I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

A Clever Publicity Play for "The Creeping Man"

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"the wondrous strength-giving serum" [CREE]</h4>
<a href="http://www.nashvillescholars.net/jbshawbio.html" target="_blank">John Bennett Shaw, BSI</a> ("The Hans Sloan of My Age") once said that the only requirement for a Sherlockian society meeting is "two Sherlockians and a bottle. In a pinch, dispense with the other Sherlockian." As a result, One would think that all we Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts do is drink.<br />
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Well, yes. But that's not <i>all</i>. We certainly <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2006/05/is-meaning-of-it-watson-card_8.html#.VXn-GM9Viko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">enjoy the company of the people</a> that Holmes brings together. And <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823212718?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0823212718" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the food</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0823212718" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></b> as well. When it all comes together - food, drink and the company of kinspirts - it makes for a wonderful experience, as <a href="http://www.sherlockpeoria.net/ViewFromSP/ViewSP2007/ViewSP102107.html" target="_blank">Brad Keefauver wrote about a few years back on Sherlock in Peoria</a>.<br />
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But when you delve into the<a href="http://www.bsiarchivalhistory.org/BSI_Archival_History/The_BSI.html" target="_blank"> history of the Baker Street Irregulars</a>, you'll find that the early leadership included such libation-inspired offices as the <a href="http://221bbakerstreetla.com/bs_tantalus.asp" target="_blank">Tantalus and the Gasogene</a> and that early meetings took place in a speakeasy. Not exactly what you'd call teetotalers. But probably inspired by a few mentions of adult beverages in the Canon:<br />
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"Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man." [ENGR]</blockquote>
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"...I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling aftertaste of brandy." [EMPT]</blockquote>
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"As long as I have my trousers I have a hip-pocket, and as long as I have a hip-pocket, I have something in it." [HOUN]</blockquote>
This recent bit of artwork provides a nice homage to some of the characters we've come to know in the stories, with cocktails concocted to represent their personalities (note: one or two may represent individuals active on the forum from which this graphic was posted).<br />
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<table 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/AVvXsEitP1rCp0QNLq020u6ZvID-NNkdpyUqRIqM7r9bazQLlMcefm7cm9jbttuRCNpSQ6CFtQNf8IuS9FvbB43oJv9TpzxFam9R-gy1UKLuqFmL56YKm4xX_xzJX2dIY1QJ29TlPSW9rTuZ2jNR/s1600/barsherlock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitP1rCp0QNLq020u6ZvID-NNkdpyUqRIqM7r9bazQLlMcefm7cm9jbttuRCNpSQ6CFtQNf8IuS9FvbB43oJv9TpzxFam9R-gy1UKLuqFmL56YKm4xX_xzJX2dIY1QJ29TlPSW9rTuZ2jNR/s1600/barsherlock.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dubbed <a href="http://redscharlach.livejournal.com/212275.html">"<i>A Study in Pink Gin</i>" on LiveJournal</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>
But the one cocktail that intrigues us is one called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey_Gland" target="_blank">Monkey Gland</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's made of gin, orange juice, grenadine and absinthe, and seems to promise something of vigor.</div><div>Created in Paris in early 1923 (as seen in the April 23, 1923 <i>Washington Post</i> article below), its origins seem to have <a href="http://www.artofdrink.com/archive/popular-cocktails/monkey-gland" target="_blank">something of a marketing ploy</a> about them. Click through to read more about the history of the drink.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyahfQrbLfS231jqFWJtXg95Nrl_d9ldiI8SDgTRVErrTPzmgUTZp_SzrvugkSFWBbZVX0iNQvpZ0_lr-_6d5U6-hoYKONLaLn6L7Px5oHru3-meFkGWuZpY-8vl0o2fOMcsoYBHx5lt19/s1600/monkeygland.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyahfQrbLfS231jqFWJtXg95Nrl_d9ldiI8SDgTRVErrTPzmgUTZp_SzrvugkSFWBbZVX0iNQvpZ0_lr-_6d5U6-hoYKONLaLn6L7Px5oHru3-meFkGWuZpY-8vl0o2fOMcsoYBHx5lt19/s1600/monkeygland.png" /></a></div><div><br /></div>
But for us, there's an interesting bit of timing involved. "<a href="http://www.sherlockian.net/canon/stories/cree.html" target="_blank">The Adventure of the Creeping Man</a>" was published in March 1923 and - without giving away too much - concerns an elderly professor who goes to extreme lengths to win the affections of a younger woman. </div><div><br /></div><div>Let's just say he would have enjoyed the above drink.<br />
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Was Conan Doyle inspired by Frank's concoction? Perhaps he even visited the Parisian establishment and partook of the drink himself. Or perhaps the era of Prohibition inspired such outre innovations in the bartending world. </div><div><br /></div><div>What do you think?<br />
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<i>--</i><br /><br />
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A Clever Publicity Play for "The Creeping Man"

"the wondrous strength-giving serum" [CREE] John Bennett Shaw, BSI ("The Hans Sloan of My Age") once said that the on...

