Wednesday 8 February 2012
Thought for the Day from the Rt Reverend Gundy Mulch, head of the Shanty Free Church
Saturday 24 October 2009
Jack Rat Goes Live!
Great News! Shanty's highest man, 63 year old professional bird-grabber Jack Rat Hegarty has finally been connected to the internet. The landmark moment (above) was captured on camera by falling paraglider and black and white photographer Len Tubb. If you would like to speak to Jack he will be hosting a live grabbing tonight at http://www.grabbingbirds.com/
Why not drop him a line I'm sure he'd like to hear from you!
Saturday 17 October 2009
An Evening with the Bard
Inhabitants of Fiddler Isle are in for a treat tonight when the famous Bard of Stink Isle Dougg Muckspredda (left) brings his one man show to the Sprat Trap Theatre in Puffins Clout
Dougg is reknowned for his poems and traditional songs, handed down through generations of Muckspredda men, inparticular old favourites such The Owls Are After Me , My Love Lies Mangled on the Road , The Old Wooden Teeth and of course the unofficial anthem of the Shanty Isles Buckets of Muck
Doug will be joined on stage by his wife Birdd and his twin sons Coww and Pigg on turnip gourd banjos.
Interesting Factoid!!
The moniker Muck is a traditional forename applied only to the oldest families indigenous to Stink Isle. The most famous of course are the Muckspreddas (see above). Other noteworthy Stink clans include the Muckdiggas , the Muckscrapas and the Muckkickas
Today in Politics
Pro wrestler and parliamentary secretary Teg Crabb(background) looks on with interest.
Several important comprises were achieved during today's negotiations, particularily in the field of seagull farming and seaweed skimming.
Friday 9 October 2009
Geographical Points of Interest
Fiddler Isle
The biggest island. In the lively, bustling town of Puffins Clout the Shantys' have their provincial capital, their only working seaport (although there are several non-working seaports scattered across the Isles) and their seat of government, commerce and organised crime (all in the same building). The town also boasts Europes largest puffin colony with 20,000 nesting seabirds conveniently centred on the turf roof of the Parliament Building. Fiddler Isle is so named for the medieval tradition of Fiddlin' In the Dawn and is still a mecca for one-armed fiddle players who hold a festival each spring known simply as the Big F Off . The Island is also called The Big Ill or The Green Isle (on account of the mould that grows everywhere in summer)
Stink Isle
Sightseers on Stink Isle
Stink Isle is home of world's largest and oldest guano pile. Also known as Dung Isle or Crappee Rock (Old Shanto). Shanty's holiday isle
Retch Isle
Friendly farm animals abound on Retch Isle
Smallest of the main islands, Retch Isle was the landing place of the famous Fegg Wulf - and was named in honour of his first vomit on dry land. Famed for it's savage sheep and goats.
The most westerly of Shanty's big islands, or easterly depending on which way the compass is drifting on any given day. First settled in 1856 by convicts transported from Van Deimens Land. Now home to Shanty's Amish Witness Protection Scheme. Originally named Squealers and Grasses Isle but recently renamed St Barrys after St Barry of Guildford (1966- 1998) - Shanty's most recently beatified saint. A tourist from the mainland Barry was tragically killed by Amish horse and trap drivers on May 15th, or Ice Cream Cone on the Nose Day as it has always been known in Guildford.
Above - St Barry of Guildford
Tuesday 6 October 2009
A little about the place
The lush, life-enhancing warm currents of the Gulf Stream, with their resultant balmy winters and wonderful sub-tropical summers that encourage all manner of exotic plantlife to the flourish in the gardens of Britain's west-coast island communities, are totally non-existent on the Shanty Isles.
It is a long held view that the Wulf Stream is named after the famous Lancashire-Norwegian navigator Fegg Wulf (1567AD - 1597AD), first ever man to both land a ship and vomit on the shores of the Shanty Isles. This is a common mistake however as the Wulf Stream is in in fact named after it's alarming tendency for blowing Greenland ice floes full of enraged and hungry arctic wolves across the Atlantic and onto the shores of the Shanty Isles - where they are often adopted by locals farmers to protect them from their livestock and also to serve as part of Stink Isle's radical new guide dogs for the blind programme.
Above - Explorer Fegg Wulf relaxes between voyages
One of Little Venice's many seafood restaurants