"The Gleam of an Electric Switch" [CHAS]

Over a decade ago, The Baker Street Journal did the unthinkable: it entered into the electronic age. That is to say, it released a CD-ROM containing every issue from 1946-2000, debuted its web site and introduced an online ordering system.

And while the Baker Street Irregulars are not yet offering an electronic subscription option to the BSJ (we believe it to be inevitable, considering what's been happening in the news and book industry over the course of the last, oh decade or so, but we certainly don't expect it in the near term), the Journal has come a long way in its recent history. From updating the style of the wrappers to including a different cover image on each new issue, the physical version is much more pleasing to the eyes and hands.

And the Journal, which has for years offered advertising space within its own pages, has begun sponsoring other outlets worthy of association, such as The Baker Street Babes and I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere podcasts. We trust that those affiliations have garnered the attention of a new swath of fans who have discovered Sherlock Holmes in a variety of manners.

For those interested in understanding what happens between the yellow covers can get a sample by clicking on the Current Contents section of the site, which at minimum will show the Editor's Gas-Lamp.

Read more...

"Just a Suggestion, Perhaps" [HOUN]

With the #BSIWeekend quickly approaching, we thought it might be helpful to provide a series of tips for the veteran attendees and the newbies alike.

After all, it's usually a pretty big deal if you're taking time out of your life to head into New York City for 3+ days of activities with people you haven't seen in a year (or years!) or those you may only know online. Whether you're making the trip for the first or twenty-first time, you know that the Weekend provides the same level of excitement, anticipation and giddiness as Christmas morning does to a child.

It's usually during those anxious moments that our brain-attic tends to forget some of the essentials that help make a great trip perfect. And for the uninitiated, it's just a matter of not knowing what you need to survive the Baker Street Irregulars Weekend.

Not being the type to remember everything ourselves (we swear that on every trip, our mind isn't calmed until we can figure out just what it is that we forgot to pack), we reached out to several members of the Baker Street Irregulars - some newer members who might have a less distant memory of their first Weekend, and some who have been at it literally for decades.

Read more...

"Then He Told the Story" [ILLU]

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 makes his living by writing about the literati.

In this case, Michael himself is the author, having been tapped by the Princeton University Press to contribute to their "Writers on Writers" series with the volume On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling. In it, he takes us through Conan Doyle's life and writings - many of which may not be familiar to the Sherlock Holmes fan - and gives us a perspective on many of them through the Canon.

Burt and Scott had a chance to sit down with Michael at The Players in New York City during the 2012 Baker Street Irregulars Weekend - marking the first time our podcast has been recorded with the two hosts together in the same room.

Rather than give you an Editor's Gas-Lamp in this episode, we asked Michael to read something from his own work.

Links:

• On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling  (Amazon)
• The Baker Street Journal
• Michael Dirda's content in the Washington Post
  

Listen now:

Download this episode by right-clicking the icon and selecting "Save As..." or simply click on the file to listen, or on the nice box above. (File size: 34.7 MB, 37:51)

Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email, call us at (774) 221-READ (7323) or drop by our Facebook page.

And as always, please visit our sponsors Wessex Press.

[This was cross-posted from ihearofsherlock.com - Ed.]

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"Then On Saturday" [HOUN]

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 until at least 2:21 a.m. That's not too rare when you're in the city that never sleeps, but with the doors of the Vendors Room opening at 9:00 a.m. sharp (and Jerry Margolin always jockeying to be the first in), it can be difficult to rouse yourself from an otherwise groggy state.

This year's Vendors Room was packed with merchandise, from the new to the old and rare. The Baker Street Irregulars had its usual range of books available from the BSI Manuscript and BSI International series, as well as The Grand Game Volume Two, the continuation of the first volume edited by Leslie S. Klinger and Laurie R. King. In addition to the Grand Game compendium being completed, there was a very handsome Grand Game Limited Edition being offered for sale; you can order it online after March 30. There will be 100 box sets created, with gilt-stamped volumes, a companion index with an expansion of the origin of the Game and Ronald Knox, and a gold-stamped slipcase.

Read more...

