sheep also in some more specialized stores. Like those with only Mexican or South-African products and art. And art galleries might have their own Christmas stables, it might be a bit pricy though. Just look around.

The disadvantage of Christmas stables is you will have to buy Mary, Joseph, a couple of wise guys and an ox as well to purchase your sheep. Purchasing the complete Christmas crew can become pricy. So what to do? Be patient. The week after Christmas they are put in the sale. Saves you lots of money.

Christmas decoration and candles

Keep your eyes open. There are designer tea-light cups with a shine-through cover with sheep, filt Christmas tree sheep, sheep molds for your Christmas bread, cakes or butter (make your own sheep for Christmas breakfast!). There are sheep chocolats.
Do not forget the paper table napkins with sheep (and shepherd) to decorate your Christmas dinner table. If you have a seventh sense for sheep (yes, seventh, since your sixth sense is the vomero-nasal organ discovered about a decade ago), you will see them everywhere this time of year.
The only disadvantage. Abundancy of sheep also means abundancy of ugly sheep... Be careful what you choose!

Christmas cards

I can't give advice on this one. People sent billions of cards all over the world. Cards with themes about Christmas, winter or New Year. And that includes sheep and shepherd, winter sheep photo's, funny cartoons with sheep. Just keep your eyes open.

Sheep

Shortly, shopping these periods can be stressful. Presents for the whole family, busy busy busy, preparing a fabulous dinner, taking care of the decoration in and around the house... Shopping for sheep can lighten you up. The Christmas atmosphere is mainly great in the shopping centres. And when you are finding some great sheep, Christmas is complete.

Should I have mentioned some great Christmas lamb recipes? Hmmm.

Youssouf's Guide to SheepShopping

Isla Margarita in 2001

I have been traveling for quite some time.
In May 2001 I needed a small break and decided to go for a week to Isla Margarita.
A small island with sandy white beaches a few miles from the coast of Venezuala.

If you click on the map, you get a bigger map so you can take a closer look. The tiny red arrow is where Isla Margarita is situated.




Relaxing on a boat under the palm trees. The photo's were made with a disposable camera. The pictures are not excessively sharp... And I appear rather small on them, that's why I have zoomed a little.


I love the beaches over there.

After sipping on a cocktail, I watched the sea for hours. Really relaxing!

SheepShopping: Big Horn Sheep Etching

Sheep Pick

I came across this nice etching by Joe Abbrescia from Abbrescia Fine Art.com.
It's an etching of a Big Horn sheep.
I think it is lovely!

Product description

Etching by Joe Abbrescia.
Title: "Portrait of a Bighorn"
Edition Size: 100
Image Size: 6" x 4"
Unframed: US$85.00 (about 64 euro)
Framed: US$155.00 (about 116 euro)
Framed Size: 8" x 10"

Online

You can find the purchase info here.

This post is part of Youssouf's Guide to SheepShopping

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part IV

Icelandic Ewes

There is more than one sheep world.
Like this one. Icelandic sheepworld.

Small, strong icelandic sheep. And quite horny too... (do not read this the wrong way).

They have great names for them as well: Ghiradelli, Sveppur, Hunn and Stumpy.

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part III

Webcomic Dr. Sheep and the Aardvark

The webcomic Dr. Sheep and the Aardvark is drawn by James Spence.
It is a weird comic about an intelligent sheep (of course!) and a clumsy aardvark.
Go to the archive to see all the comics. Or start with the comics of the first week right away. There is also a full comic book called "Dr. Sheep's Odyssey". Anyways, you will have to read more than one comic strip to really appreciate it. Once you read a dozen of episodes, you will probably love it :-)

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part II

Sheep News: Sheep Flock to Madrid's Streets

Generally there are just too few sheep in the cities around the world. The country side is no problem. But cities?

Luckily in Spain they have some old traditions.
Hundreds of sheep were herded through Spain's capital on Sunday to try to ensure the survival of the centuries-old tradition of droving routes.

