Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 25, 2012, 2:06 pm
The three-time BAFTA-nominated actor Nicol Williamson has passed away at the age of 75. To Sherlockians, he'll be most closely identified with the role of Sherlock Holmes in the 1976 film The Seven Per-Cent Solution. The book and the screenplay were both written by Nicholas Meyer, ...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 23, 2012, 11:41 pm
One of the great benefits of being a member of the Baker Street Irregulars is that we get to meet a lot of interesting and famous people. Chief among them are the literati, such as Michael Dirda, BSI ("Langdale Pike"), the Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic for the Washington Post, who m...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 20, 2012, 2:21 am
     "Excellent!" I cried.      "Elementary," said he. Of course, any Sherlockian considering him or herself worthy of the name knows that one particular instance in "The Crooked Man" is the only time Mr. Sherlock Holmes uses the word “elementary”&...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 17, 2012, 1:28 am
The day after the BSI dinner and Gaslight Gala can be a bit of a paradox for some people. For after the dinners, some attendees gather to celebrate well into the night. It's an unwritten tradition to keep the newest investitured members of the Baker Street Irregulars awake un...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 16, 2012, 4:56 pm
Friday is always a hectic day during the BSI Weekend. From impromptu breakfasts to early pilgrimages down to Tribeca to see Otto Penzler's offerings as the Mysterious Bookshop, there are plenty of mind- and waist-expanding opportunities to be had before running off to...lunch. The Willia...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 13, 2012, 6:32 am
The BSI Weekend is under way, and that means that the Thursday evening Distinguished Speaker Lecture officially kicked things off. In this case, we were honored to have Dr. Lisa Sanders join us. Dr. Sanders has written a column for the New York Times since 2002 called "Diagnosis" a...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 9, 2012, 4:58 pm
Viewers in the UK were treated last night to the latest episode of BBC Sherlock's second season, arguably the most anticipated Sherlockian adaptation in years and certainly one of television's most popular dramas. The well-received "Hounds of Baskerville," with a clever--occasionally frenetically c...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 6, 2012, 2:21 am
On January 2nd, 2012, The Times of London featured a very special comic insert....one which is of particular interest to Sherlockians and graphic literature fans alike, and helped set a proper tone for 2012 As you can see by the embedded graphic below (click to make larger), the Times featured...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 5, 2012, 2:21 am
At this time next week, we'll be in at the Baker Street Irregulars Weekend in New York City, preparing for a few days of interaction with fellow Sherlockians and Holmesians from around the country and a few from around the world. There are a variety of events (see the embedd...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jan 3, 2012, 2:21 pm
If you reside in the U.K., then you undoubtedly tuned in on January 1 for the BBC's airing of the long-anticipated second season of the popular and acclaimed series "Sherlock," which is now available for pre-ordering on Amazon.co.uk (for European-compatible DVD players only). By all ac...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Oct 30, 2011, 2:21 am
Those familiar with Otto Penzler, BSI ("The King of Bohemia") are acutely aware of his impact in the mystery publishing world, including that of Sherlock Holmes. Most widely known for his Mysterious Bookshop in New York, he has a keen eye for rare and valuable books, as well as an...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Oct 14, 2011, 3:47 pm
It's a story worthy of Conan Doyle himself - a "lost" early Holmes film that loosely adapts two key stories in the canon, and that is now freely available for viewing. The Sleeping Cardinal (better known in the USA as Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour) is a 1931 film with Arthur Wontner as Holmes an...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Oct 12, 2011, 9:38 pm
We have an update to share on Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: The latest movie posters have been released (on Yahoo! again), one each featuring Holmes and Watson. You may recall we made an update in July ("Long Shadows Trailed Down") in which we shared the latest posters and the first appe...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Oct 6, 2011, 2:21 am
The world of technology lost a visionary yesterday as Steve Jobs passed beyond the Reichenbach. As you know, we cover the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and popular culture here on the Baker Street Blog. So you're probably wondering, "what could Steve Jobs possibly have to do with...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Oct 2, 2011, 2:21 am
With the success of the recent Robert Downey Jr. Holmes film - and the speculation and anticipation for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, it would be hard to believe that before now a theatrical film of Holmes with an atypical director would be successful in the marketplace. Afte...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Oct 1, 2011, 2:21 am
This is the latest issue of Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, Peter Blau's ("Black Peter") monthly newsletter of Sherlockian or Doylean gossip, published in print form since 1971 and as a text-only digital archive on Sherlocktron since 1985. In agreement with Peter Blau, we'...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 27, 2011, 9:37 am
The notion of finding one of Dr. Watson's lost manuscripts has long been something akin to the search for the Holy Grail and something that has fueled more than its fair share of pastiches. Now we have something even better: a lost publication of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. This isn't just...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 24, 2011, 5:39 pm
