Eighteen Hours To Go . . .

 There are a lot of sides to this hobby of ours, and tomorrow night is one of the most time-honored and revered traditions of Sherlockiana. And then there's the other side of the coin, a virtual pub with a little fun and a whole lot of time just to hang out.

My friends who are in New York this weekend always come back to the one key part of that weekend -- getting to see their friends. Share a drink, share a dinner, share a . . . virus? Well, those of us settling for Zoom on Friday night are going to miss both the good and the potential bad. But the chance to just talk is still there. 

The breakout rooms are probably the most important part of the night -- with about sixty people currently signed up, we can't all be talking at once. And we do want to talk. It's been a long year.

So no more promoting parts and pieces, or the very silly program that just got made up for a table centerpiece. Tomorrow night is about seeing new friends and old, discovering a few things you didn't know before, hearing a tale of times past you hadn't heard before. Annnnd, not having to dress up or spend any money to do it.

Looking forward to seeing you all, even those who come with cameras turned off.  And remember -- it's hashtag #DanglingPrussian2022! Because unlike a certain other function, we're already gathering on the internet, so we might as well tweet about it! On to Friday night! 

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One last shot at the registration link, if you have yet to sign up:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsd-mspzosGNWrY5QEPzpJIR0YFCGCQMfL 

The Dangling Prussian World Premiere of a New Short Film!

 There might be a few more blog posts this week than normal, as I'm a bit wound up.

Why am I wound up?

I'm getting to see what you'll be seeing on Friday night, if you show up at the Dangling Prussian's Zoom Pub Night and hang out. The main problem is that I need to calm down and finish a few of my own duties for that night, but I still have to tell you about a few things.

It seems like I've always had a remarkable Sherlockian friend or two whom the rest of the Sherlockian world didn't know that much about. I'm sure this happens at most local Sherlockian societies or just being a lucky sort who's in the right place at the right time. So I'd like to introduce you to a local friend of mine named Mary O'Reilly.

After meeting Mary at the local Sherlockian study group, I soon learned she was a fellow podcaster, and her podcast, Academicasaurus, is a weird and happy romp through the lives of college professors at a very strange school. She was a part of the least-attended panel I ever sat on at 221B Con, though the attendance part was probably just my fault. And after a few years, I discovered she had another outlet of web talent, her "Haunted by Birds" YouTube channel, which starred not Mary, but . . . well, we'll get to that.

Our monthly Sherlock Holmes discussion group is, as any Sherlockian discussion can be, an idea-inspiring ramble. And when we hit "Priory School," I thought of a great scion society name: the Bovestrians of Ragged Shaw, named for the imagined galloping cows of that area. But after decades of starting and joining Sherlockian societies, I had pretty much given up on thinking the society could provide anything new. But Mary liked the name and kept the idea alive, first by coming up with trading cards after our meetings . . .

And then, when I asked her to do me a favor for the Dangling Prussian Pub Night . . . .

That, you see, is the title card of an eleven minute video whose world premiere will happen at the Dangling Prussian as a part of our main program. You will get to sit in on the very first meeting of the Bovestrians of Ragged Shaw, a Sherlockian society unlike any that I've ever experienced, and probably one you haven't either.

Why? One word: Puppets.

Friday night, my friends. Friday night!

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Here again is the registration link, if you have yet to sign up:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsd-mspzosGNWrY5QEPzpJIR0YFCGCQMfL 

The Dangling Prussian house band!

 If you're doing a night out at the clubs, sometimes you just want to sit back with a drink and chill.

And with six hours of Zoom hangout planned for the Dangling Prussian Pub Night planned, we are lucky enough to have the musical talents of Josh Harvey providing some Sherlock Holmes based jazz that is very, very cool. 

Josh, a music director and instructor of musical theater at Southeast Missouri State in his non-Holmes life, has some great Sherlockian credits. He's presented at 221B Con, is the archivist for the Patrick Gowers scores for Granada Holmes, and is very close to putting out a website on "the side door of music," which will deal with Canonical and adaptation Holmesian musics. He's definitely a Sherlockian to watch, and I am very excited that we'll be seeing him play at the Dangling Prussian.