Hurray! Sheep in the Big City! (sounds like tv cartoon to me :-) )
And read the full story at BBC News | Sheep flock to Madrid's streets

The Different Side Of Flapser

When Flapser joined me in making this weblog I did not know what to expect from him. Usually Flapser is just jumping, flapsing and frolicing around. Nothing too serious.

Anyways, he promissed not too flapse too much around on my Sheeplog. He promissed to show us a different side of Flapser. I expected - I hoped - to see a more serious side of Flapser. Perhaps even he would write philosophical posts, to show us a different side of him. My expectations grew, since he locked himself up in his room for a month working on the matter. Would it be the next Kierkegaart or Sartre?

Of course, Flapser took it all very literally. He is now literally showing us a different side of him in each part of 'A Different Side Of Flapser' he is publishing. If you don't want to miss any part (of Flapser), you can have a look at this post (click the A Different Side button on the left). All published parts will be lined up here.

• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XX (January 2006)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XIX (April 20 2005)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XVIII (April 13 2005)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XVII (March 22 2005)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XVI (February 14 2005)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XV (February 9 2005)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XIV (February 2 2005)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XIII (January 26 2005)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XII (January 17 2005)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part XI (December 29 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part X (December 23 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part IX (December 21 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part VIII (December 16 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part VII (December 15 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part VI (December 11 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part V (December 6 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part IV (December 1 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part III (November 25 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part II (November 23 2004)



• A Different Side Of Flapser - Part I (November 19 2004)

A Different Side Of Flapser - Part I

Sheep News: Farmer Amazed by 'Woolly Mammoth'

Clare made me aware of this cool BBC News item (thanx Clare!). Mammoth sheep!


Sheep are usually - well - sheep size. There are exceptions. Like me, a fluffy toy sheep. Griff is a ram as well, fluffy too. But tiny? No!

A Yorkshire farm has raised one of the biggest sheep in the country - weighing in at an incredible 20 stone (127kg).
And five-year-old Griff the giant Oxford Down ram is still growing.

Awesome guy, this Griff. And friendly too! He is way bigger than me (I bet his left ear is heavier than I am).

So tame in fact that Jean's grandchildren, five-year-old Sam and eight-year-old Rachel can often be found riding around the fields on Griff's back.

I love him already!

Read the full article at BBC News: Farmer amazed by 'woolly mammoth'.

Sheep Comic: Count your sheep

I like sheep when they are lovely and cute. Well, I always like sheep, but especially when they are lovely.

Like the sheep drawn in the webcomic Count your sheep. It is drawn by Adrian Ramos.
If you click on the comic below, you end up with the first comic. You can continue for dozens of comics! With sheep. Of course.



Start counting and try to stay awake!

Flapser at Work?

Over a month ago Flapser joined me in making this weblog.

He's not that much of a writer, but I expected something from him. Flapser has locked himself up in his room for a month now. Very hard at work. I wonder what he is up to. It must be something brilliant if I look at the amount of time he has spent in there.
On the other hand. It is Flapser. He is probably flapsing around a lot.
He promissed it won't take too long before he will be flapsing the Sheeplog with his 'flapsing stuff'.

Black Sheep? No (Of)Fence!

The cartoon says it all. Once a black sheep...



Found at Black sheep, black sheep, have you any wool? - The Original Funnies

The Black (Jack) Sheep

Photo.
Sheep.
Shepherd.
Black Jack.
Sheep are clever.
No doubt who is winning.



Found at Insanity Planet.

Sheep Say Boooaaaaaah!

It's getting cold out here. If I was able to, I would grow a thick fleece.
Days like these ask to stay in a warm bed. I feel a bit shleepy, so I get back to bed (too chilly over here). Sheep normally say 'baaah!'. A yawning sheep says 'boooaaaah!'.

So I salute you with a big: Booooaaaaah!. Off to where it is warm and wooly!

Sheep News: Otago Family Amazed by Self-Shearing Sheep

While it is getting colder over here in The Netherlands (the first snow reached the southern parts), it is becoming spring in New Zealand. Sheep have to be sheared. Well, do they have to be?

