Baaah! We had a great day with our foot yesterday. Dug our cane out of the closet, we did. And today is going to be another great day. Just a fab day. Here comes the sun and everything. Fuckers.
In Israel it looks like Gadi Eisenkot is going to get first crack at forming a government. Which is not unexpected. On paper he has 67 MKs. We shall see. Should Eisenkot succeed, we won't worry. You know, Bibi, we can't miss you if you won't go away.
The things.
We spent all week working on the 1066 story, For Want of an Arrow. We've written through the first Norman attack on the English army. So far, so good. For Want of an Arrow is 3,000 words.
We've read through two thirds of World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. We are generally pleased, but we are nagged by a few things. The plot jumps from 'disaster in Cuba' to 'we've gathered a Pan American coalition' rather quickly. World War 1990: The Managua Campaign is 52,000 words.
After the Last Bomb: Stories of the Great Nuclear War of 1975 is being edited. We'll get the MS next week.
Baaaah! Our foot is killing us. We're not sure exactly what it is. But we suspect it's all the stretching exercises we were told to try. The boot don't help at all. Hell of a job all those doctor visits have done. Hell of a job. We are not necessarily in the best mood.
Once again a Thursday night football game was on, and we just weren't that interested. Over saturation? Are we just getting bored with the NFL? We find this alarming.
Gloom and doom, doom and gloom. Ya'll know politics is cyclical, right? Ben Shapiro the other day said that when W and the GOP won in 2004 he thought they'd never lose again. He was young. We didn't think that, but we believed the GOP had turned a corner and rewritten the rules. Heck, Dems were posting forlorn pics of themselves holding 'I'm sorry' signs on the internet. Two years later the GOP got shellacked in the midterms. Two years after that Barry Soetoro won easily. Guess who got shellacked in 2010? Eschew gloom. We'll stand for no doomerism at Stroock's Books.
DOGE report.
Just an excellent day, really. We read through the Battle of Los Banos chapter again. The chapter is probably as good as we can make it. This chapter shows the army and marines (both American and Mexican) and the various insurgent groups in 27 individual scenes. There's a lot of bouncing back and forth.
We spent the afternoon interpreting the first act of the Battle of Hastings. we read some primary sources, read some secondary sources (David Horvath and Marc Morris) and examined the Bayeux Tapestry. Click here to look at the tapestry, reader(s). It's really a fascinating document. Our medieval warfare prof, Professor Brian Todd Carey, taught us that the Tapestry was an excellent source for the battle. Of course we've walked Hastings. There really ain't that much to it. Hastings is just a field, a hill, and an abbey built by William the Bastard to commemorate his victory over the rightful King.
Here's the problem we're having. We know William opened the battle with an archery barrage. Then he sent in the infantry. When they stalled on the English shield wall, William sent in the cavalry. But (!) did the infantry withdraw first? Sources don't say. If not, then the cavalry waded into the mele, into the press of men and shields and spears and swords. What good is cavalry in a situation like that?
Sigh...the foot still bothers and the doctor wants us to wear the boot as needed. And so we shall.
We got to the gym yesterday, at least, and did ten or so seated weight exercises. We persist.
For those of you not on FB, FB Memories shows users all previous posts on that day. FB is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of our life:
-In this year Will joked about sitting on his deck in a bathing suit smoking cigars and drinking a box of wine...
-In this year Will told a bad joke. Mrs. Stroock not pleased...
-In this year Will spoke at his grandfather's 90th birthday party...*
FB memories is loaded with old posts for November 5th. We see proof that our teenage daughters were once little girls. In 2019 we wrote, 'The Giants suck'. They sure did.
And over the course of two decades, we've made many a political post on November 5th. Eighteen years ago we wrote, 'Didn't vote for Obama but he will be my president'. Hah! Now we believe Obama was ineligible to hold office. A year later we commented, 'Just voted for the fat man,' referring to future governor Chris Christie. Three years later we lamented Barry's reelection. Two years after that we gloated about the 2014 midterms, 'What is best in life?'
Which brings us to a few thoughts on Tuesday. We'll tolerate no doomerism.
As Athena Thorne wrote at PJM, 'Meh. 2008 was worse'. Yep. And yep again. After Barry's election, pundits were warning that the GOP best 'moderate' on economic and social issues. Be more like the Dems! At the CPAC conference of 2009, Rush Limbaugh warned against turning away from conservative principles and asked, 'When was the last time Dems moderated?' Two years later a Red wave washed over Washington. Rush was right. He usually was.
You know why Barry Soetoro won in 2008? An unpopular war, an economic crisis, and eight years of the GOP in the White House. That's all. Guess what? Hillary would have won too. The moment the markets crashed that September, John McCain's odds of winning the election dropped to zero point zero. Oh, and Barry got a smaller percentage of the vote in 2008 than George Bush did in 1988. Look it up.
This year Americans looked at inflation, gas prices, and the long Iran war, and voted blue. And we got some bad news for the doomers out there. The party in the white house getting shellacked on the president's second term is a dog bites man story. We'll explore that more tomorrow.
