I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Another Pointed Look at the Needle Reference

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"they are as sharp as needles, too" (STUD)</h4>
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Even Sherlock Holmes was wrong once in a while, and clearly I was following in his erring footsteps when I suggested, in <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/03/sharp-observations-about-that-needle.html#.VQyVlfnF-mE">a March 18 posting</a> here on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, that the annoying expression "Quick, Watson, the needle!" dates from the 1930s. As soon as my speculations appeared, Sherlockian scholars were whispering Norbury in my ear, sending awkward reminders that the phrase is known to have existed much earlier than that.<br />
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Ian Schoenherr, Ray Wilcockson, and Mattias Boström were all very helpful in this regard, pointing to needle references in such sources as the Commercial Telegraphers' Journal (July 1911) and — long before the Lilly Library became an important repository of Sherlockian material — the Indiana University yearbook for 1912. 
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/ianschoenherr">@ianschoenherr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/IHearofSherlock">@IHearofSherlock</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/darkgreendesk">@darkgreendesk</a> This is from DeWaal: <a href="http://t.co/b2T2M3zJrG">pic.twitter.com/b2T2M3zJrG</a><br />
— Mattias Boström, BSI (@mattias221b) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattias221b/status/578207395001856000">March 18, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/darkgreendesk">@darkgreendesk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mattias221b">@mattias221b</a> This comes from The Packard, July 8, 1911 <a href="http://t.co/lATasdO4XV">pic.twitter.com/lATasdO4XV</a><br />
— Ian Schoenherr (@ianschoenherr) <a href="https://twitter.com/ianschoenherr/status/578194089826463744">March 18, 2015</a></blockquote>
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I learned with interest that cartoonist Tad Dorgan (TAD), whose "Daffydills" was a popular comic feature in the early years of the 20th century, used "Quick, Watson, the needle" often, as well as variations of it such as "Quick, Watson, the gun!" Dorgan, incidentally, is thought to be the originator of other immortal phrases such as "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDd8shcLvHI" target="_blank">Yes, we have no bananas</a>" and "See what the boys in the back room will have."<br />
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More embarrassingly, I learned that Dorgan's use of the phrase was no secret, as Julie McKuras of the <a href="http://www.norwegianexplorers.org/" target="_blank">Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota</a> discussed it at length in <a href="https://www.lib.umn.edu/pdf/holmes/v15n1.pdf" target="_blank">the March 2011 issue of the newsletter</a> published by <a href="https://www.lib.umn.edu/scrbm/holmes" target="_blank">the Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections</a> at the University of Minnesota. The Minnesota collection includes Dorgan cartoons collected by the late John Bennett Shaw, as well as other early attestations. "The quotes are rampant in magazine articles dating from the period 1910 onward," McKuras writes. (Who knew? Plenty of people, apparently, but not me.)<br />
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But the phrase goes back even earlier — back, apparently, to the operetta "The Red Mill", first staged on Broadway in September 1906, with music by Victor Herbert and libretto by Henry Blossom. (It was loosely adapted for a 1927 film starring Marion Davies, whose brother-in-law George Regas played a minor role in the 1939 "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" in which the Watsonian needle is also mentioned.) <br />
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Wouldn't you know, McKuras is aware of "The Red Mill" too. She reports that it<br />
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starred comedians Fred Stone and David Montgomery as two American vaudevillians. Stone and Montgomery were famous for their performances as the Scarecrow and Tin Man in the 1903 stage production of <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>." </blockquote>
And she quotes an earlier critic:<br />
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Their roles in The Red Mill, as good-for-nothing con men and laze-abouts whose inner sense of entrepreneurship awakens when they are called upon to impersonate Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, set the tone for one of the most popular character types of Broadway theater through the 1940s." </blockquote>
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The Ohio Light Opera produced <a href="http://amzn.to/1Fg0hFD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">an album of the "Red Mill" music in 2001</a> — apparently on two LP records, which might indeed prompt an urgent call for a needle. Amazon currently stocks it.<br />
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That great Sherlockian Vincent Starrett said in 1932 that he had written to Fred Stone to ask about the origins of the jab about the needle. His letter mentioning that inquiry, addressed to Gray Chandler Briggs, is reproduced in <i>"Dear Starrett —" "Dear Briggs —</i>", edited by John Nieminski and Jon L. Lellenberg for the Baker Street Irregulars History Series (1989). But if Starrett ever received a reply from Stone, it is not known, at least not to me.<br />
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All this evidence seems to demolish my suggestion that "Quick, Watson, the needle" owes something to a commercial slogan popular in the 1940s, "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" Indeed, it begins to seem more likely that it was the other way round — that Watson and the needle were already firmly lodged in the public mind, and helped to make Henry and the Flit so successful.<br />
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"Watson," said he, "if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper `Norbury' in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you."</blockquote>
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- "The Yellow Face"<br />
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Another Pointed Look at the Needle Reference

"they are as sharp as needles, too" (STUD) Even Sherlock Holmes was wrong once in a while, and clearly I was following in h...

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by Chris Redmond

The Earliest Sherlock Holmes - Star Trek Crossovers

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“some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking” [SIGN]</div>
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Two of the earliest Sherlock Holmes-Star Trek Crossovers were created before Lt. Commander Data donned a deerstalker. The Intergalactic Etc. Sherlock Bones series is arguably the first Star Trek crossover character (1975), as it predates <i>The Federation Holmes</i> (1978). These stories represent opposite ends of the crossover literature; <i>The Federation Holmes</i> is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, while the Sherlock Bones series was a Star Trek parody.<br />
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In the 22nd Century, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are recreated on the planet from the original <i>Star Trek</i> series episode “Shore Leave.” Their existence is devised to counter the evil of the previously recreated Professor Moriarty. These stories first appeared in issues of <i>The Holmesian Federation</i>, which first appeared in 1978. Twelve original and one bonus story were collected in <i><a href="http://www.batteredbox.com/SherlockianPastiches/Federation.htm" target="_blank">The Federation Holmes: Casebook Number One: A Baker's Dozen of Sherlock Holmes – Star Trek Parodies</a></i> by Dana Martin Batory. <br />
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The first story in <i>The Federation Holmes</i> features the crew of the Enterprise. Later, they appear only in cameo roles. Quickly Holmes and Watson set up their agency on Memory Alpha. Holmes dives into learning alien cultures and customs; collects his scrapbooks; and resumes publishing scientific papers. Watson adopts the new medical instruments, stashing his medical tricorder, medikit and hypo spray in his Gladstone bag. Some memorable guest stars were Cyrano Jones, Denebian Slime Devils and a mention of Lord <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/08/episode-06-peter-blau-part-1.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Peter Blau</a>.<br />
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The stories are well written, and have a distinct Watsonian flair for painting the scenes that bring a reader into the story. Unlike the original Canon, the stories were written in the third person.<br />
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Before the Holmesian Federation, the Intergalactic Etc. first published a Star Trek Fanzine in 1975. “Sherlock Bones” appeared in the first issue; his stories were a regular feature running in each issue. Due to their popularity, three special collections of the stories were printed: <i>The Adventures of Sherlock Bones #1</i>, <i>The Adventures of Sherlock Bones #2</i>, and <i>Sherlock Bones Strikes Again</i>.<br />
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With titles like “The Clandestine Adventure of the Arcane Tomato” and “From the Reminiscences of Doctor Leonard McCoy”, the stories were tongue in cheek, with Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy putting Nurse Chapel to work as his assistant, Nurse Watson. He created his own network of crewmembers to aid in his investigations, the Medical Unit Irregulars, headed by Ensign Chekov. Together they fought against the evil Professor Spockiarty. Some of the stories borrowed incidents from the Canon and adapted them to adventures onboard the Enterprise.<br />
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As an editor-author of the Intergalactic Etc., it would be difficult for me to objectively review these stories. Rereading them during  the writing this post has proven entertaining as well as nostalgic. They were written during the editors’ years in high school and college, spanning almost a decade. An objective review that <a href="http://www.mrhalliday.com/klhalliday/Zinedex/ContentsS.htm#SherlockBones" target="_blank">appears on Halliday’s Zinedex</a> commented “they've grown on me and now I think they're pretty fun.”<br />
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These fanzines are occasionally available on eBay, but there is a rumor that the editors are considering a re-release. You can <a href="http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Bones" target="_blank">read about The Adventures of Sherlock Bones here</a>.<br />
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This post covered two of the earliest Sherlock Holmes-Star Trek crossovers. Since then, there have been countless stories published or posted to the web. To start learning about more recent crossovers, <a href="https://www.fanfiction.net/Star-Trek-2009-and-Sherlock-Crossovers/4863/7190/" target="_blank">check out Fanfiction.net, a database of fanfiction works</a>. <br />
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These crossovers influenced both universes. Tying Sherlock Holmes into the Star Trek universe was a way to increase the buzz about a canceled series and engage more fans. In those day, fanzines and conventions were the primitive equivalent to current social media.<br />
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When the first story appeared in the first issue in 1975, the series had concluded six years previously, leaving the fans wanting more. The Star Trek fan movement and the fanzines kept the franchise alive, and even influenced the naming the first space shuttle built for atmospheric test flights. At the time when these early stories were written, Star Trek’s fan movement may have influenced the Sherlock Holmes universes less dramatically, but it served as a way to keep the Canon relevant.<br />
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The stories demonstrated that Sherlock Holmes can be part of any place, any time. The influence of Star Trek’s fan movement is more evident today, having laid the groundwork and demonstrated how fans can engage with the universe of Sherlock Holmes, where it is always 1895.<br />
<br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Editor's Note:</i></b></h4><div>Lest we forget, Nicholas Meyer, BSI ("A Fine Morocco Case"), author of <i>The Seven Per-Cent Solution</i>, also directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. His memoir, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3DX41gT" target="_blank">The View From the Bridge: Memories from Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood</a></i>, spans those connections.

