Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press 2012 - Red Circle of ...

Jan 12 #4 Don Christian spotted a story on National Public Radio's "All
Things Considered" (Jan. 2) that might be of interest to those
who recall that Sherlock Holmes owned a Stradivarius: 17 blindfolded expert
violinists were asked to identify whether an excerpt from Tchaikovsky's Vi-
olin Concerto in D Major was played on a Strad or on a modern violin. Only
three of the experts got it right. You can listen to the story, and take
the test yourself, at .
Ronald Searle died on Dec. 30. He was a well-known cartoonist, caricatur-
ist, and cover artist for newspapers and magazines in Britain, France, and
the United States. Most famous, perhaps, for creating "The Belles of St.
Trinian's" and "Molesworth", Searle also drew the sitting room at 221B Bak-
er Street for the catalog of the Abbey House exhibition in 1951, reprinted
in Punch (June 20, 1951); other Sherlockian work included an illustration
in Punch (July 6, 1953) and a cartoon in The New Yorker (Dec. 16, 1991).
The publicity still from "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1939) signed
by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce that was offered at eBay with an opening
bid of $6,000 (Dec 11 #5) went unsold when no one entered a bid.
Nice news for friends of Matilda (described by the N.Y. Times as the "Al-
gonquin's Roaming Diva Cat"): after the Department of Health expressed con-
cern about a live animal that isn't a service dog being present in a food-
service establishment (Nov 11 #7), the Algonquin has installed an electric
fence that will ensure that Matilda stays in a safe section of the lobby.
You can read all about it at .