Welcome

The Red Circle is Sherlock's home in Washington DC. Now in our eighth decade, we continue to celebrate his immortality and enjoy each other's company. All are welcome to join us and share our interest in all things Sherlockian and Doylean.
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Archives

Inner Circle Meeting Notes Wrinting and Videos Quezzes and Puzzles

 


 

"Operation Sting" remembered.   Peter Blau is not the only Red Circle veteran who remembers the mid-70s law enforcement operation that resulted in more than 100 arrests of theives who fenced their plunder to FBI and DC police officers posing as wise guys of the Italian mob. FBI agent Bob Lill and DC lieutenant Bob Arscott adopted comical (not to say offensive) "noms de sting" like Rico Rigatone and Angelo Lasagna to front the operation. Later, Arscott was a featured speaker at Bouchercon at the National Press Club, with many from the Red Circle participaing in the festivities. A humorous four-minute video from WETA details the operation. Watch it here. 9/20/23 AR

 
The Red Circle met on June 24, and the meeting notes are available here. Video of the meeting will be posted shortly. Watch this space.
 
The Red Circle Redux  Some of us--like Peter Blau--remember the days when movie theaters used multi-part serials to encourage customers to come back every week, and one of them was Daredevils of the Red Circle, a 12-part serial released by Republic Pictures in 1939. It's not at all Sherlockian, but there's a mad killer involved and of course it has a very nice title! If you don't mind spoilers you can read all about it here and watch it on YouTube here. 4/10/23 PB
 
Rare (but not stuffy) Books  Rebecca Romney and Brian Cassidy are rare book sellers here in the Washington area. They're the proprietors of Type Punch Matrix in Silver Spring, and Rebecca has been the rare book guru on TV's Pawn Stars since 2011. Both Rebecca and Brian are Sherlockians and Red Circle members. Washingtonian magazine has just published a very nice article about the duo and their book emporium. It's a delightful read. Punch it up here. 2/7/23 AR
 
"Art in the Blood is liable to take the strangest forms," said Sherlock Holmes in "The Greek Interpreter." He went on to reveal that his roots trace back to the multi-generational French family of artists named Vernet. Among them was Carle Vernet (1758-1836), the detective's second grand uncle. Mary Burke alerts us that an exhibition of Carle Vernet's work will be on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts through August 27. Information here. 3/3/23 AR
 

A "Red Circle" Compendium  A lasting Sherlockian legacy of the COVID plague is The Legion of Zoom, an amalgamation of Sherlockians who have participated in more sciontific Zoom meetings than ought to be permissible under international humanitarian law. The Legion, via sparkplug Steve Mason, is providing its members cannily curated compendiums of canonical chronicles, and has graciously allowed us to share with you the edition devoted to “The Red Circle.” It’s great fun to see “our” story’s story, with characters, plot points, publication history, artwork and more wrapped in a handsome package. Have a look for yourself, and enjoy!  2/6/23 AR

 

The Red Circle meets Artificial Intelligence  With all the commotion about artificial intelligence lately, your webmaster decided to see what the now-famous online guru called ChatGPT has to say about us. On one hand, it's amazing that it got some things right; on the other, well, maybe it needs a little work. See for yourself. ChatGPT's "term paper" is available for you to peruse. Click here to share the fun. 2/3/23 AR
 
 
The Red Circle luncheon meeting on December 17 was a tremendous success. Read all about the proceedings in Carla Kaessinger Coupe's Meeting Notes here.
 
AFI Celebrates Barrymore's 1922 Sherlock Holmes with Centennial Screening  The American Film Institute's Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland was the perfect place to present John Barrymore's star turn in the classic silent film Sherlock Holmes on the 100th anniversary of its release. A number of Red Circle members joined other film fans at the AFI's showcase theatre for the November 13 event, which was greatly enhanced by a live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton. Your webmaster was also on hand to introduce the film. The AFI's programming director Todd Hitchcock was a gracious host, and tells us that he's aiming for more Sherlock Holmes programming at the Silver in the near future. Watch this space!  11/14/22 AR
 
Red Circle Pins Available  The pin has been proudly worn all over the Sherlockian world, from Rockville to the Reichenbach, so Red Circle members (which includes everyone who's ever been to a meeting) will treasure having their own. The price is $14.95 each, which includes shipping anywhere. Send an email to Tom Fahres to order.
 
Scuttlebutt: One Fixed Point in a Changing Age  Our own Peter E. Blau's monthly Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press has endured for more than 50 years, and has a permanent home right here on our website. It's the most remarkable collection of Sherlockian news and notes anywhere, and your webmaster recommends a monthly visit. The very latest edition is available now, as are past numbers. It's just a click away--use the "Scuttlebutt" button at the top of the page.
 
  • Be an Inner Circle Contributor We welcome submissions from all quarters for this page. Please direct materials to the webmaster, alan@redcircledc.org
  • For earlier, archived items from The Inner Circle, click here.