Octopus Paul

What does the future hold for Paul the psychic octopus?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:16:00 +0000

London, England -- The owner of Paul the psychic octopus said Monday it was considering several offers of work following the animal's stunning success at correctly predicting the results of eight World Cup matches.

Sea Life, which operates 32 aquariums across Europe, said it hoped to make an announcement on Tuesday about Paul's future. However spokesman Mark Oakley stressed that the mystic mollusc would certainly be staying in his tank in Germany.

"We've been inundated with offers -- from a betting conglomerate that wants to use him to predict sporting events to a Japanese fortune telling company that wants to use his image on the sides of booths," Oakley told CNN. "There have also been many offers from media worldwide for Paul's lifestory.

"We'll be holding a meeting to discuss the offers and hope to make an announcement on Tuesday morning. The priority though is to guarantee that Paul does not suffer, and he won't be leaving his tank at Oberhausen. There's no intention of moving him."

The two-year-old octopus, who was born in England, has begun to enjoy the spotlight during the tournament, Oakley said. "Paul's become a global celebrity. He's not been shy about making predictions but success hasn't changed him."

Paul predicted Spain would win Sunday's final against the Netherlands and that Germany would beat Uruguay in the playoffs.

Before that he correctly predicted the winners in all six of the German national team's matches.

During each prediction, two mussel-filled acrylic boxes labeled with a team's flag are lowered into his tank. Whichever box he chose conveyed the winning team.

The eight-tentacled oracle was relatively consistent, plopping himself over the German box in his first few predictions.

But he drew cries of despair from assembled watchers before the semifinal round, when he lingered over the box for the German flag before opting for the Spanish flag instead. Spain won the match 1-0.

Bitter German fans later threatened to turn him into sushi and Sea Life in Oberhausen received death-threat emails saying "we want Paul for the pan," said entertainment supervisor Daniel Fey.

But after Spain's triumph in Sunday's final the country's Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero called for octopus bodyguards.

Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian also called for the creature to be given an "immediate" free transfer to Spain to "ensure his protection," according to Agence France-Presse.

Paul The Octopus Tipster Gives Bookies More Reason To Cheer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:08:00 +0000

The news that Paul The Octopus has retired is music to the ears of bookmakers William Hill.

"Picking all seven outcomes of Germany's games as well as the outcome of the World Cup final is quite some feat." said William Hill's spokeman, Joe Crilly.

"We are thankful that Paul has now retired and will happily give him a few squid towards a retirement aquarium to keep him that way. He has emerged as the star of the World Cup and retiring at his peak will ensure that he goes down in history as a legend."

The octopus's eight winning selections have helped superstitious punters to collect half a million from bookmakers coffers and anyone who bet £10 on each of the outcomes will have scooped £89.95 each while those who rolled their money over onto the next outcome ended up with £1623.34.

If you fancy placing a bet on what will happen next to Paul the Octopus then William Hill have these interesting flutters on offer:

5/1 - Paul to get a tipster column in a British national newspaper
50/1 - Paul to be released into the willd
100/1 - Kidnapped by distraught German fans
250/1 - Eaten by the German team on return from the World Cup
500/1 - King Juan Carlos to confer Spain's highest honour, the Order of the Golden Fleece, on Paul the Octopus

Spain celebrates World Cup win; Dutch blame Paul the Octopus

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:13:00 +0000

As fans of Spain luxuriate in the glow of the country's first World Cup championship, fans of the Netherlands search for an explanation of what went wrong. Some blame the referee, others point to Paul the Octopus.

Spain's captain Iker Casillas (R) next to Spain's coach Vicente del Bosque lifts the World Cup trophy after arriving at Madrid's Barajas airport July 12. Spain stunned the Netherlands to win their first World Cup on Sunday in sensational fashion with a goal in the last minutes of extra time.

Johannesburg, South Africa

Rafael Ramos traveled here from the Spanish capital of Madrid to watch his team, Spain's "Red Fury," win the World Cup. One doesn’t travel thousands of miles to watch one’s team lose. But when victory finally came, with a goal in the 116th minute by Spanish midfielder Andrés Iniesta, Mr. Ramos still couldn’t quite believe his team had actually won.

