Stupid Eating News - TGIF

[sandgk]

Must be Friday when this much silly news comes out, and its all about food.

Stinging Nettle Eating Contest

LONDON (Reuters) - A handful of hardy souls will descend on a quiet English village this weekend to stuff their mouths full of stinging nettles in a bizarre competition which started as an argument in a pub.<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>if (window.yzq_a == null) document.write("<scr\\" + \\"ipt type=text/javascript src=""http://us.js1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/lib/bc/bc_1.7.0.js></scr" + "ipt>");</SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>if (window.yzq_a){yzq_a('p', 'P=sDJJw0SOwhVm_G9wQrLBvA1nzj1pgkKzGdMACpMC&T=15aatldp5%2fX%3d1119033811%2fE%3d7666457%2fR%3dnews%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d1.1%2fW%3d8%2fY%3dYAHOO%2fF%3d287886087%2fH%3dY2FjaGVoaW50PSJuZXdzIiBjb250ZW50PSJJdDtpdDttYW4i%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3d68C28E44');yzq_a('a', '&U=139n77mjd%2fN%3dHsEXBESOxJI-%2fC%3d348749.6675465.7632181.1442997%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d2750016');}</SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>http://bc.us.yahoo.com/b?P=sDJJw0SOwhVm_G9wQrLBvA1nzj1pgkKzGdMACpMC&ampT=15gfkf03s%2fX%3d1119033811%2fE%3d7666457%2fR%3dnews%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d2.1%2fW%3d8%2fY%3dYAHOO%2fF%3d3544393111%2fH%3dY2FjaGVoaW50PSJuZXdzIiBjb250ZW50PSJJdDtpdDttYW4i%2fQ%3d-1%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3d68C28E44&ampU=139n77mjd%2fN%3dHsEXBESOxJI-%2fC%3d348749.6675465.7632181.1442997%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d2750016</NOSCRIPT>

Combatants will gather at The Bottle Inn in Marshwood, southwest England, Saturday night to take part in the 9th annual World Nettle Eating Championship.

It is a mouth-watering prospect.

Competitors must pluck and eat as many leaves as they can from the feathery, stinging plants in the space of one hour. Their achievement is measured in feet and inches -- the combined length of the bare stems they discard.

"You have to adopt the correct technique to stand any chance of winning," said Shane Pym, landlord of the Bottle Inn. www.thebottleinn.co.uk.

The championship has a short but colorful history.
It started in 1986 as a heated argument in the pub between two farmers who both claimed that the nettles at the back of their silage pits were the longest.

The landlady of the Bottle Inn intervened and declared an competition to resolve the dispute. Other farmers were also invited to take part.

Three years later, local man Alex Williams threw down a gauntlet to his rivals in the shape of a nettle measuring 15 feet 6 inches. If anyone could produce a longer one, he boasted, he would eat it.

For the next eight years, Williams was forced -- almost literally -- to eat his words. Each year, someone would step forward with a longer nettle and, each year, Williams would dutifully chomp his way though it.

In 1997, the event evolved in to a straight fight to eat the most nettles, a format which has endured until now.

The rules are strict.

Competitors cannot wear gloves and must eat the leaves of ordinary "Urtica Dioica" stinging nettles supplied by the pub. Beer is allowed but mouth-numbing drugs are strictly forbidden.

Around 40 entrants are expected to take part this year and while most of them are local farmers from rural Dorset, a few are coming from Ireland and Belgium to take part.

Last year's winner ate 42 feet's worth of nettle leaves while the world record is an impressive 74 feet.

"We've never had any serious injuries but we do have ambulance men standing by, just in case," Pym said.

"It can sometimes get a little bit contentious."

This next one has an air of the Simpsons mixed with Seinfeld about it
Aussies don't curry favor with Ghandi's heirs

Food firm in a stew over Gandhi curry <!-- END HEADLINE -->
<!-- BEGIN STORY BODY -->By Terry Friel 2 hours, 38 minutes ago



NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Mahatma Gandhi's family is pleading with the Indian government to force an Australian takeaway firm called Handi Ghandi -- "Great Curries...No Worries" -- to stop using the vegetarian pacifist to sell its food.

