Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey – Episode 9
Alright, alright, alright, the buddies dive into Matthew McConaughey biography/self-help book/poetry collection. They once again chat about the importance of physical abuse, peeing on road trips, and speak to the younger audience about being in-touch with plants.
Next Book – The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Transcript for SEO 🙂
All right. Welcome to Buddy Book Club. Thanks for checking us out. I’m here with my good buddy Keith to break down some best sellers today, our topic of discussion will be Matthew McConaughey’s new book, Green Lights. It’s. It’s a memoir, philosophy, self help book. I guess he chronologically goes through his life while also imparting some words of wisdom and sometimes poetry. If you’d like to reach out to us regarding this book or any of our past or future episodes, you can visit our website buddybookclub. Com or slide into our DMs on Twitter or Instagram. Buddy Book Club Podcast. You can listen to us on itunes, so please download and subscribe or should I say prescribe? Yeah. Try not to mess with the levels too much, because full disclosure here. This is our second time recording this podcast. We had some audio difficulties the first time, I guess. Note to self make sure you’re recording isn’t trash before you spend an hour and a half talking about a book, there’s not a lot of books that we would redo this for. Madame McConaughey is a special place in our heart. Yeah, I totally would agree. And I also think it’s apropos of the book itself because we had a yellow light. So what do we do with a yellow light? We hit the gas, we treated it like a green light. So, hey, we’re going back and recording. Yeah, and I know what apropos means. I know it’s, but like our listeners might not. So can you explain, is that some sort of fruit apricot or something? Would you say I just know how to spell it. That’s about it. But it ends with an s. You wouldn’t know that. Oh, there’s zero chance I would spell that, right. Zero. So we like to go through a series of categories for each book. We’re going for each book we’re going through. The categories are going to be a little bit different with this one, because normally we’re talking about novels and this one is non fiction memoir type. So we’re going to mix it up a little bit. But that’s in the spirit of Matthew McConaughey. Before we get started on any pod, we do like to open up with a libation. Ideally, something from what we’re reading, there were a lot of options with green lights, which we respect. Matty, thank you. Ice cold beer just seems like an easy win here. I mean, I imagine Matthew McConaughey is not saying no to any beer, but maybe a Texas beer, like a loan star. I personally right now have a Pacifico because I couldn’t find loan star at the store. So that’s what I’m going with. But also a Margarita would be an app choice, considering that’s how he met his wife as he was sitting at a bar making his own margaritas, which I guess is something you can do when you’re wildly famous, rich and good looking. Yeah, but he said he would make the best Margaret of all time. If someone shows up and it’s like, I’m going to make the best Margaret of all time, you just hand over the reins, right? You’re just like, yes, this guy knows what he’s doing. Oh, 100%. I really just want to see the tub of limes as he’s just, like, squeezing limes into a glass because Margarita, you got to have a bunch of limes on hand, so I respect it either way. And, hey, I want his wife’s heart. So what else you need? Let’s get into some categories here. Normally, we would be picking our favorite character of the book or maybe the most interesting one here. We’re going to be picking McConaughey’s characters in movies he’s played. So this doesn’t have to do anything with the book, but I’m interested out of all the roles he’s had, what do you think are some of the best Matthew McConnell characters he’s played? I’m a big Romcom guy. Let’s do this again. I did just watch Crazy Stupid Love, which is in my top three. But to round out my top three, I got hitch one how to Lose a Guy in Ten Days two and Crazy Stupid Love three. So those are the top three. And my favorite. I think the best leading man out there for Romcoms is Maddie McConaughey. He’s proven time and time again that he’s likable. He’s the guy that you root for, even if he’s an asshole, right? Even if he’s the beginning of the movie, you’re like, there’s some flaws in his character. You still like him no matter what. And that’s the perfect Romcom lead. And it’s hard to pull that off. It takes, like, a subtle acting ability to be able to do that. And I know Matthew. Yeah. We’re calling him Mattie. It’s Matthew. I apologize. I apologize. I’m going to continue to say that advanced apologies on that. It’s tough to pull that off, right? That lead position and be likable. But he does it flawlessly. I know he doesn’t give himself a lot of credit for it, but he should. He does that like, you know, the turn that every Romcom has when the guy realizes how much of an asshole he’s being and has the montage of self reflection and is like, all right, I got to be a better person and win her back. He has that, like, shocks, like, I fucked up. He has that down really well. So that’s why I think it’s so good because he can be an asshole the entire movie. And then the second he starts to feel a little guilty, then just immediately root heavy for him, no matter who you are. Well, I’ll give you a little secret on what makes the best Romcom. Yes. So the biggest thing is you need to nail the turn. So the turn is like when everything is revealed or whatever. So that’s in Hitch when they go into speed dating. Great scene. Have you seen hitch. I have it’s. Okay. You know, the speed dating scene? Yeah, that’s an amazing turn where she finds out he’s like, not an asshole. Like she thinks he is. Amazing scene. And how to lose a guy in ten days. It’s the auction team where they both find out that they’ve been lied to. Amazing scene where they start singing. You haven’t seen how this guy in ten days. No kids. It’s my number two. You don’t listen to me about it all. I’m not a romcom guy. Oh, my. Okay, well, I like that movie. They sing. You’re so vain together, but like, at each other. It’s a great scene. It’s hilarious. It’s filled with great comedy. And then crazy stupid love is when the backyard scene where they all, like, everything goes crazy. Three of the best scenes in cinema, if I do say so myself. Sorry. We’re talking books. That was a good rant there by me. Sorry. So what’s your character? The Romcom character. That’s not fair, but I’ll accept it. That works for all of