"So At Last We Get a Link, You See." [3GAR]

Once again, Peter Blau's Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press has a good number of links to sites on the Web that may be of interest to Sherlockians. One note: I typically do not post links from the newsletter that I have already blogged about. Without further ado, here are the latest:

• The "rich list" of the Sunday Times has placed publisher Felix Dennis at #65 in the U.K. At his estate in Warwickshire, he has a number of 1-1/4 life-sized statues of people he admires. Included in the list: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
• Peepolykus [pronounced people-like-us] is a British theater company that is touring with John Nicholson and Steven Canny's dramatization of "The Hound of the Baskervilles." There schedule is available online.
• There's Sherlockian artwork in the online game Diamond Detective. When you make it to Inspector level, you get a badge with the image of Sherlock Holmes.
• The Mini-Tonga Society has updated its Web page. As a marketer, I'm tempted to call it a microsite.
  
• George Washington's ancestors slept here: Sulgrave Manor. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a member of the British Peace Centenary Committee that helped raise the money needed to buy the house in 1914 as part of the celebration of the centenary of the Treaty of Ghent.
• In a follow-up to my Laurie King posts comes: Mary Russell's MySpace page
• Breese Books offers Val Andrew's The Ghost of Baker Street and Roger Jaynes' Sherlock Holmes and the Chilford Ripper
• Fans of Freddy the Pig can see him in Sherlockian costume in The Wit and Wisdom of Freddy and His Friends and quoted as saying "That's the trouble with detective work. . . Too many clues are worse than none at all." in Freddy Plays Football. For those who are particularly interested, there's always The Friends of Freddy.
  
• Joel and Carolyn Senter have released the latest issue of their Sherlockian e-Times
• Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are listed as one of a number of famous couples in literature from the Literacy Collection from 2Simple Software
• Oddcast has a unique text-to-voice adapter. You can type anything in and hear it read back to you by a real voice. I tried it out, and "Simon (U.K.)" works best with Canonical quotes.
• A very comprehensive page about the Battle of Maiwand

"Aided by a Dane" [TWIS]

If you spend any time on this blog, you'll note that there are a number of links in the right column - BSI-related, People, Resources, and a Blogroll. Now that I think about it, it's probably time to create a little more organization there.

The blogroll now includes a new Sherlockian blog that has popped up from our friends overseas - the blog of the Sherlock Holmes Klubben i Danmark, the Danish Baker Street Irregulars. It is ably managed by Jens Byskov Jensen. It's written in Danish, but even those unfamiliar with the language can get a sense of what's going on there. There are entries going back to May of 2006 that cover a variety of interests. Definitely worth a look.

And speaking of our Scandinavian friends, many of them were contributors to the latest in the Baker Street Irregulars' International Series, Scandinavia and Sherlock Holmes.

"I Even Embodied It in a Small Brochure." [SIGN]

Back in November, I wrote about the new Discovering Sherlock Holmes series that Stanford University was starting. These are reproductions of the original stories as they appeared in the Strand Magazine, beginning with The Adventure of the Empty House and continuing with 11 additional titles. The series is available for download here; there are also story notes here.

Well, the first issue arrived last week and it looks fantastic. The previous run, while faithful to the original layout of the Strand, was made of newsprint, which made the images a little muted and felt cheap. After the raging success of the subscriptions, Stanford is charging $20 for the set of 12, including postage. With higher quality paper inside and a glossy cover, it's well worth it. The Paget drawings are crisp and clear and the piece feels substantial.

If you haven't already subscribed to the series, get on it!

And if you can't wait for the stories to arrive in serial form, there's always the old standby The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes, which features the stories with the original Sidney Paget drawings as they appeared in the Strand.

"I Travelled for Two Years..." [EMPT]

Sherlock Holmes returned to Watson after a hiatus of three years (the "Great Hiatus," as Sherlockians know it), with tales of travels across Asia and Europe. As he recounts it:

"I travelled for two years in Tibet, therefore, and amused myself by visiting Lhassa, and spending some days with the head lama. You may have read of the remarkable explorations of a Norwegian named Sigerson, but I am sure that it never occurred to you that you were receiving news of your friend. I then passed through Persia, looked in at Mecca, and paid a short but interesting visit to the Khalifa at Khartoum, the results of which I have communicated to the Foreign Office. Returning to France, I spent some months in a research into the coal-tar derivatives, which I conducted in a laboratory at Montpellier, in the south of France."

