Today one of the long-running Sherlockian events had its fifteenth installment. "A Scintillation of Scions," traditionally held near Baltimore, Maryland, has kept itself going through the past few years with three on-line incarnations, and their most recent slate of speakers was both strong and full of familiar faces.
The big difference between an in-person Sherlockian symposium and a Zoom version similar to the difference between watching a movie on TV and going to a theater to see a movie. Nobody "multi-tasks" in a movie theater, a bad habit many of us have gotten into as work meetings on Zoom or Teams started to interfere with our ability to get jobs done. Nobody comes to remind you that clothes need to be moved from washer to dryer in a movie theater. And, while you can always step our for popcorn at a theater, it's not the same as having your whole kitchen available to you at any given moment.
No vendors, no side chats with a new Sherlockian friend, none of those extras we get at an in-person Sherlockian weekend, which is why the Scintillation folks are quite anxious to get back to in-person gatherings. Holmes, Doyle & Friends in Dayton found their sweet spot between variants in April of this year and managed an in-person event without seeming to spread much virus, but my recent infection from an August Sherlockian weekend trip definitely made me appreciate the Scintillation's abundance of caution.
But let's get to the program.
Chris Zordan started the day off very strong with an investigation into the country Watson wrote of as "San Pedro" in "Wisteria Lodge," taking us to a place we have never been before.
Rich Krisciunas paid tribute to Jonas Oldacre in rhyme, Bonnie MacBird got interviewed by Karen Wilson, Ira Mateskey rolled out his knowledge of Doyle's American publishing, and then things really got good.
Madeline Quiñones, in what might have been her first presentation at a Sherlockian conference, made a case for a younger Holmes than traditionally viewed with one of the best slideshows we saw all day, featuring her own art.
Heather Holloway and Crystal Noll, whom I usually associate with just throwing the best party in Sherlockiana, 221B Con, showed their full genius with a very learned discussion of Conan Doyle's representation of "voodoo" type religions. Their presentation rose to a whole 'nother level, though, when they compared those religions to Doyle's own spiritualist beliefs and the amazing amount of cognitive dissonance he was showing. A real highlight of the day.
My old friend Rob Nunn, then, had tough acts to follow when he got to talking about Colonel Lysander Stark as an amalgam of Canonical villainy that Conan Doyle would return to again and again, but he pulled it off with a solid presentation, and I was very glad he made that hurdle without breaking a leg.
Sherlockian musical expert Josh Harvey, still suffering a covid infection, served as the clean-up batter for the day with a talk on the Sherlockianly inspired Gregory House, his lineage, and then to the lineage of another Sherlock Holmes related fellow, composer Patrick Gowers whose family ties connect him to Joseph Bell. Josh dug deep into history for the ties of medical men who may have inspired Sherlock Holmes along with Bell.
Since I didn't open up my laptop, and just ran the Scintillation on my big screen, nobody knew I wore my Holmes and Watson t-shirt in honor of the day, nor did they have the steady, hard rain that kept background for it. Thinking about movie theaters, though, got me wanting some popcorn, so now that it's done, I'm off to my favorite theater for the murder mystery Bodies Bodies Bodies, if the storm lets me do same. It's been a good Sherlockian day, and I'm very appreciative of all the work that went into it by the presenters.
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