Monday, March 18, 2024

Monday With the Dregs

Good afternoon from our local Dunkin Donuts, Stroock's Books coffee drinkers and others. The vibe is pretty active, as it's 2:35, the high school is out, and teenagers are stopping by to get a post school mocha-cappa-whatever. 

We had a pint yesterday and Mrs. Stroock's corned beef and cabbage, so far without incident. We await events. 

In comments reader(s) left a couple of interesting story ideas for War Night. The prison concept has been dealt with in post apocalyptic stories before. See for example Lucifer's Hammer and The Stand (TV miniseries), also Fail Safe, in which Walter Matthau points out prisoners would have very good protection from a nuclear blast. Which doesn't mean we can't work with the idea as well. Okay, a state trooper sees the horizon flash (someone's been reading out novels) and then what?

We spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about ways to expand our readership and suspecting our magazine ad in Military Heritage Magazine had failed. We got nothing, folks. We did go to a kind of LinkedIn for journos and writers called Muckrack, which had already listed us, and claimed out bio there. So here's our page at Muckrack. It's something.

In the Middle East, hostage negotiations continue but Israeli rhetoric, right up to this minute, remains bellicose. If the Israelis are to be believed, they will attack Rafah and destroy Hamas there. In a phone call with Joe, Netanyahu said Israel will attack Rafah. Let's hope so. This blog believes a truce and hostage/prisoner exchange would be a disaster for Israel.* Best guess: no deal. 

Rafah is not the end, nor is Rafah the beginning of the end.  The Jerusalem Post reports: '79% of the Israeli public believes there is no chance for peace with the Palestinians - survey According to the survey, 63% of Israelis believe that Israel should attack Hezbollah with full force at the first available opportunity or after the war.' 79% of the Israeli public is wise. There can be no peace with the Gazans and West Bank People. Only victory. 

Monday Metal. Before Jason Bateman was a serious 21st century actor, he was a 70s and 80s child actor. Anyone remember the short lived It's Your Move sitcom from 1984/85? We do. And on a whim, we looked up the one episode that everyone who does remember It's Your Move, seems to remember. Stroock's Books reader(s), we give you The Dregs of Humanity:


Exit question: What does the 'lead singer' shout before beginning the song? It sounds like gibberish. 'Break the law'? We dunno.

*Okay, the Israelis could admittedly use a 6-week truce to rest and recoup, prepare for operations against Hezbollah, and continue their smash and grab operations in Judea/Samaria. But we believe the government will be under enormous international pressure to make the truce a permanent ceasefire. The way to end the war is to win the war. That means winning Rafah. 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 3/17/24.

Good Sunday morning, Stroock's Books gentile reader(s). We attended Saturday morning services yesterday. Near the end of the service, one says a prayer for peace, may neighbor not raise sword against neighbor, that sort of thing. Pray for victory, we wanted to scream. Reminder, Jews are the indigenous people of the Land of Israel. Gazans and West Bank Persons are the colonizers. 

It's St. Patrick's Day again. Mrs. Stroock is making corned beef and cabbage and we ourselves may have a pint. No jokes from us this morning. We're tired, and bored, and weary. We will note that World War 1990: Thatcher's War is the next novel in the World War 1990 universe. Why do you people think Murphy was running around London in The Final Storm? He was setting up the raison d'tere for Thatcher's War. We know exactly how Thatcher's War opens up .

We are indecisive. On the one hand we've every reason to keep writing away in the World War 1990 universe. World War 1990: The Final Storm has 152 ratings for a 4.3 star average, and we thought it was a mess. So we're pretty good at writing WW1990 novels. On the other hand, we're sick of thinking about said universe and would like to start a new universe. On the gripping hand we've said we'll crank out a WW1990 novel every year. So if we're putting out a World War 1990 novel in 2025 we need to start writing in the autumn. [So why not make Thatcher's War the summer sneak in?-Ed] Why not indeed.

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 3/17/24. What if War Night had a main character whose story is told between the short stories? These would be vignettes of not more than a thousand words, taking the reader through one person's experience on war night. Exit question, who is that character and what do they experience? Feel free to pitch ideas in the comments. 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Saturday Updates

Shabbat shalom, Stroock's Books Kibbutzim. We actually attended a pleasant Shabbat dinner at our Sovietski Jewish friend's house last night. We gained few insights but had fun nonetheless. We were the only non-Russian speaker, and when people spoke Russian to us, we'd reply, 'Da, Comrade.'

