Viva Espana! Octopus Paul, Forever!

[Pathfinder]

Jul 09, 2010
Death threats for Paul, the psychic octopus



By Roberto Pfeil, Associated Press

Word on the street is that Paul, the psychic octopus, had better watch his back - wherever that is.

Death threats have been pouring in for the clairvoyant critter since he, er, predicted that Spain would beat the Netherlands in the World Cup, CNN is reporting.

Paul made his prediction Friday from the aquarium tank that serves as his home in Oberhausen, Germany. His caretaker, Oliver Walenciak, claimed he is unfazed by the threats to grill him and the like.

"There are always people who want to eat our octopus, but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well," the website LiveStreetJournal quoted Walenciak as saying.

Paul picks his teams by choosing to eat from a jar bearing the flag of the team's country. He has predicted all of the winners in Germany's games in this World Cup with 100% accuracy, NPR reports.

Update at 1:24 p.m. ET:

Not to be outdone, sensitive wildlife from across the globe are now stepping forward to show that they too have skills when it comes to World Cup predictions.

A psychic parakeet in Spain has picked Netherlands to beat Spain in the soccer finals, Agence France-Presse reports.



Mani, a 13-year-old parakeet, picks up a card with the flag of the Netherlands in Singapore's Little India neighborhood on Friday.
By Joan Leong, Associated Press

Mani the bird used his beak to peck at a card bearing the Dutch flag over a card bearing Spain's flag.

And in Cape Town, South Africa, another octopus, this one named Jabulani, has picked Spain as the final winner, the Indo-Asian News Service reports.

Like fellow octopus Paul, Jabulani also picked Spain when jars bearing the flags of Spain and the Netherlands were lowered into his tank, according to the news agency.

(Posted by Melanie Eversley)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/07/death-threats-for-paul-the-psychic-octopus/1

[Sally Furniss]

Re: World Cup: Death threats for Paul, the psychic octopus

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Cheeky pundits pick Cup winner


Yesterday, The Press visited Orana Wildlife Park to get some of nature's wisdom on whether Spain or the Netherlands will win Monday's final.
The job was given to the park's most intelligent and inquisitive birds – three keas.
Food was placed in two boxes, one marked with the Spanish flag and one with the Dutch.
In a best of three contest, the first kea hopped to the Netherlands, the second went with Spain, and the third hesitated between the two before settling on the Spanish. So expect a narrow win to the Spaniards. Orana native fauna keeper Catherine Roughton said the birds had no history of psychic ability, but their choice mirrors that of most experts.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/fifa-world-cup/fan-central/3905072/Cheeky-pundits-pick-Cup-winner

[Diane Morin]

Re: World Cup: Death threats for Paul, the psychic octopus

Pronostic Paul la Pieuvre : La victoire de l’Espagne est un fake


Il y a de cela une heure nous vous faisions part du pronostic de la pieuvre allemande Paul. Qui annon&#231;ait la future victoire de l’Espagne en demi-finale de la coupe du monde 2010 sur l’Allemagne.
Ce pronostic est un fake comme le prouve cette photo, o&#249; l’on peut reconnaitre Paul entrain de pronostiquer la victoire de la Serbie contre l’Allemagne en match de poule.
La photo du montage :

http://www.actu-foot.fr/Pronostic-Paul-la-Pieuvre-La_breve2249.html

[Pathfinder]

Viva Espana! Octopus Paul, Forever!

Viva Espana! A country rocks as Spain rules soccer
By CIARAN GILES (AP) – 27 minutes ago

MADRID — A roaring celebration rocked Spain on Sunday, with some 300,000 people in the capital's downtown forming a sea of red and yellow in tribute to the nation's first World Cup title.
The country's flag and team colors were in full display on Paseo de Recoletos boulevard as hordes of fans watched the match live on gigantic TV screens.

Then, as the final whistle marked Spain's 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in extra time, fireworks lighted up the sky. Crowds began dancing and singing one of the team's battle cries, "Let's Get Them."

snip


Back in Madrid, one banner amid the masses read "Octopus Paul, Forever!" and featured a crudely drawn picture of the octopus from Germany who became a pop culture sensation by correctly picking World Cup matches.

He was right again about the final.

Fans watching from a patio bar in a working-class neighborhood whooped in joy, yelling "Spain! Spain!" They danced on their bar chairs and hugged each other. Others yelled "Yes! Yes! The cup is now ours!"