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by Scott Monty

The Case of the Sherlock Holmes Sequel in Search of a Title

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"What sort of game is that, eh?" [DYIN]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpFGq8jFukqC4oGUGxJq3QXc3nOWR-LUehaIAxNQaXz9GKQFxZ4fir_ky7ARdvZxQ6pT0us5Jkl_fiGV5Z2LXXAl8nkcpkr5a4OvtQP0n8NobyYfLJrT206Ocn7oh-CxK6AaiAB7aYLL3/s1600/Sherlock2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpFGq8jFukqC4oGUGxJq3QXc3nOWR-LUehaIAxNQaXz9GKQFxZ4fir_ky7ARdvZxQ6pT0us5Jkl_fiGV5Z2LXXAl8nkcpkr5a4OvtQP0n8NobyYfLJrT206Ocn7oh-CxK6AaiAB7aYLL3/s320/Sherlock2.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The sequel to <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Robert-Downey-Jr/dp/B001OQCV6A?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001OQCV6A" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i></b>, heretofore only known colloquially as "Sherlock Holmes 2" or in the IMDb as "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515091/">Untitled Sherlock Holmes Sequel</a>" now has a name.<br />
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Since it involves <a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/2010/10/moriarty-may-have-been-engaged-vall.html">Professor Moriarty</a>, one might conjecture that the title would be something along the lines of <i>Sherlock Holmes: The Final Problem</i> or <i>Sherlock Holmes: Reichenbach Falls</i>. Or something inspiring and thrilling, like some of the titles from the Rathbone-Bruce days in the 1940s: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Dressed-Basil-Rathbone/dp/B0000EMYKJ?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><i>Sherlock Holmes - Dressed to Kill</i></b></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0000EMYKJ" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Spider-Woman-Rathbone/dp/B0000APVCA?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: the Spider Woman</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0000APVCA" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i></b>, or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Faces-Death-Rathbone/dp/B0000APVBL?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><i>Sherlock Holmes Faces Death</i></b></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0000APVBL" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />. As we said, thrilling. Exciting. Classic Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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Well, Warner Bros. are treating us to <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/02/to-explode-about-cree_9.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">an explosive sequel</a>, certain to continue the action-packed elements of the first. And they're backing that up with a title to match: <i><b>Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows</b></i>.<br />
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What?<br />
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Or perhaps better put by the sages at E! Online: <a href="http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b226341_by_jove_sherlock_holmes_sequel_has_lame.html">By Jove, Sherlock Holmes Sequel Has a Lame Title!</a> They even include <a href="http://www.eonline.com/photos/gallery.jsp?galleryUUID=2570#98366">a slideshow on the worst sequel titles</a>, capped with Breakin' 2. Reminds us of when Wessex Press held <a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/2007/07/i-never-can-resist-touch-of-dramatic.html">the sequel to their Gillette to Brett conference in 2007</a>. We joked that they should have called it <i>Gillette to Brett II: Electric Boogaloo</i>.<br />
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What are your thoughts on the name of the new sequel? Take the poll and let us know in the comments section.<br />
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<noscript><br /><a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/4560039/">What do you think of the title of the sequel to "Sherlock Holmes"?</a><span style="font-size: 9px;"><a href="http://polldaddy.com/features-surveys/">online surveys</a></span><br /></noscript><br />
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The Case of the Sherlock Holmes Sequel in Search of a Title

"What sort of game is that, eh?" [DYIN] The sequel to Sherlock Holmes , heretofore only known colloquially as "Sherlock ...