Moving on...
We contemplated more alien invasion novels. A friend from a European country known for its art and cuisine suggested writing a novel that takes place in the 60s. Two words: century series (F-100s and the like). Which is kinda cool. When did they retire the B-58 Hustler? In truth, the more we think about aliens invading Earth, the less we want to do the story.
We still don't know what we're writing in January.
DOGE report.
We read through the Battle of Los Banos chapter in World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. It seems...fine. Exit question: do we want to read it again today or move on?
Work on 1066 continues apace. The work is slow, but it's apace.
*He rented out a room at the Algonquin in NYC. Must have been a hundred guests. Good fun. Wonder what that costs? Yikes. And when some old geezer complained about our girls we asked, 'Do you know who I am? Did you not see me before, speaking lovingly to the man paying for this thing?'
So, we checked in about 10 PM last night, and checked out at about midnight. The polls we thought were wrong were right. An electoral refutation of Trump, the GOP, and MAGA. JD Vance may want to sit things out.*
Below follows a musical interpretation of events:
Second term electoral wipeouts are bog standard and in two years will come another election with new candidates, ideas and circumstances.
Rebecca Bennett annihilated our own Tom Kean 57-41. He earned it. Next time you're feeling down, don't skip work for a hundred days, Tom.
In Texas Jessica Hart Steinmann was elected to the 12th Congressional District. We used to hang out with her husband back in our mid-90s College Republican days.
One thinks a thing can't happen. One worries that the thing will happen. And then the thing happens. We are remarkably, okay with the thing, as if a burden has been lifted. We didn't even have too much trouble getting to sleep last night. At least we can stop worrying about elections for a while.
At some point, you need to get in touch with your inner Stoic, to seek calm amid the gibbering madness, to stop being a wired-in political junkie before it drives you bonkers. People are out there losing their minds over this election, and I refuse to surrender to the insanity. Even if the very worst-case scenario develops, the American Republic has survived crises before, and the worst collective errors of the electorate (e.g., the Obama presidency) at least have the beneficial effect of inspiring more determined opposition.
We've slowly reduced the amount of news we consume. We will continue doing so. Alert reader(s) will have noticed this blog has gradually shifted away from political analyses toward creativity and ideas. There's a reason for that. We're tired of being a wired in political junkie.
We should probably cut back on the caffeine too [Death before decaf-Ed].
We'll have a few thoughts in the coming days.
On to nicer things.
So, in thinking about an alien invasion series, we'd once again try to write a Clancy-esque technothriller. We like also like the idea of the aliens attacking and getting turned back. Or at least not doing as well as they thought they would. Imagine the Israelis hit 'em with lasers, missile barrages, and drone swarms. They have to regroup on the dark side of the moon...where missile and laser batteries are waiting for them. Not bad, huh?
Or maybe we should just do another To Defend the Earth novel.
Last night, between 9 and 10 PM, we sat in our basement trying not to fret. We failed really. But we did come up with several ideas for a 6th nuclear war novel. This would feature stories taking place in the 80's and 90s.
We thought up a story where someone is walking the ruins of Washington DC. Why not a story about Prime Minister Enoch Powell and a resurgent Britain with a close commonwealth? Oh, and say hello to President George Steinbrenner.
DOGE report.
We finished the Thatcher's War read through. This is it. This is novel.
We read through two more chapters of the Managua campaign.
Work on the 1066 story continues apace.
We're off to have our foot looked at.
*Ron DeSatnis white courtesy phone. Ron DeSantis, white courtesy phone...no, the white phone.
Another election day, another election in which Will tried and failed to stop following politics. Even if we read less, and we read much less than we did two years ago, we still worry. What's the point?
Good election day morning, Stroock's Books voters. Your guess is as good as ours. We'll be unplugging tonight [You always say that -Ed] and reading Marc Morris' book about the Norman Conquest. He's very good.
For what it's worth Hot Air's Duane Robinson argues early vote numbers look great for the GOP. Ed Morrissey says, 'Final NBC Poll: GOP Comeback, Y'All?' And David Strom, 'Why you cannot trust polls.' This blog agrees with all that. The pollsters are guessing.
We've seen plenty of articles more or less agreeing with what we think, or at least what we think is possible. The polls are crap. Polls underestimated conservatives in Brazil, British Columbia, and Israel. There's every reason to believe polls are doing the same here. The GOP is motivated. Trump is rallying the base one last time. Going back to 1998, midterm wipeouts for the party in the White House are a 50/50 proposition.* The GOP underperformed in 2022. The Dems can underperform in 2024.
The last time the GOP ran second term midterm elections was autumn, 2006. Ahhhh....the reader(s) will kindly forgive a bit of nostalgia. This was our last great substitute teaching semester. Mrs. Stroock was pregnant with Oldest Daughter. We were writing magazine articles and re-editing A Line Through the Desert. The book doc we hired convinced us to add the last chapter showing Jake getting home from Desert Storm. We were really into AC/DC.
