Midweek Patriot (movie)

Good morning, Stroock's Books people, and happy Earth Day. Stroock's books reader(s) are a smart bunch, so they don't need us to tell them that Earth Day and environmental gloom and doom is a bunch of crap. Over population worries should be buried with the late Paul Erlich. The man who wished so many to the grave has found his. 

Last night the Dems rammed through their gerrymandered Virginia congressional map designed to give them a 9-1 advantage. The referendum passed by three points, making the vote much closer than we thought it'd be. One bright spot, the referendum showed the right base could be turned out. But there are no silver medals in a two-way race. The usual group of conservative lawyers have vowed to challenge the new map in court. Yeah sure. Anyone else remember 2020?

The Dems are serious about power, as the great Mark Steyn says. The congressional GOP? Not so much. Not that the SAVE Act is a panacea for GOP problems. Reminder, if the GOP passes the SAVE Act, the Dems will tie it up in court for 2-3 years.

The piece about General Nathanael Greene we submitted to a military history magazine has been accepted. Bully for us. Should be published in 'an issue or two' we were told. Which is nice. The bastards running Strategy & Tactics could take years, decades even to publish a piece [But you're not bitter-Ed]. Anywho...Reader(s) could probably figure out which magazine accepted the Nathanael Greene piece if they really wanted to. We asked if they wanted a piece on the battle of Trenton for the Nov/Dec issue. 

So are we really going to spend the next five years writing about the American Revolution? We dunno. Longtime reader(s) will recall our basement was flooded in September of 2021. Our library remains boxed up. Were we to crank out some new articles on the American Revolution, our first step would be to unbox that library and dig out our hundred or so books about the American Revolution. And where the hell is our framed Master's degree?

Since we've already mentioned the George Washington miniseries, and April Morning, let's talk about The Patriot [Do we have to? -Ed] Yes.* The Patriot is a Roland Emerich film, meaning it's an over the top action/adventure flick set in Colonial times. The Patriot is too long. And in some places it's just bad. No, the Brits didn't lock people in churches and put them to the torch. Banastre Tarleton was not a Hamas commander. Incidentally, Jason Issacs plays Tarleton, fictionalized here as 'Tavington' with perfect panache. 

The Patriot is overwrought, overdone. Nevertheless, in broad strokes The Patriot is an introduction to the American Revolution in the South. One sees the British landing at Charleston and defeating the Continental Army under the execrable Horatio Gates at Camden. There follows a nasty little civil war between Patriot and Loyalist forces (see Adam Baldwin's character), and finally the Continental victory at Cowpens. Admittedly the battle portrayed in the Patriot is much bigger than the real-life Cowpens. But The Patriot accurately depicts American militia getting off a couple of volleys and then retreating behind the Continentals. 

Bottom line, when watching The Patriot is one not entertained? 

Tomorrow we'll reco some books on the Southern campaign of the American Revolution. 

DOGE report.

We've lots of ideas for World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. Lots of characters. Just a great day yesterday. We are pleased. 

*We should do a The Patriot week later in the year. 

The American Revolution, Another Watch

Good morning, Substack, and happy Tuesday. We had a frost warning last night and as we write this it's 28 degrees out there. 

We had a sudden gout attack yesterday evening. The left ankle just seized up. No idea why. 

War of the ants...yesterday we saw nary an ant, alive or dead. We did intercept their comms though, 'Is there anybody out there? Anybody at all?' 

On Substack we're muting and blocking the retards. Oh look, there's another one. 

Today is Yom Hazikaron. 

As it happens Sunday was the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington Concord. The battle happened the way reader(s) think it happened. The Lexington militia confronted the British column. The Brits opened fire and scattered them and then marched to the arms depot, which they torched. When the Brits encountered minor resistance at Concord, they figured 'Mission Accomplished' and turned around. And that's when the Minutemen marched to the sound of the guns and inflicted frightful losses upon the Redcoats. By evening thousands of Minutemen had assembled outside of Boston. 

