I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Compliments of the Season

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"I have it here in my museum" [BLUE]</h4>
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While you enjoy the holiday today, however you celebrate it, we have the good fortune to wish you "the compliments of the season." [BLUE]<br />
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In the spirit of the season, we have two gifts for you, both taken from our archives. It isn't that we're too lazy to publish anything new (you'll likely have seen our activity over the past few days, and will see more in the week ahead), but rather that we have such a treasure trove to choose from.<br />
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<a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/12/arrived-upon-christmas-morning-blue_25.html#.VnjRCBUrLb1" href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/12/arrived-upon-christmas-morning-blue_25.html#.VnjRCBUrLb1">"The Bloo Sparkly"</a> is "The Blue Carbuncle," as told via animated GIF. It's entertaining, irreverent and worth your time.<br />
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If you're in the mood to curl up and listen to a good conversation about the wonderful story that is "The Blue Carbuncle," take a listen to <a data-cke-saved-href="http://ihose.co/ihose49" href="http://ihose.co/ihose49">Episode 49: I'll Have a Blue Christmas</a>.<br />
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Both of these gems from the past are bonny things and will put a smile on your face for the holiday.<br />
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In the meantime, thank you for your support throughout the year.<br />
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Compliments of the Season

"I have it here in my museum" [BLUE] While you enjoy the holiday today, however you celebrate it, we have the good fortune to...

