Goat committee spokeswoman Anna Ostman

And people make fun of Americans for falling for Borat.

that sounds awesome. It sounds like burning it down is as much a tradition as building. They should make it formal and have a Goat Burning holiday. Kind of like Guy Fawkes night or something.

You know this reminds me of the Israeli / Palestinian situation .
IF they stopped building the goat, it would stop being burnt.
damn sweeds are asking for it..

In 2005, it was torched by two arsonists dressed as Father Christmas and the Gingerbread Man.

That is AWESOME.

It is rare for a single story to completely capture the essence of fark.com. This is that story.

Thank you, Sweden.

So far this year, people from 105 countries have followed the goat via the webcams and many become really sad when they learn that he's burned down.

I rather doubt that.

Best. Tradition. Ever.

slobarnuts: In 2005, it was torched by two arsonists dressed as Father Christmas and the Gingerbread Man.

That is AWESOME.

That's the funniest thing I've heard all day.

Does anyone want to go for it next year?

Buxom lasses and encouraged arson? Sweden, you're all right.

slobarnuts: In 2005, it was torched by two arsonists dressed as Father Christmas and the Gingerbread Man.

That is AWESOME.

That's the funniest thing I've heard all day.

Does anyone want to go for it next year?

I'm in!

I seem to see a day when Burning Goat Sweden becomes as great a festival as Burning Man in Nevada. You just can't keep a good arsonfest down.

Reminded me of this:

"Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode."

That's an engineered tradition, but I like engineered traditions.

/sucker am I.

not2bright: Reminded me of this:

"Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode."

I came here for this.

Actually, I was looking for a pic of Dean Wormer to post, but you beat me to it.

Now that's a good tradition.

Well, they already are quite good at church burnings, it only makes sense goats would be next.

Now if only we could somehow get an outsider to climb INSIDE...

A thought springs to mind--never mind putting fireproof crud on the goat. Try not making it out of something as flammable as, say, STRAW. The ultimate in doing it wrong.

Zoinks!: It is rare for a single story to completely capture the essence of fark.com. This is that story.

I agree, even the actual headline is full of Farky goodness.

Festive goat up in flames again

Screw Burning Man, I'm going to Sweden.

FTFA:Goat committee spokeswoman Anna Ostman said she was saddened to learn that this year's unlucky creature had been set on fire early on Saturday morning.


Yeah, I lost it right there too. Humor, the British do it right.

/damn, Firefox flags "humour"

So if you get caught, only spend 18 days in swedish jail. I think I'm ok with that.

/guards are chicks?

FTA: "So far this year, people from 105 countries have followed the goat via the webcams and many become really sad LAUGH THEIR ASS OFF AND THINK IT WAS FINALLY WORTH FOLLOWING AN INANIMATE STRAW ANIMAL ON A WEBCAM when they learn that he's burned down."

FTFA (Anna)

TFA: 1979: The goat is burned down before it is finished

Wow. Sometimes they can't even get it finished. You really can't protect a giant goat?

ciocia: A thought springs to mind--never mind putting fireproof crud on the goat. Try not making it out of something as flammable as, say, STRAW. The ultimate in doing it wrong.

Julbock are a centuries-old tradition, and they're always made out of straw. That's kind of the point; they're a harvest symbol as well as a symbol for Christmas.

That's a fine way to get their goat.

FTFA:

1971: Tired of arson, the project is abandoned. Schoolchildren build a miniature. It is smashed to pieces.

Now THAT is humor my friends.

Cold1s

Screw Burning Man

Did you see Thunderpussy at Burning Goat? They were great!

See. we Americans are smarter about our giant effigies - we expect them to be burned so we do it ourselves.

BTW, here's a pic of the 2007 goat:



Maybe there'll be a Trojan Goat bit from the next Monty Python film.

eff ewe: Should have used bricks.

Oh, that worked well...

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15661/15661-h/images/g0060.jpg

1971: Tired of arson, the project is abandoned. Schoolchildren build a miniature. It is smashed to pieces.

