I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

"The Two Gentlemen Passed Us" [HOUN]

It's the end of the year and we're catching up on some of the passings that have occurred over the past couple of months. The following are a pair of BSI obituaries of some longstanding members of the Baker Street Irregulars.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">J. Warren Scheideman</span></b><br />
J. Warren Scheideman, BSI ("Count Von und Zu Grafenstein") died in a suburb of Chicago on August 25, 2011 at the age of 69.  He received his degrees from De Paul University and went on to become a member of the faculty in 1984, moderating poetry readings and teaching things as diverse as Film Noir and Science Fiction.  A new course in Film Noir, being taught now, stated on its syllabus,<br />
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"This course is dedicated to Warren Scheideman who hatched its plot, investigated its subject, and taught its lessons to many students across many years." </blockquote>
One of his colleagues wrote that Warren’s dissertation on the analysis of curriculum was remarkable, and added that the faculty and students had been inspired and enlightened by his brilliance and thoughtfulness.  He wrote a 452-page book on adult learning, which was published by the University and has become an important volume in the world of adult education.<br />
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Warren was a member of The Hounds of the Baskerville [sic] and Hugo's Companions.  He was widely published in many Sherlockian journals, including the Baker Street Journal and Canadian Holmes, with titles such as "Hugh Boone's Twists on Victorian Society."  He was invested into The Baker Street Irregulars in 1982 as "Count Von und Zu Grafenstein."<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">James H. Bready</span></b><br />
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James H. Bready, BSI ("The Disappearance of James Phillamore") died in Baltimore on October 29, 2011 at the age of 92.  He graduated from Haverford College in 1939 and earned his Master's degree from Harvard University.
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During World War II, Mr. Bready served almost five years in the Army's Counterintelligence Corps in the European Theater. Discharged at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, 1945, at Fort George G. Meade, Mr. Bready, still dressed in his uniform, began working as a <i>Baltimore Evening Sun</i> copy editor at 8:30 the next morning.  During his long career, Mr. Bready was a general assignment reporter and later feature writer, editorial writer and columnist. He was <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-bready-letter-20111102,0,1598202.story">remembered by his former paper here</a>.<br />
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In 1949, Mr. Bready had interviewed Evelyn Waugh, the English novelist who was visiting Baltimore. His counterpart at <i>The Baltimore Sun</i>, who was also assigned to do an article on the writer, was Russell Baker.  Mr. Baker recalled meeting Mr. Bready in his 1989 memoir, saying that "The imagination, wit, and graceful lilt of his writing made him one of the glories of the <i>Evening Sun</i>."
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In 1954, Bready's first "Books and Authors" column appeared in the <i>Sunday Sun</i>. He became the paper's arbiter of the Baltimore literary scene, vetting books and assigning them for review. At a time when bylines were rationed conservatively and not necessarily a reporter's birthright, Bready was in the position to offer both a book's author, and its reviewer, some ink. This power, coupled with his fair treatment of the region's writers, made Bready a popular name in Baltimore.  The column ran biweekly and then monthly through 2005.
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For 30 years until 1984, Mr. Bready was the Baltimore correspondent for <i>Time</i>, <i>Life</i> and <i>Fortune</i> magazines, and had been <i>Encyclopaedia Britannica's</i> designated writer for its entry on Maryland.
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Mr. Bready was also the author of several books, <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/mn/search/?_encoding=UTF8&x=0&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=ur2&y=0&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=The%20Home%20Team%20bready&url=search-alias%3Daps">The Home Team</a></i></b>, an illustrated history of Baltimore baseball, and <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080185833X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=080185833X">Baseball in Baltimore</a></i></b> published in 1998, which is still sold on Amazon.
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Mr. Bready was a longtime member of the <a href="http://www.baltimorebottleclub.org/">Baltimore Antique Bottle Club</a> and had amassed through the years an extensive collection of material related to Maryland rye whiskey.  In his retirement he wrote the first detailed study of pre-Prohibition Maryland rye, which was published by the Maryland Historical Society.
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Mr. Bready was a member of The Six Napoleons of Baltimore and served as their Gasogene in 1954-55.  He was invested in The Baker Street Irregulars in 1955 as "The Disappearance of James Phillimore."
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<i>Please remember these fine men <a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/search/label/terrace">and all previous Irregulars whom we have remembered</a> in these pages. May they rest in eternal peace on the other side of the Reichenbach Falls.</i><br />
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"The Two Gentlemen Passed Us" [HOUN]

It's the end of the year and we're catching up on some of the passings that have occurred over the past couple of months. The follow...

