Meeting Minutes for 12/18/22 (BERY)
Max Magee
A copy of these meeting minutes are available in a Google doc here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iT3bOsLicPP7R7A0edVFDST_cKfIrPwAD7XZVF9vMhw/edit?usp=sharing
Meeting Minutes
Notorious Canary-Trainers
Announcements
Going to pursue our Luncheon plan for Vintage Pub on Whitney Way (Diane will investigate) Definitely going to happen Jan 15 at noon, no story discussion: February will be The Adventure of the Copper Beeches (COPP) (full schedule available at canarytrainers.com)
Show-and-Tell about Diane and Max going to Norwegian Explorers Annual Dinner: It was great, the dinner discussion was excellent, Glen Miranker was guest speaker, and tour of the Andersen Library was great
Johanna’s trip to Lilly Library Show-and-Tell
Potential for a kids’ Sherlock Holmes discussion—bring our interested kiddos, relatives, or friends’ kids for a discussion of a couple of stories. Perhaps Speckled Band, Case of Identity, or 3 Students?
Rapid Impressions & Question
Dave - Liked it, but it wasn’t a great story
Glen - Might be in my top 1/4, how did the banker become so successful if he’s so stupid?
Kent - Enjoyed it, magnifying glass was in there, disguise, good Sherlockian reasoning (his quote about excluding the impossible), Sherlock made money on this one
Diane - I liked this one a lot, never thought about how ridiculous it was. Definitely was top ¼. Question: What did the coronet look like?
Christian - A lot of the Holmes elements were there, liked it a lot. Holmes’ sense of drama. Maybe top quarter. Mystery wasn’t as challenging as some of the others.
Max - Probably not top ¼, but definitely top 5/16, the story is like modern mysteries in that in order to make the story work, you can’t have cell phones, but in the 1880s, one character (the son, Arthur) just refuses to explain.
Johanna - The drama in the story (client bangs his head against the wall), Watson just appears at Baker Street, no framing/context about why. Did Holmes not want to save the daughter?
Story Discussion
Holmes’ investigation of the footmarks in snow was fun, but was there really enough (and just the right amount at the right time)? London doesn’t get that much snow! Any other stories that had a man with a wooden leg? Definitely Black Peter, Sign of Four, any others? (STUD had the flat-toed man, but no peg leg.)
The Holders don’t handle stress well. Neither Arthur, nor the banker—Alexander, his father—were cool under duress. One became spasmodic and self-harming, and the other nearly went to jail because he wouldn’t discuss the situation rationally.
We noted that the client said that if the coronet wasn’t returned in pristine condition, it might as well not be returned at all…yet it was nearly destroyed, and returned in multiple pieces (not to mention that Holmes attempted to injure it further). So was Holmes actually successful in this case?
Both the modern Moriarty and the Victorian Basil Rathbone version (scrub to about 1:00 in) can’t keep their hands off the Crown Jewels. This story seems to be the closest Canonical connection, even if it’s not very closely related to the films/television shows.
Potential quiz ideas for future meetings—Glen has a quiz book (that he brings to in-person meetings)
What was the crime (was there a crime?) and whodunnit?
Was Mary really the villain in this? Was Sir George Burnwell? Was Arthur?
Story pun-time!—Roll out the Beryl, the Coral Baronette, Baryl/Daryl? drives a Dodge Coronet
A question Glen asked about NFTs led to a discussion re: collectables, tulips, Beeple and Beeton’s (nobody originally considered it worth saving, so it’s now rare), NFTs are worth as much someone would be willing to pay for them (pyramid scheme?)
Speaking of peg legs…the best (semi-)peg leg related joke I know:
An able-bodied seaman meets a pirate in a bar, and they take turns recounting their adventures at sea. Noting the pirate's peg-leg, hook, and eye patch, the seaman asks "So, how did ya end up with the peg-leg?"
The pirate replies "We was caught in a monster storm off the cape and a giant wave swept me overboard. Just as they was pullin' me out, a school of sharks appeared and one of them foul creatures bit me bloomin' leg off".
"Blimey!" said the seaman. "Thats awful unlucky... What about that hook?"
"Ahhhh...", mused the pirate, "We were boardin' a traders ship, with pistols blastin' and swords swingin' this way and that. And in the fracas me hand got chopped clean off."
"Blimey!" remarked the seaman. "Ya don't say... And how did ye come by that eye patch"?
"Argh.. a bloody seagull droppin' fell into me eye", answered the pirate.
"Ya lost yer eye to a seagull droppin'?" the sailor asked incredulously.
"Well..." said the pirate; "ya see mate, it was me first day with this here hook......."