Well, "A Timeline of the Holmes/Watson Partnership No Matter What Time" went pretty well. Chris Ziordan and I had a room full of attentive Sherlockians and we rolled around in Sherlockian chronology, basics, big questions, pet theories, oddities, and so much more, with the folks in the seats contributing so much and even inspiring new ideas as the best exchanges do.
After that was time for a quick run at the dealer's room, taking things back to my room, lunch at the food truck with some excellent brisket and large-cut potato salad, and then . . . just bouncing around. This year's charity "ship wars." in which you vote with cash in the bucket of your favorite choice, was not featuring relationship "ships" but actual ships (except for Sherlolly), whether it was the Lusitania, the Enterprise D, the barque Lone Star, or the Terror. Since the Terror had such a good panel earlier today, that bucket got some cash from me, along with some discussion of the ships, both there and missing from the line-up with the con volunteers at the table.
Very soon we got a panel with a great internet hook-up with the writer (Joel Emery) and the director (Adam Jarrell) of the podcast Sherlock & Co., which was much anticipated. Questions were asked, secrets were shared, and we learned of Sherlock, John, and Marianna coming to America on the show. We also hear that A.J. Raffles will be coming to the Sherlock & Co. universe. (But it's a secret so don't tell anyone.)
Unfortunately, since I volunteered to time-clock panels, I had to leave at the halfway point to go to a Lucy Worsley panel. Longtime con regular Joan Selacal is going solo on the panel and her daughter is handing out copies of an article on CBS Watson before it starts, so I'm wondering if it might wander that direction. But Joan gets to Lucy Worsley's PBS show Killing Sherlock and dives into the minutiae. My volunteer duties include closing the door at the ten minute mark, but I can't figure out how to unlatch the door from its fixed open position. When I get back from that attempt, Joan has move on to CBS Watson and is mentioning other current police consultant shows like Elsbeth and High Potential.
Okay, let's be honest. I slipped off back to the Sherlock & Co. session for twenty minutes, then snuck back in and gave the five minute warning as duty required. The food truck closes at five, but Johanna Draper-Carlson, Heather Hinson, and Chris Ziordan are doing a panel called "Everything We Know About Mycroft Holmes Is a Lie," and we know fights are gonna happen, so I don't want to miss it. But I'm hungry. And food truck. And the panel is stirring up trouble already. But I'm hungry.
[Much later]
My trip to the food truck turned into fried okra in the bar with Steve Mason and Crystal Noll. 221B Con is well know for hijacking your time in unexpected directions. Fried okra into the bar turned into an excursion to a mythical Mexican restaurant that turned into a visit to The Ohio Hog Company in Tyrone, next to the Publix we always get supplies at. (Quick review, great BBQ, meaty tender ribs, definitely recommended!)
Anyway, upon returning from food, I headed into yet another Mycroftian panel: "Mystrade: The Grown-ups in the Room." This was one of the fullest panel with six enthusiastic Mystraders up front. After much discussion of Mycroft and Lestrade, their roles in the lives of Sherlock and John, all the fanfic out there, etc. the session ends with a quiz on BBC Sherlock and fic related topics. I scored 7 out of twenty, which was enough to win a rainbow Peeps on a stick, which "Southern Erica" helped my open and eat immediately. (We have two Ericas, and our best differentiation was "Northern Erica" and "Southern Erica" even though the latter is not from the actual South. Just far south of Northern Erica.)
A half hour later, I'm at one of my must-go panels, the Three Patch Podcast, talking about their upcoming book project covering their years podcasting and generally being the most creative and energetic bunch of Sherlockians you will see anywhere. (I know that's a bold statement, but if you haven't been at 221B Con, gone to their suite, listened to most of their podcasts, seen it all, you just don't know. Seriously.) They have the largest room for their panel with nine of their legion up there, including artist Fox Estacado, who usually is busy manning her dealers table at con. (I'm wearing one of Fox's shirt right now.)
Three Patch Podcast's panel
I mean, right now they're talking about harpooning a pig in a hotel suite with an actual harpoon and a pig pinata full of . . . well, adult items. Oh! And there's video. Damn, they know how to do it. But they always have. I remember the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes talking about their heyday, and if you take that energy, move it forward thirty or forty years, and multiply up the numbers and turn the levels up to eleven, you get Three Patch. Their energies have brought so much to 221B Con, and their upcoming book is going to be a wonderful documenting of an era that future Sherlockians will wish they had been here for.
The 221B Con Prom is coming up next, and I brought a bag of costume that I'll be putting on, so I'm going to go ahead and post this. More to come.
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