Sweet Pork Magic: Spam Turns 75

2012 is shaping up to be a helluva year for anniversaries: Charles Dickens' 200th, Chicago's 175th, the Titanic's 100th, and the reason we're gathered here today: Spam turns 75.

Ah, the peculiar meat - Spiced Ham, so they say. The blue tins have fed armies, become a Hawaiian food staple and inspired legions of haiku writers. Our favorite:

Spam volcano blows.
Stratosphere laden with pork.
Gorgeous pink sunset.

Even slack key guitar great Keola Beamer (recent strummer on The Descendants soundtrack) collects Spam haiku.

The best place to get in on the gelatinous pink action is MOMA. No, not the one in New York City. We're talking the Museum of Meat-Themed Awesomeness - aka Spam Museum - in Austin, Minn. Here, at Spam's birthplace, you can indulge in free samples (with bacon!) and try your hand at canning the porktastic slabs. The town's Spam Jam over July 4th weekend will host the big birthday blowout.

Museums for National Sandwich Day

Sure, you can celebrate November 3 with a couple slices of meat-filled bread. You can even add a piece of cake to honor John Montagu's 293rd birthday (Montagu is the 4th Earl of Sandwich, the 18th century Englishman who invented the dish as a way to eat with one hand while playing cards with the other.) But if you're serious about sandwiches, visit these Midwestern museums to pay proper homage to the holiday:

National Mustard Museum, Middleton, Wisconsin - Born of one man's ridiculously intense passion, the building houses 5300 mustards, kooky condiment memorabilia and a mustard bar to sample the spreads. CMO (chief mustard officer) Barry Levenson is usually on hand to introduce you to Mustardpiece Theatre, Shakespearean mustard references and the rest of his condiment shtick.

Spam Museum, Austin, Minnesota - Learn how the peculiar, blue-tinned meat has fed armies, become a Hawaiian food staple and inspired legions of haiku writers. What's more, you can chat up the staff (aka 'spambassadors'), indulge in free samples, and try your hand at canning the sweet pork magic.

Mythic Homerun in Minnesota

Exactly 44 years ago, on June 3, 1967, Minnesota Twins player Harmon Killebrew smacked a home run that rocketed 520 feet into the left field stands and shattered two seats. The Twins never sold tickets for those mythic chairs again.

The Mall of America now stands where the old ballpark used to be, and a chair beyond the mall's log flume (yes, the Mall of America has an indoor log flume, as well as roller coasters, minigolf course, shark aquarium and wedding chapel) marks the spot.

Killebrew died on May 17. I happened to be there May 18, and many people dropped by to pay their respects and offer flowers. A chubby 10-year-old boy stood beside me.

'Did you come to see Harmon?" he asked. 'We're gonna miss him.'

RIP, Killer.

Dylan's Duluth

Folks in Duluth are low-key about native son Bob Dylan. The Electric Fetus record shop, which was advertising a deal on Highway 61 Revisited in honor of Bob's birthday last week, sits a few blocks down the road from his birthplace. When asked if many visitors stop by to get directions, the clerk looked blankly and said, 'Dylan's from Hibbing.'

Perhaps it should be noted the Electric Fetus also sells bongs.