The night sky of the Alcoron suburb lit up with fireworks and the bar patrons cheered each other with beer and sangria on a sweltering summer night, then joined in the dancing, dodging firecrackers tossed about by other fans.

.../

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jiGcRFzNzGvW2lvv3TARcXiTjgnwD9GT4AUO0

[Diane Morin]

Re: Viva Espana! Octopus Paul, Forever!

[heathm]

Re: Viva Espana! Octopus Paul, Forever!

So, the new prophets of our time is an octopus? Let's see what else he can predict, maybe upcoming natural disasters or wars ... I am sure the German find some way to let him predict more things but I am afraid sooner or later a prediction will be wrong and no one will care about poor Paul anymore.

[Anne]

Re: Viva Espana! Octopus Paul, Forever!



is it precognition ?

[Pathfinder]

Re: Viva Espana! Octopus Paul, Forever!

World Cup 2010: Octopus Paul Gets Replica Of World Cup Trophy

Posted by admin on Jul 12th, 2010 //

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The two-year-old octopus with possible psychic powers turned into a worldwide celebrity for accurately predicting the winner of Germany’s five World Cup wins as well as their two defeats. Paul also tipped Spain to beat Netherlands in Sunday’s final.

“We’ve had a lot of offers for Paul but he will definitely be staying with us and returning to his old job – making children smile,” Sea Life spokesperson Tanja Munzig in Oberhausen told Reuters after presenting Paul with the World Cup replica.

“There’s no rational reason why he always got it right.”

Bettors around the world made small fortunes based on Paul’s uncanny picks, said Graham Sharpe, media relations director at William Hill in London, one of Britain’s largest bookmakers.

“I’ve seen a lot of things in my lifetime but this is the first time I’ve ever seen people making their picks based on what an octopus tells them,” Sharpe told Reuters.

“We had people coming in saying they didn’t know how to place a bet but heard about this German octopus and wanted to bet with him. It’s ludicrous. But he kept getting it right,” said Sharpe. “It’s one of the finest tipping feats ever.”

Sharpe said that anyone who had placed a &#163;10 accumulator bet on Paul’s picks from the start of the World Cup would have won &#163;3 000 by the end of the tournament.

Paul’s home at Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen has been inundated with visitors and media from across Europe. Many networks broadcast his picks live. Hundreds were on hand to watch the World Cup replica lowered into his tank on Monday.

“Paul now wants to say good-bye to the whole world,” Daniel Fey, a supervisor at Sea Life, told Reuters. “He really enjoyed all the media attention but now he’s returning to his old job.”

Yet interest in the 50cm long octopus remained intense, especially after his last two picks on Friday were once again accurate. Germany won Saturday’s match for third place and Spain won Sunday’s final – as Paul had called it on Friday.

Last week Germans were shocked and distraught when he picked Spain to beat Germany in the semi-final after tipping German wins over Argentina, England, Ghana and Australia.

And after Spain beat Germany, many wanted to publicly grill him. Sea Life installed extra security to protect their octopus.

“We have to remember he’s quite old now – 2-1/2 years is quite old for an octopus,” Fey said.

Probability experts were quoted in media reports saying the likelihood of getting eight consecutive picks right is 1/256. Sharpe said the odds of getting eight straight right was over 1/300. Humbled professors were quoted saying Paul got lucky.

The octopus, considered by some to be the most intelligent of all invertebrates, had a choice of picking food from two different transparent containers lowered into his tank – each with a national flag on it.

The container Paul opened first was regarded as his pick.
Sharpe at William Hill said he had at first been sceptical about the oracle octopus. But he became a believer.

“I suspect that Paul’s predictions could have made about a half a million pounds,” Sharpe said, adding he estimated William Hill paid out &#163;100 000 pounds on his picks at its 2 300 outlets.

“We had people coming in asking who Paul had picked before they placed their bets,” Sharpe said. “I’m sure there were a lot more people too who were too embarrassed to tell you they made their bet based on what the octopus said.”

He said it was the first time in 30 years of work that he had seen “such widely orchestrated use of a non-human tipster”.

Sharpe said he, unfortunately, did not follow Paul’s advice. “It’d have been too embarrassing,” he said. But Sharpe said he was going on holiday soon.

“I’m going to the seaside and intend to eat as much octopus as I can cram down as revenge,” he said.

Source: Sport24

http://www.ghananewsnow.com/articles/world-cup-2010-octopus-paul-gets-replica-of-world-cup-trophy/

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