I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

The U.S. Supreme Court Denies Conan Doyle Estate Petition

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"last and highest court of appeal" [STUD] </h4>
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The last month in the <b>#FreeSherlock</b> legal battle has been full of quick - if not expected - decisions. And in reviewing the final version of this article, it almost reads like a soap opera.<br />
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First, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/234319104/Klinger-v-Conan-Doyle-Estate-Ltd-7th-Circuit-Court-of-Appeals-Decision" target="_blank">with an opinion written by Judge Richard Posner</a> on June 16, rebuked the "quixotic" attempt by the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. to seek "perpetual, or nearly perpetual copyright protection" of the Sherlock Holmes character. The full opinion - and it is entirely worth reading - is <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/234319104/Klinger-v-Conan-Doyle-Estate-Ltd-7th-Circuit-Court-of-Appeals-Decision" target="_blank">available via this link</a> and embedded below.<br />
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We thought that Techdirt was spot on when they noted<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The court seems completely unpersuaded by the Conan Doyle Estate's ridiculous fear that (*gasp*) if Holmes goes into the public domain, some people might <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130915/00291924523/conan-doyle-estate-doesnt-understand-public-domain-freaks-out-harms-it-might-cause-to-sherlock-holmes.shtml">create different versions</a> of him. That's actually kind of the point of the public domain. That's what's <i>supposed </i>to happen. </blockquote>
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Then, Les Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange") <a href="http://free-sherlock.com/2014/07/04/july-2014-petition-for-legal-fees/" target="_blank">filed a petition for legal fees</a> in the whole fiasco, to the tune of $70,000. [As an aside, the aptness of the above entry being posted on the <a href="http://free-sherlock.com/">Free-Sherlock.com</a> site on July 4 (Independence Day) was not lost on us.]  In the same blog post, he noted that the CDE, Ltd. had, on July 3, <a href="https://freesherlock.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/cde-motion-for-stay.pdf" target="_blank">filed a motion to stay the mandate</a> of the Court's decision. The 12-page motion included this telling reasoning:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Allowing the Court’s opinion to have immediate effect will have a chilling effect on the Estate’s ability to manage the fully developed character’s further promotion and development through licensing agreements.</blockquote>
In other words, the Court's opinion as it stood would severely restrict the fuel behind the financial engine that is the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd.. The subsequent motion to stay was an uncanny paraphrase of a scene from the 1997 Jim Carrey movie <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119528/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Liar Liar</a></i>:<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000120/?ref_=tt_trv_qu">Fletcher</a>: Your honor, I object!<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0076251/?ref_=tt_trv_qu">Judge</a>: Why?<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000120/?ref_=tt_trv_qu">Fletcher</a>: Because it's devastating to my case!<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0076251/?ref_=tt_trv_qu">Judge</a>: Overruled!</blockquote>
It turns out that the CDE, Ltd.'s motion was similarly <a href="http://freesherlock.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/denial-of-stay.pdf" target="_blank">denied - less than a week after it was filed</a>.<br />
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Undeterred - and as mentioned in their motion - the Estate, Ltd. <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140716/17211527902/conan-doyle-estate-asks-supreme-court-to-step-block-sherlock-holmes-being-public-domaind.shtml" target="_blank">filed an emergency petition with the United States Supreme Court</a> on July 11 to stay the ruling. Wasting absolutely no time whatsoever, <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/07/sherlock-holmes-plea-denied/" target="_blank">Justice Elena Kagan denied the petition</a> (link to the SCOTUS blog post), without even asking for a response from Klinger.<br />
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And there we have it. Do you think we've seen and heard the last of this issue?<br />
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If you haven't done so, you can look through some of <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/%23FreeSherlock#.U8iQUfldWSo" target="_blank">our past posts on the #FreeSherlock topic</a>. Highlights include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/12/special-episode-free-sherlock.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IHOSE Special Episode: Free Sherlock</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/05/an-eyewitness-account-to-free-sherlock.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">An Eyewitness Account of the Free Sherlock Appeal</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/02/imagine-that-you-can-bully-me-chas_14.html#.U8itSvldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Don't Imagine That You Can Bully Me" [CHAS]</a></li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/234319104/Klinger-v-Conan-Doyle-Estate-Ltd-7th-Circuit-Court-of-Appeals-Decision" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. - 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision on Scribd">Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. - 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision</a></div>
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The U.S. Supreme Court Denies Conan Doyle Estate Petition

