Mystery Trivia Tuesday: Holmes Has Gone to the Dogs

image from tumblr.com

I’ve often written about actors who’ve portrayed Sherlock Holmes. One thing most have in common is that once they don the cap and cape and walk into 221B Baker Street, the transformation in instantaneous. Be it Rathbone, Brett, Downey Jr. or Cumberbatch, they don’t play Holmes they become Holmes. And that includes one of my favorite, a Jack Russell Terrier named Wishbone. From 1995 to 1998, the spunky terrier played various characters from literature on the PBS children’s series Wishbone. His repertoire included Sancho Panza, Robin Hood, Tom Sawyer, Oliver Twist, Romeo Montague, Quasimodo, Edward Dantes, and Sherlock Holmes in, what else, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Was he convincing? Absolutely. The little dog nailed Holmes. True, we didn’t see him clamp the clay pipe between his teeth, but otherwise his portrayal was flawless.

            Can any other dog breed play Holmes so convincingly: a poodle, golden lab, Pomeranian? I think not. What’s your opinion?  

Check out the youtube video of his performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eijAqqGYfH0

My three mystery trivia books: The Sherlock Holmes Triviography and Quiz Book, The Alfred Hitchcock Triviography and Quiz Book, and The Agatha Christie Triviography and Quiz Book have been updated and will be reissued in May by LL-Publicaitons.

Sunday's for the Birds: Up, Up, and Away!!!

Well it finally happened. On Thursday morning at 9:40, the chicks of the Class of 2011 took to the air and headed northwest to Wisconsin. There was some serious doubt as to whether these confused little birds would actually migrate after the stalled trip to Florida last fall. But those migratory genes kicked in as pilot Brooke Pennypacker, who has been crane sitting for the last several weeks, watched the whoopers fly into the clouds, catch a thermal, and leave Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. That first day, they flew 231 miles and roosted in Gallatin County, Illinois.

            Heather Ray, OM team member, posted a great summary on April 13 on OM’s website of an article in Birdwatching Magazine by Matt Mendenhall on bird navigation. The recent, and most accepted, theory was that iron-rich nerve cells in bird beaks helped them navigate by following the Earth's magnetic fields. New studies have shown that is not the case. Whatever the reason, it’s working and the chicks should be home in a few days.

Four members of the Class of 2011.
Photo taken by OM crew member, Bev Paulan,
March 5 and posted on OM website.

         As of today, 60 cranics have commented, wishing the cranes safe flight, and more than 220  “likes,” have been posted on the cranes' Facebook page.

            And here’s the last Facebook comment from the chick who has been penning updates for his flock mates. “We is tezting da wind . . . itz FUN FUN FUN up high!!!!”

         We hope to hear from him on the road. And while he’s spending a leisurely summer in Wisconsin, maybe he’ll have time to focus on his spelling.

http://www.facebook.com/OperationMigration

http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html

http://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/