“They can be clumsy mothers. We’ve got videotapes of the mothers knocking the eggs out of the nest and sending them tumbling down the cliff.” Videos also show the mothers jumping up and down on their eggs.
September 28, 1995
Thursday, September 28
Bad news from the Tijuana estuary
A question about the Reader puzzle answered
Dear Matthew Alice: My pa sez, if ya read it in the Reader, it gots ta be true. So I have enclosed the following example of mathematics [list of winners to Reader puzzle #869], and …
September 28, 1995
Olivia Newton-John's grandfather Max Born was friend of Albert Einstein
Dear Matthew Alice: Was Olivia Newton-]ohn ever kissed by Albert Einstein? — Milton F., Normal Heights Usually I don’t much care which way the facts fall. True, false; you’re right, you’re wrong — as long …
September 28, 1995
Local Manzanita tribe wants to cut itself off from Washington
The Sycuan, Barona, and Viejas casinos spent about $10,000 each to send local leaders to Washington. “Since the Sycuan [hand] has only 100 members,” the spokesman said, “we can afford to send other members.”
September 28, 1995
Thursday, September 21
Francisco Muñoz and his spectacular friendship with Erle Stanley Gardner
Jean Bethell Gardner and a few of the writer’s friends met Muñoz at Gillespie Field in El Cajon. Muñoz says they flew almost all the way to San Pedro Mártir and scattered Gardner’s remains.
September 21, 1995
Animals don't cry
Do animals cry? — Michael Lopez, Imperial Beach Uh-oh.... ROCK [me] HARD PLACE. This is potentially as volatile as those vegetarian questions. Well, here goes. Most people involved in the animal sciences will say no, …
September 21, 1995
When I can safely stop using Jr. after my name
dear matthew-alice: what are the rules concerning the dropping of the title “junior” after a name? obviously, while the father is still alive, it makes sense, but what the hell do we do with someone …
September 21, 1995
The secrecy of lethal injections in California
Dear Matthew Alice: When they put a criminal to death by lethal injection, do they swab the injection site with alcohol? —Steven R. Finz, Hillcrest Can’t believe I took this one seriously. Anyway, it’s darned …
September 21, 1995
Thursday, September 14
San Diego cricketers in exile
Practice begins at 5:30 SDCC time (that is, about 5:50) on Wednesday evening. It’s warmer than this in England, dammit. I haven’t brought my white cable-knit sweater, and I put on a grey sweatshirt, feeling vaguely illegitimate.
September 14, 1995
Alanis Morissette filmed at the Casbah
The Casbah has achieved an even higher national profile recently with MTV News's repeated airing of a puffy feature on rising young pop-rock belter Alanis "You Oughta Know" Morissette, filmed at the Middletown-club in July. …
September 14, 1995
What kind of ice to take to San Felipe
Matthew Alice: Is it possible that ice purchased in Baja melts faster than ice purchased in the United States? We were camping in Ensenada recently, and some friends said ice purchased there did not last …
September 14, 1995
The difference between a huckleberry and a buckeye
Dear Matthew Alice: In the movie Tombstone, Doc Holiday says, “I’m your huckleberry.” In the song “Moon River,” Perry Como sings, “I'm your huckleberry friend.” And of course there’s Huckleberry Hound and Huckleberry Finn. What …
September 14, 1995
Thursday, September 7
Paul Williams, Crawdaddy's daddy, now in Encinitas
Q: What are you doing in San Diego? A: The quick answer is, I fell in love with a woman who lives here. And one good thing about being a writer is, you can do …
September 7, 1995
T.C. Boyle's Tortilla Curtain
"Avedon was amazed by my hair. He kept pulling little pieces of my hair out and you see them sticking out in the picture. He had just the week before photographed the Cirque de Soleil."
September 7, 1995
Quail Gardens - the largest bamboo collection in the United States
"Most all Asian cultures eat bamboo shoots, and most all bamboo shoots are edible. The shoots of some varieties contain small quantities of cyanide, but that problem can be gotten around by cooking."
September 7, 1995
"Trucks OK" on bridge overpasses
Dear Matthew Alice: I have always wondered what the sign on bridge overpasses “Trucks OK” over the number-two lane means. — Craig J. Hamren, National City By law, trucks are not OK on highways outside …
September 7, 1995
The real Barney
Matt: Who's in that Barney suit? What are his or her acting credentials? Royal Shakespeare company? The Actors Studio? — Master Thespian, San Diego The New York School of Mime and Aggravation, maybe. Barney is …
September 7, 1995
When women started shaving
Dear Matthew Alice: Could you clear up an argument? I commented that during the love scene in The Piano, it was not authentic for Holly Hunter to have nicely shaved legs. After all, it’s a …
September 7, 1995
The famous Fish carburetor
Dear Matthew Alice: You’d be doing generations of us an immense favor if you would finally put to rest all these eternal stories of the Fish carburetors, the guy with the water-separation pill, all of …
September 7, 1995
San Diego proud VW bus owners — and the story of the Nazi mechanic
The year is 1949, Volkswagen is up and running, building Beetles for the amusement of the four people in America who know about them. Nineteen forty-nine was also the year Volkswagen began commercial production of …
September 7, 1995