I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Qualify for the Quiz on IHOSE #90

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"revenge upon his old sweetheart" [NORW]</h4>
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We're gearing up to record Episode 90 of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, which will air on February 15. As it will be the day after Valentine's Day, we'll still have love on our mind, so our topic will be romance in the Canon — true love, near misses, the fair sex, etc.<br />
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To that end, the our "Mental Exaltation" quiz (written by resident IHOSE quizmaster Nick Martorelli) on Episode 90 will be tied to love and romance. And our qualifying quiz below is an extension of that.<br />
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If you've listened to NPR shows like <a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/">Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!</a> and <a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/">Weekend Edition Sunday</a>, you'll know that there are opportunities for listeners to participate in quizzes. In the former, a guest typically plays on behalf of a listener; on the latter, the listener plays live on the air.</div>
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Here's how Mental Exaltation works:<br />
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<li>Each month, we'll post a qualifying question to determine a listener who'll play / be played for on the program. Winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries.</li>
<li>If you'd like to enter, you must <a href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub&publisher=445106&sitescope=45933">subscribe to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere by email</a>.</li>
<li>We'll either have a guest play on your behalf or we'll patch you into the show to have you play over the phone or Skype.</li>
<li>If you or your player succeed in passing the test, you'll win a random item from our I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Grab-Bag of Goodies (that's the IHOSE GBG).</li>
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<br />Qualify Now</h3>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="880" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Z49Bj4k13OYhlfaDUzJeLg4xmhUYTot_QGtjT4rrGj0/viewform?embedded=true" width="760">Loading...</iframe><br /></div>
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Good luck!<br />
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Qualify for the Quiz on IHOSE #90

"revenge upon his old sweetheart" [NORW] We're gearing up to record Episode 90 of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, which wi...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 89: The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes

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"the cleverness of women" [SCAN]</h4>
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When the Baker Street Irregulars finally made the watershed decision to admit women to its membership in 1991, Evelyn Herzog, BSI ("The Daintiest Thing Under a Bonnet"), ASH ("Violet Hunter") and Susan Rice, 2s., BSI ("Beeswing"), ASH ("A Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with Some Observations Upon the Segregation of the Queen") were there. And yet the history of what led up to that moment is not widely known.<br />
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From Evy's and Susan's perspectives, it began some three decades or more earlier, gaining momentum as they entered their college years in the Northeast and Midwest, respectively. And from the BSI's perspective, it was rooted in the traditionalism of a longtime leader. How the two vastly different outlooks clashed and eventually collaborated is what we discuss.<br />
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We've had the pleasure of knowing Evy and Susan for—well, let's just say for longer than any of us can remember. Together we explore the history of their journeys and uncover exactly what it was like to be outsiders in a world that very much should have included them much earlier. The story of Julian Wolff, BSI ("The Red-Headed League") and Tom Stix, Jr., BSI ("The Norwood Builder"), the leaders of the Baker Street Irregulars at the time, is both complex and delicate, and Evy and Susan do them both justice in the matter.<br />
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The history of the ASH is the subject of the 2004 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual, and it its still available for sale. Also included in our interview are audio clips [courtesy of the <a href="http://bsitrust.org/" target="_blank">BSI Trust</a>] from the 1991 BSI Cocktail Reception, during which women first received investitures. And we might have another Easter egg for you.<br />
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Our special thanks go out to Mary Miller and Christian Mongaard for their Patreon support!<br />
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Sponsors</h3>
This episode includes our two longtime sponsors and a special sponsor with us for the first half of this year:<br />
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The <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a>, featuring <i>A Curious Collection of Dates</i>, and <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Baker Street Journal</i></a>, where you should get <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/subscriptions.html" target="_blank">your annual subscription</a> in now to secure all four issues - now accepting 2016 subscriptions. And Paula Berinstein's <a href="http://amandalester.net/" target="_blank">Amanda Lester, Detective</a> series for young adults.<br />
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Would you care to become a sponsor? You can find <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/contact.html#.Vc1Qx7JViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">more information here</a>.</div>
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Notes:</h3>
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1:53 Welcome and introduction<br />
8:27 We're joined by Evelyn Herzog and Susan Rice<br />
10:17 First meetings with Sherlock Holmes<br />
16:04 The initial formation of ASH at Albertus Magnus College<br />
19:01 Getting to the BSI Weekend<br />
22:02 Protesting the BSI dinner<br />
31:11 Lurch chimes in<br />
36:36 What happened after graduation<br />
38:05 The origins of the first "alternative" dinner<br />
42:47 Evy's doubts about the growth of ASH<br />
46:50 The first male investitures of ASH<br />
48:08 ASH Wednesdays<br />
53:38 Ka-ching!<br />
57:44 That fateful day in 1991<br />
59:34 A Stygian remark<br />
1:06:04 Hey Burt!<br />
1:08:42 Balancing ASH membership with BSI membership<br />
1:11:46 What the future of ASH holds<br />
1:13:05 <i>The Serpentine Muse</i><br />
1:14:20 Ladies! That famous call-to-order<br />
1:15:21 Final thoughts<br />
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<a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock089.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 38.3 MB, 1:22:37</h4>
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Links:</h3>
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<li><a href="http://www.ash-nyc.com/" target="_blank">The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes</a> (they have a new website!)</li>
<li>Susan's <a href="mailto:susan221bee@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">email address</a> (for ASH Wednesday notifications)</li>
<li><i><a href="https://ash-nyc.com/the-serpentine-muse/" target="_blank">The Serpentine Muse</a></i></li>
<li><i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/christmasannuals.html" target="_blank">Dubious and Questionable Memories: A History of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes</a></i> — the 2004 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual</li>
<li><a href="http://bsitrust.org/" target="_blank">The BSI Trust</a></li>
<li>The <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Patreon</a> page</li>
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Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard and Scoop.it sites at <a href="http://ihose.co/flipsherlock" target="_blank">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a> and <a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/sherlock-holmes" target="_blank">ihose.co/scoopsherlock</a>, as well as on the <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/114565123495685504221" target="_blank">The Sherlock Holmes Community</a> on Google+ (now over 2,800 members), as well as through our accounts on <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://ihearofsherlock.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a>.</div>
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Episode 89: The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes

"the cleverness of women" [SCAN] When the Baker Street Irregulars finally made the watershed decision to admit wom...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes vs. Tarzan — by the Numbers