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by Scott Monty

A Sherlock Holmes Christmas Carol

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<span style="text-align: start;">"I thought it was his ghost at first" [NOBL]</span></h4>
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[<b>Editor's note:</b><i> This is the second in our series of Christmas posts. Mattias Bostrom, BSI ("The Swedish Pathological Society") was kind enough to submit this, and even though we typically don't publish stories, we thought this was too unique to pass up.</i>]<br />
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<br />
Sherlock Holmes was dead. There was no doubt whatsoever about that. His body had disappeared after falling down the Reichenbach Falls, locked in the arms of Professor Moriarty, ending up deep down in a dreadful caldron of swirling water and seething foam. Any attempt at recovering his body had been absolutely hopeless. <br />
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The real murderer was, of course, Dr A. Conan Doyle, who had got tired of his fictitious character, wiped him out with his pen and ink and made sure that the master detective was no more. <br />
<br />
Conan Doyle – oh! what a cold-hearted man he was, selfishly he had put an end to the joy of hundreds of thousands, and cowardly he had left his country only days before his decision was made public. And now, he walked the streets near the Kurhaus Hotel in Davos in Switzerland with something akin to a smirk on his face. A white frost had settled on his head, and on his eyebrows, and on his large waxed moustache. <br />
<br />
At close quarters, however, he wasn’t smiling at all. His smile had frozen. His wife had fallen ill, and the dry and crispy Alpine air was a better alternative than the damp winter climate of London.<br />
<br />
It was just a fortnight since the readers had opened the <i>Strand Magazine</i>, only to find that Sherlock Holmes was gone, never to return. The news spread like wildfire. Not even on the streets of Davos was Conan Doyle safe from comments upon his deed.<br />
<br />
  ‘If I didn’t kill him, he would have killed me,’ Conan Doyle defended himself to an English acquaintance he happened to meet on the snow-covered street.</div>
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  ‘Bah!’ said the fellow Englishman. And, ‘Humbug!’ he added.<br />
<br />
Conan Doyle tried to reply, but the man was gone. Instead the author entered the post office. The Swiss woman who sold him stamps looked suspiciously at him.<br />
<br />
  ‘You brute,’ she muttered.<br />
  ‘My good woman, I invented Holmes,’ said Conan Doyle. ‘What I then do with him is a decision for me – and not for the entire mankind – to make.’<br />
  ‘Bah,’ she said to herself. And, ‘Humbug.’<br />
<br />
Conan Doyle walked straight out, forgetting to post his letter to the Ma’am. Snow had started to fall. An elderly gentleman came towards him and barely had the man opened his mouth before Conan Doyle exploded and waved his right forefinger in the direction of the man.<br />
<br />
  ‘Don’t you, too, go bah and humbugging me!’<br />
  ‘I’m very sorry, sir,’ said the old man in a weak and hoarse voice, ‘I had no intention at all to do that. I just wanted to tell you that you happened to drop a letter when you walked down the steps from the post office. A merry Christmas!’<br />
<br />
And Conan Doyle intended indeed to have a merry Christmas, although the dark clouds were gathering in his life. He went back to the hotel, to spend the rest of this Christmas Eve with Touie, his wife.<br />
<br />
The evening passed, and the night came. The light snowfall turned into an intense storm, and no one dared go outside. Touie went to bed and was soon asleep. Conan Doyle himself was wide awake, listening to the creaking sounds around him, staring upwards in the dim light from the fading glow of the fire. Above him was a plaster ceiling, and when he looked really hard he thought he could make out some of the pattern. It took the form of a hawk-like profile. No! It couldn’t be. Not Sherlock Holmes. He closed his eyes, but he still saw the profile. He opened his eyes and the sight was gone.<br />
<br />
A few minutes later he heard a sound from the hotel room door, as if someone was knocking very softly. It must be midnight, who could that be? He got up from bed and went over to the door. He opened it – no one was there. It must have been the storm that made it creak. Strange. Back to bed then. As he did so he caught a glimpse of something moving just outside the window, in the snowstorm. But the room was on the second floor! Oh, it was nothing but an image of himself, mirrored in the glass.<br />
<br />
He lay down on the bed, but heard another tapping sound. Not from the door this time. He tried to locate it. It came from the window. He went back, and stood there watching the storm outside and saw nothing apart from his own mirrored silhouette. He stood there, silently staring at himself, when the head in front of him slowly turned to one side, and he saw its hawk-like profile. It was located on the outside; he could see how the snow fell through it.<br />
<br />
He jerked backwards. Looked again. Now he could only see his own image in the glass. His mind was playing tricks on him.<br />
<br />
  ‘My dear Doyle,’ someone said behind him, a voice both hollow and sharp. He had never heard that voice in real life, only in his own head, but he knew it all too well.<br />
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Conan Doyle turned around. No one was there. Or rather, that was his first impression, but then he noticed the shape of a man, a thin slice of fog, floating in the dusky room. But a fog with dead-cold eyes.<br />
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  ‘Who are you?’ said Conan Doyle.<br />
  ‘I seem to be your lingering nightmare.’ <br />
<br />
Conan Doyle was a tall man, but this figure grew even taller. <br />
<br />
  ‘What do you want with me?’ said Conan Doyle.<br />
  ‘You are a clever man, Doyle, you can deduce it.’</div>
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  ‘I’m not that clever. If you are the one I believe you are, you are the clever one.’<br />
  ‘Only because you made me like that. But you are wrong. I am not the clever one. I was. Don’t you remember? You killed me, Doyle.’<br />
<br />
The author shook his head. ‘Impossible, because you’re fictitious. You never lived!’<br />
<br />
  ‘And yet I’m dead, standing here in front of you as a ghost.’<br />
  ‘I don’t believe in spirits.’<br />
  ‘Then maybe, my dear Doyle, it’s time for you to start. Once you do, spirits will eventually be the only thing you believe in. We do exist, you know. My friend the late Professor Moriarty is quite upset with you as well.’<br />
  ‘Your friend Professor Moriarty?’<br />
  ‘He turned out to be rather a decent man after all – or, should I say, after death.’<br />
<br />
Conan Doyle raised his arms in front of him, as if defending himself against the unbelievable. ‘Stop,’ he said. ‘Please, stop this nonsense. You are a figment of my imagination, we both know that. You have always been that, that’s what you are right now, and who you will be forever on. I don’t know what you are after, but whatever you say can’t hurt my mind.’<br />
<br />
  ‘I know,’ said the Ghost and floated closer, his voice but a whisper. ‘But your heart.’<br />
  ‘Sorry?’<br />
<br />
Conan Doyle looked puzzled.<br />
<br />
  ‘Come, if convenient,’ said the Ghost.<br />
  ‘If inconvenient?’ Conan Doyle wondered.<br />
  ‘Come anyway.’<br />
<br />
The Ghost put out its strong hand as it spoke, and clasped Conan Doyle by the arm. They made towards the window.<br />
<br />
  ‘I am a mortal,’ Conan Doyle said, ‘and liable to fall.’<br />
  ‘Trust me,’ said the Ghost. ‘I know a few things about falling. And I have no reason to kill you. Come Doyle, come! The game is afoot!’<br />
<br />
As the words were spoken, they passed through the wall, and stood on a street in front of a three-storey house. The darkness, the storm, and the snow had all vanished. The sun was shining, it was a spring day.<br />
<br />
  ‘Good Heavens!’ said Conan Doyle, clasping his hands together, as he looked about him. ‘It’s Bush Villas. I used to live here! And not that long ago, actually. Although it feels like an eternity.’<br />
<br />
A woman came out of the door.<br />
<br />
  ‘Why, it’s Touie!’ Conan Doyle exclaimed. ‘Touie! Touie! She can’t hear me? Oh, we are not really here, I see. She looks so young. And healthy.’<br />
  ‘She was young. You were too. You know what day this is?’<br />
  ‘No. It seems like any day. Life back then was a long row of routine. Waiting for patients to knock on the door, writing short stories to afford the basic things. But we had each other, and we had a place to call our home.’<br />
  ‘This is not just any day,’ said the Ghost. ‘For neither of us.’<br />
<br />
The Ghost waved his hand, and they stood inside the house. The woman and her husband were having dinner. He looked at her and smiled.<br />
<br />
  ‘You seem so happy today, Arthur,’ the wife said and returned the smile. ‘Any new stories?’<br />
  ‘I just had the most excellent idea,’ said the husband. ‘You remember me talking about my old professor, Joe Bell, and his marvellous powers of observation and deduction?’ <br />