Well, our friends at the Societe Sherlock Holmes de France have developed a very beautiful and interactive map that traces Holmes' steps across the continents. Of course, it's entirely in French, but I think you can get the gist of it.

"Who Is This Barrymore, Anyhow?" [HOUN]

This just in! I'm told that another Irregular Shilling was bestowed on a worthy individual at the dinner of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London at their annual dinner last weekend. The investiture "Barrymore" was given to Johnathan McCafferty, a longtime and active Holmesian.

Congratulations!

"And So Under." [MUSG]

To our friends Down Under, I wish you a happy Australia Day. January 26 is traditionally the day that Australia celebrates its national heritage - the people, the land, the indigenous culture and the diversity that makes up this very unique country. With over 5,000 events scheduled across the continent, it is the largest celebration of Australia's existence.

As you may know Conan Doyle was a world traveler, and one of his journeys took him to the former penal colony. Even before making what must have been an excruciatingly long trip, he managed to to put a number of connections to the island continent in the Canon. Here are the ones that come to mind:

• The Boscombe Valley Mystery - "from Ballarat to Melbourne" - Turner and McCarthy met in Australia, where Black Jack of Ballarat made his money as a highway robber
• The Gloria Scott - Trevor Sr., alias James Armitage was "sentenced to transportation" and found himself "bound for Australia" aboard the ill-fated ship when he encountered Jack Prendergast, Hudson and others.
• The Empty House - the Hon. Ronald Adair was the son of the Earl of Maynooth, "governor of one of the Australian colonies. Adair’s mother had returned from Australia to undergo the operation for cataract" when they moved to Park Lane.
• The Priory School - at the conclusion, James Wilder was to leave the Duke of Holderness "and go to seek his fortune in Australia."
• The Abbey Grange - Mary Frasier and Theresa Wright came from "the less conventional atmosphere of South Australia" - Adelaide, to be exact
  
• The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax - Holy Peters turned out to be "one of the most unscrupulous rascals that Australia has ever evolved."

While these are the only overt references to Australia that I can remember off the top of my head, there are other entries that might imply a connection with the land down under:

• Holmes doesn't say where in The Sussex Vampire, but "a year at sea" for Master Jacky Ferguson might include Australia
• Watson wrote that his experience of women extended "over three separate continents" in The Sign of the Four; might one of those continents included the island nation?
  

It's a lovely country with fascinating people - a unique mix of American, British and Pan-Asian cultures over a wide variety of landscapes. When I traveled there in 1997, I was treated like royalty by the Sydney Passengers. If you ever have the chance to visit this great country, by all means, go.

Advance, Australia Fair!

"I Am the King. Why Should I Attempt to Conceal It?" [SCAN]

At the conclusion of the Baker Street Irregulars Distinguished Speaker Lecture earlier this month, I wrote a quick reaction to and summary of Laurie King's talk ("I Should Like To See Mrs. King"), as a Sherlockian who was lucky enough to attend. If you've been following my little entries, I hope I've given you a taste of the "blogsophere" and how it works.

As luck would have it, Ms. King is a fellow blogger and has posted her own reminiscence, titled Holmes and King on her blog. Here is a brief excerpt of her reaction to receiving an invitation from Michael Dirda to speak during the BSI Weekend:

"It was a remarkably generous request, considering the rocky relationship Holmes and I have had over the past years. I began by stealing another writer’s character, then having the temerity to saddle this honored and dignified gentleman with a smart-mouthed apprentice (who, moreover, occasionally beats him at his own game.) And as if these indignities were not enough, when she grows up, she marries him. The nerve."

Ms. King's warm and familiar writing is evident throughout her blog; any attempt by me to paraphrase her reaction to the Sherlockian crowd simply can't approach her style. By all means, take the time to read her entry. I'll simply leave you with her impression of the Weekend:

"I have to say, those Sherlockians know how to party."