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by Francine Kitts

"The Second Morning After Christmas" [BLUE]

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It's that time of the year when we reach into the archives and pull out one of the old favorites that seems to survive the test of time.<br />
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Not only do we recycle the content, but we ignore our editorial mandate to avoid reusing a quote for the post title. However, in the case of "The Second Morning After Christmas" [BLUE] which has been used in <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2006/12/second-morning-after-christmas-blue_27.html"><b>2006</b></a>, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2008/12/second-morning-after-christmas-blue_27.html"><b>2008</b></a>, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2009/12/second-morning-after-christmas-blue_27.html" style="font-weight: bold;">2009</a> and <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2010/12/second-morning-after-christmas-blue_25.html" style="font-weight: bold;">2010</a>, we find that we have a post that continues to please, so we'll continue the tradition. Just as the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> annually reproduces a 1949 editorial written by Vermont Royster called "<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204464404577112431986005786.html">In Hoc Anno Domini</a>," we saw no reason to avoid replication here.<br />
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If this is new to you, please feel free to share and use this at your own Sherlockian society holiday meetings. The only thing we ask is that you attribute the poem to its rightful author. <br />
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So, we bring you "Two Days After Christmas," a tribute to "The Blue Carbuncle" in the style of Clement Moore's <a href="http://iment.com/maida//familytree/henry/xmas/poemvariants/troysentinel1823.htm" style="color: #003366;">A Visit from St. Nick</a>.<br />
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For those of you inclined more to listening rather than reading, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/12/special-episode-compliments-of-season.html">here's the audio version, courtesy of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a>.<br />
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<b>A note about the lead image for this post:</b><br />
This is the dust jacket from the first book to be published by the Baker Street Irregulars. The deluxe edition included "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" with blue-tinged plates of two of the Sidney Paget illustrations from the original <i>Strand Magazine</i>. It also included an essay by Edgar W. Smith, BSI titled "The Story of the Blue Carbuncle," as well as "A Note on the Baker Street Irregulars." We have included a link below to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YE59BW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000YE59BW%22">purchase this through Amazon</a>.<br />
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We have the pleasure and honor of wishing you "the compliments of the season."<br />
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<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><i>Thank you for your generosity.</i><br />
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"The Second Morning After Christmas" [BLUE]

It's that time of the year when we reach into the archives and pull out one of the old favorites that seems to survive the test of...

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by Scott Monty

The Blue Carbuncle, As Told via Animated Gif

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"It arrived upon Christmas morning." [BLUE]</h4>
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Usually we save our Christmas greetings on this site for "the second morning after Christmas." But in this case, we found a relic from our digital version of Holmes's own "large tin box" [MUSG] containing notes of his early cases. <br />
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In our own instance, the artifact is an animated gif that we found and sought permission (some four years ago) from a member of <a href="http://www.holmesian.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=473&st=20">Holmesian.net</a> named "whorl". We had misplaced the image, and then did not have an appropriate hosting service to be able to share it with you. <br />
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Now, on Christmas morning, that has all been solved. We're proud and honored to bring you <b><a href="http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj88/scottmonty/stick_BLUE-1.gif">The Bloo Sparkly</a></b> (click for the fullsize image), a retelling of "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" with stick figures, which you can see below. <i><b>If you're reading this on a feed reader or via email, please click on "I Hear of Sherlock" in the header of the email to advance to the website to see the animation</b></i>. The slides advance automatically, so if you need to start over, just hit F5 or refresh your browser to start over.  <br />
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We hope that your holiday is an enjoyable one. Expect to see us back here again in two days (i.e. "the second morning after Christmas" [BLUE]).  <br />
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The Blue Carbuncle, As Told via Animated Gif

"It arrived upon Christmas morning." [BLUE] Usually we save our Christmas greetings on this site for "the second m...