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"aided by this chart" [SIGN]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNn8YVwEfmLj0AmTGezwdkbVUbnGjnKphy_NSyDSmPB6s2SL3k3Vdi_nfjGWQ5xJMY_Dsla8NSUjk2S-hRDyx5sxrT2mExEl9na0BKGg7_bwoqYcQuTUTiUcoqQ_-Pwg0xDBsZ93MtLldF/s1600/Sherlock+Holmes+vs.+Tarzan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNn8YVwEfmLj0AmTGezwdkbVUbnGjnKphy_NSyDSmPB6s2SL3k3Vdi_nfjGWQ5xJMY_Dsla8NSUjk2S-hRDyx5sxrT2mExEl9na0BKGg7_bwoqYcQuTUTiUcoqQ_-Pwg0xDBsZ93MtLldF/s640/Sherlock+Holmes+vs.+Tarzan.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Throughout the Canon, we encounter a variety of "grams": telegrams, programmes, cryptograms, monograms, and cablegrams; such was the nature of the written word in the Victorian age. Indeed, telegrams in particular often play a crucial role in many different Holmes adventures. </div>
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Now in the age of Google, we have another "gram" to consider: <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/info" target="_blank">Google Ngrams</a>. The <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams">Google Ngram Viewer</a> is a handy tool that enables the user to see the frequency of words and/or phrases across the vast corpus of digitized books that Google has at its disposal. </div>
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[<b>Editor's note:</b> click on any of the links above the images below for an interactive version of the graphs.]<br />
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Considering the multi-cultural appeal of Sherlock Holmes, it may come as no surprise to Sherlockians that the default example words and phrases that show up when a user logs on to the Ngram Viewer are as follows: Albert Einstein, Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein. It did come as a surprise to me, however, that Frankenstein references outrank both Albert Einstein and Sherlock Holmes in the English corpus! <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams" target="_blank">Take a look</a>:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Y_C7e1P3If-xRepf7ftKWos7AxNOQf-Z58XLxgwn6Upiq4egpQdILgX6mqMTZw5PUlb-pKMdGMM1zPAQXoWyIoIiY0LVtTHpaymBpeaWxcxMqMf2T6HCg-z6jEb5fjBt1segTnOSsMeo/s1600/ngram-English.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Y_C7e1P3If-xRepf7ftKWos7AxNOQf-Z58XLxgwn6Upiq4egpQdILgX6mqMTZw5PUlb-pKMdGMM1zPAQXoWyIoIiY0LVtTHpaymBpeaWxcxMqMf2T6HCg-z6jEb5fjBt1segTnOSsMeo/s640/ngram-English.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sherlock Holmes gains a bit of ground if we change the corpus to British English, <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Albert+Einstein%2CSherlock+Holmes%2CFrankenstein&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=18&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CAlbert%20Einstein%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CSherlock%20Holmes%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CFrankenstein%3B%2Cc0" target="_blank">as shown below</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlvY2Rx_RxnvrI-Py2rM4ZYEjpAO3gQgm1Hmezp9jJyf_qMNPx8uSifzK3gJa7bWNudsA67vmKHRwpuac9_DwORc6jOtQAvBCWz62Z5FwSzs0sTeRBvPYwRsJCsgRNxYFPkipSH_NALab/s1600/ngram-British.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlvY2Rx_RxnvrI-Py2rM4ZYEjpAO3gQgm1Hmezp9jJyf_qMNPx8uSifzK3gJa7bWNudsA67vmKHRwpuac9_DwORc6jOtQAvBCWz62Z5FwSzs0sTeRBvPYwRsJCsgRNxYFPkipSH_NALab/s640/ngram-British.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And if we use the smoothing tool set to 50 (instead of the default 3), we see <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Albert+Einstein%2CSherlock+Holmes%2CFrankenstein&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=18&smoothing=50&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CAlbert%20Einstein%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CSherlock%20Holmes%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CFrankenstein%3B%2Cc0" target="_blank">a result that is more comforting to the Sherlockian</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxp5Rw8bLu4lthc6DYrER7alp4if5pgrnN14aEdP_DumeD3HOT5tEzy6-e8F-_iS5ONLI_E6r2MYO7xqo0taSDFAgxQju8WfF0Bez1egVe5vqDK7q6EeNWg2eASl8_awC6P4NazAq5D6_/s1600/ngram-smooth.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxp5Rw8bLu4lthc6DYrER7alp4if5pgrnN14aEdP_DumeD3HOT5tEzy6-e8F-_iS5ONLI_E6r2MYO7xqo0taSDFAgxQju8WfF0Bez1egVe5vqDK7q6EeNWg2eASl8_awC6P4NazAq5D6_/s640/ngram-smooth.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now I'd like to make it perfectly clear that I am by no means  an expert in statistical analysis. What follows is mere conjecture from  my own point of view, as a fan of both Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan. (The  reader has been warned!) However, as I began to consider Ngrams and iconic characters, my mind went back to a discussion I once had with some fellow Sherlockians at a meeting here in Nashville, Tennessee, wherein we got talking about the popularity of Sherlock Holmes vs. the popularity of the famous Edgar Rice Burroughs character, Tarzan of the Apes. To my surprise and delight, several of the Sherlockians at that meeting were avid Burroughs fans, something we had in common beyond our interest in Holmes.<br />
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As I considered the Ngram results mentioned above I wondered, how would references to Sherlock Holmes compare in frequency with references to Tarzan? After all, both characters were iconic, and both characters were associated with their creators for the better part of their careers. So I decided to put it to the test: putting in a time range of 1910 (two years before <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="0486295702" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="ead5c455ca08af811f2095809cd4a4bc" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Tarzan of the Apes" href="http://www.amazon.com/Tarzan-Dover-Thrift-Edgar-Burroughs/dp/0486295702/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=ead5c455ca08af811f2095809cd4a4bc&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3261758" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tarzan of the Apes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3261758" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=ead5c455ca08af811f2095809cd4a4bc&_cb=1453897579325" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> was published) through 2008 (the most recent figures available on Google Ngram Viewer), I chose to search the English corpus. <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Tarzan%2CSherlock+Holmes&year_start=1910&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTarzan%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CSherlock%20Holmes%3B%2Cc0" target="_blank">Here are the results</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8QLhEzOWMoXEwWh0wp_hSqZU0JvREXM3dp_aOF1edzBX9p-1YjkR1SVzkkZeFNN-KoLUi9iEN7hW5Fw5a7qdgKACCKjyX_5hU4WzXTw2nYz0PqyUBwjLFN77FJrydxuMV9lqkQVoXbtS/s1600/ngram-Tarzan-English.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8QLhEzOWMoXEwWh0wp_hSqZU0JvREXM3dp_aOF1edzBX9p-1YjkR1SVzkkZeFNN-KoLUi9iEN7hW5Fw5a7qdgKACCKjyX_5hU4WzXTw2nYz0PqyUBwjLFN77FJrydxuMV9lqkQVoXbtS/s640/ngram-Tarzan-English.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Well! We see quite a lead for Tarzan in the first several years, and then Sherlock Holmes gains some popularity, until the last several years of the search period. A very popular time for Sherlock Holmes references starts after 1930 (due in part to the publication of the Doubleday edition and then the on-screen popularity of the Arthur Wontner and Basil Rathbone, no doubt). Tweaking the search parameters a bit more, changing to the "American English" corpus, Tarzan gains a bit of ground in the early years of this century (although we still see that frequency of Holmes hits in the 1930s), <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Tarzan%2CSherlock+Holmes&year_start=1910&year_end=2008&corpus=17&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTarzan%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CSherlock%20Holmes%3B%2Cc0" target="_blank">represented here</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWsnUQU9bGShyphenhyphenhqstaSIKEa_Eem4VVNUinOtqvBpuiyF7j-HdulwYfI_wPioF67xeRasTxGWTexO_571BubRzYhxKjjyDKjcAvVw3oNjvO7E0qT1-aSTKo4ZQ8F9CtklIt7ulI5EJvEaV/s1600/ngram-Tarzan-American.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWsnUQU9bGShyphenhyphenhqstaSIKEa_Eem4VVNUinOtqvBpuiyF7j-HdulwYfI_wPioF67xeRasTxGWTexO_571BubRzYhxKjjyDKjcAvVw3oNjvO7E0qT1-aSTKo4ZQ8F9CtklIt7ulI5EJvEaV/s640/ngram-Tarzan-American.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And just as one might expect, changing the corpus to "British English" puts Sherlock Holmes firmly <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Tarzan%2CSherlock+Holmes&year_start=1910&year_end=2008&corpus=18&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTarzan%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CSherlock%20Holmes%3B%2Cc0" target="_blank">back on top</a>:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjs1UYrL9-NAjVCPpO9H6NcIObav7sB5msAA2Hb7dlgV_JuTGQal4fUvQyaDMaeovbttaXH_sHE57KzCXX6wIXO-nyDJjjG9nniU0eFOKhU-QO41-PVKRDFam8e-4eXfLx3LjYkP_Dgu8q/s1600/ngram-Tarzan-British.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjs1UYrL9-NAjVCPpO9H6NcIObav7sB5msAA2Hb7dlgV_JuTGQal4fUvQyaDMaeovbttaXH_sHE57KzCXX6wIXO-nyDJjjG9nniU0eFOKhU-QO41-PVKRDFam8e-4eXfLx3LjYkP_Dgu8q/s640/ngram-Tarzan-British.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
[On a personal note, I find it interesting, if inconsequential, that there is a pretty sharp spike in the graph above in the early 80s, which just happens to be around the time I started reading Sherlock Holmes as a kid!]<br />
<br />
Then I discovered the parameter entitled "English One Million." According to the guide to using the Ngram Viewer,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The 'Google Million'...are in English with dates ranging from 1500 to 2008.  No more than about 6000 books were chosen from any one year, which means that all of the scanned books from early years are present, and books from later years are randomly sampled.  The random samplings reflect the subject distributions for the year..." </blockquote>
That corpus yielded a slightly different result, with Sherlock leading the way for most of the time period, except for a huge spike for Tarzan in the 1990s! (Right between the release of the film <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B001OKKRV2" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="6d17f82eaca19cc841de105f6e397bb8" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Greystoke, Legend of Tarzan" href="http://www.amazon.com/Greystoke-Legend-Tarzan-Lord-Apes/dp/B001OKKRV2/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=6d17f82eaca19cc841de105f6e397bb8&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_8864050" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Greystoke, Legend of Tarzan</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_8864050" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=6d17f82eaca19cc841de105f6e397bb8&_cb=1453898738591" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> in 1984 and the Disney animated film <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B000AAF1TU" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="95caf89376e4c8c67c3bdbfbf68d1464" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Tarzan" href="http://www.amazon.com/Tarzan-Special-Edition-Tony-Goldwyn/dp/B000AAF1TU/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=95caf89376e4c8c67c3bdbfbf68d1464&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_8513549" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tarzan</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_8513549" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=95caf89376e4c8c67c3bdbfbf68d1464&_cb=1453898817546" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /> </i>in 1999.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-l3qchS-0lNm9J2E-nY3YZOpFK4ZZg0_rDJDowLSG-zH-uL0R5Y8T9-iywT9p8yIN7u9765n70_dZabGt9mglsELOZU3BaxAxdibCTVB9xUnIHT1QGIMtuSDchiOfMvhdMZVcWxowUPln/s1600/ngram-Tarzan-Million.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-l3qchS-0lNm9J2E-nY3YZOpFK4ZZg0_rDJDowLSG-zH-uL0R5Y8T9-iywT9p8yIN7u9765n70_dZabGt9mglsELOZU3BaxAxdibCTVB9xUnIHT1QGIMtuSDchiOfMvhdMZVcWxowUPln/s640/ngram-Tarzan-Million.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
One more parameter change I tried, which yielded a slightly different result, was changing the corpus to "English Fiction." The steady downturn that the graphs take through the decades indicates to me that, even though writing <b>about </b>the characters has continued to proliferate (as is clear from several of the graphs above), the actual publication of the fiction works featuring the two characters has decreased, <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Tarzan%2CSherlock+Holmes&year_start=1910&year_end=2008&corpus=16&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTarzan%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CSherlock%20Holmes%3B%2Cc0" target="_blank">as you can see here</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJVXHv_5SAGnDCNi4xEeDgqBlIcJwzMRiOnEd0kVVXdt15IHhvP8tycw7J9TMQ8YhVmgHOnh0R_Yc0_RSzAvd0uYE7t8l_DQjYtS6jYo9TpEJuIt3rawfI2xC0SfNb2uyyM5jNoPwCjhqQ/s1600/ngram-Tarzan-Fiction.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJVXHv_5SAGnDCNi4xEeDgqBlIcJwzMRiOnEd0kVVXdt15IHhvP8tycw7J9TMQ8YhVmgHOnh0R_Yc0_RSzAvd0uYE7t8l_DQjYtS6jYo9TpEJuIt3rawfI2xC0SfNb2uyyM5jNoPwCjhqQ/s640/ngram-Tarzan-Fiction.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
In my romp through the hills and valleys of the Ngram Viewer, I've been looking at written references to a couple of the more popular characters in the past century of English publishing. Both Lord Greystoke (Tarzan) and the Great Detective are almost synonymous with the names of the authors who created them. Although Conan Doyle's output may be seen my some critics as more "literary" than that of Burroughs, the Tarzan novels and the Sherlock Holmes novels and stories share a similar popularity among their respective fandoms. The sheer volume of subsequent reprints of the novels and stories about the two characters is almost impossible to calculate. Moreover, both characters have been largely in the public domain for  some time, which has no doubt contributed to their continuing popularity  in print. I would also postulate that the popularity of both characters has been increased immensely by their many appearances in a variety of film (and stage) adaptations. <br />
<br />
As I pointed out in <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/09/sherlock-holmes-and-wold-newton-universe.html#.VpatIxUrKM8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">an earlier article</a> here, authors such as Philip José Farmer and others have postulated links between the Holmes universe and the Tarzan universe. John Clayton, after all, is both the English name of Tarzan, aka Lord Greystoke, and the name of a very minor character in Conan Doyle's <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i>. Whether there is any actual link between these two iconic characters or not, their popularity in the written word has often been intertwined, at least as I read the graphs above.<br />
<br />
I would love to hear thoughts (and even dissenting opinions) from readers who may be more well versed than I in the analysis of Ngrams. Please share your opinions in the comment section below. And give the Google Ngram Viewer a try some time. (Warning, though: it can end up wasting scandalous amounts of your time!)<br />
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Sherlock Holmes vs. Tarzan — by the Numbers

