One of the weird things about coming of age in the 80's was the ubiquitous hold of the 50's and 60's on everyone and everything. You have to remember that this was the time when the Balding Boomers, who have never been able to shut up about anything, were not able to shut up about their youth.
Now by the mid-1980's the Balding Boom had amassed considerable power in Hollywood. As a result they churned out movies about what it was like to be a mid-century young American. Gen Xrs like me marinated in 50-60s culture. We liked the music and we had 50's and 60's days at school, always fun and you could even get away with a pack of Marlboros rolled up in your shirt sleeves. The girls wore a lot of poodle skirts but sadly not a lot of hot pants.
To that end here's a list of the movies that made the 80's feel like the 50's and 60's,
-Back to the Future (1985): Is this the movie that started it all? I don't know, but it certainly seems to start Gen X's fascination with the 50's.
-Dead Poet Society (1989): Private boy's school in the late 1950's. Very Salingerian.
-Hairspray (1988): Every girl in Hairspray and in 1988 used a lot of hairspray. Nuff said.
-Stand by Me (1986): Given my upbringing and friends did this ever hit home. Four mischievous boys making mischief. I was probably a hybrid of the fat kid and the kid with the glasses.
-Dirty Dancing (1988): [gag...snort...oh fuck no]: If you had a girl in 1988 she made you take her to see this. Jake Bloom did. The wussification of Patrick Swayze begins. [wussification, you know how much tail he must have gotten?-ed].
Hoosiers (1986): Basketball movie taking place in the 50's. Lot's of Indiana kids in Chuck Taylors.
Full Metal Jacket (1987): Kind of weird on this list I know but it really helps kick off a spate of Vietnam War movies and has lots of contemp cultural references.
Good Morning Vietnam (1988): See above, with tons of mid-60's music.
Animal House (1978): To answer the above question, no, Animal House is the movie that started it all. It could have taken place in the 70's just as easily. At the Wesley College chapter of AXP, we did out best impersonation of this movie, down to the toga parties and a pledge named Flounder.
William Stroock (as in Stroock's Books)
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
A Line Through the Desert
With the recent anniversary of the Battle of 73 Easting and General HR McMaster getting the NSA job, we'll be talking about A Line Through the Desert a lot this week.
It took me two years to write A Line Through the Desert. It was difficult, excruciating at times. Nothing I have done since required as much time and effort. I learned how to write during this period of my life and I learned what not to write.
I started with the initial section about Jake just graduating HS and falling in love with his next door neighbor, Patricia. It was the summer of 2003, that section was more or less complete by the end of the summer, though it came in for massive reworking later, and thank god it did. This was my first foray after all. In September of 2004, when I finished my editing of that section is when I knew I could write. It was good.
Anyway, I had to take a 3 month break from writing that fall because I was in grad school and teaching full time. I picked things up again in January of 2004. During this time I wrote the Germany section. Taking place in spring 1990, this section shows Jake as a soldier, a tanker in the elite 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. This was always the toughest part to write. Garrison duty and Barracks life were completely foreign to me. Fortunately I made contact with an alumni group, a dozen or so gave me intricate details about things in Germany. I mean real minutiae stuff like the cost of a cab ride, what bars did they go to, could the sneak girls into the barracks (could they ever), what were the billets like, etc etc. I even showed a gunnery exercise at the Grafenwher proving ground. Honestly this scene was too technical and boring, but I wanted to prove I could do it, and it does end with news about Iraq invading Kuwait.
The waiting in the desert came next. This was mostly about killing time and was not too hard to write. neither was the next section about the actual Battle of 73 Easting. I just followed the narrative as provided by the Stars and Stripes account of the battle, A Swift Kick, I believe its called. This was 2004, and believe it or not, one still had to do archival research. I got a PDF of the article for 12 bucks after calling the paper.
Now the aftermath section didn't come till 2006 after a book doc took a look at ALTD and convinced me that I ended too abruptly. He was right, that section about Jake coming home and feeling completely alienated makes the book. The love story with Jake and Patricia happens all over again.
Glad I wrote that section too it really brought the entire narrative together. Set the stage for the sequel too.
50,000 words so far. Stay tuned.
It took me two years to write A Line Through the Desert. It was difficult, excruciating at times. Nothing I have done since required as much time and effort. I learned how to write during this period of my life and I learned what not to write.
I started with the initial section about Jake just graduating HS and falling in love with his next door neighbor, Patricia. It was the summer of 2003, that section was more or less complete by the end of the summer, though it came in for massive reworking later, and thank god it did. This was my first foray after all. In September of 2004, when I finished my editing of that section is when I knew I could write. It was good.
Anyway, I had to take a 3 month break from writing that fall because I was in grad school and teaching full time. I picked things up again in January of 2004. During this time I wrote the Germany section. Taking place in spring 1990, this section shows Jake as a soldier, a tanker in the elite 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. This was always the toughest part to write. Garrison duty and Barracks life were completely foreign to me. Fortunately I made contact with an alumni group, a dozen or so gave me intricate details about things in Germany. I mean real minutiae stuff like the cost of a cab ride, what bars did they go to, could the sneak girls into the barracks (could they ever), what were the billets like, etc etc. I even showed a gunnery exercise at the Grafenwher proving ground. Honestly this scene was too technical and boring, but I wanted to prove I could do it, and it does end with news about Iraq invading Kuwait.
The waiting in the desert came next. This was mostly about killing time and was not too hard to write. neither was the next section about the actual Battle of 73 Easting. I just followed the narrative as provided by the Stars and Stripes account of the battle, A Swift Kick, I believe its called. This was 2004, and believe it or not, one still had to do archival research. I got a PDF of the article for 12 bucks after calling the paper.
Now the aftermath section didn't come till 2006 after a book doc took a look at ALTD and convinced me that I ended too abruptly. He was right, that section about Jake coming home and feeling completely alienated makes the book. The love story with Jake and Patricia happens all over again.
Glad I wrote that section too it really brought the entire narrative together. Set the stage for the sequel too.
50,000 words so far. Stay tuned.
Sands of Iwo Jima in Time
So over the weekend I caught Sands of Iwo Jima on Amazon.
A bit of background. I first saw this movie when I was 7 years old, 1980, maybe 1981, and we taped it right off TV. Younger reader (s) ask your parents. I must have watched it a hundred times. The film was part of the texture of my childhood. So were the commercials. I still remember snippets of those, a detergent commercial where detergent bottles are making a rainbow, another detergent commercial where kids are tying old newspapers together and kid says, 'Mom, we got a ton. Our school's gonna win.'
Anyhoo, watching this weekend I was stunned how I could recall the rhythm and cadence of the dialogue, like an actor remember lines from years before. I was in high school and college drama clubs, so I do that too, 'I wonder why London cannot keep its fools at home...', or 'You are causing an economic revolution on this island...'
Now one of the aspects of Sands of Iwo Jima that most impressed me was the writer's and actors' ability to get across strong characters. There must be a dozen of them. John Wayne's Sgt. Stryiker of course but there are many others. The two brothers from Philly who are always fighting. Thomas, the skeptical marine who served in China with Stryker. Bass, the old friend of and straight man to Stryker, Rigazzi, the quick talking player. Choynski the 'all thumbs' recruit. The tall, handsome Shiply. And of course Conway, the reluctant marine who resents the corps and Stryker who served with his father on Guadalcanal.
Conway has a romance angle, meeting Kiwi girl and a marine social, played by Adel Mara, and man is she a hottie.
Also interesting was the portrayal of the Tarawa landing. Lots of action, as the amtracs hit the beach, explosions, water geysers, wrecked vehicles, dead marines. Hollywood's version fits seamlessly with combat footage, so much so that a few months ago one of the magazines I write for accidentally illustrated an article on Tarawa with a publicity photo from Sands of Iwo Jima. The same is true for the Iwo Jima scenes. The movie bits fit pretty well with historical footage. They even recreate the landing with a nice, grand visual scope.
While its dated (obviously) Sands of Iwo Jima holds up as a period war movie, probably the Pacific version of the classic 'Battleground'. Its excellent characters and human drama make Sands of Iwo Jima timeless.
A bit of background. I first saw this movie when I was 7 years old, 1980, maybe 1981, and we taped it right off TV. Younger reader (s) ask your parents. I must have watched it a hundred times. The film was part of the texture of my childhood. So were the commercials. I still remember snippets of those, a detergent commercial where detergent bottles are making a rainbow, another detergent commercial where kids are tying old newspapers together and kid says, 'Mom, we got a ton. Our school's gonna win.'
Anyhoo, watching this weekend I was stunned how I could recall the rhythm and cadence of the dialogue, like an actor remember lines from years before. I was in high school and college drama clubs, so I do that too, 'I wonder why London cannot keep its fools at home...', or 'You are causing an economic revolution on this island...'
Now one of the aspects of Sands of Iwo Jima that most impressed me was the writer's and actors' ability to get across strong characters. There must be a dozen of them. John Wayne's Sgt. Stryiker of course but there are many others. The two brothers from Philly who are always fighting. Thomas, the skeptical marine who served in China with Stryker. Bass, the old friend of and straight man to Stryker, Rigazzi, the quick talking player. Choynski the 'all thumbs' recruit. The tall, handsome Shiply. And of course Conway, the reluctant marine who resents the corps and Stryker who served with his father on Guadalcanal.
Conway has a romance angle, meeting Kiwi girl and a marine social, played by Adel Mara, and man is she a hottie.
Also interesting was the portrayal of the Tarawa landing. Lots of action, as the amtracs hit the beach, explosions, water geysers, wrecked vehicles, dead marines. Hollywood's version fits seamlessly with combat footage, so much so that a few months ago one of the magazines I write for accidentally illustrated an article on Tarawa with a publicity photo from Sands of Iwo Jima. The same is true for the Iwo Jima scenes. The movie bits fit pretty well with historical footage. They even recreate the landing with a nice, grand visual scope.
While its dated (obviously) Sands of Iwo Jima holds up as a period war movie, probably the Pacific version of the classic 'Battleground'. Its excellent characters and human drama make Sands of Iwo Jima timeless.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Metal Monday: Jake Bloom Edition
With the appointment of General HR McMaster to the NSA job, and the anniversary of the Battle of 73 Easting, all week we'll be talking about A Line Through the Deseret.
Now, young Jake Bloom, just graduated from high school is a metal head. He loves Led Zeppelin. ALTD opens with Jake listening to The Song Remains the Same. That night at the diner with his friends he plays Over the Hills and Far Away on the jukebox. The next morning while his parents are chatting in his synagogue parking lot he's waiting in the car and Good Time Bad Times is playing on the radio.
It's not just Led Zeppelin that Jake loves. Later on in the army he takes a girl to a Metallica concert. He and his friend Dan like Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory. As noted in this space before, at a party Jake and his friends debate whether or not Bon Jovi is metal and Jake points to Dead or Alive. Skid Row's I Remember You makes Jake think of Patricia, his girlfriend and he writes her a letter with Cinderella's Coming Home on in the background and also Tesla's The Way it is, 'I miss your smile and that sparkle in your eyes...your so beautiful...never change.'
So how hardcore of metal head is Jake? No much of one, really. Its hard rock he likes.
Now, young Jake Bloom, just graduated from high school is a metal head. He loves Led Zeppelin. ALTD opens with Jake listening to The Song Remains the Same. That night at the diner with his friends he plays Over the Hills and Far Away on the jukebox. The next morning while his parents are chatting in his synagogue parking lot he's waiting in the car and Good Time Bad Times is playing on the radio.
It's not just Led Zeppelin that Jake loves. Later on in the army he takes a girl to a Metallica concert. He and his friend Dan like Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory. As noted in this space before, at a party Jake and his friends debate whether or not Bon Jovi is metal and Jake points to Dead or Alive. Skid Row's I Remember You makes Jake think of Patricia, his girlfriend and he writes her a letter with Cinderella's Coming Home on in the background and also Tesla's The Way it is, 'I miss your smile and that sparkle in your eyes...your so beautiful...never change.'
