Encinitas man gets State prison for spitting on officer
Eva Knott 10:44 a.m., May 18
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Stories by Matthew Alice
How ducks find each other
Heymatt:I live near two parks that have hundreds of ducks that pair up during mating. When they all scatter from kids or dogs chasing them or from someone feeding them, the ducks quickly rejoin each ...
Near-beer bust
Nonalcoholic drinking and driving
Hey Matt! I’m an alcoholic and I’ve recently cut down my consumption to the point that I’m not hammered all day every day. Well, I’ve converted to nonalcoholic beer for the daytime — ’cause I ...
A Closer Look at the Chula Vista Courthouse Flag
Heymatt: Why is a Mexican flag included at the courthouse at Third and H streets in Chula Vista? Does this mean some courtrooms there follow the “guilty until the level of extortion has been satisfied” ...
The Unarius Movement, then and now
Heymatt:I was born and raised in San Diego County. Now I am living in North Carolina and I NEED an answer to my question. Back in the 1960s there was a late-night/early-morning television show. The ...
Have all San Diego mayors been weasels?
Hey Matthew:Has there been a mayor in the history of the San Diego who hasn’t been generally considered a self-serving weasel?— Fred I guess it’s a general rule of thumb for any public official: give ...
The scourge of plastic water bottles
Hey Matt: Watching the tube the other day, I thought I caught a commercial from a water-filter outfit that said the USA uses enough plastic water bottles to circle the Earth 19 or 119 times ...
Burp pressure and fart ownership
Hey Matt:The elves will love this one! After a few hours and many beers in the garage I could not devise a system for measuring the pressure of my burps. We’re talking good, forceful, thundering ...
Topless males vs. topless females
Where it’s OK for females to go shirtless (and bra-less) in public?
Calculating Attendance at the I.B. Sandcastle Festival
Hi Matthew:I read that the Sandcastles Festival here in Imperial Beach had over 400,000 visitors during the three-day weekend, more than any previous festival. Any clue how they can possibly calculate that figure and how ...
The Earthen Berm East of Amboy
Hey Matt:Can you find out why an earthen berm was constructed along the north side of the National Trails Highway/Route 66 for many miles east of Amboy, CA? Does it still serve any purpose? Was ...
Spider invasion, peculiar freeway foam, scars and tats forever
Heymatt:I’ve been living in my house in University Heights for 65 years and I’ve never had a spider problem like this one. These little buggers are festooning the roof tiles like Christmas tinsel. They’re on ...
Why we say “bless you” when people sneeze
“Bless you,” San Diego’s crooked 30th Street, horsepower, all explained
South Park's crooked 30th Street
Heymatt: Why in the world does 30th Street morph into Fern Street between Juniper and Ash streets? Not only that, 30th doesn’t disappear during its run as Fern but actually continues as an entirely separate ...
All about horsepower
Heymatt:Why are car engines measured in horsepower? What does horsepower mean and how much horsepower does one horse generate? — Motorhead, Escondido Engines have been measured in horsepower since James Watt, who refined early steam ...
Highway billboard rules; how fleas breed; the cost of political ads
What happened with Ladybird Johnson’s Highway Beautification Act? How do fleas breed? How much do political ads cost candidates?
Where Crows Fly, How Squid Are Caught, and the "Toots" That Rhymes with "Puts"
Heymatt:Last September you said that ravens go “somewhere” at the end of the day to go over the day’s events, or something to that effect. I live in Spring Valley and at sunup I see ...
Yoga May Be More Swedish Than Indian; and College Area’s Eruv
Heymatt:Massage has been an effective therapy for thousands of years. It started a long time before there was a country called “Sweden.” So, how come it’s called “Swedish massage?” — E. Gregor, University City It’s ...
Air travel in the jet stream; why your specs can't be glued
Hey Matt:I got my tickets yesterday to fly from Los Angeles to São Paulo, Brazil, at the end of the year. On my way to Brazil it will take 10 hours, 45 minutes on my ...
Wind Power for Cars; the Disempowerment of Drivers with Blinding Lights
Hi Matt:Recently I was gobsmacked by two ideas so obvious that they must be wrong...I mean, since nobody’s using them. First, I thought of wind turbines in electric cars. Propelling the car would run air ...
Why Grapes Cost More Than Raisins. What Eats Jellyfish.
Heymatt: A one-ounce box of raisins has about 110 raisins and costs about 25 cents. 110 fresh grapes costs about 98 cents. Since raisins take much more processing to convert them from grapes, which are ...