This was W's second term. The wheels had come off, they say. The economy was decent enough, but the Iraq war was raging. We thought the Dems would make big gains but the GOP would hang on to at least the senate, barely. The Dems picked up 31 seats in the House and five in the Senate. We were wrong.
Those of you who know us on FB know we've needed daily gut checks. Overall, we approach today's election with [Great fear and trepidation?-Ed], great fear and trepidation.
This blog predicts we'll wake up on Wednesday morning to chaos with the Maine and Alaska ranked choice races undecided.
Exit question: can the GOP Stop the Steal?
DOGE report.
We read through two Thatcher's War chapters. Just a few chapters to go, and maybe one scene to write.
We worked on the Hastings story.
Then we read through two Managua chapters, which are looking good.
We've made no decisions on what to work on this January.
*Look at 2018, people. There were three things, House, Senate, governorships, and the GOP won the last two of 'em, including tough races against vaunted Dem candidates in Florida and Georgia. We are the only person who understands the 2018 election and thinks the GOP won. Yes, everyone is wrong except for us.
Good morning, Stroock's Books continuum and happy Monday.
The feet are still bothering us, both of them [Yes, hence the plural usage - ED]. We remain annoyed.
NFL wrap. The Jets suck....Anyway. the Dallas Cowboys blew a 24-10 4th quarter lead to the Arizona freakin' Cardinals quarterbacked by Gardiner freakin' Minshew. The Cowboys are taking a lot of criticism in the media today, rightfully so. And so's everybody's darling, Dak Prescott. Where was Prescott, yesterday? Don't get us wrong, Dak Prescott is a fine fantasy stat QB. But he's not as good as...Danny White. Oh, and Dallas' defense has no guts.
Political note, polls. Either one believes the polls or one does not believe the polls. In just the last few months polls underestimated conservatives in Brazil (where the communists went on to steal the election), British Columbia, and Israel. There's every reason to believe the polls are doing the same here in the US.
We've mentioned before the last election in which we didn't believe the polls. That was 2012, where most polls showed Barry Soetoro with a slight lead. Polls were using a +5 Dem turnout model. We thought that was wrong. It was. The eventual turnout was +6. Back in 2012 we thought the Dem/GOP turnout would be even.
[So what do you think?-Ed] Dems win the House, GOP holds the senate 52-48 with a surprise victory or two (MN, maybe NH).
The bottom line is for us poll skeptics to be right, a whole lotta polls have to be wrong.
The coalition horse trading in Israel has begun in earnest. Don't ask us to offer a play by play. It does look like President Herzog will give Gadi Eisenkot first crack at forming a government. This blog calls, once again, for a Netanyahu, Eisenkot, Liberman, Bennett unity government.
Invading aliens...So if we were to write a new trilogy about alien invasion, when's it take place? We like the idea of the invasion taking place in the near future. This affords the opportunity to speculate about the next decade, maybe the next generation. We'd talk about drone swarms, micro-missile barrages, maybe some of those super-secret weapons the US is working on (flying triangles, anyone?).
DOGE report.
We read the battle of Howth and the battle for Dublin Airport. Are they great? No. But they're good, good enough even. Those were the tough ones and they survived the read through. We've a few more chapters to go, and that's that.
We were at the neighbor's yesterday for an outdoors in the cool night, gathered about the firepit. We had much meat and for us many libations (two beers and a bourbon).
So far, no gout, but our feet remain sore from the Achillies problem and favoring our left foot. We are annoyed.
Elections...we remarked to a friend that even though one knows better, one see's polls and finds them jarring. They're supposed to be jarring, our friend remarked.
Related...our friend on the school board recommended we vote Column C on Tuesday. And so we shall.
DOGE report.
We read through the battle of Ardee chapter and are not as pleased as we would like to be [Are you ever?-Ed]. Not really.
Let's move on to Will's Good Idea for the Week of 11/1/26.
Well, we've got three of them.
We watched this excellent, really well done simulation of an alien invasion. And it made us think, hmmm maybe we should try another To Defend the Earth novel. We had big plans, but To Survive the Earth bombed, for reasons we've never understood, and we dropped the project. It's been nine years. The Grognard read TDTE some time ago and said it was like reading a different author. Aye, we was.
We also had the idea of starting from scratch. That's right, a new aliens invading earth series. This would be a trilogy with the first novel focusing on the leadup, the second novel on the initial contact and invasion, and the third showing humanities' final victory. We'll spend this week toying with the idea here on the blog.
Third, we're actually set up to begin another novel in January, why not World War 1990: Battle of the GIUK Gap? It's there, it's there. We could spend December researching and start on 1 January. But we don't feel like thinking about sonars, and naval fiction is our weak spot. Who's the guy that tells the captain about the thingy? Once again we shall spend some time outlining.
We'll also think about a sixth nuclear war novel. If After the Last Bomb sells....Reminder, we will write nuke novels as long as they sell. Where to go after the bombs stop? Ideas are fun to get. They're fun to think about. That spark is amazing. Then comes the real work. The great Gene Simmons said art is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent work or sweat. Gene Simmons is always right.