So how hardcore of metal head is Jake? No much of one, really. Its hard rock he likes.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Will's Good Idea for 2-26-17: The First One
In March of 2003 I was sitting in The Daily Grind a fabulous coffee shop in Bedminster, NJ, enjoying a medium coffee and reading Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. It was there that I finished the book, put it down, opened up my computer and began writing.
The result was A Line Through the Desert. The idea for the book had been kicking around my head for about a year. Basically a young man defies his family and joins the army and he ends up at the Battle of 73 Easting. Also he's madly in love with the girl next door.
It just so happens that 73 Easting was fought 26 years ago today. It also just so happens that the commander of Eagle Troop at that battle, HR McMaster, is going to be President Trump's National Security Adviser.
By the time I began writing McMaster was already fairly well known. He'd published a book, Dereliction of Duty, and his exploits with Eagle Troop were well documented in Tom Clancy's Armored Cav.
For these reasons, A Line Through the Desert focused on a different aspect of 73 Easting: Ghost Troop's fight to the north. I wanted to break some new ground.
This week we'll be talking about various aspects of writing and researching ALTD, a lot of process talk. I think its interesting and might benefit fans who want to write themselves. And it might just sell a few books.
The result was A Line Through the Desert. The idea for the book had been kicking around my head for about a year. Basically a young man defies his family and joins the army and he ends up at the Battle of 73 Easting. Also he's madly in love with the girl next door.
It just so happens that 73 Easting was fought 26 years ago today. It also just so happens that the commander of Eagle Troop at that battle, HR McMaster, is going to be President Trump's National Security Adviser.
By the time I began writing McMaster was already fairly well known. He'd published a book, Dereliction of Duty, and his exploits with Eagle Troop were well documented in Tom Clancy's Armored Cav.
For these reasons, A Line Through the Desert focused on a different aspect of 73 Easting: Ghost Troop's fight to the north. I wanted to break some new ground.
This week we'll be talking about various aspects of writing and researching ALTD, a lot of process talk. I think its interesting and might benefit fans who want to write themselves. And it might just sell a few books.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Dear Media: it's not your business model that sucks, its you that sucks...
...so said my mentor, my guiding light, the man for whom I openly wept when he died, Andrew Breitbart.
This clip, a couple of weeks old now, is breathtaking:
That's CNN's Brian Stelter, media critic, interviewing Michael Wolff himself a journalist and media critic. Wolff really let's him have it. And rightly so. Stelter is a pig. A man with no real journalism experience, sorry writing media columns is not journalism, slamming President Trump for not revering the media. Stelter at one point tries to argue that we live in extraordinary times that require the likes of himself lecturing the president. Wolff is not impressed. In fact everything Wolff says is true. 'The media does not need defending by the media,' Wolff says and, 'The media will be fine.' After Stelter tried to argue that we live in extraordinary times Wolff, who unlike Stelter has the benefit of years of experience, says, 'I think all new presidencies are unusual.'
Just so.
Brian Stelter actually brings Wolff on air to take about...Brian Stelter.
Look folks, there's a reason why my novels are peppered with journalists known only by a sobriquet; Bloviating Hair Maniac, Red Dye Job, Aggressive Blonde, etc, etc. Except Rafael Gould of course. 'Gonzo' as he is nicknamed is out in the field, you know, reporting.
Calm down Stelter, you're not that pretty, you're not that special.
This clip, a couple of weeks old now, is breathtaking:
Just so.
Brian Stelter actually brings Wolff on air to take about...Brian Stelter.
Look folks, there's a reason why my novels are peppered with journalists known only by a sobriquet; Bloviating Hair Maniac, Red Dye Job, Aggressive Blonde, etc, etc. Except Rafael Gould of course. 'Gonzo' as he is nicknamed is out in the field, you know, reporting.
Calm down Stelter, you're not that pretty, you're not that special.
Friday, February 24, 2017
Great Sci-fi: Arrival
Arrival is last year's alien movie staring Amy Adams among others.
Arrival is also what we call the beginning of the alien invasion in To Defend the Earth.
Needless to say my crack legal team is preparing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the studio. Robert Shapiro is lead council.
Anyway, I watched Arrival yesterday and I have to say I'm impressed. This is a smart, well done movie with its own aesthetic.
Basically aliens show up, but they think and communicate in a completely different way than us. In comes Amy Adams, linguistics expert. She not only cracks the alien's language but teaches them to understand our own language and way of thinking. Her work with the aliens is life changing, life altering, really.
Now one of the things I like about this flick is that in the background we see humanity freaking out. We got riots, we have paranoid countries acting paranoid. Just like To Survive the Earth also known as exhibit B in the upcoming legal epic. Amy Adams' linguistics team is under intense pressure to figure out why the aliens are here and where they come from.
This movie also deals with 'big picture' sci-fi issues and has some great twists. Really the whole point of the movie is those 'big picture' issues. In the end Arrival is about life and choices. I really can't say much more without spoilers.
I hope the people responsible for the chick Ghostbusters disaster watched. Rather than proclaim 'Look female scientist!' Arrival is a movie about a strong, in charge female linguistics expert. The character stands on her own. They might learn something.
Arrival is also what we call the beginning of the alien invasion in To Defend the Earth.
Needless to say my crack legal team is preparing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the studio. Robert Shapiro is lead council.
Anyway, I watched Arrival yesterday and I have to say I'm impressed. This is a smart, well done movie with its own aesthetic.
Basically aliens show up, but they think and communicate in a completely different way than us. In comes Amy Adams, linguistics expert. She not only cracks the alien's language but teaches them to understand our own language and way of thinking. Her work with the aliens is life changing, life altering, really.
Now one of the things I like about this flick is that in the background we see humanity freaking out. We got riots, we have paranoid countries acting paranoid. Just like To Survive the Earth also known as exhibit B in the upcoming legal epic. Amy Adams' linguistics team is under intense pressure to figure out why the aliens are here and where they come from.
This movie also deals with 'big picture' sci-fi issues and has some great twists. Really the whole point of the movie is those 'big picture' issues. In the end Arrival is about life and choices. I really can't say much more without spoilers.
I hope the people responsible for the chick Ghostbusters disaster watched. Rather than proclaim 'Look female scientist!' Arrival is a movie about a strong, in charge female linguistics expert. The character stands on her own. They might learn something.
Friday Updates
Not a whole lot to report.
Pershing in Command is still under consideration.
World War 1990: ANZACs is 45,000 words (we trimmed it back to 40,000 remember). What we have in the book so far:
-Set up: Vietnamese action against the Philippines and Hong Kong
-Western reaction: confabs at the Palace, political maneuvering in Canberra, etc
-Opening moves: air action, naval action
-Landings: ANZAC forces come ashore, big battle. Tanks! [oh big surprise-Ed]
Still have to work on the other big battle.
We are also dealing with the matter of how many Soviets are around, what's their role, if any, etc?
Another issue, this one is minor. Just how many Abbo's and Maori characters are in ANZAC forces?
Plugging along.
Pershing in Command is still under consideration.
World War 1990: ANZACs is 45,000 words (we trimmed it back to 40,000 remember). What we have in the book so far:
-Set up: Vietnamese action against the Philippines and Hong Kong
-Western reaction: confabs at the Palace, political maneuvering in Canberra, etc
-Opening moves: air action, naval action
-Landings: ANZAC forces come ashore, big battle. Tanks! [oh big surprise-Ed]
Still have to work on the other big battle.
We are also dealing with the matter of how many Soviets are around, what's their role, if any, etc?
Another issue, this one is minor. Just how many Abbo's and Maori characters are in ANZAC forces?
Plugging along.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Report From the Leonard Lance Protest
So last night my Congressman, Leonard Lance held a town hall at my former place of employment, Raritan Valley Community College.
I didn't have tickets to the actual town hall but there was a big protest outside so I decided to check things out.
The crowd is gathered behind a temporary fence in front of the college. There is great turnout. At least a couple hundred people have showed up. These are the usual combination of professional Democrats, the SEIU and Sierra Club is here as are at least a few other local groups. A good half of the protesters are young people, it's at a college campus after all. A lot of older women are present, skinny vegans, crazy cat lady types, gals who have been doing this sort of thing since at least the Nuclear Freeze movement. I didn't see one woman I actually wanted to schtup. There are a lot of gray bearded liberal men, a few professional crazies. To my disappointment there were no black masked thugs. I didn't see one man that I thought stood a decent chance against me in a fight.
The protesters hold a eclectic and varied array of printed and homemade signs. There must have been a hundred of them. A fair amount of pink 'pussy hats' too. Many insist they are not paid protesters. Maybe, but this is a well organized and planned event as evidenced by the banners and printer signs.
The crowd is overwhelmingly white, whiter than the newsroom at MSNBC.
There are lots of cops. Branchburg, Bridgewater, Somerset County Sheriff. These were professional and friendly. There will be no trouble at this event. Lots of press too. Local, ABC, CNN, and curiously Agence Presse France. What's up with that?
Clad in a red MAGA hat I eventually settled in with half a dozen other Trump people. We stand out even with no hats. Large men. Solid looking men. One was with his beautiful blonde wife. We stood in front of the protest, watching and chatting. The crowd was boisterous, excited and loud. They were having a good time. They were also well behaved. No one gave me any trouble.When a woman dropped her sign over the temporary fence she asked if I could get it for her. I obliged. At once point a woman with a home made 'No Wall' sign began bashing Melania to our little gaggle of Trumpiness. She was skinny with short gray hair and glasses and a dead ringer for that coot that was thrown off a plane last month for harassing a Trump supporter. We mock her out of existence.
One by one the leaders of the various liberal groups there make short speeches. These were of the usual boilerplate and thoroughly uninteresting.
Video at this link,guys. Do watch it all the way though.
I didn't have tickets to the actual town hall but there was a big protest outside so I decided to check things out.
The crowd is gathered behind a temporary fence in front of the college. There is great turnout. At least a couple hundred people have showed up. These are the usual combination of professional Democrats, the SEIU and Sierra Club is here as are at least a few other local groups. A good half of the protesters are young people, it's at a college campus after all. A lot of older women are present, skinny vegans, crazy cat lady types, gals who have been doing this sort of thing since at least the Nuclear Freeze movement. I didn't see one woman I actually wanted to schtup. There are a lot of gray bearded liberal men, a few professional crazies. To my disappointment there were no black masked thugs. I didn't see one man that I thought stood a decent chance against me in a fight.
The protesters hold a eclectic and varied array of printed and homemade signs. There must have been a hundred of them. A fair amount of pink 'pussy hats' too. Many insist they are not paid protesters. Maybe, but this is a well organized and planned event as evidenced by the banners and printer signs.
The crowd is overwhelmingly white, whiter than the newsroom at MSNBC.
There are lots of cops. Branchburg, Bridgewater, Somerset County Sheriff. These were professional and friendly. There will be no trouble at this event. Lots of press too. Local, ABC, CNN, and curiously Agence Presse France. What's up with that?
Clad in a red MAGA hat I eventually settled in with half a dozen other Trump people. We stand out even with no hats. Large men. Solid looking men. One was with his beautiful blonde wife. We stood in front of the protest, watching and chatting. The crowd was boisterous, excited and loud. They were having a good time. They were also well behaved. No one gave me any trouble.When a woman dropped her sign over the temporary fence she asked if I could get it for her. I obliged. At once point a woman with a home made 'No Wall' sign began bashing Melania to our little gaggle of Trumpiness. She was skinny with short gray hair and glasses and a dead ringer for that coot that was thrown off a plane last month for harassing a Trump supporter. We mock her out of existence.
One by one the leaders of the various liberal groups there make short speeches. These were of the usual boilerplate and thoroughly uninteresting.
Video at this link,guys. Do watch it all the way though.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Hezbollah Draws Redline
The Times of Israel Reports:
What's promised by both sides goes far beyond what I wrote about in Israel Strikes.
I started Israel Strikes in 2011. Seven years later both sides have surpassed my own apocalyptic vision.
This is one of the reasons why no sequel is in the works.
I had planned a war with Egypt but the circumstances have changed and the country has switched back to military dictatorship.
Also the Israel Strikes still fit into the geopolitics of the region even with the Syrian civil war which had not yet escalated into the nihilistic bloodbath we see today.
We've been overtaken by events as they say.
