"I Have Seen Those Battle-Signals" [GOLD]

Sherlock Holmes was the original Caped Crusader. Even Detective Comics have acknowledged that Sherlock Holmes was one of the inspirations behind one of its most famous characters.

If you haven't seen connections between Batman and Sherlock Holmes, let us bring you up to speed a bit. The image at right is from the 50th anniversary issue of Detective Comics, in which Holmes himself makes an appearance. But beyond that, let's explore a bit of the similarities that we're aware of: each is granted superior intellectual powers, which are the basis behind their greatness; they have a knowledge of Asian hand-to-hand combat techniques; each started alone, yet gained an assistant over time; Batman has Alfred, his butler while Holmes has Mrs. Hudson, his landlady. We're sure there are more, but you get the idea.

"Fantastic outrage" [SIXN]
The point of this post is to bring your attention to a poll that is running on Comicbookmovie.com called BATMAN vs. SHERLOCK HOLMES: Battle Poll. They pose the following:

Battle of the greatest detectives, who wins in this battle of wits and wiles? Is it elementary? Who solves this puzzle?

Currently, Holmes is losing this battle - which seems a little odd, given that he's a progenitor of the Dark Knight. We need your help: circulate this to your Sherlockian network and let's vote Sherlock Holmes as the superior power. Can you do it?

And to reward yourself for a job well done, you might want to view Batman Brave and the Bold - Trials of the Demon Part 1 and Part 2, in which Holmes makes a guest appearance.

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"From the Dummy's Chair" [MAZA]

[Editor's note: "From the Dummy's Chair" is a regular column on the Baker Street Blog, written by Steven Doyle, BSI ("The 'Western Morning News'"), who is the author of the Edgar-nominated Sherlock Holmes for Dummies. Because of the limitations in the print world, he wasn't able to completely fit everything he wanted into the book. This column serves as a real-time continuation of that labor of love. Steve is also half the team behind Wessex Press.]

Dining Out with the Detective

Few trifles in the Sherlockian canon escape examination and investigation. Every story is sifted for insight into the character and personality of the master Detective — even his taste in restaurants. It is generally believed that favorite restaurant is Simpson's-in-the-Strand, one of London's oldest and best-known traditional English restaurants.

Located in the Strand, an historic street in London, Simpson's began as a smoking room and coffee house, but eventually became famous for its traditional English food, especially its roast beef. Holmes wasn't the only famous personality to enjoyed a meal at Simpson's. The restaurant was frequented by many historic characters, including Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli and William Ewart Gladstone.

For years I have imagined the Great Detective and the Good Doctor retiring to Simpson's upon the conclusion of yet another successful case, but the restaurant was actually only mentioned in two stories; "The Dying Detective" and "The Illustrious Client." What are the implications of this? Should Simpson's-in-the-Strand still be considered Holmes's favorite restaurant by virtue of it being mentioned twice? Or are a mere two mentions not enough to earn that distinction? After all, I know that sometimes it takes two visits to determine that a restaurant's quality...one to have a bad meal, and a second to have another bad meal. In this case two visits wouldn't make such a place my favorite.

Consider that both of Holmes's visits to Simpson's followed cases in which Holmes was physically incapacitated. In "The Dying Detective" he craved Simpson’s following a three day fast. In "The Illustrious Client" he had nearly had his brains beaten in and had just finished a period of recuperation and bed-rest. The evidence seems to indicate that Holmes perceived Simpson’s not as a place to go with Watson to discuss the loose ends of a case over a casual celebratory dinner, but rather as the destination for a much-needed
restorative meal. Despite our romantic sentiments about Simpson's being his favorite restaurant, this must be true. Holmes, whose body was a mere appendix to his brain, who at times could not spare energy for digestion lest it detract from his mental processes, didn't commonly dine for the mere pleasure of the experience. What the implications of this revelation are for the quality of Mrs. Hudson's cooking, which was passed over even after a three day fast, I will leave to someone else!

Image credit: Josh Friedman Luxury Travel (Flickr)

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"The Little Village of Meiringen" [FINA]

Michael Meer, BSI ("The Englisher Hof") posted an interesting link to Facebook. It was titled Sherlock Holmes in Meiringen and it passed through to a Google Map.

