I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

"Goaded it to Fresh Madness" [STUD]

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsgb2Z05PvZVGLRJo6U7STZ-lIl7rBLAeVEC9U8yeI2fUet_hCkJGA1oyeV4KQdW2KIJyIHiX4t68rUwJKOvJ6Z6ifgHz1VBncglJXGO7QvVDO9lB8IxOo9L6qyhdUY7P4_42CEmOdyZf/s1600/Blistervilles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsgb2Z05PvZVGLRJo6U7STZ-lIl7rBLAeVEC9U8yeI2fUet_hCkJGA1oyeV4KQdW2KIJyIHiX4t68rUwJKOvJ6Z6ifgHz1VBncglJXGO7QvVDO9lB8IxOo9L6qyhdUY7P4_42CEmOdyZf/s320/Blistervilles.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/82181006@N00/5547461509/">kirinqueen (Flickr)</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0843100591" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />Some of you remember <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Mad%20libs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mad Libs</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=" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><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=0843100591" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>, that fun series of books that combined storytelling, humor and the  knowledge of grammar for some fun road trips or sleepovers. Over time, the Mad Libs formula has worked its way into <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Libs-Roger-Price/dp/084313271X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Star Wars</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=084313271X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/SpongeBob-SquarePants-Libs-Roger-Price/dp/0843121270?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spongebob Squarepants</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=0843121270" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/iCarly-Mad-Libs-Roger-Price/dp/0843133562?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iCarly</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=0843133562" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and more.<br />
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Well now it seems that you can have fun with the Canon by participating in <a href="http://clozedbooks.com/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes/"><b>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as Mad Libs</b></a>. Francis Cleary has started <a href="http://clozedbooks.com/">ClozedBooks.com</a>, in which you - yes, you! - can help create Mad Lib versions of the stories. He has already finished "<a href="http://clozedbooks.com/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes/a-scandal-in-bohemia/read/" target="_blank">A Scandal in Bohemia</a>" with the help of a handful of participants. You can read the Mad Lib version by clicking through.<br />
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Other tales are in the process of being written: "The Red-Headed League," "A Case of Identity," "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," and "The Speckled Band." If you head over there now, you can suggest nouns, verbs and adjectives to be used within the stories. Participants have the choice of logging in with Facebook or Twitter, or contributing anonymously; those who do log in will be given credits on each story's title page.<br />
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We think this is a fun way to enjoy the core of the Canon that we all know so well. While we're not certain what level of editing or screening goes into the vetting of grammatical phrases, we'll see what a crowdsourcing exercise does for it.<br />
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"Goaded it to Fresh Madness" [STUD]

Photo credit: kirinqueen (Flickr) Some of you remember Mad Libs , that fun series of books that combined storytelling, humor and the kno...

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by Scott Monty

"Rare Fits of Laughter" [STUD]

"Rare Fits of Laughter" [STUD]

Photo credit: David Jensen [Editor's note: This is Gordon's first post for us. He'll be covering the intersection of Sherlock Ho...

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by Scott Monty

"The Skull Was of Enormous Capacity" [DYIN]

