Well, it's been far too long since I dropped a line in my role as Foreign Correspondent to Discovery North Bay, but that's because I have had a distinct lack of news to share.  Until now.

As you can see, I have been spreading my Shad-y (not shady) message around the European continent.  Aside from the fact that I am sitting on my couch wearing my blue Shadwear T-Shirt, this picture is of my in my black one, at Blarney Castle!

Some of you may be familiar with the legendary Blarney Stone at the castle, which - when kissed - is said to give the lucky kiss-giver the "gift of the gab."  The thing is, for some reason they built this stone into the bottom edge of the top part of a wall... does that make any sense?  No.  Okay, I'll try again - they put the stone in the bottom of the fortification, but that fortification is at the top of the wall.  So, in order to kiss it, you need to hang upside-down, while grasping these two bars installed just for your comfort.  I was feeling a little roughed-up by the guy who was working at the Stone that day, so I got nervous and after I kissed the stone, I got up really fast - too fast.  So fast that I smacked my forehead against the very stone I had just laid a kiss on.  The resulting bump earned the nickname Blarney Bump.

Here is a longer shot of me in front of Blarney Castle.  You remember how I was describing the location of the stone?  Well, if you look at the picture, there are three windows in the wall, one on top of the other (more or less)?  Well, above the third one is approximately where the Blarney Stone is.  It is oddly placed, for a stone with as much legend and mystery as ... well, any stone which has been kissed by the likes of Winston Churchill AND me!