"It is like I'm dreaming. I can't believe this,” said Ramos at an outdoor fan park in the Johannesburg suburb of Sandton. “It is a moment of great pride. I think we played well and deserved to win. I'm going to party until tomorrow morning. This is fantastic. I have got a friend who stays here in Johannesburg and he has promised me a big barbeque tomorrow."

In a country where the larger portion of white South Africans – and even a fair number of black South Africans – trace their ancestry to the Netherlands, Spanish fans have been very much the minority. A sea of Oranje supporters, clad in orange suits, orange wigs, and among the more daring, clingy orange mini-dresses seemed to be on the ascendant before the game.

But it was Spanish fans who left Soweto’s Soccer City stadium jubilant and triumphant, driving up and down Johannesburg’s major roadways waving flags, honking car horns and blowing vuvuzelas, and celebrating deep into the night, while the Dutch went into an orange funk.

Paul The Octopus Tops In World Cup Search Trends Too

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:41:00 +0000

In the past two weeks of World Cup action, 16 teams had been narrowed down to just two—Spain and the Netherlands—who had faced off in the World Cup final yesterday where Spain took the title home for the first time. Google took another look at the search data to see what people have been interested in during the round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals.

Some matches, of course, were more interesting to people than others—whether they were eagerly anticipated or just more nail-biting during play. Brazil, chosen as the champion in many an office pool, lost to the Netherlands in a quarterfinal upset. Perhaps it’s indicative of people’s disappointment in that match that Felipe Melo, who gave up an own goal and then was shown a red card in the 73rd minute with his country down 2-1, was more searched-for than Robinho, who made Brazil’s one goal in the match. Another favored South American team, Argentina, also lost in the quarterfinals, to Germany. It’s interesting to note that searches for that team’s two biggest names, Lionel Messi and coach Diego Maradona, have spiked in popularity with each match—and the player was usually more interesting to people than the coach. But over time—and after Messi’s skills failed to carry his team to the semis—Maradona overtook Messi in search volume. Clearly, his fate as Argentina coach in the future is more up for debate than Messi’s career (after all, the latter has a comfy year-round spot on FC Barcelona).

Controversy continued to be a major driver of search traffic. On June 27, Argentina’s first goal in their victorious match against Mexico, a Carlos Tévez header, was widely considered offsides (and therefore should have been disallowed). That same day, Germany beat England 4-1, although many say it should have been 4-2 thanks to a Frank Lampard goal that just barely made it into the net but wasn’t counted. Both of these calls brought the issue of instant replay to the forefront in an already controversial tournament.

Perhaps the most surprisingly exciting game was the quarterfinal match between Uruguay and Ghana. Ghana had several shots on goal in the last minutes of extra time, with the game tied 1-1. Uruguay’s Luis Suárez saved his team from a near-certain loss with a handball that earned him a red card (and increased search traffic). Uruguay went on to win in penalty kicks, and became the only South American country to make the semifinals. Searches for [penalty kick] were at their highest on the day of this game—they had also spiked on June 26, when USA’s Landon Donovan scored on a penalty kick against Ghana, and on June 29, the day of another quarterfinal match (between Japan and Paraguay) that also ended in penalty kicks.

Many fans, eager for semifinal predictions, turned to an unlikely source: a “psychic” octopus in a German zoo. Paul the octopus had successfully predicted the winner of each of his home country’s matches by selecting a tasty mussel from either side of a box marked by both teams’ flags. The day before Germany faced Spain in the semifinals, he chose the Spanish mussel—and searches for [octopus] skyrocketed. (Incidentally, his prediction for title winner came true as the new world champion Spain.) Searches were also high for Carles Puyol, the Spanish defender whose header won the match against Germany. Historically, he’s been one of the least searched-for Spaniards—and he continues to be behind stars like David Villa and Fernando Torres—but search volume for him in July is already more than five times as high as in June.

Villa still dominates search traffic amongst the Spanish players, and no wonder: he’s scored five of his team’s seven goals in the tournament and is a contender for the Golden Boot. Searches for Dutch players are a bit more distributed than for Spanish ones. Arjen Robben, who started the tournament in the spotlight in part due to injury, still has the most search volume overall, but Wesley Sneijder has caught up as the tournament’s gone on. Searches for him were higher than for Robben on June 19, when he scored his first goal in the tournament against Japan, and on July 2, when he scored both goals in the match against favored Brazil. Now Sneijder, like Villa, has five goals in six matches and is a front-runner for the Golden Boot. Clearly he’s been a surprise factor in this World Cup for many, including searchers!

