Greetings again from England!  I finally managed to get some photos sorted out, so I can really immerse myself in my duties as @DNB's Foreign Correspondent!

Notice me proudly sporting my Shadwear in front of Big Ben, the famous clocktower that dominates the Parliament Buildings in London.  I was really stunned when I first saw it; the building is beautiful, and much more ornate and colourful than any picture can ever do justice to.  

And here I am, on the same day, in front of Churchill's War Bunker, which is not far from Buckingham Palace.  It wasn't open to visit at that time of day, so I have made a mental (and now virtual) note to go back and visit as soon as I can!

And here is my favourite London attraction so far - the Tower of London!  This building is the White Tower, which was built in the 1070s!  No, that's not a typo, that's literally when this tower was built, making it nearly a thousand years old.  The Tower was made particularly famous in the 1400s and beyond, when it was used as a prison for political prisoners, traitors, and most famously the second wife of King Henry VIII, Anne Boelyn, who was beheaded after being convicted of treason, on very dubious charges if you ask me...  The spot where she (and many others) were executed is marked by a very interesting glass sculpture, which lends the whole place a very ominous, ghostly feeling.  


The Tower is also the home of the famous Crown Jewels, and the world's largest diamond (530 carats!) which is part of a sceptre in the collection.  Of course, for security reasons, you can't take pictures inside the room where they are contained, but I would say that they alone are worth the trip to London from anywhere in the world... they were really quite stunning.  The majority of the Crown Jewels had to be re-made in the 1660s, after the Monarchy was overthrown and then re-established, so most of the jewelry dates from that time.


Okay, that about covers things for this installment.  While I am loving all the history here, I have to admit that I miss beautiful North Bay, which has its own rich and complicated history as well!


Posted by: Kyle

Oh - I wanted to add that @DNB's own Whitney, the Kidz Dayz coordinator at the musuem, gave me a mini-lesson on building an Inukshuk one day this summer, so I put that knowledge to good use, and built this one in front of my house here.  I hope that it's a message to all Canadians that my house here is a safe and welcoming place for them to be!  Thanks for the lesson, Whitney!

Kyle: I read your post!

And, in response, as I wait for tonight's sold out Haunted Hike to get underway, I thought I'd start off the 'shadwear around the world tour' on your behalf:

Pictured here:
Shadwear; Burk's Falls, Ontario

Prior to heading towards the airport, Kyle and I stopped at a friend's cottage, close to Ahmic Harbour.  While stopped, we went to see the largest art exhibit that I've ever seen: 'Screaming Heads'. 

If you want more information about this exhibit, check out http://www.mmage.com/screamingheads/main.htm
Even though the site isn't as up to date as it could be, it is still a good portrayal of Peter Camani's vision.

I'm looking forward to your pictures, Shadman!

Posted by: Kim

Hi everyone!  I am glad to see that the staff at Discovery North Bay have been so keenly updating the Blog since my departure (I say, tongue firmly in-cheek). 

Well, for the three or four of you reading this, you'll be happy to know that I have taken my show on the road, and have arrived safely in London, UK (no, not London, Ontario) and have already begun taking in the history here. 

Yesterday, I visited the Tower of London.  Sadly, I can't prove this with pictures, as I don't have a camera (yet) and have been relying on some new friends to take my pictures for me.  I guess the point of this, though, is to say that I have already begun my plan to spread Shadwear across the Globe.  You know those stores or shops that have pictures of people with their t-shirts/bags/funny toys/whatever, in front of world landmarks?  Well, I want to do that with Shadwear.  So, soon enough, I will be posting some photos of my favourite t-shirt, in front of some of my favourite London locales.

But anyway, the Tower of London was spectacular.  Really something else.  It's been a lifetime dream of mine to see the Crown Jewels, which are housed at the Tower in a super-secure vault designed just for the purpose of allowing visitors to come in without taking any of the jewels as souvenirs.  The verdict: They are amazing. 

The Tower itself is also quite incredible.  It's much larger than I had ever thought it would be, and quite varied in form and function.  Its most famous function was that of a prison, but did you know that it was never built for this purpose?  It just happened to be a very good place to keep prisoners...

Okay, that's all I have for today.  Prove to me that you're reading this, and leave me a comment! 

Posted by: Kyle, @DNB Blog Foreign Correspondent

I have been doing a lot of "lasts" lately.  My last visit to Nipissing University, my last meal at Twigg's, my last Lake Nipissing sunset, and all that... Well, the reason for that is that today is my last day of work at the museum, and in fact my last day in North Bay - though I have to add the caveat "for now".  I fully intend to return to my adopted home city, and even while I am away, I plan to contribute to the museum in any way possible.

So, this is not "Kyle's Last Blog Post."  Just my last as a local correspondent.  Jokingly, I have been promoted to "Foreign Correspondent", and intend to resume my position as a Blogger from my new country, the United Kingdom. 

Keep your eyes open for these new international posts!

In the meantime, just because today was my last day doesn't mean that it was a slack day... In fact, we managed to accomplish a lot here... See the posts below for more details!

FInally!  After years of being a student at Nipissing, I got to see the groundbreaking ceremony for our new Library!  It was nice to be able to do this in my capacity as a museum employee, as there is already a strong community connection between Nipissing University, Canadore College, and @discoverynorthbay.

In the picture here you can see the ceremonial groundbreaking taking place, with our local Member of Provincial Parliament, Monique Smith, taking the place of pride at the centre.  With her are former Nipissing President Dennis Mock, current President Lesley Lovett-Doust, and Canadore College President Barbara Taylor. 

This was my last visit to the Nipissing campus for quite some time - I was sad to walk away from so many wonderful friends, but I am very proud to have learned so much at this institution. 

You can read more about research memberships for student by following this link!

I asked Mayor Vic and Monique Smith for a quick photo before we left.

Posted by: Kyle

I love that there is never a dull moment at DiscoveryNorthBay. Today I was giving a museum tour, and to my surprise we discovered a cute little furry bat above our observation car photo booth. It was brought to my attention when one of the tour goers asked if the bat was real or fake. Down town has a large community of bats, as of yesterday we purchased a bat house, but we have yet to hang it up. We think our little buddy was just looking for a warm place to call home.

Here is a picture of myself and Kim assessing how we could capture our little friend. Eventually I placed a canvass bag inside the butterfly net, because I feared the bat could get tangled and injure itself. So with my new fashioned bat catching device and a ruler, I encouraged the bat into my device. With a few squeaks the bat entered the device, and I escorted the bat outside, and set it free. We had fun taking some pictures of our little friend

Everyone's favourite giant African snail, Friday, visited the museum today, to help us with a Green Legacy program this afternoon.  I can't believe that he didn't make it to the observation car for a photo before today... He is without a doubt, the first snail to be photographed here.
Kyle has brought his pet into the museum on many different occasions, whenever a snail might be relevant to our programming, and he is always a huge hit!

Wednesday was an exciting day for North Bay's war enthusiasts, as the Lancaster Bomber from World War Two landed at the Jack Garland Airport, and was open for the public to see.
Kyle and I were just finishing up an outreach program at the Near North Youth Center, and were lucky enough to see the plane circle the area, and then take a closer look once it landed.  I personally found it very moving to see the WWII veterans there, with the look of recognition on their faces.  Kyle even over hear someone say 'Still sounds the same...'.
I was completely taken aback at the size of the plane... This was the first time I have been able to truly appreciate this type of artifact, first hand.  They look much much smaller in textbooks.  In the picture below, you can even see some imperfections in the exterior of the plane, presumably from one of the plane's many battles.