Trends for Oct. 21, 2002

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, Oct. 21, 2002 | 8:17 a.m.

Indecent proposals?

Are those wedding bells you're hearing? Probably.

Turns out that one-third of all engagements take place during the last quarter of the year, making October the kickoff month of the season for becoming betrothed.

This info comes courtesy of Fred Cuellar, author of the books "How to Buy a Diamond," and "The World's Greatest Proposals" (Casablanca Press).

Cuellar, who has supposedly researched thousands of proposal stories, has teamed with champagne maker Korbel to compile a list of the biggest mistakes men make while popping the question. Among the no-nos:

Already have a proposal scenario in mind? Submit it by Dec. 15 to Korbel's Perfect Proposal Contest. Three winners will be granted their dream proposals and a diamond engagement ring, while the grand-prize winner will walk away with $10,000 to spend on a honeymoon or wedding reception. For additional details and to enter the contest, visit korbel.com.

Trivial matters

What have you been doing for the past two decades? Hopefully paying close attention to pop culture and current events.

In honor of the recent introduction of the Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary Edition board game, which pays homage to people, places and events of the past 20 years, the game's online home edition trivialpursuit.com has been revamped.

Visitors to the site can enter the Trivial Pursuit Online Sweepstakes for a chance to win a copy of the board game autographed by one of Trivial Pursuit's inventors. Each Tuesday through Dec. 3, one winner will be chosen from entrants who register on the website and who correctly answer a trivia question.

Meanwhile, beginning early next year, competitive play and tournaments featuring cash prizes will be available on the site.

Fresh and fruity

Speaking of trivia, we're guessing there would be a lot of head scratching and blank stares if a question about pomegranates were asked during a round of Trivial Pursuit.

Fear not: California's Pomegranate Council has come to the rescue. The organization, headquartered in San Francisco, recently unveiled a list of factoids about the dark-red, seed-laden fruit, which appears in markets from September through December.

Pomegranate is derived from the Middle French term pome granade, meaning "seeded apple," and the fruit is sometimes referred to as the Chinese apple.

There are references of pomegranates in the Bible and in the works of epic writer Homer. According to ancient myths, it was a fruit favored by the gods. Also, its seeds are symbols of fertility in Chinese, Greek, Persian, Roman and Hebrew lore.

A typical acre of 110 pomegranate trees yields between 600 and 800 boxes of fruit weighing 28 pounds per box. One medium pomegranate (about the size of a large orange and weighing around 9 ounces) offers approximately 3/4 cup of seeds and 1/2 cup of juice (which, by the way, stains everything in its vicinity).

Funny, the pomegranate people didn't offer advice about how to remove those stains. We guess that bit of trivia has them stumped, too.