"Send Them the Photograph" [SCAN]

Thank you so much to those of you have sent photos of the BSI Weekend directly to me; I'm running a slideshow of those photos sent. And here is a link that tracks to those photos that are tagged with "Sherlockians" in Flickr, which at the time of publishing amounted to 25 photos.

In an effort to keep identities private, none of the photos contains a subject's name, but are simply described as a setting or event. Enjoy!

If your browser doesn't handle Flash, you can go directly to my photos by clicking here.

Flash Slideshow

"Well, I'll Borrow That if I May." [VALL]

From my good friend John Baesch comes this interesting feature story from Sunday's Washington Post called Return to Lender.

The book of Sherlock Holmes stories just showed up one day at a Silver Spring high school library, 42 years overdue. Would it be a case befitting the detective itself?

John makes a good point in his email when he notes that the perpetrator not only is worthy of a prayer or two, but he leaves us wanting more. Why was it that he only discovered the book 42 years later? Did he read the stories in the interim?

A little slice of life that gets at the inner Sherlockian in all of us - even if we are one for a moment in our brief time on this planet.

"What's That Little Thing of Chopin's She Plays" [STUD]

"Tra-la-la-lira-lira-lay."

A related reference from Dilbert on January 15:

"Your Merits Should Be Publicly Recognized." [STUD]

The Mystery Writers of America have announced the 2007 Edgar Award Nominees. You can see a full listing of nominees by clicking on the link.

Past winners of this prestigious award have included Leslie Klinger, for The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories and Daniel Stashower for Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle.

For 2007, I've highlighted the nominees that might be of particular interest to fans of Sherlock Holmes:

Best First Novel by an American Author
Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith

Best Critical / Biographical
The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, The Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective's Greatest Cases by E.J. Wagner

Best Fact Crime
The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder by Daniel Stashower (Go, Dan - another nomination!)

Best Juvenile
The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery: An Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer

Best Play
"Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure" by Steven Dietz

Best Television Episode Teleplay
House, M.D. - Season Two - "Clueless", Teleplay by Thomas L. Moran
Monk - "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink", Teleplay by Hy Conrad

More information about the Edgars from the Mystery Writers of America Web site:

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce on the 198th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2007 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television and film published or produced in 2006. The Edgar Awards will be presented to the winners at our 61st Gala Banquet, April 26, 2007 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.

"Those Week-End Parties..." [SOLI]

Wow. Another BSI Weekend has come and gone. Every year, I await the festivities - particularly in the months between my invitation and the events - with great anticipation and excitement, akin to a child in the weeks and days before Christmas. And then, before you know it, the wrapping paper is strewn all over the floor, the meat trimmings are sitting on the platter, guests have left, and you're wondering where the holiday went.

I'll be adding a few separate entries to follow up, but suffice it to say that the weekend was a great success. Here are are a couple of Baker Street Irregulars and Baker Street Journal news items for now.

Mike Whelan, the head of the BSI, noted that in his time at the helm - 10 years now - the Irregulars have managed to produce 58 separate publications - including issues of the BSJ, Christmas Annuals, History Series, Manuscript Series, International Series and an excursion publication.

This year, the BSI unveiled two new publications: Mandate for Murder, the fifth in the BSI Manuscript Series; and Scandinavia and Sherlock Holmes, the second in the BSI International Series. Both are beautifully designed and are the result of hard work from the editors. More details can be found on the BSJ site.

Also, the Morley-Montogmery Award recipient was announced on Thursday evening at a reception just prior to the lecture. The winner for the best article appearing in the Journal in 2006 is Harold Billings, for his piece The Materia Medica of Sherlock Holmes. Congratulations, Harold.

I'll continue my updates with photos, news of the Beacon Society, and other tidbits from the weekend.

Plan ahead: next year's BSI Weekend will take place from January 10 - 12, 2008.

"He Handed Each of Them a Shilling." [STUD]

I'm blogging to you live from the annual dinner of the Baker Street Irregulars. It's been quite an evening - one that I'll leave to others to recap in what I'm sure will be a much more circumspect manner than I.

