LiveJournal is down again...
Oct. 11th, 2011 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capri0mniETA-- second attempt to cross-post this, 'cause y'know, LJ was down...
You know what I hate most about LiveJournal error messages? The mascot, "Frank's," face. It was obviously intended to be cute... but it's just creepy as Hell. It was obviously drawn by someone who's never even looked at a real goat, and has no interest in doing so.
They've given a something with a vaguely goat-shaped head and horns a dog's shiny black nose, and forward-facing, bright yellow human eyes, complete with human eye muscles that crinkle the eyes at the corners when showing emotion.
A real goat's eyes, of course, are on the sides of their heads (like deer, horses, sheep, cows, and all the other herding prey animals) And, and they have horizontal, almost rectangular pupils, and the irises are yellow at about the same shade as a cat's eyes are yellow -- not the day-glow safety yellow some idiot decided to stick on "Frank."
Compare the cartoon of Frank with this photo of a real goat: Billy the Kid (photo of a buff and white, bearded, goat with dark gray/black horns, wearing a blue collar). Now, if an image like that popped up, I might actually be amused and/or reassured. And, yes, I do believe that goat is actually smiling at the camera; I had two goats as pets when I was a tween-teen, and they were the only mammal I've encountered other than humans that would actually turn and laugh at you -- the corners of their mouths would curl back just slightly, they'd open their mouths and pant "heh, heh, heh!" There's a reason goats are often the totem animals of trickster gods.
You know what I hate most about LiveJournal error messages? The mascot, "Frank's," face. It was obviously intended to be cute... but it's just creepy as Hell. It was obviously drawn by someone who's never even looked at a real goat, and has no interest in doing so.
They've given a something with a vaguely goat-shaped head and horns a dog's shiny black nose, and forward-facing, bright yellow human eyes, complete with human eye muscles that crinkle the eyes at the corners when showing emotion.
A real goat's eyes, of course, are on the sides of their heads (like deer, horses, sheep, cows, and all the other herding prey animals) And, and they have horizontal, almost rectangular pupils, and the irises are yellow at about the same shade as a cat's eyes are yellow -- not the day-glow safety yellow some idiot decided to stick on "Frank."
Compare the cartoon of Frank with this photo of a real goat: Billy the Kid (photo of a buff and white, bearded, goat with dark gray/black horns, wearing a blue collar). Now, if an image like that popped up, I might actually be amused and/or reassured. And, yes, I do believe that goat is actually smiling at the camera; I had two goats as pets when I was a tween-teen, and they were the only mammal I've encountered other than humans that would actually turn and laugh at you -- the corners of their mouths would curl back just slightly, they'd open their mouths and pant "heh, heh, heh!" There's a reason goats are often the totem animals of trickster gods.
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Date: 2011-10-11 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-11 08:39 pm (UTC)I put this version of Frank in the same folder with phrase "your livejournal experience" and those damned ONTD communities (why LJ pushes comms with the sole purpose of bullying and shaming people just 'cause they're celebreties)?
In short, everything about LJ that's now icky.
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Date: 2011-10-12 05:06 pm (UTC)Also: and now I understand the connection between goats and tricksters! I have very little experience with farm animals, so I appreciate that.
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Date: 2011-10-12 06:34 pm (UTC)I think what makes "Frank" so icky is -- actually -- I don't know. I want to say "Carelessness" with which it was made, but for all I know it was very deliberately crafted.
The thing is, most out-and-out monsters are fun because they're an expression of the imagination. But the LJ goat is too much "Creepy Valley" -- the vaguely-but-not-quite human eyes, the ears and nose that can't decide whether they belong on a dog or a goat, etc. It's almost like text that gives you a headache because it's printed slightly out of focus, and no amount of squinting will clarify things.
Goats are great fun -- much more independent than sheep, and much more active. The does as well as the bucks have horns (unless they're surgically removed, shortly after birth), and they always enjoy butting games even into adulthood. They do not eat tin cans -- but they love paper (The Pringles[tm] of goats), and seem to have a knack for eating those bits of paper humans deem most important; seeing us running around waving our arms in the air is what usually brought on the laughing.
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Date: 2011-10-12 06:58 pm (UTC)And now I need goats in my novels. This reaction is usually the end result of someone telling me new, fascinating things about a certain animal.
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Date: 2011-10-12 08:37 pm (UTC)Here's a video (1:23) that does a good job of displaying a goat's personality (as much as any species can be painted with a single, broad, personality stroke: When goats attack. The line in the info section is: "Shauna being mauled by goats." But the little kids are just jumping and climbing on everything in their space, and their mother comes over to check out what the newcomer human is making such a noisy fuss about. It's clear she's more curious than angry.
Oh, and a goat's favorite scritch spot is that place just behind and between the horns (or horn buds).
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Date: 2011-10-12 09:16 pm (UTC)I'm surprised, by the by, that anyone would take this behavior as anything but curious and playful.
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Date: 2011-10-12 09:31 pm (UTC)You have a lot of outdoor space with things to Climb On (where rock piles are missing, the family car will do. And the family car will do even with rock piles). And places to Run.
You really don't care about having a Prize Garden (goats are browsers of shrubbery, rather than grazers of grass, and any children's book that has a picture of goats with flowers on the same page is Doing it Wrong).
You have time and energy to keep up and play with a trickster in the family. Goats need companionship and attention just as much as dogs do (their poop is a lot cleaner though -- about the size and moisture content of raisins -- and makes fantastic compost)
PS: And as for Shauna... I don't know. But some humans are simply other-species phobic
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Date: 2011-10-12 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-13 06:50 pm (UTC)