Hey, Matt: There are crime-solving reality shows that use actors in the recreations who look a lot like the real criminals. Have you heard any stories in which those actors were spotted on the street …
May 1, 2003
Straight from the Hip
Archived articles
When you star on "Americas Most Wanted," you get a paycheck and a rap sheet
Sea salt scam?
G'day Matt: I was hoping you could confirm a suspicion I've got that the culinary elite are trying to dupe us or that there is a serious case of the Emperor's New Apron going on. …
May 1, 2003
Expired water?
Hi MA: Why does my bottle of Aquafina have an expiration date on it? What would go bad, the H or the two Os? -- Mort Schwartz, San Diego I think your Hs and Os …
April 17, 2003
We pulled an all-nighter to answer this one.
Hey: Settle an argument with my friend. He says cramming for an exam doesn’t work. I say staying up all night studying and going right into the exam makes the information fresh in my brain …
April 17, 2003
Why ants don’t need floaties.
Hey Matt: After watching a few serious downpours earlier this year and noticing long lines of ants along my driveway when it was dry, I wondered how they don’t drown during a big rain storm. …
April 17, 2003
Give it up for the clap!
Matt: Why do they call it the clap? Personally, I wouldn’t clap if I found out I had it…yikes! -- Gretchen, La Jolla Let’s hear it for the French! They gave us the clap. The …
April 17, 2003
Geriatric dinosaurs?
Hi Matt: Dinos got really, really huge. What was their life span anyway, on average...say, for a full-grown T. rex? They must have lived a long time to grow as gigantic as they did. -- …
April 10, 2003
"Mene, mene, tekel, parsin." And I mean it!
Mattster: What does the handwriting on the wall say? Who wrote it? What wall is it on? Is it in pencil, crayon, spray paint? Why should I care what it says? -- Pardon Me, San …
April 10, 2003
Is there an old-fashioned photo booth in town?
Hi Matt: There used to be a picture booth in the arcade inside Mission Valley mall-- one of the good, old-fashioned ones that printed a vertical column of four successive shots. My little sister and …
April 3, 2003
I love you, you love me.... I love you, you love me.... I love you, you love me...." Earworms!
Dear Matt: What's the deal with this knack we humans have for hearing a song, especially a really annoying one, and then going around with it playing in our heads all day? And why does …
April 3, 2003
Earthquake in an elevator.
Hey Matt: I was in a new mid-rise office building in Mission Valley the other day and noticed a button on the elevator marked "earthquake." So if I felt an earthquake I should push the …
March 27, 2003