Meer is part of a group based in Switzerland called The Reichenbach Irregulars (a group which now has a place on our "Gathered from Many Nations" section of the Resources page above). Michael says the group is resurrecting itself - how appropriate - just as Holmes managed to reappear in "The Empty House" after his encounter with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls.

As one would expect from an Irregular investitured as "The Englisher Hof" and being part of the aforementioned Swiss group, it's not at all unlikely that Meer would have created and shared this excellent Google map. We've embedded it here below for you to see - you can scroll around, zoom in and out, and click on the pins to get more information on some of the sites. These include: the place of the fatal encounter between Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty; two commemorative plaques; the statue by John Doubleday; Conan Doyle Place; the Sherlock Holmes Museum; the Englisher Hof; and more.



Sherlock Holmes in Meiringen (english version) auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen

Have you made it over to Meiringen, Interlaken or Rosenlaui? We'd love to hear of your travels along these hallowed grounds for Sherlockians.

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"I Saw Them a Moment Later Streaming" [SIGN]

The big news from Amazon is that they have enabled streaming video for Prime members (available only in the U.S. currently). This means that Netflix now has a competitor in the streaming video-on-demand segment.

With this service, Amazon Prime members have the ability to watch unlimited, commercial-free instant streaming of some 5,000 movies and TV shows on your PC, Mac, Internet-enabled television, Blu-Ray players or set-top boxes.

Some of the titles that Amazon highlighted with their announcement that might also appeal to our readership include: Doctor Who, Fawlty Towers and The BBC Office. We also spotted Jeeves and Wooster. But you're probably interested in another subject.

To wit, here is a list of Sherlock Holmes movies and TV shows available for streamingfrom Amazon. From Wonter to Rathbone, Brett, Downey, Cumberbatch and more (including a few surprises!) you'll have a wide variety to choose from.

Are you planning on trying this service? What title(s) in the lineup interest you?

Image credit: Digital Sextant (Flickr)

Affiliate links included. Buying from our affiliates helps support this site. Please consider doing what you can.
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"Answers Which I Gave Him" [SIGN]

Last week, for Valentine's Day, we posed a short quiz to test your knowledge on love interests in the Canon. We received a couple of dozen responses, seven of which answered every question correctly. We had hoped that we created a quiz that was at once familiar and easy, but not without a few challenges.

A couple of the challenges that we threw in included: all three Cushing sisters from "The Cardboard Box," in addition to the surname Tregennis in "The Devil's Foot" we added Tregallis, which was the surname of the gamekeeper in "The Musgrave Ritual." These two questions seemed to throw most of you off.

In case you're interested in the answers, the key is below.

1. Jefferson Hope
2. Mary Cushing
3. Jack Crocker
4. Grace Dunbar
5. Brenda Tregennis
6. Leonardo
7. Henry Wood
8. Cyril Morton
9. Hilton Cubitt

We'll be reaching out to our randomly-selected winner so they may select their prize. Thank you for following along with the fun; if you feel the need to bone up on your skills, there's always The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book.

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"Apply 221B" [NAVA]

As you no doubt have noticed today is 2/21 (as in 221B - get it?). As such, we thought it was an apt time to take a look back at a January 2010 entry in  Smithsonian: Sherlock Holmes' London.

The piece opens with a description of a 30 year-old Arthur Conan Doyle heading into London from his Southsea home to attend a dinner with the publisher of Lippincott's with none other than Oscar Wilde in attendance. The dinner was auspicious in that it resulted in two commissions: Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four. But for the purpose of the article, it was even more significant that it took place at the Langham Hotel, which itself turned up in no fewer than three Sherlock Holmes stories (Quick! Which three? Comments below, please.).

The article covers a bit about Conan Doyle's life and the ongoing life that has sprung from his most famous creation, but then also covers another character in his stories - one that plays a constant supporting, if transparent, role: the city itself. Conan Doyle's mastery of the language in order to effectively set the scene is readily observed in this passage from The Sign of Four - that novel born from the very dinner at the Langham:

It was a September evening, and not yet seven o'clock, but the day had been a dreary one, and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city. Mud-coloured clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. Down the Strand the lamps were but misty splotches of diffused light, which threw a feeble circular glimmer upon the slimy pavement. The yellow glare from the shop-windows streamed out into the steamy, vaporous air, and threw a murky, shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare. There was, to my mind, something eerie and ghost-like in the endless procession of faces which flitted across these narrow bars of light - sad faces and glad, haggard and merry. Like all human kind, they flitted from the gloom into the light, and so back into the gloom once more.