Paddy Power appoints Paddy the Octopus (Cousin of Paul Oktopus)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:56:00 +0000

Paddy Power plc today announced the appointment of Paddy the Psychic Octopus to their senior management team.

Paddy is a first cousin of Paul Oktopus who recently shot to international fame when he correctly predicted all of Germany’s World Cup results. Paddy will be responsible for predicting the outcome of major sporting events for the bookmaking chain from his office at the National Sea Life Centre in Bray, Co Wicklow.

Paddy is expected to arrive in Ireland before the end of July and will undergo a period of “psychic tuning” before being beginning his role with Paddy Power. It is hoped that Paddy’s first predictions will be around the forthcoming GAA All Ireland Finals and Ryder Cup.

Pat Ó Súilleabháin, director of the National Sea Life Centre in Bray said “We’ve had our eye on Paddy for some time now and we’re delighted that he’ll soon be joining us in Bray. As a full cousin to Paul he has already exhibited an exciting degree of psychic awareness and we’re confident that we can develop his ability to a level similar, of perhaps even greater, than his cousin”

Paddy Power said “Paul the Psychic Octopus cost us a king’s ransom during the World Cup so it really was a no-brainer to get Paddy on the payroll”

To celebrate Paddy’s imminent arrival, top tailor Louis Copeland created a one-off 8- tentacled sweater for Paddy the octopus who is used to the warmer waters of his native Mediterranean.

Louis Copeland said “I’ve fitted out everyone from Bill Clinton and Pierce Brosnan to Ronan Keating and Bertie Ahern but Paddy the Psychic Octopus is the icing on the cake. The eight tentacled design presented a unique challenge but I’m very happy with the final product”

Paddy the Psychic Octopus will be on public display in the National Sea Life Centre in Bray, Co Dublin from September and his sports predictions will be webcast live from the Paddy Power website.

Paul the Octopus Likely to Retire After the 2010 World Cup

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:47:00 +0000

As we have reached the final of the 2010 World Cup and Paul the Octopus still has a clean track record of predicting Germany’s matches the well known octopus reached a new level of fame this week as he got his own page on Wikipedia.

On the Wikipedia page of Paul the Octopus we get to learn a whole bunch of stuff that we didn’t know before (maybe you knew, but we didn’t).

Here are some facts about Paul the Octopus that you probably didn’t know:

Paul the Octopus was born in 2008 at the Sea Life Center in Weymouth, England.

Paul is named after the children’s book “Der Tintenfisch Paul Oktopus” by Boy Lornsen.

Since 2008 Paul have predicted a total of 12 games, 10 out of these has been correct.

Paul’s species is called “Octopus vulgaris”.

An “Octopus vulgaris” usually lives for about three years.

I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about Paul the Octopus and that you have learned something new.

Since the Paul the Octopus is of the species “Octopus vulgaris” which only lives for about three years it is very likely that the predictions for the 2010 World Cup will be his last. It will be interesting to see if the people over at Sea Life Aquarium are going to try to get another octopus to take over the predictions after Paul retires or if they will just give up on the idea to prove that Paul is as special as they say he is.

Betting Sites and Psychic Octopuses

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:34:00 +0000

Betting sites have an estimated market of a milliard Euros per year, so there’s a war going out on the cyberspace. And it is possible to bet on anything. A young 24 years old French, who decided to keep his identity secretly said “I started to visit betting shops one year ago, I like football and cycling. I first visited them along with a friend who also likes bikes”.

Due to the Word cup and the “Tour de France”, betting shops had more work to cope with. Many of the regular costumers will restrain their betting behavior for the weekend, but having more interesting games going on, betting sites have been constantly visited.

In this hectic atmosphere, we can not stop thinking about the psychic octopus that became famous during World Cup, “Paul the Soccer Octopus”. He has its own profile at Facebook and his predictions have been very accurate. The odds of his choices been merely coincidences are low (1 in 64).

When Paul predicted Argentina’s defeat against Germany, some Argentinean octopus recipes were published over the internet. Oliver Walenciak (Paul’s keeper) energetically said “There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive.”

