The Geek Interpreters

[Arcadia]

When it comes to the English language, I happily defer to the English!

[Pawse]

One day I'm a-gonna have a ride in the London Eye. Or the Eye Wheel as one character called it in The League Of Gentlemen. Which incidentally, was created by none other than Mark Gatiss (among others).

[Janie]

 

She - well, I always thought that it could be the lady from the museum since she is supposed to have Czech origin and the envelope has Bohemian stationery

I thought that too, at first, but was that point ever made in the show? (Maybe it was, I miss a lot of clues.) And when I started wondering about it, I couldn't think of any reason why she WOULD ....

I can't think of anyone else. She was somehow connected with Moriarty so he or someone from his network could order her to do it.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I believe Sherlock says "she" sent the pink phone because he had identified the handwriting on the envelope as being a woman's.  But I don't believe she was ever specifically identified -- maybe we still have that to look forward to -- someone on the forum suggested that the REAL Moriarty is a woman (but I doubt we'll see that, now that Elementary has used the idea).

 

Please don't call the London Eye a "ferris wheel" in public.      That's what I call it too, but it's technically an "observation wheel" because it rotates so slowly (and because it's so expensive!).  It makes just one revolution every half hour, and your ticket buys just one revolution.  Because it goes so slowly, they don't generally even stop it to let people on and off.

 

I believe that the punctuation in parentheses refers to sort of implied emotion or sarcasm.  Like if I said "Don't fall off the balcony!" that would mean I was screaming or something, whereas if I said "Don't fall off the balcony (!)" that might mean "I assume you realize that you shouldn't fall off the balcony, you idiot."

 

There are dates on Sherlock's gravestone?!  Just engraved, I assume, and not painted gold like his name?  I never noticed!

 

Right, whoever said it, an Oyster card is sort of like a debit card for your "transportation account."  It's good for trains, subway, and busses in the London area, and you can "top it up" at most train stations and tube stations, so it's good indefinitely.  Ever so much handier than fumbling for the correct change!

 

I think the main point with Sally's "Daily Mail" whisper is that it's a very influential tabloid. and Lestrade has just given their reporter a rather flip answer.  He immediately gives her a more serious answer.

 

[Caya]

There's a pic of the headstone in the casebook, where you can see the birth date, but not the year, between the flowers:

 

 

This tweet by Arwel Wyn Jones seems to confirm the year as 1977.

[Carol the Dabbler]

So they're going with fan canon for the January 6.  Why am I not surprised?  Wonder where they got the '77?

 

[Arcadia]

Carol, you da bomb! Caya, you da sleuth!

 

If they REALLY want to be different, Moriarity could be a hermaphrodite, that would cover all the bases...

 

[Arcadia]

Please don't call the London Eye a "ferris wheel" in public.      That's what I call it too, but it's technically an "observation wheel" because it rotates so slowly (and because it's so expensive!).  It makes just one revolution every half hour, and your ticket buys just one revolution.  Because it goes so slowly, they don't generally even stop it to let people on and off.

Wait ... what!?!?!? They don't let people on or off? So the same people are riding it from the day it was built??????

 

(Sorry, it just struck me and I couldn't resist.......

[CumberCookieCrumble]

Haha they must be dizzy.

 

as for Moriarty being a woman.

 

My little brainis now thinking *holy moly Mary is Moriarty in drag*

 

ye I need sleep.

[Arcadia]

I must need sleep too, I thought you wrote "Molly is Moriarty" at first. Geeahhhghghg, now THAT would be different! :-)

[Carol the Dabbler]

I definitely need sleep! 

 

[besleybean]

Ok 2 points.

The whole purpose of the grave stone is that it only has Sherlock's name on it, nothing else.  A huge clue that he's not actually in  it, yet!

Sorry, you are completely wrong on Sally's Daily Mail comment.

Everybody in the UK knows that Sally reminds Greg that he needs to speak in a calm and clear way, for the lower intellect to understand.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The whole purpose of the grave stone is that it only has Sherlock's name on it, nothing else.  A huge clue that he's not actually in  it, yet!

Well, that's what I've always thought -- but then where did the photos with the dates come from? It looks like the dates are kinda small and down near the bottom of the stone, so maybe they simply were not in frame most of the time.

 

Sorry, you are completely wrong on Sally's Daily Mail comment.

Everybody in the UK knows that Sally reminds Greg that he needs to speak in a calm and clear way, for the lower intellect to understand.

While your explanation is plausible, I think mine is also supported by the dialog:

REPORTER 3: Yes, but if they are murders, how do people keep themselves safe?

LESTRADE: Well, don’t commit suicide.

(The reporter looks at him in shock. Donovan covers her mouth and murmurs a warning.)

DONOVAN: “Daily Mail.”

(Lestrade grimaces and looks at the reporters again.)

LESTRADE: Obviously this is a frightening time for people, but all anyone has to do is exercise reasonable precautions. We are all as safe as we want to be.

 

Note that Lestrade first gives the reporter a really smart-ass answer, then when Donovan warns him, he gives a much more serious answer.  It sounds to me like he wanted to avoid alienating that particular reporter (presumably so she won't rake him over the coals too badly).

[Arcadia]

Pssst, I think maybe besleybean was being sarcastic.... :-)

 

I love Lestrade. He's so .... grounded.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I think maybe besleybean was being sarcastic.... :-)

 

Good point -- I know people sometimes miss my sarcasm, even when I remember to use a smiley.  But there's almost always room for interpretation, too.