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFnJLNJoEdid4JLbD_KFDiUWok1aY1LMpdRunUWJRTrdgAQf9oljzFlv-Cv5uYQ2G-3IopCvge_4BQfQW_5j0_Pe-XgU5wu2DcVoJvsRb72wK1e_E1uk9EupL0k-zNyykaOUwuTjDvoxR/s1600/FINA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFnJLNJoEdid4JLbD_KFDiUWok1aY1LMpdRunUWJRTrdgAQf9oljzFlv-Cv5uYQ2G-3IopCvge_4BQfQW_5j0_Pe-XgU5wu2DcVoJvsRb72wK1e_E1uk9EupL0k-zNyykaOUwuTjDvoxR/s200/FINA.jpg" width="100" /></a></div>It's always reassuring when we can find scientific validation of long-held commonly accepted truths. But it's quite another thing when we discover that what we accepted as fact is In a recent study by the <a href="http://www.sanger.ac.uk/">Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute</a>, scientists found that brain size and function are not correlated.<br /><br />The scientists who conducted the study determined that it is a matter of processing power rather than size that makes a difference. The estimated that approximately 37% of the population has a below-average size head, which had previously meant that they were considered intellectually inferior.<br /><br />This assumption is something that makes a few appearances in the Canon. For example, when Henry Baker lost his hat in "<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Sherlock-Holmes-Carbuncle-Beeches/dp/B00005O5CQ?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Blue Carbuncle</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=B00005O5CQ" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>," Sherlock Holmes thought that he was highly intelligent. The exchange between Holmes and Watson:<br /><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkw16hRW3x38QYlR5npS56gPz1ml1kUOjpUY6fkPj6OuazyjSSorFCZi12rdzTVsAHt2JWCErP1l4XFDAwzjEyZAf5QRaJmJsac55GYeeoMiyVidZwaH2nP1uYNZDdEoKT9sgQHky38f55/s1600/cubiccapacity.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkw16hRW3x38QYlR5npS56gPz1ml1kUOjpUY6fkPj6OuazyjSSorFCZi12rdzTVsAHt2JWCErP1l4XFDAwzjEyZAf5QRaJmJsac55GYeeoMiyVidZwaH2nP1uYNZDdEoKT9sgQHky38f55/s200/cubiccapacity.PNG" width="200" /></a></div>"I have no doubt that I am very stupid; but I must confess that I am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that this man was intellectual?"<br />   For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a brain must have something in it."</blockquote>But clearly, Holmes wasn't alone in his assumption that a large skull meant a superior intellect. In "<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Sherlock-Resident-Patient-Red-Headed/dp/B000060MV1?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Final Problem</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=B000060MV1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>," Professor Moriarty's first words upon meeting Sherlock Holmes were<br /><blockquote>"You have less frontal development than I should have expected."</blockquote><br />Dr. Mortimer also commented on the shape Sherlock Holmes's head in <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hound-Baskervilles-Sherlock-Holmes-Mystery/dp/193659403X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Hound of the Baskervilles</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=193659403X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b></i>, noting the relatively long shape compared to the width:<br /><blockquote>"You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes. I had hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well-marked supra-orbital development."</blockquote>Even among the highly intelligent Sherlock Holmes, Professor Moriarty and Dr. Mortimer, we can forgive them for being products of their age. Interesting that it has taken over 100 years for the facts to come to light. We wonder what other Canonical assumptions are no longer valid...<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 /><i><br /></i><br /><i><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebakerstree-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0262710102&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>  <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebakerstree-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B00005O5CQ&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>  <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebakerstree-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=193659403X&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></i><br />--

"The Skull Was of Enormous Capacity" [DYIN]

It's always reassuring when we can find scientific validation of long-held commonly accepted truths. But it's quite another thing wh...

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by Scott Monty

The Sherlock Holmes Drinking Game

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<span style="text-align: start;">"Drinking his beer" [SOLI]</span></h4>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/4181727669/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="abbe-04 by Scott Monty, on Flickr"><img alt="abbe-04" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2570/4181727669_1cec6daccd_m.jpg" /></a></div>
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[<i>Editor's note: this is the first contribution by Kate, who writes at <a href="http://www.thediaryofdrwatts.com/">The Diary of Dr. Watts</a>. If you would like to be considered as a contributor to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, please see the <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/aboutcontribute.html" target="_blank">Contribute page</a> above.</i>]<br /><br />In the United States at least, Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17th) has become a comically irreverent excuse to wear ridiculous hats, paint oneself green and consume excessive amounts of alcohol. If you are a Sherlockian who intends to participate in this silly but entertaining tradition, I suggest taking a look at the “Sherlock Holmes Drinking Game.”<br /><br />Take along your copy of the Canon to a party or a pub, choose your favorite case and have your friends take turns reading aloud - or if you happen to be dramatically inclined, do it yourself. The important thing is to have fun with it!<br /><br />The rules are as follows:<br /><ol>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes makes an amazing deduction </li>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes speaks badly about the police </li>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes lets a perpetrator go free </li>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes chastises Watson for not 'observing' </li>
<li>Take one drink every time someone rushes into the rooms at 221B </li>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes and/or Watson dash off in a hansom cab </li>
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<br />The creator of this game is <a href="http://www.examiner.com/sherlock-holmes-in-national/jill-brumer">Jill Brumer, “Sherlock Holmes Examiner” on Examiner.com</a>. You can find her article <a href="http://www.examiner.com/sherlock-holmes-in-national/sherlck-holmes-fans-21-up-the-sherlock-holmes-drinking-game-has-arrived">introducing the game</a> and from there you can find some inventive cocktail recipes inspired by the adventures. Ms. Brumer is making her way through the Canon, creating a drink to go with each story and providing an account of every drink taken. Even if you don’t drink, it’s an entertaining read. As she says at the start of her article for “The Blue Carbuncle,” “I knew my interest in both drinking and Sherlock Holmes would pay off eventually.”<div>
<br /><i>Note: I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere does not advocate for the consumption of alcohol. Please behave responsibly and take heed of all local laws and ordinances. Know your limits and don't overimbibe.</i><br />
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