Things became a bit more complicated to our eight-limbed friend when he predicted Spain’s victory over Germany. Germans who used to support and love Paul were now claiming Paul’s tentacles to be fried. As a matter of fact, Spanish prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said on a radio show: “I am concerned for the octopus … I am thinking of sending him a protective team.”

Do you have players? We can handle them for you.

Paul’s latest predictions were broadcasted live in Germany, Spain and Netherlands last Friday. Local networks even interrupted their normal progammes in order to show Paul’s World Cup Champion. Despite repeated threats to his life, he chose Spain.

As a matter of fact, betting sites have experienced the “octopus factor”. After Paul’s vaticination, bets for Spain increased on a 10%.

There even were odds on Paul itself. Betting sites posted odds of -110 for the Final game of the World cup. Will Paul’s choice be correct?

So, now that the World Cup is over and we know who the World Champion is. We can sit down and relax and so could do Paul, at least for a while. It’s up to us to decide if next time we believe in him or not.

SPAIN WINS Thanks to INIESTA and the PSYCHIC OCTOPUS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:23:00 +0000

UPDATED at 9:45 PM ET: Spain has won its first World Cup Trophy – thanks to its midfielder number 6 Iniesta and Paul the psychic octopus who gave them a moral and spiritual kinda head-start by predicting they would win.

The Spaniards beat the Netherlands 1-0 during the end of the second extra time.

The defeat was heartbreaking for the Dutch, who were down to 10 men after John Heitinga was red-carded and sent off with 10 minutes remaining in the extra time. Heitinga was hauling down Iniesta on the edge of the box. Ironically it was Iniesta who later scored the only goal – the winning one – in the game.

For the Dutch, it was their third World Cup final loss after 1974 and 1978. But for Spain the world cup trophy is the first in their history.

Spain is already the European champions. Thanks to Paul – the sea creature – and of course to Iniesta the number 6 midfielder, the Spaniards now hold both titles – the European and the World.

The Spaniards can now name the octopus Pablo and bring them home to Spain from Germany where he is housed in a museum. They owe it to the sea creature and to all those who believed Paul was right!

Paul now maintains his 100 per cent World Cup success rate after correctly predicting Spain would beat Holland in the final.

Here’s Paul aka Pablo:

The Telegraph UK has the following to report on Paul also now known as Pablo:

(Paul’s) His unblemished record, confirmed by Spain’s 1-0 win, came after correctly predicting the result of all six matches involving Germany in the tournament.

Bookmakers said his German keepers could have won £6,000 had they bet on all his predictions with an original £20 wager – the cost of feeding him for a week.

Dorset-born Paul, who now lives at Sea Life Oberhausen, an aquarium in western Germany, eats £20 of shrimps, mussels and fish every week.

World Cup final: 100 per cent for Paul the psychic octopus

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:09:00 +0000

Paul the psychic octopus maintained his 100 per cent World Cup success rate by correctly predicting Spain’s victory over the Netherlands in the final.

The mystic mollusc confirmed his flawless accuracy after Spain lifted the trophy, beating Holland 1-0.

Paul has become England’s only hero of the tournament after accurately foretelling the result of all six matches involving Germany.

The Dorset-born soothsayer also won privileged status in Spain after he predicted that its footballers would defeat the Dutch at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday night.

Even the Spanish Prime Minsiter Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero expressed his affection for the creature after his prediction was announced on Friday.

"I am concerned for the octopus. I am thinking of sending him a protective team," Zapatero said.

Elena Espinosa, the Spanish environment and fisheries minister also swore to protect Paul.

"On Monday, I shall be at the European Council of Ministers and I shall be asking for a [fishing] ban on Paul the octopus so the Germans do not eat him," Espinosa said.

Paul’s call looked to be in doubt as the game was still goalless after 90 minutes and there was still no clear winner with only four minutes of extra time remaining.

However, with Holland down to 10 men, Andres Iniesta took the Spaniards into the lead with a devastating shot from the edge of the box.

Moments later, Spain was celebrating taking it first ever World Cup title.

Paul, a common octopus, has astounded the world of football with his forecasts, so much so that people have began betting on them rather than the outcomes of the matches themselves.

