By Chuck Shepherd
News of the Weird
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War Is Hell: The day before British army chef Liam Francis, 26, arrived at his forward operating base in Afghanistan, the Taliban shot down the helicopter ferrying in food rations, and Francis realized he had to make do with supplies on hand. In his pantry were only seasonings, plus hundreds of tins of Spam. For six weeks, until resupply, Francis prepared “sweet and sour Spam,” “Spam fritters,” “Spam carbonara,” “Spam stroganoff” and “stir-fried Spam.” He told the Daily Telegraph that he was proud of his work but admitted that “morale improved” when fresh food arrived.
Questionable Obsessions
(1) In November, Jim Bartek, 49, of Maple Heights, Ohio, announced he was ending his streak of 524 consecutive days in which he listened to the album “Nostradamus” by the heavy-metal group Judas Priest. (2) In February, Hilary Taylor, 63, of Great Yarmouth, England, revealed that she had been bequeathed her uncle Ken Strickland’s collection of 3,000 watering cans. Strickland, who also kept meticulous records of the holdings, died in January.