"Today Is Friday" [CARD]

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 William Gillette Lunch
The Gillette Lunch has been in place for many years, having been first established in the early days of the BSI as an opportunity for those traveling from out of town to gather before the BSI dinner. Susan Rice and Mickey Fromkin have been running this event for a couple of decades, after it was handed down to them from Lisa McGaw.

Susan Rice - all smiles

Guests are welcomed to the quickly overflowing bar area of Moran's Chelsea restaurant (an aptly named or aptly selected venue, as the case may be) and conversation quickly rises, along with the temperature of the facility. But all is well as we wind our way into the substantial dining area and prepare for the welcome from Susan. We remember William Gillette of course, but also the founders and previous administrators. After a quick promotion of the Beacon Society - the group that promotes educating the young on Sherlock Holmes via the original stories - we dine.

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"A Technical Character" [SPEC]

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" and it is this column that was the basis of her becoming the technical adviser for "House, M.D." She is also the author of  Every Patient Tells a Story. She joined us at the Manhattan Club on January 12 to give the talk "Is Holmes Crazy as a Fox, or Just Plain Crazy?"

Dr. Sanders opened by saying how thrilled she was to be around people who have the same passion that she does, for she has been a Sherlockian for most of her life In fact, it is her interest in Holmes - having devoured all of the stories and everything related to Sherlock Holmes - that led to her fascination with diagnosis, eventually leading to her becoming a physician after a mid-life crisis. She gave a nod to House, saying that he is not her ideal Holmes, but then "neither is Robert Downey. Jr.," to which the audience responded with a round of applause.

Read more...

"A Very Pretty Hash You Have Made" [LADY]

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 embedded guide below - or click through to the post if you're reading this on email or RSS) that will keep us busy throughout the weekend, but if you're not there, we'd like to keep you updated on what we Irregulars experience. After all, we're supposed to be able to "go everywhere, see everything and overhear everyone."

Throughout the weekend, we'll be making updates via the @BakerStreetBlog Twitter handle and we'll be using the what's called a hashtag on Twitter. A hashtag (or #) is placed in front of a word to make it a topic of conversation that anyone can see, regardless of who they're following on Twitter.

Our hashtag is #bsiweekend.  If you're attending and would like to tweet, please use #bsiweekend in all of your tweets. We'll pick it up and make it available to everyone on the BSI WEEKEND NEWS sidebar over at http://bsiweekend.com and in "Every Nerve in a Twitter" [TWIS] in the sidebar here on this site.

We'll also try to bring you photos as quickly as possible as the weekend unfolds. Stay tuned here and on our Facebook page for more information.

And if you're at the event and can provide additional coverage, we'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, if you're planning to attend, download and print this handy one-page reference to keep you on track during the weekend:
The 2012 BSI Weekend


To see previous BSI Weekend coverage on this site, please click here.


When you make purchases from the links we share, it provides us with a stream of revenue to help keep this site running. Thank you for your generosity.
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"I Think We Must Begin" [ILLU]

And so it begins...

Today (un)officially kicks off the 2011 Baker Street Irregulars Weekend, with the first monthly gathering of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes (ASH), which they amusingly call their ASH Wednesdays. Scores of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts will descend upon the city and carouse cogitate together on the impact of Sherlock Holmes in our lives today.

If you're attending and you'd like a handy pocket guide, please print out this one-page summary of the major events and their locations. For a more comprehensive guide, see the BSI Weekend site.

The 2011 Baker Street Irregulars Weekend - at a glance

Throughout the weekend, we'll be making updates via the @BakerStreetBlog Twitter handle and we'll be using the hashtag #bsiweekend to make it easier to follow the conversation. The BSI WEEKEND NEWS sidebar over at http://bsiweekend.com and "Every Nerve in a Twitter" [TWIS] in the sidebar on this site will be showing updates.

We'll also try to bring you photos, videos and possibly even some audio as quickly as possible as the weekend unfolds. Stay tuned here and on our Facebook page for more information. And if you're at the event and can provide additional coverage, we'd love to hear from you.

To see previous BSI Weekend coverage on this site, please click here.

Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site) from time to time. It helps defray the costs associated with running this site.
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"Selling at a Price" [ILLU]

"Sir, don't touch the merchandise!"