He was born at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth but developed his soothsaying skills after being transferred to Sea Life Oberhausen, an aquarium in western Germany.

Keepers devised a dinnertime game in which he was offered the choice of two glass boxes containing a mussel.

During the Euro 2008 football championships, flags of the competing sides were placed on the containers and it was noted that on almost every occasion, the team that Paul’s tentacle touched first went on to win their match.

The trick was repeated at the start of South Africa’s World Cup for Germany’s games, and as the tournament progressed his uncannily accurate predictions were followed ever more closely.

Paul guessed the outcome of all Germany’s group games, including their shock loss to lowly Serbia, as well as their defeat of England and Argentina in subsequent rounds.

There was national anguish after he picked the container bearing the Spanish flag ahead of Wednesday night’s semi-final, with angry fans calling for him to be “thrown into the shark tank”.

When Spain beat Germany, preserving his 100 per cent record, “anti-octopus” songs were aired in Berlin while Spanish fans chanted his name at the stadium in Durban.

Spain wins 2010 World Cup as predicted by Oktopus

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:12:00 +0000

Spain has won the 2010 World Cup with a 1-0 extra-time defeat of the Netherlands in the final at Soccer City in Johannesburg.

Andres Iniesta scored the decisive goal in the 116th minute following a lovely pass from Cesc Fabregas to condemn the Dutch to their third World Cup final defeat.

The scores were deadlocked at 0-0 following 90 minutes of regulation time.

More to follow shortly.

Spain: 1 (A Iniesta 116')

Netherlands: 0

Spain won the world cup soccer as predicted by Paul the Octopus

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:04:00 +0000

Breaking News
Spain won the world cup soccer against netherland 1-0 as predicted by Paul the Octopus.

Mani the Parakeet Challenges Paul the Octopus' 2010 World Cup Final Pick, Chooses Netherlands

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:32:00 +0000

Mani the Parakeet Successfully Chose the Entire Final Four World Cup Contenders

Those that were a sucker for Paul the Octopus' prognostications might simply believe that the predictions of Mani the Parakeet are simply bird-brained. Mani the Parakeet, an avian clairvoyant from Singapore, successfully chose the winners of the four World Cup semi-final games but contradicted the octopus to pick a different team to win the 2010 World Cup Final on Sunday. Unlike the octopus, the bird went with the underdogs -- Mani the Parakeet chose the Netherlands as this year's World Cup Final champion.

Paul the Octopus made world headlines when he put his 100 percent correct prediction record on the line and went against his homeland team, Germany, in the 2010 World Cup semi-final match-up against Spain. And when it was over, he remained 100 percent, as he did when he chose Germany to win the consolation match-up against Uruguay for third place. Now only one game remains that could keep Paul the Octopus' record a perfect 100 percent -- the 2010 World Cup Final game.

As should be expected, the two animals have very different selection methods. Paul the Octopus chooses his winners by opening one of two identical jars, each containing a single mussel. Mani the Parakeet predicts his winners via a selection of cards, one of which he chooses.

If there is an advantage (unfair?) to be found with one of the animals, perhaps it is in that Mani the Parakeet's owner is a fortune teller...

If letting animals choose your ultimate World Cup Final winner is just a bit too dicey, then perhaps a look at gambling odds produced by 'experts' is in order. SportsBetting.com has predicted Spain the winner at a half-goal advantage going into the Final match-up. (A word of caution: Try not to think about the fact that humans are simply animals with higher functioning brains when one sides with spreadsheets, indicators, trends, and "hunches".)

Regardless of whether Paul the Octopus or Mani the Parakeet ends up being correct in their 2010 World Cup Final game prognostication, the match-up will see a first-time ever World Cup winner.

Football: Netherlands will beat Spain, predicts Dutch octopus

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:56:00 +0000

THE HAGUE - Pauline, a female octopus in Dutch captivity, has predicted victory for the Netherlands in Sunday's World Cup final against Spain, contradicting Paul the "psychic" German octopus after whom she was named, her aquarium said Friday.

"She chose the Netherlands," Maaike Schroeder, spokeswoman for the Sea Life aquarium in Scheveningen in The Hague told AFP.

This was a first attempt at divination for four-year-old Pauline, added Schroeder.