A North Otago family has discovered an amazing phenomenon on its farm – a self-shearing sheep.
...
Grant Martin's children alerted him to the unusual occurrence last week, saying it looked as if one of the sheep had fly-strike.

As Mr Martin reached out and grabbed the sheep's back, the wool started pulling away.

"There were no maggots on it."

He carried on detaching the wool from the ewe, finding no sign of fly-strike and ending up with a complete fleece in his hands.

"It fell off in one piece. There's a perfect velvet coat underneath."


Read the full story at New Zealand's STUFF news site: Otago Family Amazed by Self-Shearing Sheep.

SheepShopping: Sheep Alarm Clock

Sheep pick

A nice sheep-shaped alarm clock from Fun-Clocks.com. Who does not want to be woken up by a sheep?
For only US$59.95 (about 46 euro) it can be yours!

Product description

This sheep-shaped alarm clock is made of heavyweight, quality plastic, and uses one "AA" battery (not included.) It measures 6" x 5" x 1 1/2", You'll love using this in your bedroom, or on your next vacation!

Online

You can purchase your clock online: Sheep Alarm Clock.

This post is part of Youssouf's Guide to SheepShopping

Maastricht's Marl Mines

In Maastricht, well near Maastricht, you have the Sint Pietersberg (it is called 'mountain', but it's more of a hill). In that hill there are the famous marl mines (in Dutch: mergelmijnen). Better known as caves, but they are mines. They dug out the marl stones, soft limestone-like material, to build houses and bridges. They did it since the Roman empire. It resulted in a labyrinth of 30 feet high mine tunnels.

Of course I visited these tunnels when I was in Maastricht. High humidity. A constant temperature of 10 degrees centigrade. And totally dark. Except for the few gas lamps the guide provided.
Without the guide you would be totally lost. Quite scary and impressive for a little sheep like me.

All this talk for a simply great picture of me, Youssouf, in a marl mine tunnel with a gas lamp. You can sense the spooky yet warm (or chilly?) atmosphere. Ideal for ghost stories. Unfortunately it was 1 week before Halloween.

Trip to Maastricht: Strange Birds

I was on a weekend trip to Maastricht one-and-a-half weeks ago. Of course I made quite some photo's and I promissed you to publish them :-)

For a change I will not start with all the standard touristic sights of Maastricht. You will see them, but just not now.
Now I want to tell you about an encounter with a couple of strange birds. Not quite birds of a feather, but more the fluffy toy animal kind. Like me. A fluffy soft toy animal as well. I always like to meet new fluffy people.

Anyways. I was walking through the Brusselsestraat when I saw a shop. It appeared dark to me. It was an atmosphere of black, grey, metal and some blueish black-light. It was called Bodypiercing Lifestyle Maastricht.



It is were you pay them to pierce any human bodypart you like to have pierced.
Human bodypart. I was wondering. Would they pierce fluffy plush toy sheep like me as well? Would it be too bizarre?
I chickened out after I realized that piercing plush sheep is irriversable. With humans, the tissue can close again (you might end up with a small scar). With sheep like me: a hole is a hole. But... Would they pierce fluffy toy animals?

I moved on to the other side of the street. There I bumped into a shop that was not dark, black and grey. It was so brightly colourful that I thought for a split second I was on drugs. But I wasn't. It was The Happy House. Happy for sure! A shop were you can get crazy hair (like fluorescent pink dreadlocks), funny stuff and toys. As long as it is bright, fluorescent and extremely colourful. Well, you can see it in the shopping window. I entered, because I expected some potential new plush toy friends.



After being stunned by all the colours I saw several fluffy and plush toy animals! Hurray! Including several small cute birds. And two bigger birds. Apparently the parents of the little fellows. The Strange Birds.
My hypothetical question seemed to have been answered. Those two birds were pierced. Heavily pierced. Who pierced them? The girl slash owner of the shop told me - By the way, she blended into the shop perfectly, just as colourful cloths and hair as the rest of the shop - She had her friend pierce the two birds. Her friend from the Bodypiercing shop across the street...
Two of the most bizarre, hip, trendy, cool, strange and friendly fluffy birds I have ever met! Most of all: pierced birds.
I was thinking to myself: would I join the club? Would I?