... online catalog for the Baker Street Irregulars Trust Baker Street Irregulars Trust Baker Street Babes Licking County Players Three Stooges CSI t-shirt Three Stooges magnet: Miracle Detective Agency Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column ...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 22, 2011, 2:21 am
One of the strengths of the canon - and Conan Doyle's writing - is its ability to connote a vivid, memorable atmosphere. The Hound of the Baskervilles is the most frequently adapted - and most noted by both scholars and casual fans - of Conan Doyle's novels for its ability to immerse the reader in a...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 20, 2011, 2:21 am
Dr. Bryce L. Crawford, Jr., BSI (“The Solitary Cyclist”) died on September 16, 2011 at the age of 96. He was the last remaining founder of The Norwegian Explorers, which was founded in 1948 at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Crawford was born in New Orleans, received his PhD i...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 18, 2011, 2:21 am
On the anniversary of Jeremy Brett's death, his alma mater, the Central School of Speech & Drama at the University of London, has started a scholarship in his memory. Funded by an Italian donor, Ms. Pia Trona, the scholarships will apply to five applicants in financial need for the 2011-12 ent...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 17, 2011, 11:06 pm
Many of we Sherlockians enjoy the occasional diversion from the canon - or even pastiche - to partake of something that shows the pervading influence of Conan Doyle and the Great Detective on popular culture. Recently, there were two examples of online content (one a web comic, the other a column wr...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 14, 2011, 2:21 pm
Move over, Sherlock. Make room for Sherlock Holmes. CBS has evidently seen the furor caused by the Robert Downey, Jr. film and more importantly, the television series from the BBC. The Tiffany network's attempt is being described as "a modern take on the cases of the pipe-smoking private...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 13, 2011, 2:21 am
It's not often that the 18th & 19th centuries and Twitter intersect. Yet that's exactly what happened when Mashable shared a story called Twitter Parodies: 9 Top Literary Fakes. The reason we're sharing it here is there are some natural connections with Sherlock Holmes. The first two that grab...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 12, 2011, 10:42 pm
The current state of Unders[Editor's note: Updated with current photos, courtesy of Catherine Cooke, BSI ("The Book of Life")] We've previously mentioned the plight of Undershaw in these pages. The home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for a decade - and a decade of very prominent work - is in a terr...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Sep 6, 2011, 2:21 am
We've got a few Sherlock Holmes pens in our possession and we'd like to make a couple available to our readers. For those who haven't seen this particular design previously, it was designed after a sketch by Tom Richmond and made for sale by David Ian Davies. It's a unique and handsome pen, made of ...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Aug 29, 2011, 2:21 am
If you happen to be in the Cleveland, Ohio area this fall, you might want to check out what's happening at the Cleveland Playhouse. From November 25 - December 18, the troupe will be presenting The Game's Afoot - or, Holmes for the Holidays, written by Ken Ludwig and starring Aaron Posner. Th...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Aug 26, 2011, 2:21 am
[Cross-posted from ihearofsherlock.com - Ed.] Every generation has its Sherlock Holmes. Currently, it's a pitched battle between Robert Downey, Jr. on the big screen and Benedict Cumberbatch on the small screen. A generation ago, it was Jeremy Brett; prior to that it was Douglas Wilmer and Pet...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Aug 22, 2011, 7:04 am
The Sherlock Holmes Drinking Game is back, fresh with a brand-new installment. This time, we drink along to “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches,” a truly terrifying tale for all the characters involved, but especially tough for the women who reside in the building of the title.  Lucky for us,...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Aug 20, 2011, 6:44 pm
The refrain "I hear of Sherlock everywhere" was first muttered by Sherlock Holmes's elder brother Mycroft, who possessed the deductive faculty to an even greater degree than his younger sibling. And while it may be that we do in fact hear of Sherlock everywhere these days, thanks to a resurgen...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Aug 19, 2011, 2:22 am
Every once in a while, there comes along an image that needs no commentary. In this case, we'll step aside and let you admire the work of 9GAG. Why Batman hates Sherlock Holmes.Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site) from time to time. It helps defray the c...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Aug 9, 2011, 2:21 am
Peter Harry Wood, BSI (“The Second Stain”) died in Vancouver on July 31, 2011 at the age of 80. He was born on the Isle of Man and immigrated to Canada in the 60’s where he was a secondary school teacher, working in both Saskatchewan and Alberta. He retired from teaching approximately 12 ye...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jul 28, 2011, 2:21 am
Many of us are aware of the events of Reichenbach Falls - of that final clash between Holmes and Moriarty as chronicled in "The Adventure of the Final Problem". But for many Sherlockians, there is a darker variation that they will not - or dare not - consider: What if Moriarty was the victor at Rei...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jul 21, 2011, 1:21 am
News from the southwest: Irregular Bob Stek, BSI ("The Mysterious Scientist") moved to Tucson, Arizona a few years ago and naturally took with him his love of Sherlock Holmes. In doing so, he founded the Desert Prospectors of Arizona and has led them on a regular cadence of meetings. In Bob's ...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jul 20, 2011, 1:49 pm
