Paul.......my latest fascination.

Mindian · Jul 10, 2010

By now you are all well aware of my eccentric tastes. I first realized it when I exclaimed “ohhh soooo cute!” while watching “Krissh”, and my friend acknowledged with a sigh, “yeah, tell me about it...Hrithik is really a gorgeous hunk!”, and I interrupted her with “hey, what Hrithik? I was talking about jadhoo”.

Her look said it all...she had just labelled me off as a weirdo.

So I continue to be one!!! As is prevalent in most of the houses now, the football fever is at its frenzied peak in our house too. My daughter drools over Cristiano Ronaldo (her “poor thing mamma, he is so sweet …do you know he is taking custody of the son he has fathered and is going to take care of him with his mom’s and sister’s help” is supposed to tug at my heart strings, but only earns an absent minded nod from me). My hubby goes gaga over magical Messi(ah). But weirdo me, is absolutely fascinated with Paul, the eight legged mystic. I have always been one for the Brains rather than the Brawns. And this cephalopod, besides belonging to a genetically intelligent and quick-to-learn species, also seems to be an avid football forecaster. So while rest of the family wakes up to midnight matches, compares the points tally and goals, and talks about who is in form I am blissfully occupied in catching up with what’s happening to dear Paul.

Octopus Paul, the Oracle of Oberhausen, has given 100 per cent accurate predictions for the 2010 World Cup and thereby gained worldwide celebrity status...this four year old tentacled creature is every gambler’s envy, is the most-Googled-about news item, and among the top ten trends on Twitter. Paul's fame has earned him his own Facebook page, in addition to calls from some countries to lend them his special powers.

He has now predicted third place for Germany, as well as Spain’s victory over the Dutch in the finals. But like human beings who talk too much, only to find themselves in trouble, poor Paul too literally finds himself in hot ‘butter’ for this prediction. After predicting that Germany would lose to Spain, most Germans now want him fried in garlic butter. Ohhh, isn’t that mean? Now that Paul has opted for Germany to beat Uruguay in the third-place play-off, Uruguay coach Tabarez says he wants to teach both Germany and its "octopus" a lesson by beating them.

‘Paul should simply apply for express immigration to Spain’, says a Facebook entry …no doubt, a fan like me. I totally support the petition to the United Nations for his freedom.

How does it work? He is put in a tank in the aquarium with the flags of the opposing countries in transparent boxes containing mussels. Whichever box he rips open first is declared the winner. Now what could be the secret? Is it the colour of the titbit or the colour of the flags? Are the mussels in one box more aromatic than the mussels in the other? Isn’t it totally intriguing?I would love to hear your guesses.

I am not at all a soccer fan, but I’m dying to know if Paul comes out as a winner. The probability of all his predictions coming true is 1/256. Isn’t that amazing?
People may talk of David Villa and his goal scoring antics, or Wesley Sniejder’s magic touch in every game but I, for one, will always remember this FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa as the tournament of Paul…..the Octopus.

Facts courtesy of Google.

Padmasrinivas · Jul 10, 2010

Hi Mindi,

Oooh! a real cool one from you on the topic of the moment...

Octopus magic... hmmm, let's see if this one comes true, your guess is as good as mine!

Jokes apart, everyone at home was rooting for Germany and quite disappointed when they ran themselves out of the reckoning...

Sunday will reveal all... Abracadabra! if Holland casts a magic spell, they may well have Paul on the wrong foot...what is it they say about probability, Bernoulli and the law of averages???

:drowning (That's me!) Hope I did not put my foot in the mouth! :hide:

Good one, Mindi!thumbsup

Cheers!

