For the love of Spam

Rachel Hutton writing for The City Pages, an alternative (and pretty good) paper here tells us all we'd ever want to know about Spam. Apparently, there's all kinds of fun to be had with Spam:

In recent years, people have related to Spam less as a foodstuff than as a celebrity. The meat has its own poetry (Spam-ku, none of which needs to be repeated here), merchandise (neckties, fishing bobbers, onesies), and musical group (the Spam-ettes, famous for performing such tunes as "Mr. Spam-man"). There are Spam festivals (Spam Jam in Waikiki, for example; Hawaii tops the nation in Spam consumption, followed by Alaska) and Spam-carving contests (pigs and hot dogs are popular subjects). Hell, a man once proposed to his girlfriend with a Spam-can ring. (They were artists. She said yes.)

I went looking for some Spam haiku and learned that there's a whole book of Spam haiku: Spam-ku: Tranquil Reflections on Luncheon Loaf Example:

How many degrees
Can one tilt an ungreased pan
Before a loaf slips?

If you want more, and I'm sure you do, you can go here to read 19,000 Spam-kus. If you feel so inspired, you may add your own Spam-ku to the archive. There are also limericks and sonnets and other poetic forms directed to glorifying Spam.