"aided by this chart" [SIGN] Throughout the Canon, we encounter a variety of "grams": telegrams, programmes, cry...

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by Cory Howell

An Overlooked Colonel

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"The Mutiny broke out, and all hell was loose in the country." [CROO] </h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6hhEsWE9TLRux4OZO6gvl1Gx7pXIz9qNgpo-JLi6xF7S-adwzepu0mds5jDe9hdKZOz5auLyGO0Hf-p7-5jtHGBfa6l4w8uF1Z6tRPbfUy_RxnOdy1r-BrtUZREnJnRMJGY85iFgTwVyu/s1600/1857_cashmeri_gate_delhi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6hhEsWE9TLRux4OZO6gvl1Gx7pXIz9qNgpo-JLi6xF7S-adwzepu0mds5jDe9hdKZOz5auLyGO0Hf-p7-5jtHGBfa6l4w8uF1Z6tRPbfUy_RxnOdy1r-BrtUZREnJnRMJGY85iFgTwVyu/s640/1857_cashmeri_gate_delhi.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
It's very easy to skip over some of the historical background in the (otherwise exciting) Sherlock Holmes stories. We've all done it. Would you know for sure, if I asked you out of the blue, whether anybody by the name of Colonel Greathed appears in any of the tales?<br />
<br />
Well, he does. I quote from Jonathan Small's narrative near the end of <i>The Sign of the Four</i>: "A flying column under Colonel Greathed came round to Agra and cleared the Pandies away from it." Thus in 17 words he has his one and only brush with the great detective of Baker Street.<br />
<br />
The problem with this sort of reference is that the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58, sometimes known to historians as the First Indian War of Independence, was far more vivid in the minds of the novel's original readers than it is in ours. When <i>The Sign of the Four</i> was published in 1890, the Mutiny was just 32 years in the past. Memories of it were as sharp and detailed as are our own memories of, say, the freeing of the American hostages in Iran in 1981. Indeed, they were probably more so, since our generation has seen many similar traumas since that one. The Indian Mutiny had an impact on public opinion and awareness in Britain that is probably better compared to that of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States: neither would be soon forgotten.<br />
<br />
So the readers of SIGN knew about Agra, and knew that Pandies were rebel troops, whether or not they knew anything about Colonel Greathed. At this point we turn to a footnote in Leslie S. Klinger's <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="0938501380" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="22cdddded574ca3cf50bb134f25d1cd8" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes Reference Library" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sign-Sherlock-Holmes-Reference-Library/dp/0938501380/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=22cdddded574ca3cf50bb134f25d1cd8&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5585877" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes Reference Library</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5585877" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=22cdddded574ca3cf50bb134f25d1cd8&_cb=1453522273753" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, which first of all points out that William S. Baring-Gould was wrong in his identification of Greathed. The relevant line in Baring-Gould's <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="0517502917" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="93b66240503a4325bdf7c6bdf9d085ca" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Annotated Sherlock Holmes" href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Annotated-Sherlock-Holmes-Fifty-Six/dp/0517502917/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=93b66240503a4325bdf7c6bdf9d085ca&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3622125" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Annotated Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3622125" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=93b66240503a4325bdf7c6bdf9d085ca&_cb=1453522305520" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> suggests that Colonel William W. H. Greathed was the hero in question, but others, including Jack Tracy in his <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="038046490X" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="ac2dd8a26bfada4edf33e2cc961297d7" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana" href="http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopaedia-Sherlockiana-Universal-Dictionary-Biographer/dp/038046490X/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=ac2dd8a26bfada4edf33e2cc961297d7&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5813898" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5813898" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=ac2dd8a26bfada4edf33e2cc961297d7&_cb=1453522320149" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, put the spotlight instead on his brother, Col. Sir Edward Harris Greathed. <br />
<br />
Tracy is, as it happens, correct; it was <a href="http://www.britishmedals.us/collections/TB/brit/greathed.html" target="_blank">Edward Greathed</a> whose column of troops relieved Agra on October 10, 1857 (the date is, astonishingly, wrong in Wikipedia). "Peace seemed to be settling upon the country," as Jonathan Small observes.<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/AVvXsEilx1BQGpmU4lU18CnBoxOuZE-Mg6zIhQAvPzFnbpolFhy81RgJnw63NrM5oFWbT8IbGFu8mW3bwKSe0YZyv0DeN9wDlguAIPBS3cMGIw6cgB90RIFBy5KKfGVfHqkHi4anXJdhy0g9e6bu/s1600/General_Sir_Edward_Harris_Greathed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilx1BQGpmU4lU18CnBoxOuZE-Mg6zIhQAvPzFnbpolFhy81RgJnw63NrM5oFWbT8IbGFu8mW3bwKSe0YZyv0DeN9wDlguAIPBS3cMGIw6cgB90RIFBy5KKfGVfHqkHi4anXJdhy0g9e6bu/s1600/General_Sir_Edward_Harris_Greathed.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">General Sir Edward Harris Greathed (image source: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_Sir_Edward_Harris_Greathed.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Edward Greathed (born 1812) had bought his commission, as one did in those days, in the 8th Regiment of Foot, and worked his way up through the officer corps in the same way, with postings to the West Indies, Canada, and (as of 1846) India. His unit — including the aforesaid brother William, of the Royal Engineers — was part of the forces led by Sir Archdale Wilson, also mentioned by Jonathan Small, that recaptured Delhi in September 1857. He then was sent to chase mutineers into Oudh and then to relieve the besieged city of Lucknow. Along the way his troops fought that impromptu October battle at Agra, near the famous fort. He subsequently served under Sir Colin Campbell at Cawnpore before returning to Britain for medals, new commands, and eventually a promotion to general.<br />
<br />
The story of Edward Greathed, and his extremely minor role in the saga of Sherlock Holmes, is one of some 800 Victorian dramas that will be included in my book <i><a href="http://www.mxpublishing.com/page/New+for+2016" target="_blank">Lives Beyond Baker Street</a></i>, to be published in March 2016 by MX Publishing.<br />
<br />
<i>Image source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_(The_King%27s)_Regiment_of_Foot#Indian_rebellion_and_Second_Afghan_War" target="_blank">Kashmir Gate one year after the siege (Wikipedia)</a></i><br />
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An Overlooked Colonel

"The Mutiny broke out, and all hell was loose in the country." [CROO] It's very easy to skip over some of the historical...