In a similar method as that famously employed for Paul, two boxes -- one with the Dutch flag, the other that of Spain and each with a mussel inside, were placed in Pauline's enclosure on Thursday.

Pauline opted for the mussel in the Dutch box for her meal.

Paul, the eight-legged oracle, has become a World Cup sensation by correctly predicting the outcome of all six Germany's World Cup games. He opted for Spain on Friday in a prediction carried live on national German television.

Paul the German octopus picks Netherland

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:20:00 +0000

Paul the German octopus that has been spot on with all of his previous predictions in the World Cup has picked the Netherlands to win the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The attention surrounding Paul has been ridiculous with the media latching onto this improbable story and not letting it go. All in all it has been great for the fans! Despite their amazing form in the semi-final I guess Spain is going down?

Spanish PM offers state protection to 'Octopus Paul' after death threats!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:12:00 +0000

Milan, July 9(ANI): Spanish Prime Minister Jose Zapatero has jokingly offered state protection for Paul, the psychic octopus, who has received death threats from German fans over his World Cup predictions.

Paul, from Aquarium Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, had predicted the outcome of all six of Germany's matches, including the 1-0 semi-final loss to Spain, by choosing to eat food from boxes adorned with the flags of Germany and its rivals.

Now Spain's politicians are worried that some German fans may take their "revenge" on the octopus for their team's exit.

"I am concerned for the octopus ... I am thinking of sending him a protective team," News.com.au quoted Zapatero, as saying.

Spanish Environment and Fisheries Minister, Elena Espinosa, suggested a moratorium on going after Paul.

"On Monday, I shall be at the European Council of Ministers and I shall be asking for a [fishing] ban on Paul the octopus so the Germans do not eat him," Elena said.

The threat to Paul's life has escalated after some sections of the German fans were spotted singing anti-octopus songs.

According to a local newspaper, there have been "a host of comments on Facebook, Twitter ... suggesting Paul should be fried, barbecued or turned into a seafood salad or paella".

"Others wanted to throw him into the shark tank," the paper added.

Major predictions, which came true in this World Cup, have been in the Germany-England Round of 16 clash and Germany-Argentina quarterfinal game. Paul had chosen Germany's flag on both the occasions.

If the eight-limbed oracle survives the threats, fans would be thinking twice about dismissing his advice in future.

Soccer-World-Octopus Paul has nothing on African bones - Zuma

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:05:00 +0000

JOHANNESBURG July 11- 2010

Forget Paul the octopus -- in Africa only animal bones can accurately predict the outcome of big matches like the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday.

Dutch fans have brushed off a prediction they will lose to Spain made by the oracle octopus who has earned worldwide celebrity status by accurately predicting the outcome of all seven of Germany's matches at the tournament.

"Don't listen to the octopus. Here in Africa we throw bones, it's the bones that talk, not octopuses," Zuma said, drawing laughter from African leaders in his country to watch the final.

Many South Africans swear by sangomas, or witchdoctors, who claim an ability to read into the hidden past, or the future, by scattering animal bones on the ground.

But some fans are placing their faith in Paul the octopus, who is based in Germany, or his rival Mani, a Singaporean parakeet credited with forecasting powers who has predicted a win for Netherlands at Soccer City later on Sunday.

"We will hear... which one is telling the truth," laughed Zuma.

Netherlands' fans demonstrate against 'Octopus Paul' in Kerala

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:56:00 +0000

2010-07-11 22:00:00

Fans of the Netherlands team staged a protest in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, against the psychic 'Octopus Paul' for predicting their favourite team's defeat in the World Cup final.

Fans, on Saturday, carried placards and shouted slogans against the octopus.

Paul, who has become a global phenomenon after correctly predicting outcomes of the FIFA matches, has predicted that Spain would beat the Netherlands and win the World Cup 2010, while Germany and Uruguay shall be in third and fourth places respectively.

The two-year-old octopus, born in England and now living in a German aquarium, correctly predicted the results of the third place match, making it his seventh correct prediction in a row.

The octopus, considered by some to be the most intelligent of all invertebrates, got the choice of picking food from two different transparent containers lowered into his tank - one with a Dutch flag on it and one with Spain's flag, and wasted no time in making for the latter. (ANI)

Italians claim 'psychic' octopus as their own

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:52:00 +0000

It's Paolo, not Paul. Italian media claimed as their own the "psychic" octopus who accurately predicts World Cup results after his trainer in Germany on Sunday revealed he was caught in Italian waters.