  ‘You will make a detective based on Bell.’<br />
  ‘Exactly!’ said the husband. ‘How did you know that?’<br />
  ‘It’s elementary, my dear Arthur. You have brought your notes to the dinner, you can’t take your eyes off them, and, you know, I do have the gift of reading upside-down.’<br />
  ‘Oh, Touie, maybe I should write about a lady detective instead.’<br />
  ‘I think your ideas are better,’ she said and nodded at his notes. ‘But those names – Sherrinford Holmes and Ormond Sacker – you can do better than that. You always go for so odd names – Octavius Gaster and such. Call that other fellow Watson or something plain for once.’<br />
<br />
The Ghost started to raise his hand. Conan Doyle stopped him.<br />
<br />
  ‘Can’t we stay here for a while, please,’ said the author. ‘I had forgotten about this moment. It’s dear to me.’<br />
  ‘One more minute,’ the Ghost replied. ‘This is after all a very special moment – for me, too. It’s not often you get to see your own birth.’<br />
<br />
They stood there in silence, while the man and the woman continued their dinner. Not a word was spoken at the table. Everything the married couple said was said through glances.<br />
<br />
  ‘Now is the time,’ said the Ghost and waved his hand.<br />
<br />
They were in a sitting-room.<br />
<br />
  ‘Where are we?’ Conan Doyle wondered.<br />
  ‘In half a million different places.’<br />
  ‘I don’t understand,’ said Conan Doyle.<br />
 ‘You will.’<br />
<br />
There was a man, about forty years of age, sitting in an easy chair near the fireside. There were Christmas decorations on the mantelpiece. The man was reading a magazine.<br />
<br />
  ‘When is this?’ said Conan Doyle.<br />
  ‘A few nights ago.’<br />
  ‘Who is he?’<br />
  ‘Anyone.’<br />
  ‘But why are tears running down his face?’<br />
  ‘Oh, Doyle, you are such a cold-hearted man,’ said the Ghost. ‘You understand nothing. The other day you wrote in your diary, “Killed Holmes”. You must be blind. Look what you have done!’<br />
<br />
The man’s wife entered the vision.<br />
<br />
  ‘He’s dead,’ said the man.<br />
  ‘I know,’ the woman replied. ‘I know. I heard about it at the butcher’s this morning. I didn’t know how to tell you.’<br />
  ‘We can cancel our subscription now,’ he said.<br />
<br />
The man and the wife stood close to each other.<br />
<br />
Conan Doyle searched for words.<br />
<br />
  ‘I didn’t …’ he began. ‘Sherlock Holmes is …’ He looked at the Ghost. ‘You are my creation.’<br />
  ‘And you have brought an entire country into national mourning. You see, you are not just the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. You are also God in your created world, the unseen power behind everything. And what a maker does, that affects people – inside that created world, but also on the outside, among the mortals. There must not be such a thing as a selfish God, who makes decisions out of his own desires, that would entirely ruin the balance and make the pain of the created world explode out into the real world. I’m not a religious man, and you know that, of course, so the God I’m talking about is just a normal man, but a man with total power. And such a God must understand the power of his own decisions. But I forgive you, I think you simply didn't know.’<br />
<br />
Conan Doyle stood silent. There was a look of sorrow in his face. As if something inside him had changed.<br />
<br />
  ‘I can live with being a Ghost of myself, but can you?’ the Ghost said, and then he waved his hand. The room was gone.</div>
<div>
They stood in front of an iron gate. Conan Doyle paused to look around before entering.<br />
<br />
A churchyard. Trees were overshadowing them, yellow leaves were falling down.<br />
<br />
The Ghost stood among the graves, and pointed down to one. Conan Doyle advanced towards it trembling.<br />
<br />
  ‘Is it mine?’ Conan Doyle said. He didn't dare to look at the tombstone.<br />
  ‘Is it of any importance?’ the Ghost replied. ‘We will all die. Just look at me.’<br />
<br />
Conan Doyle turned to the dim figure and laughed. ‘Holmes, I'm starting to like you.’<br />
<br />
  ‘As you once did.’<br />
  ‘Well, actually I have nothing against you personally, believe it or not. It's all about me. I need to know who I am without you.’<br />
  ‘Fair. Let's make a deal, Doyle. I give you ten years.’<br />
  ‘Why?’<br />
  ‘To figure out who you really are,’ said the Ghost. ‘I think you need ten years for that.’<br />
  ‘And then what?’<br />
  ‘Then you will revive me,’ said the Ghost.<br />
  ‘But what if I don’t want to do that? How can you know that I am going to bring you back from the dead?’<br />
  ‘It was you who said it. That I am the clever one. And do you really doubt Sherlock Holmes?’<br />
  ‘No, I suppose not.’<br />
  ‘In the autumn of 1903, ten years from now,’ the Ghost said, ‘Sherlock Holmes will rise from the dead – never to die again. I have no problem with being dead for a decade, because after that I will turn eternal. Such will be the power of your future decision. The forces you unleash when you bring me back will give me an everlasting life of crime-solving. The world of fiction will be forever thankful.’<br />
<br />
Conan Doyle was deep in thought when he happened to look at the tombstone. He smiled.<br />
<br />
  ‘I thought it was my grave,’ he said. ‘Where exactly are we?’<br />
  ‘In your mind, I think,’ the Ghost replied.<br />
<br />
On the tombstone was the name of Sherlock Holmes, and the year of his death. <br />
<br />
Conan Doyle made a decision. He was going to make a deal with Sherlock Holmes.<br />
<br />
He looked at the tombstone again. The text had vanished.<br />
<br />
  ‘But will it not be boring to be a Ghost for ten years?’ said Conan Doyle.<br />
  ‘With all this new Spiritualism going on in your world, I will have enough work just exposing fake spirits in my own.’<br />
<br />
They began to walk back to the iron gate, side by side.<br />
<br />
  ‘It was a pleasure to meet you at last,’ said the author.<br />
  ‘Merry Christmas, my dear Doyle,’ said his creation.<br />
<br />
The Ghost waved his hand and it was all dark again. Conan Doyle lay in his bed at the Kurhaus Hotel. Outside the storm had disappeared and the night was calm.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12zAUjiIco-71Ql7HEU4pyIX6m-aAy2BjMxM3QH76D3x-su2tDan3jTybyMaigzBk4lZxzj-mDLMPtZN2iZ6HNqlcWt0mEB6bMvi5rOb-lSm3YjO2JK-EsRXAsA6TeUtw1MiqoKOJbreO/s1600/dividing+line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="24" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12zAUjiIco-71Ql7HEU4pyIX6m-aAy2BjMxM3QH76D3x-su2tDan3jTybyMaigzBk4lZxzj-mDLMPtZN2iZ6HNqlcWt0mEB6bMvi5rOb-lSm3YjO2JK-EsRXAsA6TeUtw1MiqoKOJbreO/s320/dividing+line.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I had a nightmare, the Englishman thought when he woke up. And such an elaborate one. Ever since childhood he had had similar dreams. His older brother Mycroft had them too. Complicated, detailed fantasies, with an intriguing beginning, an investigative middle, and a surprising end. Nothing like any dreams he and Mycroft had ever read about. None of the Holmes brothers were especially good story-tellers, they both relied too much on facts, so these dreams were not stories, they were pieces of information put together in a logical and definite way. They felt so real, but were full of fantastic things. He couldn’t understand how he could believe in them while sleeping. It was a relief to wake up to a real world where no ghosts need apply.<br />
<br />
He knew of the author of historical novels, Arthur Conan Doyle, because Watson had mentioned meeting him at some club. But this! He had no idea how that man had entered into his mind. It was such a strange dream. Probably an effect of Watson’s writings, in which both of them had turned into fictitious characters, almost. Good old Watson, he missed him. Two and a half years had passed since that day at the Reichenbach Falls when he had had to leave Watson behind. When Professor Moriarty had plunged to his death, and he himself had fled to Tibet, without a word to anyone but Mycroft.<br />
<br />
The sunbeams reached his bed. After the cold night it was already beginning to get warm in the room. The Sudan heat could be unbearable.<br />
<br />
He put his feet on the floor. It was cool. There was a stack of books on a table next to the bed, brought there from the Khalifa’s private library. The Khalifa probably wanted him to feel as if he were at home, in England, because all of the books were popular English ones. The one by Dickens he had read the previous evening. For some reason he had never read it before, but when he realized that yesterday actually was Christmas Eve, it had felt appropriate.<br />
<br />
Which of course meant that today was Christmas Day, not like any Christmas Day he had experienced before. He looked out through the window and saw the confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile at distance.<br />
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  ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,’ he said to himself and turned his head to one side. A hawk-like shadow fell on the wall.<br />
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A Sherlock Holmes Christmas Carol

"I thought it was his ghost at first" [NOBL] [ Editor's note: This is the second in our series of Christmas posts. Matt...

