What might’ve seemed like an indigent family scavenging — a family going on weekend outings to gather abandoned or discarded, still living, freshly killed, or already dead food from the countryside — was actually just a way of life.
By June the Beecheys and their dark-eyed young promised to become an Egyptian plague, and my husband, who carries spiders out of the house instead of flushing them, suggested poison.
Dear Matt: What is the record for the most consecutive foul tips in a major-league baseball game? Conceivably a batter could do this for days. I have personally seen seven or eight in a row, …
Moldy oldie clean-up time. First, from a vegan in a quandary. I mean, who can you believe these days? Me, sweetie. Dear Matthew Alice: Being a diehard vegan, I was rather upset when I read …
Dear Matthew Alice: We drink both regular and decaffeinated coffee. We grind them to espresso fineness. But when we make the coffee, it takes twice as long for the decaf to drip through the filter. …
DO -< £ > H H I m £ r~ n m Matthew: I’ve heard from some semi-reliable friends that Edison’s breath is in a container in some museum. Does this qualify for your Famous …
“They had anything you could want. Basically it just came down to these were just the coolest guys to hang around with. It just clicked. I was offered a bid last night, and I accepted right away.”
Dear M. Matt: Are the things sold as “baby carrots” (the variety sold in plastic bags) in the grocery store really baby carrots? Or are they regular-sized, adult carrots that have been cut and shaved …
A little old biz on the docket here at the Vastly Superior Court of Last Resort, in re: the People v. O.J. and its peculiar relation to the Goldmans et al. v. O.J. — why …
Dear Mat: Has anyone ever had sex in space? — Curious of North Park Dear Matthew Alice: When a female astronaut is in space, how does her weightless condition affect the process of menstruation, since …
Two years ago he returned to Marcel Marceau in Ohio and told him the ancient story of the first deer hunt from the Kupa people up in Warner Springs. “I wanted to make a mime of it."
Dear Mr. Alice, This may be a tough one, but I was wondering where the expression “close enough for government work” comes from. I have asked many people over the years but never even got …
Dear Matt: After last summer’s Olympics, we discovered that the 2000 Summer Olympics will take place in Australia. What I would like to know is if it will take place during their summer or during …
Dear Matthew Alice: Why does my dog howl when he hears sirens? What is he saying? — Jake, San Diego Loosely translated, it’s something like, “I’m over here, strange fellow canine. Follow my voice and …
Dear Matt: Why do Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Goofy have only three fingers instead of four? I know Donald Duck has a wing, so that can be drawn with as many fingers …
"I had just moved to the house in Ithaca. I was driving back to the old rental. On the way over it occurred to me there wasn’t a yearly ‘best of’ book devoted to American poetry."
Dear Matthew Alice: I’ve heard that there’s such a thing as dog years, and that one dog year is the same as seven human years, so is there such a thing as cat years? — …
“Raymond Carver used to teach here [Syracuse University],” said Wolff in a recent telephone interview, “and I came because of him. It was meant to be a year, but we’ve stayed nearly 17."
To: Matmail: While driving around the highways and byways of North County on one of the few days when puffy clouds were scudding by like weightless behemoths, I got to wondering. Exactly how much does …
Dear Brainiac: Who invented the Magic 8 Ball? Has it always been made by Tyco? From where does it get its power? — mattyj, the Net Chris Campbell, Tyco marketing veep, fields incoming Magic 8 …
Matt, My Man: I guess it’s time to cut a firebreak around my home. I hate to clear natural vegetation, but it’s better than having my house burn down. Part of the vegetation is toyon, …