The Open and Inclusive Worldwide Online Sherlockian Society (Really, We're about Having Fun)
Was John Watson born in April? Was Sherlock Holmes born in April? This month’s meeting of the John H. Watson Society meeting will be about April birthdays and 221B Con. Bring your thoughts on either for a Sunday funday! (Noon CST, 1:00 EST, and whatever else it is wherever else!)
Here’s the registration link, if you haven’t signed up already:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYudOCqrD0pGtGtYFBFhaFx7g4VAQRH_th5
After years of missing a core member of the John H. Watson Society, we are finally moving the meeting so she can come. It’s now fourth Sundays instead of fourth Saturdays, and as we’re also dodging too big events in the next two months, those will also be our opening theme for each of the next two meetings. And just to make sure we have our act together, we’ve already got registration links for both meetings!
Opening topic: “What did we learn in Dayton?”
When: Mar 26, 2023 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for the March meeting with this link!
Opening topic: “What did we learn at 221B Con?”
When: Apr 23, 2023 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for the April meeting with this link!
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining each meeting.
It’s that time again, and on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) the John H. Watson Society will Zoom gather. What’s going to happen this month? You just never know!
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtc-6tpj8sGddjJ-0CNAHTDhfI5ZMtfR_u
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
In the meantime, listen to this week’s Watsonian Weekly, if you’ve got twelve minutes to devote to our favorite John! Here’s one way to get there:
https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/february-20-2023-cmon-give-us-more-watson
This coming Saturday is the December meeting of the John H. Watson Society at noon Central time (adjust accordingly to your location) and here’s the meeting registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qf-qurTkoE9zRiMaCBxh2tOP6S6-D2pZe
As usual, our opening presentation/discussion starter will be a last-minute bit of something Watson-ish, but this time we really need your help! This Saturday will be the first ever John H. Watson Society Blue Carbuncle All-Carolling Musical, and we can’t do it without a cast! (Or, to put it more plainly, you don’t want to see who is willing to perform it without a cast.)
Can you sing Christmas carols, and not necessarily well? Can you stand to sing one or two verses a capella karaoke by yourself? (It’s Zoom, so all solos!) Are you full of that blythe Christmas spirit that overcomes Zoom stage fright? Well, come join in the fun! We’ll be rehearsing an hour before the meeting at 11 AM Central time, and here’s the link to that, but be forewarned — if you come to rehearsal, you’d best be prepared to sing — no lookey-loos allowed at rehearsal, of course!
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcsdOuhqj0jGd05FzVTryfalkHhtlUpYrgs
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting, and you will later be emailed some lyrics to practice on if you sign up before Saturday for the rehearsal. (If you sign up on Saturday, you can still sing, but the lyrics will come at 11.)
The John H. Watson Society gathered on Zoom this past Saturday, after a bit of a late notice. You can hear some of what went on here:
https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/november-28-2022-watson-gets-stinky
And if you want to get ready for next month’s meeting, which is coming on Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada), you can register in advance at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qf-qurTkoE9zRiMaCBxh2tOP6S6-D2pZe
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Think we forgot you? Nope! Join the John H. Watson Society and friends on Saturday for some laconic messages to Watson from a certain friend that may require your services to interpret.
You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Saturday, Nov 26, 2022 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpd-ysrTIpE93kKPMIwgCzYQ0aLKNxbtsE
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
You can probably guess — but we save it for the end of the show, so if you don’t want spoilers, you can listen to most of the podcast before turning it off. Otherwise, DIG IN! It’s Watsonian Weekly time!
https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/november-7-2022-no-spoilers-until-the-end
You can subscribe to the Watsonian Weekly on all the good podcathers, like . . .
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-watsonian-weekly/id1465553726
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/23X2gDGeWfsvapGDrZfVQs
And more!
Sure, the John H. Watson Society could talk about trick-or-treat costumes for our favorite doctor this Halloween season, but why not take it a step further at our Saturday, October 22 meeting? If Watson was an actual monster, what type of monster would suit his personality and preferences the most? That will be our starter topic, but you know the JHWS! Past that, it’s just the normal pub chat that our members enjoy. The usual mid-day-in-mid-America meeting time — come in costume if you dare!
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkcemvrz4sG9XFChbNGpflYc6pbbTlMeKc
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
What? You say you were traveling to Toronto or waxing your moustache, and missed this month’s meeting of the John H. Watson Society? Well, here’s your chance to see what you missed on the latest episode of the Watsonian Weekly, where our usual fifteen minute podcast has been extended to include a hastily produced, written, and directed production of “The Frozen Pirate” by W. Clark Russell, perhaps John Watson’s favorite writer!
Can you last for the entire episode? That’s “The Clark Russell Challenge” and it’s available wherever The Watsonian Weekly is streamed, including this link:
https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/september-26-2022-the-clark-russell-challenge
Enjoy!
Have the equinoctial gales set in with exceptional violence in your neighborhood yet? The trees in the neighborhood of at least one Watsonian think so. Nonetheless, the internet cable is back and it’s time to gather the John H. Watson Society yet again.
In honor of a particular Watson September, we will be featuring an impromptu Clark Russell reader’s theater production of what some say is the very book he was reading the night that John Openshaw came to 221B Baker Street. (“Some” being a certain weekly podcast host.) You won’t want to miss it, just in case someone forgets to hit the “record” button.