"The octopus' name is Paolo," wrote sports newspaper Tuttosport on its website.

The news is "a small satisfaction for Italy at the end of a tournament that has given the Azzurri very little joy," wrote daily Il Corriere della Sera on its website.

Verena Bartsch, the octopus' trainer on Sunday told the Sunday edition of Germany's Bild tabloid newspaper that she caught him in April in the sea off the Italian island of Elba, near Tuscany. He was four weeks old at the time.

Bartsch's version conflicts with Paul's official biography, according to which the octopus is two years old and came from Weymouth, England, before moving to an aquarium in western Germany.

Paul has accurately predicted seven out of seven games from his aquarium home, where he is given two boxes, each containing a mussel and the flag of the two competing World Cup teams.

He has predicted that Spain will beat the Netherlands in Sunday's World Cup final.

"In its own way, Italy is also the star of the 2010 World Cup," wrote Italian newspaper La Repubblica's online version, after the 2006 champions' disastrous exit from the World Cup in the early stages of the tournament.

Italy were embarrassingly bundled out of the World Cup following a shock 3-2 defeat to Slovakia on June 24, ending at the bottom of what had looked like a fairly easy Group F.

Malaysian parakeet joins Paul the Octopus's prediction of Spain as World Cup 2010 winner

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:36:00 +0000

A MALAYSIAN fortune-telling parakeet has joined Paul, the psychic octopus from Germany, to forecast Spain's victory in the World Cup final, according to a news report.

Meena Kutti, an 8-year-old green parakeet, usually predicts customers' fortunes in business and life, but recently punters have asked her for match tips, the New Straits Times reported.

When asked about the World Cup winner, Meena immediately chose a tiny envelope stating "La Furia Roja," The Red Fury, it said.

"Meena is one-of-a-kind and is always accurate in her predictions," her owner M.C. Mohan told the newspaper.

Mr Mohan, who has practiced parrot fortunetelling for more than 25 years, said he bought the bird from India for 600 ringgit ($214) and has since been offered more than 1000 ringgit ($357) for her, but has refused to sell.

Octopus Paul and Mani, a Singapore-based parakeet, have been all the rage since making a string of correct predictions on match winners.

Paul has picked Spain as the World Cup champion. Mani predicted the Dutch would win Sunday by creeping out of his wooden cage and choosing between two cards that bore the two nations' flags.

Octopus Paul influences the bets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:21:00 +0000

The British bookmakers are betting for an Holland’s victory over Spain in the World Cup final but since the octopus paul choose spain the trends changed.

According to the company Paddy Power “The ‘effect caused by Paul “turned the bets”, and that “it’s a record for a football match” which will be played on Sunday between Netherlands and Spain, and there are already several tens of millions pounds bet on the table “.

Until yesterday, Holland was the favorite in the betting with 54% of commitments, but after the election of the octopus on Friday, Spain took advantage, getting to 56% of bets.

Darren Haines, spokeman from Paddy Power said “The Netherlands attracted a majority of casual gamers but after the octopus Paul predicted a victory of Spain, we recorded more bets on Spain for the first time since the finalists were known.”

William Hill’s spokesman, said: “We received bets in the last minute for Spain after the prediction, but I think our players make their decisions without following an octopus.”

Brits' false sense of pride

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:07:00 +0000

So what if the England football team's performance in the current World Cup was so conspicuously pathetic that even its most loyal fans have ridiculed it.

For many in a former colonial power who arrogantly refuse to believe that the sun has set on their empire, it matters little that English players in this World Cup have become the favourite butt of jokes the world over, with God's gift to football, Wayne Rooney, anointed ugliest player by an international panel of fans for his raffish appearance and boorish behaviour.

All manner of excuses and scapegoats - including the disallowed goal against Germany (as though the team would have won but for it) are being advanced as laughable reasons for the greatly-hyped team's earth-shattering (!) exit from the Cup.

Characteristically, the unfailingly chauvinistic and eternally optimistic English media has found new claims to fame to gloat over.