This is a great time for Israel Strikes and Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea, no?
Israel has said much the same thing. As noted here before Israel has basically told Lebanon and the Lebanese people that in a future conflict they will be unconcerned with civilian casualties.
During a television interview with Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, the terror chief repeated a previous threat to fire rockets at Israel’s nuclear reactor in Dimona and at a huge ammonia storage tank in Haifa.
Hezbollah will not keep to any “red lines” in a future war with Israel, Nasrallah cautioned.
What's promised by both sides goes far beyond what I wrote about in Israel Strikes.
I started Israel Strikes in 2011. Seven years later both sides have surpassed my own apocalyptic vision.
This is one of the reasons why no sequel is in the works.
I had planned a war with Egypt but the circumstances have changed and the country has switched back to military dictatorship.
Also the Israel Strikes still fit into the geopolitics of the region even with the Syrian civil war which had not yet escalated into the nihilistic bloodbath we see today.
We've been overtaken by events as they say.
This is a great time for Israel Strikes and Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea, no?
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Nac Sec Ad, HR Mac
General H.R. McMaster has a long and varied military career that includes commanding the Tigres-Euphrates Campaign in Anbar in 2004-2005.
He is now going to be President Trump's National Security Adviser.
McMaster also commanded Eagle Troop at the Battle of 73 Easting. This is of course the climatic battle in my book, A Line through the Desert.
Jut saying.
If you like tank battles, and lord knows I do [you don't say?-ed] 73 Easting is for you.
Basically, the elite 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment repelled multiple attacks by two Iraqi divisions, one of the a Republican Guard division. It was an all night slug fest fought in a raging sand storm. Over the course of the battle the cavalrymen made mincemeat of the Iraqis.
An excerpt:
He is now going to be President Trump's National Security Adviser.
McMaster also commanded Eagle Troop at the Battle of 73 Easting. This is of course the climatic battle in my book, A Line through the Desert.
Jut saying.
If you like tank battles, and lord knows I do [you don't say?-ed] 73 Easting is for you.
Basically, the elite 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment repelled multiple attacks by two Iraqi divisions, one of the a Republican Guard division. It was an all night slug fest fought in a raging sand storm. Over the course of the battle the cavalrymen made mincemeat of the Iraqis.
An excerpt:
“How’s the fight south going, L-T?” Jake asked.“We’re kicking ass” replied Lt. Drew “And now Eagle is…wait one…”While Jake was waiting for Lt. Drew to resume, Dan spoke. “Hey what do you make of this?”Jake dropped back inside the turret and asked, “What do I make of what?”He scanned the horizon with his TIS and saw a series of undefined splotches and right angles. He’d never seen anything quite like them before. Jake switched the resolution from white on black to black on white, but with the storm he still couldn’t make out any clear hotspots. He used his TC override to line up and laser the nearest target. Jake got back up in the cupola and peered through the storm but still saw nothing.Just as Jake was about to ask Lt. Drew what he thought, 1st Platoon opened up with a barrage of TOW missiles.Lt. Drew shouted over the net, “Contact forward! Contact forward! Engage! Engage!”Jake dropped into the turret. “Fire Dan!” he shouted.“On the way!”Jake got his eyes on his site just in time to see the target explode and a turret flip through the air.“Engaged and destroyed!” he reported.Lt. Drew barked in Jake’s ear. “What did you take out, Bloom?”“I don’t know. A tank, I think.”“What do you mean, you think?”“Can’t see shit out there L-T.”Jake scanned the target area. “I found one!” He lased the target, “1300 meters!”“What the hell is it?!” Dan asked.“I can’t fucking tell!” He peered further. “Ahh, shit. Veras, Sabot!”Veras took a Sabot round from the ready rack and slammed it into the breach. “Up!”“Blast it!”“On the way!”Jake waited for a report but saw nothing. He reached down and slapped Dan on the back the head. “You missed! Re-engage!” he shouted.“Veras gimmie another Sabot.”Veras opened the ready rack took a round and slammed it home. “Up!”“Fire!” Jake ordered.Dan didn’t miss this time. The round penetrated an Iraqi tank with unimaginable kinetic energy, vaporizing the crew and exploding its ammunition. The turret spiraled through the air and landed 50 meters away.“Holy Shit, it’s like flipping God dam tiddlywinks out there!” shouted Jake.Jake tried to select another target, but every time he identified one it went up in a ball of flame. Ghost Troop fired and rolled forward against sporadic and ineffective Iraqi return fire delivered from the reverse slope of a wadi. By the time they came upon the edge of the wadi, Ghost Troop blasted the Iraqis right out their positions, reducing the Iraqi battle line to a hellish wreckage of flaming metal and flesh.
You suck, CPAC
CPAC, or Conservative Political Action Committee has decided to dis-invite Milo Yiannopoulos for allegedly espousing the virtues of pedophilia.
A few points.
First, I've watched the interview, he didn't espouse any such thing. He talked about loosing his little gay cherry at 13 and the very complicated issues of the homosexual lifestyle.
Second, since when does the left oppose pedophilia?
Third, Milo's journalism has exposed three pedophiles to public scrutiny.
So he's in the middle of a shit-storm right now. Fortunately Milo can handle this.
But really, CPAC, you were about to do something interesting by having Milo and instead you crapped out at the first opportunity. What's worse is you're playing by the left's rules. They target someone and then you strike for them. This is a repeat of National Review's cataclysmic error in removing John Derbyshire for writing a few impolitic things (not even at NR, mind you). Instead of firing Derbyshire, who is at least interesting unlike, say Rich Lowry, NR should have said, 'John Derbyshire did not publish the piece in question at NR, nor could he have. He wrote the offending article in another publication. Take the matter up with them.' They later removed Mark Steyn. Jesus wept.
Here are people, Milo and Steyn, doing more for Conservatism and Western Civilization than anyone at NR, and they booted because the left says so.
Really CPAC, screw you.
A few points.
First, I've watched the interview, he didn't espouse any such thing. He talked about loosing his little gay cherry at 13 and the very complicated issues of the homosexual lifestyle.
Second, since when does the left oppose pedophilia?
Third, Milo's journalism has exposed three pedophiles to public scrutiny.
So he's in the middle of a shit-storm right now. Fortunately Milo can handle this.
But really, CPAC, you were about to do something interesting by having Milo and instead you crapped out at the first opportunity. What's worse is you're playing by the left's rules. They target someone and then you strike for them. This is a repeat of National Review's cataclysmic error in removing John Derbyshire for writing a few impolitic things (not even at NR, mind you). Instead of firing Derbyshire, who is at least interesting unlike, say Rich Lowry, NR should have said, 'John Derbyshire did not publish the piece in question at NR, nor could he have. He wrote the offending article in another publication. Take the matter up with them.' They later removed Mark Steyn. Jesus wept.
Here are people, Milo and Steyn, doing more for Conservatism and Western Civilization than anyone at NR, and they booted because the left says so.
Really CPAC, screw you.
Tuesday Tally
Tom Hanks Edition
That is, the top five Tom Hanks movies before his quartet of blockbusters, Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own, Philadelphia and Forrest Gump and after Splash put him on the map.
Bachelor Party: Screwball rad 80's comedy, a cousin of Animal House. Tom Hanks being irreverent and zany. Also Towney Katain before David Coverdale. Fun flick.
The Man with One Red Shoe: Tom Hanks, Carrie Fischer, Dabney Coleman, Edward Herman, Charles Durning, Jim Belushi...a dark comedy about an innocent man, Tom Hanks caught in a war between two spy agencies. Lori Singer as the spy/love interest is lovely after the 80's style. A score that is 80's but not over synthed so its dates OK.
Nothing in Common: Tom Hanks is again a screwball, this time a go-go ad-man with an estranged father played brilliantly and believably by Jackie Gleason. Tom Hanks tries to get the account, the girl and reconciliation with his old man. Eva Marie Saint is his mother, Bess Armstrong the artsy old flame who reminds Hanks about what success has cost him.
Volunteers: You got Tom Hanks in 1962 or so lying his way into the Peace Corps to escape his gambling debts. He ends of in Southeast Asia with Rita Wilson and hello John Candy in a great role.
Dragnet: Tom Hanks being loony again, this time with Joe Friday played brilliantly by Dan Aykroyd. Tom Hanks is right at home in 80's LA, Dan Aykroyd is out of place. More Dabney Coleman as well as a nice cameo from Harry Morgan.
Honorable Mention: Tom Hanks' guest appearances on Family Ties.
*Tom Hanks was in some real clunkers too. I'm thinking of Joe vs the Volcano, Turner and Hooch, etc...That quartet of successes really kept him from being known for 80's tripe. See also The Burbs. I've never known what to think of Big.
**Of course, I remember him in that D&D movie...Tunnels and Trolls?
That is, the top five Tom Hanks movies before his quartet of blockbusters, Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own, Philadelphia and Forrest Gump and after Splash put him on the map.
Bachelor Party: Screwball rad 80's comedy, a cousin of Animal House. Tom Hanks being irreverent and zany. Also Towney Katain before David Coverdale. Fun flick.
The Man with One Red Shoe: Tom Hanks, Carrie Fischer, Dabney Coleman, Edward Herman, Charles Durning, Jim Belushi...a dark comedy about an innocent man, Tom Hanks caught in a war between two spy agencies. Lori Singer as the spy/love interest is lovely after the 80's style. A score that is 80's but not over synthed so its dates OK.
Nothing in Common: Tom Hanks is again a screwball, this time a go-go ad-man with an estranged father played brilliantly and believably by Jackie Gleason. Tom Hanks tries to get the account, the girl and reconciliation with his old man. Eva Marie Saint is his mother, Bess Armstrong the artsy old flame who reminds Hanks about what success has cost him.
Volunteers: You got Tom Hanks in 1962 or so lying his way into the Peace Corps to escape his gambling debts. He ends of in Southeast Asia with Rita Wilson and hello John Candy in a great role.
Dragnet: Tom Hanks being loony again, this time with Joe Friday played brilliantly by Dan Aykroyd. Tom Hanks is right at home in 80's LA, Dan Aykroyd is out of place. More Dabney Coleman as well as a nice cameo from Harry Morgan.
Honorable Mention: Tom Hanks' guest appearances on Family Ties.
*Tom Hanks was in some real clunkers too. I'm thinking of Joe vs the Volcano, Turner and Hooch, etc...That quartet of successes really kept him from being known for 80's tripe. See also The Burbs. I've never known what to think of Big.
**Of course, I remember him in that D&D movie...Tunnels and Trolls?
Monday, February 20, 2017
Boiling Kiwis
Sometimes the writing percolation is more of a boil.
After a few hours of wondering what's next the Battle of the South China Sea is taking shape.
There's the Australian Task Force steaming north. And there! Tran's flight of Mig-21s taking to the sky. Below them are the Vietnamese ships heading to battle and probable doom. All of the sudden Tran and his flight detect incoming bogies. Ahhh....Bonfman and his Australian F-18s out of Clark AFB....And what's this? Vietnamese attack boats running off the coast toward the Australian Task Force. Now only a New Zealand destroy on picket duty to fight them off....
I love it when a good chapter comes together.
After a few hours of wondering what's next the Battle of the South China Sea is taking shape.
There's the Australian Task Force steaming north. And there! Tran's flight of Mig-21s taking to the sky. Below them are the Vietnamese ships heading to battle and probable doom. All of the sudden Tran and his flight detect incoming bogies. Ahhh....Bonfman and his Australian F-18s out of Clark AFB....And what's this? Vietnamese attack boats running off the coast toward the Australian Task Force. Now only a New Zealand destroy on picket duty to fight them off....
I love it when a good chapter comes together.
President's Day
Recently another one of those useless surveys of historians ranked Barry 12th. As noted in this space before it is not fair or prudent to rank a president just out of office. One should wait a good decade. I mean, I remember in 1989 they ranked Reagan near the bottom, behind Jimmy Carter.
Ronald Reagan is how I judge a liberal. If they're still cracking the same pathetic 80's jokes, if they can't acknowledge his achievements, then I know I don't have to take them seriously politically.
