What happened with Ladybird Johnson’s Highway Beautification Act? How do fleas breed? How much do political ads cost candidates?
October 24, 2012
Straight from the Hip
Archived articles
Highway billboard rules; how fleas breed; the cost of political ads
Where Crows Fly, How Squid Are Caught, and the "Toots" That Rhymes with "Puts"
Heymatt:Last September you said that ravens go “somewhere” at the end of the day to go over the day’s events, or something to that effect. I live in Spring Valley and at sunup I see …
October 10, 2012
Yoga May Be More Swedish Than Indian; and College Area’s Eruv
Heymatt:Massage has been an effective therapy for thousands of years. It started a long time before there was a country called “Sweden.” So, how come it’s called “Swedish massage?” — E. Gregor, University City It’s …
October 3, 2012
Air travel in the jet stream; why your specs can't be glued
Hey Matt:I got my tickets yesterday to fly from Los Angeles to São Paulo, Brazil, at the end of the year. On my way to Brazil it will take 10 hours, 45 minutes on my …
September 26, 2012
Moonshine Whiskey Tales and Fly Stories
How moonshine is made and why we call a zipper a “fly”
September 19, 2012
Wind Power for Cars; the Disempowerment of Drivers with Blinding Lights
Hi Matt:Recently I was gobsmacked by two ideas so obvious that they must be wrong...I mean, since nobody’s using them. First, I thought of wind turbines in electric cars. Propelling the car would run air …
September 12, 2012
Big League Zebras; the Speed of Thought
Referee college and the speed of thought (uncorrelated).
September 5, 2012
Linda, They Hardly Knew Ye
Matthew Alice’s identity stolen for 30, 40, 50, 60, or 70 years.
August 29, 2012
Why Grapes Cost More Than Raisins. What Eats Jellyfish.
Heymatt: A one-ounce box of raisins has about 110 raisins and costs about 25 cents. 110 fresh grapes costs about 98 cents. Since raisins take much more processing to convert them from grapes, which are …
August 22, 2012
Origin of Cats' Purrs and Strange Words
Why/how do cats purr?; what’s the origin of “funny bone”? And “moron,” imbecile,” and “idiot”?; what do the numbers mean on top of high-rise helipads?
August 8, 2012
Flies on Urinals and Their Other Dirty Habits
Yo Matt,Why do so many urinals have stickers of flies in them? Although I don’t see them everywhere, I have been seeing them more frequently over the past couple years. And while we’re sort of …
August 1, 2012