+ Read more »

by Mattias Boström

Celebrating Christmas on Baker Street

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"metal dangling down as an ornament" [REDH]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjhRmFOF6Epy04oWIlvrDKiXCw5dzRYOslXCmg0MZP1VV2IhUfsppun9LySNv76Pa44m0f0ClQIrCdciTjRse2HmOGUn8pUrutXYthAExsO_RIEg_cR9hznrv46aKSYwT1Jkjgyfv7GgD/s1600/Blue+Carbuncle+Christmas+Dinner+cropped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes and David Burke as Dr. Watson in "The Blue Carbuncle"" border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjhRmFOF6Epy04oWIlvrDKiXCw5dzRYOslXCmg0MZP1VV2IhUfsppun9LySNv76Pa44m0f0ClQIrCdciTjRse2HmOGUn8pUrutXYthAExsO_RIEg_cR9hznrv46aKSYwT1Jkjgyfv7GgD/s640/Blue+Carbuncle+Christmas+Dinner+cropped.png" title="Blue Carbuncle Dinner" width="640" /></a></div>
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Last year, we brought you stories and images courtesy of Peter Blau, BSI, 2s. ("Black Peter") that highlighted his Sherlockian Christmas tree and many of its unique and Canonical ornaments. [If you'd care to see them and listen to the origins, it's available as <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose72" target="_blank">IHOSE Episode 72: Sherlockian Tannenbaum</a>.]<br />
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But we had embarked on a different project in 2013 when <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/12/sherlockian-decorations-abound.html" target="_blank">we asked our readers to submit pictures</a> of their Sherlock Holmes-inspired Christmas ornaments. However, that never saw publication. While we'd like to think we were following Dr. Watson's judgement in "The Sussex Vampire" — in which he noted that the case of the giant rat of Sumatra was "a case for which the world was not yet prepared" — the reality is that we were not prepared to do all of the necessary editing during the Christmas season.<br />
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This year, we're happy to say that we're all caught up and we're planning five days of Christmas-related content, of which this is the first.<br />
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<h3>
"I took it up gingerly" [SIGN]</h3>
For many people, gingerbread men and gingerbread houses are just as much a part of Christmas as fruitcake, goose and egg nog. This first entry dates all the way back to 2010 from an entry on Susie Day titled "<a href="http://susieday.com/2010/10/23/221b-bakery-street/" target="_blank">221B Bakery Street</a>" and it features the likenesses of Sherlock and John:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8C_V8yh5pktxHr3XoQGa4AYZ-QzYgd4agOz8y9JxNvUFW0EPIqWuwaWWguxblosevWCf3QIazhj3sCczhahEQEg1s_p3v3okrTsb21uDeEZdeXP-xkoVGozY10f4veUTfP6-cKrCX19U/s1600/gingerbreadsherlock1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8C_V8yh5pktxHr3XoQGa4AYZ-QzYgd4agOz8y9JxNvUFW0EPIqWuwaWWguxblosevWCf3QIazhj3sCczhahEQEg1s_p3v3okrTsb21uDeEZdeXP-xkoVGozY10f4veUTfP6-cKrCX19U/s640/gingerbreadsherlock1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then we were delighted to find a gingerbread creation by Peggy Perdue, BSI ("Violet Westbury") on her Facebook page, which she called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/peggy.perdue.52/posts/10204397535490422" target="_blank">221G Baker Street</a>. The entire thing is edible, according to Peggy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqKcrq7LHe3P6rxI1Kkt0WHFK6XBjCCWWV3HLBfkKaG0fZWh3IaxsS3_qnB3FcaVeZ20fCnvAwr6p_FjqPr7b58KCF7jQGkI7h4ph-ccCag_DeI293qCvA5Yisaweo6TqVF5DkRt6mX0t/s1600/Peggy+Perdue+221G+wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqKcrq7LHe3P6rxI1Kkt0WHFK6XBjCCWWV3HLBfkKaG0fZWh3IaxsS3_qnB3FcaVeZ20fCnvAwr6p_FjqPr7b58KCF7jQGkI7h4ph-ccCag_DeI293qCvA5Yisaweo6TqVF5DkRt6mX0t/s640/Peggy+Perdue+221G+wide.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6pGYbHTHfnTlQI5SzfMnn7-jVVm-SZis7uJ36DRVDOQu6Ph3F0nVDWiRa6Q2yLKZw-ZIesm0aPqByDhKtCLRTSzpfjXAtajDP0HTGchdAVzAqAw0RBUlgf5goaMFjIHVFb3dSkzHTeSp/s1600/Peggy+Perdue+221G+aerial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6pGYbHTHfnTlQI5SzfMnn7-jVVm-SZis7uJ36DRVDOQu6Ph3F0nVDWiRa6Q2yLKZw-ZIesm0aPqByDhKtCLRTSzpfjXAtajDP0HTGchdAVzAqAw0RBUlgf5goaMFjIHVFb3dSkzHTeSp/s640/Peggy+Perdue+221G+aerial.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The details are impressive, from the correspondence transfixed to the mantel with a jack knife, to the blue carbuncle and the goose, to the bearskin rug, the boxing gloves, the portrait of General Gordon and the updated Reichenbach Fall scene over the fireplace.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPO7hfnrtIWGtcCV78vAk1KJ9pGBVfncoyuIQBuSRRVzbHyhyaIb6mvnHwFdUrBn1yuDYbXvG0Gf7fNM1oCaWinJnOyJZRMYiyJs-p4Nd9t5KR-B5n8piLT1F-76MZgD-dzA3Vi23Sz523/s1600/Peggy+Perdue+221G+closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPO7hfnrtIWGtcCV78vAk1KJ9pGBVfncoyuIQBuSRRVzbHyhyaIb6mvnHwFdUrBn1yuDYbXvG0Gf7fNM1oCaWinJnOyJZRMYiyJs-p4Nd9t5KR-B5n8piLT1F-76MZgD-dzA3Vi23Sz523/s640/Peggy+Perdue+221G+closeup.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<h3>
"They were ornamented" [SUSS]</h3>
Our call for Sherlockian ornaments netted many contributions via email, but we also picked up a few via Facebook.<br />
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Ray Betzner, BSI ("The Agony Column") shared some classics:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MdPn01zyHDl7Q9qDZa3JVKCGHfWFbwML_ko6CjI2X85mGEV1FeFGFbQ1S7Rq5LLTsfmyb78lnp9f7ht4gqWhdjYQ7GzajSHrxYlb-gxLjfRkL9bUH1rc3Fe8OGO2dN9MTf5ZxsVF_Hio/s1600/Ray+Betzner+-+Peggy+Henry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MdPn01zyHDl7Q9qDZa3JVKCGHfWFbwML_ko6CjI2X85mGEV1FeFGFbQ1S7Rq5LLTsfmyb78lnp9f7ht4gqWhdjYQ7GzajSHrxYlb-gxLjfRkL9bUH1rc3Fe8OGO2dN9MTf5ZxsVF_Hio/s640/Ray+Betzner+-+Peggy+Henry.jpg" width="567" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jTXH9ZxNL84ca_VnTbQY9fno9GiE1nEWRLxZK7Av8mbkLQDXpiJ18ExA-jZyQ3_It2L-kuU3bqhCgI1AVuALFyjbFIqeGuVNlY7sH2FX2tOe_dsPhM7YILCoaYFUOIZ3_j3r6nUrkJhJ/s1600/Ray+Betzner+gas+lamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jTXH9ZxNL84ca_VnTbQY9fno9GiE1nEWRLxZK7Av8mbkLQDXpiJ18ExA-jZyQ3_It2L-kuU3bqhCgI1AVuALFyjbFIqeGuVNlY7sH2FX2tOe_dsPhM7YILCoaYFUOIZ3_j3r6nUrkJhJ/s640/Ray+Betzner+gas+lamp.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNy6V28O1cE-gcu1s8Ys8t4zMXCPHuQlpo3NCzF59uQeylzBtEsf5l5c4A8w9xSCCTc_WrbbuEH6xJoMpU51yq5yiM5psZh3Dt7L3xSG0TLhZ7__EpQ2nwx85xu6BZtpxh_0FTbsQp-WpG/s1600/Snoopy+%2526+Woodstock+%2528Betzner%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNy6V28O1cE-gcu1s8Ys8t4zMXCPHuQlpo3NCzF59uQeylzBtEsf5l5c4A8w9xSCCTc_WrbbuEH6xJoMpU51yq5yiM5psZh3Dt7L3xSG0TLhZ7__EpQ2nwx85xu6BZtpxh_0FTbsQp-WpG/s640/Snoopy+%2526+Woodstock+%2528Betzner%2529.jpg" width="568" /></a></div>
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And this rather unique decoration came from Ray as well. Ray writes on Facebook:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"This is a figure known as 'El Caganer', a traditional addition to Catalan region nativity scenes. The figure is traditionally a peasant, but in recent years there have been versions modeled after popular entertainers and other contemporary figures. This figure shows Sherlock dropping trou and emptying his bowels (I'll save you the posterior shot), and is one of the more unusual pieces in my collection."</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUmaXEvXimuC8ODVm32QEEfkeDSaulsY3t4Ko_IaDJfEQsuN2S2s4oapHtvhzrTo3flDEkBlbtarUjRKBWM9qriVamMLWxEWY45SsBIqKHiqhKj9EQNeJ-vFZFwCg33u04IX-Y6cst181/s1600/Ray+Betzner+No+Sh-t+Sherlock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="No sh*t, Sherlock" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUmaXEvXimuC8ODVm32QEEfkeDSaulsY3t4Ko_IaDJfEQsuN2S2s4oapHtvhzrTo3flDEkBlbtarUjRKBWM9qriVamMLWxEWY45SsBIqKHiqhKj9EQNeJ-vFZFwCg33u04IX-Y6cst181/s640/Ray+Betzner+No+Sh-t+Sherlock.jpg" title="No shit, Sherlock" width="426" /></a></div>
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John Linsenmeyer, BSI ("Tobias Gregson") sent along this traditionally clad duo:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcgTUcjQDcP9Ppt3gbpmGopRwfh5jGvueOY7_jXvxCiR67ms0w5DWOWXaoFxunY5Zzw_2H0pZEH7j-FfjtV7gvAClPUl7CTRb7FnFSBKIBtihT5r4USJO-h9zo5bZaA5iE3XJTSjaJfVa/s1600/Linsenmeyer+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcgTUcjQDcP9Ppt3gbpmGopRwfh5jGvueOY7_jXvxCiR67ms0w5DWOWXaoFxunY5Zzw_2H0pZEH7j-FfjtV7gvAClPUl7CTRb7FnFSBKIBtihT5r4USJO-h9zo5bZaA5iE3XJTSjaJfVa/s640/Linsenmeyer+2.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZqfaVAIwJyTG_vE7-rRbIikcRBn9If27ZmeU2bQa9TY-IY77hbfU9uVCYTVBB4r5gLbExMbK6ZkeeOv6Y1AP84qQwX2OSeRQxAjhfvauage89wv4_F5nuOzRfNz3hpmSqylvQM52RZTn/s1600/Linsenmeyer+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZqfaVAIwJyTG_vE7-rRbIikcRBn9If27ZmeU2bQa9TY-IY77hbfU9uVCYTVBB4r5gLbExMbK6ZkeeOv6Y1AP84qQwX2OSeRQxAjhfvauage89wv4_F5nuOzRfNz3hpmSqylvQM52RZTn/s640/Linsenmeyer+1.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br />
Scott Meyer sent us a snap of a rather unique ornament. He writes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"[This is] a homemade Sherlock Holmes ornament given to me by my sister in law Christian Terrell, who is a local artist. It is a sphere connected to Victorian era-ish house key on a 221b key chain, and the sphere contains small notes with the names of each of the canonical stories."</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7ZZTLPmof7ARHKTZPxRDnB94TIVmiP4EVHwKuCwzPuvkwT6PbgiIE6db9M0qfACmoL8kX74KM0agsm3LIKLzZLexwIzA5zXGzsIDo_If80BTzxaAWU13x8fs4VuNr7nkwbkbg22ngjdQ/s1600/Scott+Meyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7ZZTLPmof7ARHKTZPxRDnB94TIVmiP4EVHwKuCwzPuvkwT6PbgiIE6db9M0qfACmoL8kX74KM0agsm3LIKLzZLexwIzA5zXGzsIDo_If80BTzxaAWU13x8fs4VuNr7nkwbkbg22ngjdQ/s640/Scott+Meyer.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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Harrison "Terry" Hunt, BSI ("The Something Hunt") tells us that this was a gift from one of his wife's daughters and her family — "hand-blown glass and cloth, made in Italy."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAtO00jbimtm1w44vw-59DVBIbH-nty1ajOFm-RRaa9PokWoWeiHfDkiS_ed8nAml5jzZras1vYeBlsr5_IiBhyphenhyphenWC6em-OOeNlGV0c1rIVkrfe0DNAd9Bsj_uz2yJc055ZRkFN8ZWwJ33y/s1600/Terry+Hunt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAtO00jbimtm1w44vw-59DVBIbH-nty1ajOFm-RRaa9PokWoWeiHfDkiS_ed8nAml5jzZras1vYeBlsr5_IiBhyphenhyphenWC6em-OOeNlGV0c1rIVkrfe0DNAd9Bsj_uz2yJc055ZRkFN8ZWwJ33y/s640/Terry+Hunt.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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David Marcum sent us an email just after we went live with this update:<br />
"...our fireplace mantel, with my very first deerstalker (the first of many), retired and hanging in a place of honor (see left side), and Bosson figurines at the top of Holmes, Watson, and Professor Moriarty - they're there all the time. But this time of year a Christmas village magically appears, along with a few protective Nutcrackers (including one that looks something like a mustachioed Holmes). And of course, the Professor puts on his festive Santa hat . . . ."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AWsUYJc51IHhmsGjVBOWzipodHrX5tTYv6UhCBIlE0uS8nmjviy1iE_Km8EVYVq_nUwLET3Sn5BbxToi4HX2EduIvY1pK4OQUjpTDYLmbuHFlhwOPOcar4qlTnk2ePkixR86IZWCg_Tx/s1600/Christmas+Mantel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AWsUYJc51IHhmsGjVBOWzipodHrX5tTYv6UhCBIlE0uS8nmjviy1iE_Km8EVYVq_nUwLET3Sn5BbxToi4HX2EduIvY1pK4OQUjpTDYLmbuHFlhwOPOcar4qlTnk2ePkixR86IZWCg_Tx/s640/Christmas+Mantel.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moriarty looks thrilled, doesn't he?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 David continues:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I have worn deerstalkers as my regular and only hat, from fall to spring, since I was 19 - and I'm 50 now, so that's a long time to be representing the deerstalker in public. But on Christmas Day, I wear it this way."</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkUZb91-2tQAwvIY-eJkqtImVtRe4WjkqdxJ0ZgvebHDx5vORYbU60sjJQMcjP6Q3ZVKlnKGG73BmhfuNn5et09jfBVIkcW84kSWLTfihJxuHzYxwkT6LtBgLzKUWPJy5lOJd-ePGCN1g/s1600/My+Christmas+Deerstalker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkUZb91-2tQAwvIY-eJkqtImVtRe4WjkqdxJ0ZgvebHDx5vORYbU60sjJQMcjP6Q3ZVKlnKGG73BmhfuNn5et09jfBVIkcW84kSWLTfihJxuHzYxwkT6LtBgLzKUWPJy5lOJd-ePGCN1g/s640/My+Christmas+Deerstalker.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And finally, here are a few shots from our own collection:<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/_n1L8sgpGe/" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Sherlock Hemlock, the world's greatest #Christmas ornament!</a></div>
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A photo posted by I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere (@ihearofsherlock) on <time datetime="2015-12-23T05:19:59+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Dec 22, 2015 at 9:19pm PST</time></div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/_n01pRgpF6/" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Bearlock Holmes is on the case. #Christmas</a></div>
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A photo posted by I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere (@ihearofsherlock) on <time datetime="2015-12-23T05:16:56+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Dec 22, 2015 at 9:16pm PST</time></div>
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A photo posted by I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere (@ihearofsherlock) on <time datetime="2012-12-24T20:19:41+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Dec 24, 2012 at 12:19pm PST</time></div>
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Celebrating Christmas on Baker Street

