As regular readers know, a couple of months ago, I moved to London. Unfortunately, for practical reasons — mostly involving the legal transport of our dog, Cody — my wife was not able to join me right away. Knowing that, and knowing that my new friends in London could not always be entertaining me at the pub — though several have made valiant efforts — I decided to undertake some long-intended reading.

For starters, I picked up a copy of the Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes.

At 1,022 pages and weighing about 5 pounds, it was a heavy (literally) piece of reading, but the Holmes Canon (as true Holmes experts call the collected works) was one work of literature I had long wanted to complete.

And since almost the moment of my arrival, it has been my companion. On evenings when I wanted to get out for a quiet dinner, for example, Holmes and Watson came along. They’ve been along to the pub and the coffee shop and even taken the round trip with me to Coventry and Milton Keynes.

Tonight, I finished it.

I had read some Holmes in the past. Everyone, I think, ought to be required to read Sign of Four and Hound of the Baskervilles in a literature class somewhere along their educational path. But I had never before consumed all of the tails. And certainly, I had never done so on London.

Reading Holmes so soon after coming to London turned out to be a great way to immerse myself in the London of the Victorian era. And to a great degree, the London that was built up in the time of Holmes is still very much the one that I live in today.

Even now, Thames water have only begun replacing the Victorian sewer system. My own flat is in a converted Victorian townhouse built on one of the most important and oldest streets in north London.

One day, after reading my Holmes through a cold, grey weekend morning, the sun emerged, so I went down to Baker Street and visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum. At the time Conan Doyle was first publishing the Holmes stories, 221B Baker Street was the world’s most famous false address. Today, it stands just over the road from the Baker Street tube station, and just yards from the lovely Regent Park. In Holmes’ day, it would have been further down, closer to hustle of Oxford Street. No matter. The museum was interesting. And if nothing else, I learned that Mrs. Hudson’s house and the rooms taken by the good doctor and the eccentric detective were each a good bit smaller than I had envisioned.

The Sherlock Holmes Statue at Baker Street Tube Station in London.
Credit: fede_gene88 via Flickr.

Still, I kept reading. Through all 56 short stories and 4 novels.

So much literary criticism has been penned about the Canon, that I won’t pretend to try and contribute. I will say that many of Conan Doyle’s stories are masterpieces. But as one would expect, as he got later in life, the stories became a bit more predictable and formulaic. Even so, I can’t point to a single story that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy. And there were many that were absolutely enthralling.

I think my favorite element was the characters of Holmes and Watson themselves. Conan Doyle graced them both with considerable wit and the romanticized grace of an era that was overflowing with it. Watson was especially compelling: the dogged, frustrated writer who over thirty years made his friend the most famous detective in all the world, and kept working his way through the notes in his Despatch Box at the bank near Charing Cross, right up until 1914.

I don’t know how long I’ll live in London. Perhaps for many years. But I am sure that thanks to my time spent with Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson during my first weeks here, whenever I look around, I’ll see fleeting bits of their London wherever I turn.

UPDATE: My wife tells me that two Holmes movies are in the works. I’ll do a little digging on them tomorrow when the sun comes up.

Michael Vick was a criminal. But his dogs were just dogs.

Today, many of them are living happy lives with new masters thanks to an awfully smart move by U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson.

Hudson ordered Vick to pony up about $1 million for his dogs’ care. And as a result, many have been retrained and are now living with experienced foster families around the country. A few are at a sanctuary in Utah. But only two have been euthanized.

The Washington Post has all the details. And if you’re a dog lover, it’s worth reading it all.

If you think the U.S. government is meddlesome and intrusive, the EU will knock your socks off.

Lately, EU bureaucrats have set their sights on health and safety in hotel kitchens, and their resulting regulations, as ever, put a metaphorical stick in the eye of the principles reasonableness and common sense.

The issue? Dogs in homes. Specifically, homes that also rent out rooms to vacationers and feed their guests breakfast each morning during their stay.

Thanks to the EU, these bed and breakfast owners may soon have to choose between the family business and the family pet.

Owners of bed and breakfasts have been banned from keeping dogs in their kitchens under a European Union ruling that could see hundreds of family-run businesses close.

Officials claim that the animals pose a potential health and safety hazard to guests’ food. However, bed and breakfast owners vowed to close rather than turn out the family pet.

Oliver Letwin, the former shadow home secretary, called the legislation “barking mad”.

Someone far smarter than me once said that the problem with legislators is that they’re always legislating, and the problem with regulators is that they’re always regulating. That stands to reason, of course. If they aren’t, they literally are failing to do their job. The question of whether it’s a good idea to legislate or regulate never seems to enter their mind.

The result: Stupid, wasteful, insulting, freedom-sucking mandates like this one.

Cody, in case you missed my post ages ago, is our beagle. And he’s going to be joining me soon in London. But Cody needs a little work on certain aspects of his behavior. So my lovely bride, God bless her, went looking for someone to help us out. And found — why am I not surprised? — an amazing training who also happens to write a blog.

We had our first session with her last week before I left, and she’s awesome. Victoria does it the right way — positive reinforcement — as opposed to the wrong way. And we’re glad she’s helping us. (Because at the end of the day, it’s more about training the person than the dog.)

She’s also blogged about Cody. You can check out her post here. Mostly, though, go check it out for the photos. He really is the cutest dog ever.

Photo by Victoria Schade

Forget politics. Let’s get to the important news of the day. For the first time ever — that’s more than a hundred years — a Beagle took the top “Best in Show” honors at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show last night in New York.

Uno, a beautiful, sturdy beagle of the 15″ variety prevailed, barking, howling and baying throughout.