And while those ghostly gas-lamps no longer fail at 20 feet, the piece takes us through London past and present, through the Holmes stories and Conan Doyle's life. Naturally, there's a stop at 221B. And even helpful commentary from longtime reader and Sherlock Holmes Society of London member Roger Johnson. We highly recommend you check out the article - especially if you're planning a pilgrimage to London and wish to visit some of the highlights.

Accompanying the article is a quick video called "The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes," with a look at Holmes of the stage and screen over the years, from Gillette to Norwood, Wontner to Owen, Rathbone to Neville, and Moore, Neville, Plummer, Rowe and Caine and even including Wilder.






Whew! We're glad they didn't stoop quite so low as the comprehensiveness of this list, titled "A Study in Errors."

Do you have a favorite site or a favorite Holmes? Please feel free to share it with us as a comment. And while we have you here, what better way to celebrate this important date than to get yourself your very own 221B oval sticker? For your car, your laptop, your refrigerator - or anywhere you like.

Tower Bridge image credit: vgm8383 (Flickr)



    

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"This Insignificant-Looking Man Inspired Me" [GREE]

[Editor's note: we're pleased to welcome another contributor to our site. "Athenae" shares her own insights and opinions on Sherlock Holmes at Finding Sherlock. If you would like a chance to be considered as a contributor, please see our About page above.]

Sherlock Holmes is a myth, a demi-god; a fictitious, heartless, blindly intelligent, insightful and confident Übermensch. Everything we want and need to be in a rapidly changing technologically-driven world. He could never be real.

Or could he?

When Conan Doyle was attending the University of Edinburgh as a medical student he attended a class with Dr. Joseph Bell. According to Doyle’s 1892 Interview with the Bookman:

[Bell] would sit in the patients’ waiting-room with a face like a Red Indian and diagnose the people as they came in, before even they had opened their mouths. He would tell them their symptoms, he would give them details of their lives and he would hardly ever make a mistake…His great faculty of deduction was at times highly dramatic. ‘Ah!’ he would say to another man, ‘you are a soldier, a non-commissioned officer, and you have served in Bermuda. Now how did I know that, gentlemen? He came into the room without taking his hat off, as he would go into an orderly room. He was a soldier. A slight authoritative air, combined with his age, shows that we was an N.C.O. A slight rash on the forehead tells me he was in Bermuda, and subject to a certain rash known only there.’ So I got the idea for Sherlock Holmes.

Bell was well known for more than just being the original Sherlock Holmes.  He was also considered to be an expert witness, who often took the stand at some of the more sensational murder trials during the latter half of the century.

For more information on the Bookman and the origins of Holmes, see our recommended reading below. - Ed.

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Available from
Wessex Press

    

"Really, Watson, You Excel Yourself" [HOUN]

Earlier this week, an IBM computer named Watson beat two humans in a showdown on Jeopardy! amid a wave of publicity.

This was a huge step in the field of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and the ability for a computer to understand conversational language. The bonus is that it shared the same name as Sherlock Holmes's Boswell. In reality, it was named for T.J. Watson, the founder of of IBM, but it had more of the quality of Holmes, of whom Stamford said in A Study in Scarlet: "You seem to be a walking calendar of crime."

The future of this technology, appropriately enough, seems to lie partly in the field of medicine, as IBM said it will "collaborate with Columbia University and the University of Maryland to create a physician’s assistant service that will allow doctors to query a cybernetic assistant."

We wonder how Watson would have fared at the Battle of Maiwand, had his orderly Murray been an electronic assistant...

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"With My Hands on the Testament" [IDEN]

For those interested in the intersection of the worlds of gaming and Sherlock Holmes, the latest news is bound to be welcome.

Frogwares Game Development Studio just announced the release of a new game for Playstation and XBox: The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Testament of Sherlock, to be released in the fall of 2011. The announcement on the Frogwares site outlines the plot:

A mainstay genre of computer games, this new Holmes game is playable with a gamepad in a third person view, with revamped controls that suit the console. The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes will immerse gamers in 1898 London as they conduct an incredible investigation. All the evidence suggests our hero is the main suspect in a case involving theft, fraud and double-crossings. Unable to prove his own innocence, Holmes is rapidly losing London's trust as doubt spreads through the city like wildfire. Even Doctor Watson's faith in his friend begins to waver, as the famous detective flees Scotland Yard and raises further suspicion; prowling around at night, destruction of evidence... would Holmes go so far as to commit murder?