Those achievements are as follows:
-Restoatation: A renewal of American spirit and pride after 20 years of decline
-Economic Growth: the conquest of inflation, the material improvement of Americans
-Confrontation with Iran and Libya
-Rebuilding of America's armed forces
-Winning the Cold War
Ronald Reagan is in my estimation the greatest post World War II president and the greatest peacetime president.
It's ok to be wrong, Libs. As far as I'm concerned being wrong about great issues is a Constitutional Right. I've gotten plenty of things wrong too, take TARP and the auto bailout for example. So it's ok to have been wrong about Reagan.
But we must also learn from our mistakes.
Ronald Reagan is how I judge a liberal. If they're still cracking the same pathetic 80's jokes, if they can't acknowledge his achievements, then I know I don't have to take them seriously politically.
Those achievements are as follows:
-Restoatation: A renewal of American spirit and pride after 20 years of decline
-Economic Growth: the conquest of inflation, the material improvement of Americans
-Confrontation with Iran and Libya
-Rebuilding of America's armed forces
-Winning the Cold War
Ronald Reagan is in my estimation the greatest post World War II president and the greatest peacetime president.
It's ok to be wrong, Libs. As far as I'm concerned being wrong about great issues is a Constitutional Right. I've gotten plenty of things wrong too, take TARP and the auto bailout for example. So it's ok to have been wrong about Reagan.
But we must also learn from our mistakes.
Monday (not) Metal but Heavy.
Metal blew out around 1990. Then came Grunge which naturally drew a lot of Metal Heads like me. Just listen to those power chords and searing licks on Ten and Animal.
But Grunge burned out real fast too leaving young men like me in the lurch.
1995 was the last year MTV meant anything to me, maybe a bit in 1996, but clearly Music Television was loosing its allure.
1997 was the last year radio had any importance to me.
I was looking for something new. Fortunately, I found few things. I think Jazz is boring and indulgent, but man those Big Bands could rock.
Check this out, Duke Ellington, Tootie for Cootie.
Searing saxophones, hard hitting brass section and percussion that sounds like it was written for John Bonham.
I strayed into classical. Early on, I found this, still my favorite piece: Marche Slave by Tchaikovsky.
This could practically be a Metallica song. So hard hitting, so Russian.
I guess its personality right? My grandfather had a friend who was a communist in college and an Orthodox Jew in old age. Go hard in all tings, right?
Heavy Music.
But Grunge burned out real fast too leaving young men like me in the lurch.
1995 was the last year MTV meant anything to me, maybe a bit in 1996, but clearly Music Television was loosing its allure.
1997 was the last year radio had any importance to me.
I was looking for something new. Fortunately, I found few things. I think Jazz is boring and indulgent, but man those Big Bands could rock.
Check this out, Duke Ellington, Tootie for Cootie.
Searing saxophones, hard hitting brass section and percussion that sounds like it was written for John Bonham.
I strayed into classical. Early on, I found this, still my favorite piece: Marche Slave by Tchaikovsky.
This could practically be a Metallica song. So hard hitting, so Russian.
I guess its personality right? My grandfather had a friend who was a communist in college and an Orthodox Jew in old age. Go hard in all tings, right?
Heavy Music.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Will's Good Idea for the Week of 2-19-17
ANZACs!
For a couple of months we've been pounding away on Operation Pacific Storm.
This morning we are announcing that there is no Operation Pacific Storm. Well, there is, but its in World War 1990: Operation Eastern Storm.
Given the subject matter, and the amount of space the Aussies and Kiwis are taking up, we've chosen to make them the sole focus of this book. Out is the Japanese move on Vladivostok and Chinese intrigue in Siberia. This novel is about the ANZACs and their operations in Vietnam.
We've got an Australian naval task force of ten Australian ships (Melbourne wasn't scrapped in my universe), two from New Zealand and several support vessels from Malaysia and Singapore. Land element is four plus Australian brigades, an ad-hox NZ brigade, the 1st Fijian Infantry Regiment and a Gurkha brigade. In the air, two squadrons F-18s, two F-111s, one squadron of NZ Sky Hawks, F-5s out of the Philippians and F-16s out of Singapore.
Now we've got plenty of historical characters, especially at the political level with a four-way battle between Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Kim Beazley and John Howard. But at the brigade level on down the characters and commanders are fictional.
We hope to have the rough done in a month. Tan book cover? We'll see.
For a couple of months we've been pounding away on Operation Pacific Storm.
This morning we are announcing that there is no Operation Pacific Storm. Well, there is, but its in World War 1990: Operation Eastern Storm.
Given the subject matter, and the amount of space the Aussies and Kiwis are taking up, we've chosen to make them the sole focus of this book. Out is the Japanese move on Vladivostok and Chinese intrigue in Siberia. This novel is about the ANZACs and their operations in Vietnam.
We've got an Australian naval task force of ten Australian ships (Melbourne wasn't scrapped in my universe), two from New Zealand and several support vessels from Malaysia and Singapore. Land element is four plus Australian brigades, an ad-hox NZ brigade, the 1st Fijian Infantry Regiment and a Gurkha brigade. In the air, two squadrons F-18s, two F-111s, one squadron of NZ Sky Hawks, F-5s out of the Philippians and F-16s out of Singapore.
Now we've got plenty of historical characters, especially at the political level with a four-way battle between Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Kim Beazley and John Howard. But at the brigade level on down the characters and commanders are fictional.
We hope to have the rough done in a month. Tan book cover? We'll see.
Generation This
Almost every word in this article about Generation X is true:
Headline:
In the war between millennials and baby boomers we have forgotten about the work-hard, play-hard Generation XAnd then:
Generation X has the benefit of possessing the best characteristics of both – with none of the downsides
The boomers don’t like the millennials because they think the younger generation are feckless, whiny snowflakes who are scared of hard graft and obsessed by status, more interested in posting a selfie to social media than doing anything useful.This is so true:
The millennials, on the other hand, see the boomers as a rapacious generation that’s pretty much ruined everything for them.
Generation X was breast-fed punk and invented indie, and grunge, and techno, and any bloody musical genre of worth that you care to name. We transformed the Eighties and we owned the Nineties. We had alcopops and ecstasy and we were fearless and stupid and happy, but we still got up for work on Monday morning, no matter how bad we felt.This is even so truer:
Boomers live in the past and have ransomed the future. Millennials fear the future and are ignorant of the past.This is the truest thing of all:
Boomers were old by the time they were 40; millennials have yet to hit that milestone. Generation X is pushing back the envelope of old age, through attitude and health, like never before.God were Boomers ever old and hopelessly out of touch.
By the mid-80's the Balding Boomers were a bunch of burnt-out, middle-aged complainers who were coming to the realization that they'd just wasted the last 15 years. Their teen and college years were peace and love, but their twenties and early thirties were polyester and disco and those were the last important cultural things the Boomers did. Starsky and Hutch, there's a legacy for you.
The Boomers were already bald, with bags under their eyes and pot bellies billowing over their belts. They were actually aging worse than their parents who never obsessed about staying young or growing old. I guess after seeing your buddies' face turned into mush by a Jap MG, losing one's hair doesn't seem like such a big deal. When your greatest event is Woodstock, well you can never leave, can you? As the waistline expanded and the hair came out the Balding Boomers started living in the past, as the article's author says, and couldn't shut the hell up about it. For all the talk of youth and the age of Aquarius, they could never break out of it. I mean, these people looked at MTV and just didn't get it.
Now in its 40s and pushing 50, Generation X has managed to maintain some youthful exuberance without looking like idiots trying to stay cool and relevant to the kids, man. I myself usually walk around in a T-shirt and jeans, but when teaching it was usually jacket and tie I adorned. As far as their music goes, its for them, not me. Your typical Generation Xer will take out the 80's a have a look but doesn't feel compelled to live there. Be sixteen or even 21 again? No thank you.
You can almost hear the Balding Boomers, can't you? 'But...but...the war, man....Kennedy, man. You weren't there, man.'
Generation Xers faced the same things Balding Boomers faced.
Lets see...
President Shot... ✓
Threat of nuclear annihilation... ✓Social discord... ✓
The man vs your music... ✓
Sexual revolution... ✓
War... ✓
You get the idea. The difference is we moved on, Balding Boomer. Metal was awesome and I still like an AC/DC concert now and again. Grunge was cool. Some like the Nu Metal, and others techno. But I gotta tell you, there's a big project due at the end of the week and I don't have time for this.
As far as the kids today, I'm not interested in taking swings at the Millennials. As noted before I think most criticisms apply only to the elites. Besides, they're still coming on, and taking a swing feels like punching down. And if they are ignorant of the past, it isn't really their fault, is it? After all, the Balding Boomers always told us how awful we were.
We know better.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Friday Updates
I am told the Brits are considering Pershing in Command. They bloody well should.
As per my percolation post of the previous day, we are putting down Jake and Patricia for now so we can concentrate on Pacific Storm.
For that matter I think Pacific Storm just became 'ANZACs'.
As noted before we had a death in the family. One thing of note my grandfather finally made Barbara Carroll's Wikipedia page. The service was very nice. Well organized and compact with a short service by a Rabbi from Temple Eamu-el. My grandfather is an active member and his grandfather helped build the place. My grandfather spoke as did Barbara's daughter. A few of Barbara's colleagues played a quick set of her favorite songs. The entire service took no more than 45 minutes, if that. Just perfect all around.
Oh, and I met Tony Bennett!
As per my percolation post of the previous day, we are putting down Jake and Patricia for now so we can concentrate on Pacific Storm.
For that matter I think Pacific Storm just became 'ANZACs'.
As noted before we had a death in the family. One thing of note my grandfather finally made Barbara Carroll's Wikipedia page. The service was very nice. Well organized and compact with a short service by a Rabbi from Temple Eamu-el. My grandfather is an active member and his grandfather helped build the place. My grandfather spoke as did Barbara's daughter. A few of Barbara's colleagues played a quick set of her favorite songs. The entire service took no more than 45 minutes, if that. Just perfect all around.
Oh, and I met Tony Bennett!
The Great Unraveling: I don't think they're kidding.
Hearken back with me now to the Scottish Independence vote of ...2014? Ah, fuck I really don't care. The entire thing was stupid and pointless. One of the indy side's promises was free pills and free college while simultaneously kicking the Royal Navy out of Faslane. How was that going to work?
Now here in America we're accustomed to thinking of Scotsmen as broad-shouldered, red bearded, booming voiced can-do men. Try this sentence, 'Colonel Mackenzie, I need a good man to lead the counterattack...' There you go. The real Scotland is more like Train Spotting. Its a nation full of layabout, check cashing welfare addicts. Most of those can-do Scotsmen came to America a long time ago. My ancestors arrived in the 1760s and proud New York Tories we were.
To that point, one of the Scot indy crowd's talking points was politics. Traditionally the country is much further to the political left of the rest of Great Britain. Take another look at those indy promises. It reads like a 1980's era Labour manifesto, commie bastards.
Politics is one of the talking points of the Calexit crowd. California has gone blue in every election since 1992. It has more enviro-regulations, more gun control laws, more work regs, higher taxes, etc etc, than the rest of the country. California has bragged that it is part of the 'western wall' of gun control. The state is gearing up to lead various legal challenges against the Trump Administration.
The left's mass freak out over President Trump has yet to subside. We are seeing boycotts, we are seeing people quit jobs, even end relationship over Trump. Much of the left has no religion except politics. Look at the way they took Hillary's loss here, or the Brexit loss over in Britain. This is a major part of who they are.
I think its time to take this Calexit seriously.
Now here in America we're accustomed to thinking of Scotsmen as broad-shouldered, red bearded, booming voiced can-do men. Try this sentence, 'Colonel Mackenzie, I need a good man to lead the counterattack...' There you go. The real Scotland is more like Train Spotting. Its a nation full of layabout, check cashing welfare addicts. Most of those can-do Scotsmen came to America a long time ago. My ancestors arrived in the 1760s and proud New York Tories we were.
To that point, one of the Scot indy crowd's talking points was politics. Traditionally the country is much further to the political left of the rest of Great Britain. Take another look at those indy promises. It reads like a 1980's era Labour manifesto, commie bastards.