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by Chris Redmond

The 2016 BSI Weekend — Wrap Up and How You Can Help

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"Ha! our party is complete." [REDH]</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXROtXpzSHvROklBBDCxwb4FtGVoSU3PXCk1WiI9xoiT5PG1YVBVbSCoVIDGh_qC_JNnlEyplgcBkvi95uPA1qR40GYgsX4ak7DRzo-TbyJJqtGfbJPNZwH-QFd7r5OLwdgMAWUBQr9TMK/s1600/BSI+2016+Reception.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXROtXpzSHvROklBBDCxwb4FtGVoSU3PXCk1WiI9xoiT5PG1YVBVbSCoVIDGh_qC_JNnlEyplgcBkvi95uPA1qR40GYgsX4ak7DRzo-TbyJJqtGfbJPNZwH-QFd7r5OLwdgMAWUBQr9TMK/s640/BSI+2016+Reception.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
 The 2016 <a href="http://bsiweekend.com/" target="_blank">BSI Weekend</a> is over. Once again, the Yale Club was the central location of a number of events, as well as the place where many made their homes over the weekend. The Roosevelt Hotel around the corner was equally as hospitable.<br />
<br />
With books bought, bags packed, and the last farewells spoken, Sherlockians from around the world (Japan, France, Canada, England, Switzerland, Spain and more) begin to make their way homeward. And while there is typically a sense of sadness and longing that the annual fun comes to an end, there is also great satisfaction in friendships made and rekindled, special moments that range from intimate chats in the nooks of busy rooms or between dinner companions, to grand gestures and performances that delighted the masses.<br />
<br />
While we can easily recount the events, locales and orders of business throughout the three or four days in New York, one thing remains difficult to convey to outsiders: the <i>feel</i> of the BSI Weekend for those who choose to attend. It is a brilliant assembly of wit and literary knowledge; it is a gathering of those who enjoy food, drink and good conversation; it is a celebration of Sherlock Holmes and all he has brought us; it is the culmination of so much volunteer activity from throughout the year; it is a family reunion comprised only of family members one would want to see.<br />
<br />
The sum of all of these parts and more equate to an annual experience like no other. And when the world intervenes — perhaps through work commitments, family issues, weather, or other inconveniences — it deeply affects us. The opportunities, the friends, the events — all of these hold a special place in our hearts.<br />
<br />
The BSI Dinner was an homage to the fateful 1991 BSI Weekend, when women finally achieved what they had deserved long before: admission into the BSI. There were memories of the Great Dinner Picket of 1968, the seemingly honorary investiture of Lenore Glen Offord ("The Old Russian Woman") from years before, and the reception during which Tom Stix, Jr., BSI made his historic announcement.<br />
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Evy Herzog and Peter Blau recount the history of women in (and out of) the BSI. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BSIWeekend?src=hash">#BSIWeekend</a> <a href="https://t.co/cwkPPewPkT">pic.twitter.com/cwkPPewPkT</a></div>
— I Hear of Sherlock (@IHearofSherlock) <a href="https://twitter.com/IHearofSherlock/status/688190435949297664">January 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
<br />
So when the new class of Investitured Irregulars was welcomed to the fold on Friday evening, it was something of an open-armed and warm embrace. The new investitures included:<br />
<ul>
<li>Tim Greer — "The Ragged Shaw"
</li>
<li>Dana Cameron — "The Giant Rat of Sumatra"</li>
<li>Bert Coules — "The Whole Art of Detection"</li>
<li>Jenn Eaker — "Mary Sutherland"</li>
<li>John Durein — "Wilson, the Notorious Canary Trainer"</li>
<li>Jay Ganguly — "The Great Agra Treasure"</li>
<li>Will Walsh — "Godfrey Norton"</li>
<li>Tom Francis — The Two Shilling Award</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwcPp3NUp9gv25aqHygXPBClDh6p-Y0FjEUBmq518RHtPwE8CVF4ahzhfZxaVUg4oizZ_awyIGqdnyP41h_07KMgMfwnkv3Wu9n0SL8jnX_9PHcMp8myt4OK-wYeFKV2FNpauAFrwaY4J/s1600/BSI+2016+Investitures.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwcPp3NUp9gv25aqHygXPBClDh6p-Y0FjEUBmq518RHtPwE8CVF4ahzhfZxaVUg4oizZ_awyIGqdnyP41h_07KMgMfwnkv3Wu9n0SL8jnX_9PHcMp8myt4OK-wYeFKV2FNpauAFrwaY4J/s640/BSI+2016+Investitures.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Class of 2016 Baker Street Irregulars (L-R): John Durein, Jay Ganguly, Tim Greer, Jenn Eaker, Bert Coules, Dana Cameron, and Will Walsh.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
We Need Your Help</h3>
<h4>
"those scenes which are indelibly fixed in every detail upon my memory" [HOUN]</h4>
This was without question one of the most documented BSI weekends to date. The memories flowed out on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere, with photos galore. And there were even more assets that were not shared publicly (such as videos and audio, per the BSI's policy). But rather than allowing these to be scattered to the digital wind, we thought we could collaborate.<br />
<br />
If you have assets of some sort that have been posted or that you have stored somewhere — a Facebook album or photos, a tweet that got some likes, RTs or replies, as well as video or audio you may have recorded — <a href="mailto:comment@ihearofsherlock.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">please email us with #BSIWeekend in the subject line</a> and let us know. We'll be compiling these assets and determining how to get some of them to the BSI Trust, as well as how to cull together those publicly available posts in a place for all to see.<br />
<br />
What another fine weekend of memories, for those present and those following along online. May we continue to make many fine memories together.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />

The 2016 BSI Weekend — Wrap Up and How You Can Help

"Ha! our party is complete." [REDH] The 2016 BSI Weekend is over. Once again, the Yale Club was the central location of a n...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 88: The Abominable Show

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"a malicious and abominable smile" [DYIN]</h4>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="100" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4079861/height/100/width/600/theme/custom/autoplay/yes/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/render-playlist/no/custom-color/cb9a5a/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe><br />
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You've likely seen the online chatter and either managed to see the episode or miss the spoilers for <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B018WICR0W" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="5bee82681ba2b042456130e18789c341" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock: The Abominable Bride" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Abominable-Bride-Bonus-Features/dp/B018WICR0W/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=5bee82681ba2b042456130e18789c341&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5213410" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock: The Abominable Bride</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5213410" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=5bee82681ba2b042456130e18789c341&_cb=1452837841967" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> to date. Before listening to this episode, we recommend watching (or even re-watching) it, for you'll have better context around some of our references.<br />
<br />
We're pleased to bring you some of our observations and even some conjecture about the intent and direction of the show based on our viewings. We even throw in nods to Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles And don't be surprised if a few musical references manage to weave themselves into the narrative [don't miss Scott's favorite clip at 38:45].<br />
<br />
We're currently at the BSI Weekend as we post this, and we talk about some of the people we'll see and have on the show soon. We also mention bringing IHOSE on the road this autumn, we read listener comments, welcome a new sponsor, and include an audio trailer to a new Dr. Who crossover.<br />
<br />
We of course manage to squeeze in a Gas-Lamp, this time from Vol. 33, No. 1 of <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> before it's all through.<br />
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<br />
A special thank you to Mary Miller and Christian Mongaard for your continued extraordinary support!<br />
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<h3>
Sponsors</h3>
This episode includes our two longtime sponsors that deserve your attention:<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a>, featuring three new titles for 2016: <i>Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle in the Newspapers Vol. 2</i>, <i>A Curious Collection of Dates</i>, and <i>A Quick Succession of Subjects</i>, and <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Baker Street Journal</i></a>, where you should get <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/subscriptions.html" target="_blank">your annual subscription</a> in now to secure all four issues - now accepting 2016 subscriptions. And Paula Berinstein's <a href="http://amandalester.net/" target="_blank">Amanda Lester, Detective</a> series for young adults.<br />
<br />
Would you care to become a sponsor? You can find <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/contact.html#.Vc1Qx7JViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">more information here</a>.</div>
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Notes:</h3>
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1:53 Introductory remarks<br />
5:12 Sherlock Holmes and attention deficit disorder<br />
9:45 BSI Weekend plans, interview for IHOSE #89<br />
12:32 IHOSE on the road in September!<br />
16:49 An important message about new books<br />
21:50 Abominable Bride discussion<br />
34:25 Flavors of Hitchcock and Welles in the special<br />
37:55 A study in characters, including Mycroft<br />
40:15 Some familiar faces in the special<br />
44:30 Mary Morstan predictions<br />
47:20 A new IHOSE sponsor<br />
50:21 Listener comments<br />
56:28 News<br />
1:07:13 Sherlock Holmes Brand advertisement<br />
1:08:32 The Editor's Gas-Lamp<br />
1:13:20 Thank yous<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock088.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 35.1 MB, 1:16:12</h4>
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/242052134&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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<h3>
Links:</h3>
<ul>
<li><i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B018WICR0W" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="bc8ea99b016e98b64e15ee080a1d35ac" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock: The Abominable Bride" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Abominable-Bride-Bonus-Features/dp/B018WICR0W/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=bc8ea99b016e98b64e15ee080a1d35ac&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_6212432" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock: The Abominable Bride</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_6212432" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=bc8ea99b016e98b64e15ee080a1d35ac&_cb=1452839283491" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i></li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ABOMsummary" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A round-up of reviews of ABOM</a></li>
<li>Sherlock: 34 Things You Might Have Missed in The Abominable Bride (<a href="http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/sherlock/251713/sherlock-34-things-you-might-have-missed-in-the-abominable-bride" target="_blank">Den of Geek</a>) </li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl5vi9ir49g" target="_blank">He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother</a> (The Hollies)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mU6USTBRE" target="_blank">Fat</a> (Weird Al)</li>
<li>Our <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose2015" target="_blank">2015 year-end summary</a> of accomplishments</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160106-how-sherlock-holmes-changed-the-world" target="_blank">How Sherlock Holmes Changed the World</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/01/original-holmes-and-parallel-holmes.html" target="_blank">The Original Holmes and the Parallel Holmes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://londonist.com/2015/12/the-many-faces-of-sherlock-holmes" target="_blank">The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3341419/Founder-Sherlock-Holmes-Museum-dies-broken-heart-amid-long-running-poisonous-feud-2m-ticket-sales-divided-family.html" target="_blank">Founder of Sherlock Holmes Museum dies of a 'broken heart'</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/all-consuming-fire-1229" target="_blank">All-Consuming Fire</a> - Dr. Who and Sherlock Holmes crossover (Big Finish)</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose51" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 51: Who Is a Sherlockian?</a></li>
<li>The <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Patreon</a> page</li>
</ul>
</div>
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Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard and Scoop.it sites at <a href="http://ihose.co/flipsherlock" target="_blank">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a> and <a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/sherlock-holmes" target="_blank">ihose.co/scoopsherlock</a>, as well as on the <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/114565123495685504221" target="_blank">The Sherlock Holmes Community</a> on Google+ (now over 2,800 members), as well as through our accounts on <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://ihearofsherlock.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a>.</div>
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Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at (774) 221-READ (7323).</div>
<br />
--