"last and highest court of appeal" [STUD] The last month in the #FreeSherlock legal battle has been full of quick - if not ...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Design Decoded and Sherlock Holmes

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"If you use the code which I have explained" [DANC] </h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0AhQi2y1uRzv-FFciIRTfW7ws7jB2Tj7j9Q7a9Ty1102xDfuP_6SlgiBkLbbWzgfrnz-zLFZyzx-9Y1wMtMN89g9H1wtXT1ff6u-Bp027fUWp5rF_808CFqhJNLEoXIlrPZilcRdNxM/s1600/decoder.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Decode this, Dan Brown" border="0" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0AhQi2y1uRzv-FFciIRTfW7ws7jB2Tj7j9Q7a9Ty1102xDfuP_6SlgiBkLbbWzgfrnz-zLFZyzx-9Y1wMtMN89g9H1wtXT1ff6u-Bp027fUWp5rF_808CFqhJNLEoXIlrPZilcRdNxM/s1600/decoder.jpg" title="Codex" width="640" /></a></div>
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In 2012 the <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/">Smithsonian</a> Web site featured an outstanding six-part Sherlockian series written by Jimmy Stamp. Stamp's <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/category/design-decoded/">Design Decoded</a> blog has addressed topics of Sherlockian interest ranging from the beehive to the telegraph, but the entries in this series are among its finest. Here are a few highlights:<br />
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In <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-mystery-of-221b-baker-street-3608784/">"The Mystery of 221B Baker Street"</a> Stamp investigates the location of literature's most famous address and showcases reconstructions of the sitting room at 221B. He recapitulates a few historical realities, namely that (in the 1890's) today's Baker Street bore the names Baker Street, York Place, and Upper Baker Street, and there was no number 221. When the entire stretch of road was renamed and eventually renumbered, a battle ensued as to whether the Abbey National Building Society or the Sherlock Holmes Museum should bear the famous address. But this fracas was parenthetical to the real question, as Stamp notes: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The fact that there is no real 221 Baker Street has not stopped literary historians from speculating about which Baker Street building Doyle used as his proxy for the home of Holmes and Watson. By closely reading the texts, scholars have proposed multiple Baker Street addresses as a possible inspiration for the literary 221, yet there is no definitive answer." </blockquote>
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The remainder of the article salutes many a faithful realization of the famous habitation. Among the featured reconstructions of the sitting room are familiar London landmarks the <a href="http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/">Sherlock Holmes Museum</a> and the <a href="http://www.sherlockholmespub.com/">Sherlock Holmes Pub</a>; Switzerland's pair of 221Bs at the Holmes museums in <a href="http://www.sherlockholmes.ch/">Meiringen</a> and in <a href="http://www.221b.ch/Lucens_e.html">Lucens</a>; and the 221B Room in the Wilson Library at the <a href="https://www.lib.umn.edu/scrbm/holmes">University of Minnesota</a>. Additional manifestations are mentioned in the comments, including those in <a href="http://www.221bbakerstreetla.com/">Los Angeles</a>, California; <a href="http://www.holmesroom.com/">Orlando</a>, Florida; and <a href="http://www.sherlock-holmes.fr/murder-party/2-a-visit.htm">Saint-Sauvier</a>, France.<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/AVvXsEhi7S0Fb9w6hyphenhyphendyflhqFciy9-kJq7HnRblXtM_B6AV5HImpxPuOcUQ-tPybzoz4maMrAYstHiz_9l-7Bw-c3h3nyjhRUe86VWQq_57bFUqdj2heP7Rz4nMv0ADaqQWEFVfQQ5dlmHJ7QdI/s1600/BakerStNumbers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A look at the layout around Baker Street via a Grub Street project" border="0" height="555" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7S0Fb9w6hyphenhyphendyflhqFciy9-kJq7HnRblXtM_B6AV5HImpxPuOcUQ-tPybzoz4maMrAYstHiz_9l-7Bw-c3h3nyjhRUe86VWQq_57bFUqdj2heP7Rz4nMv0ADaqQWEFVfQQ5dlmHJ7QdI/s1600/BakerStNumbers.jpg" title="Baker Street, via Grub Street" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Baker Street, with its original numbering, via Grub Street Project.</span></td></tr>
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In <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-scene-of-deduction-drawing-221b-baker-street-23049988/">"The Scene of Deduction: Drawing 221B Baker Street,"</a> Stamp examines various attempts to produce a definitive sketch of the flat, beginning with the two best-known: <a href="http://www.sherlockian.net/graphics/floorplan.jpg">Ernest H. Short's 1948 drawing</a> for the <i>Strand Magazine</i> (published in 1950) and <a href="http://www.stutler.cc/other/misc/baker_street.html">Russell Stutler's 1995 rendering</a> for the <i>Financial Times</i>. <br />