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by Scott Monty

"Valentine?" [BRUC]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/4182493694/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="danc-01 by Scott Monty, on Flickr"><img alt="danc-01" height="240" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/4182493694_8b506e3732_m.jpg" width="205" /></a>We're used to seeing Sherlock Holmes as a creature of logic vs. emotion. Watson called him "an automaton - a calculating machine" in The Sign of Four, and it was only many years later in "The Three Garridebs" that he noted, "For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain."<br /><br />When it came to women - even <i>the</i> woman - Holmes was not moved:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">"It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler." [SCAN]</span></i></div><br />And Holmes reassured us that the softer emotion wasn't part of his character:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><i>"I have never loved, Watson, but if I did, and if the woman I loved had met with such an end, I might act even as our lawless lion-hunter has done." [DEVI]</i></span></div><br />But that's not to say that love didn't play a part of the plots of some of the 60 stories. Unforunately, we must admit that there are very few "happy ending" love stories in the Sherlock Holmes. When we do encounter love in Canon, it usually has some sort of dark side to it - twisted, tested, tortured, or tragic in nature.<br /><br />To mark the occasion of Valentine's Day, we're bringing you a quiz about love in the Canon. There are 10 questions; those who answer all questions correctly will be entered for a chance to win a Sherlockian collectible - a book, DVD or other piece of effluvium from our grab-bag.<br /><br /><center><script type="text/javascript">var host = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://secure." : "http://");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + host + "wufoo.com/scripts/embed/form.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); </script><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript">var m7x3p9 = new WufooForm(); m7x3p9.initialize({ 'userName':'bakerstreetblog',  'formHash':'m7x3p9',  'autoResize':true, 'height':'500'}); m7x3p9.display(); </script></center><br />If you're having trouble seeing the form on this page or in this email, simply <a href="http://bakerstreetblog.wufoo.com/forms/sherlock-holmes-valentines-day-quiz/">click here for the direct link</a>.<br /><br />Bonus question, just for fun - no points awarded:<br /><b><i>Roses are red, violets are blue... We can name the four Violets in the Canon; can you?</i></b><br /><br />One winner will be chosen at random from entries submitted via the form by February 21, 2011. Winner will be contacted by email.<br /><br />In the meantime, is there a love story in the Canon that has stuck with you, either because of its poignancy or tragic nature? Please share it as a comment.<br /><br />--

"Valentine?" [BRUC]

We're used to seeing Sherlock Holmes as a creature of logic vs. emotion. Watson called him "an automaton - a calculating machine...

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by Scott Monty

"I Shall Be Back" [SIGN]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/5430227754/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Scott Monty, on Flickr"><img alt="The Return of Sherlock Holmes" height="240" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5430227754_d6ea30754c_m.jpg" width="180" /></a>The Culture Warrior column at <a href="http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/culture-warrior-sherlock-holmes-popularity.php">Film School Rejects</a> poses a question that must be asked: <a href="http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/culture-warrior-sherlock-holmes-popularity.php">Why Is Sherlock Back?</a><br /><br />Of course, we know that he never left us. But there were times after Conan Doyle's passing in 1930 when Holmes seemingly dominated the public consciousness - <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Sherlock-Holmes-Collection/dp/B000EXZFRQ?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Rathbone</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000EXZFRQ" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>, <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Complete-Ronald-Howard/dp/B000BBOUGI?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Howard</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000BBOUGI" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>, <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hound-Baskervilles-VHS-Peter-Cushing/dp/6302717647?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Cushing</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=6302717647" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Douglas-Wilmer/dp/B003NF97NA?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Wilmer</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-color: initial !important; border-width: initial !important;"><b><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003NF97NA" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b></span> and <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Private-Life-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/B00005JKHF?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Stephens</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00005JKHF" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b> took us from 1940-1970 or so on the big and small screen, but after Rathbone's indomitable presence in film, it was difficult to find a successor.<br /><br />Then of course, the significance of Nicholas Meyer, BSI ("A Fine Morocco Case") and his book <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Cent-Solution-Reminiscences-Paperback/dp/0393311198?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Seven Per-Cent Solution</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393311198" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i></b> came roaring to the screen and blazed another trail that eventually ended in the coda that was <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Sherlock-Holmes-Boxed-Collection/dp/B000060MVK?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Jeremy Brett</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000060MVK" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>.<br /><br />But the author of <a href="http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/culture-warrior-sherlock-holmes-popularity.php">Why Is Sherlock Back?</a> wants to know why we need three treatments of Holmes nearly simultaneously: namely, the Robert Downey Jr. "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Robert-Downey-Jr/dp/B001OQCV6A?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><b>Sherlock Holmes</b></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001OQCV6A" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />," the BBC's "<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Season-One-Benedict-Cumberbatch/dp/B004132HZS?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Sherlock</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004132HZS" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>," and "Cold Weather." We have our own ideas, complete with many other examples in recent and current popular culture, that show the argument isn't simply limited to this triad, but we're interested in what <u>you</u> think.<br /><br />Why indeed <b><i>is</i></b> Sherlock back? And if he never went away, what's behind the current fascination with him again?<br /><br /><i>Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site) from time to time. It helps defray the costs associated with running this site.</i> <br />--