Episode 88: The Abominable Show

"a malicious and abominable smile" [DYIN] You've likely seen the online chatter and either managed to see the ...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Remembering Alan Rickman

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"in his languid fashion" [NORW]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZBNJCw1Zdrg1mYEVBk1bvOmVZWM7DDBAQ6IACJSzF-0W_asMeShPzoxMF7rCg_JzSFraV3owgheaspc4iNsYYYybmYlf2yAX7zOB9eZ2ZC76dHdNzfmUtlcPmRICrLlovEcQyWboQoAv/s1600/Rickman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZBNJCw1Zdrg1mYEVBk1bvOmVZWM7DDBAQ6IACJSzF-0W_asMeShPzoxMF7rCg_JzSFraV3owgheaspc4iNsYYYybmYlf2yAX7zOB9eZ2ZC76dHdNzfmUtlcPmRICrLlovEcQyWboQoAv/s640/Rickman.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Actor <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/14/alan-rickman-giant-of-british-film-and-theatre-dies-at-69" target="_blank">Alan Rickman has passed away</a> in London at the age of 69.<br />
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The Shakespearean-trained actor was best known as Severus Snape from the Harry Potter film series, after having gotten his start in film villainy as Hans Gruber in the 1988 action movie <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B000SZK41M" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="50f7bdde384bc4a17354048ac7cdf25f" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Die Hard" href="http://www.amazon.com/Die-Hard-Bruce-Willis/dp/B000SZK41M/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=50f7bdde384bc4a17354048ac7cdf25f&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_180716" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Die Hard</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_180716" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=50f7bdde384bc4a17354048ac7cdf25f&_cb=1452775515860" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>. He went on to play other baddies, such as the Sheriff of Nottingham in <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="630460291X" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="55de669b324d2323eb10440a238c0734" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="robin hood 1991" href="http://www.amazon.com/Robin-Hood-Prince-Thieves-Snap/dp/630460291X/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=55de669b324d2323eb10440a238c0734&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_9595530" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Robin Hood: Prince of Theieves</a>,<i> </i>with an under-accented Kevin Costner<span style="border-color: initial !important; border-image-outset: initial !important; border-image-repeat: initial !important; border-image-slice: initial !important; border-image-source: initial !important; border-image-width: initial !important; border-width: initial !important;"><i><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_9595530" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=55de669b324d2323eb10440a238c0734&_cb=1452775594733" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i></span>.<br />
<br />
Another actor who had a part in the 1938 film version of <i>Robin Hood</i> was Basil Rathbone, who played Sir Guy of Gisbourne. Of course Rathbone had plenty of screen time playing villains in addition to his most famous role of Sherlock Holmes in the 1940s.<br />
<br />
A little-known connection is that Rickman <a href="http://www.tor.com/2015/01/30/alan-rickman-sherlock-holmes-photo/" target="_blank">once played Sherlock Holmes on stage</a>, in the 1976 revival of William Gillette's play.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alan Rickman as Sherlock Holmes (credit: <a href="http://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/Sherlock_Holmes_(play_1976_with_Alan_Rickman)" target="_blank">The Conan Doyle Encyclopedia</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
We'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Sherlock's own Benedict Cumberbatch was a fairly talented Alan Rickman impersonator, most notably demonstrated with his Rickman-off with Jimmy Fallon:<br />
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Remembering Alan Rickman

"in his languid fashion" [NORW] Actor Alan Rickman has passed away in London at the age of 69. The Shakespearean-trained a...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

ABOMs Away! A Viewer's Guide to "The Abominable Bride"

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"my 'Handy Guide to the Turf'" [SHOS]</h4>
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[<b><i>SERIOUS SPOILERS BELOW</i></b>]<br />
<br />