We know of two good movies about the Battle of Lexington/Concord. 

The first is Johnny Tremain, an adaptation of Esther Forbes' book. Very 1950s, very Disney. 

The second is April Morning, a 1988 adaptation of Howard Fast's novel. Chad Lowe stars as Adam Cooper, a teenage boy from Lexington. The morning of the battle Adam wakes up a boy, immature and somewhat resentful of his strict father, Moses. Adam loses his father in the initial skirmish and joins the militia. By that evening he's a combat veteran, a reluctant killer, and man of the house. 

April Morning has a heck of a supporting cast. Tommy Lee Jones  plays Adam's father. This was Jones under appreciated character actor era. Robert Urich plays a mentor and Minuteman. Rip Torn plays a grizzled veteran of the French and Indian War and militia commander Solomon Chandler. The lovely Meredith Salenger is Ruth, Adam's love interest. 

Doge Report.

We're editing the set-up chapter and battle of Nueva Segovia chapters of World War 1990: the Managua Campaign. We began work on the follow on chapter, in which Pan American forces advance out of the Choluteca Gap into Nicaragua.  

The American Revolution: a few Reads and Watches

Good Monday morning, Stroock's Books reader(s). We've a frigid morning here in New Jersey as temps are in the mid-30s. 

We've no insights into the Giants. Hmmm two number one picks now. That is interesting. 

So we bought a new laptop yesterday and had all programs, websites, etc... up and running just the way we like them within an hour. Remarkable. We never thought we'd say this, but God bless Microsoft*. Last night we dreamt our new laptop was already falling apart. 

Even after buying a new laptop, we were a bit demoralized. It's annoying really. We've been working off of a laptop since 2002. For reasons we've never understood, we can't seem to keep a laptop functioning for more than two years. And our last laptop physically broke. 'Sup with that?

War of the ants...we bought new liquid ant traps and deployed them in the kitchen and basement. A neighbor thinks we may have a nest down there, as he found the same in his house. We'll take a look. Otherwise, we shall press home our advantage. 

We are working on how we're going to blog and present the American Revolution. Actually, we're thinking we may do it in separate short posts. We should replicate our efforts here on Substack. We'll see.** 

In the meantime, if you want to start the American Revolution, we suggest Benson Bobrick's Angel in the Whirlwind. This edition is 500+ pages, but that includes intro, end notes, index etc. Bobrick's a Canadian author, actually, but don't hold that against him. See also George Middlekauff's The Glorious Cause. This is a classic and was the book we read for our first grad course, Intro to the American Revolution.  

We've lamented before that there aren't a lot of great movies about the American Revolution. However, we strongly recommend George Washington, the 1984 television miniseries starring Barry Bostwick. Go ahead and laugh, but Bostwick pulls it off. For younger reader(s), miniseries used to be a very big deal. George Washington was. Just check out that cast. George Washington can be found on YouTube.

DOGE report.

We worked on a scene in World War 1990: The Managua Campaign and edited another. 

*Wow, the MS read aloud function has a different default voice. Thank the Gods. The old default voice was a wine drinking, menopausal assistant HR rep or the library lady. The new default voice sounds like, we dunno, Microsoft.   

**Ed's pouting. She said something about 'bloody ungrateful colonists' and stormed off. Last we saw she was eating chocolate bon bons and binging Bridgerton. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 4/19/26

Good morning Christian friends of the Jew, except the C of E types [Again with this?-Ed]. A cloudy and chilly Sunday morn here in New Jersey and the heat is on. We call this Yankee spring [Really? Who? Other than you?-Ed].

Our computer continues to fall apart, with the lefthand hinge coming completely undone. This we've never seen. We are miffed. Annoyed even. 

War of the Ants: we're finding ant carcasses in the basement. The internet seems to think that this means the poison has gotten to the colony. Ant ambushes ineffective though and ant activity continues in the basement which is now the  main front of teh war. We remain vigilant. 