When: Sep 24, 2022 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkdO-trjIuHdSh1BB-hobwjXJdoldPXH7y
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We didn’t get the full Worst Watson Tournament recorded at Saturday’s meeting of the John H. Watson Society, but you can hear what we did get on this week’s Watsonian Weekly, the official podcast of the John H. Watson Society. Available from the link below, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever questionable podcasts are available.
https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/august-29-2022-the-worst-watson-tournament
At the latest meeting of the John H. Watson Society, we decided the Worst Watson to date with a bracket tournament that reduced sixteen screen Watsons to a single Worst Watson. Who was voted the Worst Watson? It was definitely Dudley Moore from “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” who beat out Anthony O’Donnell in “Xango De Baker Street” in the final round. But in determining the worst of Watsons, the question was raised as to the best of Watsons.
How would we determine the best of Watsons? How do we reduce bias and perform the a more “scientific” determination of Watsonian quality than a silly bracket tournament or popularity contest? After some discussion, we decided that coming up with twenty characteristics of a true Dr. Watson that we could use to rate Watsons would be a great start. So what qualities? Display of friendship? Moustache? Wound carrying? Medical abilities? Verbal abilities of a writer?
In the comments below, we’re going to start collecting qualities in our initial efforts to build a matrix of perfect Watson qualities, based on the John H. Watson of the Original Canon. Let us know what qualities you think should be included in our search for the Best Watson Ever!
Don’t get so wrapped up in finishing the annual John H. Watson Society Treasure Hunt that you miss out on our August meeting! Yes, it’s a busy month, with school and such starting up again, but we still have important business to attend to, and you might want to be present when Decisions of Great Import are being made. What decisions?
Well, nothing less than picking the Worst Watson of All Time. Nigel Bruce has suffered long enough, and it’s time to point out that there are far worse Watsons out there. And to make that point, we’re holding a Worst Watson Tournament, in that classic bracket play-off fashion, as our society narrows down the field from sixteen worst Wats-ons to a single Wats-off, the true king of bad Watsonery!
And, yes, you are invited to this frabulous Zoom meeting.
When: Aug 27, 2022 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kcuuhpjovE9KFQbFARcOyqYE3AIiAfk_0
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
August is almost here, and you know what that means! It’s Treasure Hunt time again, so this coming Saturday, July 23, the bull pups and friends will gather on Zoom for a virtual training montage to get in shape for running with the pack next month.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtcu6vqj8sE9xPLUdUWP8QJExL8KLRilgW
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
And while you’re waiting for Saturday, here’s the weekly episode of our society’s podcast if you aren’t subscribed on your favorite podcast service: https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/july-18-2022-somebody-takes-it-in-the-face-will-it-be-watson (Don’t expect it to last you until Saturday though — it’s not quite fifteen minutes.)
Hi there,
You are invited to a Zoom meeting. (Yes, I just pasted the standard Zoom invitation to start this post.)
When: Jun 25, 2022 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
What’s the theme? “Summer Watson!”
What’s that mean? That’s what we’ll be figuring out! One of those men’s one-piece swimsuits with the wide stripes and a straw hat for a trip to the beach? Sitting around Baker Street in his boxers sweltering in the heat? Heading out to the street for a halfpenny Italian ice? Let’s find out!
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErcuyqpj0qH9PDjCuntbHF1sDhTyy_WTUj
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Also, don’t forget the latest episode of The Watsonian Weekly, where we don’t even mention that the meeting is coming up (but you read it here anyway).
https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/june-20-2022-i-gout-yer-james-right-here
Care to spare Watson fifteen minutes or so out of your Week? Well, here’s another episode of the world’s only all-Watson-centered podcast for the Watson lover in you.
https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/june-6-2022-fielding-watsons-abernetty-business
Sure, next Saturday is a holiday weekend in the US, but what’s more important, family, friends, cook-outs, and travel? Or talking about John H. Watson and eggs? (And the usual random off-topic chat that fills up the last hour and a half.) Join your fellow bull pups and friends for a Saturday hang that always goes where no Sherlock Holmes society will go. (Because we’re a Watson society!)
You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Saturday, May 28, 2022 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMldeCsqTgjE9z1Y_jOOkZcAQEBMCdOVmWR
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
This Saturday, April 23, the bull pups and friends will be gathering on Zoom once again to discuss John Watson’s relationships with horses and whatever else we ramble on about. (Maybe we shouldn’t make bull pup Maddy talk about 221B Con — she’s done two podcasts on it already.) Think there’s not much of an equine Watson to discuss? You might be surprised — but you have to saddle up for Saturday’s Zoom to find out!
You are invited to a Zoom meeting, then!
When: Apr 23, 2022 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvd-isqD4oHd3Ir3RXmIfRN4texBj0UFjl
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Are you a past, present, or future member of the John H. Watson Society in Atlanta this weekend for 221B Con 2022? Want to see your fellow Watsonians live and in person? We’re getting together for a couple of casual gatherings before the pre-and-post con Zooms mentioned earlier, and you’re invited!
We’ll be gathering for lunch in the hotel bar at 1:00 PM on Friday, and pulling together a second event Sunday night (pizza maybe?) about 6. Drop by, drop in, drop over, but if you want to be sure we save you a seat, DM @BradKeefauver on Twitter to let us know you’re coming. Hope to see you soon!
It’s the week before 221B Con, and with bull pups on panels, the John H. Watson Society is going to be well represented. Somebody should have taken notes on that at our last meeting, but the latest Watsonian Weekly wanders through the schedule even though the host doesn’t remember who is on what panel.
https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/april-4-2022-will-watson-be-at-221b
There are also going to be two John H. Watson Society zooms, Friday afternoon and Sunday evening, hosted by Madeline Quinones. Here are the links to reserve your spot for those:
Friday, pre-con:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvde2pqz0vHNVUn3JnWDpcROkoAIPC-QlX
Sunday, post-con:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpdeiqqzMvE9Q9LWcU9ipG9r3r2TMyNUW_
We hope to see you somewhere next weekend!