"All the Footprints of the World" [HOUN]

"There is no branch of detective science that is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps," Holmes remarked in A Study in Scarlet

In this case, the the art is being taken to a science and the world's police - forces in 128 countries, to be exact - are teaming up to develop a comprehensive database of footprints.

Foster + Freeman, a forensic science company has developed a proprietary software called SICAR that essentially is a version of Sherlock Holmes's brain on steroids. The software studies the patterns, treads and shapes on shoe soles and adds them to the database of over 15,000 prints. When an image is searched, the process of scanning the database for a match takes only 1-2 minutes.

It's still amazing to think that Holmes to retain so much of this in his own brain without the aid of a computer - 140 varieties of cigar ash, 42 different impressions of bicycle tires, etc. While 15,000 prints would be impossible for any human to remember, it's encouraging to know that Holmes was the original crime computer and the inspiration for much more today.

"To Whom Also You Will Give a Shilling" [HOUN]

As you may have seen in the Twitter stream (the section on the right titled "Holmes Was a Very Busy Man"), the coveted Baker Street Irregulars investitures were awarded tonight at the BSI Dinner. Mike Whelan states that it's his favorite part of the dinner - and I can certainly believe him. Much joy was given, much joy was received.

While the dinner is about much more than the investitures, it's clearly the thing on everyone's mind at the dinner. Having been someone who attended a number of dinners before I was called up to the podium, I can honestly say that the old Oscars cliche "it's an honor just to be nominated" does in fact ring true. I hope that this year's attendees feel the same.

In the order they were announced, here are the latest Baker Street Irregulars:

• Betsy Rosenblatt, "Lucy Ferrier"
  
• Dana Richards, "The Priory School"
  
• David Morrill, "Count von Kramm"
  
• Barbara Roisman Cooper, "Mary Maberley"
  
• Randall Stock, "South African Securities"
• John Genova, "Harry Pinner"
  
• Guy Marriott, "The Hotel du Louvre"
  

And this year, Mike gave the coveted Two-Shilling Award to a Baker Street Irregular who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in service to the BSI. The Two-Shilling Award went to:

• Sherry Rose Bond
  

I'm particularly pleased because the new class skewed significantly younger. I can point to John, Randall and Betsy as 30-somethings who are now part of this august organization - a sign that we're beginning to set the stage for the next generation, but we've still got a ways to go. Congratulations to one and all!

Fair warning to the new BSIs: I'll be hunting you down to ensure you subscribe to The Baker Street Journal. And to my dear readers: you subscribe to the BSJ, don't you?

"The Print of a Recent Horror" [SILV]

The Baker Street Irregulars' Distinguished Speaker Lecture took place as planned at the Williams Club on Thursday evening, January 10. The speaker was Sir Christopher Frayling, author of Nightmare: The Birth of Horror.

We were treated to a very interesting talk lasting about 45 minutes, the subject of which was The Hound of the Baskervilles. Sir Christopher noted that of the 220+ (221?) films that have been made about Sherlock Holmes, The Hound is the single most popular story, having been made and remade 18 times. And I think everyone assembled agreed that it has not yet been filmed satisfactorily.

But the point of Sir Christopher's talk was to investigate the timing around Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's authorship of the book. The generally accepted timing has given way to the ridiculous supposition that Doyle murdered Fletcher Robinson, who gave Doyle some background information that helped with the creation of the story.

In his lecture, Sir Christopher built an airtight case against this while doing some detective work of his own. The key element that helped Frayling in his efforts is an item that he picked up at the Christies' auction of Doyle memorabilia: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's self-registering diary for 1901. He said that since it was so small, it went unnoticed by other collectors, who were there for more significant items. He managed to get it for a relative bargain. I won't give away the full story here, as it's best told in context - and it's likely to appear in a future issue of The Baker Street Journal (now would be a good time to subscribe, if you don't yet).

We were very lucky to have been treated to a talk by this consummate researcher and scholar. He certainly has a great depth of knowledge about Victorian horror and gothic elements - but he's also a font of knowledge on spaghetti westerns, if you can believe it.

