Hey Matt: I'm from Maine, and every good Mainer knows live lobsters are a bluey, greeny, purplish color. Why do lobsters turn red when you boil them? -- Mystified Mainer, the net The red pigment …
March 20, 2003
North America
Bluey, greeny, purpley lobsters
Young Euros Take Peculiar Vacations
Tijuana is becoming a destination for European youth looking to spend long-term stints in a new culture. But they're not coming to the border city for great weather, nightlife, or proximity to San Diego. Five …
December 5, 2002
Don't worry, be happy.
Matthew Alice: Someone told me that the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" actually was written by some Indian guru. Is this true? -- Rita, San Diego The mindless ditty, the musical equivalent of a happy-face …
November 7, 2002
Why do Canadians pay so much more for stuff than we do?
Hey, Matt: Why is it that "WE" who live in the United States need to know what "THEY" who live in Canada pay on consumer items/goods???? (i.e., greeting cards/flower vases, etc.) And why is it …
September 26, 2002
Where did they film the big wave at the beginning of "Hawaii Five-0"?
Dear Matthew Alice: I'm dying to know where the huge wave at the beginning of Hawaii Five-0 was filmed. -- Mark Plazak, La Jolla; and Paul Hunter, Clairemont; Jay Smith, North Park All you nonsurfers …
June 20, 2002
The Enron Effect
The collapse of Enron is having an impact on San Diego's own TrizecHahn USA Corp. "Enron is our fourth largest tenant," according to a disclosure report filed by the office building owner last month, "occupying …
March 7, 2002
What was the final bill for the Boston Tea Party?
Hey, Matt: How high were the taxes when the colonists finally got sick of it and dumped the tea in the brine and overthrew the British government? What would the equivalent be today? -- Herman …
February 6, 2002
If you want to see wrestling, go to Tijuana
“There were three sisters, all of them wrestlers. Two sisters married brothers who were also wrestlers.” Speaking is a man I’ll call Earl Elkin, 53, who, in the maturity of his life, found a career …
May 10, 2001
Dopey
An alleged drug dealer from San Diego is acting as his own lawyer in a Providence, Rhode Island, federal court, where he's charged with moving thousands of pounds of marijuana from California to Rhode Island, …
February 8, 2001
She said, he said
After Larry's death, Kelley moved into Crown Manor, the lavish eight-bedroom mansion with 17 bathrooms on the Coronado beachfront that Larry had built for Shelia. Then, in April 1999, the couple had a son.
February 8, 2001
Best of 2000: Best Border Hike (Mexico)
Chichi de la India Peak Between Tecate and Mexicali The south-of-the-border volcanic peak variously known as Chichi de la India and Cerro Teta de la India looks pleasingly just as it should from vantage points …
Why was Elmira, New York the burial place for Mark Twain? Why was Charles Lindbergh buried in Hana, Maui?
Matt: I was driving through New York State on vacation recently and passing Elmira, New York. I learned that it was the burial place of Mark Twain. Do you know why? Of all the places …
September 14, 2000
Journey to Baja's Sierra de San Francisco, where larger-than-life, centuries-old pictographs decorate canyon walls
Frozen on stone for centuries, the larger-than-life cave paintings of humans and animals in Baja's Sierra de San Francisco hover over the thousand or more awe-struck visitors who come to see them in a typical …
September 7, 2000
Check in at Hotel Internment
A wicked Hungarian count tries to seduce a pubescent American blonde. A resort manager falls hard for a German baroness. Hitler masterminds the slaughter of millions. There are love ballads and some tap dancing. When …
July 6, 2000
Animal Magnate
The former director of the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe has quit his job as head of the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk amid reports he executed a secret settlement agreement with the …
June 8, 2000