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by Scott Monty

“Those Shots Must Have Told Him that the Game was Up.” [HOUN]

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<br /><i>Editor's note</i>: this is another review in our continuing series from our contributors. If you would like to contribute to the site, please <a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/p/about-me.html">click here</a>.<br /><br /> It has been three years since the original Guy Ritchie reboot of the Sherlock Holmes film franchise. At the time, Holmes hadn't been seen on the big screen in years, and excitement for this new take on the classic character was huge. We were promised a faster, rougher Holmes from the director of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000093FLA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000093FLA%22"><i>Snatch</i></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00007ELEP/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00007ELEP"><i>Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels</i></a>, and that’s exactly what we got. The best part? It was fun, if not exactly true to the original characters and tales as told by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.<br /><br />

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<br /><a href="http://sherlockholmes2.warnerbros.com/"><i>Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows</i></a> opened this weekend to a substantially different reception. While the original film brought in over $60 million it’s first weekend, GAME barely topped out at $40 million. Were we all just tired of waiting three years to see more of Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes? Or have we seen all that Ritchie had to offer and just don’t feel the need to pay to see any more?<br /><br />Part of this reviewer’s personal apathy towards seeing the film was the fact that, yes, I enjoyed seeing the original <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OQCV6A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001OQCV6A"><i>Sherlock Holmes</i></a> for Christmas in 2009, but that’s before the BBC television series, <i>Sherlock</i>, had aired. Seeing Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman embody the fully-modernized Holmes and Watson in Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat’s three episode series is everything you hoped the big-budget Ritchie film would be: clever, exciting, and extremely well done. If <i>Sherlock</i> didn’t exist as a series, then maybe, just maybe, GAME wouldn’t have disappointed quite as much as it did.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows</i> finds Watson (the handsomely-mustachioed Jude Law) about to marry, and Holmes teetering on the edge of psychosis. Is Holmes manic, has he lost his edge? the film seems to ask. The film never misses a moment of making Holmes seem, well, incredibly ridiculous—whether he is downing a glass of formaldehyde rather than brandy, or trotting along on a tiny pony while everyone else rushes by on their full-sized horses. If the filmmaker’s objective was to make Holmes look downright silly, rather than classically brilliant, or even heroic, then consider this movie a success.<br /><br />The film is much more an action film than a well-written mystery, centering around the machinations of Holmes’ latest obsession, Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris, whom Americans will recognize from the AMC series <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YABIQ6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000YABIQ6"><i>Mad Men</i></a>). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the climax happens at Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, which is not an incredibly exciting plot point to anyone who knows anything about the canon of Holmes stories.<br /><br />That being said, there were some very beautiful shots in the film. The scene with Holmes, Watson, and their gypsy companion, played by Noomi Rapace, running through the woods while under heavy artillery fire leaps to mind. My viewing companion (not a Holmes aficionado) enjoyed the film very much, so I believe it stands on its own as an enjoyable time at the movies. I can’t help my reservations at recommending the film, though. Any movie that sets out to make the Great Detective seem silly overall is doing the legacy quite an injustice. <br /><br />Word is that the green light has been given to a third film as well, so we’ll just have to endure more action-packed ridiculousness from the Ritchie group. All of this Hollywood Holmes stuff just leaves me wondering, ‘When does the BBC “Sherlock” air in the US?’ This reviewer is ready to see some really taut storytelling and acting as befits the great Sherlock Holmes. </div>
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<i>Jill Brumer is a small business owner, college drama professor, and all around creative type who has lived all over the States. She has her father to thank for purchasing her first Sherlock Holmes story when she was twelve years old- the fascination has never stopped!</i>--<br />
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