You can listen to our two interviews with Meyer in <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/11/episode-85-nicholas-meyer.html#.YTiyqY5Kjb0" target="_blank">Episode 85: Nicholas Meyer</a> and <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2019/10/episode-178-adventure-of-peculiar.html" target="_blank">Episode 178: The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols</a>. <div><br /></div><div> --<div><br />
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The Earliest Sherlock Holmes - Star Trek Crossovers

“some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking” [SIGN] Two of the earliest Sherlock Holmes-Star Trek Crossov...

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by M. M. M.

Sherlock Holmes - The Origins of a Legend

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"the source and origin" [SIXN] </h4>
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Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper appeared in London around the same time. There is a major difference between them, however, in that, whilst one of them was all too real, the other was fictional.<br />
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However, it often happens that the line between them gets somewhat blurred and some believe that Jack the Ripper was fictional and that Sherlock Holmes was reality.<br />
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The character of Holmes was very much based on a group of real people and, in a new online documentary <b><i>The Man Who Killed Sherlock Holmes</i></b>, the filmmakers set out to chart the origins and the career of the world’s most famous consulting detective.<br />
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Follow him from his gestation in the streets of Edinburgh to his arrival in London, where he and his trusted friend and colleague Dr. John H. Watson would capture the hearts and minds of the Victorian public.<br />
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Indeed, Holmes’s almost superhuman abilities, coupled with his almost uncanny ability to solve even the most complex of cases by observing, deducing and reasoning - often by spotting tiny little clues that the ordinary police had missed - must have seemed to many readers to be the perfect foil for the real-life detectives who at the time were trying to hunt Jack the Ripper down in the streets of East London.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/122041604?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe> <br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/122041604">The Sherlock Holmes Documentary - Part One</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/thetimechannel">The Time Channel</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Arthur Conan Doyle</h3>
Holmes’s creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, was born in Picardy Place, Edinburgh on the 22nd May 1859.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2iFm0FhMDkHHvHSLm9lyLTuVsna1tAY5srpX6IkdodYaDvO_JomPYPrhPcirVa4A5Tj_ZuWuaa2sylEwVfz-vaMwlGJ-MtMw5clSiZJyoR50mxXcDJ12chf8E_AxHqocyVUA9sBzBgzh/s1600/Charles+Altamont+Doyle+faeries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2iFm0FhMDkHHvHSLm9lyLTuVsna1tAY5srpX6IkdodYaDvO_JomPYPrhPcirVa4A5Tj_ZuWuaa2sylEwVfz-vaMwlGJ-MtMw5clSiZJyoR50mxXcDJ12chf8E_AxHqocyVUA9sBzBgzh/s1600/Charles+Altamont+Doyle+faeries.jpg" width="213" /></a>His father, Charles Altamont Doyle, was a gifted artist who created some wonderfully fantastical illustrations that had an almost ethereal air about them.<br />
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He created scenes that showed fairies and other supernatural creatures swirling around the tower and spire of St. Giles’s Cathedral in Edinburgh. Indeed,  the seeds of Conan Doyle’s later interest in spiritualism, fairies and the paranormal were, most likely, sown at his father’s knee.<br />
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Later, when Conan Doyle was beginning to write his Sherlock Holmes stories, he would ask his father to provide the illustrations for the early works, and Charles, evidently, recognized his own traits in the character of his son’s creations as he drew the detective, more or less, as a mirror image of himself.<br />
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A Chronic Alcoholic</h3>
However, Charles was also a chronic alcoholic and Arthur’s childhood was blighted by his father’s drinking. Conan Doyle’s mother, Mary, would often have to carry her comatose husband to his bed, and on several occasions Charles would  go so far as to sell his own clothing and various household possessions in order to raise the money to buy alcohol.<br />
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Throughout his younger days, the family were forced to move frequently as Charles’s condition, and the family’s finances, took several downward spirals.</div>
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How Charles Influenced Holmes</h3>
Again, these childhood experiences firmly embedded themselves in young Arthur’s memory and they would re-surface years later in both the character of Sherlock Holmes and in his adventures. Holmes’s famous, or infamous, addiction to cocaine, for example, is very much based on his father’s “habit.” Drunkenness, often accompanied by violence, is a recurrent theme in the adventures of Holmes and Watson,  whilst the character of the alcoholic husband  crops up time and time again in the stories.</div>
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Conan Doyle was fortunate, however, in that his mother struggled to bring some semblance of normality to the family home and would do all that she could to keep young Arthur away from the destabilizing effect of his father’s drinking.<br />
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Childhood Tales of Chivalry / Sent Away</h3>
She took solace in medieval tales of chivalry and would regale her children with epic stories of the adventures of bold knights riding bravely to  the rescue of distressed damsels.<br />
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The young Conan Doyle absorbed these tales with enthusiasm and they too lodged in his memory from where they would later resurface to influence him, both professionally and personally. Indeed, the adult Conan Doyle’s chivalry, together with his willingness to take up the cudgel on behalf of the underdog, were legendary and both of these traits were, doubtless, influenced by the tales he had absorbed from his mother throughout his childhood years.<br />
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However, his mother was also determined that her husband's drinking would have as little effect as possible on her children, and to that end, when Arthur was nine, several uncles paid for him to be sent to the Jesuit preparatory school Hodder Place in England, and from here he progressed to the main Jesuit college, Stonyhurst.<br />
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The Return of Conan Doyle</h3>
He returned to Edinburgh in 1876 and enrolled at the University of Edinburgh Medical School where he began writing short stories. As is the case with many writer,  he had several rejections from various magazines until, in  September 1879, his first story,The Mystery of Sasassa Valley, a story set in South Africa, was published in Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal.<br />
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However, Conan Doyle wasn’t particularly enamored by the world of academia (he had hated Stonyhurst and was little more enthused by University), so he decided to embark upon an adventure that would, by his own admission, turn him into a big strapping man.<br />
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We will follow him on that adventure on our next installment of the Sherlock Holmes Documentary.<br />
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<br />
[<i><b>Editor's note</b>: the above was adapted from <a href="http://www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com/generalnews/sherlock-holmes-the-beginnings" target="_blank">Jack the Ripper Tour</a>, where it was originally posted</i>.]<br />
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--<br />
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</div>

Sherlock Holmes - The Origins of a Legend

"the source and origin" [SIXN] Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper appeared in London around the same time. There is a majo...

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by Scott Monty

Sharp Observations About That Needle

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"And, no doubt, to free the country from a pest?" [MAZA]</h4>
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What four-word sentence is every bit as spurious as "Elementary, my dear Watson" and twenty times as annoying?</div>
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"Quick, Watson, the needle!" of course. Neither phrase appears anywhere in the Sherlockian canon, but both are the stuff of popular imagination and bad television scripts. In 1961, writing in <i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Baker Street Journal</a></i>, Ruth Berman denounced the needle phrase   in verse. She wrote in part:</div>
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Irregulars explode in wrath,<br />They do not stop to wheedle,<br />When folks who think they're quoting Holmes<br />Cry, "Quick, Watson! the needle."</blockquote>
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The origins of the "Elementary" line are fodder for another day (since I understand that a prominent Sherlockian researcher has found an earlier source for it than P. G. Wodehouse's 1915 novel <a href="http://amzn.to/1O4mrgl" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Psmith, Journalist</i>)</a>. But what can definitely be said about   the embarrassing reminder that Holmes was briefly a drug user, with the implication that he was enabled by his physician-friend? </div>
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We do know that it resembles a line from the greatest Sherlock Holmes film ever made, <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> from 1939 starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Ernest Pascal, an English-American novelist and screenwriter who was responsible for   the scripts of about 30 films between 1926 and 1943, apparently created the words that Rathbone utters in the closing scene: "Oh, Watson, the needle!" But at least there is no demeaning — and ungrammatical — "Quick."</div>
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However, within a few years the "Quick, Watson" version was current. In a volume of anecdote and reminiscence published in 1946, <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1MImc9h" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">From the Top of the Stairs</a></i>, Gretchen Finletter wrote this — about actor William Gillette, rather than Basil Rathbone:<br />
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"To shiver   over Sherlock Holmes in his silk dressing gown when he cried, 'Quick, Watson, the needle!' bared his arm and stuck the hypodermic into the upper wrist, and then gazed out over the audience with that, oh, so tired look — that was a moment of mature experience   in one's life. It made the Peter Pan goings on mere childish falderal." </blockquote>
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Well, she was wrong. The line about the needle does not appear in William Gillette's play, although the needle itself does. It's quite possible that Finletter's fallible memory created the misquotation, earning the scorn of Sherlockians throughout generations   to come. Certainly she was in error in imagining that Gillette (who died in 1937) ever uttered it.</div>
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She may also have been influenced by one of the earliest and greatest slogan campaigns in the history of American advertising, though it had nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes or needles. From 1928 to 1945, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey promoted   its mineral oil insecticide, Flit, with a series of magazine advertisements. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flit" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> sums up the advertising campaign: "The ads typically showed people threatened by whimsical, menacing insect-like creatures."</div>
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The slogan, which became a popular catch-phrase across the United States, was "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" Wikipedia again: "It spawned a song and was used as a punch line for comedians such as Fred Allen and Jack Benny." Almost certainly, it spawned an annoying   catch-phrase for Sherlock Holmes as well.</div>
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And those whimsical insects? They were drawn by a young cartoonist and commercial artist named Theodor Geisel. You may know him as Dr. Seuss.<br />
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Sharp Observations About That Needle

