identify the capitals of all or any US states

I think that's one advantage of living in a small country - one is forced to learn more about bigger ones. I think I could still name at least 30 state capitals, probably 3 or 4 Canadian provincial capitals, and most European national capitals. The drawback is that this national inferiority complex means that like most NZers I know shamefully little about the hstory of my own country. On the other hand, I once saw an American tourist interviewed on television upon arrival in Auckland who was stunned to learn that the Sydney Harbour Bridge did not link Sydney and Auckland!

"Nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of humanity" - Albert Einstein