The Weekend is nearly upon us! And by "Weekend" (yes, capitalized), we mean the Baker Street Irregulars Weekend, an annual gathering in New York City that nets some three to four hundred Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts. Casual fans, lifelong devotees, amateur scholars, academics, authors, journalists, industrialists, actors, musicians, professionals - essentially a cross-section of society at large.

If you haven't already checked out the Schedule of Events, Accommodations and handy printable Summary of the weekend's events and locations over on the BSI Weekend site, please do so.

One of the events that everyone looks forward to is the Merchants Room opening on Saturday morning. Typically, this is an event attracts the excitement of veteran collectors and newcomers alike, with lots of buzz and and "off to the races" reaction when the doors of the room are finally flung open at 9:00 a.m. sharp. Invariably, you'll know the event is about 15 minutes away when you see Jerry Margolin (click the link for an interview with Jerry on "I Hear of Sherlock Everwhere") poking his head in the doorway, pacing frantically and looking like someone who either has a full bladder or an itchy trigger finger. ;-)

If you'd like to participate in the Merchants Room activities - whether or not you attend anything else during the BSI Weekend - it's open to the public. Feel free to join in the fun at the Roosevelt Hotel (45 East 45th Street - map and subway directions), Vanderbuilt Suite, beginning at 9:00 a.m. There will be authors available for book signings, if you're interested:

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
    Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger: The Grand Game
    Enrico Solito and Gianluca Salvatore: Italy and Sherlock Holmes
    Nicholas Utechin: The 2010 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual

11:00 a.m. - noon
    Otto Penzler: Bohemian Souls 
[You may remember the fabulous interview Otto gave us on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere: Episode 17 - it's worth a(nother) listen.]

And if you're unable to join us in the Merchants Room, you can buy all BSI books on the Baker Street Journal website in the BSI Items for Sale section.

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"I Was Invited to a Weekend Gathering" [LAST]

"It is the unofficial force - the Baker
Street Irregulars."

As November creeps up on us, that means our minds begin to turn to the Baker Street Irregulars Weekend, an annual gathering in New York City that is expected to bring over 300 Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts together for fun, eating, drinking and pseudo-scholarship.

The Baker Street Irregulars (or BSI) is a literary society with Sherlock Holmes at its core. We have our origin in the first two novels about Holmes and Watson by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

From A Study in Scarlet:

"What on earth is this?" I cried, for at this moment there came the pattering of many steps in the hall and on the stairs, accompanied by audible expressions of disgust upon the part of our landlady.

"It's the Baker Street division of the detective police force," said my companion gravely; and as he spoke there rushed into the room half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street arabs that ever I clapped eyes on.

From The Sign of the Four:

"No, it's not quite so bad as that. It is the unofficial force - the Baker Street irregulars."

As he spoke, there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs, a clatter of high voices, and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street arabs. There was some show of discipline among them, despite their tumultuous entry, for they instantly drew up in line and stood facing us with expectant faces. One of their number, taller and older than the others, stood forward with an air of lounging superiority which was very funny in such a disreputable looking little scarecrow.

This annual tradition began in 1934, when Christopher Morley gathered a few like-minded friends at Christ Cella's to celebrate the birthday of Sherlock Holmes, which has always been placed on January 6. Since that time - nearly uninterrupted (save for a few years in the late 1930s), the BSI has always met each January. Over time, the dinner first evolved into a lunch prior to the dinner for out of town guests, and now is comprised of events that span from Wednesday evening to Sunday morning.

Below is a summary of the events of the BSI Weekend. Aside from the BSI Dinner (which is by invitation only), everything you see is open to the public. You may also find a fuller description and many helpful links at the BSI Weekend website at http://www.bsiweekend.com.
The 2011 Baker Street Irregulars Weekend - at a glance

If you have any questions about the festivities, please let us know. Are you planning on attending any of the events? We'd love to hear about that as well. And while we're at it, perhaps some of the members of the Sherlock Holmes Social Network would like to connect on this topic as well. If you're not a member of that vibrant group that is more than 550 strong, you might want to pop over there as well.

Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site) from time to time. It helps defray the costs associated with running this site.

"Breakfast 2s 6d, Cocktail 1s" [NOBL]

For our final day at the BSI Weekend, we recreated the Saturday experience as we've known it for some years: breakfast at the Red Flame Diner, browsing the Vendors' Room at the Algonquin Hotel, and then the Baker Street Irregulars Reception.

Each of these has an important and universal component to it: we have an opportunity to spend time interacting with other Holmesians present at the events. With the advent of Facebook and the Sherlock Holmes Social Network, it's easy to connect with other like-minded souls at any time. But as we've said before, our little hobby is one of the original social networks. We gather because of a single common interest, yet we connect on a variety of levels. And the the convivial conversation, witty banter and intellectual discourse we have in person is irreplaceable. Indeed, it's one of the driving forces behind so many hundreds of us gather in New York each January.

Breakfast at the Red Flame is one of the unscripted events during the weekend. The diner is directly next to the Algonquin, so it's a natural stop for so many of us. Walking in the door, you feel like you're in a neighborhood establishment, as you're instantly greeted by waves and greetings. The booths accommodate up to 4 people, so the breakfast discussions are usually intimate - and funny if you happen to be at some of the booths we've been lucky enough to join over the years.

The gates to the Vendors' Room open at 9:00 a.m., and one will usually find Jerry Margolin foaming at the mouth, lest anyone gain admission before he does. Jerry is always first in and first with his checkbook out. The collectibles range from a full table of BSI publications to rare books, theatre cards, correspondence, jewelry, and a wide variety of Sherlockiana. It's really a site to behold. And usually, we stop in between the tables, chatting with each other and congratulating the newest members of the BSI as they come through.

The Reception
Over the last few years, the New York City Bar Association has graciously shared their quarters with us - very convenient, as they're literally across the street from the Algonquin. In addition to food and drink, attendees hunger and thirst for the entertainment that accompanies this annual party. The BSI dinner is capably recapped - in verse - by Al Rosenblatt ("Inspector Bradstreet") and his daughter Betsy Rosenblatt ("Lucy Ferrier"). This year, they focused on current events including recent late night television show wars, Tiger Woods, and of course the Guy Ritchie film.

Another highlight is the auction for some unique Holmesian items, the proceeds of which benefit the John H. Watson Fund. The fund helps to defray the travel costs for Sherlockians who are otherwise unable to afford the entire price of the BSI Weekend. This year's auction items included a pillow embroidered to reflect events in "The Abbey Grange," a set of posters from the new film, a medical certificate signed by Joseph Bell's father (Bell himself being a medical school professor of Conan Doyle's and an inspiration for the character of Sherlock Holmes), and a set of five medals/pins from the Curious Collectors of Baker Street. There was also an impromptu bidding for a BSI dinner packet which was left behind last night by the author of this blog. (!)





Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Ray Jessel, lyricist for the 1965 Broadway musical "Baker Street" and one of last night's dinner guests, joined us today as well - and graced us with some banter and a few witty songs. Update: You can view the entire set of recorded musical numbers by Ray and others here:




With that, we wrapped up the weekend and hopped on a flight back home. The full recap of the weekend events will be available in the Spring issue of the Baker Street Journal. Please follow the link to subscribe.

"Irregularity at Meals" [3STU]

The Friday of the BSI Weekend is typically spent running from meal to meal. By the end of it, one begins to wonder if it was even a wise thing to do to commit to a breakfast, large lunch, and catered dinner all in a single day. But then one thinks back on the conversations had, friendships rekindled, and new faces met, and one realizes that it's well worth the expanding waistline.