Politics is one of the talking points of the Calexit crowd. California has gone blue in every election since 1992. It has more enviro-regulations, more gun control laws, more work regs, higher taxes, etc etc, than the rest of the country. California has bragged that it is part of the 'western wall' of gun control. The state is gearing up to lead various legal challenges against the Trump Administration.
The left's mass freak out over President Trump has yet to subside. We are seeing boycotts, we are seeing people quit jobs, even end relationship over Trump. Much of the left has no religion except politics. Look at the way they took Hillary's loss here, or the Brexit loss over in Britain. This is a major part of who they are.
I think its time to take this Calexit seriously.
Trump the Press
Well that was interesting.
President Trump's press conference was rambling, unfocused and utterly brilliant.
As noted in this space during the election, if you are the GOP nominee you're running against the media. President Trump has been marinating in the NY media scene for fifty years and understands media better than any of those shit-heels at the press conference yesterday.
Jim Acosta who Trump turned into a stammering idiot last December, was actually kissing his ass yesterday. It was glorious.
I watched the press hector and belittle President Bush for eight years. I once saw a press conference in which four different times they asked if he was going to apologize to families of soldiers killed in Iraq. Don't get me started on Katrina.
Seriously, what does President Trump owe them after the election? Nothing. Note in that clip above how Jim Acosta is desperate just to get a question. That's about access and prestige, 'Look! I got a question at a presidential press conference!' So President Trump has been hitting them where it really hurts. He's given questions to the New York Post, the Daily Caller, the Christian Broadcast Network, etc etc. Just watching the media freak out over that has been glorious.
With apologies to the great John Nolte, from whom I am stealing, I better call a doctor because this erection has lasted more than four hours.
President Trump's press conference was rambling, unfocused and utterly brilliant.
As noted in this space during the election, if you are the GOP nominee you're running against the media. President Trump has been marinating in the NY media scene for fifty years and understands media better than any of those shit-heels at the press conference yesterday.
Jim Acosta who Trump turned into a stammering idiot last December, was actually kissing his ass yesterday. It was glorious.
I watched the press hector and belittle President Bush for eight years. I once saw a press conference in which four different times they asked if he was going to apologize to families of soldiers killed in Iraq. Don't get me started on Katrina.
Seriously, what does President Trump owe them after the election? Nothing. Note in that clip above how Jim Acosta is desperate just to get a question. That's about access and prestige, 'Look! I got a question at a presidential press conference!' So President Trump has been hitting them where it really hurts. He's given questions to the New York Post, the Daily Caller, the Christian Broadcast Network, etc etc. Just watching the media freak out over that has been glorious.
With apologies to the great John Nolte, from whom I am stealing, I better call a doctor because this erection has lasted more than four hours.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Percolating
One of the ways I write is to sit back and let the idea percolate in my head. It's images mostly, right now I'm seeing a line of Australian Leopard Tanks along the tarmac at Haiphong International Airport. Opposite the Aussies are masses of Vietnamese tanks readying for a desperate counterattack to reclaim the airport.
The idea bubbles and simmers and becomes solid and takes form and the battle unfolds.
I do this with plot and character too.
Also percolating is Patricia Bloom's thirty eight year old character, sitting on the back deck of her Sarasota home, sadly strumming her guitar, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. She's going through an epic conflict with her neighbor, worried about her teenage daughter who is absolutely smitten with her boyfriend, and wondering if the long times of separation with Jake will ever end. 'Don't ever fall in love with a soldier,' she says out loud.
It's really an all day, everyday process. If I'm sitting in a doctors office, I'll be imagining story lines. I've been doing this since I used to get sent to sit on the Black Cushions at Furnace Woods Elementary School. I am never bored.
Today my family and I will be driving into Manhattan for my Barbara Carroll's funeral, my grandfather's wife. Along the way,, well....
The idea bubbles and simmers and becomes solid and takes form and the battle unfolds.
I do this with plot and character too.
Also percolating is Patricia Bloom's thirty eight year old character, sitting on the back deck of her Sarasota home, sadly strumming her guitar, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. She's going through an epic conflict with her neighbor, worried about her teenage daughter who is absolutely smitten with her boyfriend, and wondering if the long times of separation with Jake will ever end. 'Don't ever fall in love with a soldier,' she says out loud.
It's really an all day, everyday process. If I'm sitting in a doctors office, I'll be imagining story lines. I've been doing this since I used to get sent to sit on the Black Cushions at Furnace Woods Elementary School. I am never bored.
Today my family and I will be driving into Manhattan for my Barbara Carroll's funeral, my grandfather's wife. Along the way,, well....
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
The Great Unraveling
Well, we're three weeks into the Trump Administration and the other side is in complete freak out mode. Right now we have a Civil Cold War, I think John Derbyshire coined the phrase, with flair ups of violence. These of course happened at President Trump's inauguration, at the Milo-Berkeley event, at Gavin McInnes' NYU talk and several other places. Incidents of violence against Trump supporters are legion, just look it up on Youtube.
I myself have been walking around in a Red MAGA hat for a couple of months now, but being 6 feet and displacing about 250 lbs generally immunizes one from attacks by skinny jeans wearing anarcho-fan boys.
Far more troubling is the unraveling or sorting of the culture. Macys and Sears dumb Invanka Trump's clothing line. Kellogg's stops advertising on Breitbart. Audi runs its now infamous Super Bowl ad. All these moves are going to or have cost these companies business, yet they don't seem to care. This analysis of the Audi ad is brilliant and explains why the ad is so troubling.
For the most part we on the right have been enduring these assaults. That said action by various groups has and is being taken behind the scenes. One thinks of the undercover exposes of James O'keefe, and the Oath Keepers. Gavin McInnes has thrown a few punches. One wonders how much longer.
Here is Berkeley Antifa thug Yvette Felarca assaulting a Trump supporter:
Bitch, I'll fuck you up.
But that's the subject of another post.
I myself have been walking around in a Red MAGA hat for a couple of months now, but being 6 feet and displacing about 250 lbs generally immunizes one from attacks by skinny jeans wearing anarcho-fan boys.
Far more troubling is the unraveling or sorting of the culture. Macys and Sears dumb Invanka Trump's clothing line. Kellogg's stops advertising on Breitbart. Audi runs its now infamous Super Bowl ad. All these moves are going to or have cost these companies business, yet they don't seem to care. This analysis of the Audi ad is brilliant and explains why the ad is so troubling.
For the most part we on the right have been enduring these assaults. That said action by various groups has and is being taken behind the scenes. One thinks of the undercover exposes of James O'keefe, and the Oath Keepers. Gavin McInnes has thrown a few punches. One wonders how much longer.
Here is Berkeley Antifa thug Yvette Felarca assaulting a Trump supporter:
But that's the subject of another post.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Ave Atque Vale
A bit of sad news:
Barbara Carroll, the jazz pianist and singer who for seven decades was a beloved fixture of Manhattan night life, died on Sunday in Manhattan. She was 92.
Her death was announced by her husband, Mark Stroock.
A pioneer in a field dominated by men, Ms. Carroll was frequently introduced as “the first lady of jazz piano.” With her bright red hair piled high, she embodied a timeless bohemian elegance and artistic grace.
Until December, she had been performing regularly at Birdland in Midtown Manhattan on Saturday afternoons with the bassist and singer Jay Leonhart.
Marginalize This
This has got to be seen to be believed:
You want marginalized authors? Try my friends James Young or Chris Nuttall Or even me. Publishers wouldn't take one look at me. But instead of whining, 'I'm marginalized!' I took action and published myself. Now I have a fan base, move copy, and my latest novel is in the top 50 in its category in Britain, Australia, and the US.
Supreme Dark Lord Vox Day has been marginalized right out of publishing, Twitter, Wikipedia, so he started Castalia House, Info-Galactic, and Gab.
Marginalized that, motherfuckers.
Many publishers have vowed to publish more marginalized writers to combat xenophobia in light of Trump & Brexit.Novels about transgender Muslims fighting Xenophobia in Nigel Farage's Britain are sure to sell and they'll change the minds of intransigent North Country Brexit voters too!
You want marginalized authors? Try my friends James Young or Chris Nuttall Or even me. Publishers wouldn't take one look at me. But instead of whining, 'I'm marginalized!' I took action and published myself. Now I have a fan base, move copy, and my latest novel is in the top 50 in its category in Britain, Australia, and the US.
Supreme Dark Lord Vox Day has been marginalized right out of publishing, Twitter, Wikipedia, so he started Castalia House, Info-Galactic, and Gab.
Marginalized that, motherfuckers.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Metal Monday: Metallica at the Grammys Edition
No not last night Grammy Awards. I have no opinion whatsoever about Lady Gaga or Metallica playing with lady Gaga. I will say that I loved her Super Bowl performance.
I mean the 1989 Grammy Awards:
That album was a big deal at the time but is now largely forgotten, sandwiched between Master of Puppets (a heavy metal classic) and Black (an absolute masterpiece). When Jethro Tull won the Grammy we were ready to take to the streets.
Now what's interesting at the end of that MTV clip is Eddie Trunk, late of That Metal Show, begging for respect from the music industry. I wrote something similar a few years ago:
The only thing metalheads ever wanted from anyone else was space, a simple nod of respect, maybe for someone to say, ‘OK, your music isn’t my cup of tea, but I see where you’re coming from.’ We never got it.We do now, that's for sure.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
The Neo-Con in Print
The great, incomparable, First Sith Lord of all that is unholy in creation, Vox Day really unloads on William Kristol:
Ever wonder why (((certain neocons))) are always idiotically banging on about going to war with Russia? Read The Melting Pot and you'll know why. They're filled with an irrational historical hatred and seeking retroactive revenge upon Tsar Amalek. Apparently even the 70 years of communist slaughter, suffering, and deprivation to which the Russian people were subject isn't enough for them. Forget America. Forget Israel. Forget all the challenges that the modern world presently poses to Western civilization. What is really important is that Russia and Germany be destroyed!Our First Sith Lord wrote this after Kristol's unfortunate remarks, at the link, about replacing Americans with new immigrants etc, etc. Now Jewish paranoia about Russia and Germany is well justified, but before one gets into an ethnic suffering pissing match here, let's just remember that Mr. Day is Native American, so there. Even hearing German gives me the creeps, but that has more to do with growing up watching WWII movies on TV every weekend. My own great grandfather was in the Luftwaffe during the Great War.
One of the sub-themes of A Line through the Desert is Jewish identity. Jake Bloom is a tall, long limned virile young man raised by stereotypical Jewish parents. In the army he's something of skirt chasing bad ass.
Of course, modern American Jews are pretty schizophrenic, 'Jewish...American...Jewish...American...oyyyyyy....' I think in this epic video Ezra Levant really nails it:
Of course Kristol and the Neo-Cons and such are culturally conservative and very pro Israel. I'm one myself. Still Neo-Con and proud but I admit I'm fed up with Kristol. He's had a lot of bad ideas, Dan Quayle for example, military intervention in Iran in 2005 (look it up), Evan McMullin.
There's a reason why Kristol and his fell Neo-Cons have gotten progressively more sinister in the World War series.
Just wait till we get to the election '92.
Will's Good Idea for the Week of 2-12-17
We've been thinking a lot about what a prequel to the World War 1990 universe would look like.
At this point I see a story compilation about individual short stories, To Defend the Earth style. There are a lot of different things I'd like to explore and I think the best way to do this is in short bursts, a long narrative would lack drama and suspense.
I think one story about the first week or so on the North German Plain, basically NATO getting its but whooped would be a good idea. Maybe another about the battle of Bremen. Finally a longer short story about the Battle of the Weser.
Now, I'd like to see something about the Belgians and Dutch. I think another fascinating topic would be West German police trying to maintain order, the flow of refugees.
Now, because I'm surrounded all day everyday by kids, and I touched on this in To Survive the Earth, I love the idea of a story about an American woman and her kids hunkering down on an American army base as the war unfolds around them and having an encounter with Soviet troops. She's in the basement with her kids, they got their coloring books and crayons, jax, pickup sticks, Gameboys, all while her husband is out fighting with his unit.
For that matter the idea of the Soviets rolling onto an American Army base is pretty intriguing.
So there's six stories right there.
Readers are invited to submit ideas.