Origin of Cats' Purrs and Strange Words
Why/how do cats purr?; what’s the origin of “funny bone”? And “moron,” imbecile,” and “idiot”?; what do the numbers mean on top of high-rise helipads?
Flies on Urinals and Their Other Dirty Habits
Yo Matt,Why do so many urinals have stickers of flies in them? Although I don’t see them everywhere, I have been seeing them more frequently over the past couple years. And while we’re sort of ...
Pornography in a Nutshell
(Is a nutshell porn?)
The definition of pornography, and phenomenal food odors explained.
Word Origins: "Blackmail," "Nothing to Sneeze At," and "Spitting Image"
Plus whatever happened to the Del Mar Fair's Fairest of the Fair?
Origins of “blackmail,” “nothing to sneeze at,” and “spitting image”...and whereabouts of the Del Mar Fair’s “Fairest of the Fair.”
Beijing Duck, Mumbai Gin, and Other Name Changes
Heymatt:Who made the decision that Peking should be called Beijing and that Bombay should be Mumbai? Will we eventually see Beijing duck on a menu, or Mumbai gin in the liquor store? I’m assuming someone ...
Room to Swing a Cat, Found Marbles on O.B. Pier, Vanishing Arco Stations
“There’s not enough room here to swing a cat.” Who came up with that one? And what’s the story on the mysterious marbles of the Ocean Beach Pier? And why are all the Arco gas stations shutting down?
Local TV News is Non-News
Local TV news under the microscope after being declared “non-news” by a letter writer to Matthew Alice.
Can’t grow a meth plant. Killer tomatoes, however...
Can you grow a smokable crystal-meth plant by sprinkling the “devil’s dandruff” on an ordinary plant while it grows? Can you, can you?
Why the fat lady sings best; how to build a chocolate-covered cherry
Your Mattness: Why are opera singers fat? Maybe they’re not all fat, but some of the old school ones were whales, though they do sound better than whales. Is there some advantage to all that ...
Chickens, Breasts, and Cancer: Discuss
Gross: Do chickens get breast cancer tumors? Grosser: Can you catch cancer from eating chicken breast tumors? New subject: how about that phantom electricity?
More Phone Numbers, More Problems
When your telephone rings at 3:30 a.m., it’s the phone company. They won’t say so, but it’s true.
How smart were we back in the Stone Age?
Birds, bees, cave-babies in the Stone Age. Also, answers pertaining to left-handedness and the so-called average American.
Where Ants Go When It Rains
Where do ants go when it rains? Can man and woman live on milk and potatoes alone? Why is Antarctica a continent, but the Arctic isn’t?
Ancient Crappers, Modern Knife Laws
Matthew Alice answers the question of an enthroned gent wondering if pharaohs were buried with toilets.
San Diego's Tsunami Escape Routes
Hey Matt: I had a dream that we had a giant earthquake and the entire coast was under tsunami warning. I had to drive to Point Loma and rescue my dog. We lived on Sunset ...
On the Diamond, in the Hoosegow
Hey Matt, With baseball season just around the corner I thought you could shed a little light on something that’s been bugging me for years. Why in God’s name do baseball managers dress like the ...
When two-ply isn’t enough and light bulbs go poof
Hey Matt: Why has toilet paper technology maxed out at a mere 2-ply? Bar soap is constantly reminding us about the percentage of its moisturizer cream and I believe that there are now razors with ...
Pasteurized History
Hey, Matt: I really enjoy learning about “real” history versus what has been popularly pasteurized. As a (laid-off) 3rd generation aerospace worker I’m of course aware of the accusations of a faked moon landing. While ...
Murder with Special Circumstances?
Hi Matt! I’ve noticed, since at least the first Gulf War, the flag patches on the uniforms of American soldiers are backwards. To me, that’s weird. What’s the story? Nobody I know can fill me ...
Who Deserves a Telephonic Wedgie?
Hey Matt: Every day, seven days a week, I get odd, distracting, disruptive phone calls that drive me to drink! No, not the ones from my ex. The phone rings, I answer with my usual ...
When Is a Sardine a Sardine?
Hey Matt: There has been a question bugging me since I worked at the O.B. Pier bait shop years ago. Is there a breed of fish called a sardine, or are they called that only ...
I Say Psychopath, You Say Sociopath
Heymatt: I don’t understand the expression, “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.” Why? Too lazy? — Man’s Best Friend, via email Dogs have gotten this bad rap since the 1530s. Really. This old-dogs-new-tricks stuff ...
So, you think your boss is a psycho
Hiya Matt: I haven’t actually worked for too many bosses, so maybe this isn’t true for everybody, just for me. Out of three bosses I have had two of them turned out to be crazy. ...