"And, no doubt, to free the country from a pest?" [MAZA] What four-word sentence is every bit as spurious as "Ele...

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by Chris Redmond

Episode 75: Prince of the Sherlockian Realm

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"she loved the Prince" [SHOS]</h4>
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For our diamond jubilee episode - our 75th - we're pleased to welcome Sonia Fetherston, BSI ("The Solitary Cyclist"), author of the latest entry in the Baker Street Irregulars Biography Series, <i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/prince.html" target="_blank">Prince of the Realm: The Most Irregular James Bliss Austin</a></i>.<br />
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Bliss Austin, BSI ("The Engineer's Thumb") was among the first class that was given titular <br />
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investitures to the Baker Street Irregulars. But he was more than that, as we discovered. He was an accomplished researcher and industrialist who rose to the executive ranks of U.S. Steel; he was a collector of and expert on Japanese art; he was a Sherlockian who was most generous with his time and collection; he was a family man.<br />
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Sonia does a fine job of describing the influences on Bliss's life and the many lives that Bliss influenced as well. From budding collectors and Sherlockians to veteran scholars - including the aprocryphal Helene Yuhasova story. She also shared Bliss Austin's firsthand experience with a female interloper at an all-male Sherlockian group.<br />
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Discover how Bliss's collection, originally bequeathed to Lehigh University, made its way to the market. Listen to how a collector of Bliss's stature acquires original manuscripts in Arthur Conan Doyle's own hand: <i>The Valley of Fear</i> and "The Red Circle." And learn about how you can read a Bliss Austin paper - given at an early BSI dinner - that has never before appeared in print.<br />
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Mental Exaltation</h3>
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We introduce a new feature to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere listeners with this episode. It's a quiz that we call "Mental Exaltation," inspired by NPR's <i>Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me!</i> and written by IHOSE quizmaster Nick Martorelli. <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/your-chance-to-win-big-on-ihose.html#.VQW7T_ldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Find our how you can qualify to win</a>.</div>
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"My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation.</blockquote>
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This week, Sonia plays for listener Mary Miller of Indianapolis, Indiana.</div>
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We wrap up with our regular Gas-Lamp reading, this time taken from an issue of the BSJ that contained Bliss Austin's first contribution. "An Age Passes" and "Sonnet: From Sherlock Holmes to Mycroft Holmes" are taken from Vol. 1, No. 4 (OS) of the <i>Baker Street Journal</i>.</div>
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<a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock075.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 42.5 MB, 1:32:17</h4>
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Links:</h3>
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<ul>
<li>Sweeping up some tidbits of sherlockian news</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/LostStory" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A lost "Sherlock Holmes" story</a> was found in Scotland</li>
<li>The deaths of <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/remembering-alan-howard.html#.VQW5HfldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alan Howard</a> and <a href="http://ihose.co/SpockHolmes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leonard Nimoy</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/sherlockians-are-weird.html#.VQW5RfldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Graham Moore</a>, author of <i>The Sherlockian</i> and IHOSE guest (<a href="http://ihose.co/ihose30" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 30</a>) won an Academy Award for his screenplay for <i>The Imitation Game</i>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/03/arthur-and-george-come-to-tv.html#.VQW4__ldWSo" target="_blank">Arthur & George</a> premiered on ITV</li>
<li>National news brought <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/03/the-downside-to-having-sherlock-holmes.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Canonical references to life</a> with #llamadrama and #thedress</li>
</ul>
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<br />
Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at <a href="http://ihose.co/flipsherlock">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a> and <a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/sherlock-holmes">Scoop.it page</a>, as well as on the <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/114565123495685504221">The Sherlock Holmes Community</a> on Google+ (still growing, now at over 2,300 members), as well as through our accounts on <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock">Facebook</a>,<a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://ihearofsherlock.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a>.<br />
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<br />
Please <a href="http://bit.ly/ihearofsherlock">subscribe to us on iTunes</a>, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ihearofsherlock">Soundcloud</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/i-hear-of-sherlock-everywhere?refid=stpr">Stitcher</a> or <a href="http://www.spreaker.com/user/ihearofsherlock">Spreaker</a> and be kind enough to leave a rating or review for the show. And please tell a friend about us, in any fashion you feel comfortable.<br />
<br />
Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (ihearofsherlock AT gmail DOT com), call us at (774) 221-READ (7323).<br />
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<h3>
Sponsors</h3>
This episode includes three sponsors that deserve your attention: <br />
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<a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/">Wessex Press</a> (check out the new <a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/newspaper.html">Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle in the Newspapers Volume 1</a>) <br />
<a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/"><i>The Baker Street Journal</i></a>, where you should get <a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/subscriptions.html">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>.</div>
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Episode 75: Prince of the Sherlockian Realm

"she loved the Prince" [SHOS] For our diamond jubilee episode - our 75th - we're pleased to welcome Sonia Fetherston, ...

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by Scott Monty

Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes Debuted on This Day 30 Years Ago

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"Why, it's thirty year" [GLOR]</h4>
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Without a doubt, one of the most influential and memorable portayals of Sherlock Holmes in recent years is Jeremy Brett in the Granada / ITV production.<br />
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And it was exactly 30 years ago today - on March 14, 1985 - <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1imscXc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</a></i> made its premiere on American television via PBS.<br />
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Michael Cox was the brainchild behind the production, and with the assistance of John Hawkesworth and a number of other writers, brought the series to life in an authentic Victorian era setting. It was lavishly produced and is remembered (at least in the first two or three series) as being very faithful to the original Canon.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/studyincelluloid.html" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="A Study in Celluloid - Michael Cox, producer of the Granada Sherlock Holmes series, takes readers behind the scenes with Jeremy Brett." border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQculGPSH9NlP6E-OGueAgqPyhYx63uOn1lN1zV4VnJ6OG-UtIms8O0b07DPWXmhoEPymZfMiIVoglU94utYUnYcPXvhLrJ3G7qbK56Faq4kXpuPb3J6u0RqNjR5XcXbXtWSsd2HHwSESp/s1600/celluloid350.jpg" title="A Study in Celluloid" width="128" /></a>Starring Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes and David Burke as a level-headed, intelligent and ready-for-action Watson, the series burned an image of Sherlock Holmes into the minds of an entire generation. The series brought us guest stars that included such notables as Eric Porter, Roger Hammond, Jeremy Kemp, Joss Ackland, Gayle Hunnicut and many more.<br />
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<a href="http://amzn.to/1fxrpgV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The soundtrack to the Granada Sherlock Holmes</a> series is another reason that it rates highly with us. As you may recall, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/01/remembering-composer-patrick-gowers.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">composer Patrick Gowers passed away </a>in January of this year.<br />
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<br />
For a behind the scenes look at how the series came together and the challenges associated with mounting such a serious production, <i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/studyincelluloid.html" target="_blank">A Study in Celluloid</a></i> by Michael Cox himself does a wonderful job of getting into the details. [<i>Disclosure:</i> the book is published by <a href="http://wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a>, one of our sponsors. Please support them.]<br />
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And while you're at it, we'd also suggest that you kick back this evening and celebrate three decades of Granada by watching one of those early episodes. The series is now available as a Blu-ray box set. [<a href="http://amzn.to/1G1lAaU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1L9wge7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>]<br />
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You might also be interested in listening to <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose33" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 33: Remembering Edward Hardwicke</a><br />
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Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes Debuted on This Day 30 Years Ago

"Why, it's thirty year" [GLOR] Without a doubt, one of the most influential and memorable portayals of Sherlock Holmes in...