I've been saying for months I gotta start doing some other things, but I do like to stick with the momentum of a subject.
We'll see.
At this point I see a story compilation about individual short stories, To Defend the Earth style. There are a lot of different things I'd like to explore and I think the best way to do this is in short bursts, a long narrative would lack drama and suspense.
I think one story about the first week or so on the North German Plain, basically NATO getting its but whooped would be a good idea. Maybe another about the battle of Bremen. Finally a longer short story about the Battle of the Weser.
Now, I'd like to see something about the Belgians and Dutch. I think another fascinating topic would be West German police trying to maintain order, the flow of refugees.
Now, because I'm surrounded all day everyday by kids, and I touched on this in To Survive the Earth, I love the idea of a story about an American woman and her kids hunkering down on an American army base as the war unfolds around them and having an encounter with Soviet troops. She's in the basement with her kids, they got their coloring books and crayons, jax, pickup sticks, Gameboys, all while her husband is out fighting with his unit.
For that matter the idea of the Soviets rolling onto an American Army base is pretty intriguing.
So there's six stories right there.
Readers are invited to submit ideas.
I've been saying for months I gotta start doing some other things, but I do like to stick with the momentum of a subject.
We'll see.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Friday, February 10, 2017
World War 1990: Operation Pacific Storm
We are up to our necks writing about the Australians around Haiphong. The chapter keeps expanding. This is a good thing, it is natural and organic and the best sign one can get. This kind of expansion means you are writing about what you should be writing about.
We've got a reinforced division ashore. In this universe HMAS Melbourne was never scapped, so she's launching Skyhawk strikes, Aussie F-18s and F-111s out of Clark and Singapore. All good fun.
Because Pacific Storm seems to be turning into the story of the ANZACs, we haven't yet done much about the Kiwis at Cam Ranh Bay, we are considering striking the Japanese potions and moving them into the Final Storm. This allows us to concentrate and further develop the ANZACs. It also gives us a great title. World War 1990: ANZACs.
Nothing is set in stone. But this is the plan.
We've got a reinforced division ashore. In this universe HMAS Melbourne was never scapped, so she's launching Skyhawk strikes, Aussie F-18s and F-111s out of Clark and Singapore. All good fun.
Because Pacific Storm seems to be turning into the story of the ANZACs, we haven't yet done much about the Kiwis at Cam Ranh Bay, we are considering striking the Japanese potions and moving them into the Final Storm. This allows us to concentrate and further develop the ANZACs. It also gives us a great title. World War 1990: ANZACs.
Nothing is set in stone. But this is the plan.
Friday Updates
We've had family medical issues and a snow storm so I've been a bit out of it the last few days.
My agent tells me Pershing in Command is being considered by three publishers, two in Britain. This has always made a lot of sense to me, as the Brits follow the Great War a lot more than us Yanks.
Jake and Patricia is moving slowly but moving, 50,000 words.
Pacific Storm is moving quickly, also 50,000 words but I think with some major changes which we will describe in another post.
We'll get a couple of more videos up on the Youtube Channel this weekend.
Sales of Castro's Folly are meeting and exceeding expectations. We are ranked in the top 25 in cat in Australia, Britain and the US.
My agent tells me Pershing in Command is being considered by three publishers, two in Britain. This has always made a lot of sense to me, as the Brits follow the Great War a lot more than us Yanks.
Jake and Patricia is moving slowly but moving, 50,000 words.
Pacific Storm is moving quickly, also 50,000 words but I think with some major changes which we will describe in another post.
We'll get a couple of more videos up on the Youtube Channel this weekend.
Sales of Castro's Folly are meeting and exceeding expectations. We are ranked in the top 25 in cat in Australia, Britain and the US.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Type This
One of the scourges of being an indy author is the typo. We all deal with them. I don't think any one of us manage to get all of them out. It drives me nuts. Rest assured, sooner or later a reviewer will show up pointing out typos. I think some of the nitpicking is Yanks thinking British style like '1 Armoured Division' is a typo. No, that's how the Brits do it.
My own Israel Strikes is most notorious for typos. The wrong MS got uploaded. Now that's not an excuse, just what happened. If readers have ever noticed a single bold letter in the frotnis of my books that's just so we have an easy way to make sure the right MS is being uploaded. On the kindle version of Israel Strikes the problem has been re-edited by the lovely and talented Stefanie Attia (PBUH and man does she need it). Ironically, despite typos, Israel Strikes is to this date my best seller.
I can handle someone saying I suck, but when I read a review that points out typos I just want to crack open a vile of red food dye, smear it all over my face, roll around the floor in the fetal position and cry like an Atlanta Falcons fan.
So, I've got my youtube channel now, where among other things I go on about Pershing. I was going through the PDF of the Pershing in Command MS. Now this MS has been edited to death first by me, then by my excellent agent and her talented assistant multiple times all last year, to the point that a concerned Mrs. Stroock had me committed for observation.
Note aspiring authors, this is how its supposed to work. If your editor doesn't make you want to down a fifth of [insert your drink here] every evening before dinner, then they editor is doing it wrong. It rolls both ways. My own editor, the previously mentioned vivacious and dedicated Stefanie Attia, was held in a sanitarium for several weeks until I visited (to drop of the latest MS) at which point her team of crack psycho-therapists exclaimed in shock, 'You mean there really is a Will?!'
Anyway, so I'm going through the Pershing in Command MS, you know, that one that the pros have gone over a zillion times. Found a couple of typos!
My own Israel Strikes is most notorious for typos. The wrong MS got uploaded. Now that's not an excuse, just what happened. If readers have ever noticed a single bold letter in the frotnis of my books that's just so we have an easy way to make sure the right MS is being uploaded. On the kindle version of Israel Strikes the problem has been re-edited by the lovely and talented Stefanie Attia (PBUH and man does she need it). Ironically, despite typos, Israel Strikes is to this date my best seller.
I can handle someone saying I suck, but when I read a review that points out typos I just want to crack open a vile of red food dye, smear it all over my face, roll around the floor in the fetal position and cry like an Atlanta Falcons fan.
So, I've got my youtube channel now, where among other things I go on about Pershing. I was going through the PDF of the Pershing in Command MS. Now this MS has been edited to death first by me, then by my excellent agent and her talented assistant multiple times all last year, to the point that a concerned Mrs. Stroock had me committed for observation.
Note aspiring authors, this is how its supposed to work. If your editor doesn't make you want to down a fifth of [insert your drink here] every evening before dinner, then they editor is doing it wrong. It rolls both ways. My own editor, the previously mentioned vivacious and dedicated Stefanie Attia, was held in a sanitarium for several weeks until I visited (to drop of the latest MS) at which point her team of crack psycho-therapists exclaimed in shock, 'You mean there really is a Will?!'
Anyway, so I'm going through the Pershing in Command MS, you know, that one that the pros have gone over a zillion times. Found a couple of typos!
Monday, February 6, 2017
Monday Metal: What the Hell was that Video in the Previous Post?
That was the Soviet hard-rock band Gorky Park. Here's the video for reference:
It was 1989, man. Gorby was a hero over here and the American public had an interest in Russian shit. Billy Joel played a concert over there, Billy Crystal did a gig. A Soviet hard-rock band only made sense. It was marketing genius.
Remember too, this was 1989, the 20th anniversary of Woodstock, man. So of course we had this:
I mean, JBJ looks like a goddamn hippy there. Like I said, it was '89 man.
So does Bang! suck? Not totally, not if one thinks, 'Hey, its 1989!' Some producer obviously thought, 'They could be the Russian version of the Scorpions!' Heck, GP's lead singer has the same vocal range as Klause Mein.
Now, this video, Let's imagine the scene on set....
Remember too, this was 1989, the 20th anniversary of Woodstock, man. So of course we had this:
So does Bang! suck? Not totally, not if one thinks, 'Hey, its 1989!' Some producer obviously thought, 'They could be the Russian version of the Scorpions!' Heck, GP's lead singer has the same vocal range as Klause Mein.
Now, this video, Let's imagine the scene on set....
Fade in-...a square in NYC with a few Soviet flags to give it it a vaguely Red Square feel...A tired Russian band, just wanting to get back to the hotel in Williamsburg and have some borscht, an idiot Americanski director whose cultural knowledge begins and ends with 1950's TV sitcoms, pesters the band:
'Ok, you guys. Now do some Russian stuff. You know, the kicking and dancing and squatting thing with your arms? Like that scene in Patton!'
'Patton? You mean Americanski war-monger who wanted to start World War Three with Soviet Union?'
'I mean George C. Scott.'
[band curses in Russian]
They packed the video with all the Soviet imagery they could get their hands on. Anvils, the Kremlin, goose stepping soldiers. Ahhh....there we go.
That's it, that's how we saw the USSR in 1989.
Bang! Say Da Da Da Da
I was going to call this post Back in the USSR or something like that but I couldn't decide between versions. So Bang! Say Da Da Da Da it is or, My Report on my Russian [Lithuanian-Ed] Neighbor's 34th Birthday Party.
My neighbor, a lovely woman whose girls often play with my girls, tonight hosted her 34th birthday party. Mrs. Stroock took our own out to Fridays because we promised them a dinner out, keep it classy I always say, and left me to fend for myself.
Knowing that my lovely neighbor will pack the house with Russian friends and family I wouldn't miss this party for the world. Usually in situations like this I impress people because I know where the hell they are from, whereas most Americans are like, 'Really, you're from Ukraine? Like in Risk?' Also, everything you've heard about Russian women is true and I was not going to miss out on that. Herein follows my chronicle of the evening.
-3:30: I prep for the party by watching Rocky IV which by coincidence AMC is airing.
-6:35: I arrive.
-8:39: I have spent the last several minutes contemplating the women in the blue short skirt. Are those pantyhose, they look like Pantyhose, but they have clips in the back as real honest to god stockings would? Hostess sits next to me. We chat about an FB argument I got into a few days before. Then, because I’m on my fourth drink, I ask her to explain the attire of the previously mentioned women with the blue short skirt and pantyhose:
Me, points to drink, ‘Because I’ve had four of these...’
Hostess: ‘Uh oh,’ she mutters something In Russian.
Me: ‘What are those?’ I point to the woman.
Hostess: ‘Oh, those are pantyhose made to look that way.’
Me: ‘But they have the thingies in the back.’
Hostess: ‘Thingies?’
I explain.
Hostess insists they are pantyhose. I try not look too disappointed.
-8:49: I order my fifth drink, a Bloody Mary.
-9:03: The hostess is out of ice.
-9:04: The hostess asks me to head home and get some ice.
-9:05: I walk out into the crisp February air singing the opening them from The Hunt for Red October.
-9:06: I walk into the wrong house.
-9:07: I finally find my house. Wife wants to know where I am going with all that ice.
-9:08: I walk back to party singing Soviet National Anthem.
-9:10: I return with bowl of ice. Hostess does not understand why I think Russian [Lithuanian!- Ed] woman running out of ice is so funny.
-9:12: I go down to the basement to see where all the men have gone and find intense poker game taking place. It looks almost exactly like this:
My neighbor, a lovely woman whose girls often play with my girls, tonight hosted her 34th birthday party. Mrs. Stroock took our own out to Fridays because we promised them a dinner out, keep it classy I always say, and left me to fend for myself.
Knowing that my lovely neighbor will pack the house with Russian friends and family I wouldn't miss this party for the world. Usually in situations like this I impress people because I know where the hell they are from, whereas most Americans are like, 'Really, you're from Ukraine? Like in Risk?' Also, everything you've heard about Russian women is true and I was not going to miss out on that. Herein follows my chronicle of the evening.
-3:30: I prep for the party by watching Rocky IV which by coincidence AMC is airing.
-6:35: I arrive.
-6:39: I order my first drink, a Bloody Mary.
-6:45: One of the revelers is explaining how to make a
Russian Bloody Mary to the bartender, ‘First you
find an American and kill him. Then collect his blood…’
-6:46: I shout, ‘I knew it!’. I Walk over and introduce myself
and accidentally ask him what part of Russia he is from meaning the former Soviet
Union. Alex says he is not from Russia but Belarus.
