The Revenge of the Hounds

 Sometimes, we just don't get it, do we?

In our enthusiasm for this lovely hobby of ours, we focus on Sherlock Holmes to the point of ignoring what's around us, pulling an "old Frankland the crank" and getting so caught up in our enthusiasms that we ruin some innocent folks' picnic. Maybe you've been at one of those gatherings of the Sherlockian faithful where one fanbull in the fanchina fanshop starts rampaging over the mixing and mingling with an adamant point that kills the party dead in its tracks. And maybe you've noticed that said person oftimes seems completely oblivious to the effect they're having. Or maybe they do know, but have the righteous flame of fandom in their heart, and . . . well, that's never good. Holy warriors are the nastiest of warriors.

Pretty sure I've been there. Trying to avoid it these days.

A certain Peoria friend of mine once started taking perverse pleasure at getting kicked off the Hounds of the Internet listserv group, sneaking back on and pretending to be an innocent Sherlockian who didn't post the things that got him kicked off, until he finally couldn't help himself and would get kicked off again. Said friend is gone now, but I think the karma he built up with the Hounds has made a great years-long orbit and come back around to bite Peoria in the ass this month.

You see, we had this nice little library discussion group here in Peoria. I've mentioned it here a time or two. The pandemic hit and we went to Zoom, as such things do. And the group survived. We used Zoom as a tool to connect our regulars, and things went on much the same as they were. And then, like a rascal Peorian of the early 2000s rolling into the Hounds of the Internet, the Hounds of the Internet decided to roll into us.

One of their members from a distant city found the library website via some googling and came to last month's meeting, then decided to tell the rest of the Hounds that here was a good discussion to get in on.

Well, I don't know about what happens at your library discussion groups or local societies, but here in Peoria, it's a chance for people who don't know Sherlock Holmes so well to meet him, one story at a time, and get to know him. Sometimes they delight in finding a new footnote in the volume they're reading to share with the group, sometimes they just like to talk about what they found in this story they were often reading for the first time. To me, that's always been the point of the group, Sherlock Holmes for the non-Sherlockian. And letting people who aren't old hands or low-key experts on the topic speak, and hearing their often new and refreshing views.

We were never looking to draw big crowds from across the country or overseas. That's been a great thing in Sherlockian Zooms for the hardcore among us. But not for a little local discussion group like ours.

And here's the weird thing . . . with all of the online opportunities out there, why did the Hounds decide to invade our little online spot? I mean, http://www.sherlockiancalendar.com/ is out there, as are all the groups who made the Legion of Zoom possible. And I would suspect a Legion of Zoom motivation, were not the instigator of our little invasion someone I have not seen anywhere else online.

So, like any people with the ability to migrate into new lands when their old are occupied, it's looking like the regulars of our local Peoria discussion group might be finding a new hangout. Old Frankland has bespoiled our little picnic grounds, and I guess the Hounds have had their revenge.