Sounds intriguing to us! Below are some early screenshots of the game.

We'll be interested to see how the game turns out when it's finally released to the public. Are you a Sherlockian who also happens to be a gamer? Let us know if you'd be interested in becoming a game reviewer for our site by filling out the form on the About page.



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"The Wondrous Strength-Giving Serum" [CREE]

John Bennett Shaw, BSI ("The Hans Sloan of My Age") once said that the only requirement for a Sherlockian society meeting is "two Sherlockians and a bottle. In a pinch, dispense with the other Sherlockian." As a result, One would think that all we Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts do is drink.

Well, yes. But that's not all. We certainly enjoy the company of the people that Holmes brings together. And the food as well. When it all comes together - food, drink and the company of kinspirts - it makes for a wonderful experience, as Brad Keefauver wrote about a few years back on Sherlock in Peoria.

But when you delve into the history of the Baker Street Irregulars, you'll find that the early leadership included such libation-inspired offices as the Tantalus and the Gasogene and that early meetings took place in a speakeasy. Not exactly what you'd call teetotalers. But probably inspired by a few mentions of adult beverages in the Canon:

"Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man." [ENGR]

"...I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling aftertaste of brandy." [EMPT]

"As long as I have my trousers I have a hip-pocket, and as long as I have a hip-pocket, I have something in it." [HOUN]

This recent bit of artwork provides a nice homage to some of the characters we've come to know in the stories, with drinks concocted to represent their personalities (note: one or two may represent individuals active on the forum from which this graphic was posted).

Dubbed "A Study in Pink Gin" on LiveJournal

But the one drink that intrigues us is one called the Monkey Gland. It's made of gin, orange juice, grenadine and absinthe and seems to promise something of vigor. Created in Paris in early 1923 (as seen in the April 23, 1923 Washington Post article below), its origins seem to have something of a marketing ploy about them. Click through to read more about the history of the drink.

But for us, there's an interesting bit of timing involved. "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" was published in March 1923 and - without giving away too much - concerns an elderly professor who goes to extreme lengths to win the affections of a younger woman. Let's just say he would have enjoyed the above drink.

Was Conan Doyle inspired by Frank's concoction? Perhaps he even visited the Parisian establishment and partook of the drink himself. Or perhaps the era of Prohibition inspired such outre innovations in the bartending world. What do you think?


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"What Sort of Game is That - Eh?" [DYIN]

The sequel to Sherlock Holmes, heretofore only known colloquially as "Sherlock Holmes 2" or in the IMDb as "Untitled Sherlock Holmes Sequel" now has a name.

Since it involves Professor Moriarty, one might conjecture that the title would be something along the lines of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Problem or Sherlock Holmes: Reichenbach Falls. Or something inspiring and thrilling, like some of the titles from the Rathbone-Bruce days in the 1940s: Sherlock Holmes - Dressed to Kill, Sherlock Holmes: the Spider Woman, or Sherlock Holmes Faces Death. As we said, thrilling. Exciting. Classic Sherlock Holmes.

Well, Warner Bros. are treating us to an explosive sequel, certain to continue the action-packed elements of the first. And they're backing that up with a title to match: Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows.

What?

Or perhaps better put by the sages at E! Online: By Jove, Sherlock Holmes Sequel Has a Lame Title! They even include a slideshow on the worst sequel titles, capped with Breakin' 2. Reminds us of when Wessex Press held the sequel to their Gillette to Brett conference in 2007. We joked that they should have called it Gillette to Brett II: Electric Boogaloo.


What are your thoughts on the name of the new sequel? Take the poll and let us know in the comments section.



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"Valentine?" [BRUC]

We're used to seeing Sherlock Holmes as a creature of logic vs. emotion. Watson called him "an automaton - a calculating machine" in The Sign of Four, and it was only many years later in "The Three Garridebs" that he noted, "For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain."

When it came to women - even the woman - Holmes was not moved:

"It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler." [SCAN]

And Holmes reassured us that the softer emotion wasn't part of his character:

"I have never loved, Watson, but if I did, and if the woman I loved had met with such an end, I might act even as our lawless lion-hunter has done." [DEVI]

But that's not to say that love didn't play a part of the plots of some of the 60 stories. Unforunately, we must admit that there are very few "happy ending" love stories in the Sherlock Holmes. When we do encounter love in Canon, it usually has some sort of dark side to it - twisted, tested, tortured, or tragic in nature.