Now that we have that out of the way, let's postmortem "The Abominable Bride," the New Year's special episode of the BBC's<i> <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B018WIEBWO" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="0a2e0486ba003bdc8fd71df8d33f2c59" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Abominable-Bride-Bonus-Features/dp/B018WIEBWO/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=0a2e0486ba003bdc8fd71df8d33f2c59&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_6677253" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_6677253" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=0a2e0486ba003bdc8fd71df8d33f2c59&_cb=1452769191992" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> that takes Bandersnatch and Baggins to the milieu of the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. After a rapid-fire, greatest-hits reel of the series to date, the calendar rolls backward and it's off to the 19th century we go, to the first meeting of John H. Watson and Sherlock Holmes…<br />
<br />
…and to our first subtle indication, perhaps, that something is amiss. In a subterranean dissecting room, Watson meets Holmes, who is busily beating the dead with a stick and already wearing a gold sovereign as a watch fob. But of course, Irene Adler gives him that sovereign – he can't have it yet, not at the first meeting with Watson. The time is out of joint. (#Hamlet)<br />
<br />
We flash forward, presumably to 1895. Watson has a dapper mustache, and his stories are appearing in <i>The Strand</i> magazine. The flat at 221B is Canonically lovely, and there the duo are visited by John's wife, Mary, who is in search of her absentee adventurer of a husband. (We soon discover that Mary is an adventurer in her own right, working as an operative for Mycroft.) We get another hint of jiggery-pokery afoot from the following lines:<br />
<br />
HOLMES:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sometimes to solve a case one must first solve another.<br />
WATSON:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Oh, you have a case then?<br />
HOLMES:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>An old one. Very old. I shall have to go deep.<br />
WATSON:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Deep into what?<br />
HOLMES:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Myself.<br />
<br />
But then the filmmakers blind us by throwing Lestrade's mutton-chops in our eyes. In light of later developments, surely it must have been Future Holmes who was speaking.  Soon comes another red flag, when the subject of Lestrade's visit, Emelia Ricoletti, says, "You or me," then seemingly shoots herself, a reflection of Jim Moriarty's, "You're me. You're me!" just before he shoots himself (or does he?) in "The Reichenbach Fall." Mrs. Ricoletti is a spry corpse, however, and, several hours later, she drops a double load of buckshot on her husband.<br />
<br />
Off we then go to the morgue, where Anderson is as big a dolt as ever and Molly Hooper is passing for male to get a fair chance at available opportunities. Comparisons to Charley Parkhurst aside, we learn that this ruse has failed to deceive Watson, who is maintaining a most egalitarian silence about it, a silence sharply contrasted by the manner in which he vents his spleen at his house maid in the next scene, another indication that something is amiss. Though she is dead, the Abominable Bride's crimes continue; Holmes chalks the depradations up to copycats, and we move to Act Two.<br />
<br />
Our heroes visit the Diogenes Club, where a flurry of meta-clues awaits. First, the letters on the brass plaque – "THE DIOGENES CLUB" – rearrange themselves into an anagram – "ABSOLUTE SILENCE." The anagram is balderdash – one cannot derive ABSOLUTE SILENCE from THE DIOGENES CLUB. (One can, however, get SILENCE BE THOU G-D or BEN CLUE GHOST DIE.) Then, inside the club, the boys do a bit of sign lingo with Wilder, a liveried footman played by Tim Barlow (the Russian count from the Granada/Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes episode "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0506455/reviews" target="_blank">The Resident Patient</a>"), something happens about a potato and a fishmonger (#Hamlet), and, finally, we meet Mycroft Holmes in perhaps twice his Canonical glory. So much bizarrerie in so short a time must be meant to set our alarm bells jangling. Mycroft announces that he is sending a client to Baker Street, one Lady Carmichael, whose case involves "enemies who threaten our way of life" but who are right, and who must, therefore, win; more than this, he cagily refuses to say.<br />
<br />
At 221B, Lady Carmichael describes the plight of her husband, whose life is threatened by the delivery of orange pips at their Wellesian formal breakfast and the appearance of a spectral bride in their creepy backyard maze. Her patronizing, belittling husband, Sir Eustace, is played by the always-terrific Tim McInnerny, another Granada veteran (he was Vincent Spaulding/John Clay in "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0506454/" target="_blank">The Red-Headed League</a>"). <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9NlB3KTgQ8Jf1HBMKlNvDeFIYwTL0B_FgqeZilyMDya44WxkKYK-kAOZUol7IDSr2BOf6NdtQRWImsBxLxHEgbOi6JgBOQXFG4X2t9fdsFnzm8w89ktUMkvsoXzqVEQt7DbGxZT3bVrN/s1600/SILV+-+railway+car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9NlB3KTgQ8Jf1HBMKlNvDeFIYwTL0B_FgqeZilyMDya44WxkKYK-kAOZUol7IDSr2BOf6NdtQRWImsBxLxHEgbOi6JgBOQXFG4X2t9fdsFnzm8w89ktUMkvsoXzqVEQt7DbGxZT3bVrN/s640/SILV+-+railway+car.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Carefully reconstructing Sidney Paget, Holmes and Watson are soon on the train bound for stately Carmichael Manor. After a stakeout, and the obligatory (for BBC Sherlock) Watsonian attempt to draw Holmes into a conversation about his sexuality, a la Billy Wilder's <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B001EYSCF6" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="1b7e9bafc788a1958a13d7d6093aef11" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Private-Life-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/B001EYSCF6/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=1b7e9bafc788a1958a13d7d6093aef11&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_2400371" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_2400371" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=1b7e9bafc788a1958a13d7d6093aef11&_cb=1452769946766" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, a phantom veiled woman rises from the grounds and moves toward the house. The image is reminiscent of the opening scene of Hammer's <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00AWWX8YG" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="b12ddeec973c8023e11fa6ff7172b4de" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Vampire Lovers" href="http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Lovers-Blu-ray-Ingrid-Pitt/dp/B00AWWX8YG/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=b12ddeec973c8023e11fa6ff7172b4de&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_329875" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Vampire Lovers</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_329875" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=b12ddeec973c8023e11fa6ff7172b4de&_cb=1452769957397" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, wherein a shrouded female vampire rises in spectral form amid the tombstones, under the watchful eye of slayer <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/celebrating-50-years-of-douglas-wilmer.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Douglas Wilmer</a>, himself a great Sherlock Holmes.<br />
<br />
After a bit of the old smoke-and-mirrors, the ghost escapes and the blackguard husband is no more, an ornate dagger buried in his heart. Tied to its hilt is an especially telling clue – a note reading, "Miss me?" –  that has appeared in the brief few moments when Holmes was away from the corpse.  Curiouser and curiouser becomes the plot, and suddenly the note appears in the flipper-like hand of Mycroft back at the Diogenes Club, where another peculiar conversation transpires, this time capped by Mycroft's anachronistic reference to Moriarty as "the virus in the data." By now, we are surely aware that all is not as it seems.<br />
<br />
In Baker Street, Holmes awaits the arrival of Moriarty by mentally picking floating bits of paper out of the air while physically sitting on the floor in Jeremy Brett's meditating Buddha pose. ("If you're going to steal…", runs the old stage adage.) Never one to disappoint for long, Moriarty soon arrives, but the center cannot hold. Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the suicide of Mrs. Ricoletti becomes that other puzzle it so closely resembled: the death and stubborn persistence of Jim Moriarty in the 21st century. Right there in 221B, Moriarty blows his own brains out but goes on talking. (A metaphor for Andrew Scott's performance?) As Holmes grills Moriarty about his ability to survive, Moriarty says it's not the fall that kills you, it's <i>the landing</i>.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>SPOILER ALERT DEFCON ONE</b></h3>
A jet airplane lands and we're back at the end of series three, where it appears that the entire episode up to now has been a drug-extended sojourn in Sherlock's mind palace as he continues to puzzle over the Moriarty Question.<br />
<br />
Slender Mycroft, Clean-Shaven John, and Liberated Mary come jouncing onto the plane, giving Curly Sherlock a rude awakening in their eagerness to discuss Moriarty's posthumous invasion of British television. As Sherlock explains the parallels between the Ricoletti case and that of Moriarty,  he is upbraided for his "controlled" drug use by Mycroft and John. Modern John's rebukes morph into those of Victorian John as Sherlock conks out again and returns to 221B.  Whooosh! Back to the past we go…<br />
<br />
Vintage Watson berates Classic Holmes for using a seven-per-cent solution of cocaine and crashing on the sitting room floor, and the spat evolves into meta-commentary on Watson's "idiot stories" and people's need for Sherlock Holmes as a hero. The repartee is cut short by a telegram indicating Mary is in danger, and the duo rush off in answer to her summons.<br />
<br />
Having "made inquiries" of her own (we are never shown what sort or why they were so quickly effective), Mary has tracked the conspirators responsible for the Bride's crimes to the vaults beneath a defunct church. There, a meeting is convening for a group of robed and hooded figures, a secret gathering of pseudo-cardinals, as women symbolically usurp the garb of yet another enclave whose doors are closed against them: the priesthood. Some fans were irate upon viewing this scene, as they felt the story's radical suffragettes were being depicted as the Ku Klux Klan – not a group known to hang out openly in churches (except when fire-bombing them), much less to chant Latin masses; furthermore, the color scheme was all wrong. In any event, surely this interpretation misses the theme of cross-dressing-as-power-grab that runs throughout the episode: Dr. Hooper as male morgue chief; women as claven of priests; Mary as trousered action hero; Moriarty as unstoppable female ghost.<br />
<br />
Holmes interrupts the meeting with a sharp rap on a convenient gong, then gives the obligatory explanation of the who-how-and-why behind the Abominable Bride conspiracy: a group of radical feminists, a "League of Furies," has formed, one which will stick at nothing to avenge itself on the men who have ignored, patronized, disregarded, deceived, betrayed, and disparaged them, not even allowing them so much as the right to vote. Mary, herself a suffragette, seems quite put out by the tactics of this particular group, but – alas! – she is allowed no lines on the subject (score one more for male power). Just as Holmes prepares to unmask the brains behind the Bride – Lady Carmichael herself – we experience another fracture of the continuum: under the Bride's veil is Jim Moriarty, just in time to remind Sherlock (and us) that this whole business is not real; Sherlock is imagining it all while in the depths of a drug-induced hallucination. "Be serious," Moriarty admonishes the detective. "Costumes? The gong? Speaking as a criminal mastermind, we don't really have gongs… or special outfits." And we go back to the future…<br />
<br />
Once returned to the present day, we find Future Sherlock had passed out on the plane again, but is now awake and keen to disinter Emelia Ricoletti. Before one can say, "That seems pointless," we're off to the boneyard for a barrage of dialogue at Mach 1:<br />
<br />
JOHN: <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How is this relevant?<br />
SHERLOCK:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I need to know I was right, then I'll be sure.<br />
MARY:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>You mean how Moriarty did it?<br />
SHERLOCK:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yes.<br />
JOHN:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But none of that really happened; it was in your head.<br />
SHERLOCK:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My investigation was the fantasy. The crime happened exactly as I explained.<br />
MARY:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The stone was erected by a group of her friends.<br />
JOHN:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I don't know what you think you'll find here.<br />
SHERLOCK:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I need to try!<br />
STONE:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>EMELIA  RICOLETTI<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>BELOVED SISTER<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>FAITHFUL BEYOND DEATH<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>DIED DECEMBER 18      89<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>AGED 26  <br />
<br />
No one can convince Obsessed Future Sherlock that discovering a second body in Mrs. Ricoletti's grave doesn't prove or disprove his theory of how she (briefly) survived her own suicide. So it's dig, dig, dig, and – sure enough – only one moldering carcass is unearthed. When Sherlock leaps, #Hamlet-like, into the open grave and claws around for a second body (not in the coffin, but under it), the aforementioned icky corpse starts talking, then tumbles on top of him.<br />
<br />
Surprise! Modern Sherlock hasn't really been awake this time; he's in the same unconscious fantasy he entered since he conked out on the plane and found himself lying on the floor at 221B, with Watson reading him the sobriety act. "The graveyard visit of our team/ Was but a dream within a dream." (Apologies to Edgar Allan Poe.)<br />
<br />
Now we jump back to the 1800s, where Inverness Holmes is on the ledge above the Reichenbach Falls, an exceptional set, seamlessly combining foreground practical elements with background digiscapes; bravo, Arwel Wyn Jones and team! The traditional Rumble at the Reichenbach ensues, but this time Moriarty is winning, until he is interrupted by the not-so-traditional arrival of Dr. Watson and his trusty service revolver. "That's not fair; there's two of you!" Moriarty grouses, an odd utterance from one never previously concerned with fair play. Moriarty, it seems, dishes out a gang-up ("Three bullets, three riflemen") much better than he takes one. The good doctor boots the bad professor over the brink with the implication that this scene plays out over and over. ("It was my turn," he says.) Waxy Watson asks Brilliantine Holmes how he will wake up from this story, to which the other replies by preparing to dive off the falls.<br />
<br />
WATSON:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Are you sure?<br />
HOLMES:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Between you and me, John, I always survive a fall.<br />
WATSON:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But how?<br />
HOLMES:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Elementary, my dear Watson.<br />
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<br />
And we plunge back to the present day, where, after a touching brotherly exchange on the airplane, Mycroft puts the list of drugs Sherlock has taken into his pocket notebook, wherein we glimpse some Cryptic Notes. The next moment, we are on the tarmac, and Sherlock informs us:<br />
<br />
SHERLOCK:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Moriarty is dead, no question. But more importantly, I know exactly what he's going to do next.<br />
<br />
The familiar theme music swells and surely this is the e—ooops, no, here we go back to 1895 again…<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAEWEwJMXPQ1ogPZKWvcjSEpiKqvR_ROvnpcbM3BZSlyNI3JU0baSTOjSEj5kRKFQ_kFgj_QYypBguDvn6TNp75trUD_wTZ9Z7Fxu5QPxLAHf55E7MQLPUIvyxbGnSqTcBREqONLVXBnY/s1600/ABOM+-+Watson+%2526+Holmes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAEWEwJMXPQ1ogPZKWvcjSEpiKqvR_ROvnpcbM3BZSlyNI3JU0baSTOjSEj5kRKFQ_kFgj_QYypBguDvn6TNp75trUD_wTZ9Z7Fxu5QPxLAHf55E7MQLPUIvyxbGnSqTcBREqONLVXBnY/s640/ABOM+-+Watson+%2526+Holmes.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Watson and Holmes discuss the case in the sitting room in Baker Street, noodling over titles and the public treatment of the story. Watson expresses skepticism at the future world Holmes imagined while under the influence of his seven-per-cent solution ("I think you may have increased the dosage"). This final scene is a treat, despite one or two flubs (the Persian slipper is never properly affixed to the mantelpiece, and Waistcoat Watson demurs at the idea of "these… 'telephones'…", despite their appearing in the Canon as early as <i>The Sign of Four</i>), but these are quibbles. The scene fulfills the classic outline of the typical Sherlock Holmes story: we return to Baker Street for the post-investigation wrap-up over pipes and glasses, and this time the discussion is one of whether the famous pair could fit into a world of the 21st century.<br />
<br />
HOLMES: <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I know I would be very much at home in such a world.<br />
WATSON: <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ha! Don't think I would be.<br />
HOLMES: <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I beg to differ.<br />
<br />
As Holmes looks down upon Baker Street, the camera pulls back through the window, revealing contemporary London, double-decker buses and an armada of automobiles passing the window of the Victorian sitting room, leaving us to wonder if it was, in fact, Heritage Holmes who was doing the imagining all along, and if Future Sherlock was the fantasy, one final bit of flummery for the audience to chew on.<br />
<br />
But perhaps something more, for not only has BBC <i>Sherlock</i> demonstrated to global acclaim that our heroes would indeed be very much at home in such a world, re-making them as Holmes and Watson 2.0, but it has now recognized a long-evident fact as well: Holmes and Watson 1.0 are also very much at home in the 21st century world, whose electric cars and wireless communications can hurtle past the well-remembered door without ever rendering the famous pair one iota the less entertaining, compelling, or thrilling. They belong in our world in either form and in both forms: "Re-Imagined" and "As-Imagined."<br />
<br />
Thankfully, we won't have to choose between them.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
<br />