As a beagle owner and lover of the breed, I couldn’t be happier for Uno, his handler and owners. Congratulations. We’re lifting an On Tap pint in your honor this morning.

I am dying for Cam’s perspective on this story and this related post from Cato@Liberty.

Amid the goods found in the stores, there is one thing that many owners and employees say they cannot do without: their cats. And it goes beyond cuddly companionship. These cats are workers, tireless and enthusiastic hunters of unwanted vermin, and they typically do a far better job than exterminators and poisons.

[snip]

But as efficient as the cats may be, their presence in stores can lead to legal trouble. The city’s health code and state law forbid animals in places where food or beverages are sold for human consumption. Fines range from $300 for a first offense to $2,000 or higher for subsequent offenses.

“Any animal around food presents a food contamination threat,” said Robert M. Corrigan, a rodentologist and research scientist for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. “And so that means anything from animal pieces and parts to hair and excrement could end up in food, and that alone, of course, is a violation of the health code.”

[snip]

“He wants me to get rid of the cat, but the rats will take over if I do,” Mr. Martinez [a bodega owner] said. “I need the cat, and the cat needs a home.”

[snip]

Many bodega owners reason that a cat is less of a health threat than an army of nibbling rats. “If cats live in homes and apartments where people have food, a cat shouldn’t be a threat in a store if it’s well maintained,” Mr. Fernández [another store owner] said.

So, the city doesn’t want the stores to have rats, but it also doesn’t want the stores to keep cats in order to keep the rats away.

Just one more example of the government getting in the way of common sense.

Cam: Back in the old days before I met my wife, she lived in public housing in Camden, New Jersey. She hates cats, but had to resort to having one as a mouser.

I hate cats too, but I’d much rather see a cat in a convenience store than a rat. Then again, when you have a rat as a mayor, what do you expect?

It’s a little hard to tell whether the offering at this site is legitimate or not, but either way, it’s a great idea. In short, someone is making chew toys for dogs in the shape of Michael Vick. I’m going to order one for Cody. Dogs get their metaphorical revenge. Though Jim’s suggestion at the end of this post is still pretty appealling, too.

I am sitting in an airport, which has installed a television in the waiting area, and permanently tuned it to CNN. A moment ago, I caught a promo for a feature on later tonight that puts the spotlight on the horrible practice of dogfighting.

Perhaps that’s the one good thing that will come from the Vick story. Maybe, thanks to the publicity, a few more people will be disgusted and a few more dog fighting rings broken up. And just maybe, a few of the dogs that died horrible deaths on Vick’s property, allegedly at the hands of Vick and his co-conspirators, will have given their lives to help put an end to this abhorrent undertaking.

Here’s hoping…

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in Richmond, Virginia handed down an indictment against Michael Vick. The indictment alleges some of the most inhumane behavior imaginable, and if Vick is found guilty, I’m rooting for serious time.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I’m a dog owner and dog lover. You may also have picked up that I am pretty big fan of animals generally.

On a philosophical level, I believe strongly that the way we treat animals reflects our humanity or lack thereof. It also reveals, I think, the central truths of our individual natures.

Vick and his cohorts allegedly conspired to create a criminal enterprise dedicated to and premised on animal cruelty. According to the indictment, Vick purchased the property in Surry County, Virginia with the explicit notion in mind of training and fighting dogs. He allegedly abused his own dogs, killing puppies by drowning, hanging and beating on more than one occasion. He and his co-conspirators allegedly went to great lengths to turn the most aggressive and energetic puppies from lovable balls of fur, intent only on their next meal and curling up with their litter mates, into hyper-aggressive, fighting machines bent on destruction and death.

What does this say about Michael Vick, assuming, with caution against committing libel in mind, that he committed the acts directed at him in the indictment?

To me, it suggests that he is a cruel and violent person who holds little value for life. The conspiracy which he allegedly led suggests that he is willing to go to extremes in premeditation and planning to carry out wanton acts of cruelty and violence. To me, this is precisely the kind of person who ought to be removed from society and set behind bars.

UPDATE: On this morning’s Mike & Mike show on ESPN radio, former University of Kentucky football coach Bill Curry summed it up succinctly. Assuming the allegations are true, he said, “This is about killing. Period.”

Jim: My thought on Vick after reading some articles is an incredulous bewhilderment at the ingratitude demonstrated in Vick’s actions.

You’re probably going, “Huh?” Let me explain. We all are given gifts in this life, some more obvious than others. Vick has been blessed with extraordinary athletic ability. He’s given a chance to play not just the most popular sport in the country, professional football, but a chance to be a leader of men, the face of a franchise, the opportunity to become a legend as a quarterback. He’s playing in a sports-crazy part of the country, with a fan base eager to see him succeed. He has achieved financial security in a way few of us can imagine with his contracts and numerous endorsement deals with some of the biggest companies in the country - Coca-Cola, EA Sports, Kraft Foods, Hasbro, AirTran. Nike puts together a commercial called “The Michael Vick Experience,” explicitly declaring to the world, he is not merely a player, but a phenomenon.

And how does he spend his free time? Allegedly training and watching dogs kill each other.

To invert Churchill’s grateful comment at the Battle of Britain, never has so much been so squandered on one ingrate.

If he’s guilty, I’ve got a simple sentence: Fight one of those abused dogs.

Yeah! Great news for the national zoo and its panda lovers.

Shempu: What about the whales?! The zoo needs some whales. And some baby whales. In fact, I think they ought to just turn the whole zoo into a big pool for lots and lots and lots of whales! Wheeeeeeee!

UPDATE: It’s official. Here’s the updated story.