To mark the occasion of Valentine's Day, we're bringing you a quiz about love in the Canon. There are 10 questions; those who answer all questions correctly will be entered for a chance to win a Sherlockian collectible - a book, DVD or other piece of effluvium from our grab-bag.




If you're having trouble seeing the form on this page or in this email, simply click here for the direct link.

Bonus question, just for fun - no points awarded:
Roses are red, violets are blue... We can name the four Violets in the Canon; can you?

One winner will be chosen at random from entries submitted via the form by February 21, 2011. Winner will be contacted by email.

In the meantime, is there a love story in the Canon that has stuck with you, either because of its poignancy or tragic nature? Please share it as a comment.

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"I Shall Be Back" [SIGN]

The Culture Warrior column at Film School Rejects poses a question that must be asked: Why Is Sherlock Back?

Of course, we know that he never left us. But there were times after Conan Doyle's passing in 1930 when Holmes seemingly dominated the public consciousness - Rathbone, Howard, Cushing, Wilmer and Stephens took us from 1940-1970 or so on the big and small screen, but after Rathbone's indomitable presence in film, it was difficult to find a successor.

Then of course, the significance of Nicholas Meyer, BSI ("A Fine Morocco Case") and his book The Seven Per-Cent Solution came roaring to the screen and blazed another trail that eventually ended in the coda that was Jeremy Brett.

But the author of Why Is Sherlock Back? wants to know why we need three treatments of Holmes nearly simultaneously: namely, the Robert Downey Jr. "Sherlock Holmes," the BBC's "Sherlock," and "Cold Weather." We have our own ideas, complete with many other examples in recent and current popular culture, that show the argument isn't simply limited to this triad, but we're interested in what you think.

Why indeed is Sherlock back? And if he never went away, what's behind the current fascination with him again?

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"From the Dummy's Chair" [MAZA]

Editor's note: This is part of a new feature on the Baker Street Blog we're calling "From the Dummy's Chair." Joining us to guest post for this column is Steven Doyle, BSI ("The 'Western Morning News'") is the author of the Edgar-nominated Sherlock Holmes for Dummies. Because of the limitations in the print world, he wasn't able to completely fit everything he wanted into the book. This series will become a real-time continuation of that labor of love. Steve is also half the team behind the Wessex Press.

For a little background on the topic, the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes, please see the previous entry in this series that appeared on February 3.

The Apocryphal Candidates in Chronological Order

The Mystery of Sasassa Valley

(Chambers’s Journal, Sep 6, 1879)

This was Doyle’s first published story and it is a tale tinged with the supernatural. Peter Haining claims this tale has characters and situations which are archetypes of those in the Canon. Haining is the only person to propose this story for inclusion.

The Mystery of Uncle Jeremy’s Household

(Boy’s Own Paper, 1887)

“Uncle Jeremy’s Household” appeared in Boy’s Own Journal in early 1887, almost twelve months prior to A Study in Scarlet. There are a number of Holmesian overtones in the tale, and several Sherlockian commentators have asserted that this story contains prototypes of Holmes and Watson. As Peter Haining states, “Holmes and Watson did not spring fully finished into [Conan Doyle’s] mind, but rather developed from his musing on his university Professor, Dr. Joseph Bell, and the detective story genre as a whole.”

The concept is that “Uncle Jeremy’s Household” is an early trial-run of an intelligent detective with a partner solving a mystery, similar to the Holmes/Watson duo. They are not named Holmes and Watson, and they aren’t Holmes and Watson. But, there are undeniable elements in this tale that do turn up in the Sherlockian Canon. The well-known Sherlockian scholar James Holroyd points out, in the Spring, 1967 issue of The Sherlock Holmes Journal the following points:

• The narrator, named Hugh Lawrence, lives in Baker Street
• His friend is named John H. Thurston
• Lawrence studied medicine, was devoted to medicine, and had an “acid-stained finger

But the question remains (and it is a big question): even if “Uncle Jeremy’s Household” is a precursor to Sherlock Holmes, does this qualify it as not only legitimate apocrypha, but as part of the Canon?

Read more...