It is my pleasure to share with you the names of the newly-Investitured members of the BSI. Mike Whelan, the current "Wiggins" of the BSI, takes great joy in this portion of the program - when he bestows an Irregular Shilling on a number of Sherlockians present at the dinner.

This year's Honors List includes:

• "Harold Stackhurst" - Warren Randall
• "Lady Clara St. Simon" - Dayna McCausland
• "Enoch J. Drebber" - Mike Homer
• "Henri Murger" - Mike Berdan
• "The Soup Plate Medal" - Maggie Schpak
• "The Swedish Pathological Society" - Mattias Bostrom
• "Eliza Barrymore" - Elaine McCafferty
  

Congratulations to all!

"I Should Like to See Mrs. King." [DANC]

The 2007 Baker Street Irregulars Distinguished Speaker Lecture was held this evening at the Williams Club. Our speaker: none other than the author Laurie R. King, author of the very successful Mary Russell series and the equally as popular Kate Martinelli series.

This evening Ms. King spoke to the assembled members (there were about 110 of us packed in) about how it was that she first discovered Sherlock Holmes -- when she was 35. She was very comfortable speaking to the group, noting that "Sherlockians are too humorous to bear grudges."

She acknowledged that Sherlock Holmes was the inspiration for Mary Russell and that Russell is really a 20th Century mirror image of Holmes. She does not view the Russell series as pastiche but as variations on a theme -- much as Mozart, Rachmaninov, and Brahms have done.

She also presented King's Theory of the Migratory Jezail Bullet Wound. Without giving it away, I'll just say that her theory was entirely new and creative. Check out the Spring or Summer 2007 issue of The Baker Street Journal.

And for the record, Mary Russell is not pregnant.

"You Will Excuse My Beginning Without You, Watson." [BERY]

The weekend festivities of the Baker Street Irregulars, the literary society dedicated to Sherlock Holmes, officially kick off tomorrow, but it's never too early to begin the celebrations. A few locals and a number of out-of-towners gathered at O'Casey's tonight for ASH Wednesday.

My woman on the street reports:

There were around 50 at O'Casey's tonight. There was a good smattering of locals, and a lot of folks from further away: California, Texas, Minnesota, Illinois, New Mexico along with a couple of Brits. We drank and ate, and most of all, we talked - conversation filled the room and bounced from table to table. I described the kickoff event as a sort of a family reunion for Sherlockians.

My favorite story is the participation of a young woman from India who moved to New York just four days ago. She had heard about the BSI festivities as a Sherlockian in India, and when her company transferred her here, she suddenly wondered if this were the right weekend. She found me via the net and sent me an inquiry earlier today asking if she could come tonight. I responded telling her she was welcome, but there would be no Sherlockian content to the evening except incidentally as we were really just getting together with friends. In her next message she told me she was new in the city and knew no one yet and was hoping to find some friends. I encouraged her to come and boy, did she land in the right place!

Indeed. And I'm looking forward to landing in the right place as of tomorrow at noon. Stay tuned for more updates!

"Homeward Bound to Savannah." [FIVE]

January is shaping up to be quite a month for those interested in the life and times of one Mr. Sherlock Holmes. For those with a hearty countenance, tomorrow begins the BSI festivities in New York City.

And for those whose circulation is adapted for the warmer climes, an equally exciting set of events will be taking place on January 18 - 19 in Savannah, Georgia. I refer to the Live Oak Public Libraries Foundation 7th Annual Gala: "Once Upon a Time." You may download a flyer here.

The first event, aptly titled Chapter I: A Mysterious Evening, is a gala event at the Bull Street Library in Savannah beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, January 18. The evening will consist of cocktails, a buffet dinner, silent and live auctions, period music and some very special guests. The first guest is none other than Mr. Holmes himself, as portrayed by the talented and dedicated John Sherwood, who has donned the deerstalker numerous times at events to entertain and educate mystery fans across the country.