"metal dangling down as an ornament" [REDH] Last year, we brought you stories and images courtesy of Peter Blau, BSI, 2s. (...

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by Scott Monty

Grammar Mistakes in the Original Sherlock Holmes Stories

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"'Queer grammar!' said Holmes with a smile"  [3GAB]</h4>
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<br />I come today to chide the author of the Sherlock Holmes tales, but it is only fair to mention some of his good qualities first. Indeed, I have often pointed to Arthur Conan Doyle Dr. John H. Watson as a paragon of English prose style, and others have done the same. <br /><br />"There was no mistaking the ingenuity of the plot, the limpid clearness of the style, the perfect art of telling a story," wrote Herbert Greenhough Smith, the editor of the Strand Magazine when the Holmes short stories arrived on his desk in 1891. Lyndsay Faye, whose own detective stories have received more than a few compliments, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/interview-author-lyndsay-faye-on-art-of.html">observed in an interview earlier this year</a> that </div>
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"Doyle's style is so readable that people fail to notice how technically contradictory it can be. It's straightforward in meaning, but full of Victorian flourishes; its details are subtly painted, but the subject is trained killer snakes." </blockquote>
<br />And, she added, it's maddeningly difficult to emulate ACD convincingly. </div>
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"Language… has to be Victorian, but never antiquated, and that's difficult. Some of the sentences in the canon last two or three words, and others smoothly sail along for thirty or so. Many people simply cannot hear the voice." </blockquote>
<br />Amy Thomas, herself the author of three Sherlock Holmes novels (though not in the Watsonian voice) <a href="https://girlmeetssherlock.wordpress.com/2015/06/22/being-watson-appreciating-the-genius-of-sir-arthur-conan-doyle/">made similar comments in her blog</a> a few months ago.<br /><br />And back in 2004 an entire little book appeared, <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1552465802" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="0307c9d771f78b47880c5d4fa6a7669a" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Looking Over Sir Arthur's Shoulder" href="http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Over-Sir-Arthurs-Shoulder/dp/1552465802/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=0307c9d771f78b47880c5d4fa6a7669a&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_9025466" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Looking Over Sir Arthur's Shoulder</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_9025466" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=0307c9d771f78b47880c5d4fa6a7669a&_cb=1450501639077" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, by Charles Press, attempting to analyze readability, "balance between realism and romance", plot, character, humour, and many other factors that made the Holmes stories so successful in the 1890s that they are still admired now. <div style="color: black; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 12pt;">
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<br />Accepting Doyle Watson as a narrative genius, then, and his prose style as the platonic ideal of how English should be written, I find myself wishing that these authors had said a little about a specific element of style, namely grammar. I assumed for many years that the grammar of the Holmes narratives — the Canon, as we call it — was impeccable, except of course when the author was rendering the conversation of imperfectly educated persons such as Kitty Winter ("she don't know") and Sam Merton ("Madame Tussaud ain't in it"). A more complex example of this phenomenon is found in <i>The Valley of Fear</i>, when Jack McMurdo, as he is calling himself, demands rhetorically: "Do you think there is no weaker brother among all our lodges that could not be bought?" A few minutes' cogitation will, I think, confirm that this sentence contains a double negative, contradicting McMurdo's intended meaning, but the error probably sailed right over the head of the wicked (though eloquent) Boss McGinty.<br /><br />Lately, I have come to realize that in the 660,382 words of the Canon, there are no fewer than three — three! — grammatical errors that must be attributed to the author rather than to faithful rendition of the speech of imperfectly articulate characters. Let me quote these three horrors, abridging the sentences without altering their structure:<br /><ol>
<li>"Framed in the bright light of the open doorway, it seemed to McMurdo that he had never seen a more beautiful picture" (<i>The Valley of Fear</i>). </li>
<li>"He must either sacrifice details which are essential to his statement and so give a false impression of the problem, or he must use matter which chance, and not choice, has provided" ("The Cardboard Box").</li>
<li>We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way to Leatherhead" ("The Adventure of the Speckled Band").</li>
</ol>
<br />I was an English teacher only briefly, and an editor for most of my working life, so I will not cite definitions from the 672-page Oxford English Grammar, and will, as we say, cut to the chase. The first sentence is correct only if what was framed in the light of the doorway was "it"; in other words, we have here a dangling participle. The second sentence has redundant words leading to a faulty parallelism: "He must either sacrifice… or use" would be sufficient, without the second "he must". And the third sentence has a different kind of parallelism problem, in which the first and third elements of the sentence are clauses, while the second can hold up its head beside them only if "paid our fare" is amended to "we paid our fare".<br /><br />But you, as a discerning reader, recognized the errors the moment you read them, didn't you? I wish I'd spotted them sooner, rather than after some fifty years of reading the Canon over and over. Maybe it's true that you only see what you're looking for.<br /><br />--</div>
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Grammar Mistakes in the Original Sherlock Holmes Stories

"'Queer grammar!' said Holmes with a smile" [3GAB] I come today to chide the author of the Sherlock Holmes tales, ...

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by Chris Redmond

You Could Win Big on Our Next Quiz Show

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"the strange old book collector" [EMPT] </h4>
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We're pleased to continue the tradition of "Mental Exaltation," the quiz segment on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, thanks to the masterful writing abilities of our quizmaster Nick Martorelli. If you'd like a flavor of how this works, you can listen to <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose85" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 85</a>, in which Nicholas Meyer played on behalf of a lucky contestant (at about 1:45:00).<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/235434208&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">If you've listened to NPR shows like </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Weekend Edition Sunday</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, you'll know that there are opportunities for listeners to participate in quizzes. In the former, a guest typically plays on behalf of a listener; on the latter, the listener plays live on the air.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Here's how "</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Mental Exaltation</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">" works:</span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">
<li>Each month, we'll post a qualifying question to determine a listener who'll play / be played for on the program. Winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries.</li>
<li>If you'd like to enter, you must <a href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub&publisher=445106&sitescope=45933" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">subscribe to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere by email</a>.</li>
<li>We'll either have a guest play on your behalf or we'll patch you into the show to have you play over the phone or Skype.</li>
<li>If your player or you succeeds in passing the test, you'll win a random item from our I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Grab-Bag of Goodies (that's the IHOSE GBG).</li>
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In our very next episode (Episode 87), our guest will be Otto Penzler, owner of the Mysterious Bookshop and editor of the recently released <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1101870893" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="7b0780e607391977353b1a8592ba0fa1" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes" href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Sherlock-Holmes-Stories/dp/1101870893/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=7b0780e607391977353b1a8592ba0fa1&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_8043657" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_8043657" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=7b0780e607391977353b1a8592ba0fa1&_cb=1450413302041" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101870893/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1101870893&linkCode=as2&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=VBMPI7KCZPH3SL75" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1101870893&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thebakerstree-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1101870893" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
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<b style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18.2px;">Qualify now</b><br />
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You Could Win Big on Our Next Quiz Show

"the strange old book collector" [EMPT] We're pleased to continue the tradition of "Mental Exaltation,...

