Dear Matthew Alice: Does San Diego have an official city flower? -- A Gardener, San Diego Of course we do. We don't have a modern library, but we do have a city flower. Back in …
November 4, 1999
Straight from the Hip
Archived articles
Does San Diego have an official flower?
There are street names for 7 presidents in San Diego, but why not Jefferson?
Matthew Alice: There are street names for the first seven presidents: Washington (Hillcrest), Adams, Madison, Monroe (Normal Heights), Jackson (San Diego, La Mesa), with the exception of Jefferson. Why no Jefferson? -- Carrie Hart, Normal …
November 4, 1999
What the heck is the difference between Dead End, No Exit, Not a Through Street, No Outlet, No Way Out?
Dear Fountain of Wisdom and Truth: What the heck is the difference between Dead End, No Exit, Not a Through Street, No Outlet, No Way Out, and all the myriad ways to tell drivers that, …
October 28, 1999
Why does the sun bleach things and what are the laws that cops have to follow?
Matthew: Two questions that plagued me on a drive home from LA a couple of days ago. First of all, I have this blue pad of paper on my dashboard, and during one of the …
October 28, 1999
Why are two horns worse than one horn, and what happened to the old vampires?
Matmail: Q#1: Who decided that having two horns (example, a devil) was a Bad Thing, but having only one horn (example, a unicorn) was an okay Good Thing? and Q#2: What happened to all the …
October 21, 1999
Is there a metric unit for time?
Matt: Is there a metric unit of time? -- Matty, San Diego Yesish. That's new elf shorthand for "the answer to your basic question is yes, but as usual nobody could leave well enough alone, …
October 21, 1999
What happened to the death row man that was forbidden to eat chips?
Dear Matthew Alice: Some time ago, I read with interest a story about a condemned prisoner in Washington state (I believe) who was forbidden from eating potato chips on death row because it was discovered …
October 21, 1999
What happened to the idea of pigeon-hole parking?
Dear Matthew Alice: Whatever happened to the idea of "pigeon-hole" parking? Sometime around 1954 there was a hotel in downtown Spokane that had a large framework built up against the side wall on a lot …
October 14, 1999
Will cats get jealous and harm babies, and are violin strings made from cat guts?
Dear Mr. Alice: Are "cat gut" violin strings made from actual cats? Does this explain why a poorly played violin sounds like a puss in pain? -- Lisa, Hillcrest Dear Matthew Alice: I'm about to …
October 14, 1999
What is the penalty for not having an ID and phone number at the top of faxes?
Dear Matthew Alice: I recently got my fax machine (as you can see) and the instruction manual says that under penalty of law that a phone number and identification title be at the top of …
October 7, 1999
What are the Ts for on highrise buildings?
Dear Matt: I work in a highrise downtown and on some of the windows there are these Ts on the outside of the glass. I look out the window to a nearby high rise, and …
October 7, 1999