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by Scott Monty

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Is Anything But Flaky

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"Baker Street was like an oven" [CARD]</h4>
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From our network in San Francisco comes this discovery: a specialty bakery called <a href="http://www.mrholmesbakehouse.com/" target="_blank">Mr. Holmes Bakehouse</a>.<br />
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But this isn't your average bakery, oh no. Their signature item is the "cruffin" - a cross between a croissant and, you guessed it, a muffin. Perhaps there's a connection between this and the original Baker Street Irregulars, who themselves were "dirty and ragged little street arabs," [SIGN] - or what some might call "ragamuffins."<br />
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Located in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, the bakery is open "7:00 a.m. - Sold Out" on weekdays, which should give an indication of its popularity. On Yelp, their pastries have been said to give "<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/mr-holmes-bakehouse-san-francisco-2?hrid=BKVVRyu2Jyp0En4RErd4_A" target="_blank">the most ridiculously amazing foodgasm</a>," and reviewers rave about the <a href="http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles/6665-our-favorite-new-snack-is-a-magical-sushi-roll-inside-a-croissant" target="_blank">sushi roll inside a croissant</a>. But it's the cruffin that draws the crowds, and if customers want one, they have to wait in a queue that forms in advance of the 9:00 a.m. daily unveiling of the cruffins, which are on sale until they disappear.<br />
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Part of the drive of the bakery's popularity is their grasp of social media. The <a href="https://twitter.com/MrHolmesSF" target="_blank">@MrHolmesSF</a> Twitter account is active, but <a href="http://instagram.com/mrholmesbakehouse" target="_blank">their Instagram account</a> is the star. From the artistic arrangement of their baked goods in displays, on trays and in boxes to the neon sign at the store, it's like a Hollywood set for hipsters who love taking photos of their food and its surroundings. And their 10,600 (and growing) followers - or <b>"Holmies"</b> - are rabid, as the daily hours attest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjplPU-Jzy5SlpaEW6ksSeSP5veQk1sForVfXcWl8chmgTCP44lsw2YBCz8vVk8KFm94k2g8DtyNnQTrdqd9E6VbsDswjiVq3MSBSwXhe8TaAoGHP6ogkLKcViJZjmuL0at2cpklLiIsmBY/s1600/Holmes+Bakehouse.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjplPU-Jzy5SlpaEW6ksSeSP5veQk1sForVfXcWl8chmgTCP44lsw2YBCz8vVk8KFm94k2g8DtyNnQTrdqd9E6VbsDswjiVq3MSBSwXhe8TaAoGHP6ogkLKcViJZjmuL0at2cpklLiIsmBY/s1600/Holmes+Bakehouse.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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After hearing and reading about it, we decided to make a trip of our own to test out the wares. We arrived at 1042 Larkin Street at 8:30 a.m. on a Tuesday morning to find a queue out the door and down the sidewalk past the boundary of the store. We politely made our way past them after ensuring that the line was solely for patrons who were seeking the notorious cruffins.<br />
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We quickly found that there was not much to the interior of the shop at all. The food display was no longer than 12 feet, arranged perpendicular to the entrance. The wall opposite had their famous "I got baked in San Francisco" neon sign, and there was a windowfront counter with standing room for three, along with four block stools. It's mostly a grab-and-go shop.<br />
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But if you've managed to take a bite into the pastries before you've stepped away, you won't want to leave. Or if you do, you find yourself wanting to get back in line. We sampled the amelie amann and caramelized banana-filled doughnuts (see below) along with a most excellent coffee. Just like Captain Jack Crocker in "The Abbey Grange," their treats "ring true every time."<br />
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We'll see if they can develop their own version of "The Six <a href="http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/3084/Recipe.cfm" target="_blank">Napoleons</a>," a "Devil's Foot" cake or a "Marzipan Stone." At any rate, the bakehouse would do well to craft a co-marketing arrangement with <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Ian%20McKellen#.VOTHofnF9gQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ian McKellen's <i>Mr. Holmes</i></a> as it hits the theaters this summer. Odds are they'll play it low-key, just like the shop itself - which, by the way, isn't named after the famed detective at all. It's named for a cat.<br />
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While we were there, we discovered an interesting bit of timely news. As we said, our visit was on a Tuesday; the prior Friday, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/us/crooks-caper-at-san-francisco-bakery-leave-the-cash-take-the-cruffin-recipe.html?_r=0" target="_blank">the bakeshop was burgled</a> and thieves made off with what could only be described as a treasure-trove of valuables. No, not the fancy equipment, mounds of baking supplies, or wads of cash; they stole the coveted recipe books, including the cruffin recipe.<br />
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We'll see if cruffins begin popping up in other areas, but so far there have been no leads. This might be a case for Mr. Holmes himself.<br />
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Meanwhile, if we may paraphrase <i>The Godfather</i>, "Leave the gun. Take the cruffins."<br />
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Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Is Anything But Flaky

"Baker Street was like an oven" [CARD] From our network in San Francisco comes this discovery: a specialty bakery called ...

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by Scott Monty

Benedict Cumberbatch: Gen Y's Sherlock Holmes

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"the fêted hero" [VALL] </h4>
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Now that the Oscar® dust has settled, we know that Benedict Cumberbatch has gone home empty-handed. Yet of all the Best Actor nominees, Mr. Cumberbatch seems to be the one that garnered the most press attention.  An edition of <i>The Radio Times</i> included three different Cumberbatch covers, plus a contest to send in your best illustration of the star. A separate article in<i> The Radio Times</i> by Cumberbatch biographer Lynne Porter focused on the Oscar race and Cumberbatch's onscreen longevity. While the Oscar race has been the main focus on Cumberbatch for the last few weeks, it is important to note that the role this award winning thespian will always be remembered for is that of Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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Let's face it, despite the cries from Holmes purists, Benedict Cumberbatch is the current generation's Sherlock Holmes. While Robert Downey Jr.'s Holmes is popular in film and Jonny Lee Miller's alternate Americanized modern Holmes garners respectable ratings, neither actor will be remembered for those roles.<br />
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Sorry guys, when people think Holmes, they think Cumberbatch. This is despite the fact that Cumberbatch's Holmes is quite far removed from the original canon. Although it should be stated that all current Holmes incarnations are far removed from the original canon with the Downey Jr. films being the closest (at least in time period), and those overblown action-fests surely are a long way off from Doyle's intentions.<br />
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What does this mean for Cumberbatch? It means that he now joins the ranks of only a handful of actors who have come to define the world's first consulting detective.  William Gillette is the first actor to truly become Sherlock Holmes. Gillette used the curved pipe, now a Holmes staple, so that he could say his lines with the pipe in his mouth, and he was the first to state the line, "Elementary, my dear Watson." After Gillette came the great Basil Rathbone who <a href="http://amzn.to/1B1yroN" target="_blank">defined Holmes during the war years of the 1940s</a>. While his early Holmes films took place in the traditional Victorian time period, most of Rathbone;'s films, like that of the current <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1C4PUUr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock</a></i> series, were set in modern times.  This allowed Sherlock Holmes to battle Nazis and stand with the allied powers, helping with the war effort. <br />
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While a great many other actors played Holmes in the years after Rathbone, it wasn't until Jeremy Brett took on the role that another actor came to define the character.<a href="http://amzn.to/1NFMb2w" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> The Granada Sherlock Holmes series</a> was made up of accurate retellings of the original Doyle stories. Brett added a higher pitched voice to Holmes, and the actor's portrayal of the detective is often cited by Holmes traditionalists as the greatest filmed version of the detective.<br />
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After Brett undoubtedly comes Cumberbatch who in some ways combines the takes on Holmes by Rathbone and Brett. Like Rathbone, Cumberbatch's Holmes works in the modern day.  Often the episodes are influenced by the original stories, but the plots veer far away and deal with such issues as terrorism, celebrity, and even family squabbles.  Like Brett, Cumberbatch's Holmes is a unique take. The actor plays the character as a detached, cold man seemingly without feelings.  This has led to speculation that his Holmes lands on the autism spectrum. <br />
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While Mr. Cumberbatch's career continues surging, and he takes on more roles that are Oscar-worthy (<i>Flying Horse</i>) or blockbuster (<i>Dr. Strange</i>), he still continues to act as Holmes.  The end of 2015 will see his take on "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," and 2016 may see a fourth season of <i>Sherlock</i>.  Even if these episodes wrap up Cumberbatch's role as the world's greatest detective, he will live on like Gillette, Rathbone, and Brett before him, as this generation's Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image source: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benedict_Cumberbatch_filming_Sherlock_cropped2.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></i><br />
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Benedict Cumberbatch: Gen Y's Sherlock Holmes

"the fêted hero" [VALL] Now that the Oscar® dust has settled, we know that Benedict Cumberbatch has gone home empty-ha...

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by Belanger Books

You Say Fanfic, I Say Pastiche - Is There a Difference?