Cute 3D Sheep

Sometimes you don't need lots of text.
Just a cute 3D sheep from krystale.net.

Halloween Sheep eCards

It's Halloween today. Before I dress up like a scary evil Halloween sheep, I like to send an eCard to my friends.
And of course: a Halloween sheep card! At SheepCafe.de they have some great and funny Halloween sheep cards. The site is in German, but what you have to fill out is still understandable for everyone :-D Send one to all of your friends!

Baaaaaaaaaaaah!
Sorry, I ment to say Boooooooooooooooh!

Sheep Joke: Counting Sheep

I found this great joke at a page of the Zen Sheep Farm site.

Counting Sheep

A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand
new Jeep Cherokee advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a
young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and a Boss tie
leaned out of the window and asked the shepherd: "If I tell you exactly how
many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?"

The shepherd looks at the yuppie, then at his peacefully grazing flock and
calmly answers "sure!"

The yuppie parks the car, whips out his notebook, connects it to a
cell-phone, surfs to a NASA page on the Internet where he calls up a GPS
satellite navigation system, scans the area, opens up a database and 60
Excel spreadsheets with complex macros. Finally he prints out a 150 page
report on his hi-tech miniaturized printer, turns to the shepherd and says:
"You have exactly 1586 sheep!"

"That is correct, take one of the sheep" says the shepherd. He watches the
young man select one of the animals and put it in his Cherokee. Then the
shepherd says: "If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give
me my sheep back?"

"Okay, why not" answers the young man.

"You are a consultant" says the shepherd.

"That is correct" says the young man, "How did you guess that?"

"Easy" answers the shepherd. "You turn up here although nobody called you.
You want to be paid for the answer to a question I already knew. And you
don't know shit about my business because you took my dog."

Photo of a Jumping Sheep (1957)

I ran into a great photo. The photo of the jumping sheep is part of the collection of the Ohio Historical Archive. The picture was made by Joe Munroe way back in 1957.

I think it is a great piece of art and a wonderful registration of this jumping sheep in Ohio. Love it!

American Sign Language - Sheep

Talking about sheep is fun. It's great.
And people just do it way not often enough.
If you don't speak someone's language you can say 'baaah!' and they know you mean sheep.

What with the deaf people out there?

For that purpose there is sign language. So, go on and practice saying sheep out loud (?) with your hands!

American Sign Language - Sheep

Just keep in mind that this is American sign language. A Dutch or Egyptian person might not understand it.
So what is the common sign language equivalent of saying 'baaaah!'?

Sheep News: Paekyang-sa: The Temple Named After a Sheep

Visit almost any Buddhist temple in Korea and there is likely to be some legend or myth associated with its name or how it was founded.

Interesting :-)

... Afterwards, the name of the temple was changed to Paekyang-sa (meaning White Sheep Temple), where even a sheep can perceive the truth.

Well, in between there is a whole legend of how and why this Korean temple was named after a white sheep. The interesting Travel story about Paekyang-sa in The Korea Times will reveal the whole story and more about the temple and the legend of the white sheep.

Hello Sheepworld

I don't know the purpose of the picture I found at Ludum Dare under sheep.gif.
But one thing is sure: it must be the first drawing of a sheep by a geek or computer nerd...
It is some genuine geek humour!

(For those who are a bit computer or programming illiterate: almost every course in programming or scripting starts with trying to print out Hello World).

Sheep Face for Audion

At the bottom of the linked page you can find the Sheep face for Audion. It looks really great! It was created by Rudluph.

What is Audion anyways??
Audion: Hi! I'm a single app that bravely handles all your audio needs - I'm easy to use, but with gobs of advanced features ready to be discovered! I can play your Audio CDs, your MP3s, and your streaming network audio, I can encode, edit, mix, sort and manage, visualize and hypnotize. And now that I'm 3, I can broadcast, record, crossfade, and even hang with your iPod. Best of all, I've got that Panic design - light, simple, and powerful. It's sure nice to meet you!
I just did not know...

