News

Because YOU asked for it! (Well, somebody did . . .)

The December meeting of the John H. Watson Society will be our Christmas pageant, a thrown-together reader’s theater production of “The Adventure of the Second Die Hard,” a Canonical Christmas tale that’s NOT “Blue Carbuncle.” We’ll be gathering up our volunteer readers from the registration list, so be sure to sign up for our Sunday, December 22nd meeting in advance if you want to take part. It’s going to be a busy weekend, so we know many of you will have to miss, but we’ll be sure to record it for the podcast.

So, Sunday, December 22nd at noon Central Standard Time. Here’s the link!

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApfu2trzgoEtSNfArBuEmoUYxiW6mweztF

The eleventh month is rolling by quickly and it’s already almost time for Watsonians to gather again on Sunday, November 24th at noon Central Standard Time. What will we be up to this month?

For starters, we’ll have a little Watsonian “get to know you” with three questions for the cool Watson fan. What are the three questions that we’ll be asking anyone who is on-camera and willing to share? Funny you should ask . . .

Question One: Members of the John H. Watson Society have bull pup names. The BSI has investitures. We don’t get to pick either of those and they aren’t always cool. If you were going to pick a cool nickname for yourself out of all the words and phrases in John Watson’s writings, what would YOU pick?

Question Two: You’re going to add one piece of clothing or accessory to your daily appearance to show people you’re a cool Watson-like kinda person. What is that item going to be?

Question Three: People who can pull off cosplay are really cool. If you had the skills (or the money to hire someone with the skills) to cosplay as any Doctor Watson in the history of Doctor Watsons, which Doctor Watson would it be?

And once we’ve gone around with those questions and seen just how cool you Watsonians are, we’re going to start the open casting for next month’s John H. Watson Society Christmas Pageant, a Zoom theatrical production unlike anything you’ve ever seen, because IT’S NOT GOING TO BE BLUE CARBUNCLE. (Somebody in the Canon besides Henry Baker and Peterson should get to celebrate Christmas, right?)

So if all that hasn’t frightened you off, here’s the registration link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpc-Ghrj4pG9Dugvf2bPMeTBCzPeKhIajp

And a note from the Boy in Buttons.

Friends, the 2024 Fall Issue of The Watsonian is here! Pick up your copy from Amazon at a reasonable $5.50 USD at this link.

And remember, you don’t have to be a member of the JHWS to purchase a copy! Please enjoy The Watsonian whether you’re a bullpup or not! But also recall: membership is now free.

Speaking of membership, if you’ve recently gone through the registration process, you may not have received a welcome email yet. That’s on me, the Boy in Buttons/Boswell, and I am truly sorry to have kept our new bullpups waiting! I will be honest: there has been a lot going on in my everyday life that has kept me from having much time and energy for anything other than survival. Sometimes, life kicks you when you’re down and keeps on kicking.

I just wanted everyone to know — you’re not being neglected, I promise. And I’m hoping to get to all the newbies over the next few days.

Of course, the lovely thing about the Watsonian/Sherlockian community is that it is supportive and it helps you keep going through the rough times. So my thanks to everyone who is helping me keep going through this difficult time.

Lots of love to you all!

The John H. Watson Society will be gathering for our October meeting on Sunday, October 27the at noon central time, what will be going on then?

A Zoom costume contest? Watsonian horror trivia? The unexpected Halloween treat?

If you’d like to come and find out, here’s the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUod-CvqD8sH9CuPW64KE3mrN7KfVgMZ9Gb

Hello, friends!

We are not able to hold this month’s meeting today. To the people who registered for today’s meeting and intended to come, we sincerely apologize! Work and other real-life issues conspired to make both of your regular Zoom hosts forget that this Sunday was our meeting Sunday, and not the next one. (Mayhap a certain Professor was simply jealous that one of the hosts devotes so much time to Dr. Watson…)

We will still meet this month, however! Our meeting has been rescheduled to next Sunday, same time. If you have already registered, you should have gotten an email alerting you of the change, and you do not have to re-register. If you haven’t registered, now’s your chance!

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtc-ugpzMoHtb-0ggSNf2Bf9mlESghCfio

Again, we’re really sorry. (But we also hope that our volunteers will take advantage of the extra time to build up their teams!) Also, happy first day of autumn! (Or spring, to those of you south of the equator!)

Here is the answer key to this year’s Treasure Hunt! Another huge thanks to our Treasure Hunt Master, Rich Krisciunas!

If you were at our last meeting, you know what we’re up to this month. A panel of specially selected Holmes movie buffs are going to fantasy draft their perfect film adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Who will be the stars? How will they make it special? And you get to pick the one you’d want to see!

To pre-register for this Zoom meeting on September 29th (EDIT: no longer the 22nd, sorry!) at noon Central time, just click the link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtc-ugpzMoHtb-0ggSNf2Bf9mlESghCfio

The 12^th Annual John H. Watson Society Treasure Hunt has officially ended. Familiar names were among the leaders in four categories; US and International individual entries and US and International groups.

One team had a perfect score of 192 submitted by the Sound of the Baskervilles, whose members were Margie Deck, Naching Kassa, Cameron Brandon, and Steve Mason.

The international Team LaFayette from France, comprised of Anne du Ranquet, Aline Hinh, Sylvia Israel, Daniel Henocq, Thomas Leandre-Helbecque, and Thierry Saint-Joanis, BSI, scored 190 and missed one question which, arguably, may have been confused in translation.

International individual honors went to Mark Doyle (190), who finished ahead of Enrico Solito, BSI (184) and Allessandro Melillo (160).

The top scorer for US teams was Joanna Freeman (188), who edged out Erica Fair (180), Regina Stinson, BSI (179), and reigning Hunt champion Michael Ellis (177), who answered all of the questions correctly but was unable to solve “the easiest cipher in Hunt history.”* Kristen Mertz and Tom Campbell also gave their best efforts.

The correct translation of the cipher was “Come Watson. Come. The game is afoot.” Quizmaster Rich Krisciunas said, “The thing that always amazes me is how many times someone comes up with an answer I didn’t foresee that fits. I go back and read the story and have to admit that the person deserves credit for their answer and my list of correct answers grows.” 

The Hunt’s questions and answers will appear on our webpage by the end of the week.

*The Boy-in-Buttons continues to have her doubts.

It’s the last week for doing the annual August treasure hunt of Canonical details from Watson’s writings, and Watsonians around the world are scrambling to get their entries polished up and turned in by the time September 2nd is done. (Scroll down to find the full Treasure Hunt details!)

The “Final Team” Zoom had to be cancelled at the last minute, but you can still give it a go on your own!

Meanwhile, here’s the latest episode of the John H. Watson Society’s official podcast, which sadly, contains no audio from Sunday’s meeting:

https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/august-26-2024-when-one-watson-runs-short-the-answer-is-elementary

We know you’re all busy testing your wits on the annual John H. Watson Society Treausre Hunt (scroll down if you haven’t started yet), but we wanted to let you prep for our August meeting and the John H. Watson Storytelling Challenge on Zoom this August 25th. How does it work?

Our willing participants will be given the title of one of Watson’s sixty stories at random and be asked to tell the tale in 30 seconds (and only 30 seconds). Each story will have a list of ten items worth a point a piece, and our storyteller, in actually retelling the story, will get a point for every one of those items they mention. It could be a person, a place, an activity, a color — you just don’t know! — that our judge feels is key to that story (or worth bonus points!). Are you up to telling a story with the level of detail only Watson could? Come to our August meeting and find out!

The registration link is still: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctcumprD4jHdMHHw1JWSYq4kJ_YCDqolE0