Exploding kittens and goats

So perhaps you have heard of a certain card game Kickstarter that has gone balistic.

I have enjoyed reading this crowd-funding-that-could story from a marketing and fundraising viewpoint. The people involved (two designers and a famous comic artist) were very smart to focus on very few but very clear perks (donate $20 bux to make this card game, and you get a copy of this card game.) They may have set their initial sights too low ($10,000) and didn't plan out enough "stretch goals" (in case, like it did, the campaign surpassed it's goal.)

• Apparently, they reached their initial goal in 8 minutes. 
• Then, over 120,000 donors broke a Kickstarter record. 
• And they have now made over $5M.

I have also enjoyed watching from a goat supporter's standpoint. Goats have been in it to win it from the beginning, with an all-seeing Goat wizard able to help you, and later, the release of a goat butt that lets you see into the future.

(Granted, that is a mountain goat, not a true goat, but who's counting.)


The group was taking suggestions for other cards on Facebook recently, and I added a few caprine ideas. Who wants to bet if there will be more goaty magic to come?

Super-GOAT-Bowl!

Goats take over the Superbowl.

First off, in the Alternative Offering of Puppybowl, five goats served as the cheerleaders.

From Puppybowl Facebook

According to this article, "...four of the baby goats; Charlie, Murphy, Speckles and Sammy, were born and raised at Molasses Hill Farm here (in New Jersey). The other baby goat, Cookie, was born at the Guenther Farm, also in Clinton Township."

Then, the main reason people watch the actual game, as most people know, is for the commercials, and goats were to be had there as well:

Also, T Mobile's subteranian petting zoo:

 Anyone see any other goat sightings? Share them!

Are goats "havin' a moment"?

Goats are having a moment, at least according to one Washington Post article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/12/map-literally-every-goat-in-the-united-states/

We have know this for some time. It's nice to see someone else realize it as well!

The article also includes The Worlds Most Important Map (not really, because it only shows USDA recorded goats) and may be one of the first mainstream articles in recent memory to mention the cultural impact and relevance of goats. Cool! Keep it going into the Year of the Goat, people!  

Game of Thrones as sung by goats

Thanks to all who pointed me towards this! P.S. Please excuse the few sheep thrown in.

As an aside, has anyone else noticed an influx of goats lately? Goats online, goats in cartoons, goats in commercials. The goats are coming, people. Be ready.

UPDATE! Goat Simulator Arrives April 1!

In my last post, I noted that a video game created during a creative jam may or may not become available for public consumption....

GUESS WHAT?

"You Did It, Internet. Goat Simulator Is A Real Thing That You Can Buy." - via Kotaku




Now I will admit, and fully realize, this is not a PR coup.  It does not tell a very truthful story about Capra hircus. For instance:

- Goats do not survive when hit by cars. Do not, in real life, hit goats with cars.
- Goats do not survive long falls, even onto trampolines. Do not drop goats in real life, even onto trampolines.
- Goats do not  have tongues that stick to things like axes. Do not try to get your goat to lick an ax and carry it around.

So I guess as far as defeating goat stereotypes, this video game isn't going to score many points (I will say I didn't see the goat in the game eating any garbage.)

But then again, Jam City Rollergirls didn't depict roller derby with complete accuracy either.

And just look at how much fun this will be! People are really looking forward to it. At least, the Goatmaiden is!

Goat Video Game Becomes Reality??

Thanks to a tip, and Kotaku.com I am now aware of a goat simulation video game that may or may not be in production. Coffee Stain Studio posted to their Facebook timeline on 1/20/14 a game jam example video of "Goat Simulator" (warning: scenes of goat getting hit by car--don't worry, he's OK!) and asked people to share if they wanted to see it turned into a real game. Then recently they released this youtube video, echoing the preliminary images with even more goat goodness:


So check them out, and please share if you want Goat Simulator! (P.S. gotta work on his climbing skills.)

From http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

Most Metal Goat

I thought I had seen the best combo of goat+metal band possible with the Metallica Packer Goat. However, life has proven me wrong by introducing me to Biquette.