Another special guest is Tim Johnson, curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collection at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Tim will be bringing some extremely rare items related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes: original Frederick Dorr Steele illustrations, a special edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes owned by a Russian czarina and a rare 1887 Beeton's Christmas Annual, to name a few.

Chapter II: A History of the Mystery is a literary luncheon to be held on Friday, January 19 at 11:30 a.m. at the Chatham Club at the DeSoto Hilton Savannah. There in Savannah's Landmark Historic District, author Nicholas Kilmer(grandson of poet Joyce Kilmer) will discuss the History of the Mystery.

The proceeds from both of these exciting events will raise funds for the Savannah Children's Book Festival - what a great cause - and the Vacation Reading Program. For more information or to make reservations for either or both events, please email Christy Divine or call (912) 652-3605.

"We Progress, My Dear Watson, We Progress." [MISS]

I think the 21st Century is finally catching up with us, making traditions something of an anomaly. In the U.S. political world, Congress now has its first female Speaker of the House. And in the Sherlockian world, there are two other items of note.

A Woman in the Tower
First in the news is the revelation that the Tower of London has named its first female Beefeater, or Yeoman Warder. This is a landmark development in the 520-year history of the profession. To their credit, the warders had this to say about the candidate:

"There were six candidates - five were male and she was the only female. She was the best candidate for the job."

Of course the Tower of London is mentioned once in the Canon. Bonus points if you name the story in the "comments" section below. In addition, it was a central element in Basil Rathbone's 1939 debut in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, as Prof. Moriarty was planning to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower.

Some Male ASH
And the more earth-shattering news comes from the latest issue of Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press and the Winter issue of The Serpentine Muse. Evidently, the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes (ASH) have made a landmark decision: they will finally admit men as full-fledged members.

The only male members of the ASH that I am aware of to date are those who were granted (I believe) special/honorary status: John Bennett Shaw, William Baring-Gould, Tom Stix and Peter Blau. Even if their membership was full-fledged, they were special exceptions.

The Adventuresses, who made a name for themselves back in the late '60s by protesting the annual all-male dinner of the Baker Street Irregulars, are finally taking a page from their own book. I think it took a lot of courage for Tom Stix (head of the BSI at the time) to take the step of admitting women to the BSI in 1991 - there were still a number of old guard who wished to keep it a men-only club. And the women admitted were noted scholars and influencers in the Sherlockian world; they deserved recognition on their merits alone.

But I have often wondered why the ASH didn't accept men at the same time the BSI started accepting women.

For the record, I have no problem with single-sex societies. In my view, a private organization can do as it wishes; and if a single-sex society exists in a geographical area where a coeducational society of the same status also exists, that should be the end of things. Which is why it seemed odd to me that the Adventuresses - a group that originally organized itself over the inequity inherent in a single-sex society - should employ the very same discriminatory practices they protested those many years.

I congratulate the ASH on this belated move. It will be interesting to see how many men take them up on this and how the ASH - who are no slouches in the scholarship department - set the bar for admission.

"When He Refers to Her Photograph" [SCAN]

As part of any Sherlockian societies' activities, I would imagine there are a number of photographs taken. Here's a simple request: if you're planning on taking digital photos at Sherlockian events, please consider uploading them to Flickr, a free online service for storing and sharing photos. Whatever digital service you use, please use the descriptor "Sherlockian" when tagging or labeling your photos.

Tagging is a key part of what's called folksonomy, a way of connecting individuals on the Web based on common interests and terms. That way, when someone searches the Web for "Sherlockian," they'll be greeted with results from Sherlockian events. Thank you for helping to connect our community through the Web!

"We Shall Just Have Time for a Cup of Tea..." [CREE]

January 6th couldn't pass without an acknowledgement of the birthday of the world's first unoffcial consulting detective. To celebrate, those of you who have a penchant for all things Scottish, should check out the Scottish Lion import site. From kilts to haggis, tartan ties to bagpipes, it's all there.

Of particular interest to Sherlockians is their Sherlock Holmes Tea. I have no idea what it tastes like, but for those of you who prefer loose tea and who might like to experience what it may have been like to receive tea from Mrs. Hudson at 221B Baker Street, this is your opportunity to indulge.