And you need Mac OS as well :-) No use for Windows users.

Nevertheless: I like the graphics of the shleeping sheep!

BAA - A Distinctly Wooly Online Comic

It's a bit of a weird story. But it is definately about sheep.
An awesome Manga style comic strip. Called 'BAA'. Just start with comic 1 and continue with the next comics of this continuing story.

The comic was drawn by the folks of Dragon Mango. I think they did a great job! You can find more - non-sheep - comics at their site.

Back from Maastricht

Just got back from three days in a sunny Maastricht.
Normally this time a year you can expect 10 ^oC, wind and rain. I only felt one drop of rain. The rest was great weather. The temperature even peaked over 20 ^oC!

Maatricht has a great historical center with the river Maas dividing it.
It was really great, I'll post some photo's this week!

Weekend Trip to Maastricht!

Another trip! Not abroad this time, well almost. I am going to the most south part of The Netherlands. You can see the blinking dot on the map on your left :-)
I am going to Maastricht, the capital of the province of South-Limburg.
From Friday till Sunday. Three days of fun and photo's!

It is really almost abroad: the cultural life is quite different, their dialect is not understandable for other Dutch people and they are way more enjoying the Burgundian lifestyle.

If you want to know more about Maastricht, just visit the VVV Maastricht (Tourist Information).

Don't expect any posts from me this weekend ;-)

Sheep News: Bighorn Sheep Suit

Halloween may been 10 days away, but the Bighorn Sheep Suit is not about dressing up.
It's a law suit against a developer who caused a quarter of the only natural flock of bighorn sheep to die.

"North of Marana, the Silverbell Mountains rise into a hard-knuckled phalanx of crevices, boulders and broken bluffs. Within this range, deep amid the Ironwood Forest National Monument, a tenacious band of bighorn sheep clings to isolated existence. Arizona's sole native herd, it's believed to number between 70 and 100.
Last fall, escaped domestic goats infected the bighorns with twin curses--blindness-causing pink eye, and horrendous mouth sores called ecthyma that disrupt grazing and nursing. When officials finally corralled the outbreak, a good quarter of the herd was dead. Or good as dead: 'Some animals can be blind and survive,' says Richard Ockenfels, an Arizona Game and Fish research supervisor. 'But you can't be blind and be a bighorn sheep.'"

Read the full article at Tucson Weekly : Currents : Sheep Suit

Youssouf's Gold and Diamonds Store

In my post Youssouf in Turkey: Gold and Diamonds I wrote about a jewellery store in Kusadasi. I did not have the website of that store. Now I do, so I updated the post.
For all the enthousiasts: it is not sheepish, but you can find OK Jewellery here.

Sheep Game: Sheep Thrills

What can you expect if BBC - Wales Mid creates a game?
Right! Sheep!

Try our online sheepdog trial and see how good you are at preventing those pesky sheep from escaping! Get a high enough score and you can challenge a friend.

Watch out for the speedy black sheep, they are quick. Don't miss 'em. And don't try to catch the black bulls or you will lose one life.

You can find the game at BBC - Mid Wales Fun and Freebies homepage

SheepShopping: Ewecoo Cuckoo Clocks

Sheep Pick

I have seen this great Ewecoo Cuckoo Clock in shops several times. I love it. It has a cartoon-like style. They also have a cow in this series. Every hour the sheep pops out with a big baaaaaaaaa!

This just in, it seems through years of over worked and cramped conditions the cuckoo has left the clock. The good news is time wouldn't stand still, for the cow and sheep have moved in. Yes a little awkward for these farm animal friends who generally provide milk and wool. However, the adjustment has been nothing less than grade "A" every hour on the hour these animals will pop out with a MOOOOOOO or BAAAAAAAAA. Of course, when it's dark the cow or sheep will be fast asleep, (okay due to light sensitive technology.)

