The Odd Truth, Jan. 25, 2005

`The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Joey Arak.

Advertising Gets A Head

OMAHA, Neb. - A Web-page designer who auctioned off the use of his forehead for advertising space is letting it go to his head.

Andrew Fischer, 20, of Omaha, who put his forehead for sale on eBay as advertising space, received $37,375 on Friday to advertise the snoring remedy, SnoreStop.

Fischer will display the SnoreStop logo on his forehead for one month.

"I look forward to an enjoyable association with Andrew -- a man who clearly has a head for business in every sense of the word," SnoreStop CEO Christian de Rivel said.

"People will always comment on something out of the ordinary," Fischer said in his sales pitch. "People like weird."

But there were limits: He refused from the outset to be the conduit for any message or product deemed tasteless or unacceptable in traditional advertising formats.

He Stole Her Pizza, Not Her Heart

NEW CASTLE, Del. - It could be the world's worst first date.

New Castle County police say that after two men robbed a pizza deliverywoman, one of them called the victim on his cell phone to apologize -- and to ask her out on a date.

The victim, 18, declined the request. Instead, she gave the cell phone number to police, who arrested Brent Brown, 25, on Thursday. Through a photo lineup, the victim also identified Brown as one of the robbers.

Besides Brown, police also arrested an 18-year-old man and were looking for a 16-year-old linked to the crime.

Officers searched a residence and found the pizza boxes in the trash can with the original receipt still attached.

"It would make a perfect story for the television show, 'The World's Dumbest Criminals,"' said county police spokesman Cpl. Trinidad Navarro.

Brown was charged with second-degree robbery.

"I'm innocent," he said. "I work every day. I have no reason to rob the pizza lady."

Snail Mail

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - A postcard that Navy recruit Dennis Bosley sent to his mother has been returned -- 37 years after he mailed it.

The yellowed postcard intended for Beatrice Bosley arrived in her son's Morgantown mailbox Saturday inside an envelope with no return address.

"It's just weird," said Bosley, 55. "I'd like to find out who sent it to me and what happened to it. I have no idea. I've called all my family, and they have no idea."

Bosley mailed the postcard from boot camp in 1968 and he later served on the destroyer USS Waldon during the Vietnam War. Nine days after he returned to Morgantown, his mother died.

Dennis Bosley called the post office and was told a question mark was written on the envelope by a postal carrier to indicate its origin was unknown.

"It looks like they just put the same address that I had on the card," he said. "I'd just like to find who sent it."

The Best Mom Ever

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - To get her sons into the Super Bowl, Barbara Langston is using some nifty advertising.

Langston placed a classified ad in The Florida Times-Union, which said, "2 kind, polite, well-mannered, teenage boys looking for Super Bowl tickets. Call their Mom."

"I'm their Mom and I think they are OK," said Langston, who knows she will pay a lot of money for the tickets, possibly as much a $1,000 each for tickets with a face value of $500.

"They are the kind of kids mothers dream about having," Langston said.

It's not that either of her sons, ages 15 and 17, are huge fans of either team -- the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles -- but she said they live within walking distance of Alltel Stadium and she believes it's a chance of a lifetime.

No Smoking ... Or Else

LANSING, Mich. - A Michigan health-care company has fired four of its employees -- for refusing to take a test to determine whether they smoke cigarettes.

The company enacted a new policy this month, allowing workers to be fired if they smoke -- even if the smoking takes place after-hours, or at home.

The founder of Weyco Incorporated says the company doesn't want to pay the higher health care costs associated with smoking.

An official of the company -- which administers health benefits -- estimates that 18 to 20 of its 200 employees were smokers when the policy was first announced in 2003. As many as 14 of them quit smoking before the policy went into effect.

Dirty Magazine's Dirty Books

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators say the magazines weren't the only dirty books at Penthouse International.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the porn publisher, a former executive and a former shareholder with accounting fraud.

Officials say Penthouse's books were cooked in March of 2003, inflating the company's quarterly results.

In a related matter, Penthouse founder Bob Guccione has settled a claim that he misled investors. Regulators say his electronic signature appeared on the financial statements in question, certifying that he had reviewed them -- when he had not. Guccione, who resigned from the company in 2003, is neither admitting nor denying the allegations. He hasn't been fined, but has agreed to cease and desist from future violations.

Naked Boys Stinging

HOUSTON - Some undercover cops in Houston are now uncovered. A Harris County prosecutor says Houston police are now allowed to undress as part of prostitution investigations. Some hookers demand johns take off all their clothes before negotiating a price. They mistakenly believe a real cop won't get naked. Prosecutor Ted Wilson says some plainclothes officers were without their clothes during a four-month sting operation. The investigation ended in November with 56 arrests.

No Smoking ... Or Else (Part 2)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Nashville motel owner is a little out of joint over dope smoking in his place. So, the Trinity Inn Motel now has "No Pot Smoking" signs in the rooms. Owner Devan Bhatt says he's trying to clean up the image of his motel. It's in an area of Nashville known for drug dealing and hookers. Bhatt tells a Nashville TV station that if patrons don't like his "No Pot Smoking" rule, they can get out.