More from Metal Insider:

Grindcore fan that happened to be a goat passes away 

We see a lot of things come across our desks, but the goat in the front row of a Wormrot show that’s been kicking around the internet for a few years is one of the best images in metal. Now, thanks to the team over at Noisey, we not only know that the goat had a name, Biquette, but sadly, that Biquette is no longer with us, having passed away last month.

Raad the rest here:
http://www.metalinsider.net/in-memoriam/grindcore-fan-that-happened-to-be-a-goat-passes-away

Photo from Biquette's Facebook Page

A happy little tune for your Thursday!

According to Wikipedia, George Formby (5/26/1904-3/6/1961) was once Britain's top-paid entertainer. He usually played tunes on ukulele both on the stage and in film.

Goats + Coffee

Photo by Matt Bohlken

I received a text just the other day alerting me to the fact that there is a Goat Coffee House in Eau Clair, Wisconsin. They serve organic, fair trade coffee roasted in Duluth, MN.

There is also a Wild Goat Cafe in Kent, Ohio, The Goat Cafe in New Jersey, The Dancing Goat cafe in Vermont, The Giddy Goat in .... Australia! Nanny Goat's Cafe and Feed Bin was featured on a Restaurant Impossible episode in February 2013.

By the way, did you know that some people credit goats for discovering coffee? One version of the legend speaks of a herdsman in Ethiopia who led his goats to an outcropping where they dined on berries off the bushes that grew there. Soon he realized he had discovered something magical, as the goats got up on their hind legs and began to dance around! He had in fact found the coffee cherry tree (did you know coffee beans are sometimes called cherries when they are fresh? They are!)

Vote For Doritos Commercial: Goat 4 Sale!

There is a real chance to be a part of bringing a NEW GOAT COMMERCIAL to air during the Superbowl! Just go to https://apps.facebook.com/crashthesuperbowl/ (you have to be on Face Book to vote). You can vote once per day online and on your mobile.

One of the issues with bringing animals into pop culture is the inevitable mistakes that will be made by those who don't know or those that don't care, about accuracy. I (of course) do not want to support animal abuse, or people treating animals unkindly. Goats, I am sure, would eat Doritos (and McDonalds formerly-happy meals). But if they were allowed to eat them a lot, I'll bet they would get sick. So don't feed your goat food that goats aren't built to eat (mainly brush like tree branches, leaves, hay, grain etc.)

One of the reasons for the myth "Goats will eat anything" is because they will pretty much put anything in their mouths.  It's one of the ways they explore their surroundings.

https://apps.facebook.com/crashthesuperbowl/

Yule Goat

Goats love to surf

Goatee has a protoge - Pismo!

Read more here.

Goatee the Surfing Goat

The story is one told again and again. Surfing soccer-loving boy gets goat as a way to clear brush from his land. Boy, who used to live in Africa and has ties to http://www.flosoccerministry.com/ , planned to eat "Goatee" after she finished her duties, but, like many bitten buy the goat-bug (ew) found that the creature had such personality he couldn't help but fall in love. Well, not that kind of love (although the section of the video above does have a scene of them swinging tandem on a swing set, I am sure it's just platonic love).

Boy then, on his 33rd birthday, took the goat surfing and thought she did a good job. A video of him and Goatee appeared on a local tv station and soon went viral, being picked up all over the world.

Goatee is the mascot of Flo (forever loving others) Soccer Ministry, which spreads the love of Jesus through soccer. Something about soccer, and surfing, and goats... and Jesus I guess...they all inspire passionate embrace and soulful support that seems to go beyond the single entity. At least that's what I think. Think what you like - it's still cool to see a goat surf.

Sydney the Alpine Goat at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

I recently visited my favorite goat in the world at the world famous Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Sydney was an utter jerk when I worked with her back in 2000, when the Australian Adventure exhibit first opened. It was the first time I was around goats, and I soon learned to love her devious personality. She was the one who was always jumping out of the enclosure, munching on kid's strollers, and so on. She was one of the original animals in the contact yard (petting zoo).