"I Have Often Wished That I Had Notes" [MUSG]

As Sherlockians descend on New York City next weekend for the Baker Street Irregular festivities, I'll be doing my best to keep you updated on the goings-on, as I know not everyone will be able to attend - but I'll need your help.


I plan to blog "live" from some events (well, as live as certain events will allow me to do) and to do a little follow up afterwards. Nothing as comprehensive as exists on certain mailing lists, but a rough sketch of some important happenings and people I meet.

Now, here's where your assistance is needed. If you or someone you know can provide me with real-time updates (or at least very quick follow-up) of certain events, I would really like to have you as part of my blogging team. Here's how it will work: you'll attend an event, do a quick writeup - no more than a paragraph or two - and send me a quick email. Attached photos are welcome.

It would be great to know who is covering which event in advance. Please email me by clicking on the linked event below:

• ASH Wednesday dinner (1/10)
• Morgans Library cocktails (1/12)
  
• Gaslight Gala (1/12)
• Junior Bloodstain (1/13)
  
• Lost in New York with a Bunch of Sherlockians (1/13)

You can bookmark this entry - click on the title for this posting only - and use the above email links to send me your updates when they're ready. I'll make every effort to get them on the blog as quickly as possible.

This is just an experiment. This will be my first year blogging from the BSI Weekend. I hope you'll help me make it a huge success!

"The Rest He Can Put Away in the Lumber-Room of His Library..." [FIVE]

One of the major successes of the Industrial Age, thanks to the philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie, was the establishment of thousands of public libraries. I have some very happy memories of a childhood spent in my hometown public library, first enjoying the whimsical offerings of the children's section, then gravitating toward reference, research and other serious pursuits.

If you blindfolded me and plunked me down at the entrance of Kent Memorial Library, I have no doubt that I could find my way to the periodicals section, the card catalog (remember those?) and, of course, the section containing Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. I may have been the only one reading and rereading some of those works, but I knew where to find them if I needed them.

But a piece in the Leisure & Arts section on OpinionJournal.com, Checked Out, mentions a startling development at the Fairfax County Public Library system near Washington, DC: thanks to a new software tool that identifies which books have not been checked out in two years, the library is making the decision to toss some of the classics.

Hemingway, Bronte, Faulkner, Hardy - these are all headed for the trash heap simply because they haven't been borrowed recently. No mention of Conan Doyle, thank goodness (I like to think that his works are constantly in circulation).

So, the Industrial Age which saw the rise of public libraries gives way to the Information Age, which sees libraries turned into nothing more than entities that cater to the whim of the latest book craze. Shouldn't libraries serve a more noble function? Should they not act as repositories of classics that are perpetually available, as temples of scholarship and reference for the ages?

Do take a moment to read the entire opinion piece - it offers an excellent perspective on what we should value with regard to our libraries. And feel free to drop a note if you have a strong view on this yourself.

"Well, It Is an Important Link in the Chain." [CREE]

Peter Blau has released the latest issue of his monthly newsletter Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press. If you don't subscribe, you should consider it as an invaluable source of Sherlockian information for 2007. As they say, "If Peter doesn't know about it, it isn't happening."

Here are the links mentioned in the December issue:

• The next release in Stanislaus Tekieli's Latin translation of the Canon: The Gloria Scott
• A podcast of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, read by Patrick Horgan
• Connections Between House and Holmes - a site comparing Dr. Gregory House and Sherlock Holmes
• Patty Tierney continues with her unique designs of wearable art - mostly earrings and pendant necklaces - in the theme of Sherlock Holmes
• There is a new - if very basic - Web site for Autumn in Baker Street, which will be held from September 1 - 2, 2007 in Norwalk, CT
• The Strand Magazine has a 2007 Sherlockian calendar for sale
• Auditioning a Ghost is a humorous dramatization of Arthur Conan Doyle's "Selecting a Ghost" (1883).
• The second issue of the Solar Pons Gazette is now online
• Sherlock Holmes and the Man Who Lost Himself and a number of other works by Val Andrews can be found on Amazon
• You can find a variety of pubware - glasses, towels, clocks, signs, etc. - related to Sherlock Holmes at Alberene Royal Mail. Just search for "Sherlock."
  