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by Scott Monty

Here Are Your #BSIWeekend Tips

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<b>"I think we had better do as you suggest" [SPEC] </b></h4>
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<span style="text-align: center;">With the </span><b style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bsiweekend.com/">BSI Weekend</a></b><span style="text-align: center;"> coming up, we thought it might be helpful to provide a series of tips for the veteran attendees and the newbies alike.</span><br />
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The <a href="http://bsiweekend.com/" target="_blank">Baker Street Irregulars (and Friends) Weekend</a> is happening January 14-16, 2016, and it's usually a pretty big deal if you're taking time out of your life to head into New York City for 3+ days of activities with people you haven't seen in a year (or years!) or those you may only know online. Whether you're making the trip for the first or twenty-first time, you know that the Weekend provides the same level of excitement, anticipation and giddiness as Christmas morning does to a child.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/4181746031/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="twis-05 by Scott Monty, on Flickr"><img alt="twis-05" height="240" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2549/4181746031_de7435af0b_m.jpg" width="188" /></a>It's usually during those anxious moments that our brain-attic tends to forget some of the essentials that help make a great trip perfect. And for the uninitiated, it's just a matter of not knowing what you need to survive the Baker Street Irregulars (and Friends) Weekend.<br />
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This is our fourth annual installment of this post — the first of which was inspired by interviewing several members of the Baker Street Irregulars — including some newer members who might have a less distant memory of their first Weekend, and some who have been at it literally for decades. Information has been updated to reflect changes in the city as well as in technology.<br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6321981775136876837" name="more"></a>While we know how many well-informed and helpful readers we have, we were quite astonished at the quality and quantity of suggestions that can make the BSI Weekend an enjoyable and stress-free one for you. And if there are any additional tips that you think would be helpful to attendees, please feel free to add your own as a comment below. And if you'd like a sense as to what happens, listen to <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose74" target="_blank">Episode 74</a>:<br />
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Herewith the suggestions:<br />
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Bags</h4>
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<li>Make sure that you have plenty of room to bring home books that you bought. If you have to bring an extra bag that you can fold up and put in your suitcase, do so. </li>
<li>Some suggest bringing a plastic shopping bag to the BSI dinner, as it makes carrying the dinner packet around a little easier, especially if you plan to go to another venue afterward. </li>
<li>You might also consider bringing a shopping bag to the Merchants Room on Saturday to carry your various purchases. </li>
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Meeting Others</h4>
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<li>Bring business cards. You will be meeting a lot of new people, and you will be sharing contact information. Put as many as you think that you will need in your pack, and then double it. And be sure to include all modes of contacting you, including website, Twitter handle, etc. </li>
<li>If you're in need of a good card, the <a href="http://moo.com/">Moo</a> does a splendid job and <a href="http://vistaprint.com/">VistaPrint</a> has a fast turnaround time. </li>
<li>If you want to make sure you get your table mates to sign your menu, bring a pen to the dinner. </li>
<li>Allow yourself time to shmooze with other Sherlockians. This is the fastest way to make new friends, who will quickly become old friends. </li>
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Comportment / Etiquette</h4>
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<li><b>Do</b> tell people how good it is to see them again. <b>Do</b> tell them that you miss them in the intervening months between BSI weekends. <b>Do</b> tell them how invaluable they are to you as a Sherlockian comrade-in-arms and friend and how much you value their friendship. </li>
<li>If you're scheduled to speak at an event, be mindful not to overdo the alcohol beforehand. Dutch courage is usually inappropriate in such circumstances. </li>
<li>In this hyper-connected world, it's easy to forget that there are those attending the weekend for whom "it is always 1895" — or nearly so. When you're taking photographs, please be mindful of those who are firmly rooted in the 20th century and who might not want to appear on your Facebook timeline by asking their permission to share your photos of them online.</li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Attire</h4>
<ul>
<li>Bring comfortable shoes. The weekend inevitably includes a lot of walking. </li>
<li>This one is especially for the ladies:, it's useful to have a change of shoes in your handbag so the stilettos don't murder you by the end of the evening (or vice versa). </li>
<li>Bring warm clothes. It is winter in New York, and non-Sherlockian New York friends say they know when we are in town because we bring really bad weather. </li>
<li>Dress in layers. Many times the weather can be cold, but there have been instances in New York in January when we could - and did - comfortably walk about the streets without even a jacket on. </li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Money</h4>
<ul>
<li>Bring small bills. They will come in handy as you share taxis going from place to place, and you’ll find them handy when tipping helpful service employees. </li>
<li>Bring a checkbook to the Merchants Room as not everyone takes credit cards and you may find an item you must have. </li>
<li>If you see something you're interested in at the Merchants Room and you can afford it, don't wait until your second sweep of the room - it will probably be gone by then.</li>
<li>The BSI table will accept <b>credit cards, PayPal and Apple Pay</b>.</li>
<li>Estimate, on the top side, what you expect to spend – and double it. That might get you through. </li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Time</h4>
<ul>
<li>If you have any health conditions, allow yourself time to go back to your hotel room for periodic rests. Many find these rests invaluable, enabling them to enjoy the weekend despite their condition.Schedule your time. </li>
<li>Know when you need to be places (including when you need to catch the train/plane back home). </li>
<li>Count on it taking some time to get a cab amongst the other Sherlockians on 10th Avenue after the Gillette Luncheon. If the weather is not inclement and you’re fairly healthy, you may find a brisk walk from 19th Street to 45th Street a way to burn off those calories. </li>
<li>After the Gillette Luncehon, you might also consider walking the High Line just above 10th Avenue — head uptown to 34th Street and rest up by using a MetroCard on the crosstown bus to connect with subway lines at 8th Ave./7th Ave./6th Ave. 34th Street local/express stations or at Park Avenue for 33rd Street local up to Grand Central Station.</li>
<li>Alternatively, download a ride-hailing app (such as Uber, Lyft or Via) to help you avoid these waits. See below for more details.</li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Getting Around</h4>
<ul>
<li>Print out a street map of the city with the places you need to be circled or otherwise identified. Many things are within walking distance, but it is good to know you are starting out in the right direction (or know when to turn). </li>
<li>If you're smartphone-enabled, there are plenty of map apps to choose from. Aside from the standard Google Maps, there's <a href="http://citymapper.com/" target="_blank">Citymapper</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gogobot.gogodroid.cityguide.newyorkcity" target="_blank">Gogobot's York City Guide for Android</a> and iOS has the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/new-york-travel-guide-offline/id319296365?mt=8">New York Travel Guide and Offline Map</a> by Ulmon.</li>
<li>Download and print the <a href="http://www.bsiweekend.com/2013/11/summary-of-weekend-events.html#sthash.xS12f57r.dpbs">Summary of Weekend Events</a> from <a href="http://bsiweekend.com/">bsiweekend.com</a> (and seen below), or bookmark it on your smartphone. </li>
<li>If you want to go to Otto Penzler's <a href="http://mysteriousbookshop.com/" target="_blank">Mysterious Bookshop</a> and are staying at The Yale Club or the Roosevelt the easiest, quickest and cheapest way to go is by subway. From Grand Central take a 4 or 5 express train <b>two</b> stops to City Hall Station; it is a very short walk over to Otto's. Don't take a local (which makes 10 stops). The express is about five minutes. </li>
<li>Pool funds with others to buy regular per-ride <b><a href="http://web.mta.info/metrocard/mcgtreng.htm">MetroCards</a></b>. These can be shared by up to four people on each trip and are good for one transfer between subway/bus or between buses on uptown/crosstown routes within 2 hours.</li>
<ul>
<li>If you're 65 or older, present ID for a reduced fare MetroCard — $2.75 for two rides with the same transfer provisions noted above. <b>Note:</b> a 65+ MetroCard <b><i>cannot</i></b> be shared and you must find a live 'token booth' clerk to inspect your ID — reduced fare not available in machines.</li>
<li>If you reach the end of the Weekend with a balance on your MetroCard, return to New York more frequently! Or give your card to local-area Sherlockians.</li>
</ul>
<li>Download a ride-hailing app such as <a href="http://uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a>, <a href="http://lyft.com/" target="_blank">Lyft</a> or a similar service. </li>
<ul>
<li>We recommend <a href="http://ridewithvia.com/" target="_blank">Via</a>, which runs from 6:30 am - 9:00 pm and costs only $5 per ride anywhere in Manhattan. Use the code <b>scott5q3</b> to sign up and get a free ride.</li>
<li>If you'd like a code for Lyft, use <a href="https://lyft.com/i/SCOTT726787">SCOTT726787</a> to sign up and receive a $50 credit towards rides.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<h4>
Logistics</h4>
<ul>
<li>Bring your event payment confirmations, just in case of a glitch in the system. </li>
<li>Also, everything is pretty centrally located, but it's a good idea to have a list of your schedule with the addresses of the venues so that you don't suddenly find yourself asking, where the devil am I supposed to be right now? </li>
<li>The heat during the BSI dinner has been uncomfortable in years past in the Yale Club (potentially dangerously uncomfortable 4 years ago) -- if this continues, vests/waistcoats are not advised. Unless you're <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcaric/8379354330/">Mattias Bostrom</a>. </li>
</ul>
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The Unscheduled</h4>
<ul>
<li>If possible, make breakfast plans with other Sherlockians (unless you eat breakfast alone) </li>
<li>To some, the secret to enjoying the jam-packed weekend is to find private, unpublicized events for more intimate interactions. How to find these? “You know my methods. Apply them.” </li>
</ul>
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Dining</h4>
What? You’re not getting enough food between events? Thankfully there are gaps that allow a Sherlockian to venture places on his or her own. And of course, there are plenty of restaurants in and near Grand Central Station, which is in great proximity to the Yale Club and the Roosevelt Hotel.<br />
<ul>
<li>Several Sherlockians like to go to the Oyster Bar for dinner after the Thursday night lecture. </li>
<li>There is a Cosí across the street from the Roosevelt, at 38 East 45th Street, and of course Starbucks in the station and at nearly every corner. </li>
<li>For a more comprehensive listing of eateries nearby, <a href="http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2013/07/where-to-eat-near-grand-central-station-nyc.html" target="_blank">Serious Eats has a guide</a> that breaks them down by category and of course <a href="http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=restaurants+near+grand+central&find_loc=New+York%2C+NY%2C+USA" target="_blank">Yelp has many suggestions</a> as well. </li>
<li>And heaven forbid, don't forget about the <a href="http://www.redflamenyc.com/">Red Flame</a>, the perennial favorite next door to the Algonquin Hotel on W. 44th Street.</li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Online</h4>
Whether you're in New York for the festivities or sequestered at home, it might be worthwhile to follow along online. Some ways to do that:<br />
<ul>
<li>The official hashtag of the BSI Weekend on Twitter is <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23bsiweekend&src=typd">#BSIWeekend</a>. We have a feed set up on the <a href="http://bsiweekend.com/" target="_blank">BSI Weekend website</a>, or you can simply follow along by clicking on the hashtag, or even on <a href="http://tweetdeck.com/">TweetDeck</a>. </li>
<li>We'll be providing occasional updates on these pages, so please follow along. </li>
<li>Of course, we'll also be providing updates via our <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock">Facebook</a> accounts. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.bakerstreetbabes.com/">The Baker Street Babes</a>, who will be out in force during the weekend, will undoubtedly have a unique real-time perspective of the weekend. </li>
<li>We also have a <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock/lists/sherlockians">list of Sherlockians on Twitter</a> whom you might consider following. A number of them will be at the weekend as well. </li>
</ul>
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<br />
Here is a handy downloadable and printable guide for the weekend; you may also bookmark it on your smartphone for easy reference (or download the Scribd app [<b><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fscribd-worlds-largest-online%2Fid542557212%3Fmt%3D8&ei=-CbdUJjZGcvkqQHM0IDoDQ&usg=AFQjCNFJrFun262V6ZZVXqQGlmr6dpo80A&sig2=1OSvbhebL4loQDJvzNIoJA&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.aWM">iOS</a></b> or <b><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CEIQFjAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.scribd.app.reader0%26hl%3Den&ei=-CbdUJjZGcvkqQHM0IDoDQ&usg=AFQjCNGmLSiZ-MqZs3_glflhk5qz1KmvgQ&sig2=O0KNeNDotXW6UwFloblUBA&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.aWM">Android</a></b>] to make it easier).<br />
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<a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/245302997/The-2015-BSI-and-Friends-Weekend" title="View The 2015 BSI and Friends Weekend on Scribd">The 2015 BSI and Friends Weekend</a></div>
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That sums up our list. Do you have tips as well, dear readers? Please leave them in a comment here on our site or drop us a line and let us know what your secrets are so we can all be the beneficiaries.<br />
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Here Are Your #BSIWeekend Tips

"I think we had better do as you suggest" [SPEC] With the BSI Weekend coming up, we thought it might be helpful to provide...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 86: Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue