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"thousands of other similar cases" [REDH]</h4>
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When a Sherlock Holmes story turned up in Selkirk, Scotland, the other day, some people assumed it was the work of Arthur Conan Doyle, but the majority of scholars quickly concluded that it was no such thing. And that makes it — well, what? "A pastiche," most Sherlockians would reply. We have been using the word "pastiche" for decades, at least since Ellery Queen's <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1x8w0Ap" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, a collection of such stories, was published in 1944. But the word is now being frowned upon in certain quarters and for certain reasons, and so deserves a moment's close attention.<br />
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Outside the Sherlockian context, "pastiche" first meant a combination of styles or motifs from several sources, and later an imitation of just one. The <i>Oxford English Dictionary</i>, which defines it as (among other things) "a work, esp. of literature, created in the style of someone or something else", cites uses going back to the late 19th century. The OED's quotations refer to M. R. James, Jane Austen, and other authors and artists, but not (alas) Arthur Conan Doyle or John H. Watson. <br />
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The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SherlockHolmes?src=hash">#SherlockHolmes</a> pastiche is almost an established artform in its own right. Solar Pons and many others, a century before fanfic.<br />
— Stephen Whq (@StephenWhq) <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenWhq/status/570548512494120960">February 25, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Sherlockians have happily made the word their own. It's used casually in the<i> Annotated Sherlock Holmes</i> (1967), and "Pastiches and Parodies" is a heading in De Waal's <i>World Bibliography</i> (1974). But that was then, and this is now. "Now" is a time when there are 76,848 stories about "Sherlock" on the <a href="http://ao3.org/" target="_blank">Archive Of Our Own</a> website (<a href="http://ao3.org/">ao3.org</a>) and only a few hundred of them admit to being a "pastiche" of anything. The universally used term for those stories is "fan fiction" or "fanfic", and increasingly that word is also being used for Sherlock Holmes stories that turn up elsewhere. Even, say, in an attic in Selkirk.<br />
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Good news: a new Sherlock Holmes story has been discovered! <a href="http://t.co/MilEiovW7t">http://t.co/MilEiovW7t</a> But it may be fanfic. <a href="http://t.co/ZPVFv3JkX7">http://t.co/ZPVFv3JkX7</a><br />
— PublicLibrarySG (@PublicLibrarySG) <a href="https://twitter.com/PublicLibrarySG/status/571133157254307840">February 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
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I wish BBC could treat the Selkirk story as what it is - an anonymous pastiche.<br />
— Mattias Boström, BSI (@mattias221b) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattias221b/status/571656376394629120">February 28, 2015</a></blockquote>
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The term "fan fiction" has been around in the science fiction world since the 1970s, associated with early fandoms such as <i>Star Trek</i>. It arrived in the Sherlockian world much more recently, mostly to describe stories written about the "Sherlock" and "John" of the BBC's <i>Sherlock</i> television series. There is also fanfic about the characters in other Holmes-related video and movies, and very recently the word is also being used for stories about the original (authentic, Canonical, call him what you will) Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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VERY IMPORTANT NEWS: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes Sherlock fanfic. <a href="http://t.co/uC6Ohgfr5Y">http://t.co/uC6Ohgfr5Y</a> (h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/blanket">@blanket</a>)<br />
— RebekahHeacockJones (@rebekahredux) <a href="https://twitter.com/rebekahredux/status/565238260058705921">February 10, 2015</a></blockquote>
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As a result, there have been a few arguments — yes, I've been in them — about the relationship between fanfic and pastiche. It's frequently said that all Sherlockian fiction is fanfic, and there are hints that the word "pastiche" is only for the old-fashioned, the snobbish, those who want to maintain class divisions between one kind of Sherlockian and another. Whatever the motivation, various suggestions have been made about a possible distinction between the two terms. For example:<br />
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<li>Stories about the Holmes and Watson of Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories are pastiche; other stories are fanfic.</li>
<li>Stories in print are pastiche, and those online are fanfic.</li>
<li>Stories that are commercially published are pastiche, while those that are individually distributed or self-published (whether in print or electronically) are fanfic. </li>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/darkgreendesk">@darkgreendesk</a> Essentially the terms are interchangeable, IMHO, but "pastiche" authors (like paid/pro pubbed) want to be taken "seriously."<br />
— Lyndsay Faye (@LyndsayFaye) <a href="https://twitter.com/LyndsayFaye/status/571014299931545600">February 26, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/darkgreendesk">@darkgreendesk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mistyzeo">@mistyzeo</a> All pastiches are fanfic but not every fanfic is a pastiche.<br />
— Norwegian Explorers (@NEofMN) <a href="https://twitter.com/NEofMN/status/570928509989683201">February 26, 2015</a></blockquote>
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My own preference, although I'm not sure I have yet persuaded anybody to agree with it, is to say that <i><b>a "pastiche" is a story written in an attempt to imitate the stories of the published Canon</b></i>. Such a story is written in Watson's persona and his style, and set somewhere around 1895. There are plenty of novel-length pastiches, including Larry Millett's wonderful books that bring Holmes to Minnesota, and plenty that stick to the authentic short story length of around 6,000 words. Among the best pastiches of all time are <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1E5Mq1j" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes</a></i> (1954), written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's son Adrian in collaboration with locked-room maestro John Dickson Carr, but there are plenty of modern examples as well. I wrote one myself a few years ago that is expecting to see print soon. <br />
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By preferring to use such a word, am I making a value judgement or a class distinction? Only if you consider that "this work is aspiring to be like the original Sherlock Holmes stories, when thousands of other are not" is a value judgement.<br />
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The arrival of the term "fan fiction" in the Sherlockian world is welcome, though, not only because of all those BBC-Sherlock-and-John stories, but because there are (and have always been) plenty of more traditional stories that don't meet my suggested definition of a pastiche. There are parodies that are intentionally silly, there are stories that retell Canonical adventures from the viewpoint of Irene Adler or Mrs. Hudson or the Hound, there are stories that wrench Holmes out of 1895 to go time travelling, there are stories shot through with the Holmesian atmosphere that nevertheless are not recognizably Sherlock Holmes adventures. <br />
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And, more and more in recent years, there are stories about Sherlockians, a genre that now urgently needs its own bibliography. Two recent anthologies edited by Laurie R. King and Les Klinger, <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1E11V8c" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Study in Sherlock</a></i> and <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1E11QSf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">In the Company of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, include several stories of this kind, though they date all the way back to <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1HmGXV7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars</a></i> by Anthony Boucher in 1940. (Almost none of the stories in the King and Klinger volumes are "pastiches" according to the definition I'm proposing, but they are great reading for all of that.)<br />
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To sort out all this material, the Sherlockian world needs not just a bibliography but a taxonomy of fan fiction. And when it appears, I hope it's done by somebody who appreciates the unique joy of a well-done story that relates an adventure of Sherlock Holmes as told by his inseparable companion John H. Watson. In short, a pastiche.<br />
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You Say Fanfic, I Say Pastiche - Is There a Difference?

"thousands of other similar cases" [REDH] When a Sherlock Holmes story turned up in Selkirk, Scotland, the other day, some p...