If the media's claims are to be believed, Paul the oracular octopus, who has become an international celebrity for his alleged soothsaying abilities, was born in British waters off Weymouth.

British-born octopus Paul picks Spain as the favourite to win Sunday's final against Holland

Add to this the fact that the referee appointed for today's final, Howard Webb - sing Hallelujah! - is English, and its time for the party to begin.

The ridiculous logic for this faux pride would be infuriating if it were not utterly laughable.

Engaging the attention of English soccer fans, now that their team has exited in disgrace, is the emergence of a parrot - Mani (could it be of Indian origin?) from Singapore, where Indians reside in large numbers.

Mani's alleged uncanny ability to pick (or, more correctly, peck) winners in the FIFA World Cup has reportedly astounded fans in South East Asia.

It so happens that Mani used his beak to pick the Dutch flag, whereas Paul, the cephalopod, has chosen the excitable Spaniards to take the coveted Cup home.

So it will be Mani, arguably an expatriate parrot of Indian descent, versus Paul, the seer octopus who the British are claiming as their own, in a repeat of the Freedom movement saga thanks to the abiding zealotry of a section of the English media.

The sad part is that, in its double-edged nationalistic frenzy, the English media does their national teams and individual players -- be it at cricket, soccer, rugby, tennis, the Olympic disciplines or any other -- the greatest disservice by putting ginormous pressure on their players and creating unrealistic hopes among their devoted but unsuspecting fans.

Don't take my word for it. Just check England's performances over the years in any sport.

And place alongside it the trumpeting before any major international sporting event as well as the sour-grapes griping after.

I rest my case.

FIFA World cup final: Paul Octopus Vs Mani Parrot

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:01:00 +0000

SOME LOVE them, some want to fry them alive, but no one can deny that the Oracle Octopus and Mani parrot are making more headlines than the FIFA players. Forget FIFA match winners Netherland’s Wesley Sniejder and even the Spain’s star Carles Puyol, the headline grabber of FIFA 2010 continues to be Paul, psychic Octopus of Germany and new league of celeb join him is Mani, a parrot, psychic bird of Singapore.

And, like every sensational celebrity, Paul now has fans following him in Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany and dishes naming after him, and even some sending him death threats. In comparison to Paul, Mani is less admired.

Till now fans were depending on Paul predictions, and he had predicted all of Germany's results correctly even including the defeats against Serbia in the group stages and Spain in the semi-finals. In Singapore Mani parrot crept out it’s his small wooden cage and had to choose between two white cards, one hiding the flag of the Netherlands, the other Spain. Mani grabbed a card in his beak and flipped it over to reveal the Dutch flag and predicted The Netherlands will win its first World Cup championship.

First time in history, octopus and parrot predictions have given new turning point to FIFA 2010. Is it match going between Spain vs The Netherlands or match between Paul Octopus vs Mani Parrot? People all over the world are more interested in creatures than 11 players. None the less two different predictions have made watching the final between these two teams even more interesting. Paul Octopus of German is being challenged by Mani Parrot of Singapore.

Like Paul, 13 years old Mani has become a local celebrity. His owner 80 years old M.Muniyappan, a fortune teller claimed that Mani usually forecasting future, lottery numbers, and when to get marriage etc. Mani has accurately forecast the World Cup’s four quarterfinal games and Spain's victory over Germany. However, this is the first time Mani has attempted to forecast the outcome of sports competitions. He is special bird and people even respect him.

However, Mani’s 100% correct predictions for the FIFA 2010 were never publicised while millions of fans have seen Paul picking the winner on different media. Paul had also worked as a psychic during the Euro championship two years ago when it famously made a wrong prediction by picking Germany to beat Spain. Paul has got support from Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriquez Zapatero, who has joked he will provide Paul with a team of bodyguards

Whom would you believe? Paul or Mani?

Paul the Octopus gets death threats after predicting Spain win over Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:37:00 +0000

Paul the Octopus gets death threats after predicting Spain win over Germany

Click the above Link and Enjoy the Video

Oracle Paul 'Psychic' Octopus puts Spain, not Germany to WC final

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:33:00 +0000

Oracle Paul 'Psychic' Octopus puts Spain, not Germany to WC final

Click the above link and Enjoy the video.

List of predictions for Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:29:00 +0000