I LOL'd. That is freaking hilarious. They can't even build a miniature one without it getting destroyed.

What do the arsonists have against the goat? Is there some kind of Santa Syndicate that I'm not aware of?

Oznog: Now if only we could somehow get an outsider to climb INSIDE...

Burning this goat won't bring back your farking honey!

Supernoma: I'm in!

Applying for my passport monday!

Really, I think 18 days in sweedish jail are worth the massive ammount of win involved. Maybe make a fark contest out of it: First farker to burn down the goat wins a lifetime TF membership. Whaddaya say, Drew?

I'm thinking thermite arrows are the only way to go. We fill a VW microbus with dudes dressed like vikings and they lay in with the arrows.

What are they supposed to do with it after the New Year? Tear it down? Or is there a special day where it's supposed to be destroyed?

The vandals are rarely caught, though in 2001 a 51-year-old American tourist spent 18 days in jail after being convicted of setting it alight.

Stay classy, America!

Goats have a special place in Swedish tradition. According to folklore, they delivered festive gifts before Father Christmas took over.

YHGTBFKM. You mean that the swedes had a "Billy the Christmas Goat"?? That deserves a bonghit.

/Forget the dwarf..hand me the pliers

Khazar-Khum - apparently no one has ever gotten that far...

Stay classy, America!

Well, in his defense, I seem to recall that he was convinced by a couple of locals in a bar that night that it was a Big Swedish Tradition to burn it up. American dude promptly, and very drunkenly, set it alight, I guess believing he was doing something authentically ethnic.

/ Used to work across the street
// Would always cheer when the julbocken got torched

Remember kids: Non-flammable is a challenge!

/seemed vaguely appropriate
//hotlinked - also seems appropriate

1971: Tired of arson, the project is abandoned. Schoolchildren build a miniature. It is smashed to pieces.

1973: Another goat built. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp.

When did the BBC turn into the Onion?

I have an idea. Build the goat with brick and mortar.

I'll setup a fund so that farkers can donate for a single use RPG launcher and plane tickets for blowing up the goat next year.

you all can watch from wrbcam and ill bring a cam with me to record the event and the getaway

Khazar-Khum: What are they supposed to do with it after the New Year?

No-one's found out yet.

Okay I'll be collecting donations until december next year

donate $1 or $100, I don't care, everybit helps. As long as I get enough for tickets Ill find a way to burn it. I'm open to suggestions

send donation to paypal closdil­i­a­mgc­o­m

Filterpwned

send paypal to

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GOATS THREAD

CygnusDarius: I have an idea. Build the goat with brick and mortar.

Thermite, dynamite and other fun things ending in -ite will get involved. You don't mess with a great tradition, that just makes the people behind all of this more creative in order to maintain tradition.

Similar story. Back where I grew up, a particular shed at a particular bus stop was frequently destroyed by vandals. So they erected one made from solid timbers of wood, which only meant that the vandals lit up a huge-ass fire inside of it, burning it down. The next solution was an aluminum shed, which was taken down with a hacksaw. Metal? Same fate.

The end result?



This is a couple of tons worth of a scoop from one of the loaders from a nearby mine. It sits on top of a base made from reinforced concrete, and there's just about only a millimeter worth of opening between the base and the scoop anywhere. The scoop itself doesn't just sit there, it's fixed by means of a couple of feet worth of steel welded to it's base, and then integrated into the base.

According to one of the engineers who helped design this thing, it will take nothing short of TNT to destroy this thing, and in order to actually blow the scoop of its base, it would require enough TNT to also displace quite a few windows in nearby houses and businesses. The best people can hope to achieve, is to set a series of charges and blow out the base, having the thing tilt forwards. And that's about an afternoon's worth of work to fix again.

My point?

A julbock weighing in at a couple of tons, cast in iron, might just work. But it would have to be properly secured, unless someone would get creative with a crane and a truck.