"Our Little Drama" [SIGN]

I'll be in New York for the BSI Weekend, participating in many of the activities. As a service to the community, I'll be providing live updates for those who can't be there - I'll be using Twitter, a microblogging service that is free to join. But you don't have to join to follow along.

I'll be posting on http://twitter.com/S_Holmes, where you can follow along - but I'll also have those updates streaming in little boxes at the top of The Baker Street Blog and The BSI Weekend sites, so you can follow the action there as well. You see that section over to the right labeled "Holmes Was a Very Busy Man"? That's the section where you can see the Twitter updates.

But if you so elect, you can also get updates on your desktop via Twitterific or Twitteroo, or through your browser by using Twitterfox or Twitbin; or you can get the updates sent directly to you on your mobile phone or through IM.

I'll try to mention people I meet, things that are said, food that is eaten, and sites that I see. But for the ultimate updates, follow me around 10 p.m. EST on Friday, January 11 for real-time updates of those who will be receiving their Investitures into the Baker Street Irregulars.

In addition to "live-tweeting" the events, I'll also put up longer posts here on the blog, so you can learn a little more. I invite any of my readers who are attending the following events - the Gaslight Gala, ASH Wednesday, the Clients of Adrian Mulliner, and Lost in New York with a Bunch of Sherlockians - to please be in touch with me about writing a guest post about your experience with these events. Please email me or leave a comment below.

"Age Doth Not Wither Nor Custom Stale My Infinite Variety" [EMPT]

It's January 6th - which can mean only one thing in our world: it's the birthday of Sherlock Holmes. By all accounts, he's 154 today - and still as sprightly as ever.

First popularized by Christopher Morley, the date of January 6th has become the de facto accepted date for Holmes' birthday. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons.

1. Canonical evidence
Of all of the quotes in the Canon, I William Shakespeare was the most often quoted author. And there is only one Shakespearean play that Holmes quotes twice - Twelfth Night. In The Sign of the Four, Holmes concludes, "All is well that ends well." This is from from Act IV, Scene 4. And in 'The Empty House,' Holmes states "'Journeys end in lovers meetings,' as the old play says," from Act II, Scene 3.

The reason the date was chosen is that in Christianity, January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany, or officially the twelfth day of Christmas. I suppose if we were being truly technical about it, the twelfth night of Christmas would fall on January 5th...

Of course the quote I chose for today's post is another Shakespearean quote, but Holmes paraphrased it for his own purposes. It's from Antony and Cleopatra and properly written, it should be:
"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety."


2. Personality
The second basis for Holmes' birthday being accepted as January 6 is that his personality fits into the sign of Capricorn on the Zodiac. Here's an excerpt from "The Sign of Sherlock Holmes" by Tessa Roberts:

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn the plant of discipline, structure, and isolation. We all know about Sherlock’s discipline and the practical structure he forms as he works on a problem.

If you'd like a further explanation of all of the details, please click on the link to the paper above.

I hope you'll take a moment and wish him happy birthday in your own way. If you'd like to join in the festivities here, please feel free to leave a birthday comment below.

Photo credit: Classic Specialties

"The Next Few Minutes Were Delicious" [SOLI]

One of the features that I've tried to keep up with here - but there never seems to be enough time - is sharing all of the HTML links from Peter Blau's monthly Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press. As you may know, his is the definitive Sherlockian newsletter; you can receive it either electronically or through the mail.

The irony is that even though Peter continues to churn out the newsletter in ASCII, thanks to WordPerfect, he's including HTML links. And each successive issue has more links, it seems. So much so that became cumbersome for me to look at each, format the entries and write a post.

