His Next Vow

Well, in the excitement preparatory to 221B Con, I woke up this morning to find that a wee bit of that fun, our loose assemblage of pro-Sherlock folks under the banner "@#% *$ &^#% @$^(?#" called "Doyle's Rotary Coffin" had been dissolved, due to . . . well, it's not exactly a trademark issue . . . a concept issue?

We fans can be a bit precious about our ideas sometimes, and a high-profile Sherlockian group had apparently laid claim to "@#% *$ &^#% @$^(?#," though I'm finding it nowhere on their site. In many a past rant when I was tearing Elementary a new *ahem* before reforming my evil ways, I railed against that "@#% *$ &^#% @$^(?#" idea and, always sure it came from the WelcomeHolmes online discussion group, so when it first came up in the initial silly inspiration of the group "Doyle's Rotary Coffin" and our founder said "with grateful acknowledgement" to said high profile group for his British-tweaked "@#% *$ &^#% @$^(?#," I  even thought "Well, that's nice he did that, even if I don't think they originated it."

But apparently someone is sure they did, and all the club badge ribbons are now highly-collectable, never to be reproduced items of value that I'm just going to have to dispose of somehow. I'm sure I can find someone to help me with that. Or many someones.

Nature abhors a vacuum, however, and Doyle's Rotary Coffin II will need a new motto to continue its mission of turning haters into accepters, as it has for myself and others. So how to express that same spirit and keep this necessary movement going forward? Spinning is a defining factor of a rotary coffin, so it seems like it should be something we can do. The original offending phrase was used as a part of a vow, so we might even have to take in the the whole vow for a refurb.

"I vow to spin Bad Holmeses into gold, especially Dreadful Holmes, Bizarre Holmes and Sacrilegious Holmes." Kind of Rumplestitlskin-like?

Hmm, in acknowledging there are bad Holmeses, that kind of works against the whole pro-Sherlocks concept, doesn't it? Let's try again.

"I vow to honour the code 'No Bad Holmes' especially Dreadful Holmes, Bizarre Holmes, and Sacrilegious Holmes."

That kind of spins off Barbara Woodhouse's No Bad Dogs,  which makes me think of the faithful Watson, so maybe "I vow to honour the code 'No Bad Watsons," especially in cases where he has recorded Dreadful Holmes, Bizarre Holmes, and Sacrilegious Holmes."

I think that's heading in the right direction, but I will need to consult with some experts to see if there isn't a better motto for Doyle's Rotary Coffin II. Let me know your thoughts, experts! (Meaning anyone who reads this blog regularly, because you must be a really devoted Sherlockian expert to keep this stuff in your Sherlock-intake on a regular basis.)

Over our history, many a Sherlock Holmes society has fallen, only to be reincarnated later by Sherlockians in that same city, so even though Doyle's Rotary Coffin isn't city-based, I think that torch can be picked up and moved ahead once our new credo is created. It was founded in a worthy, positive spirit, and that sort of flame needs to be fanned in today's world wherever possible.