Your Post of June 3rd

Aye, Stroock's Books readers. A faire morning to ye all. 

After never settling in the night before, last night we slept the sleep of the dead. We are tired and groggy. 

Temps will climb to the mid-80s today. 

We still don't feel we're enjoying the late spring and are baffled as to why not. Too much to do, we guess. 

Do you people want a political roundup after yesterday's primaries? Neither do we. Bla-bla politics, bla-bla elections.

So this weekend we put together a rad-80s playlist of fun songs, including some forgotten 80's mystery clicks, as Ace would call them. Anyone else remember Lou Gramm's Midnight Blue? The list is mostly 80's stuff you've heard, Steve Perry*, J Geils, INXS, etc etc. Just good, fairly basic rock songs backed by a lot of talent. The kind of songs played at an 8th grade school dance in 1988.

Related....so we graduated from Blue Mountain Middle School in 1988. One of our teachers was a man named Joe Ryan. Mr. Ryan was a big man, 6'6 maybe. His voice carried, you could hear him all the way down the hallway.**  

Mr. Ryan was really into military reenacting, you know, like all those extras in the Gettysburg movie. Living history, Mr. Ryan called it. Well, if you were on his team, you were in his living history program. This meant on Fridays you picked up a toy musket and marched around the school parking lot. Students were required to have a blue or gray jean jacket and march under the proper flag. 

Last week we discovered Mr. Ryan is still around and living history.*** 

DOGE report.

Same really. We're in a good spot where we work on one novel in the morning, and another novel in the afternoon. We reverse the next day. So this morning we'll be focusing on the BAOR story. 

*Best voice in Rock and Roll. Probably deserved a better band. 

** During our own teaching and professorial days, we too were loud with a voice that carried. Thanks, Mr. Ryan.

***Ah, so we see we've blogged this before, albeit nine years ago. Such are the perils of running a blog for over a decade with 6000+ posts. Note that video at the link is from 1988 or 1989. We recognize those faces. One of them is the inspiration for Patricia in A Line through the Desert. 

Primarily So

Good morning, Stroock's Books assorted reader(s). The sun is bright. The air is cool.

Hey idiot! No...we knew what we were doing. Last night, because it was when we had time, we enjoyed our first Arturo Fuente in a month, and a we nip of whisky [We nip?! The Whisky was Japanese!] So it was. In any event we weren't really able to settle down last night and are groggy AF this morning. Worth it. A man is allowed his vices every once in a while. But ugh.

It's primary day here in new Jersey. Bla-bla politics, bla-bla NJ07. Let's just say we know people who plan on voting for Rebbecca Bennett in the Dem primary today. Why not? She's an excellent candidate. Great website. Let's see what absentee incumbent Tom Kean's website looks like. Seriously?  Kean and his people better hope their constituent services and outreach (which are formidable) pay off, bigly. 

Hot Air warns of an oil shock, $150 per barrel, due to the Iran war's disruptions of the oil market....coming in just a few weeks.  This blog hopes two things. One, that the oil execs cited in the piece are sounding the alarm because there's still time to take measures to alleviate the supply disruptions. And B, that Trump is ready for this crisis. Because he's the president. The shock would be on him. 

Holy Toledo, Cleveland and Cincinnati* a lot of diplomatic back and forth yesterday with Trump calling off the Israelis planned strike on Beirut. Trump allegedly gave Netanyahu a verbal tongue lashing. No these transpirings don't bother us. The Israelis can strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut some other time. Meanwhile it turns out the USN has been escorting merchant ships and tankers through Hormuz for weeks. Take that, Doomers!

Take that, but not flippantly. This war is in its third year. The Israeli public and the Israeli military are tired. 

World War 1990: Ireland has fifty reviews for an overall 4.1 star rating. 

We finally got a bad review, from Britain of course:

We stand by our police ranks. Otherwise, we might be bothered by this review, were it not sub-literate. Bollocks to you, mate. 

DOGE Report.

A lot of work on the battle of Ardee yesterday. It's coming along. 

A lot of work on the BAOR chapter in the 5th nuke novel. It is also coming along. 

