George Ferris: Here are all 10 of Google's animal odd couples

Google's latest doodle combines two events. The love-themed amusement park celebrates Valentine's Day and the 154th birthday of George Ferris, who invented the Ferris wheel. Clicking on the heart-button located in the center of the doodle makes the two Ferris wheels spin. When they stop, a new couple is formed and they go on a date. Much like real-life dating, some of these dates end well and others, well, let's just say the other dates shouldn't expect a second one. 

Have you seen all of the couples? If not, here's your chance to see the curious pairs. 

1. Octopus and Seagull

Google
Screenshot of the Octopus and Seagull's date

The first couple on our list is sure to bring back fond memories of John Cusack and boom boxes. This octopus and seagull appear to be a strange pairing but octopus knows how to bring it’s A-game. Maybe it was the boneless body or maybe seagull’s father just didn’t approve of his octopus lifestyle -- either way, the seagull was won over with not one, not two, but three boom boxes.

That’s right: Our octopus took a page out of Cameron Crowe’s hit film "Say Anything" for this romantic gesture. Armed with all three boom boxes, Octopus has caused Seagull to faint. Will Seagull end up with Octopus? Who knows? But what is certain is that you can almost hear Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” playing.

Google Doodles are known for their surprises and Easter eggs. This year’s Valentine's Day doodle shows all side of dating -- the good, the bad, the ugly, and the apathetic.

We’ve counted 10 couples for this year’s V-day doodle and the celebration doesn’t stop there. The doodle, which also commemorates George Ferris, has these odd couples falling in love while onboard his great invention: the Ferris wheel. Ferris created the Ferris wheel for the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He was tasked with creating something new, something big, and above all else, something that could rival the Eiffel Tower. At first, expo organizers called him a "crackpot," dismissing the idea of a giant, vertical, spinning wheel. But he persevered. Ferris unveiled his wheel at the fair and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sadly, Ferris would only live until the age of 37.

So here’s to the lovers, the best friends, the octopi and seagulls, to those who are single, and especially to George Ferris.

Click the blue arrow to see our next animal odd couple.

1 of 10

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.