The William Gillette Memorial Lunch has been in existence for over 60 years. Currently held at Moran's Chelsea Restaurant, it originated as a lunch for out-of-towners who arrived early for the BSI dinner. Now, it's open to everyone who would like to attend, so you'll see a strong contingent of locals as well as travelers. The locals also include the Friends of Bogey's of Baker Street, a stage troupe who always have an humorous skit that incorporates William Gillette. This year, hilarity ensued as they took a Holmesian approach to nursery rhymes and we were treated to Peter Peter Amberley, the Adventure of the Christmas Pie, the Three Rubadubs, the 24 Black Peeps, and a Cardboard Box containing the severed tails of three vision-impaired mice.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The BSI Dinner
The highlight of the weekend for those who are invited to attend is always the annual dinner of the Baker Street Irregulars - the very event that that got this entire movement started. This year, there was plenty to be excited about, including some celebrity sightings such as Neil Gaiman, Laurie R. King and Curtis Armstrong, to name a few. But the real stars are the Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts who make it such an interesting place to be.

This year, the dinner was held at a new venue for the BSI - the Yale Club, just a couple of blocks from the Algonquin Hotel. It was the equivalent of the Union League Club, The Woman for 2010 - typically the (long-suffering) wife of a long-standing BSI member was Karen Gurion, wife of Andrew J. Peck, BSI ("Inspector Baynes, Surrey Constabulary"). She was toasted by Jerry Margolin ("Hilton Cubitt") and then she gave her own remarks. Of Andy's acquisition of an original Frederic Dorr Steele illustration of Sherlock Holmes, she remarked, "That's art?" To which, noted dealer Otto Penzler, who was in attendance replied, "So sell it back!" Karen clearly warmed up to the group, saying that she felt like Sally Field: "You like me! You really like me!" And indeed, we do.

Following the cocktail party, we wound our way upstairs to the dining room and began the proceedings of the evening. Wiggins got right to the awards, first doling out a special crystal award with Queen Victoria on one side and Sherlock Holmes on the other, to Freda Howlett, widow of Holmesian Tony Howlett and one of the co-founders of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Directly following Freda's award, Mike launched into the Eddies - awards given to the editors of BSI publications to demonstrate his thanks for the hard work they've done. They were:

• Steve Rothman for A Remarkable Mixture
• Les Klinger for his general editorship of the BSI Manuscript and History Series and A Tangled Skein
• John Bergquist for So Painful a Scandal
• Susan Dahlinger and Glen Miranker for co-editing the 2007 BSJ Christmas Annual Rathbone Returns
• Gianluca Salvatore for editing Mandate for Murder
• A posthumous award to H. Paul Jeffers for the 2005 BSJ Christmas Annual Once a Week in Baker Street

Some remarks from Wiggins followed: the BSI Archives will become increasingly important over the next five years and the correspondence of every member of the BSI is sought; more scholarly conferences around the country will be happening; and we need to keep in mind not to take ourselves too seriously. That being said, we launched into some papers, some serious, some not so serious.

Nils Nordberg ("A Norwegian Named Sigerson") opined on the Scandinavian roots of Holmes, and was followed by Sue Vizoskie ("Mrs. Saunders") who posited that Holmes was a woman (!). Finally, Nathan Hartley ("Penang Lawyer") discussed the original Penang lawyer and the real identity of James Mortimer. Then, Peter Blau ("Black Peter") took the podium and gave a toast to An Old Irregular - in this case, Bill Rabe. We'll have some of the audio at a later date. But Peter let us know that Bill, who was one of the inspirations behind "Aunt Clara," which we sing every year, got his inspiration from a song called "Mush Mush."

Henry Boote ("Meyers, Toronto") stepped up to tickle the ivories and gave us a rendition of "Mush, Mush" and then invited Scott Monty to belt out a few stanzas of "Aunt Clara" with gracious help from the audience on the chorus. And as if that wasn't enough musical entertainment, we were joined by Ray Jessel, the songwriter who was responsible for the Broadway musical "Baker Street" (you can purchase it by clicking through). Ray gave some brief remarks and then played a few songs on the piano, including the memorable "A Married Man." He shared that to write for Watson was eaier, as "he represents the human element" in the Canon. To say that it was a treat to hear Ray play would be an immense understatement.

We then stood on the terrace for the BSIs we lost over the last year. They included: Edwin King, Joe Fink, Ed Lauterbach, Edward Starr, Richard Warner, Frank Beckman, and H. Paul Jeffers. Then it was time to move on to the happier part of the program...