Related, an absolute classic of a Stroock's Books post.

The things. 

Our Poncho Villa short story is coming along slowly but finely. The scene is set. The characters are developing. The plot is advancing. This is one of those stories that gets written slowly then quickly. This story ends like a cross between The Professionals and The Wild Bunch but with even more dead Mexicans. 

The War Night Lexington story is also coming along just fine. We are researching the city and setting the scene. Remember, this story is mostly about seeing Frankfurt, Louisville, and Cincinatti go up in a nuclear cloud and wondering when you're going to get hit. We've got the actual mayor, H. Foster Pettit, but are making up most of the people around him. We wrote his chief of staff, and inadvertently describe Boss Hogg. Changes were made.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Math is Hard

Good morning from Tim Hortons. We reserve judgement on the coffee. Much to our disappointment we didn't see Canadian flags, Canada Geese, Moose, Albertan miners, Quebecois loggers, or the obligatory photo of Justin Trudeau, prominently displayed so that the staff may show obedience. Speaking of, we counted eight people behind the counter with one Asian, one Latin guy, and the rest seemingly from the subcontinent. Does the Indian community in America control the Tim Horton's franchise? Not kidding, Greeks run diners in this part of the country. The ambience is fine. The music is not terrible, yet. Overall, Tim Horton's feels like Canadian Dunkin Donuts. 

We're a moron. [I know-Ed]. And dyslexic. This isn't post 6,000. This is post 5,600, which our dyslexic brain told us was post 6,000. That's how dyslexia works. [You're blaming dyslexia?-Ed] We said we're a moron, didn't we? [Nothing to disagree with there-Ed]. Actually, we found one unpublished post begun last December but never finished. If we deleted that...[Yes, yes, do the math-Ed] No way. we scored a 320 math SAT. Foreign reader(s), that's really bad. 

Self-immolation is the term being bandied about to describe Senator Charles Schumer's anti-Israeli speech yesterday. This seems about right. Even the regime backed away from Chuck's call for an Israeli election. Meanwhile, Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire, then it will release hostages. The Times of Israel reports, 'Netanyahu rejects ‘still absurd’ Hamas demands, approves IDF plan for Rafah operation'. Let's hope so. Best guess, no deal. Disclosure, last night our best guess would have been 'deal'. They're still negotiation, folks. Lets just say there's a lot of Kabuki being performed. Up north, the Israeli operational tempo against Hezbollah gains speed. 

The Lexington story in War Night is coming along fine. Right now we have a lot of bookmarks to sites about Lexington. We consulted with, shall we say, a person who works in government, and he gave us some great ideas for all the stuff that would go wrong as the City of Lexington prepared for war. Officials on vacation or out sick. Bomb shelters not checked since the late 50's, etc etc. Lexington is proving to be....complex as a joint Lexington/Fayette County government and council formed in 1974. This will make for an urban/rural divide. This story is turning into a tour of Lexington. Which is fine. 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Look, Another Approaching Milestone

Good afternoon, Stroock's Books hangers-on. We're back at our local Dunkin Donuts. Rap music is playing. A few teenagers have come in to pick up mocha-frapa-grande-chinos, or whatever. But overall, it's pretty dead here. We enjoyed some spring like weather yesterday and will enjoy more such weather today. Wish us luck. 

So we looked up and saw that this is Stroock's Books 5,999 post. Hey, remember in 2022 when we were going to stop blogging at post 5,000? Hmmm...We admit to having less to say of late, which is why intros in which we describe what we did the day before are getting longer and more detailed. Reader(s) may not need to know our gym schedule, but do they need to know our hot takes on the Regime?

Well Chuck Schumer is an idiot, Artuz Sheva tells us, 'US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave a speech on "a pathway to peace and achieving a two-state solution" today (Thursday). In his remarks, Schumer called for the holding of new elections in Israel, saying that "Netanyahu has lost his way." He further called the Israeli Prime Minister an "obstacle to peace."' Stroock's Books reader(s) already knew Schumer's an idiot. 

Chuck has drawn condemnation from the GOP congressional leadership, Bibi's political allies, his opponents, President Herzog* and even Abe Foxman, who would be the worst Jew in America if it weren't for Schumer. This isn't about Netanyahu. Stroock's Books reader(s) know this blog is ambivalent toward Bibi. He may not be the man of the future, but he is the man of now. 