Well, I've decided to dip into my social media toolbox and use one of the more useful sites out there - it's a bookmarking site called del.icio.us. You know the bookmark folder you have up there in your browser? It's like that, except it's online, so you can access it no matter where you are. Some features worth noting:

• You can make the bookmarks private, so only you can see them
• You can make them public, so you can share them with other people
• There's space to write a description, as a handy reminder as to why you thought the site was worth bookmarking in the first place
• And it's all driven by what's called "tags," or unique identifiers that help figure out what each site is (for example, this site might be tagged blog, Sherlock Holmes, Scott Monty)

So, I've established a del.icio.us page for Scuttlebutt for the Spermaceti Press, which will allow you to find all of the links in one place: http://del.icio.us/scuttlebuttfromthespermacetipress. You'll be able to search the links by category as well as by time, as I'm bundling them by month.

Another great feature: if you open your own del.icio.us account (for free - all you need is an email address), you can suggest links directly to the Scuttlebutt del.icio.us account. All you have to do is tag your entry "for:scuttlebuttfromthespermacetipress" and it will show up in the inbox of Scuttlebutt's del.icio.us account. For more information and background, go to http://del.icio.us/help/.

If you're totally confused, I implore you watch this 3 1/2 minute video, entitled Social Bookmarking in Plain English:


And now, after the long wait, here are the Scuttlebutt links for December 2007.


What do you think of this new arrangement? Does it sound like a resource you'll use? Would you think about creating an account for yourself? Let me know.

"The Ladies Who Entered" [COPP]

I was recently given a copy of Ladies, Ladies: The Women in the Life of Sherlock Holmes which was edited by Patricia Guy, ASH and Katherine Karlson, ASH, BSI ("The Evening Standard"). I'd like to share my impressions of the book with you here, as I think it's something worthy of note.

Far more than simply a rehashing of all of the women who made an appearance in the Canon - and there were some remarkable ones, from worthy foes such as Irene Adler and Isadora Klein, to the victimized Lady Brackenstall and Sophy Kratides, to strong independent women like Helen Stoner and Violets Smith, DeMerville and Hunter - it takes a look at society in Sherlockian times (1881 - 1914).

What we end up with is a number of excellent Sherlockian essays dotted with complementary factoids or entr'actes. You'll find a variety of authentic Victorian music hall songs ("The Ghost of Sherlock Holmes," "Daisy Bell," "When I Take my Morning Promenade") as well as some original songs such as "Out There in the Fair Countryside" by the BSI's own T. Michelle Fromkin ("The Missing Three-Quarter").

In addition to entertaining us, the interspersed pieces also inform, with well-researched background articles on period information, such as "Italians in the United States," "Sportswear," "From Corsets to Cherry Toothpaste," "Ladies Drinks," "Historic Perfumes" and "Fish and Chips: Working Class Health Food."

You'll find essays by such prominent Sherlockians (all Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes): as Joanne Zahorsky-Reeves, Katherine Karlson, Patricia Guy, Evelyn Herzog, BSI ("The Daintiest Thing Under a Bonnet"), Marilyn MacGregor, BSI ("V.V. 341") M.E. Rich ("Lady Frances Carfax"), and Catherine Cooke, BSI ("The Book of Life"). In addition to the distaff side of Baker Street, we also come across contributors such as Philip Shreffler, BSI ("Jefferson Hope") and Enrico Solito, BSI ("Gennaro Lucca"). There are many more - this is not a comprehensive list of contributors.

I highly recommend this book. It's simply a delight to read and full of wonderfully interesting information. What are you waiting for? Go get it!

Note: for the sake of clarity and consistency, I only note BSI investitures on this blog. I try to identify BSI & ASH members where appropriate. Please click here for a full listing of all BSI investitures and ASH members, as well as the Two-Shilling Award and *The* Woman.

"I Dare Call Nothing Trivial When I Reflect" [STUD]

It's natural that at this time of the year, we begin to reflect upon what has happened in our lives during the previous year and take note of improvements or changes we'd like to see in the next. In fact, the month January was named after the Roman god Janus, which was always depicted has having two faces - one looking forward and one looking back.

