Crystal Ballocks
Just survived a night of torrid quibbling with six grown men this week. Those at table included Mr Mauve, Mr Charcoal and Mr Firetruck-Red, all members of a secret society known as Reclaim The Pants: an all-male chapter dedicated to blokey stuff, such as our torrid quibbling.
The focus of debate was probability. Which event is more likely to occur in the next calendar year: Queen Elizabeth II relinquishing her throne, or Ozzy Osbourne falling off the perch? India invading Pakistan or Britney Spears joining Scientology?
We had some 80 predictions to sort, ranking the least likely (Australian Army taking all Under-8 kids into custody – tips Mr Buttercup) to the dead-set certain, such as Mr Chrome’s clairvoyant vision of oil reaching $100US a barrel.
The point of the exercise is to win the 2008 Nostradamus Award, with the punter to predict the iffiest event scooping the kitty. Last year Mr Mauve 2 (from the Sydney outpost) won the dough, forecasting Eddie McGuire’s self-boning at Nine, narrowly nudging out the Original Mauve who plumped his money on Therese Rein forfeiting her business interests so as to oil her husband’s rise to power.
If you want to view the entire sibylline list take a closer look at http://www.reclaimthepants.com/nostra.htm, and see how the odds panned out. The hottest debated centred on Prince William and his marriage plans, Muttiah Murralitharan’s bowling action, Brendan Nelson’s shaky ground and how good the cashed-up Rabbitohs will play in the Year of the Rat.
Feel free to add to this importantly trivial debate right here, and I’ll make sure Apricot, Mauve, Cerise, Basil and all the other hues get word. May your next 10 months be anything but predictable.