According to its Web site (www.handighandi.com), the company sells a range of meat and vegetarian curries -- including beef, which is sacred to Hindus and forbidden.
"It's offensive," Tushar Gandhi, the activist's Bombay-based great-grandson and head of the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, told Reuters. "It goes absolutely against all his beliefs. Using his image to sell beef curries and such doesn't gel.

"He was not a foodie."

Although he espoused vegetarianism, Mahatma Gandhi admitted to trying beef at least once to see what it tasted like.

Contacted by telephone in Australia, Handi Ghandi's Troy Lister told Reuters "it's not a good time to chat at the moment" and to call back Monday.

It is not clear if the company's spelling of the name is intentional or not, but "Ghandi" is a common Western misspelling. A handi is also a popular earthen cooking pot.

Handi Ghandi's Web site also features a line-drawing of Gandhi holding what appears to be an American-style Chinese takeout box.

The copyrighted site was only partly working Friday, but Tushar Gandhi said it also included a jingle with a male voice singing, "I am Handi Ghandi, eat my curries."

"They have tried to get somebody to sound like Ben Kingsley," he said, referring to the actor who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Gandhi in the eponymous 1982 box office hit.

Although Gandhi's name and image are protected under India's constitution and national emblems laws -- the same as the national flag -- Tushar said he had no legal recourse in Australia, where the company is legally registered.

"Sitting here in India, I can't do anything about it," he said. "But I can lobby the government of India."

Foreign companies often unintentionally cause a stir among Indians by using images of famous people or Hindu gods.

Last month, a U.S.-based Indian lawyer said he would sue a California brewery for $1 billion over a beer label showing the popular Hindu elephant god Ganesh holding a beer in his trunk.

I do love the last bit about $1 billion dollars for pain and suffering caused by the defamation of the elephantine deity Ganesh. Frankly, I think that if you have faith in a deity you surely believe that they are -- how can one say -- above this sort of thing.

And -- saving the best for last -- Muskrat -- its what's for Dinner
(I bet it doesn't taste like chicken -- or smell like fish).

Danish zookeepers find muskrats delectable

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish zookeepers slaughtered animals in their care, including more than 50 muskrats, and served the meat to unsuspecting friends and family until zoos changed their rules, newspaper Ekstra Bladet reported on Friday.

"A single muskrat serves up to four people. You just have to avoid saying what it is before your family has eaten it because it sounds disgusting," elephant keeper Peter Jensen was quoted as saying.

Nobody at Copenhagen Zoo, home to 3,300 animals and 264 species, was available for comment.

The zookeepers also feasted on antelope and gaur, the newspaper said.

"It's always a success when you can serve you friends something special," zookeeper Nikolai Rhod said, adding he had also eaten rabbits, pigs and chicken from the petting zoo.

Zookeepers in Denmark used to slaughter animals for meat until a zoo crackdown last year under which anyone caught doing so would face disciplinary action. Such practises did not break Danish law.

Now, Inquiring minds need to know ..How is it that the elephant keeper is the one who pulled Muskrat culling duty? Also it is really better than road-kill stew?

 

[ScriptOhio]

A blonde goes over to her friend's house wearing a 'TGIF' tee-shirt.
"Why are you wearing a 'Thank God It's Friday' tee-shirt on a Monday?"
"Oh crap!" the blonde says. "I didn't realize it was a religious T-shirt. I thought it meant '[censored] Go In Front'."

 

[ScriptOhio]

 

[The KSB]

When I lived in Germany every once in a while we drive up to holland and get stinging nettle cheese.

 

[ScriptOhio]

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

Somehow Script is turning this from an eating thread to a Friday/TGIF thread. Lol.

 

[OHSportsFan]

Hey man, that Boolean search is gonna do its thing

 

[ScriptOhio]