The Honours List
The awarding of the irregular shilling is always a marvelous thing. There were nine in the class of 2010, as well as three Two-Shilling Awards:

• "Lord Bellinger" - Tom Cynkin
• "Ettie Shafter" - Pj Doyle
• "Vernet" - Sir Christopher Frayling
• "Imperial Tokay" - Patricia Guy
• "The Red Circle" - Laurie R. King
• "Violet Smith" - Sarah Montague
• "Holloway and Steele" - Daniel Polvere
• "The Three Gables' - Sally Sugarman
• "Isadora Klein" - Maria Carmen Veiga Hayzen
• John Bergquist, Two Shilling Award
• Bob Coghill, Two Shilling Award
• Steve Doyle, Two Shilling Award

The dinner concluded with the reading of "A Long Evening with Holmes."




Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Aplogies for any typos or misspellings; this was done in haste.

"One Winter's Night" [MUSG]

The first day of the BSI weekend has kicked things off nicely. We arrived to the Algonquin Hotel mid-morning just in time to see the Christopher Morley Walk getting started on the streets of New York. The lobby was fairly quiet, but there was a a table of longstanding friends and Holmesians gathered, including Susan Rice ("Beeswing"), Marilyn MacGregor ("V.V. 341"), Jon Lellenberg ("Rodger Prescott") and Susan Dahlinger ("The Bruce-Partington Plans"). We were soon joined by Curtis Armstrong ("An Actor and a Rare One"), John Baesch ("State and Merton County Railroad"), Scott Bond ("The Copper Beeches") and Sherry Rose Bond ("Violet Hunter"). We were able to briefly get caught up on families, jobs, retirement and general friendly chatter.

Lunchtime saw us first at the National Arts Club for the lunch of the Sacred Six, and then directly next door at the Players Club for the Lunch of Steele, in memory of Frederic Dorr Steele, illustrator of some of the Sherlock Holmes stories. A member of the Players for 40 years, his artwork was on display and his pool cue was still in its holder. The group enjoyed receiving the first lapel pin for the Three Hours For Lunch Club - the precursor to the Baker Street Irregulars.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

At the Williams Club, the annual Morley-Montgomery Award for the best article in the Baker Street Journal, was given to Marshall S. ("Mike") Berdan, a contributor for more than 30 years, won for his Spring 2009 article on "The Mazarin Stone". The award was presented at a reception sponsored by the Baker Street Journal, attended by many of the past year's contributors. While the gathering included many seasoned "regulars" who write frequently for the Journal, also present was 18-year-old Lucy Kiefer, whose first Sherlockian paper appeared in the Summer issue.

 

As the evening drew closer, it was time for the BSI Distinguished Speaker series, and this outing brought us an archivist - one Joan Winterkorn, a valuation expert with Bernard Quaritch of London. She spoke about some of the great archives she had known, including the papers and correspondence of seven generations of the John Murray publishing family. The latter include most of Lord Byron's important manuscripts and letters as well as much correspondence with Arthur Conan Doyle. The Distinguished Speaker lecture was graced with the attendance of two previous Distinguished Speakers, Sir Christopher Frayling and Laurie R. King, as well as dozens of Sherlockians. It was a bibliophile's dream.

After the lecture, people formed small groups and found their way to local restaurants, savoring perhaps the last intimate moments before the festivities really kick into full gear tomorrow.

"Weekend Visitors" [SOLI]

Well, the Baker Street Irregulars weekend is upon us! Hundreds of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts will converge upon New York in an annual ritual that has its origins all the way back in 1934.

The unofficial headquarters of the weekend is the Algonquin Hotel, home of the famed Algonquin Round Table, about which much has been written. We'll be spending plenty of time in the lobby, as well as running from meal to meal and catching up with those we haven't seen in a while.

We'll also be providing regular updates here as time allows, and on Twitter as @S_Holmes. You can also follow in the box on the right, as we use the Twitter "hashtag" (that's a pound sign in front of an acronym) #bsiweekend. Expect to get the news of the newest investitured members of the Baker Street Irregulars on Twitter as they're announced.

If you can't be with us in person, we hope you're with us in spirit. This is an exciting time for Holmesians everywhere. It's amazing how much we'll be able to share through the power of the web.