Padma

PS: The first fb comes from me! How about that!?

suria · Jul 10, 2010

yr rite minda!!! :thumbsupnow paul is the hot topic of the town..!!
but poor thing their firing on him for his predictions(ofcorse the team which he predicted will lose nu:crazy:crazy)

And for those who wants to have a look of paul..here you go:cheers

Arunarc · Jul 10, 2010

Dear Mindi
Just today we were discussing on this myself and my DS who is here on holidays na.
About this octopus it really sounds funny isn't it.
Reading the title i was wondering which Paul you are behind this time....hahahaha
Great post Mindi even I don't like the game so much.
As today when we went out to supermarket I saw this clip everywhere on the TV these people are playing here, Egyptians are all fans of soccer players.

sublakshmi · Jul 10, 2010

Hi Minda,

True as u said I too will remember World cup 2010 in the name of Paul. My whole family is eagarly waiting to the results so that poor octopus predictions come true. As twitter says let him have the passport to spain if they win.

Kamalji · Jul 10, 2010

Dear Mindi,

HAHA.and u know what i would like to do to Paul ? Fry and eat him.HAHA

Well i was off the papers for a week, so i dont know much about this octopus, but what u say amazes me no end eh !

This time i feel Holland will win and priove Paul wrong, i have a gut feeling, Spain is hyped.

Great one, full of humour, really loved reading it.

REgards

kamal

Cheeniya · Jul 10, 2010

My dear Mindi
You can strike me down with a feather! Only this morning when I got up from my bed, I told myself ‘Enough is enough! If Mindi is not going to write about Paul by the nightfall, I’ll write it myself!’ You have proved yourself as clairvoyant as Paul, the Octopus and you have beaten me to it.

Let us skip your opening lines about Hrithik the Hunk and all that for you can’t expect a man to show any interest in hunks! Coming to Ronaldo, you can’t expect sweet guys scoring any winning goals for his team. It’s a man’s game. No wonder he is destined to babysit his son with his mother and sister. Messi probably lost his magic wand and he was in total mess this time. With all our heroes disappointing us, the international focus shifted to Paul, the Great. You have done the right thing calling him a mystic. But that ‘eight-legged’ was a bit unwarranted. It kind of sounds a bit contemptuous.

Today Paul is better known than most of the two-legged animals of the world! I am only feeling sad that this sudden infatuation for Paul has thrown the gentle, polite, big hearted and ever smiling Oswald to the side line. You are talking about the cruel Germans who want him fried in butter for having predicted their downfall in the semis. But are we less cruel? This gentle guy Oswal has been entertaining us for almost a decade and we hardly utter a word about him. Fluke is the weapon of Paul for his success but Oswald like Rajani Kanth had to grind his way up to the celebrity status.

All this fickle-mindedness of humans makes me awfully sad. They elevate you to the sky one day and dump you in the gutter next day. I am not able to fix my mind on the question you are raising about the rationale behind Paul’s soothsaying ability. I am more concerned with his safety. I am told that some kinky German billionaires are waiting to bid for him to marinate him in a hundred year old wine. This, they say, may serve as a strict warning to any octopus aspiring to become a Nostradamus!
Sri

meenasankaran · Jul 10, 2010

Mindi,

Awesome post. :thumbsup

I beat Kamalji nice and square in that I have been off papers and news for more than a decade now. Ha ha.....:rotfl

Would you believe me if I say that I hang my head in shame at having to ask "Why, in the name of great god ganapathy, is the world counting on the predictions of an Octopus for the outcome of soccer games?" :bonk:bonk

Next time I am at a social gathering, I won't have to cower and hide in fear of exposing my ignorance among my friends. Thanks to you, I will go armed with Paul, the Octopus and his fortunes and misfortunes in life. Can't wait to see all those mouths hanging open in disbelief.

swarnalata.N.S. · Jul 10, 2010

Paul, Paul everywhere. He is in Page -3 also and making Paris Hilton green I think.
Some people want to worship him, some people want to make him into kabab. And now he has his own Security Guards .
So Paul is Superstar . Or, we should say, everybody made Paul a superstar. I feel so much for poor Mani, the parrot in Singapore. He also picked winners. But he has only a tiny, ugly cage and peanuts , no security or press meets.

See what a wicked world ! For same talent, one is made worldwide famous, the other one sits on the roadside!
:spin

Mythily · Jul 10, 2010

I'm also wondering on his predictions for the last few days....bugging DH on how he gets it right all the times....he is so famous that when i read the name Paul nobody comes to my mind except this octie...