We do have one 90mm gun scene in Thatcher's War to unsnarl. Wish us luck. 

*A free copy of one of our books to the first reader to get this Gen-X deep reference. 

The Monday in June

Good morning, reader(s) of Stroock's Books and happy June. You know, given our medical issues and self-induced stress over current events [Knobhead-Ed], I know, right - we really haven't been able to enjoy the spring weather. And the weather's been gorgeous lately, like a pretty blonde in her new, just-snug-enough, summer evening dress [Awww thanks-Ed]. We weren't talking about you. 

Gym report... We're back down under 245 pounds, that's 17.5 stone to you Brits. We don't know what that'd be in Canadian (how many beaver pelts to the pound?). And yesterday we benched 300 again- despite not touching a dumbbell since August. We've been doing rope pulleys, rower, tension bands and a hundred + pushups at each session. 

Right now, Newark is an important front in the immigration wars. Last night New Jersey State police broke up the riot in front of the Delany Hall ICE facility. Governor Mikie Sherrill is not crazy. For those Panicans out there, this is yet more evidence the right is winning the immigration debate. 

Related, the Dems are running a Mikie Sherrill clone for congress here in our own NJ07 district. Rebbeca Bennett is an excellent candidate, an ex-navy pilot like Sherrill and seemingly not crazy. We can tell the GOP is worried about Bennett because we're getting fliers linking her to ICE and Trump in an effort to turn Dem voters away from her. Meanwhile incumbent GOP Tom Kean has been AWOL for a couple of months with some undisclosed health issue. We hope Kean, for whom we not only voted but volunteered, is okay. But right now we'd probably vote for Bennett. Kean last voted on March 5th. Show up to work, pal.

The New York Post tells us that Trump is refusing to accept Iran's surrender. Pointless speculation: are we preparing a massive strike on Iranian assets around Hormuz? 

Israel is getting ready to hit Hezbollah targets in Beirut. What else have the Israelis planned, those clever Jews. Operation Grim Beeper II: the Return? 

DOGE report.

We went over the first half of the Battle of Ardee chapter and liked what we saw. We articulated and improved what we had. It's mostly a character study of Irish army officers, Garda, civilian leadership and whacky IRA guys. We've never written a chapter quite like this. Long time reader(s) know we like some differentiation in novels. The Battle of Ardee stays. 

Damnit these Irish motorways we keep writing about didn't exist in 1990. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 5/31/26

Good morning, Stroock's Books Christian reader(s) and happy Sunday. As usual, don't skimp on the post-church lunch buffet. 

This little bastard is menacing the neighborhood: 

Last night at about 10:00 we were emptying the dishwasher and cleaning out the fridge. We lead the quiet life and we're fine with it. 

One month has passed since our last cigar. Maybe tomorrow. See we shall. 

The Israeli offensive in Lebanon continues. Today they captured Beaufort Castle, which is a very big deal. Amit Segal explains why. Meanwhile Hezbollah fires rockets and launches drones at Israel. The war has reduced Hezbollah from an existential threat to a nuisance. 

Once again, Doomers and Panicans fail to see the military, economic, and diplomatic blows the US and Israel have inflicted upon Iran. Every day the blockade strikes a new blow upon the Iranian economy. Trump is refusing to accept Iran's surrender. He's dragging out negotiations, not Iran. We'll ask the question again: are you such a loser that you don't know you've won? 

So Newark is wracked by anti-ICE riots*. Mikie Sherrill, our so far more or less not crazy governor, did a performative visit to the Delany Hall Ice facility last week. But this weekend she sent in the state police to quell the violence. Today Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced a curfew. Dems wising up on the whole riot thing?

We submitted a piece to a Substack publication. Wish us luck.

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 5/31/26.

We're switching back to World War 1990: Thatcher's War today. Thatcher's War is 46,000 words. 

You people recall the Battle of Ardee, our 10,000 word description of a British and Irish forces fighting for Ardee. We may rewrite the battle as a bird's eye narrative. Or...what if the Dublin landing is bird's eye. Upon this notion, we shall dwell.

*Newark is half an hour from here and we really don't care what happens there. But these latest events are kind of interesting. 