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"an extraordinarily astute couple" [VALL]</h4>
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Anyone who has been following Sherlock Holmes on television and in popular culture over the last five years or so should be familiar with the names <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0595590/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Steven Moffat</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0895056/" target="_blank">Sue Vertue</a>. Steven is showrunner, writer and producer for <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B004132HZS" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="ab623c3a5beee56e7e8e104254750a34" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Season-1-Benedict-Cumberbatch/dp/B004132HZS/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=ab623c3a5beee56e7e8e104254750a34&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5954808" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5954808" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=ab623c3a5beee56e7e8e104254750a34&_cb=1450180592846" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> and <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B0089AD8IO" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="784475e537e09f8fc94b957a8fa32276" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="doctor who complete" href="http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Complete-First-Series/dp/B0089AD8IO/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=784475e537e09f8fc94b957a8fa32276&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5642734" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Doctor Who</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5642734" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=784475e537e09f8fc94b957a8fa32276&_cb=1450180621252" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, and Sue is a producer of a number of programs, including <i>Doctor Who</i> and <i>Sherlock</i>, as well as of numerous British television comedies.</div>
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Steven and Sue met at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1996 and joined Hartswood Films, where Steven wrote a comedy based on their budding relationship, which became <i>Coupling</i>. And it is their coupling on <i>Sherlock</i> that we speak with them.<br />
<br />
On January 1, 2016, the world premiere of <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B013JBJ7EG" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="01f3357bf2d7be371fc626e49c828bed" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock: The Abominable Bride" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Abominable-Bride-Benedict-Cumberbatch/dp/B013JBJ7EG/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=01f3357bf2d7be371fc626e49c828bed&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_9522753" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock: The Abominable Bride</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_9522753" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=01f3357bf2d7be371fc626e49c828bed&_cb=1450180638507" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> happens on BBC One and PBS. This is the first time the show has aired on the same day in both countries, and the excitement is palpable. The setting is London in 1895 and the trailers have shown a dark and mysterious atmosphere.<br />
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We take the time to discuss the making of show with Steven and Sue, as well as surprises, challenges and delights along the way. We ask the question everyone has been dying to know: <b>how much longer will Sherlock go on? And we get an answer!</b> We also learn a surprising fact about Sue (!) and get some great send-off advice from Steven, with much great information in between.<br />
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We have a dual feature for this episode's Gas-Lamp: an actual Editor's Gas-Lamp from Vol. 11, No. 4 (1961) called "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Sherlock Holmes" by Julian Wolff. And Jay Finley Christ's classic poem "The Old Tin Box."<br />
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We know we're mediocre at telling you about supporting us via <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. Make sure you listen to the end of the show for someone who knows what he's talking about.<br />
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWNgtUKdk2QatedbalZ623GhQiPTBB72sDt5iig-t-MDeVeE-JCcWNOp4IRPyrLO8BQFgwmj6cv-Jsw-5McVcFIZcYiN2zunYE7t8DTToKNoAgpdVRlg94xOzmlGFviH_KGCW8ce245n2L/s640/IHOSE+Patreon.png" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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A special thank you to Mary Miller and Christian Mongaard for your extraordinary support!<br />
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<h3>
Sponsors</h3>
This episode includes our two longtime sponsors that deserve your attention:<br />
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The <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a>, featuring <i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/bookman.html">Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle and The Bookman</a></i>, and <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Baker Street Journal</i></a>, where you should get <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/subscriptions.html" target="_blank">your annual subscription</a> in now to secure all four issues and a very special Christmas Annual about <i>The Seven Per-Cent Solution</i>.<br />
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Interested in becoming an advertiser? You can find <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/contact.html#.Vc1Qx7JViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">more information here</a>.</div>
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Notes:</h3>
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1:46 Welcome and hear what Scott got Burt for the holidays<br />
3:05 One item worth mentioning from the <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose84" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gift Guide</a><br />
8:00 Our Facebook hack<br />
9:56 Listener mail<br />
11:01 Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue introduction<br />
12:32 Welcome Steven and Sue<br />
16:00 Some surprising information about Sue<br />
19:50 What sent them back to 19th century London?<br />
24:45 How much longer <i>Sherlock</i> will go on<br />
26:47 Other stories that might be the subject for future episodes<br />
30:25 One message for Sherlockians from Steven Moffat<br />
32:56 You won't want to miss this<br />
38:47 Post-interview chat, Twitter chat during <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B013JBJ7EG" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="fb507f340c64b9da9e3016f2c4eb2fc9" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock: The Abominable Bride" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Abominable-Bride-Benedict-Cumberbatch/dp/B013JBJ7EG/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=fb507f340c64b9da9e3016f2c4eb2fc9&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_1995655" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock: The Abominable Bride</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_1995655" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=fb507f340c64b9da9e3016f2c4eb2fc9&_cb=1450154743094" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i><br />
46:41 The Editor's Gas-Lamp<br />
1:04:28 Getting in touch<br />
1:06:18 Scott and Burt get a little help<br />
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<a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock086.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 32.8 MB, 1:09:26</h4>
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Links:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/11/the-sherlock-special-more-photos.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Get ready for The Abominable Bride</a></li>
<li>Don't forget our <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose84" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlockian Gift Guide</a> - pick out your gifts now! <a href="http://ihearofsherlock.com/merchandise" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ihearofsherlock.com/merchandise</a></li>
<li>The Penguin Deluxe Edition of <a href="http://amzn.to/1NQsyFS" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: The Novels</a>, with Michael's introduction</li>
<li>Michael Dirda on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose38" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IHOSE Episode 38</a></li>
<li><a href="https://burtwolder.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Conan Doyle Sues Own Estate from Beyond the Grave</a> concludes with <a href="https://burtwolder.wordpress.com/2015/12/02/case-closed/" target="_blank">"Case Closed"</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2009/08/in-vaults-thor_21.html#.Vm-cC_krLb0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Great Unrecorded Cases in Watson's Tin Box</a></li>
<li>The <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Patreon</a> page</li>
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Episode 86: Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue

"an extraordinarily astute couple" [VALL] Anyone who has been following Sherlock Holmes on television and in popular ...

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by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes in the Classroom — One Teacher's Tale

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“it sharpens the faculties of observation, and teaches one where to look and what to look for” [STUD]</h4>
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November is my favorite time of year to teach my fifth grade class. Because, for two weeks before Thanksgiving break, we spend the majority of every day learning about and discussing Sherlock Holmes and his cases.<br />
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It all started last year when the <a href="http://sherlockholmesexhibition.com/">International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes</a> was at the <a href="http://www.slsc.org/">St. Louis Science Center</a>, just 20 minutes across the Mississippi river from my school district in Illinois. While looking at website and anticipating its opening, I noticed that there was a <a href="http://sherlockholmesexhibition.com/sherlock-in-the-classroom/">section for educators</a>. When I checked it out, I was delighted to find lesson plans dealing with the Great Detective. Although my class was unable to take a field trip to the exhibition due to the school’s budget, I immediately jumped on the idea of teaching Sherlock Holmes to my students.<br />
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After a successful one week unit in 2014, I applied for and was awarded <b><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/apply-for-grant-to-help-teach-sherlock.html#.VmzyrvkrLb0" rel="nofollow">a Jan Stauber grant</a></b> from the wonderful <a href="http://www.beaconsociety.com/">Beacon Society</a>. This allowed me to expand to <a href="http://rnunn5.wix.com/nunnfifth#!sherlock-holmes/ch80">a two week unit</a> of study this year. The unit started out with an introduction to Sherlock Holmes in his many incarnations over the years from books and comics to movies and puppets. We then broke up into small groups and focused on what the elements mystery stories are while they read abbreviated forms of “The Blue Carbuncle,” “The Red-Headed League,” “The Speckled Band,” “The Beryl Coronet,” “The Copper Beeches,” and “Silver Blaze.”<br />
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As a whole class, we delved into five stories, focusing on different literary elements with each one. For “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,” we discussed character motivation which led to a class debate on if Holmes should have allowed James Ryder to go free. Our lessons on “The Adventure of the Red-Headed League” focused on character development and how characters are written for the short story format. “The Copper Beeches” discussed how a story can be structured to create tension and surprise with rising action. When we read “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” we focused on author’s purpose and why Doyle made the choices he does in this particular story to help move the narrative. We wrapped up with “A Scandal in Bohemia” and discussed how foil characters can be used to create conflict with the protagonist.<br />
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During our Language Arts block, the students spent these two weeks creating their own Sherlock Holmes pastiches. We worked our way through the writing process, starting with identifying story elements and brainstorming. The class also learned what it means to “see but not observe” by examining jackets, and explaining what type of person that coat would belong to. This helped them to understand the importance of using detail in their writing. After the students went through several edits and revisions on their stories, they had their very own Sherlock Holmes mystery to take home, as well as a better understanding of the writing process.<br />
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For the culminating activity of the unit, the students presented two Reader’s Theater plays based off of “The Adventure of the Red-Headed League” and “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.” They picked out and practiced their parts for a week leading up to this, deciding how the characters should move and what props and costumes would be appropriate for the performances. When the big day arrived, they performed their plays to five other fifth grade classes in our building, introducing even more students to Sherlock Holmes and his masterful deductions.<br />
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As an educator, I love being able to share my passions with my students. It is extremely rewarding to see kids want to take our book home because we didn’t have time to read “The Six Napoleons” or “The Greek Interpreter.” I have different versions of the Sherlock Holmes stories in my classroom library, and they were in high demand going into the Thanksgiving break. So who knows? Maybe there are a few budding Sherlockians in my classroom.<br />
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At the very least, I hope my students walked away from this unit of study with an appreciation for the world’s greatest detective.<br />
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Sherlock Holmes in the Classroom — One Teacher's Tale

“it sharpens the faculties of observation, and teaches one where to look and what to look for” [STUD] November is my favorite time of y...

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by Rob Nunn

A Look Inside 221B Baker Street Via Virtual Reality

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"it's the real goods" [LAST]</h4>
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It's always nice to be able to step into the sitting room at 221B Baker Street. Even when one isn't able to travel to London.<br />
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In this case, student Elliott Lambert has created <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82xGxOsbW_w">a wonderful video bringing us deep within 221B Baker Street</a>. According to the description of his YouTube video, this is "a university project I worked on for 11 weeks. A 3D environment of the famous Sherlock apartment located in London, rendered in Unreal Engine 4."<br />
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To our trained eye, we can see an inspiration taken from two primary sources: the Sherlock Holmes Museum, which allows guests to follow a very similar path through the sitting room and Holmes's bedroom; and the trailers for the upcoming BBC <i>Sherlock </i>special, <i>The Abominable Bride</i>.<br />
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Take a moment to tour the famous sitting room for yourself.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/82xGxOsbW_w?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
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What do you think? Are there details you enjoyed? Anything in particular that you might suggest that he add?<br />
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For our part, we would have appreciated the music from the Granada soundtrack, rather than the BBC version, as Granada did such a wonderful job of creating a Victorian setting throughout the entire run. But, every artist gets his inspiration from a different source.<br />
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You can follow Elliott on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/ELambert94">@ELambert94</a>.<br />
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A Look Inside 221B Baker Street Via Virtual Reality

"it's the real goods" [LAST] It's always nice to be able to step into the sitting room at 221B Baker Street. Even whe...

