You too can get Behind the Scenes at the Royal BC Museum

You too can enjoy the privileges and pleasures of going Behind the Scenes at the Royal BC Museum. Part 1, on the Natural History collections, opened this morning, a great ceremony capped off by young Master Jack Campbell who looks to be destined for childhood stardom on screen or stage perhaps. The exhibit is an impressive testament to the natural history sciences within BC and all the people who have managed those treasures since 1886. Congratulations RBCM!

Warriors in the City public art fundraising campaign for 2011-2012, how about it BC Lions Society?

Update of June 24, 2010:

A highly reliable source in the Royal BC Museum confirmed for me today that the BC Lions Society has taken up this suggestion, which was also made by a RBCM staffer, and that the Warriors in the City will be standing guard in Victoria probably some time in 2011 to coincide with the exhibit.

Original post of January 29, 2010:

The Royal BC Museum is one of the four Canadian venues in the exhibit The Warrior Emperor and China's Terracotta Army that begins at the Royal Ontario Museum on June 26, 2010. Visitors to the Victoria Bay Centre, a downtown shopping center, may recall the shopping mall version of these clay pieces. This touring exhibit, however, is the real deal courtesy of the Chinese government. The RBCM will host the army of clay in late 2011-early 2012.

As part of that exhibition I'd like to encourage the BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities, who are currently sponsoring the Eagles in the City fundraising campaign, to consider the possibility of replicating either a warrior or perhaps a horse for a Warriors in the City fundraiser. Previous public art exhibits of this nature by the BC Lions Society included Orcas In The City and Spirit Bears in the City (the URL http://www.spiritbearsinthecity.com/ gave a MySQL database error when I tried it on January 28, 2010). The RBCM had sponsored the Eternal Egypt Orca which was decorated by staff member and artist Adrienne Aikens.

Outdoor Photography Canada photo caption winner

Looks like a caption I submitted for a humorous photo won the day at Outdoor Photography Canada.

RIP Martin Gardner, 1914-2010

The Skeptics Society's eSkeptic email newsletter brought me the sad news this morning that Martin Gardner, founder of modern sketpicism, passed away on May 22, 2010. Here's a Google News search that will bring up all news items about this extraordinary polymath. And here is the Amazon.com author page on Martin Gardner. If you've not had the pleasure of his essays, The Night Is Large: Collected Essays, 1938-1995 (1997) is one place to start.

Lost, the Movie

How long before we see a Lost movie based on the TV series that ended its six year run on May 23, 2010?

[polldaddy poll=3250135]

CHEK TV interview, fleeting 5 seconds of fame about VIH heli lift of RBCM new HVAC equipment

I was down around the Royal BC Museum early this morning to watch and photograph the VIH helicopter lifting the museum's new HVAC equipment on to the roof of the exhibits building. A CHEK TV cameraman approached me for an interview. I'd talked to him earlier and he asked who I was, so I guess he thought I'd make an interesting talking head. It was all of 5 seconds or so that aired, but I was misidentified as another fellow he interviewed who appeared before I did.

The story appeared on the CHEK TV News at 5 pm on May 16, 2010. The story is currently online under the title "Museum Lift". Due to the way WordPress.com handles security, I'm unable to embed the video into this post.

Royal BC Museum gets bitten by the blogging bug at last

The Royal BC Museum Blog, hosted by Google's Blogger service, in case you had not yet heard, is out there on the blogosphere. The first post by Tim Willis was on March 10, 2010 and the most recent by archivist Ann ten Cate, all about a bathroom fetish, was on May 12, 2010. The RBCM is also on Facebook and YouTube.