The World Cup is finally over as of today. Feels odd, doesn’t it? No football matches to watch tonight? What are you going to do with your life, besides move on and do what you always did the other 4 years?

Anyway, if you were following the World Cup this year, the name “Paul The Octopus” might have came up quite a bit. Interestingly enough, he has predicted all the World Cup matches quite accurately.

For those that don’t know:

Paul (hatched January 2008) is a common octopus living in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, who is used as an animal oracle to predict the results of football matches, usually international matches in which Germany is playing. He came to worldwide attention with his accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup.

During a divination, Paul is presented with two boxes containing food in the form of a mussel, each marked with the flag of a national football team in an upcoming match. He chose the box with the flag of the winning team in four of Germany’s six Euro 2008 matches, and in all seven of their matches in the 2010 World Cup. He correctly predicted a win for Spain against the Netherlands in the World Cup final on 11 July by eating the mussel in the box with the Spanish flag on it.[1] His predictions have thus been 100% (8/8) correct for the 2010 World Cup and 86% (12/14) correct overall.

Came across this image today (below), its a pretty interesting theory on how Paul the Octopus has been correct so far:

Heh. Magic? Octopus likes yellow? You decide. Then again, octopuses are color blind. Check out the link, and there’s also another theory about Paul preferring flags with contrasting stripes (the German flag has very high contrast).

Keep in mind also, that Paul is German, and historically, Germany has been pretty good at football over the years.

Probability wise, (from Wikipedia) “assuming Paul’s predictions were no better than fair independent coin flips, the probability of 12 successful predictions in 14 attempts is 91/1684 ≈ 0.56%” - A less than 1% chance.

Anyway, found this image today too.

Viva la Octopus Espanol!

Whether you believe in the logical explanation, or magic, or chalk it up to coincedence, this was probably one of the craziest World Cups ever - with goals that magically didn’t count as well as other mindboggling decisions by the referees, “extra goalkeepers” during the Uruguay vs Ghana match, a record number of yellow cards,  And the vuvuzela. Seriously, the vuvuzela. Aren’t you happy you don’t have to hear it anymore?

Anyway, even though the World Cup is over, remember you can catch up on your favourite moments of all the matches of the World Cup - just check out this link (Bplayer). There were a few matches I missed, and this is really one of the best legal places to watch the World Cup online from here

Coming soon to this blog: Party pictures (like you expect), and some interesting emotional insights and confessions (that you won’t expect…)

*Scene is dark. Lights come in, silhouetting both A & B*

B: It doesn’t go further than this, does it?

A: Our relationship is not doomed, it is merely not something that belongs to the future.

B: Nice quote. Are you summizing that this is as far as it goes?

A: How long can you spread out the emotion of a one night stand? A week? A month? A year? The remaining period of your lifetimes?

B: Are you saying that love is a game of chance?

A: I’m saying it is a game of skill. Perhaps love is a game, and the winner or loser depends on who leaves first.

B: That’s pretty sad.

A: Not as sad as the one left alone in the end.

B: There are people who are happily in relationships.

A: Perhaps we are not one of them. Or perhaps, you not with me. Perhaps one of them is forever compromising.

B: And perhaps maybe, some like you don’t deserve it.

A: I once believed in the idea of love. But seeing that it was futile, I chose to optimize it to my liking. To love, be loved, and be the first to leave each time.

B: You never know if you stay, what could happen.

A: You never know the pain it could bring if you weren’t the first to leave.

B: That’s negative control. That’s like saying, by committing suicide you are in control of your life.

A: Negative control is still control.

B: In that case, why bother getting in any relationship?

A: Have you heard that saying? “No one pursues pain for pain itself, but for the pleasure that comes with the pain?”. In this case, the optimal condition would be perhaps, pleasure for both of us for a time period of my choosing, and your pain after. Your pain, not mine. Perhaps, there needs to be an exit strategy for every relationship for it to be fully optimized.

B: What you’re saying makes sense in a way. But it just seems wrong on so many levels.

A: I wish you never come to the same conclusion as me. If you can embrace the fact that it was good as long as it lasted, you can free yourself from the feeling that it could be more. Good luck.

B: I hope to never lose so much hope, to think like you.

*Curtain closes, lights fade to black. End of scene*

“This may be a work of fiction. This conversation may or may not have happened. Nevertheless, be assured that some people do think this way, and I just wrote it down. And yes, the gender of A and B are vague for a reason. “