THE BIG QUESTIONS
Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit In The Sky was a record I played until it was almost worn out. Was he a one-hit wonder? – S
He was, as the single reached No 1 for two weeks in 1970, but he had no other hits.
Spirit In The Sky also reached the top of the charts in five other countries, including his native US.
Now 78, he still performs solo and as part of Dr West’s Medicine Show & Junk Band.
I’ve just read Moby Dick, a book I’ve loved since childhood, and it made me wonder – what’s the longest time anyone has ever survived being adrift at sea? – G
You have to go back to 1815 when two Japanese men, Captain Oguri Jukichi and one of his sailors, Otokichi, were rescued after spending an incredible 484 days at sea.
Their ship had been damaged in a storm off Japan in October, 1813 and drifted across the Pacific Ocean until they were rescued off California.
Their ship had been carrying a cargo of soy beans, which they ate with distilled seawater. Unfortunately, 12 of the 14-man crew died before they were found by an American ship.
Which curry would be the hottest – is it a vindaloo? – C
It’s generally thought that a phaal curry has most heat, as it is made with bhut jolokia, which the Guinness World Records described as the hottest chilli in the world.
Phaal is believed to have originated in the Bangladeshi-owned curry houses of Birmingham, where chefs often have to wear gas masks to cook the dish as the vapours are so powerful.