A lovely article from Ynet about Israel's population boom on the eve of Independence Day. From the subheading, 'Population grew by 146,000 in a year, with 177,000 births and 21,000 new immigrants; Jews make up 76% of residents, Arabs 21%, while Israel remains relatively young and ranks among the world’s top 10 happiest countries.' And after two and a half years of war, too. A remarkable country. 

Related...the Israel public overwhelmingly wants the IDF get on with things in Lebanon and finish off Hezbollah once and for all. Which is exactly why this blog believes Netanyahu will do it. An election looms....

Classic Post, Will graduates from college: It was 20 Years Ago Today. 

Let's move on to Will's Good Idea for the Week of 4/19/26...Things are going well with World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. We're prepped to have a good week this week. We should probably keep working on Managua through May. 

We finished the Kenny and Aoife sequel in The Fourth Day. We'll finish the cosmonaut story this week, we swear.

And that should clear the deck to at least restart World War 1990: Thatcher's War and lay the groundwork for a great June. 

Also, why not just start blogging the American Revolution? Afterall, we have an MA in the American Revolution [Bla-bla your MA, bla-bla 13 Colonies-Ed]. Shut up Ed. You're just bitter you lost. 

Saturday Updates

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

Our computer is literally falling apart. What the actual ef?

So we visited a GP yesterday about some stomach trouble we've been having. Feels kind of like an ulcer. Then on his reco we saw a gastroenterologist that afternoon. They withdrew four vials of blood. Neither doctor saw fit to hit the panic button. A follow up is being scheduled.  

Try getting in to see a specialist on three hours' notice in the YooKay or Canada! Our fellow North American says you can schedule their MAID death service in a day, though. Which is nice. 

A day of running around between doctors' offices and trying to set up one of them new patient portal accounts* left us tired and a bit miffed.

Even so we had a fine evening last night at a Somerset Patriots game. We sat behind home plate, row G. The temps were perfectly cool. Yankees hurler Gerrit Cole made a rehab start and the Patriots won 8-7 in the bottom of the 10th, or 'overtime' as Middle Daughter called it. 

War of the ants...we've deployed three different kinds of ant traps. Weirdly, we see dead ants and ants that look like they're crawling through the desert dying of thirst. But we see plenty of live ants too. Weird. We're going to try setting ambushes, a bowl of sugar on the front porch. Draw them in and strike. 

The things. 

Both World War 1990: The Managua Campaign (38,000 words) and The Fourth Day (26,000 words) are progressing nicely. 

*Codes were sent. Log ins rejected. Accounts locked. We are less and less patient with this c-r-a-p. We hate progress. We do hate it so. 

Will/300

Shabbat Shalom Stroock Books kibbutzim, and happy Friday. 

So at the gym yesterday we decided to hit the bench press. We haven't lifted weights since last August. Yesterday we started at 180 (four 45 pound weights), our original mark last spring, and sent the bar up no problem. We added a pair of 45 pounders upping the weight to 270, and sent the bar up no problem. We thought a milestone was in reach and added 30 pounds. Sure enough, we sent the bar up. 

A decade ago we were 270. There once was a time when we thought by 52 we'd weigh 300 pounds. Now we're benching 300.

For the last ten months we've been using tension bands and doing pushups, usually a half dozen or more sets of 20. In that time, we've put on 10-12 pounds. Frankly we were worried. And baffled. Our clothes fit the same. Our pants weren't tighter. But being able to bench 300, well, that means we've put on 10-12 pounds of muscle. Still, we did like weighing 235. Exit question: should we resume weightlifting?

Ceasefire with Iran. Ceasefire in Lebanon. A lot of the panicky types are worried about Lebanon, but this blog isn't. Israel holds all the cards there. We noticed gas prices have dropped around here 10-15 cents. Iran just graciously opened Hormuz and oil is down ten bucks a barrel as we write this. Always trust Trump. Never bet... [Don't get ahead of yourself-Ed]. 