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by Chris Redmond

The Final Word on the Lost Sherlock Holmes Story

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"Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing" [BOSC] </h4>
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[<b>Editor's note:</b> we've covered the lost Sherlock Holmes story previously, in articles written by <a href="http://ihose.co/ACD_not" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mattias Boström</a> and <a href="http://ihose.co/ACDstyle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vincent W. Wright</a> and in an interview with <a href="http://ihose.co/1Gps7j1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lyndsay Faye</a>. Mr. Boström returns for another analysis.]<br />
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You can stop reading now if you are already 100% sure that <a href="http://ihose.co/LostStory" target="_blank">the Sherlock Holmes story found in Selkirk</a> is not by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It will save you a lot of time, since this blog post is long. Very long.<br />
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On the other hand, you will miss some interesting facts about Doyle’s views on Holmes pastiches.<br />
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So keep on reading.<br />
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The Find</h3>
Recently an old, anonymous Sherlock Holmes pastiche was found in Scotland. Its title was “Sherlock Holmes.”: Discovering the Border Burghs, and, by Deduction, the Brig Bazaar, and this 3-page story was originally published in a booklet called <i>The Book o’ the Brig</i>, sold in December 1903 during a bazaar in Selkirk to raise money for the restoration of a local bridge. The bazaar went on for three days (Thursday to Saturday) and for each day a new bazaar book was published, and a week later they were all collected and published in a single volume.<br />
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Walter Elliot, the 80-year old man who found the Saturday bazaar book in his attic, said to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11424549/Lost-Sherlock-Holmes-story-discovered-in-mans-attic.html" target="_blank"><i>The Telegraph</i></a>: "The Saturday was opened by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He had written a wee story about Sherlock Holmes and Watson and this was in the book.”<br />
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Walter Elliot had no proof for his claim. He said to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/20/a-new-sherlock-holmes-mystery-is-1300-word-yarn-a-lost-conan-doyle" target="_blank"><i>The Guardian</i></a>: “It’s unsigned, and I’m not a specialist, but the vocabulary seems pretty close to the way Conan Doyle wrote. I’m fairly sure it was written by him.”<br />
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Since Elliot, according to himself, is not a specialist and <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/a-stylistic-analysis-of-lost-sherlock.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the vocabulary of the story</a> – according to all Conan Doyle experts in the world – is not even close to Conan Doyle’s way of writing, the news about a lost Conan Doyle story was just a big mistake. Elliot had made the mistake because Conan Doyle’s name actually could be found in the same booklet – not in connection with the story, but on the last page under the headline ”To-Day’s Programme”, where it was stated that ”the famous litterateur” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would open the bazaar.<br />
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<h3>
A Fairy Tale</h3>
It was an easy mistake to make, and we should not blame Walter Elliot. He was just very enthusiastic about his find. We could blame the journalists who reported about the find, but we won’t do that either. They just relied on the information that Walter Elliot gave them, without checking with any Conan Doyle experts, and if they had any doubt they hid it well in their articles.<br />
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It is such a good fairy tale – about the retired woodcutter who finds a treasure in his attic and with a happy smile tells the world about it. That fairy tale will probably live on forever, because such is the nature of good fairy tales. It has already spread all over the world and been mentioned thousands of times in numerous languages. And this is not necessarily bad – even false news about Sherlock Holmes put the master detective in focus, over and over again.<br />
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We will never be able to totally stop the false news. And we will probably never find a comment from Conan Doyle on the story, and the name of the real author will most likely also remain unknown. So what is there to be done? Well, only one thing, and that is to definitely certify that the story is not by Conan Doyle, and by doing so the Sherlockian world can treat it as an anonymous pastiche which is only interesting to discuss and publish in connection with other early pastiches and parodies.<br />
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<h3>
The Early Parodies and Pastiches</h3>
If Conan Doyle’s name hadn’t been in the bazaar book and if he hadn’t opened the bazaar that day, no one would have come up with the idea that this was a genuine Sherlock Holmes story by him. We would not think so nowadays, and the readers did obviously not think so back then. I will explain why.<br />
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Parodies and pastiches of Sherlock Holmes were quite common in those days. Some of them were anonymously published, while others were published with a clever signature or the real name of the author. They could be found in popular magazines, newspapers, books, and even as texts in advertisements. Sometimes Sherlock Holmes was called Sherlock Holmes, and sometimes he had a slightly changed name, often with a humorous touch. More than eighty Sherlock Holmes parodies or pastiches had been published before the Selkirk bazaar, from 1891 until late autumn 1903. The readers and the real author of the pastiche were all used to seeing Sherlock Holmes spoofs in <i>Tit-Bits</i>, <i>Punch </i>or other periodicals. The difference between parody and pastiche wasn’t always very clear, especially since most of the stories were really short, which easily gave them a feeling of parody anyway.<br />
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When Conan Doyle Liked the Parodies and Pastiches</h3>
We don’t know that much about Conan Doyle’s views on these early parodies and pastiches, but we have some examples when he actually commented upon them.<br />
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When James M. Barrie anonymously had written the first Sherlock Holmes parody in November 1891, Conan Doyle a month later, after having met Barrie on a dinner, wrote to his mother: “It was Barrie who wrote the skit on Holmes in the Speaker.” No opinion about the story, but he clearly knew about it before the dinner. And Barrie soon became one of his best friends.<br />
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In 1893 Barrie also sent a personal, hand-written parody to Conan Doyle, which the latter thought was good enough to publish in full in his autobiography <i>Memories and Adventures</i> (1924). Conan Doyle wrote that it was “the best of all the numerous parodies.” Which might indicate that Conan Doyle had read at least some of them.<br />
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Before that, in December 1892, the local Lancashire newspaper Burnley Express published a short story called “The Man Who ‘Bested’ Sherlock Holmes”, written by Joseph Baron, a local author and journalist. The newspaper, or Baron himself, had sent the story to Conan Doyle before publication, and in Conan Doyle’s reply he described the story as “emphatically good.”<br />
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When the American author John Kendrick Bangs wrote his novel <i>The Pursuit of the House-Boat</i> in 1897, he made Sherlock Holmes – now dead after Reichenbach and travelling on the river Styx – one of the main characters. The book was dedicated “To A. Conan Doyle, Esq. With the author’s sincerest regards and thanks for the untimely demise of his great detective which made these things possible.” And Conan Doyle wrote back to Bangs, who he had met on his American tour in 1894: “How very good of you to inscribe your most amusing and original book to me! I begin to have hopes of immortality now that I have got onto your fly-leaf.”<br />
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<h3>
When Conan Doyle Got Upset</h3>
It wasn’t until later that Conan Doyle changed his opinion of other authors writing about Sherlock Holmes. In 1909 he protested against a German publisher who during the years 1907–1911 published 230 booklets with quite terrible Sherlock Holmes pastiches, in which Holmes was changed into an action hero. Many of these booklets were also translated and published in a number of other European countries.<br />
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When someone sent a Danish one to Conan Doyle he wrote to his literary agent A. P. Watt: “It is entirely a fake, just as a Spanish one was. I should dearly like to prosecute these infernal villains.” He also wrote: "These things cover Europe and entirely elbow out the real S.H. stories.” He didn’t prosecute, but he published a letter in Danish newspapers:<br />
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"Sir! Would you have the great kindness to state that I have no connection with the cheap illustrated stories about Sherlock Holmes which are published in Denmark and other countries. I leave it to your readers how far it is just to steal the name of a character in such a fashion. Yours faithfully, Arthur Conan Doyle.”</blockquote>
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Parodies and pastiches had never been a problem before, but now it actually threatened his own sales abroad. And he didn’t want others to make money on his creation – Conan Doyle did not give Maurice Leblanc permission to use the name Sherlock Holmes in the Arsène Lupin stories (so Leblanc changed it to Herlock Sholmes).<br />
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There was also another reason why he changed his opinion. When Conan Doyle was writing the very last Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" in 1927, he wrote to Herbert Greenhough Smith at <i>The Strand Magazine</i>:<br />
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“… I cannot hide from myself that the public has lost the sense of novelty with Holmes and his methods. This has been helped by the repeated Parodies. Therefore even if I could keep him on the same level I can’t expect, do what I will, to produce the same effect.”</blockquote>
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<h3>
The First Evidence That Conan Doyle Actually Wrote the Story</h3>
The conclusion of all of this is that Conan Doyle rarely mentioned the parodies and pastiches, and he had for a long time not much against them, as long as they didn’t threaten the reputation and sales of his own creation. When he arrived in Selkirk on December 12, 1903, and noticed that there was a short text about Sherlock Holmes in the bazaar book he could hardly have been surprised, maybe he just felt honoured by this welcoming gesture.<br />
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There is a reason why I have written at such length about the Sherlock Holmes parodies and pastiches, and about Conan Doyle’s views. Because this could have been the first evidence that Conan Doyle actually wrote the story. Without our knowledge about the early parodies and pastiches, and Conan Doyle’s views upon them, it would seem strange to publish another author’s text about Sherlock Holmes in a booklet that Conan Doyle would see. But with our knowledge this is not strange at all. Sherlock Holmes parodies and pastiches were common and Conan Doyle didn’t protest against them, at least not as early as 1903.<br />
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The Second Evidence That Conan Doyle Actually Wrote the Story</h3>
After the news of Walter Elliot’s discovery, the media reported on <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/mystery-over-second-sherlock-novel-found-in-borders-town.119541089" target="_blank">another copy of the Saturday bazaar book</a>. Another Selkirk citizen owns this copy, and it is signed by Conan Doyle himself! This absolutely looks like evidence that Conan Doyle actually wrote the Sherlock Holmes story in the booklet. Why would he sign a story that isn’t his own?<br />
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First of all, he didn’t sign the story – he signed the booklet. It was most likely signed directly after his opening speech on the Saturday. The local newspaper The Southern Reporter reported on December 17, 1903 about the opening speech: “Sir Arthur afterwards appended his signature to a number of copies of the bazaar book, and these sold readily at an increased price."<br />
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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was one of the most famous authors in Great Britain, and he was the celebrity who opened the bazaar that day. Nothing is strange about him signing copies of the bazaar book, in which his name also was printed in the programme on the last page.<br />
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It is by no means evidence that he had written the text about Sherlock Holmes. If Holmes pastiches and parodies had been rare, and if Conan Doyle had been totally opposed to them, it could have been evidence that he wrote the Selkirk story. But now it isn’t. The signed copy of the booklet is just a signed copy of the booklet.<br />
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<h3>
There Is No More Evidence</h3>
These two things – that Conan Doyle visited Selkirk the same day the booklet was published, and that he signed copies of it – are the only main pieces of evidence in favor of Conan Doyle being the real author. I have explained why we can’t rely upon these things as evidence. And this means that we are left with no evidence at all pointing to Conan Doyle as the author of the story.<br />
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However, there will still be people wishing it to be true that Conan Doyle wrote it. So to really make sure that there is no doubt that Conan Doyle <i>didn’t</i> write the story, please imagine what it would have been like if he actually <i>did</i> write it. If you recognize the following text, it is because you have read a similar one among my own comments to my previous blog post. I felt however that it would fit nicely also here. And if you want the full background to the facts below, please read <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/conan-doyle-didnt-write-lost-sherlock.html#.VPZPvlp13rY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">my previous blog post</a> first.<br />
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Another Fairy Tale: How It All Happened When Conan Doyle Wrote the Selkirk Story</h3>
[<i>If you for some reason start reading this blog post here, please understand that in the following text I have made use of the Faculty of Imagination.</i>]<br />
The editor of the Bazaar Book asked Conan Doyle to write a story for them, probably in mid November when Conan Doyle had been invited to be the Unionist candidate for the Border Burghs. It was maybe around then that he wrote to his mother that "I intend to go up to Hawick for a fortnight early in December and have a bit of a campaign". <br />
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Conan Doyle accepted to contribute something to the Bazaar Book. He then wrote three "Notable Interviews" in which he was using the perspective of being a person in the staff working with the Bazaar Book, pretending to interview – through imagination – Sir Walter Scott, Mungo Park, and Sherlock Holmes. <br />
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Or if you prefer that Conan Doyle only wrote the Sherlock Holmes story: the editor gave Conan Doyle exact instructions about the two previous Notable Interviews, so Conan Doyle could mention them at the beginning of the story, and also the fact that this was to be published in the Saturday part of the Bazaar Book. <br />
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Or if you prefer that Conan Doyle didn't write the beginning of the story: the editor, or someone else, felt that it wasn't enough to get a story by Conan Doyle, so they needed to edit it and add text to make it fit with the format of two other texts that someone else had written.<br />
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In the Sherlock Holmes part of the story, which Conan Doyle then absolutely must have written, he places the detective at Sloan Street instead of Baker Street for no obvious reason at all, and he also doesn't write from the perspective of Watson. Conan Doyle had been occupied with writing at least nine of the short stories for <i>The Return of Sherlock Holmes</i> during the last months, so his head was full of Sherlock Holmes and the special literary style that he used in these stories. But instead of using that style that he knew so well he chose to write something completely different here – not because he was lazy or was in a rush, but because it would be a bigger challenge and take him more time to completely reinvent his style instead of just writing a little, simple scene with his normal language.<br />
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The idea of changing Baker Street to Sloan Street was one of those things that were more complicated to come up with than just sticking to Baker Street. He also constructed Sherlock Holmes’ deductions so that they were mainly based on very local Borders knowledge, things that Conan Doyle would have needed to research – probably through correspondence – to find out about, since he had no actual local knowledge himself, which he later indicated in his opening speech.<br />
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Then the editor put the story into the Bazaar Book. He had asked Conan Doyle to write the story, but he didn't want the readers to know that Conan Doyle had written it, so he omitted the name of the author. The editor didn't think that the Bazaar Book would sell more if Conan Doyle's name was mentioned as the author – and this was at the same time as The Strand Magazine had just started to publish new Sherlock Holmes stories, and the detective was more popular than ever.<br />
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Or if you prefer: Conan Doyle had asked the editor not to mention his name as author of the story, maybe because he felt that it wasn't a good story. In that way the readers would believe – thanks to the special format of the story – that it was one of the local literary talents that had written it. Anonymously published stories (mostly parodies) about Sherlock Holmes were, as we know, quite common around the turn of the century.<br />
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Then the Bazaar Book was published. The editor had managed to keep it a secret that Conan Doyle – one of the most famous authors in Great Britain – had written the "Notable Interview" about Sherlock Holmes (or maybe all of the three Notable Interviews). Even the local newspaper thought it was written by one of the local literary men. And when the publisher made an advertisement for the Bazaar Book they had no interest in showing that Conan Doyle – one of the most famous authors in Great Britain – had written one (or even three) of the texts.<br />
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The money they raised by selling the book would help the town Selkirk building a new bridge. Conan Doyle had previously been generous enough to donate to the fund all what he earned during the recital a few days earlier, and he was there as a politician who later would ask the citizens to vote for him in the next election. But he definitely didn't want them to know that he had made them the honour of writing the story for the Bazaar Book – which otherwise would have made it sell even more and in that way generate more money to the fund – although he had several chances of mentioning it.<br />
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Or if he mentioned it – during the recital or during his opening speech (both of them reported in detail in the newspaper) – the newspaper journalist thought that it was a totally unnecessary information that it was actually Conan Doyle who had written the Sherlock Holmes story in their local book. And this at a time in history when even the tiniest detail was reported in the newspaper.<br />
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After this Conan Doyle never ever mentioned officially that he had written the story.<br />
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<h3>
Conan Doyle Didn’t Write the Lost Sherlock Holmes Story</h3>
This is the scenario that must have happened, if Conan Doyle wrote the Selkirk story. It is an absurd story, and not just improbable, but in view of all the presented facts: impossible. I am sure that it is possible to criticize single facts and single conclusions mentioned above, but if you look at the whole picture – the combination of all the evidence – we can’t be but 100% sure that Conan Doyle did not write the Selkirk story.<br />
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The Final Word on the Lost Sherlock Holmes Story</h3>
It is my sincere hope that this may be the final word on the lost Sherlock Holmes story. We don’t need more evidence that it is not by Conan Doyle, and we can treat the Selkirk story just as another example of early parodies and pastiches. It deserves no bigger attention than that.<br />
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At least this will be <i>my</i> final word on the matter.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Image credit: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/br6jSZ" target="_blank">Scottish Indexes (Flickr)</a></i></span><br />
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The Final Word on the Lost Sherlock Holmes Story

"Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing" [BOSC] [ Editor's note: we've covered the lost Sherlock Holm...

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by Mattias Boström

Krispy Kreme Could Have Avoided Embarrassment by Reading this Sherlock Holmes Story

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"'K. K. K.' he shrieked" [FIVE] </h4>
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Last week, the iconic "Hot Now" sign could have been referring to <a href="http://www.krispykreme.com/" target="_blank">Krispy Kreme</a> getting itself <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/17/hull-krispy-kreme-kkk-wednesdays-promotion" target="_blank">in hot water</a> more than the availability of its signature hot doughnuts.<br />
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The confectioner found itself in a bit of a media flurry when a store in the United Kingdom decided that its promotion "Krispy Kreme Klub Wednesdays" should be abbreviated <a href="https://www.facebook.com/krispykremeUK" target="_blank">on its Facebook page</a> as "KKK Wednesdays." What could possibly go wrong?<br />
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While any schoolchild in the United States knows that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan">K.K.K.</a> stands for Ku Klux Klan, the white supremacist group, it's clear that British <strike>social media gurus</strike> schoolchildren aren't quite as clear on the topic.<br />
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This is the very thing that Arthur Conan Doyle was counting on when he wrote the short story "The Adventure of the Five Orange Pips" in 1891. Sherlock Holmes was a relatively new phenomenon at the time, as this was the fifth short story to be published in the collection that later became <i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i>.<br />
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The plot of FIVE concerned a young man John Openshaw, whose uncle returned from living in the U.S., where he was part of the Confederacy during the Civil War. The uncle received a mysterious communication: an envelope containing five dried orange seeds and 'K.K.K.' printed in red ink on the outside. Within seven weeks, he was found dead, face-down in a pool of water. Openshaw's father took over the estate, received a similar note with the letters 'K.K.K.' scrawled on it, and within days he died as a result of a fractured skull after falling over a chalk cliff.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtl8HTvc_spAeT6zJ_Tj-cAdHuxdBr3ChXV2VjRrsYdPwn6DDsEgMnBrtN5_aV4YngcpG8i9fPTKEbyuPMJbzjO_O8nJprJ50kPhhouhUo61qhPlYlODR4ck6spl4Um-Denu0JqL-UKKL/s1600/Five+Orange+Pips.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="KKK in "The Five Orange Pips"" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtl8HTvc_spAeT6zJ_Tj-cAdHuxdBr3ChXV2VjRrsYdPwn6DDsEgMnBrtN5_aV4YngcpG8i9fPTKEbyuPMJbzjO_O8nJprJ50kPhhouhUo61qhPlYlODR4ck6spl4Um-Denu0JqL-UKKL/s1600/Five+Orange+Pips.jpg" title="Openshaw reads the threat - "The Five Orange Pips"" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"My God, my God. My sins have overtaken me."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Any modern individual reading the story would immediately understand the significance of the acronymn; the "gotcha" ending that Conan Doyle was aiming for is lost on today's society. But in the 1890s, the world was a different place in which the Klan's name and notoriety were far from widespread.<br />
<br />
With the Ku Klux Klan having been around in one movement or another since the 1860s - not to mention having played a major role in one of the original Sherlock Holmes stories - it's astounding that no one at Krispy Kreme thought this through a little more. So much for <a href="http://amzn.to/1AEcJdO" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cultural literacy</a>.<br />
<br />
The irony of the use of this unfortunate acronym nearly 125 years later by Krispy Kreme (a company headquartered in North Carolina - the American South) in the United Kingdom (the country in which "The Five Orange Pips" was written and set) is just too rich.<br />
<br />
Almost as rich as one of those <a href="http://www.krispykreme.com/menu/doughnuts/Original-Glazed" target="_blank">hot original glazed doughnuts</a>...<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=thebakerstree-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0394758439&asins=0394758439&linkId=3NDQYBNXS4O62K5U&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
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</div>

Krispy Kreme Could Have Avoided Embarrassment by Reading this Sherlock Holmes Story

"'K. K. K.' he shrieked" [FIVE] Last week, the iconic "Hot Now" sign could have been referring to Krisp...