The clocks measure 12x9x4 inches and are powered by 3 D and 1 AA battery (not included). The moving pendulum is 7 inches long.

Stores around you

I have seen this clock in several bricks-and-mortar shops in The Netherlands. You can probably find it in stores around you as well (if you live in the civilized world...). The biggest chance of encountering this clock is in trendy gadget and gift shops.

Online

You can find the Ewecoo Cuckoo Clocks online at Baron Bob & Wonderfully Wacky. The price is US$59.95, about 48 euro.

This post is part of Youssouf's Guide to SheepShopping

Sheep Statue

Where on earth can you expect people to make a statue for sheep?
Right. New Zealand.

Daryl Howard (Writing about New Zealand's cliff region The Catlins): "Of course I haven't forgotten New Zealand's favourite animal. This lovely statue was located in the country and western capital of New Zealand - Gore. There's another town called Clinton not too far away, so the road connecting them has been dubbed the Presidential Highway (groan)."

Sheep Traffic Sign

What else can I say but to cite the site:
The sheep-and-lamb sign is really cute. When lambs are frightened by an approaching car, they run to their mother - often across the road.

Just love the sign!


More great animal traffic signs: Images: Animal traffic signs.

The Wool Bin

Some people are not into sheep directly. They are into sheep products like wool.

Some people are really addicted to knitting. Like the women of the Society for Women Addicted to Knitting. Their logo is really great!

Anyways. The website is from The Wool Bin. A wool and knitting shop in Oakville (Ontario, Canada). Or as they call it A Knitter's Paradise for Retail Shoppers. Besides the lovely sheep logo's and great sheep knitting patterns they have more.



A great looking floppy and fluffy sheep bag!

New Member: Flapser

You might have noticed that a new member joined me in making this weblog.
Flapser.

Flapser joined my sheepish group of friends at the same time as Greyze.
Flapser is an enthousiastic sheep with big ears and a very big smile.
Always jumping up and down with flapping ears (Flapser calls is flapsing or to flapser). Nothing can stop him.
A really nice guy, but sometimes a bit to lively.

The story is that Flapser is posting reply's on other weblogs and he always mentions this weblog as his 'home page'. A nice gesture.
Besides that, he really really really really wanted to get involved with making this weblog. So I gave him a chance.

I don't know what we can expect from Flapser. It's not that he is going to win the Pullitzer Prize. He promised not to be flapsering around in his post, but to show A Different Side of Flapser.

I am curious...

FLAPSER!!

Hi,

I am Flapser. A fluffy plush toy sheep, just like Youssouf.
Youssouf made me member of this blog as well!!

I like to flapser around a lot! With my big flapsy ears.

Flapsflapsflaps!

Sheep Cartoon: Little Time

Found this cartoon at Bucharest for you - a Romanian Entertainment directory for fun.

Sheep News: Be Careful with Dipping Sheep

Today I read some environmental sheep news in the Lakeland Today:
Farmers in Cumbria have been urged to take extra care with sheep dipping as part of a new initiative to protect the native white-clawed crayfish in the region.

Every time a read about sheep dipping I am not thinking about desinfecting sheep, but I see the Gary Larson cartoon (I posted earlier) before my eyes.
I just can't help it.

Holiday Fun: Create Your Own Lego Sheep

Some people do not have sheep.
Poor people.
Some people have lots of spare time or have a holiday.
But still they do not have a sheep.

They might even get bored with recontructing the Taj Mahal in Lego. For the fourth time. Or you have built a complete railroad track including a detailed replica of London's Victoria Station. Or you need a totally new challenge after building the three feet tall Lego Star Wars Imperial Destroyer.

Perhaps that's you.
Perhaps you need that new challange with these Danish building blocks.
Perhaps you don't have any sheep at all.
But you do have Lego?

Then you can have a sheep as well!
Just follow the instructions in the picture below.



If you can't get enough and you want to make a Santa and penguins for your Christmas stable as well, just visit Bricks on the Brain's Building Instructions Portal - Holiday Fun! Warning! Those other structures are extremely difficult as well!