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Each is impressive in its own right, and no Sherlockian collection would be complete without them, but computer-aided design has created even more possibilities. Stamp shares a lovely three-dimensional digital model of the flat from the BBC series <i>Sherlock</i>, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, and an equally impressive version of the same space rendered in Minecraft, no less. Free drafting software enables the fledgling artist in each of us to construct a 221B of his own, one that might become the blueprint for a fully-realized room one day. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5qDfnMAAZp2QZHx0bLrZyfbj9LmYrGJJ7wk1TInxwbS06CstnTBdfd9G1IXAcVQgD5_ykEwGTAm-u1QzHQQzsPdviODQv0Y04XmELyc9LTqH5n48bafzo4Y01-dr4XUrhXdjEE8UeBE/s1600/TSG221Bvw2.tiff" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mock-up of what 221B Baker Street looked like, according to Sidney Paget's drawings" border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5qDfnMAAZp2QZHx0bLrZyfbj9LmYrGJJ7wk1TInxwbS06CstnTBdfd9G1IXAcVQgD5_ykEwGTAm-u1QzHQQzsPdviODQv0Y04XmELyc9LTqH5n48bafzo4Y01-dr4XUrhXdjEE8UeBE/s1600/TSG221Bvw2.tiff" title="A Paget-inspired SketchUp model of 221B" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Paget-inspired SketchUp model of 221B, by your humble reviewer. © 2012 Timothy S. Greer</span></span></td></tr>
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In <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/sherlock-holmes-and-the-tools-of-deduction-10556242/">"Sherlock Holmes and the Tools of Deduction,"</a> Stamp explores the optical technologies that enable the master to perform many of his greatest feats of analysis: the magnifying glass and the microscope, identifying Holmes's employment of his "all-seeing eye" in A Study in Scarlet as the first literary example of a detective's using a convex lens to examine a crime scene. Drawing on the research of Dr. Robert Ing in "The Art of Forensic Detection and Sherlock Holmes," Stamp theorizes that the microscope Holmes preferred was likely the <a href="http://www.antique-microscopes.com/plocular.html">Powell & Lealand No. 1</a>, a beautiful and versatile instrument handsomely depicted via photographs and wood engravings, and sporting enough brass protuberances and precision gears to make any fan of steampunk go weak in the knees. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfJf4KFKsA_0A-6DM3O2IO5eanXjZk-tbbi4oV1rvORdpUB8II3iaz-qmk1ped-LC5UOGZrG8aTcISI6wEHk2YzHshOTES-4Kq5-TWTysZQ1AAJPsxZjEZUlifkzfPvk_7cFAab8hYv4/s1600/IMG_0427.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The microscope used by Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes" border="0" height="455" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfJf4KFKsA_0A-6DM3O2IO5eanXjZk-tbbi4oV1rvORdpUB8II3iaz-qmk1ped-LC5UOGZrG8aTcISI6wEHk2YzHshOTES-4Kq5-TWTysZQ1AAJPsxZjEZUlifkzfPvk_7cFAab8hYv4/s1600/IMG_0427.jpg" title="Granada Sherlock Holmes's microscope" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Smith, Beck & Beck microscope number 4216 in the Granada Sherlock Holmes exhibit, formerly at the London Film Museum, South Bank.</span></span></td></tr>
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Additional entries in the series are <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-deerstalker-where-sherlock-holmes-popular-image-came-from-7325976/">"The Deerstalker: Where Sherlock Holmes' Popular Image Came From,"</a> all about the famous cap; <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-modern-sherlock-holmes-and-the-technology-of-deduction-12375649/">"A Modern Sherlock Holmes and the Technology of Deduction,"</a> on the importance of the mobile phone in the BBC's <i>Sherlock</i>; and <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-architecture-of-memory-14396375/">"The Architecture of Memory,"</a> a look at the science behind Sherlock's mind palace. All are highly recommended reading. <br />
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If you enjoy this series and crave more Design Decoded-style detection, permit me to suggest the following from the annals of the Smithsonian site: <br />
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<a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/murder-miniature-nutshell-studies-unexplained-death-180949943/">How a Chicago Heiress Trained Homicide Detectives</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-secret-to-the-modern-beehive-is-a-one-centimeter-air-gap-4427011/">The Secret to the Modern Beehive</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/decoding-the-city-the-road-graffiti-placed-by-utility-workers-42822014/">Decoding the City</a><br />
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Design Decoded and Sherlock Holmes