 

[besleybean]

No, I think Lestrade was being warned that the Daily Mail would publish a really sensationalist story.

[Pawse]

So they're going with fan canon for the January 6. Why am I not surprised? Wonder where they got the '77?

As far as I know, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put it at 6th January, although admittedly, the year being 1854.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Some of the more serious ACD fans can refute this if I'm wrong, but it's my impression that the old-line fans "deduced" that Holmes's birthday was January 6 because that date was mentioned in several stories, and in one of them he attended a party that evening -- or something like that.  Near as I recall, it was nothing I'd even call plausible, though I certainly couldn't disprove it either.

 

[besleybean]

You're right, of course.

But certainly most recognized serious Sherlockians have historically always marked that day.

Well, at least acknowledged it!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

If I remember right, a couple of reasons that January 6th was picked up on was because in canon the only time Holmes was mentioned to being "hung over" was on the morning of January 7th...so some of the so called scholars concluded that he over did it at his own birthday bash.

 

Then I think it was mentioned in a story that Holmes commented on liking the Shakespearean play "Twelfth Night". Which also falls on January 6th. So they believe that the connection to be of some significance to Holmes. Hence, his birthday.

[T.o.b.y]

What story is that from, Fox? The only scene I can recall as taking place on January 7th is the opening of "The Valley of Fear" - and I can't remember Holmes being hung over or saying anything about Shakespeare there...

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And it is from this beginning of the "Valley of Fear"....with a   "grumpy Holmes sitting with head in hand before an uneaten breakfast" that spurred the Holmesian Christopher Morely...to "deduce"  I think one can safely say.....guessed...that Holmes was hung over....or not. Depending on how serious one takes this.

 

 

So why Jan. 6?

Paul Singleton, a Sherlockian scholar and actor in New York, said Christopher Morley made the following argument: Sherlock Holmes quotes Shakespeare often, but the only play he quotes twice is “Twelfth Night.” “He determined that Sherlock Holmes was born on the twelfth night, which is January 6.” (That date would coincide with the night of the 12 drummers drumming from the famed song. The drummer

s’ labors costs, incidentally, are used to calculate of gifts forms a good consumer price index).

Another argument for Jan. 6 was made by William S. Baring-Gould, who produced the first annotated Sherlock Holmes collection. He and others have argued that “The Valley of Fear,” the final Sherlock Holmes novel, starts on Jan. 7.

Mr. Holmes seems to be a little cranky at the beginning of the story and snaps at Dr. John H. Watson. But why would he be in a bad mood? Because of a hangover. Why would he have a hangover? He must have been celebrating the night before. What could he have been celebrating? Certainly it was his birthday. (This is nebulous at best, from City Room’s perspective.)

 

“It’s nebulous,” Mr. Singleton admits. “There have been alternate dates proposed.”

 

 So it can all be taken with a grain of salt.

 

 

 

 

 

[T.o.b.y]

And it is from this beginning of the "Valley of Fear"....with a   "grumpy Holmes sitting with head in hand before an uneaten breakfast" that spurred the Holmesian Christopher Morely...to "deduce"  I think one can safely say.....guessed...that Holmes was hung over....or not. Depending on how serious one takes this.

 

 

So why Jan. 6?

Paul Singleton, a Sherlockian scholar and actor in New York, said Christopher Morley made the following argument: Sherlock Holmes quotes Shakespeare often, but the only play he quotes twice is “Twelfth Night.” “He determined that Sherlock Holmes was born on the twelfth night, which is January 6.” (That date would coincide with the night of the 12 drummers drumming from the famed song. The drummer

s’ labors costs, incidentally, are used to calculate of gifts forms a good consumer price index).

Another argument for Jan. 6 was made by William S. Baring-Gould, who produced the first annotated Sherlock Holmes collection. He and others have argued that “The Valley of Fear,” the final Sherlock Holmes novel, starts on Jan. 7.

Mr. Holmes seems to be a little cranky at the beginning of the story and snaps at Dr. John H. Watson. But why would he be in a bad mood? Because of a hangover. Why would he have a hangover? He must have been celebrating the night before. What could he have been celebrating? Certainly it was his birthday. (This is nebulous at best, from City Room’s perspective.)

 

“It’s nebulous,” Mr. Singleton admits. “There have been alternate dates proposed.”

 

 So it can all be taken with a grain of salt.

 

Thank you! Okay, I'll take this with a whole mountain of salt, because

- Holmes was often grumpy

- Holmes often sat around in a limp attitude, letting his food get cold

- Holmes often went without food altogether when he was thinking / working

- In this particular instance, he was pondering over the letter of warning he had just received from one of Moriarty's followers:

 

"He was too much absorbed with his own thoughts to give any immediate answer to my remonstrance. He leaned upon his hand, with his untasted breakfast before him, and he stared at the slip of paper which he had just drawn from its envelope. Then he took the envelope itself, held it up to the light, and very carefully studied both the exterior and the flap."

 

Sounds more like any old day at Baker St than a hung over detective after a night out on his birthday.

 

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Exactly.  The Scion Societies were looking for an excuse for a party....Sherlock Holmes needed a Birthday.....so there ya go.....

[Janie]

To me Holmes doesn't look like someone who would willingly celebrate his birthday.