Look Back the 80s

First day of school! Heh, the state mandated smartphone ban is in effect. 

Wow, what a summer. One trip to Indiana for Mrs. Stroock and the girls, a trip to LBI, and two trips to the Stroock Northern Strategic Direction. And the girls had a pretty full social calendar here at home. We did a lot of taxiing. 

This will probably be the last summer with all that travel. Next year await summer internships, jobs, etc etc. 

Well, we had forgotten about this, our latest article in Military Heritage Magazine: 'Nathanael Greene...General Nathanael Greene became a master of Southern Strategy during the American Revolution.' Seriously, we were paging through the latest issue of MH, which had arrived in the mail last week, and saw the article, 'What the what?' we asked. That article was originally a graduate term paper we wrote in 2004. Now there it is, in print. We urge reader(s) to click on over. Click it!

80's week...During the 80s, technology advanced in a lot of small incremental ways that added up to a big improvement in everyday life. Cable television arrived, as did VCRs. Video game systems were ubiquitous and became better as the decade progressed. The graphics and game play jump from Atari to Nintendo was enormous. Cars were built lighter, more fuel efficient, and safer. 

Overall, life progressed. 

But people in the 80s looked back too. A lot. Boomer nostalgia, by our recollection, began in 1983, with the 20th anniversary of JFK's assassination, and has never really stopped. Some of the biggest coming of age movies Gen-X remembers were about Boomer childhood. See for example Stand by Me, for the boys, Dirty Dancing for the girls. 

And the reruns...we watched a cornucopia of 70s TV in the 80s. Whare to start? Sitcoms like MASH, All in the Family, Good Times, What's Happening. We watched dramas like SWAT, Black Sheep Squadron, Eight is Enough, CHiPs. The elite soldiers in Megaforce wear tan uniforms. 

As the meme says, youngsters today may think of the 80's and see day-glo, pink and gray, and glitz, but we recall earthtones, wood paneling and shag carpet, especially during the decade's early years. Just watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). The kids still have one foot in the 70s, fashion wise. Those button-down shirts are in earth tones, and the hair is still floppy. Here's Def Leppard's Photograph (1983). The colors are subdued. The hair isn't big. Def Leppard's hair isn't big till Hysteria (1987). Here's Poor Some Sugar on Me (1988). Now there's some late stage 80's colors - and big hair. 

DOGE report.

We awoke knowing what we want to write today. Always a good thing. We're writing a plot point that helps establish the massive riots breaking out in Belfast and wraps up a plot arc. Huh, we've no idea what supposed to happen to Finn Fahey and his news crew. We wrote a scene where they come to a roadblock...but never finished it. 

Wither the 80s?

A rare miss for this blog yesterday. We had lots to do before leaving the Stroock Northern Strategic Direction, and is now normal, the drive home left us exhausted. 

And a late post today.

Happy Labor Day, Stroock's Books reader(s), you union lay-abouts, time servers and goldbricks. 

The womenfolk are going shopping. We'll be mowing the lawn. 

So it seems the Alliance for Deutschland has won a major victory in Saxony. After getting 44.6 percent of the vote, the AfD isn't far right. The AfD is the center. Don't get too excited. The establishment will never let them form a government. 

It's 80s week all week here at Stroock's Books in response to Ryan Reynolds horribly ignorant and Canadian take on the decade. We bet he pours syrup on his moose rips, eh? 

First let's define the decade's parameters. This blog believes the 80s begin on election night 1980. The 80's end in the summer of 1991. The end date is staked to music. Most people will say, ah, of course, Nirvana's Nevermind. But we're thinking of one-hit-wonder Jesus Jones' Right Here, Right Now. Listen to the lyrics, RHRN is the perfect capstone to the decade.  

We've asked online if those of us who remember the 80s are looking back at the decade through rose colored glasses. Everyone who responded said, 'No. Of course not. What kind of ridiculous question is that?' or some such. Still, we recall a lot of angst. 

