Three Patch and that other side of the Sherlockian world

I was listening to the latest Three Patch podcast this morning when it occurred to me how much this three-to-four hour monthly podcast is The Baker Street Journal of modern Sherlock Holmes fandom. This may seem like a ridiculous statement to those whose view of Holmes fans doesn't leave the pre-2010 box, but taking an expansive, inclusive view of the current state of Holmes fandom, it's a parallel that's hard to miss.

The show's view of what's out there is, even if you're not chasing down every new scenario fanfic, is always curious and searching, the way Sherlockiana has always been at its best. We are the followers of Sherlock Holmes -- "curious and searching" is a place we naturally exist. Following leads that go into potentially less-popular corners of Sherlock's legend, like this month's Eurus exploration, may not be the same, comfortable, "old and familiar" that many a Sherlockian enjoys about the hobby, but to the mind craving a little more stimulation, Three Patch can definitely bring it.

The world is broad, and when it comes to Sherlock Holmes, there is so much to see.

In a recent comment from an old school Sherlockian friend, it was suggested that I was playing the Sherlockian Timothy Leary in my posts, and pandering purposefully for a younger audience. I had to look up Leary as my prime memory of him was a 1960s episode of Dragnet, where the show's creator made a Timothy Leary clone just so the show's main character could win an argument about drugs.

Leary was a Harvard LSD researcher who, perhaps, got a little too into that particular drug and also became a popular counterculture figure along the way. Though I don't think I'm in any danger of becoming a popular counterculture figure in Sherlockiana, I do indulge in Three Patch podcast a lot more than most Baby Boomer male Sherlockians, so if that could be seen as a drug that expands one's mind, I guess I could maybe take a teensy bit of that parallel? I don't know. I just know I enjoy the stuff. (Three Patch, not LSD, about which: Nope! Not that Sherlock-y, to experiment with such things.)

But I like what Three Patch podcast has been building over the last five years, and hope to see it continue into the future, just like The Baker Street Journal did in its prime, continuing to this day.