Click here to see related posts on the BSI Weekend.

"Taking the Queen's Shilling" [SIGN]

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. It was a banner evening, celebrating 75 years of the BSI being in existence, and saying farewell to a large number of Irregulars who left us over the past year.

Mike Whelan, the current "Wiggins" of the BSI, 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.

This year, all of the Investitures were story titles - coveted titular investitures to be sure - and Wiggins spent some time discussing who previously held each title and in what year.

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

• Bill Barnes, "The Gloria Scott"
  
• Susan Dahlinger, "The Bruce-Partington Plans"
  
• Robert Ellis, "The Illustrious Client"
  
• Walter Jaffee, "The Resident Patient"
  
• Allan Devitt, "The Dancing Men"
• Greg Darak, "The Engineer's Thumb"
  
• Jeff Bradway, "A Case of Identity"
• Michael Pollock, "The Blue Carbuncle"
• Sebastian LePage, "The Six Napoleons"
• Jens Byskov Jensen, "The Blanched Soldier
• Joel Schwartz, "The Three Students"
• Barbara Rusch, "The Mazarin Stone"
  

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

• Dan Posnansky, for his incredible work with the BSI Trust and Archives.

In addition, Mike also presented a special golden door encrusted with diamonds to his wife, Mary Ann Bradley, for her assistance with the BSI weekend administrative work for the last 12 years.For anyone who knows the hard work that Mary Ann puts into all of the BSI events, ensuring registration and organization, it's a well-deseeved honor.

All of the recipients of shillings were people who have been at this for years and were incredibly worthy of the honor. And Wiggins noted that much would be expected of them in the future.

My hope is that all of the new BSIs already subscribe to The Baker Street Journal. It's not a requirement to become an Irregular, nor are all Irregulars required to subscribe. But it's something everyone should consider. You subscribe to the BSJ, don't you?

"The Night of January 6th" [VALL]

Well, that time of year is upon us again! Today marks the 155th birthday of the world's first unofficial consulting detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

You may recall that in "His Last Bow," Holmes was described as "...a tall, gaunt man of sixty..." and that the story took place in 1914. In addition, of the Shakespearean plays he quoted, Holmes referenced Twelfth Night twice. These facts taken together have led scholars to believe that Holmes was born on January 6, 1854.

To help celebrate this event, I'll be in New York City later this week - but only for the BSI dinner, and not the entire weekend festivities. My work schedule is keeping me otherwise occupied.

And while that means I won't be on hand to document the entire weekend, I'll be posting the latest recipients of BSI investitures on this blog late Friday night/early Saturday morning - and, for those of you interested following along live, right below in the graphical widget. Expect the news to break around 9:30 - 10:00 p.m. EST on Friday, January 9.

If you don't follow along here, you can watch http://twitter.com/S_Holmes

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"A Week-End Gathering" [LAST]

Even though professional life has occupied my daily routine for the past 5 months or so and my commitment to various Sherlockian pursuits has suffered, my interest has not abated.

When one receives an invitation in the mail to the annual Baker Street Irregulars weekend, the thrill of your first time comes flooding back. So if you've not yet had the opportunity to attend, I suggest you take note.

For many of us, it's been nearly a year since we rubbed shoulders with each other from venues such as the Algonquin Hotel, Ollie's Noodle House, a city club or two, or just the streets of New York.

As I did last year, rather than reproduce the entire schedule on this blog, I've posted all of the information on a separate site where you can find all of your BSI Weekend information - from schedules, to maps, to links to travel site and the general RSVP form for download. You can find this and more at the Baker Street Irregulars Weekend site.

Because of my day job, I'll only be attending the BSI Dinner, so I won't be giving updates from all of the events, but you can still follow along on Friday evening in real-time if you'd like to see who the investitures go to. These updates can be found in the upper-left section of the BSI Weekend site. Just think- if you can't make it to the event, you can be the first to know who receives their BSI Investitures, without having to wait for the listserv, Yahoo groups, or disussion forums to update.

I hope to see you in New York in January. If you have any suggestions as to how to improve the BSI Weekend site, or if you have questions about the weekend, please drop me a line.

"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.