ABOMs Away! A Viewer's Guide to "The Abominable Bride"

"my 'Handy Guide to the Turf'" [SHOS] [ SERIOUS SPOILERS BELOW ] Now that we have that out of the way, let's p...

+ Read more »

by Tim Greer

This Irregular Waited 50 Years to Attend His First BSI Dinner

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"In fifty years of official life I cannot recall such a case." [MAZA] </h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3t-Eb8PxaS1xNZo7RrMLr2tiGen5MNb6DfEnpuNyTFqPwPkQoKFrvSfQwRPG_o17tEcWNvjJDX05duhT0POgplECeekYhIiVuKH5KfF6Zupat9445nK1m9eoCgqTKFqKqB2k2wDBzhCmU/s1600/1966+BSI+Dinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1966 BSI Dinner" border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3t-Eb8PxaS1xNZo7RrMLr2tiGen5MNb6DfEnpuNyTFqPwPkQoKFrvSfQwRPG_o17tEcWNvjJDX05duhT0POgplECeekYhIiVuKH5KfF6Zupat9445nK1m9eoCgqTKFqKqB2k2wDBzhCmU/s640/1966+BSI+Dinner.jpg" title="The 1966 Baker Street Irregulars Dinner" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
In a few days I will be attending my first-ever dinner of the Baker Street Irregulars. At the same time, this year I celebrate the 50th anniversary of my investiture into the BSI — and I am bound to think that a 50-year story of being a member, but not showing up for the annual event, is a record that, if not unique, is certainly unusual.<br />
<br />
Some day, as Dr. Watson put it, the full story may be told. I have toyed with writing a tell-all Sherlockian autobiography, touching on the Baker Street Pageboys, <a href="http://www.torontobootmakers.com/" target="_blank">the Bootmakers of Toronto</a>, the <a href="http://ash-nyc.com/" target="_blank">Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes</a>, my writings and friendships, and so much more. Such a document will not be as inflammatory as Douglas Maberley's roman à clef in "The Three Gables," but I suspect it will have to languish unread in some archive for a good long time.<br />
<br />
I did sit down a few years ago for a conversation with the wise and considerate Bob Coghill, BSI, who has done many such "oral interviews" for <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/oral-history.html" target="_blank">the BSI Oral History Project</a>.<br />
<br />
But inevitably, there were many things we had no time to touch on.<br />
<br />
For the present, suffice it to say that when I received my Irregular Shilling, I was a mere teenager, living in Kansas, leagues and decades away from the fast life of New York, and for most of my subsequent life my Sherlockian attention has been focused in Canada rather than toward the BSI.<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/AVvXsEiMhwyUl55yd3eqIXK4oO7U7-_pK8y9jL1BtKw8ydGstZiUQFqEc79JD0bMK2Ms6OIeUg6M_0G-s8wVSdTKDUM3R7OvcKuOmK7aMNnZdlcu5bpTtZzu0uPhI3ly3WHxhAaU7PEXo5miJOhq/s1600/CAR+investiture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="CAR's BSI investiture" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhwyUl55yd3eqIXK4oO7U7-_pK8y9jL1BtKw8ydGstZiUQFqEc79JD0bMK2Ms6OIeUg6M_0G-s8wVSdTKDUM3R7OvcKuOmK7aMNnZdlcu5bpTtZzu0uPhI3ly3WHxhAaU7PEXo5miJOhq/s640/CAR+investiture.jpg" title="Chris Redmond's investiture" width="444" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Investiture certificate of Chris Redmond, BSI ("Billy")</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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These days I understand that virtually everyone who receives a BSI investiture does so at a January dinner in New York. It was not so <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/09/the-1966-bsi-dinner.html" target="_blank">in 1966</a>.  My certificate (much more modest than the certificates handed out nowadays) and silver shilling arrived by mail one day in the spring of that year, as part of what the then Commissionaire of the BSI, Julian Wolff, called the Edgar W. Smith Birthday Honors List. <br />
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Smith, of course, was the first and great Commissionaire, who had died in 1960. In the years that followed, his April 1 birthday was marked annually by the distribution of investitures to those whom Wolff considered worthy of the honour but who had not come to New York and, I suppose, were not expected to. I don't know how long the spring Honours List continued, but it was still in operation in 1969 when my father, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/11/remembering-donald-redmond-bsi-2s.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Donald A. Redmond</a>, received his investiture as "Good Old Index".<br />
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My 1966 investiture certificate as "Billy", with Julian Wolff's signature, hangs on my study wall, within sight as I write these words, and I will be all the prouder of it when I can say that I have actually attended a BSI dinner. And I will think of it again come April 1, fondly — and with amazement that my Sherlockian career has now lasted more than half a century.<br />
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<i>Image credit: <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/09/the-1966-bsi-dinner.html" target="_blank">The Baker Street Irregulars Trust</a></i><br />
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This Irregular Waited 50 Years to Attend His First BSI Dinner

"In fifty years of official life I cannot recall such a case." [MAZA] In a few days I will be attending my first-ever dinner...