-7:02: The house is crowded with happy folk all seemingly
out of Gorky Park Central Casting. My Teutonic visage disappears in a sea of
high cheek boned faces set with Asiatic eyes. Almost all of the women are blonde,
at least half stunningly so. These are dressed in loud clothing; a leopard skin
print dress, silver sequined tights for which we are grateful, leather pants,
for which we are also grateful. One woman wears a short blue skirt with black pantyhose
that change to nude at the thigh and seem to show garter attachments reaching
several inches down from beneath said blue skirt. We are intrigued. About half the men are
skinny with aquiline facial features. Several are large bear like men who look
like Boris Yeltsin’s children. These are dressed in the American casual manner.
One man wearing a suit is a dead ringer for Putin. I decide that when the group birthday pic comes in, I will photo-shop a banner which reads, '40th Army: Afghanistan Limited Contingent...30th Reunion'.
-7:10: I order my second drink, a Bloody Mary.
-7:14: I have my
first meaningful conversation with a Russian couple, wife from St. Petersburg,
husband from Ukraine. We swap stories
about our grandfathers being in ‘the war’. They tell me about Chernobyl. I break
into my shtick about the semester I was teaching the Cold War and had three
Russian girls in class. I tell them about the infamous Wendys Soviet Fashion show commercial. Very nice people.
-7:25: I order my third drink, a Bloody Mary.
-7:31: The popular girls arrive, three Blonde Russian women
all taller than me. Long legged with sharp cheek bones and eyes tilted at a 110 degree angle. One is wearing tights and a
rainbow colored, form fitting shirt with lots of bows and such. I am enchanted. One is nicely full
figured in tight jeans and sweater. Another in a short, paisley patterned long
sleeve dress with black, patterned stockings that just keep going up. She
arrives in boots, but sadly this is a no-shoes-in-house residence. In all the
effect is very Melania Trump. They are beautiful and strong and I wouldn’t want
to take a punch from any of one of them.
-7:42: I order my fourth drink, a Bloody Mary.
[Dear reader, at this point you should be reading with bad, fake Russian accent. Management apologizes for the author -Ed].
[Dear reader, at this point you should be reading with bad, fake Russian accent. Management apologizes for the author -Ed].
-7:50: I have nice conversation with man who tells me he is from Azerbaijan.
He is shocked that I have 1-heard of place and 2-know where it is. I ask is
he Azerbaijani or Russian, he says neither he is Jew. I recall to him how
years ago Slava, our gracious host, explained to me that back home in Ukraine
he was simply considered a Jew, not Russian, not Ukrainian, but a Jew. My new
friend nods in understanding.
-8:01: I have second conversation with nice Ukrainian man. He
tells me about coming to America in 1990 and settling down in Williamsburg,
Brooklyn, the culture shock he felt, and leaning English by listening to Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN. For ten minutes I am not able to get the old jingle
out of my head:
They’re
talking sports coming at it as hard as they can
Its
Mike and the Mad Dog on the FAN
Nothing
can get by ‘em, turn ‘em on and try em.
Sports
Radio 66, W-F-A-N….
AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-Good
afternoon everybody How are you today?!
Sadly, he likes the Jets.
-8:17: I meet up with the hostesses’ younger sister. A nice
woman with two kids whom I see periodically and it’s nice to catch up. We had point here, but forgot what it was.
-8:39: I have spent the last several minutes contemplating the women in the blue short skirt. Are those pantyhose, they look like Pantyhose, but they have clips in the back as real honest to god stockings would? Hostess sits next to me. We chat about an FB argument I got into a few days before. Then, because I’m on my fourth drink, I ask her to explain the attire of the previously mentioned women with the blue short skirt and pantyhose:
Me, points to drink, ‘Because I’ve had four of these...’
Hostess: ‘Uh oh,’ she mutters something In Russian.
Me: ‘What are those?’ I point to the woman.
Hostess: ‘Oh, those are pantyhose made to look that way.’
Me: ‘But they have the thingies in the back.’
Hostess: ‘Thingies?’
I explain.
Hostess insists they are pantyhose. I try not look too disappointed.
-8:49: I order my fifth drink, a Bloody Mary.
-9:03: The hostess is out of ice.
-9:04: The hostess asks me to head home and get some ice.
-9:05: I walk out into the crisp February air singing the opening them from The Hunt for Red October.
-9:06: I walk into the wrong house.
-9:07: I finally find my house. Wife wants to know where I am going with all that ice.
-9:08: I walk back to party singing Soviet National Anthem.
-9:10: I return with bowl of ice. Hostess does not understand why I think Russian [Lithuanian!- Ed] woman running out of ice is so funny.
-9:12: I go down to the basement to see where all the men have gone and find intense poker game taking place. It looks almost exactly like this:
-9:14: I am invited to sit at the table. Upon the host
dealing my hand I look at the cards and ask, ‘Got any threes?’
-9:15: I am politely but firmly told to leave the game.
-9;31: I spend several minutes saying goodbye to my new Soviet friends and stagger on home singing this:
-9;31: I spend several minutes saying goodbye to my new Soviet friends and stagger on home singing this:
Superbowl LI
Well that settles it. Tom Brady is the greatest QB ever. Bill Belichick is the greatest coach ever. That's it. There is no counter argument.
[But, but, Vince Lombardi won five championships-Ed].
In a 12 game season with a one round playoff.
[What about Chuck Knoll's four in six years?-Ed]
In a 14 game season for two, and as soon as his original personnel got old the team collapsed. Bill and Tom have been doing it for 15 years.
[Oh come on. Mighty Bill Walsh and Joe Montana! - Ed]...
...Are a close second.
Lady Gaga, and I'm not a fan, was great. My girls loved it.
Some horribly political ads, Audi of course, Bud (pisswater anyway), really Lumber84?
There are some who will say this was the best Super Bowl ever. No. Super Bowl XXV was the best ever [you're just saying that because it was the Giants over the Bills -Ed]. No. Five lead changes, no turnovers, last second drama, that's why I'm saying it. Ok, because its the Giants maybe just a little.
The Patriots won the game on the overtime coin flip.
It was nice to see Roger Goodell get shouted down by the crowd. Are you watching, owners? Also nice to see Mr. Kraft stiff him.
Tom Brady has five Super Bowl rings, four MVPs, and when it was all over last night, he went home with his supermodel wife. Some guys....
It's not luck.
[But, but, Vince Lombardi won five championships-Ed].
In a 12 game season with a one round playoff.
[What about Chuck Knoll's four in six years?-Ed]
In a 14 game season for two, and as soon as his original personnel got old the team collapsed. Bill and Tom have been doing it for 15 years.
[Oh come on. Mighty Bill Walsh and Joe Montana! - Ed]...
...Are a close second.
Lady Gaga, and I'm not a fan, was great. My girls loved it.
Some horribly political ads, Audi of course, Bud (pisswater anyway), really Lumber84?
There are some who will say this was the best Super Bowl ever. No. Super Bowl XXV was the best ever [you're just saying that because it was the Giants over the Bills -Ed]. No. Five lead changes, no turnovers, last second drama, that's why I'm saying it. Ok, because its the Giants maybe just a little.
The Patriots won the game on the overtime coin flip.
It was nice to see Roger Goodell get shouted down by the crowd. Are you watching, owners? Also nice to see Mr. Kraft stiff him.
Tom Brady has five Super Bowl rings, four MVPs, and when it was all over last night, he went home with his supermodel wife. Some guys....
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Topical: The Big Game II, off Field Predictions
Now that we've proclaimed who will win the game (Patriots decently) let's make a few predictions about all the other stuff.
-Like other recent years the commercials will blow
-Speaking of that, the Audi (Kraut wankers) and Bud (undrinkbale) commercials will spark a backlash, sales will decline, as will the stock of each
-A few players on the Falcons will come out with black armbands, or hands up, or some such
-Lady Gaga will do something political during the halftime show
-Some troublemaker will make his/their way onto the field
-When Mr. Brady gives his post game press conference he will wear a MAGA hat
The off field action may well be more interesting that the game.
-Like other recent years the commercials will blow
-Speaking of that, the Audi (Kraut wankers) and Bud (undrinkbale) commercials will spark a backlash, sales will decline, as will the stock of each
-A few players on the Falcons will come out with black armbands, or hands up, or some such
-Lady Gaga will do something political during the halftime show
-Some troublemaker will make his/their way onto the field
-When Mr. Brady gives his post game press conference he will wear a MAGA hat
The off field action may well be more interesting that the game.
Topical: The Big Game
Long time readers know I'm a yuuge Giants fan. I mean, Sgt. Bloom in A Line through the Desert sits in his tank listening to Superbowl XXV on AFN. The Bills had one of the best offenses of all time that'd just scored something like 90 points in two playoff games. That offense was shut down by Giants' defensive coordinator Bill Belichick.
Atlanta has a high powered, high scoring, indoors, front-running offense. Come out early on and punch 'em in the mouth and they won't know what to do. This is exactly what Belichick did to the Bills in 1990 and the Rams in 2001.
Unlike a lot of people I've never had a problem with the Patriots. [That's easy to say when your boys beat 'em twice-Ed]. True, but as noted above, Belichick was one of my guys and I've had a soft spot in my heart for him ever since.
The Patriots and Falcons will play a game that is tight heading into the 4th. Tom Brady, with 3 quarters to study, the Falcons defense will pick it apart in the 4th. By the middle of of the 4th quarter it will be apparrent to all that the Patriots will earn Bill and Tom their ring.
Atlanta has a high powered, high scoring, indoors, front-running offense. Come out early on and punch 'em in the mouth and they won't know what to do. This is exactly what Belichick did to the Bills in 1990 and the Rams in 2001.
Unlike a lot of people I've never had a problem with the Patriots. [That's easy to say when your boys beat 'em twice-Ed]. True, but as noted above, Belichick was one of my guys and I've had a soft spot in my heart for him ever since.
The Patriots and Falcons will play a game that is tight heading into the 4th. Tom Brady, with 3 quarters to study, the Falcons defense will pick it apart in the 4th. By the middle of of the 4th quarter it will be apparrent to all that the Patriots will earn Bill and Tom their ring.
Will's Good Idea for the Week of 2-5-17
I have to admit, with the success of Castro's Folly, top 25 in its cat in three continents bitches!, we are seriously considering going ahead and writing the....prequel I guess, describing the first two weeks of the war.
Now, I'm still thinking it will be in short story format. These would include say, the commander of NORTHAG defending the North German Plain, the Battle of the Weser, I think something about the Dutch and Belgians, etc, etc. Hey, how bout an American woman and her children trapped on the army base as the Soviets advance? Now that's a heck of an idea.
Intellectually I am comforted by the idea of contemplating this book while I'm writing Pacific Storm, you know, staying in the same universe and all.
We'll see, though as noted before, I'm sick of tanks.
Now, I'm still thinking it will be in short story format. These would include say, the commander of NORTHAG defending the North German Plain, the Battle of the Weser, I think something about the Dutch and Belgians, etc, etc. Hey, how bout an American woman and her children trapped on the army base as the Soviets advance? Now that's a heck of an idea.
Intellectually I am comforted by the idea of contemplating this book while I'm writing Pacific Storm, you know, staying in the same universe and all.
We'll see, though as noted before, I'm sick of tanks.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Friday, February 3, 2017
Friday Updates
Lot's happening.
First we have Youtube Channel. So far this is a lot of fun. I get to talk and watch myself. Anyone mind if I remove my pants?
Castro's Folly is doing greeeaaaaat!Top 25 in its cat in Britain, the USA and Australia. What gives, Canada?
Jake and Patricia is plugging along and we've made some nice progress on Pacific Storm, lots of Aussie stuff blowing up.
My agent tells me one Yank and two Brit publishers are going through Pershing in Command.
Alright folks, I gotta get ready for the Daddy-Daughter dance tonight...later!
First we have Youtube Channel. So far this is a lot of fun. I get to talk and watch myself. Anyone mind if I remove my pants?
Castro's Folly is doing greeeaaaaat!Top 25 in its cat in Britain, the USA and Australia. What gives, Canada?
Jake and Patricia is plugging along and we've made some nice progress on Pacific Storm, lots of Aussie stuff blowing up.
