An LA Times reader reacts to the Sept. 9 story about the hotline for 'losers' (from LA Times, requires registration):
The idea of a woman giving out a bogus "loser's" phone number instead of her own is an old one ("Hey, Loser, Got a Message for You," Sept. 9). Some years ago I met an attractive young woman and asked for her number. She gleefully gave it to me. I phoned the very next day, only to hear a taped recording: "Thank you for calling the Los Angeles Zoo.... " My only solace was a good laugh because, even though the joke was on me, it was truly funny. Unfortunately, Jeff Goldblatt's "loser's" phone number is lean on humor and mean to the extreme.

If someone asks for your phone number and you don't want to give it to them, get rid of them discreetly by giving them the number for the rejection hotline. They'll think it's your number until they dial it up and hear this prerecorded message: "The person who gave you this number obviously did not want you to have their real number. Maybe you're just not this person's type.... This could mean short, fat, ugly, dumb, annoying, arrogant or just a general loser. Maybe you suffer from bad breath, body odor or even both. Maybe you just give off that creepy, overbearing, psycho-stalker vibe. Maybe the idea of going out with you just seems as appealing as playing leapfrog with unicorns." In LA the number is (310) 217-7638. (From LA Times article... Requires registration). Check out the website of the Rejection Hotline to find the number to call in your city. They also provide phony business cards.

Yesterday's NY Times piece about mock weddings sparked my interest in the subject. A quick search on Google pulled up some more info about the phenomenon:Northern New York's Mock WeddingsThis website reports that mock weddings were a popular activity for church groups in the 1930sThis page references Frazer's The Golden Bough to note that at the dawn of civilization "Mock weddings were often carried out as part of harvest and fertility rituals, sometimes culminating in human sacrifice, or reminicances of such sacrifice."

The growing phenomenon of mock weddings: the NY Times reports that across the country young people are throwing elaborate wedding ceremonies at which no one actually gets married. Apparently they figure that since they're probably not going to get married until they're much older, they might as well have the party now. As the Times puts it: "Across the nation, whether for artistic expression or just to have a good time, perhaps dozens of men and women in their late teens and early 20's have been putting on costly pseudo-weddings, complete with a ceremony, reception and festivities."

"A publicity stunt by a German firm which sent out fake 300 and 1,000-euro notes adorned with naked women has backfired after people began using them as legal tender. The firm Planet-Present said it had permission from the Bundesbank and European Central Bank. Only close scrutiny shows the notes are fakes. Michael Leidig, Vienna." Found on the Daily Telegraph site.
Here's a picture of Planet-Present's fake euro (page is in German).