"If you use the code which I have explained" [DANC] In 2012 the Smithsonian Web site featured an outstanding six-part Sher...

+ Read more »

by Tim Greer

Sherlock Holmes and Everyday Life: the Barber Shop

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"the scissors of the barber" [BLUE]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6Pn0uNZdls7r9kM7Zen0P0750y7ZNFGV0rggi_23XmKqjM7jmstzTdvBuU5XMx-e3uE6LRMAdz2aH-VPIuufwtsQ08mEIjJe-pj1Rc6FxhXhHihAwewu8wAqp_2DAOT7PdgtrnZAEWlv/s1600/Holmes+barber.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6Pn0uNZdls7r9kM7Zen0P0750y7ZNFGV0rggi_23XmKqjM7jmstzTdvBuU5XMx-e3uE6LRMAdz2aH-VPIuufwtsQ08mEIjJe-pj1Rc6FxhXhHihAwewu8wAqp_2DAOT7PdgtrnZAEWlv/s1600/Holmes+barber.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Some of the great Canonical omissions are those of the everyday life of the good doctor and the detective. While we're fortunate to know Dr. Watson's tobacconist (Bradley's, Oxford Street [HOUN]) and that Holmes was under the care of a Harley Street physician (Dr. Moore Agar [DEVI]), we seldom read of the mundane ins and outs of living on Baker Street.<br />
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One such example is that of the local barber. There are precisely three instances of hair being cut in the Sherlock Holmes stories:<br />
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<ol>
<li>The recent trimmings of Henry Baker's barber that appear in his battered old hat in "The Blue Carbuncle" </li>
<li>The beautiful chestnut hair that Violet Hunter, which Jephro Rucastle required to be cut quite short as a condition of Miss Hunter's employment in "The Copper Beeches."</li>
<li>Holmes himself mentioned that his follicles would be groomed in "His Last Bow" as he intoned, "With my hair cut and a few other superficial changes I shall no doubt reappear at Claridge's tomorrow as I was before this American stunt."</li>
</ol>
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We know that Holmes and Watson must have had their hair cut regularly and perhaps they even enjoyed an occasional shave at the barber shop. The Granada series, in its first round of stories dramatized with Jeremy Brett in the title role (<i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i> - <a href="http://amzn.to/1qX1BV9" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1sRziqy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>), gave us a marvelous glimpse into this area of Baker Street living in the opening scenes of "<a href="http://youtu.be/pgHO4Op6zc8?t=3m47s" target="_blank">The Resident Patient</a>":<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pgHO4Op6zc8?rel=0&start=227" width="600"></iframe></center>
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That it also includes Beethoven's Violin Concerto - our favorite piece of music - is, as Holmes put it, "an extra."<br />
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Of course, the Granada series is not alone in referencing barbers. If you're a fan of the 1940s radio series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, you may recall "<a href="https://archive.org/details/SherlockHolmes-CaseOfTheDemonBarber" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and the Demon Barber</a>" which first aired on January 28, 1946.<br />
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So imagine our amusement when our Facebook fan David Somen shared this with us, remarking, "I saw this barbers shop in Thame, Oxford, UK last week and it just tickled me."<br />
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Us too, David.<br />
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What's an example of Sherlock Holmes in everyday life - or an example of everyday life in the Sherlock Holmes stories - that captures your attention?<br />
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Sherlock Holmes and Everyday Life: the Barber Shop