Here's Billy Joel's 80's stanza from We Didn't Start the Fire (1989):  'Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide, Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz, hypodermics on the shore [Yay, New Jersey!], China's under martial law, rock-and-roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore,' Which is spot-on. The man does not present a happy-go-lucky decade.

Everyone our age starts with the same worry, nuclear war, stoked by movies like War Games and The Day After. Nuclear war was a very common childhood fear, referenced in at least one Simpson's episode. A kid could reasonably look up at the night sky and wonder, are they going to push the button? But a kid could also worry about environmental gloom and doom; global warming, rainforest and ozone layer depletion, overpopulation. The Ethiopian Famine was the biggest international news story of 1984. AIDS was the covid of the time. 

The 80s saw plenty of moral panics, Heavy Metal being the most prominent and hilarious issue. Then as now plenty of people and organizations (see for example the Moral Majority) called for censorship. Televangelists (Jimmy Swaggert, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker) were all the rage. 

The over make-upped Tammy Faye is an extreme example of the 80's innate tackiness with big hair, shoulder pads and too much makeup for women. Girls used a lot of hair spray. A lot. We dated a few of them in the 80s. Don't touch the hair.  Men wore three-piece suits with white collars and slicked back their hair (Gorgon Gekko style). By 1985 the colors turned bright. We complained about 70s fashion in the 80s, but weren't we just as bad in our Hawaiian shirts and jams? Let's not talk about two-toned jeans.  By 1988 dayglo was everywhere -pinks and yellows and greens - uck.  Every high school was marred by black heavy metal T-shirts; Iron Maiden, Ozzie, Dio, Slayer, etc etc. 

And everything had to be cool. In The Wedding Singer, Adam Sandler captured the 80's zeitgeist with his rapping granny bit. Grannys rapped. Kids rapped. Dogs rapped. 

DOGE report. The Battle of Dublin-Howth aftermath chapter seems to have come together. The things are where and what they need to be, if a bit abrupt. It's September, World War 1990: Thatcher's War is 73,000 words, and this thing needs to be completed.

This week we'll write the raid on Heath House. We'll need some sort of concluding chapter after that. 

Saturday Updates

Aye, a faire Saturday morn to all Stroock's Books people. The sky is clear and sunny. The fog is lifted off the lake. We are tired after a day of hiking and boating. Fireworks tonight.

As we write this we're indulging in an late AM beer and Arturo Fuente while the womenfolk hit the outlets. Why not?

Mrs. Stroock and the girls spotted a huge porcupine last night. 

The actor Ryan Renolds (a Canadian FFS) said some very dumb, ill-informed things about the 80's. The great Mark Judge rises to the defense of the decade. Next week will be 80's week here at Stroock's Books. We recall a lot of angst. Exit question: are we looking at the 80's through rose colored glasses? Discuss in comments. 

Saw this on Substack, 'Most self-published authors sell fewer than 100 copies of their book, mainly because they started marketing it after they published it.' This sounds smart, at first. Clever even. That's the problem. What difference does it make if one markets a big before it's on the market or after? A Line Through the Desert sold a hundred copies - the first year. And we spent thousands marketing it. We could (and have) go on and on. 

The Things.

We slogged, my how we slogged, through World War 1990 Thatcher's War. The Howth chapter is better. Much better. Is it finished? Don't make us laugh. What's that principle where one gets 50% closer to a goal and then 50% closer and 50% closer yet again? We dunno. But there we are. [It's frustrating but you are making progress-Ed]. We are Ed. We are. 

Woman Are Crazy Week: Last Xanax

Good morning from the pastoral splendor of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. As we write this the lake is shrouded in fog. Temps should reach into the mid 80s today. The sky is clear. There will be boating. 

FB tells us that ten years ago we were here with friends, two neighborhood families. All the kids were BFFs. Ah....we named that motorboat after our grandmother's hometown, Waterproof. The naming didn't appease her spirit. She haunted Waterproof...from beyond the grave. Reminder: do not mess with southern women. Ever. Even though we're a blue belly, the blood of the South pulses through our veins. We should have known better. She seems okay with the pontoon boat, though. 