Can a pub's "house band" be a solo performer? Well, you're going to see that it's very possible, as he mellows out the night with such riffs as "Only Adlers in this Building," "Sweet Elsie Patrick," and a personal favorite of mine, "Ronaldo's Hideaway." ("Ronaldo" as in "Ronald-o Howard," since you'll find this jazz ties to some very familiar melodies.)  And as the night gets darker and later, you might even find a musical Moriarty tribute in the mix which might make you want to take the professor home with you at closing time. (There really is a Moriarty out there for everyone. Be careful!)

It's this Friday night (January 14) six to midnight Eastern, and that's just part of what's in store.

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Here again is the registration link, if you have yet to sign up:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsd-mspzosGNWrY5QEPzpJIR0YFCGCQMfL 

The Dangling Prussian Pub Night FAQ

 Got questions about the first great potential Zoom debacle of the year? We have answers!

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Question: When is it and how do I sign up?

Answer: My, aren't you the eager one! Not even going to read the rest of this, I bet. Well, it's January 14th from 6:00 PM Eastern Standard U.S. Time until Midnight of that same time zone. Here is the advance registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsd-mspzosGNWrY5QEPzpJIR0YFCGCQMfL 

Question: So, I didn't sign up yet. Why should I?

Answer: This is the first time that the Dangling Prussian, a hypothetical pub from the Sherlockian Canon, has opened its doors in this century. And like all first times, it could be a wonderful new discovery or the sort of amazing crash-and-burn that you'll enjoy your less adventurous friends about. It's also the first time the Montague Street Incorrigibles has inducted new members in decades. And there will definitely be some things no Sherlockian has seen before. No, it's not [CENSORED REFERENCE TO SHERLOCKIAN OF NOTE], we've all seen that.

Question: But I really, really don't want to come. Can I just watch a video later?

Answer: No. It's not being recorded and any trials resulting will have to depend upon sketches and eyewitness statements. We're really hoping wanted Canonical criminals will attend. We're giving some of them medals!

Question: Do you actually expect to entertain Sherlockians for a full six hours?

Answer: Heck no! Happy hour runs from 6 to 8 PM EST, a time for gathering, chat, and smatters of trivia, maybe some puzzles to occupy yourself with if you're not feeling chatty. Then at 8:00, something similar to a program, segueing into some pub-ish entertainments, and eventually an actual Zoom open myke. Then back to late night chat, gossip, and the hopes of a report from some friend or two in a certain big city.

Question: I signed up back after the first question. Can I un-sign up now?

Answer:  Sure. But have you heard the acronym "FOMO?" It's not "Fans Of Mycroft's Occipital," or "Funky Old Mister Oldacre," or even "Feed Our Mastiff Opium." I mean, what are you even thinking, suggesting such things! Perhaps we've decided we don't want you to sign up!

Question: Now I'm signing back up just to spite you! What do you say to that, Mister Incorrigible?

Answer: Mercy! You have beaten me with your cleverness and sudden riposte! And "Mister Incorrigible" was my father, you can call me by the university that I graduated from to become a professional FAQ writer.

Question: FAQ U?

Answer: The same to you, sir! Good day! I said, "Good day!"

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Well that certainly could have gone better. Stop by the Dangling Prussian on the eve of January 14th and hope for better, and much more Sherlockian, if not more-dignified, ways to spend an evening. 

Clack . . . Clack . . . Clack

 As we approach Sherlock Holmes's birthday celebrations, I know the travelers headed to New York are starting to feel the "clack . . . clack . . . clack" of the roller coaster starting its climb to its highest point. And even though I'm not going to be boarding a flight, not as worried about covid or weather shutdowns, the run-up to the Dangling Prussian pub night has me feeling that excitement and anxiety as well.

The entertainments are firming up. The parts and pieces are coming together. Dangling Prussian Soup Plate Medal award-winners are being selected. (Want to get in on that process? Volunteer to accept an award for a Canonical character who can't attend. Your voice will be heard.) And I want to say a lot more than I'm saying here.

But for tonight, it's just clack . . . clack . . . clack.

_____________________

Here again is the registration link, if you have yet to sign up:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsd-mspzosGNWrY5QEPzpJIR0YFCGCQMfL 

Why the Montague Street Incorrigibles?

 Since 1985 on our calendars (and 1895 on Canonical calendars) there has been that small number of Sherlockians who found themselves members of a group called "the Montague Street Incorrigibles." But few outside of that number, and even many within, were ever sure just what that membership meant. As attendees of the Dangling Prussian pub night on January 14th will be offered the chance to undergo mysterious and previously unseen induction ritual to become members of that group, it is perhaps a good thing to explain just what the Incorrigibles are about.