*For whom this blog has tremendous respect. 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

In Which Will Comes Crawling back to the Morning

Good morning, Stroock's Books afficionados.

We found that afternoon posting makes us a little too online in the morning and that leads to trouble, and pointless FB/Twitter slap fights. Nobody wins those. Some people enjoy the snark, but it leaves us cold and wincing when we see the little reply light up. We'll move on. 

We had dad-taxi duty last night, in which we spent two hours in the car, dropping off and picking up and dropping off and picking up. Because our two teenage girls have the aux, as the kids say, we heard a lot of Olivia Rodrigo. Man, that bitch is messed up. Actually, we kind of like some of her stuff. Yes, the heavy metal police gave us a talking to. 

Donald Trump has clinched the GOP nomination. We sure hope you people know what the hell you're doing. Gee, just imagine if Ron DeSantis were the nominee. Focused like a laser on the border, inflation, and coeds murdered by illegal migrants. We sigh forlornly. What might have been. We admit that pessimists we follow are less pessimistic. As for Trump winning, we won't believe it till we see him being sworn in.  

We've been researching our Lexington story for the War Night compellation. We're trying to get a feel for the town, as best we can. In the 1970s Lexington had a thriving business district and saw a lot of construction. There were several black neighborhoods, the city was about 15 percent black overall. The University of Kentucky was and is in the south, central part of town. In 1975 Lexington was an anchor of the New South. Remember that? 

A Kentucky cousin informs us that we, in fact, have family buried in Lexington, something of which we were not aware. Lexington is about two hours from our ancestral home in Livermore (where our grandparents are buried), about 15 minutes south of Owensboro, which itself is on the Ohio* River. It's been 20 years since we set foot in the land of our mother. Ah, we can see the rolling, fertile farmland now. 

*Pronounced Ohia.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Coffee Various in the Afternoon

Good afternoon, Stroock's Books constituents. We are continuing our post-lunch posting experiment, this time from a somnolent Dunkin Donuts around the corner from our house. The vibe is that of an old folks home just before the residents are woken for the late afternoon movie, as one would expect. We actually walked into a Dunkin Donuts HR meeting. The boss and the regional boss were not pleased with the staff. 

We're thinking of trying Canadian imperialism tomorrow. There's a Tim Hortons near here. Why not? And they've never seen our Israel hat. Screw Starbucks. [Wouldn't going to Tim Hortons be an endorsement of Justin?-Ed] Hmmmm, maybe. 

Is anyone else tired of reading about the Israel-Gaza War? We know we're tired of writing about it. Nevertheless, Israel Radar has a report as to just what Hamas was trying to accomplish on 10/7. Nutgraph, as the J-School losers would say: Hamas thought they'd hold on to more territory longer, get more direct help from Iran, and didn't think Israel would try to conquer Gaza. Oops. As did Osama, Saddam, et al, Hamas completely misread the enemy. 

We have begun writing our Lexington, Kentucky mayoral story in the nuke universe. It's all from Mayor H. Foster Pettit's point of view and begins with him at the University of Kentucky campus. Go Wildcats! Damn hippy protestors. We'll let the story take us along to where it must needs go. Five PM meeting, 8 PM Emergency Broadcast System activation, ten PM destruction of Cincinatti and Louisville.* 

We have searched American artillery procedure for the acquisition, storage and use of tactical nukes for the Fulda Gap story. Anyone else remember in The Great Nuclear War of 1975 when General Haig said, 'Rain down hell'? This would be that. One artillery battery, and a bunch of mushroom clouds where the Soviet 20th Guards Tank Division used to be.** We know plenty about how an arty battery would work. We just don't know about the nukes. A solution will present itself. 

Our editor has the World War 1990: Norway, MS, thank god. Thank you, retired office QC honcho.

So the Giants' Saquon Barkley has signed a deal with Mrs. Stroock's Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants didn't even make Saquon an offer, which was wise. Former Giants running back Tiki Barber slammed Saquon. Just remember, when he was with Giants, Tiki was usually the 'anonymous' source knifing coach Tom Coughlin. Screw Tiki Barber. He retied and the Giants won a Super Bowl. 

Middle Daughter just got home and has learned via the Find My tracking ap that we are at Dunking Donuts and is begging us to get her something. 

*Pronounced Lullvl, you really have to swallow the vowels. Though we have deep roots in Kentucky, we'll never be able to say Louisville right. 

** Heh. Haven't had to look up the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany map since we were writing World War 1990: The Weser.