Saturday Updates

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders and happy Saturday. 

We got in a Judaism last night. God seemed pleased. 

A long week, a good week. While the colonoscopy was routine, it was done because we had several symptoms that pop right up on a google search. It's always nice to find out you don't have colon cancer. 

One more test to go. 

Dear Iran doomers, kindly fuck off. The Iranians aren't playing Trump. Trump is playing the Iranians. With each day their economy gets worse. Trump knows this which is why he's dragging out negotiations. Here patience is more than a virtue. It's a weapon. In other words, Trump is refusing to accept Iran's surrender.  

The Things.

We've been very indecisive in recent weeks. For example, we wonder if we should get a new cover for Pershing in Command and have yet to make a decision. WACO: Will Always Chickens Out? We don't know. 

June is almost here. After a great month, we think it's time to put World War 1990: The Managua Campaign down.

Our BAOR story in the 5th nuke novel is coming along just fine. We may end up retconning again, slightly. Or we may tinker with the theme of the novel a bit. Either way, the story about the BAOR counterattacking is in good shape. 

Not that or that

Good morning, Stroock's Book's Kibbutzim and shabbat shalom. The air is cool, the breeze is pleasant. 

One minute you're on the gurney, receiving anesthesia and blabbing on about how the ceiling is moving, the next you're waking up and the doctor is saying, 'Everything looks great.'  We're not even sore, though we are still a touch woozy from the anesthesia yesterday. 

We have good news. We do not have prostate or esophageal cancer. We just have a few stomach problems.

That's two of the three things down. We'll do a third thing next month. What's with the elevated PSA levels? The internet says, 'PSA levels can rise due to a variety of factors, including prostate enlargement, inflammation, infection, age, medications, and certain physical activities, not just cancer.' 'But is he lucky?' Napoleon once asked. We are not, generally speaking, lucky.* We approach the next thing with great caution. 

There may or may not be a deal with Iran. Trump is 'thinking it over,' they say, because he can. The Israeli press is very pessimistic, but they're like that anyway. It's an Israeli/Jewish thing. And even moderate papers like the Times of Israel are sick of Netanyahu so they're not inclined to be positive. We await details, but what we saw yesterday looks pretty good. Consider also the twin military and economic blows Iran suffered and each day is a new economic hit against Iran.  Reading this, though, Stroock's Books believes that nobody really knows nothing. Exit question: doomers think Iran is stringing Trump along. But what if Trump is stringing Iran along? 

The Jerusalem Post tells us that for the Israeli Opposition Block, 'the math doesn't add up.' Quite right. Naftali Bennett can't quite get to 61 Knesset seats. The election (scheduled for October 27th) is still 50/50 and betting against Netanyahu seems unwise.

Related...Amit Segal tells us that 30 years ago today Benjamin Netanyahu defeated incumbent Prime Minister Shimon Perez. Ah...we remember it well. Back then American comedians made fun of Netanyahu's name, and we recall a dear friend asking us, 'Just how do you pronounce it?'

DOGE report.

Despite working on an empty stomach filled with acid and wondering if we were going to be told we have prostate cancer in the afternoon, we worked on the BAOR story. It's coming along. It'll come along more today. 

Baaaah! More than a week has passed since our Pershing queries. We're writing them off. 

*Dodgers' great Branch Rickey was right, as he was right with most things, when he said, 'Luck is the residue of design.'

Not as Bad as You Think

Good morning, people of Stroock's Books. 

What's with the comment explosion yesterday?

We are allowed black coffee at least. 

We feel remarkably human for having not eaten in 24 hours and having our schedule disrupted. 

So the colonoscopy cleanse wasn't all that bad, though we have to do it again this morning (Update: again, not that bad). Our colonoscopy/endoscopy is scheduled this afternoon. We believe there's a not zero chance there will be some kind of bureaucratic snafu between now and then. We're pessimistic that way. 

DOGE report.

Despite being very annoyed and distracted we worked on the Somotillo aftermath chapter yesterday. Meh. But we're not exactly in the right headspace. 

We also worked the BAOR chapter in the 5th nuke novel. It's coming along.