"the scissors of the barber" [BLUE] Some of the great Canonical omissions are those of the everyday life of the good doctor a...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Celebrity Deathmatch Pits Sherlock Holmes Against Jack the Ripper

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"Might I trouble you for a match?" [FINA]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCCfCoORSaU3Cty5OTqCpoCtJS9qpphr4HI7YtFY76QzUHUdW4hy3QU5-88go8Eoc8WyJsN6oTfRqmMFTeNHENchL7i1TFCLh27qHZF5LChm1EoQR53IZHVNsm6phdMuqYTjXSnVTEq44/s1600/Celebrity+Deathmatch.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A claymation Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper - you won't believe what happens next" border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCCfCoORSaU3Cty5OTqCpoCtJS9qpphr4HI7YtFY76QzUHUdW4hy3QU5-88go8Eoc8WyJsN6oTfRqmMFTeNHENchL7i1TFCLh27qHZF5LChm1EoQR53IZHVNsm6phdMuqYTjXSnVTEq44/s1600/Celebrity+Deathmatch.PNG" title="Celebrity Deathmatch: Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper" width="640" /></a></div>
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From 1998-2002, MTV ran a claymation program called <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_Deathmatch" target="_blank">Celebrity Deathmatch</a></i>. It featured two celebrities facing off in a wrestling ring and typically involved exaggerated and gruesome injuries. Examples include Marilyn Manson vs. Charles Manson, The Three Tenors vs. the Three Stooges, etc.<br />
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After <a href="https://twitter.com/NickMartorelli/status/486929144379609088" target="_blank">a late-night Twitter exchange</a> with a couple of New York-area Sherlockians, we were reminded of the Celebrity Deathmatch that involved Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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In this episode, we find the ringside commentators Johnny and Nick stepping out of a time machine and into the streets of Victorian London, only to find Debbie Matenopoulos being assaulted by Jack the Ripper. Then, who should appear out of the fog but Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.<br />
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The crowd begins to gather around as one announcer observes, "Every walk of London's pub crawl life is here: ruffians, scalliwags, and I think I just spotted a hooligan."<br />
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And with that, "It's brainiac vs. maniac!"<br />
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<h3>
<b>WARNING</b>: graphic claymation content</h3>
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<iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/349969244" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/349969244">Celebrity Deathmatch</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user101140908">IHearOf Sherlock</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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