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by Scott Monty

Mr. Holmes Trailer is Here, and It's Marvelous

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"You see, Mr. Holmes" [NOBL]</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5_uNTssPubeBB102te1xZZmClg42IMvdRlMmXE71psU5DR7NYN-LSTpXwmyA6pbIeX71LR1tJQ10Lxfivl7cJngCkffzXWPm74azC22QeljC6KN58OKlzO7nxxOsr4re0GWpN28fGwCra/s1600/Ian+McKellen+-+Mr.+Holmes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ian McKellen, Mr. Holmes" border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5_uNTssPubeBB102te1xZZmClg42IMvdRlMmXE71psU5DR7NYN-LSTpXwmyA6pbIeX71LR1tJQ10Lxfivl7cJngCkffzXWPm74azC22QeljC6KN58OKlzO7nxxOsr4re0GWpN28fGwCra/s1600/Ian+McKellen+-+Mr.+Holmes.jpg" title="Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Today on his Facebook page, actor <a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152710470908601" target="_blank">Ian McKellen shared the trailer</a> for the upcoming film <i><a href="http://www.mrholmesfilm.com/" target="_blank">Mr. Holmes</a></i>.<br />
<br />
The film is based on the book <i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i> by Mitch Cullen, and concerns a nonagenarian Sherlock Holmes. In<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"> </span>1947, an aging Sherlock Holmes returns from a journey to Japan, where, in search of a rare plant with powerful restorative qualities, he has witnessed the devastation of nuclear warfare. Now, in his retirement cottage on the South Downs, Holmes faces the end of his days tending to his bees, with only the company of his housekeeper and her young son, Roger.  Grappling with the diminishing powers of his mind, Holmes comes to rely upon the boy as he revisits the circumstances of the unsolved case that forced him into retirement, and searches for answers to the mysteries of life and love – before it's too late.<br />
<br />
Take a look at the new trailer and see what you think.<br />
<br />

U.S. version:<br />
<br />
<center>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152710470908601">Post</a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ianmckellen">Ian McKellen</a>.</div>
</div>
</center>
<br />
<br />
It is also available on YouTube:<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="337" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PefdItDGJnI" width="600"></iframe></center>
<br />
<br />
Mr. Holmes will be in theaters during the summer of 2015. More information is available at <a href="http://mrholmesfilm.com/">mrholmesfilm.com</a> and from our <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Ian%20McKellen" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">previous coverage of <i>Mr. Holmes</i> here</a> on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.<br />
<br />
#MrHolmes<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />

Mr. Holmes Trailer is Here, and It's Marvelous

"You see, Mr. Holmes" [NOBL] Today on his Facebook page, actor Ian McKellen shared the trailer for the upcoming film Mr. Hol...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

The Downside to Having a Sherlock Holmes Fixation

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"I hear of Sherlock everywhere since you became his chronicler." [GREE]</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQER4HEHH5Q5cGNc_J5F5hmNGdDCdpEisrSqTU1BpyFquJfPIgs2uRpkVWPqxLMJeYARop3PRtlJs-eEoiTdMleVvbKjic0EFufyP5LueKCFsn_n9HpleMF7oZQDX83ghjnCvt5cViLC8P/s1600/GreekInterpreterBook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Diogenes Club, where we first meet Mycroft Holmes" border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQER4HEHH5Q5cGNc_J5F5hmNGdDCdpEisrSqTU1BpyFquJfPIgs2uRpkVWPqxLMJeYARop3PRtlJs-eEoiTdMleVvbKjic0EFufyP5LueKCFsn_n9HpleMF7oZQDX83ghjnCvt5cViLC8P/s1600/GreekInterpreterBook.jpg" title="Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes in "The Greek Interpreter"" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
One of the curses of being a Sherlockian is that one is afflicted with thoughts of the Sherlock Holmes stories in many aspects of daily life.<br />
<br />
Of course you're used to relatives sending you an email or Facebook message when they see a deerstalker, a curved pipe, or the umpteenth mention of the lost Sherlock Holmes story. But what about the minutiae of life and news that buzz by mere mortals every day, without the realization that there's a connection to the world's first unofficial consulting detective?<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
"I cannot think how I came to overlook it," said the Inspector, with an expression of annoyance.<br />"It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was looking for it."</h4>
<div style="text-align: right;">
- "Silver Blaze"</div>
<hr />
<br />
Yes, as a Sherlockian you're attuned to picking up on oblique references to the Sherlock Holmes stories that might be invisible to others.<br />
<br />
It must have been a slow news week last week, as Thursday and Friday brought forth some of the ridiculous memes that only the Internet can. First, there was the so-called #llamawatch, in which <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/02/26/breaking-two-llamas-are-on-the-run/" target="_blank">two llamas were on the loose</a> (or is that "on the lloose?) in Sun City, Arizona. The Internet and cable news viewers watched with glee as handlers attempted to lasso the animals and bring them back to captivity.<br />
<br />Of course, you'll recall that in "The Empty House," when Sherlock Holmes was sharing his whereabouts during the Great Hiatus, he told Watson, "I travelled for two years in Tibet, therefore, and amused myself by visiting Lhassa and spending some days with the head Llama."<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
While we know this was a spelling error on Doyle's part, the thought of Holmes meeting with a llama has always amused us. Ogden Nash was kind enough to clear things up in verse in his poem "The Lama":<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
The one-l lama,<br />He's a priest.<br />The two-l llama,<br />He's a beast.<br />And I will bet<br />A silk pajama<br />There isn't any<br />Three-l lllama.</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<br />
Our meme-weary world hardly had time to recover from the llama drama before the next pop culture moment was upon us. Say it with us: The Dress.<br />
<br />
On Friday, infotainment site BuzzFeed lurched the connected world into one of the most divisive issues of the day. Not Democrat or Republican, pro-life or pro-choice, regular or decaf; <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/catesish/help-am-i-going-insane-its-definitely-blue#.vcpQNVPbj" target="_blank">white and gold or blue and black</a>?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAKOJZIcj1JES3kzcjb2IBaElYUPuHbdJcI1-knT2fWB83Y5dfbfAAuj5MgW_ghUfZkQ0MXyoU0F6xwN92d0g7jKclNYP9nNoDEpwXAIcbxlCiJUVs5j_qcRC9zJW1qcZqB0zmPDUBD-3/s1600/blueblackwhitegold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Clearly, the dress is blue and black." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAKOJZIcj1JES3kzcjb2IBaElYUPuHbdJcI1-knT2fWB83Y5dfbfAAuj5MgW_ghUfZkQ0MXyoU0F6xwN92d0g7jKclNYP9nNoDEpwXAIcbxlCiJUVs5j_qcRC9zJW1qcZqB0zmPDUBD-3/s1600/blueblackwhitegold.jpg" title="White and gold or blue and black?" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Individuals' perception of the image is affected by a number of factors, and cable news outlets wasted no time in bringing on ophthalmologists and other eye experts to testify to the fact. It turns out that the manufacturer of the dress indicated that it was blue with black trim.<br />
<br />
All we could conjure up was the image of Jephro Rucastle telling Violet Hunter "My wife is fond of a particular shade of <b><i>electric blue</i></b>," in "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches."<br />
<br />
<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/AVvXsEgcywYarhn9TTt9LPyIZq-QH-W86Sp6uUKarTA-rXOOhxSXlx0lQwisuCApKI_zIZf-7abMUzwU8iyKYz0-qZJRuQyTxDQ0zwy6XMsVlw-vxHt2B6oB-GItrkqU0iUKAPwQf7TGdxIUwXkR/s1600/Copp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes with Natasha Richardson as Violet Hunter in "The Copper Beeches"" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcywYarhn9TTt9LPyIZq-QH-W86Sp6uUKarTA-rXOOhxSXlx0lQwisuCApKI_zIZf-7abMUzwU8iyKYz0-qZJRuQyTxDQ0zwy6XMsVlw-vxHt2B6oB-GItrkqU0iUKAPwQf7TGdxIUwXkR/s1600/Copp.jpg" title="Jeremy Brett, Natasha Richardson and David Burke in "The Copper Beeches"" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"ladies fancies must be consulted" [COPP]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Ah, the dangers of living with Sherlock Holmes on the brain.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
<br /></div>

The Downside to Having a Sherlock Holmes Fixation

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I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

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