Driving outside of town, we saw a bear just lounging on the side of the road like he owned the place. We slowed down and rubbernecked. The girls snapped some pics. 

Political note, local: One cannot go on YouTube without seeing an ad for Congressman Tom Kean. And he talks about...healthcare. Kean has the advantage of incumbency, massive name recognition*, and more cash. His campaign strikes us as motivated and aggressive. We saw a poll that has Kean and challenger Rebecca Bennett tied at 45.** If they really are tied after Kean checked himself into the nuthouse and disappeared for a couple of months.... NJ07 should be a bellwether. This blog awaits events. 

One juror is holding out in the Lindsay Clancy case, they say. One lone man, we imagine. But who knows? It takes a strong man to resistance the persistent demands of a class of women unused to be told, 'No, you can't do that'. We shouldn't speculate [Yet you are -Ed]. We are, Ed. We are. 

World War 1990: Korea: This is one book. One. Ya hear me? [Oh please, Korea could easily be a trilogy Ed]. That's what we're afraid of.

DOGE report.

Before we hit the road yesterday, we continued our slog through the Battle of Howth. We are slogging well. 

We also read through our DEW Line story. The half we've written looked good. Plenty of setup, atmosphere, and character. But what happens?! We've no idea. A problem. 

*This website is using a picture of his dad, former governor Tom Kean.

**Okay, looks like they're normalizing a poll from last spring. That being said, Kean and the RNC and third-party groups are spending a lot of money in NJ07. They wouldn't being doing that unless they thought they could win. 

Women are Crazy Week: Fourth Xanax

A cloudy and wet morning here in New Jersey.  We awake tired and sore.

Today we decamp to the Berkshires for Labor Day. Saturday night there will be fireworks on the lake. We're all packed but there's some cleaning that must needs be done before we leave.

A date looms. We are in no way physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually prepared. Yes, we're speaking of 9 September, the first game of the 2026 NFL season. 

Speaking of not being prepared, Middle and Youngest Daughter return to school next week. They're fine. We're not. Dunno. 

Women are Crazy Week, 4th Xanax. We see Gloria Steinem has died. We'll say nothing about the woman or her legacy, and keep our quips to ourselves, because we ain't the left. Then we remembered the crazy succubi rallying for Lindsey and the hung jury of nine women and three men. Does one of the poor men on the jury get a 'just one of those days' pass were he to strangle his children? This blog suggests that we reach back, to the purer time of our forefathers and have them all burned at the stake, metaphorically. Also, reference. Reminder: feminism is ALWAYS bad for women. 

Israel Hayom, runs a story on security procedures and spending at American synagogues. Yep. Our own synagogue has armed security during the High Holy Days. Larger congregations have permanent armed security. The next great terrorist pogrom will be against the Diaspora. Stabby is persistent.

World War 1990: Korea: the end point of this war will be a massive US/Allied aerial and sea bombardment of China. At least three carrier battlegroups will be off the Chinese coast. 

Campaign notes, national: on the one hand Rasmussen (the gold standard) has the Dems up 5. On the other, Harvard/Harris has the GOP up 2. Bottom line, the race is anyone's. 

DOGE report. 

We worked on the Howth battle and some aftermath scenes all day yesterday. We'll work on it more today. 

It may be time for Ireland to enter the rest period. 

We've two short stories to finish in the 5th nuke novel, and one more, probably, to write. We shall ponder this on the trip up to the Stroock Northern Strategic Direction. 

Women are Crazy Week: Third Xanax

Happy midweek, people of Stroock's Books. 

Brisket last night. No gout this morning. One must keep one's fingers crossed. 

We got some rain last night and it's drizzling this morning. 

Florit Shoihet asks if Jews are 'frogs in a boiling pot.' She's writing specifically about British Jews, but the answer across the West is yes. Yes, even here in America - though admittedly less so. Shoihet talks about the normalization of antisemitism. She writes on Substack, where we saw so much Juden hass that after a while we became numb to it. 