A recent comment by Mickey was quite humbling, and I wanted to express my gratitude to you, dear reader, for spending time on this blog. I know there are a number of other websites, discussion groups, books, periodicals, and - let's face it - actual face-to-face opportunities to engage in Sherlockian discourse. The fact that you drop by here and let me know how it affects your life is profoundly encouraging and uplifting to me (and yes, that's a not-so-subtle request to keep the comments coming).

But on the cusp of the New Year, I thought I'd share with you why I think this site is unique, what I plan to do with it (in part) in 2008, and what you can do to keep it up and running.

What makes this blog so special
Part of what I try to impart here is my own personality - sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. But at the end of the day, I try to write in a conversational style that actually makes you feel at home, or as if you've just dropped in for a drink and we're throwing ideas around.

And while I try to bring you as much of the mainstream Sherlockian news as possible, I also make it my mission to seek out the odd and the well-hidden gems that make life so much more interesting. One of the hallmarks of Sherlockians is that we're always able to find a parallel between something that happened in the Canon and either a personal interest or an item in the current news. I hope I'm succeeding there.

But more than just cutting & pasting headlines or parroting information you may be getting from other circles, I put some commentary and perspective around each news item, in order to make it relevant or stand out in some way. I hope that doing so provides you with some added value. You may not always agree with my opinion - which is completely acceptable - the comment link is just a click away. I welcome debate as well as praise; that's part of what makes a blog so interesting, in my opinion.

In addition, I'm discovering new and energetic Sherlockians whom I've never met and sharing their works with you. Some examples from 2007 are the Russian animation that I found on YouTube, the recent stick figure retelling of 'The Blue Carbuncle,' and the music video series I ran throughout the summer. These were all examples of individuals whom I stumbled upon. Throughout 2008, I'm going to try to discover some additional sources of great content (and dipping back into the well for more from the same).

What else you can do
As you may know, I produce and co-host a podcast (don't be frightened - that's just a fancy way of saying radio on the Internet) called I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, please visit the site. It's basically a Sherlockian talk show. I guarantee you it's worth your while. If you don't agree, I'll refund your money. But I will say that it wouldn't be possible without the able participation of my co-host, Burt Wolder. It's definitely a two-man show.

And if you like what you hear there or what you read here, please consider doing two things:

1. Subscribe for free - that was the blog; you can also subscribe to the podcast for free
   
2. Recommend them to your friends, family, and Sherlockian colleagues - or even to the uninitiated, if you want to help them understand what this crazy pastime is all about. If you can tell at least 3 people in your life about my blog & podcast, that will help them grow. And if you'd like to do it here online, just use that neat little button you see at the bottom of each post.
   

You can join the Sherlock Holmes Social Network - this is a group that I established to help people stay in touch with each other, share interests, bring up discussion topics, upload and share photos, videos or music, and special interest groups. Think of it as an offline version of what you experience when you're at a social event. Again, this is free and you can choose to disclose whatever level of information about yourself that you're comfortable sharing.

Finally, if there's anything that you'd like to see or anything you think I shouldn't be doing, please let me know. While I can't promise you that I'll do exactly what you recommend, I will read what you write and provide you with a response. The only way I know what you think is for you to tell me.

Thank you
I write this blog as a labor of love (isn't that why we all pursue this crazy hobby of Sherlock Holmes?) and I sincerely hope that you find it even the slightest bit valuable. I encourage you to use the links in the sidebar when you make any online purchases - whether it's the search box on the side or the aStore that both link to Amazon, or the clothing and technology deals at the bottom of the sidebar - your patronage helps to support this blog. And if you find it within your heart to donate something, there's a ChipIn link (filed under the heading "Your Own Gift" in the sidebar) as well. Any amount would be appreciated.

Thank you again, for welcoming me into your life on a daily, weekly, or ad hoc basis. I'm honored that you think enough of my writing to want to spend time with me. I hope that if we have the chance to meet in person, you'll feel the same way. And if our paths don't cross in person at an event this year, please feel free to drop me a line.

Until then, "the game's afoot!"