Fish squeezing birds from tiny islands

I’ve just found the coolest place in the world. Amaze your friends with pointless trivia by regaling them with tales of Tristan da Cunha – the most remote inhabited island on earth. I came across it by chance, idly playing around with Google (as you do). Obviously having the narcissistic tendencies that I do (for those of you that haven’t seen me, I am truly one of God’s greatest creations ), my first port of call was Googling my own name – 3 out of the top 4 results were me (but then again, there are only 3 people in the entire world with my name).

After that I started playing around with other names, one of which was my son’s: Tristan. He didn’t get any results himself (he is only 15 months old) but Tristan da Cunha was there. Very briefly it’s a tiny island which is basically an active volcano. Its an overseas territory of the UK (damned empire builders) with a population of around 300 people all based in the one settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. It is home to both the Yellow-Nosed and Sooty albatross (in my opinion, the finest of all seabirds). This may or may not be true and I’m too lazy to check my facts but I’m sure I read somewhere that albatross, who spend a huge amount of time on the wing, are too big and unwieldy to fish in conventional ways and so sustain themselves by swooping on smaller fish-eating birds and squeezing the fish out of them, then catching it mid-air…anyways, check this out for more info if you’re interested.

On the subject of small states, one of my friends told me that all you need to start your own country is to have a piece of land that is not already claimed, a flag, a national anthem and your own stamps. This he assured me was sufficient to apply for a seat on the UN… I just Googled “start your own country” and found an amazing list of people that are trying to do just that. Have a look at www.escapeartist.com if you are frustrated with the society you live in and have some time to kill. Who knows, if Mind Itch continues to grow in popularity, perhaps one day you could come to visit the country…

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2. 200 days
3. Kiss and make up
4. Infographics as art
5. Specious meanderings