She's getting on in years and seems to have mellowed. Still, she's awesome.

Sydney in her younger years

Goats in Pop Culture:Local Colour

As mentioned in my previous post, I am endeavoring to create more structure here at Goatmaiden.com while moving forward with certain plans and directions for the Museum and Hall of Fame. To that effect I am instigating a more prepared quality to my posts, as well as threads or themes I think will provide interesting content to the site. These will include Goat News, Goat Reviews (of goaty products), and posts based on themes such as Pop Culture, Farming, Competition, Veterinary etc.

Goats in Pop Culture:Local Colour




































Photo from Surreycomet.co.uk


The Goat Boy of Seething Wells in the Surbiton area of London was seen leading the Seething Festival Parade, held in his honor, on Sunday February 26, 2011. The legend was created it seems in 2010 and, as the story goes, a giant named Thamas Deeton was defeted by the goat boy Lefi Ganderson who freed his village from the tyrant. You can read the story or buy the book here: http://resourcehome.org/The_Legend_of_Lefi.html

Goat News: Well not really the post I wanted to start out with, but an escaped herd of 200-600 goats caused havoc and mayhem on an interstate highway on Saturday, February 26, 2011. Over 40 goats were killed, and at least one driver was hurt on I-5 in California near the Twin Cities Road exit ramp, according to a report in the Daily Mail. The goats appear to be brush or meat goats and aparently escaped from their farm Galt, Sacramento County through a broken fence.

Pearls Before Swine

A famous Goat shares time with me every Sunday as I read the comic "Pearls Before Swine." He goes by Goat, but Wikipedia says his real name is Paris. I feel a special kinship with this goat, since it also states in the same entry that Rat makes fun of him for having a blog no one reads. Ha!

Too Many Pancakes!

As a follow up to my post about Goats on the Roof of Al Johnston's restaurant, I will share a few photos of the actual restaurant.























Outside of the restaurant. It was stormy this day, and so there were no goats on the sod roof. Supposedly once a thunderclap scared a goat off the roof and he ran across the street and into Egg Harbor and Al Johnston had to take a boat out to him to get him back!













































Probably a good thing goats can't read.

I won't share the entire Kid's Placemat with you, because I want you to go an check it out yourself, but I will scan in a few cute coloring pictures to give you a taste! (Speaking of taste, do have the Swedish pancakes with lingonberry sauce and a side of meatballs when you go!)

Goatman

Oh yes. The cryptozoological world is afire with GOATMAN! Not really, but I found this on Wikipedia and had to post. Akin to Bunnyman, he attacks people with an ax. It is a real urban legend, based in Maryland.

Spokesgoats

Meet Hilda - from the book The Cole Family Christmas. Hilda is also the spokesgoat for ReadAloud.org.

I thought perhaps Hilda was the first spokesgoat, or the only one. But then I turned to the ol' internet, and lo and behold, look who I found!

































Gloria, the spokesgoat for Celebrity Dairy. Met her on Facebook. She's in an open relationship LOL.
















There is Gruff the ecologically friendly mountain goat that tells people to Recycle Stuff at Quad/Graphics.

Pricilla, Happy Goats Soap's spokesgoat. She's also a blogger. (Many goat farms have a "herd queen" that farmers use as their spokesgoat.)

Nanny, the spokesgoat for Rikki's Refuge animal rescue (who says Oreo Cookies are the best diet for goats).

Caprina, the spokesgoat (and new name) of the company formerly known as Canus.













Frank the goat on Livejournal (a mascot - not a spokesgoat.)

Goat Mascot for Store-brand Push Pops

Awesome to see someone at the brainstorming department at Food Club knows of the marketing power of goats. Yep. One of the main reasons I bought this pack was because of the crazy galoshes-wearing goat on the package. Doesn't hurt that push-pops are a great nostalgic summer treat. It was mainly the goat tho. Wonder if he has a name?