We spent a lot of time this week thinking about and going over old magazine articles. We re-tallied our work. In all we had (as best as we can tell) 85 articles in print between 2003-2022. That excludes a trio of pieces we published in a Ruski online magazine called Art of War [You and the Ruskis again-Ed]. Meh, it was the late 2000s. We might be forgetting a few articles...maybe. Those interested can read 15 of our articles here at the Warfare History Network. 

We've been thinking maybe we should spend the next few years writing articles about the American Revolution. With the Revolution's 250th anniversary, why not? We still haven't heard back about that Nathanael Greene submission. If they like it, we'll offer to do a piece on Trenton/Princeton for this autumn. We'll see.

Classic Post: Nixon's the one.

DOGE report.

We finished the Kenny and Aoife story in The 4th Day. Only the cosmonaut story remains to complete. That will get The 4th Day half way home. 

In World War 1990: The Managua Campaign, the plot advances, as do FDN forces.

What's A-NatO?

A fine Thursday morn to Stroock's Books reader(s) everywhere but Europe, and Canada, California, Massachusetts....The list goes on.  

So we got into it a bit with a lefty on Substack yesterday. Which is sometimes amusing but usually dumb. In truth we kind of started it [Kind of?-Ed]. We like to search Gaza on Substack notes, repost some sob story of Dickensian suffering with the comment, 'Hamas chose war', which it did. 

Also, this person was a lefty, which after several months of Tucker jack off effluvia from rightwing randos, was almost refreshing. It's been a while since anyone has called us a homophobe. All we did was say this bro was gay and retarded, which is our wont. 

He replied, 'You're an idiot,' to which we responded, 'I am a man of letters, sir!' [Oh look at you...Ed].

Moving on....This blog believes all the people saying Trump is reordering global trade in America's favor, winning the Iran war, and generally playing 4D chess, are making great points. See John Sexson at Hot Air for instance. Or David Strom, also at Hot Air. We even think they're right. Naysaying and nitpicking is far too easy. But this blog remains cautious, weary even. What are the unknown unknowns? And above all, events...events. 

Pointless nostalgia....last weekend we cleaned up the front yard while listening to Queen's A Night at the Opera. ANatO is one of our favorite albums, an album we'd take with us to a desert island, as DJs used to say*. We put on ANatO on purpose. For 20 years ago we listened to ANatO while cleaning up the yard, on the recommendation of one of our high school students, a nice young man whom we know has done well for himself. Aside from Bohemian Rhapsody, we'd never heard  anything on ANatO. The album is a tour de force. There just ain't anuthin' else like it.  Anywho...we enjoyed the generational synergy. 

Hey, look at that. We spelled A-NATO. Yes, NATO is useless. Worse than useless, really. The Euros are aiding and abetting Iran. 

Related....yeah we didn't really think the new guy in Hungary would be as bad as a lot of the right feared. Hot Air [Again?-Ed] reports Magyar will keep Orban's immigration policies and has invited Netanyahu to visit. Hey, Orban was in office for 16 years. Sooner or later a leader must step down or get thrown out. And so he was. Magyar is who the people of Hungary chose. Bibi may well be next. We'll see. 

Classic Post: I got polled!

DOGE Report.

We had a decent day writing two scenes in World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. The battle of Neuva Segovia is coming along and soon FDN forces will threatened the flank of the Sandinista northwestern zone. 

Also, we shifted focus in The Fourth Day. We still don't know how we're wrapping up the Soviet cosmonaut story. But we figured out how we're ending the Kenny and Aoife story. So we got to work on that. Do Kenny and Aoife run into a downed Soviet pilot, or a downed British pilot? The latter certainly has comedic potential. In any event, we plan on finishing this story today [Do you, now?-Ed].

We are matriculating those plot lines. 

*That is, were we stuck on a desert island, what album would we want with us?