Before starting his own insectary north of Escondido, Jim Davis Worked for a big citrus grower in Corona, near Riverside. At one time, this grower, like most of his peers, spent a lot of time …

Dear Sefior Matthew: Why do jalapeno peppers taste hot? At least we call it "hot.” But since even room-temperature peppers scald your tongue, they're not really “hot,” so what is “hot," anyway? — Robert C., …

Dear Matthew Alice: What causes the “black holes" of radio reception at the international border (Tijuana-San Ysidro) and on top of Mt. Soledad? I travel frequently to both places, and my radio goes berserk every …

Getting rid of records, right, because of the goddamn quake. Like bricks, dead albums fall heavy. They fell and they fell — hard — and in five months of aftershocks have fallen some more. Less …

"Dan O'Brien. You're free to use that name, ” Dan said in my La Pensione hotel room in Little Italy. He sat in the chair as he talked and behind him the nighttime window view …

Europeans considered wild rabbit’s flavor far superior to domesticated; hare they found tastiest of all (and beginning in the Middle Ages, hare’s blood was one of the apothecary’s most important ingredients).

Dear Matthew Alice: As someone who has always lived in the city, I was ill equipped to answer the following agricultural questions my teenager asked after he looked at an orange juice container. First, what …

Dear Matt: Let’s say you bought a lottery ticket. You, like me and thousands of fools, forget to check if you’re a winner. Days pass to weeks and months have gone by. Because you never …

People wanted SLOW signs in their neighborhoods, on dangerous curves, intersections. But “slow is no longer a legal sign,” says Levy. “It’s too general. Now it must be why you’re supposed to go slow.”

Jimmy wasn’t through with us yet. Still stunned from having our furniture ripped off, we started getting shutoff notices for everything. Seems we had trusted Jimmy to collect the money for the utilities and pay them.

Dear Matt, My question is about killer bees. If these bees came from Africa originally, why is it we never heard about thousands of Africans being killed by them before they got over here? It …

Dear Matthew Alice: Why do Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip ’n Dale have only three fingers instead of four? I know Donald Duck has a wing, so that can be …

Here’s the gallery attendant — a student, true, but you’d think the campus culture vars wouId have made students more circumspect — telling me about his family’s South American bull breeding ranch, his dad, the …

Dear Matthew Alice: There is a phenomenon that is occurring in our freezer at work that cannot be explained, at least not by us. When we fill the ice tray with water, within hours tiny …

Where onramp and asphalt, Passing lane and hawk, Converge in quick collusion Against those who race and never walk. Southern California has it all. We’ve pot ground that shakes, hillsides that burn, a dazzling assortment …

Matt: I was contemplating my parakeet the other day at the same time my wife was cooking something very aromatic. And it occurred to me, can birds smell? I've never seen Woody sniff his dish …

"My granddaughter and I made a 6-foot-by-6-foot sunflower house and then put morning glories across the top. My other grandchild has a tepee of red scarlet runner beans, those little pumpkins, and gourds."

Matthew Alice: Always did want to have my own railroad car. An old sucker with red velvet upholstery, Tiffany lamps, etc. I see where I can buy a caboose for around $4000. Does Amtrak allow …

Dear Matthew Alice:How come some people are ticklish and others aren't? My boyfriend claims it is simply mind over matter. If so, am I mentally weak for being ticklish? — S.J., Chula Vista Maybe mentally …

"American is being held to a higher standard than Hartson. Hartson was required to arrive at the scene within ten minutes of dispatch 90 percent of the time; American must arrive on scene 93 percent of the time."