Related, At Alma, an assessment of Hezbollah's current capabilities. Nut-graph, as the J-school losers would say, 'Hezbollah’s force model on the eve of October 7, 2023, no longer exists. The broad invasion plan to capture the Galilee has been neutralized; the defense plan, with an emphasis on the area south of the Litani and the contact line, has collapsed; and the massive fire plan no longer exists in its previous form.' A lot more assessing follows. The Israelis killed about 10,000 Hezbollah terrorists and made great slaughter of its military and political leadership. See Operation Grim Beeper. Hezbollah is now a dispersed guerilla force preparing for a long-term campaign against the Israeli security zone in Lebanon. In other words, here we go again. Still, the above is no mean feat. 

Women are Crazy Week, Third Xanax: the Lindsey Clancy jury remains deadlocked. That woman has her supporters. What can one say? There'd be no excuses, no supporters, no protests, if Patrick Clancy had strangled the children to death. None. And almost all men would want him strung up in front of the courthouse after conviction. 

Campaign notes, national: The NY Post ran a story saying Dems lead in 8 senate races. True. But many of those races are in red states. and we'd be stunned if those poll numbers held. It's happened before. See for example Tennessee in 2018, where Phil Bredesen and Marsha Blackurn were tied through the summer. Blackburn raced ahead in the autumn though and won handily. 

World War 1990: Korea...it's easy to imagine that after the Norks invade South Korea, the US would bring tremendous military force to bear. Not in this universe. Actually, it took a while for the US to get its act together in the Korean War too. Instead, the US will approach the invasion reluctantly. In the five years since WWIII, congress has slashed defense spending. A lot of experienced military personnel of all ranks are in civilian life now. There will be a significant anti-war caucus at home, left and right *cough-Pat Buchanan-cough*.

DOGE report.

We are almost done fixing the battle of Howth. Almost. 

Women are Crazy Week: Second Xanax

Happy September everyone. Temps remain in the 80s this week. But one can feel the autumn in the cool night. We await, we await. 

Another good day at the gym. We see the results in the mirror. But we remain sore and tired. It's time for a real gym break. Is it also time for a new regimen? Maybe going back to four machines (rope pully, rower, elliptical and....). Two back to backs a week? Maybe. 

9/11's 25th anniversary is approaching and we've no idea what to think or if we should think anything at all. We did a piece of for the Kremlin on the 20th anniversary. Maybe we'll just reprint that. What were people doing on December 7, 1966? We don't know. 

Vice President Vance met with the Republican Jewish Coalition yesterday.  This blog prefers Ron Desantis for 2028, which has almost no chance of happening. The nominee will almost certainly be Vance.  We are meh about what we've heard from the meeting so far. We'll wait for more reporting. *

Women are Crazy Week, legal edition, which is what triggered Woman are Crazy Week: three men sit on the Lindsay Clancy jury, and they're having to explain to the gals that you don't get to strangle your children to death just because your hormonal and having a bad day. We stole that from someone, We don't remember who. 

Seriously, a FB friend of ours was working his way through the case, and we commented that Clancy should be locked up in a hospital for the criminally insane for the rest of her life. We see this as an act of mercy, as it's obvious to us that Clancy is nuts. A mutual female friend said that Clancy's husband was not innocent. 'Up your dosage and try taking it with a glass of white wine,' we didn't say. 

World War 1990: Korea...So after World War Three China has ambitions. They're looking north actually, as officially the Chinese government thinks Siberia belongs to them. Look it up. And the Soviet Union is weak and probably wracked by civil war. But tidying things up to the east seems like a good idea. To that end China props up and strengthens Kim in North Korea. Kim goes rogue and attacks South Korea. 

DOGE report.

The fixing of the Battle of Howth...continues. Baah. The writing seems flat. We are entering the 'this sucks' phase. All perfectly normal.

*In our view firing Buckley Carson from the staff would be a good move.