When I can't sleep, if I try counting sheep jumping over a fence, my brain sometimes acts like a toddler who will try anything to avoid going to bed. The first three or so sheep jump the fence just like they're supposed to, but by the fourth or fifth sheep, they've begun to get creative in their fence-crossing. For example:
The 4th sheep pole vaults over the fence. The 5th sheep crawls under. The 6th brings his own ladder to cross. The 7th somersaults across. The 8th is too fat to jump, so two other sheep boost him over. The 9th pops like popcorn. The 10th-20th fly over in a "V" formation like Canada Geese. The 21st empties a bucket to form a pool beneath the fence, then swims under.
etc., etc...
I can promise you from frustrated experience that there are LOTS of possibilities.
Anyway, my suggestion is that this could make an interesting screen saver. I know screen savers are traditionally supposed to be small in size, and this would at least take a larger-than-usual amount of hard drive space, but I think it would at least be entertaining.
p.s. Thanks to blahginger, whose "Windshield Screensaver idea reminded me of this.-- beauxeault, Oct 23 2000 A sheep-counting screensaver http://www.screensa...ssheaven/s0038.htmlThis screen saver has jumping sheep, but I believe they're all the same. I wish I could install this screeen saver in my head for when I can't sleep. [beauxeault, Oct 23 2000, last modified Oct 17 2004] bit of a laugh http://www.sheepgame.co.ukbe a virtual shepherd [po, Oct 23 2000, last modified Oct 17 2004] I like this...Might be cooler to have it randomly do different things, like every 10th sheep or so...-- StarChaser, Oct 24 2000 Try knuckling your eyeballs really hard. With a little practice you can make those sparkly random colors take almost any form. a shift of your eyeballls and they start moving. When I was a kid, I used to go flying over hills and valleys patterned like linoleum... I know, I know...-- DragonMother, Dec 20 2000 I'm glad I'm not the only one who can see those tesselation-covered undulations when I rub my eyes. Have you noticed that you can do it for as long as you like, but as soon as you stop you can't do it again for a while? I'd give anything to know what causes those effects.-- centauri, Dec 20 2000 ha ha ha ha that is pleasant-- HighSchoolMan, Sep 13 2001 Sheep 22 gets stuck on the way over, so a farmer comes along and "helps it over." Sheep 23 isn't actually a sheep, it's a Mountain Yeti. Also, at random times, a sheep jumps the fence and is plowed by a mack truck.-- AfroAssault, Sep 15 2001 ... or spontaneously explodes?-- jabbers, Sep 15 2001 beauxeault, You have a lovely imagination.-- March Hare, Sep 15 2001 Yes! Geez, where's my mind been...-- AfroAssault, Sep 16 2001 What about black sheep?-- thumbwax, Sep 16 2001 Sheep 24 is asked to please step over here for a second for bomb-sniffing and search with a metal detector before being let through.
Sheep 25 passes through the fence to ghostly theremin notes.
Sheep 26 runs against the fence over and over again, until the fence buckles.
Sheep 27 pulls out a remote control that lets part of the fence rise up like a garage door before it steps through.
(This could be an extensible open source screen saver. You create the basic sheep characters and scenery in an animation tool and give them to developers for free, and have installations download new sheep segments from a central database. A small text field at the bottom displays the animator's name and affiliation; no other text is allowed. Financed with sheep advertising: "sheep absolut" - a sheep that pours itself through the fence; "matrix"-style stop-and-spin effects when the second movie comes out; nike sheep that dribbles and jumps, ...)-- jutta, Sep 21 2001 Jutta I love the idea that these sheep can run about free in a small text field - theres lovely-- po, Sep 21 2001 Sheep 28 performs the world record for fence jumping in a monster truck ( 25 fences )-- kaz, Sep 22 2001 <laughs at Jutta's annotation> I love it...I wish I could program so I could do something like this...
Have the Nike sheep pass a basketball back and forth over a fence with lots of squeaking sounds...-- StarChaser, Sep 22 2001 There could be a sheep that uses a pogo stick to get across, or even a dancing sheep (i.e. disco, polka, or waltz)-- zsheepy, Sep 03 2002 Great link, [po]. I went ahead and closed the game before I got addicted to it, much like I am addicted to the halfbakery.-- BinaryCookies, Sep 04 2002 ,_ _@˜˜) { } { } ƒ¯ TT T T-- thumbwax, Sep 04 2002 Sheep 29 ngoes "beam me up scotty" and transceves over the fence heh Star Trek stile-- FireBath, Oct 14 2003 random, halfbakery