My agent tells me one Yank and two Brit publishers are going through Pershing in Command.
Alright folks, I gotta get ready for the Daddy-Daughter dance tonight...later!
The Hun Dares Speak
Get a load of this, from Socialist Tosser Martin Schulz:
Listen up there, Hanz. You're German. Your nation made nothing but strategic mistakes from the moment you crowned the Kaiser in the Hall of Mirrors (seriously?) in 1871 till the Red Army rolled into Berlin in 1945. The end result of that impressive run of geo-political ineptitude was millions of dead Germans, a smashed economy, and partition of your nation. My point is, Gruber, that you Krauts ain't exactly got the best strategic sense.
And let's get something straight, there, Fritz. Your nation exists at all because of the benevolence of the United States and Britain. The Soviet Union and France wanted to partition you permanently. Oh yeah, and we rebuilt you and saved West Berlin. You know Churchill wanted to liquidate the German officer class? Roosevelt told him no.
The only reason why you even understand this whole democracy thing, Gunter, is because the US and friends imposed it upon you at the end of a 105mm Howitzer. Your fields are soaked with our blood and the cemeteries of Europe are filled with American flagged headstones. Like very other American my age, one of my grandfather's fought his way across western Europe kicking the crap out of your grandfather.
Hey there, Duffenschmirtz, you are an expert at lederhosen, beer gardens, bratwurst, schnitzle and Einsatzgruppen, but you don't know jack about America or what's un-American.
So why don't you go back to the dying EU Parliament and getting your ass handed to you by Nigel Farage?
Martin Schulz, the left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) candidate in Germany’s September federal elections, told the Funke media group he would defend liberal values and fight moves to lift sanctions on Russia.
“What Trump is doing is un-American,” Mr. Schulz said. “The United States is like no other country for enlightenment, democratic and free values.”
“If Trump is now driving a wrecking ball through this set of values, then I will tell him as chancellor: That’s not the policy of Germany and Europe,” he added.
Listen up there, Hanz. You're German. Your nation made nothing but strategic mistakes from the moment you crowned the Kaiser in the Hall of Mirrors (seriously?) in 1871 till the Red Army rolled into Berlin in 1945. The end result of that impressive run of geo-political ineptitude was millions of dead Germans, a smashed economy, and partition of your nation. My point is, Gruber, that you Krauts ain't exactly got the best strategic sense.
And let's get something straight, there, Fritz. Your nation exists at all because of the benevolence of the United States and Britain. The Soviet Union and France wanted to partition you permanently. Oh yeah, and we rebuilt you and saved West Berlin. You know Churchill wanted to liquidate the German officer class? Roosevelt told him no.
The only reason why you even understand this whole democracy thing, Gunter, is because the US and friends imposed it upon you at the end of a 105mm Howitzer. Your fields are soaked with our blood and the cemeteries of Europe are filled with American flagged headstones. Like very other American my age, one of my grandfather's fought his way across western Europe kicking the crap out of your grandfather.
Hey there, Duffenschmirtz, you are an expert at lederhosen, beer gardens, bratwurst, schnitzle and Einsatzgruppen, but you don't know jack about America or what's un-American.
So why don't you go back to the dying EU Parliament and getting your ass handed to you by Nigel Farage?
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Magazine Publication: Alfred the Great
As noted here before the first items I published were short magazine articles, FYI's in Strategy & Tactics.
My second feature length article came out in 2004. It was actually a milestone because it wasn't in S&T, instead the piece was published in the soon thereafter defunct Medieval History. I have that effect. I was the last baby born in the maternity word of Mt. Kisko General before it was demolished.
Anyhoo, the article was 'The Wars of Alfred the Great,' now available at De Re Militari.
The wars of Alfred the Great was originally a paper I did at AMU for my Medieval Warfare Class under Professor Brian Todd Carey. who suggested I start trying to publish. I'm am both loyal and biased but I strongly recommend Warfare in the Medieval World as an intro to the topic.
I wrote Alfred during my night owl days, that hard winter of 2002. Whether it was actually a hard winter I don't know. My wife and I had just moved back to the northeast from Virginia into a rustic, drafty farmhouse and man it seemed cold. I would start writing about 10 PM, take a break at 12:15 to watch Bill Maher, and then press on through till about 3 or 4 AM. That paper and eventual article were a lot fun. First the sources. There was Asser's Life of Alfred and the epic Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which reads like it was written by enthusiastic fans of the films Excalibur and Conan the Barbarian. Being raised on those myself, some of the tone comes thought in The Wars of Alfred the Great.
Enjoy!
My second feature length article came out in 2004. It was actually a milestone because it wasn't in S&T, instead the piece was published in the soon thereafter defunct Medieval History. I have that effect. I was the last baby born in the maternity word of Mt. Kisko General before it was demolished.
Anyhoo, the article was 'The Wars of Alfred the Great,' now available at De Re Militari.
The wars of Alfred the Great was originally a paper I did at AMU for my Medieval Warfare Class under Professor Brian Todd Carey. who suggested I start trying to publish. I'm am both loyal and biased but I strongly recommend Warfare in the Medieval World as an intro to the topic.
I wrote Alfred during my night owl days, that hard winter of 2002. Whether it was actually a hard winter I don't know. My wife and I had just moved back to the northeast from Virginia into a rustic, drafty farmhouse and man it seemed cold. I would start writing about 10 PM, take a break at 12:15 to watch Bill Maher, and then press on through till about 3 or 4 AM. That paper and eventual article were a lot fun. First the sources. There was Asser's Life of Alfred and the epic Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which reads like it was written by enthusiastic fans of the films Excalibur and Conan the Barbarian. Being raised on those myself, some of the tone comes thought in The Wars of Alfred the Great.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Tuesday Tally Comes Skulking in Late
Most Important Political Influences Edition
Well here they are:
-Alan Alda
-Rob Reiner
-Rush Limbaugh
-PJ O'Rourke
-Matt Drudge
-Mark Steyn
-Andrew Breitbart (PBUH)
Twenty five years ago William Stroock was a Conservative Democrat looking forward to Bill Clinton's inauguration. Now he was never a lefty. He favored all kinds of government action at home but also wanted a strong military. He supported the Gulf War, he hated communism, two things that will get you primaried in today's Democrat party. In fact, in his famous 1993 English 101 Essay, 'The 1992 Presidential Campaign, a panoramic view of a myriad of divergent choices' he specifically stated, 'If it comes down to Bush and some schmuck Democrat, I'm voting for Bush'.
A few years ago in the faculty lounge a very leftwing colleague of mine who now runs something called the Hunterdon County Anti-Racism Coalition asked, upon hearing this asked, 'So what happened.'
'Well,' I replied as I adjusted my tie, 'I guess I fell in with the wrong crowd.'
In a way that's true. Because in the spring of 1993 I was hanging out with a guy who would later be my post college roommate and wedding usher, and he listened to Rush Limbaugh while we played Madden on his Sega. My buddy is now a lobbyist, btw. My most important take away from Rush was to be a happy warrior. Have fun. I always did so teaching, ok not with those little bastard Orthodox Yeshiva students.
While Limbaugh was it important, that summer I's already read what was for me a landmark book: Give War a Chance by PJ O'Rourke. Here was an irreverent baby boomer making fun of the world's crisis, retelling his own time in the Balto-Cong in 1970 and poking holes in a lot of the things I took for granted. He slammed We Are the World (its a Gen X thing, guys) and showed how it was pointless and dangerous and above all, stupid:
We are the world [solipsism], we are the children [average age forty].
We are the ones to make a brighter day [unproven], so let’s start giving [logical inference supplied without argument].
There’s a choice we’re making, so let’s start giving [true as far as it goes].
We’re saving our own lives [absurd].
It’s true we’ll make a better day [see line 2 above],
Just you and me [statistically unlikely].
That’s three palpable untruths, two dubious assertions, and nine uses of a first person pro-noun, not a single reference to trouble and anybody in it and no facts. The verse contains, literally, neither rhyme nor reason. And these musical riots of philanthropy address themselves to the wrong problems.
Going back even further, I'd say yuuge influences were Alana Alda and Rob Reiner (meathead). I Every night of my childhood they were on channel 5 at 7 and 7:30, I mean every goddamn night. I just got sick of listening to them bad mouth American. I never need to see All in the Family again, but I really need to go back and give MASH a binge watch.
Moving on to manhood we come to Matt Drudge. He broke the Lewinsky story, of course and showed just how corrupt the media was, simply through his editorial choices. Simple really,and going strong. A real news man in the old style.
Mark Steyn. Like everyone else in America I hadn't heard of him till after 9/11. There's really no point in my trying to pick a few examples those interested should just go to his website or CRTV where he has new show. I've most importantly followed and participated in his crusade against the Canadian Human Rights Commission and now the climate fraudster Dr. Michael Mann. Free speech at any price.
Finally there's Andrew Breitbart, He began as Drudge's partner in crime and branched out or exploded out, anyway. I knew Breitbart was important after the California Prop-8 initiative when he challenged the screaming homosexuals to 'Protest a Mosque'. I was hooked. He knew me, though he never met me, and I sure knew him. I wept openly the day he died and am getting a little teary just writing this. I know he would love the way I found out, via Drudge. I can still see the screen now.
Breitbart taught me that enemy was the institutional left. He taught me how to fight it. He taught me the media is scum. He's no doubt looking down from heavens with a giant smile. and an extended middle finger.
Viv Le Pen!
Well, the French elections, such as they are, will be happening this year.
The Establishment left candidate, the Socialist president and failure Francois Hollande is not running for re-election and his successor and even more socialist candidate whose name I don't care to look up is sure to lose. Right now its a contest between the French Establishment 'Right' candidate, who I also don't care to look up, and the Right candidate, Marie Le Pen.
The French have a somewhat screwy system of first round elections followed by a runoff [who are you accusing of having a screwy election, Yank -Ed]
Shut the fuck up, Ed, and take that goddamn beret off.
[Yes, sir -Ed]
Right now Le Pen leads the first round but is expected to get shellacked in the 2nd.
Oh dear, does any of this sound familiar?
Brexit was sure to fail [You thought it would-Ed]
I said shut the fuck up, Ed, and where did you get that Hogwarts blazer?
[Sorry, Mr Stroock]
Call me sir, god dammit.
Trump wasn't going to get the nomination. And he wasn't going to beat Hillary.
[You know she actually accumulated 3 million more votes, talk about screwy electoral systems -Ed]
Please, Hillary's margin all came from California, and they're practically part of Mexico no? Those sombrero wearing bastards can have it, and where did you get that 49'rs hat...oh I don't care.
Anyhoo, the global establishment keeps losing to these fringe people. They learn nothing and forget nothing, as they say. The French Establishment will surely make all the same mistakes that their codswallop peddling, poppycock spewing cohorts made in Britain and America.
The Establishment left candidate, the Socialist president and failure Francois Hollande is not running for re-election and his successor and even more socialist candidate whose name I don't care to look up is sure to lose. Right now its a contest between the French Establishment 'Right' candidate, who I also don't care to look up, and the Right candidate, Marie Le Pen.
The French have a somewhat screwy system of first round elections followed by a runoff [who are you accusing of having a screwy election, Yank -Ed]
Shut the fuck up, Ed, and take that goddamn beret off.
[Yes, sir -Ed]
Right now Le Pen leads the first round but is expected to get shellacked in the 2nd.
Oh dear, does any of this sound familiar?
Brexit was sure to fail [You thought it would-Ed]
I said shut the fuck up, Ed, and where did you get that Hogwarts blazer?
[Sorry, Mr Stroock]
Call me sir, god dammit.
Trump wasn't going to get the nomination. And he wasn't going to beat Hillary.
[You know she actually accumulated 3 million more votes, talk about screwy electoral systems -Ed]
Please, Hillary's margin all came from California, and they're practically part of Mexico no? Those sombrero wearing bastards can have it, and where did you get that 49'rs hat...oh I don't care.
Anyhoo, the global establishment keeps losing to these fringe people. They learn nothing and forget nothing, as they say. The French Establishment will surely make all the same mistakes that their codswallop peddling, poppycock spewing cohorts made in Britain and America.
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