As you might have noticed "Montague Street Incorrigibles" looks a lot like a parody, pastiche, or just plain dollar-store-knock-off of the hallowed "Baker Street Irregulars." Montague Street being the address that Sherlock Holmes lived before Baker Street, with a different "I" word attached as the third word? It's surely a ridiculous effort by some novice to the community! Maybe so, but now it has the gravitas of existing for thirty-five years (or a hundred and twenty-five on Canonical calendars), so let's dig a little deeper.

While the Irregulars were the trusted hirelings of Mr. Sherlock Holmes, the one Incorrigible in the Canon is on the payroll of Dr. Watson, a supposedly inept servant girl, whom his un-named wife was trying to remove from their household. But here's the thing -- that Incorrigible, like Wiggins, had a name. 

"As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible," Watson told Sherlock Holmes, "and my wife has given her notice."

The definition of "incorrigible" is "not able to be corrected, improved, or reformed." It isn't to say that the person being spoken of is wrong in their obstinacy. And having no room for improvement is sometimes a measure of excellence. Some older, more puritanical definitions of "incorrigible" define it with "incurably depraved." Doctor Watson finding Mary Jane "incorrigible" has always sounded to me like he might have fancied her a bit -- one more reason for Mrs. No-First-Name Watson to want to give her notice.

So what is a "Montague Street Incorrigible?" 

Well, Sherlock Holmes surely had an early version of his "Baker Street irregulars" while on Montague Street? Was the incorrigible Mary Jane among them, an agent so trusted that Holmes would later plant her in the Watson household to keep a close eye on his friend, now living with a wife "not entirely to be trusted?" It might have been. The Montague Street incorrigibles are a hazy unknown,  Canonical cryptids, beings that lurk among the known quantities of the Canon working their unknown ways for unknown purposes.

And that is the society that is holding a rare semi-public induction ceremony on the evening January 14th, at the Dangling Prussian pub night. Dare you raise your hand and become one of them?

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Here again is the registration link, if you have yet to sign up:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsd-mspzosGNWrY5QEPzpJIR0YFCGCQMfL 

Setting the tables for the Dangling Prussian Pub Night

 If you're anything like me, you like to walk into a party with some foreknowledge of what will be there when you arrive. As our January 14th pub night at the Dangling Prussian is going to be a very eclectic and, at times, random affair, it seemed like a good time to explain what you can expect upon entering the place.

Coming into the Zoom from the waiting room, you'll be greeted by myself, a co-host, or some other Prussian staff who might have even been drafted at some last minute. 

You'll be asked, "Will you will be joining the Montague Street Incorrigibles at their induction ceremony this evening?" If your answer is in the affirmative, your name will be entered on Arminius Detweiller's list. (The innkeeper originally was wanting you to sign his big book, but some Sherlockians expressed dismay at writing in any book, so that requirement has been waved.)

At that point, you can choose to go to one of our five tables as listed below (sometimes called "breakout rooms" in Zoom parlance), or just stay and hang out by the door to see who comes in. Since the entry area's primary function is greeting new arrivals, any conversations that become too involved will be asked to be taken to a table. And you can always just hang at the door until any friends you are meeting at the pub show up, and then go to a table. 

The tables are:

• The Brett party’s table (perhaps to discuss television)
• The Rathbone party's table (perhaps to discuss movies)
• The Starrett party's table (perhaps to discuss pastiche)
• The Watson party's table (perhaps to discuss the Canon)
• The Morley party's table (perhaps to discuss the Sherlockiana)

You aren't committed to stay at any table, though pub trivia points will be accumulated by each table, so if you really want one to win pub trivia and you are a great trivia brain, well, you have choices to make.

The topics suggested for each table are merely guidelines and will not be strictly enforced. If things go so far off topic that a table's name needs to be changed and all at that table are in agreement, that change can occur as well. The unpredictable nature of the Dangle Prussian has been a tradition since the eighties, and we're not changing that now.

Tables will remain open during the main program mid-evening, as we don't want to spoil anyone's good time if they are on a roll. 

As the old saying goes, "No plan survives first contact with the enemy," so we'll see what actually happens come party time, but you've just seen the intention. If you're not doing anything else that night, you have to come just to have a story to tell later -- of great fun or memorable disaster!

_____________________

Here again is the registration link, if you have yet to sign up:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsd-mspzosGNWrY5QEPzpJIR0YFCGCQMfL