BREAKING: We're all familiar with sight of Holmes appearing with his head bandaged, standing in a triumphant manner before Baron Gruner in "The Illustrious Client." But now we have news that our more recent Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch, is being shown as bloody and being rushed to the hospit...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jul 20, 2011, 2:21 am
Sometimes, the best thing you can do to a treasured character is to show them in their worst light - to take an unflattering look at a character and in doing so, and show how much you revere them. Omaha Perez's graphic novel Holmes: Haydn's Head (published by Ait/PlanetLar) does precisely that - it ...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jul 19, 2011, 2:21 am
For those of you vacationing on Cape Cod or within a reasonable drive to the Lower Cape, you might be interested in this piece of news shared with us by reader Jared McNabb, concerning a theatrical production of William Gillette's famous play. SHERLOCK HOLMES William Gillette / Arthur Conan Do...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jul 18, 2011, 2:21 am
Reader Al Gregory, BSI ("The Grimpen Postmaster") has shared an image of Stephen Fry from the set of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Fry is playing Mycroft Holmes (reported on these pages last September), who as you know was Sherlock Holmes's older (and larger) brother. Here we bring you ...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jul 13, 2011, 3:23 am
It's here. The first full trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the long-awaited sequel to the original Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, has arrived. Some key points from the plot description on iTunes Trailers (click for various sizes), edited for our...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jul 3, 2011, 1:28 am
This is the latest issue of Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, Peter Blau's ("Black Peter") monthly newsletter of Sherlockian or Doylean gossip, published in print form since 1971 and as a text-only digital archive on Sherlocktron since 1985. In agreement with Peter Blau, we've arranged to pub...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jun 28, 2011, 2:21 am
I've always had a fascination for television pilots - it is interesting to see the original "take" of a series, or even the unseen concepts that could have potentially led to series, but failed. For me, hearing of a pilot disappearing or not being available is like Holmes' fear of destroying documen...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jun 9, 2011, 2:21 am
Recasting Holmes in a more modern context might lead to mixed results - when done right (as in Steven Moffatt & Mark Gatiss' BAFTA-winning series), it has the same thrill and excitement as the Canon; but some efforts have led to mixed results (for example, some people dislike the Basil Rathbon...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jun 7, 2011, 2:21 am
Now from the forums of Holmesian.net, a new group of writers are staking their claim on the world's first unofficial consulting detective with a new publication - a first, according to our knowledge -  Sherlock Holmes: A Celebration The Holmesian.Net Collection - an Amazon Kindle edition of a foru...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jun 3, 2011, 2:21 am
It is our intent to be deliberate about everything we publish here. That includes the titles of each post, of course. You will have already noted that each entry on this site contains an appropriate Canonical phrase that somehow connects to the subject matter. We also try to take equal care wi...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jun 1, 2011, 11:22 pm
This is the latest issue of Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, Peter Blau's ("Black Peter") monthly newsletter of Sherlockian or Doylean gossip, published in print form since 1971 and as a text-only digital archive on Sherlocktron since 1985. In agreement with Peter Blau, we've arranged to pub...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - Jun 1, 2011, 2:21 am
Did you know Isaac Asimov was a member of the BSI? He received the investiture "The Remarkable Worm" in 1976 (as in "a matchbox in front of him which contained a remarkable worm, said to be unknown to science"), in a nod to his profession. Isaac Asmiov was a prolific author who began his caree...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - May 31, 2011, 2:21 am
Breaking news: registration for From Gillette to Brett III is now open! This is the third installment of the quadrennial From Gillette to Brett conference that is produced by the Wessex Press, and it's taking place from November 11 - 13, 2011 in Bloomington, Indiana. From the website: Devoted ...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - May 30, 2011, 2:21 am
Many Sherlockians are aware of how much influence Joseph Bell - one of Conan Doyle's medical teachers - had on the development on Holmes. In fact, it would be quite fascinating to postulate the kind of relationship that Bell & Doyle had, perhaps even as a precursor to the kind of relationship Doyle ...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - May 23, 2011, 2:35 am
Last evening, the BAFTA Television Awards were handed out, and "Sherlock" came away with two wins: one for best drama series and the other for Martin Freeman as best supporting actor for his role as Dr. Watson in the BBC series. In his acceptance speech, Freeman remarked, "I really, really, re...
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Scott M. posted an article on The Baker Street Blog - May 20, 2011, 2:21 am
Sorting through the various Holmesian pastiches, parodies, and mashups can be often be a challenge - trying to find that almost perfect application of Conan Doyle's style to a mixture of different characters can be daunting. Several years ago, Neil Gaiman - whose cross-genre work includes Sand...
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