• Rick Yancey's The Highly Effective Detective is about a quirky private detective Teddy Ruzak - a former security guard who "grew up hooked on Sherlock Holmes and Encyclopedia Brown, a guy who got ejected from the police academy after failing the
  marksmanship tests."
• Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: ABout Type is Bruce Harris' take on assigning personality types (A and B) to Holmes and Watson; available from the Battered Silicon Dispatch Box
• Holmes takes on another vampire - not the Sussex variety - in Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula by Stephen Seitz
• Deepwater Films is planning a film Where There's a Will in which the Hereafter Council features such literary greats as Shakespeare, Homer, Dickens and Conan Doyle. No word on final casting yet.
  
• Joel and Carolyn Senter's Sherlockian E-Times #17 is now available
• The Marylebone Library's Sherlock Holmes Collection is an excellent site, and it links to the 1951 Sherlock Holmes Exhibition

• Sherlock Holmes: the Lost Cases is a collection of pastiches by Alvin Rymsha that is available as an e-text
• SchemingMind.com is a site for correspondence chess, with its name inspired by "The Retired Colourman"
• "A Study in Smoke" is a pastiche available (in print only - available for order) from Pipes and Tobaccos Magazine
  
• Get your own Sherlock Holmes finger puppet, "Little Thinker" and cutout card with stickers at the Unemployed Philosophers' Guild
• The 108th issue of the Sherlock Holmes Society Journal - the last with Nicholas Utechin as the editor - is available. Roger Johnson, who writes The District Messenger, will take the helm after Utechin's formidable 30-year run.
  
• Sherlock Investigations, Inc. is a private investigators site based out of New York City
  
  

"Into the Pale Sunlight of the Winter Day." [MISS]

This winter day I have the pleasure of announcing something many of you probably already know: the Winter issue of the Baker Street Journal is in the mail. Of course, this also means that the subscription year is up. If you have not taken the time to do so already, please renew your subscription. You can do so with a downloadable renewal form or the BSJ's online ordering system.

Over at the BSJ Web site you'll find the featured article, which this quarter is "The Lion's Mane": A Topical Review by Don Curtis, BSI. In it, Don reviews historical scientific and natural publications to assess the likely culprit of the swimming mishaps, discusses the locale of Holmes's retirement and comments on the author of the story.

Also in the current issue, you'll find the following:

• The latest Editor's Gas-Lamp, Tell Me More, Tell Me More
• "The Sad Tale of the Bull-Pup," in which Lars Falk surmises what happened to that alleged "bull-pup" that Watson claimed to keep
• Charles Meyer questions "Where Did Alicia Go, and Why Didn't Sherlock Find Her?" as he suggests the Mary Celeste as the real-life stand in for the cutter Alicia. Theories range from Jules Verne-inspired disasters to incidents relating to human nature.
• Barbara Roisman Cooper writes another of her excellent stage and screen-inspired features for the Journal in "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure: The Playwright and Two Actors."
• "A Study in Stanzas: Arthurs, Authors, and Poetry" is Warren Randall's excellent backstory to the poetic exchange between Arthur Guiterman ('To Sir Arthur Conan Doyle') and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ('To An Undiscerning Critic') in Life magazine in 1912.
• In "Two Peas in a Pod: Sherlock Holmes and Abraham Lincoln," Bruce Harris draws parallels (and some controversial ones at that!) between these two giants of history.
  
• And probably the most unique - if not titillating - article in this issue is Les Klinger's addition to the "Maybe you collect yourself, sir . . ." series: "'The Collection Mania in Its Most Acute Form': A Checklist of Sherlockian Pornography." Don't say I didn't warn you.
• And the usual roundup of the Baker Street Inventory, the editor's Commonplace Book, Scott Bond's artwork, Letters to Baker Street, and Stand with Me Here Upon the Terrace.
  

Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2007, and remember to get your subscription/renewal in the mail. Your next opportunity for purchasing BSI-related merchandise will be in two weeks' time, during the BSI weekend festivities.