Heymatt: When we cross the border at San Ysidro, my husband always comments on how excited the drug dogs look when they're sniffing all the cars. He thinks it's because the dogs are drug addicts, …
February 12, 2004
Straight from the Hip
Archived articles
An eightball of Alpo?
The practicality of jokes
Matthew: What's so practical about a practical joke? Where did the term come from? -- AV, Golden Hill Welcome to another episode of As the Word Turns, the Matthew Alice College of Etymological Knowledge. A …
February 12, 2004
Switchpitchers
Heymatt: Were there "switch" pitchers ever in baseball history? -- J, BP Three switch pitchers played in the pre-1900 era, but the only contemporary major leaguer to do it was ex-Padre, officially listed as a …
February 12, 2004
First floor, ladies lingerie; 150th floor, parachutes, oxygen tanks
Matt: I'm building my own house. It's a pain. But it got me to thinking, what is the tallest building in the world, now that the World Trade Center is gone? -- Tool Guy, Ramona …
February 5, 2004
Rock groups
Dear Mr. Alice: When I walk on the beach, I notice that rocks of the same size seem to be clustered together. All the big ones are together, and all the small ones are with …
February 5, 2004
Tiny, tiny type
Heymatt: Are there any laws about how small "fine print" can be in a contract? Broadly speaing, where there is a legal mandate that a document, label, warning notice, etc. be legible, the standard is …
February 5, 2004
Geronimo! Splat!
Dear Matthew: The other day my wife was recounting her childhood story of how she leaped from the garage roof with her self-made parachute. She survived the crash landing but not without getting "the wind …
January 29, 2004
Happy 420, everybody!
Heymatt: Where does the term 420 come from? Does it refer to a term used by California state patrol to signal pot smoking in progress? Also the term marijuana-- I know it's a girls name, …
January 29, 2004
The myth of the white chocolate bean
Dear M.A.: What�s the deal with white chocolate? Chocolate gets its brown color from the cocoa bean. Are there white cocoa beans? -- Garret from San Diego but living in Mexico Ya know how places …
January 29, 2004
Who's got the key to the SST?
Heymatt: Do jumbo jets have keys? If so, has anyone ever lost them and delayed a flight? -- Jay, waiting on the tarmack We have so many other, more annoying ways to delay flights these …
January 15, 2004
I want my music video
Yo Matt: Why can't I buy music videos? I'd like to own Thriller and some others without waiting to see them on TV. Can you help? -- Lisa, San Diego Lisa, you're just so discouraged …
January 15, 2004