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by Chris Redmond

Original Holmes and Parallel Holmes

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"running on parallel lines" [HOUN]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQkifMgcxbJbhKhMMvN5BS4UzZldB1dT9EIiNjyN7LEVtgcBiUxq1ZEmrTH1ONR00lQ4AnSUO0eR4m_tFKeq8iBF49FR8ZbijOdyoSugr0mXTXZN8AZGAiFSwiOV5EKdiYb6MIQ8IJaNKL/s1600/Twin+Sherlock.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQkifMgcxbJbhKhMMvN5BS4UzZldB1dT9EIiNjyN7LEVtgcBiUxq1ZEmrTH1ONR00lQ4AnSUO0eR4m_tFKeq8iBF49FR8ZbijOdyoSugr0mXTXZN8AZGAiFSwiOV5EKdiYb6MIQ8IJaNKL/s640/Twin+Sherlock.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Someone asked me recently what I think about <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="SEARCH" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="70ae33057d1791c34cc06229a54c230d" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies" href="http://amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Guy%20Ritchie%E2%80%99s%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20movies&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=70ae33057d1791c34cc06229a54c230d&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3883869" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3883869" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=70ae33057d1791c34cc06229a54c230d&_cb=1452234544849" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /> – do I really like them, even though their resemblance to Conan Doyle’s original is so little? My answer was not specifically about those two movies, but rather the whole genre of Sherlock Holmes adaptations.<br />
<h3>
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A Tale of Two Holmeses</h3>
My way of seeing this is that there are two kinds of Holmes. There is the original Holmes – and there is the parallel Holmes. The parallel Holmes has existed almost since the beginning (the first parody came just a few months after the first Sherlock Holmes short story in 1891), and is a version of Holmes that other persons have formed, rather than Conan Doyle.<br />
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For many people this parallel Holmes is often more true than the original version. Without parallel Holmes, the detective would lack many of his most characteristic features: the deerstalker, the curved pipe and the line "Elementary, my dear Watson." The deerstalker was of course put there by Sidney Paget – and that’s definitely connected to the original Holmes – but without William Gillette’s use of it, Holmes would have had no characteristic hat, and his easily recognizable silhouette would be less easily recognizable.<br />
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When Gillette’s play toured America and all around Europe at the turn of the century, more people had seen this Sherlock Holmes on stage than had ever read a book about Conan Doyle’s detective. [<i>Is this true? Even with subscriptions of The Strand (in which Paget's drawings existed) soaring?</i> <b><i>-Ed.</i></b>] Even if Gillette’s Holmes had lines and plot taken from original Holmes, and even if Conan Doyle had said okay to the manuscript, it was nevertheless a parallel Holmes – Gillette’s own view of the detective. Gillette’s Holmes play showed generations to come what could be done with the detective (e.g. his emotions towards Alice Faulkner) and how far away from original Holmes he could be taken – while still being able to call him Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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But Gillette’s Holmes wasn’t the only forefather of future parallel Holmes. The parodies of the 1890s had done as much to create that parallel Holmes. They had sped up the plots and made Holmes’s deductions faster and more impossible – and, of course, sometimes entirely wrong, since they were parodies. They had given Holmes even sharper features and more insane personality. And they had spread and further established Sherlock Holmes’s increasingly famous name among the readers.<br />
<h3>
<br /> 1 + 1 = ∞ ?</h3>
These two early sorts of parallel Holmes melted into one big category, and formed what was to become the popular icon Sherlock Holmes. Parallel Holmes was – and still is – the Holmes that most people know about. Much fewer have read the original stories. Original Holmes was the origin of parallel Holmes, but parallel Holmes was the origin of popular icon Holmes.<br />
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Parallel Holmes can be almost anything, and it can be boring and it can be fun. The most boring examples are often the ones that painstakingly want to be original Holmes, but are made with such lack of love that they entirely miss the goal. They are mainly just constructed mystery plots with an investigating cliché duo in the middle. However, when parallel Holmes is made with love and genius, and when it comes really close to original Holmes, it’s just a pleasure to consume, e.g. some of the best episodes of <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B000RPCJB6" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="532edbb2d62a2af44f3b56afbc329aea" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="the Granada series" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Complete-Granada-Television/dp/B000RPCJB6/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=532edbb2d62a2af44f3b56afbc329aea&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_1954625" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Granada series</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_1954625" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=532edbb2d62a2af44f3b56afbc329aea&_cb=1452236001230" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /> with Jeremy Brett, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/interview-author-lyndsay-faye-on-art-of.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lyndsay Faye</a>’s novel <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1416583319" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="8e65af0d391af9cbf36451ef5da326a5" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Dust and Shadow" href="http://www.amazon.com/Dust-Shadow-Account-Ripper-Killings/dp/1416583319/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=8e65af0d391af9cbf36451ef5da326a5&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_6944122" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dust and Shadow</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_6944122" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=8e65af0d391af9cbf36451ef5da326a5&_cb=1452235406143" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, or <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose85" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nicholas Meyer</a>'s <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="0393311198" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="fe0f0b2d2df357685fcf62102ca682d2" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Seven Percent Solution" href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Seven-Per-Cent-Solution-Reminiscences-Paperback/dp/0393311198/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=fe0f0b2d2df357685fcf62102ca682d2&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5740271" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Seven-Per-Cent Solution</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5740271" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=fe0f0b2d2df357685fcf62102ca682d2&_cb=1452235398743" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>.<i> </i><br />
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Many of the most interesting parallel Holmes productions are the ones where the creators are doing something totally different. They move away from Conan Doyle, and their foundations are sometimes to be found in other genres, not necessarily crime fiction related. They want to tell something else, and they often demand more of the reader/viewer. To look upon such productions as detective stories can be risky – in their cores they often hold a vibrating packet full of emotions. <br />
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These creators are not just satisfied with playing the game, but are instead constantly adding to it, evolving it. Mitch Cullin’s novel <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1400078229" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="e43988e5c7776901c8725e0297c7865e" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="A Slight Trick of the Mind" href="http://www.amazon.com/Slight-Trick-Mind-Mitch-Cullin/dp/1400078229/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=e43988e5c7776901c8725e0297c7865e&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_1353403" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Slight Trick of the Mind</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_1353403" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=e43988e5c7776901c8725e0297c7865e&_cb=1452235633556" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> (which became the film <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B014PIQYIO" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="8f6f4a31a4822c30e484288dcba94237" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Mr. Holmes" href="http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Holmes-DVD-Digital-McKellen/dp/B014PIQYIO/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=8f6f4a31a4822c30e484288dcba94237&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_1945634" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mr. Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_1945634" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=8f6f4a31a4822c30e484288dcba94237&_cb=1452235643516" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>) is one modern illustration of this. And Billy Wilder’s movie <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00K6D1R0I" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="b83af11c30d4fb4f283e19b36c37fc90" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" href="http://www.amazon.com/Private-Life-Sherlock-Holmes-Blu-ray/dp/B00K6D1R0I/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=b83af11c30d4fb4f283e19b36c37fc90&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_7658103" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7658103" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=b83af11c30d4fb4f283e19b36c37fc90&_cb=1452235653371" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> and Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’s TV series are other examples. They don't just play the game, they keep changing it.<br />
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It is sometimes the case that when parallel Holmes gets even further away from original Holmes, great entertainment is to be extracted. I love the film <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00RYZFSJM" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="6cc182abc3cb65377b8e1e0390997fac" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Without a Clue" href="http://www.amazon.com/Without-Clue-Michael-Caine/dp/B00RYZFSJM/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=6cc182abc3cb65377b8e1e0390997fac&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5736662" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Without a Clue</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5736662" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=6cc182abc3cb65377b8e1e0390997fac&_cb=1452235717367" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> – it's definitely not original Holmes, but it's fun. I also like such a thing as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOj-Is2ylA0" target="_blank">the short rap version of <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i></a>.<br />
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And many other crazy things that have been made. And I like the Guy Ritchie movies – not because they are good adaptations of original Holmes, but because they are good versions of parallel Holmes. They effectively make use of the popular icon Holmes and make something new out of that and something that can attract a lot of people that prefer to watch a film with a super hero rather than a film with a serious thinker.<br />
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And since Warner Bros have succeeded in making these films that people want to see, I have no trouble at all with this not being close to the original Holmes. Because I love parallel Holmes as much as I love original Holmes.<br />
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