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by Scott Monty

Amanda Lester: Sherlock Holmes Meets Nancy Drew Meets Harry Potter

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"That you, Lestrade?" [EMPT] </h4>
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<i><a href="http://amzn.to/1jNoEkW">Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy</a></i> is a smashing Holmesian debut from Paula Berinstein. The book involves a plucky young girl by the name of Amanda Lester who is a descendant of Inspector G. Lestrade, the Scotland Yard client of Sherlock Holmes. Despite her rich ancestry, Amanda wants nothing to do with Inspector Lestrade nor with the world's first consulting detective. She would rather be a film student than work on solving a mystery.<br />
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Poor Amanda is out of luck as her parents, who don't understand her, send her away to The Secret Detective School, a Hogwarts of sorts for descendants of famous detectives. At the school, Amanda must help her friends solve a mystery involving murdered cooks, sugar powered weapons, and the evil descendants of Professor Moriarty.<br />
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What I found particularly compelling was how rich and believable the teen characters are in the book. As a middle school teacher, I always look for books to share with my students, and I know my students, especially the girls, will find Amanda Lester a character they can relate to. Facing the dilemmas of parents who don't understand her, crushes which are unrequited, and friends who are not always friendly, Amanda is a character all students can understand. I highly recommend this book to all lovers of mysteries and young adult literature. I look forward to reading the further adventures of Amanda Lester in books two and three, and hopefully more!<br />
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I had the opportunity of interviewing author Paula Berinstein about her Amanda Lester series and its connection to the world of Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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<b>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere: I have described <i>Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy</i> as a cross between a Sherlock Holmes pastiche and a Nancy Drew adventure with a touch of Harry Potter added to the mix. Would you agree with this description?</b></h4>
<b>Paula Berinstein:</b> Oh, wow. That is so flattering! I’m so glad to hear you describe the story that way. I guess I would agree, although  up until now I’ve never thought of the book as a Nancy Drew adventure, and I thought a Sherlock Holmes pastiche had to include Holmes himself. (I looked up the definition and it doesn’t.)<br />
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<b>IHOSE:</b> <b>Amanda Lester is a descendant of Inspector G. Lestrade. Why of all the characters in the canon did you pick Lestrade?</b></h4>
<b>PB:</b> It is a bit of an odd choice, isn’t it? I picked him because he’s a minor character, and I’m so curious about minor characters. Each minor character is the star of his own story, which we never get to hear. I want to know more about all these stars in waiting.<br />
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But I picked Lestrade specifically because I wanted to give Amanda an obstacle to overcome. I liked the idea of her being descended from a complete twit her family thinks is the bee’s knees. She gets constant pressure from her parents to live up to Lestrade’s example. Lestrade! And then of course when they send her to the secret school for the descendants of famous detectives, she’s so afraid people will find out who her ancestor is. She’s hobnobbing with the scions of legends like Lord Peter Wimsey and Hercule Poirot (not specifically mentioned for copyright and trademark reasons) and here she is a Lestrade. Ouch.<br />
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<b>IHOSE: In your novel, Amanda Lester argues against children being defined by their ancestors, yet this is pretty much the case in your book. The descendants of famous detectives are good and the descendants of Moriarty are evil. Why did you not have a descendant of Moriarty as a hero and a descendant of, say, Sherlock Holmes as a villain?</b></h4>
<b>PB:</b> I’m going to keep mum on this for now. Wait a few books and you’ll find out.<br />
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<b>IHOSE: You do an excellent job capturing adolescent characters in your novel. One of my favorite characters is Ivy, Amanda's blind roommate. Did you do a lot of research on the blind to develop this character?</b></h4>
<b>PB:</b> I’m glad you like Ivy and the other kids! No, I didn’t do research on the blind. I just tried to imagine what it would be like to be blind. I do that sometimes—pretend that I’m blind or missing a hand or something like that. I like trying to understand what it feels like to be someone else, and of course, who knows? Anything can happen to anyone at any time. It helps to know what to expect. (I suppose I sound like a complete weirdo saying that. I guess I just have an active imagination.)<br />
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<b>IHOSE: How much did your background in film influence your writing of this book?</b></h4>
<b>PB:</b> I’m tempted to say that I don’t have a background in film, but I suppose I do. I’ve been around the movie industry all my life so I guess that has influenced me a lot. What’s funny is that in my original story, Amanda was going to be a young woman who was trying to escape her family’s academic background by becoming a plumber’s apprentice. She was never going to have anything to do with film. Then, when I decided to make her a kid, I wanted to give her something that was way outside her parents’ comfort zone, so I chose film. As it happened, there was a lot I could do with film, so I’ve used it extensively in the series. Do you sense a pattern here? I think I do things by instinct a lot. The Nancy Drew, the film, etc. I don’t think about those things much. They just happen because they’re part of me.<br />
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<b>IHOSE: What is The Writing Show mentioned on the back cover of your book?</b></h4>
<b>PB:</b> <a href="http://www.writingshow.com/">The Writing Show</a> is the podcast I produced and hosted from 2005 to 2012. All the shows are still available on iTunes and on my site at <a href="http://www.writingshow.com/">www.writingshow.com</a> for free. There are about 350 of them. The show offers information and inspiration for writers in the form of interviews, panel discussions, readings, reality shows, and more. It's all audio, so you can listen while you walk or drive. I have published a number of books under the aegis of the show, not all of them my own.<br />
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<b>IHOSE: Tell us a little about the other books in the Amanda Lester series.</b></h4>
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<b>PB:</b> In the second book, <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1942361009" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="6d4e497245a728aab3813275d7ee74ae" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis" href="http://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Lester-Orange-Crystal-Detective/dp/1942361009/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=6d4e497245a728aab3813275d7ee74ae&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_9858562" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_9858562" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=6d4e497245a728aab3813275d7ee74ae&_cb=1449637285565" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, Amanda meets a descendant of Sherlock Holmes, and does she take an instant dislike to him! Of course he’s crazy about her, so you can imagine how annoyed she gets. I don’t think it’s giving too much away to tell you that the kids find a skeleton (it’s on the cover), and much of the book involves them trying to figure out who it is. (You will never guess.)<br />
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In the third book,<i> <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1942361025" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="88e3758847aaa15b3291d4eecc387d0d" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle" href="http://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Lester-Purple-Rainbow-Detective/dp/1942361025/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=88e3758847aaa15b3291d4eecc387d0d&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_1227126" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_1227126" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=88e3758847aaa15b3291d4eecc387d0d&_cb=1449637293257" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" />,</i> a dangerous hacker emerges and the kids think they’re seeing zombies all around the English Lake District.<br />
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In the fourth book, <i>Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret</i>, which I’m writing now, we get into the school’s back story and the kids battle a new enemy. And in the fifth book, <i>Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus</i>, which I’ve completely outlined, an odd new student comes to the school and gets everyone in a tizzy, plus the kids discover the aforementioned spiders, who have some very interesting abilities. Of course there are monkeys in all the books too. Readers seem to like them.<br />
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<h4>
 <b>IHOSE: The question we ask all Sherlockians. If you were stranded on a desert island with only one Sherlock Holmes story, which would it be and why?</b></h4>
<b>PB: </b><i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i>! It’s so creepy and atmospheric and dark. In fact, I got so inspired by the setting that I asked my husband, who is English, if he’s ever been on a moor at night. I’d love to go! I also like the fact that it’s one of the longer stories. When I enjoy a story I want it to go on forever, and this one just about does.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE: Any last thoughts?</b></h4>
<b>PB:</b> I will be doing a two-week blog tour starting November 30, 2015. The tour will include a guest post on December 11 entitled “Paula B’s Crazy Character Name Generator” (<a href="http://creativityandcrazy.blogspot.com/">http://creativityandcrazy.blogspot.com</a>/) and another one, probably on December 7th, called “Lights, Action, Book Cover” (<a href="http://www.lolasblogtours.net/">http://www.lolasblogtours.net</a>/). I wrote the first one because so many people ask me how I come up with my character names (e.g., Particle Peaksribbon), and the second one because people ask how my artist and I did the covers. I think your readers might enjoy these.<br />
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Also, I am available to give talks about the books, including how I create my covers, simple forensics (I’m taking some classes on that, and boy are they interesting), and writing. Just contact me at <a href="mailto:paula@writingshow.com">paula@writingshow.com</a> if you’re interested. (I am located in the Los Angeles area.) I am also producing some Amanda games, which I think people will enjoy. You can find prototypes of the jigsaw puzzles on my site at <a href="http://amandalester.net/">amandalester.net</a>, but there will eventually be others as well. Please look for those.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paula-Berinstein/e/B001K8MCGG">Paula Berinstein</a></b> is the former producer and host of the popular podcast <a href="http://writingshow.com/">The Writing Show</a>. She lives in Los Angeles.<br />
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