half his movies. Okay, fair enough. I’d be remiss to not mention Mark Hannah and Wolf of Wall Street. I mean, it’s iconic. It’s probably my favorite scene of that movie. There’s tons of stuff you can look up. And now that everyone knows the story about him hitting and pumping his chest, how it was like his warm up thing. And it was supposed to only be, like, one line, and it turned into pretty much a monologue because he just went with it and Marty Scorsese led him. So it’s just such a great character. And he was filming Dallas Buyers Club or getting ready to. So he was, like, rail thin before that or during that movie. So that was great. But I think my career where you’re supposed to have one line that’s like his whole career. It’s definitely how it got started. That’s a great story from the book itself. A the first line he ever said on film is. All right. It’s his tagline. It was the first thing he ever said. And then how he just took that character in Daisy Confused and went with it and got, like, three more scenes out of it. But my favorite character is Van Zand for Reign of Fire. And since we had to record this twice, and I was just sitting around today, it was on TV. So I watched it. It holds up. That movie holds up. I mean, he plays a badass Dragon Hunter. He has a furlined vest with a battle axe in hand. I mean, come on, it’s a Tomahawk. It’s not necessarily. It’s a giant Tomahawk if it’s a Tomahawk, but he calls it a Tom Hawk. He’s just such an amazing character. And unfortunately, they cut the part where he was supposed to have a dwarf on his shoulder the entire time. And this time watching it, I pictured just a dwarf on his shoulder, and it really changed the tone of it. Is there any weird edits where he’s talking to his right shoulder, but they’re like, well, we’re going to keep that in there. No, it wasn’t like dwarf. They just cut it early on. Okay. But especially at the end because he kind of like spoiler, but he kind of jumps off of a tower. I was just picturing this dwarf clinging onto him. Yeah, and it’s crazy that that character wasn’t supposed to have a shaved head. I mean, it makes the look, but he did that completely on his own because he was losing his hair and was using some regenic grow or something and tried to Chia his hair. And it turned out to be a super iconic look. So once again, he took the reins into his own hand. Rain of Fire pun intended. And he epitomized that character. So I love that. And he has a good story in the book about how he prepared for that movie. So if you haven’t read the book and you’re just listening to the podcast, definitely suggest reading it. And actually, we both suggest listening to this for sure, because obviously he narrates it, and he does great. So I’m going with Van Zant. You’re going with every single Romcom. Yes, that’s right thing he’s done gold diggers. I’ll watch Randy Fire. You have to watch how to Lose a Guy in Ten days. All right, deal. Is that the one with JLo, the JLA one I haven’t seen? I think that’s more of a that’s like a RomRom, not a rom com. Okay. How to Lose A Guy in Ten Days. I’m adding to my list. I love it. I love it. Okay, let’s get into normally, we do a favorite scene here, but there is we could kind of. But what’s your favorite story for the book? Because McConaughey, he has a plethora of stories. The guys definitely lived it. So out of all the stories they go through in the book, which one jumped out to you? Yeah, my clear winner here at a couple. But the Johann motorcycle story where essentially they’re in Hollywood. He goes there after getting a couple of small parts. No, this is after days and confused. Right. So he moves to Hollywood, and then his mentor is essentially like, if you need work or if you’re begging for work, then you’re not ready for this town. So he’s like, all right, I’m going off to Europe. I’m going to go on a motorcycle journey. He doesn’t have much money, gets out there, thinks he can rent a motorcycle for the whole trip. Doesn’t have nearly enough money. My boy Johann, who’s a motorcycle store owner, is like, you know what? I was young once. I’m going to rent out these ridiculously expensive motorcycles to you, let you fucking go off and ride and have the time of your life. I just need stories. That’s the only currency I accept right now. I need stories. So naturally, them being like, 23. They go off and crash these motorcycles. Johann is like, no worries, drives up like 8 hours, meets them, gives them new motorcycles to continue to go. They were like BMW motorcycles, brand new, which he could just hook them up with a good deal, on average motorcycle. Just give them top of line ones, though, and then give them again after they wreck them. This Johan dude is the fucking man. The only thing I really wish is that the end of the story should have been. And then Johann’s now in my crew. He’s part of my office. He’s a millionaire or some sort of, like, finish the Yohan story because I wasn’t doing Johan. Yeah, he’s like, the turtle in your entourage or something like that. Exactly. Just put them in the map. A Kanye honourage after that. Yeah. I don’t know if it’s, like, a decade thing or how it worked out, but I rented some Vespas. I’m not cool enough for BMW motorcycles, but I rent some Vespas in Switzerland, and they were not as cool. Let’s just leave it at that. They were not as cool as Yohan. So mad. Props to Yoan. It seems like you didn’t even need a favorite scene here. Your just favorite character was Johann. Yeah. And then the other only other one I had was and I think me and you both relate to this pretty well is the gambling story. Yeah. So good. When he goes to Vegas with his brother, they just absolutely crushed it in blackjack and have all this money, have all this money burning in their pocket, and then they throw all of it down on the bills to win the Super Bowl. The bets they are talking about, even though I know, I know the Cowboys blew out the bills in the Super Bowl, but the bets and the money lines they’re talking about. I was like, I was salivating. I was like, yeah, you have to put that money down. It makes too much sense. Well, you liked his betting philosophy. Oh, and his philosophy. Yes. Which was like, find the weird things going on. This guy’s wife’s pregnant, so he’s not getting enough sleep. And the flight across there was actually a storm that came in. They probably had a lot of turbulence and couldn’t get any rest or whatever the case. I love that. And I love the mentality of when he wins. He’s like, I’m the smartest motherfucker in the Earth, which it makes sense if you ever play like, Monopoly when I play Monopoly and I win, I’m like, Holy shit. I shouldn’t start a business. Like, I’m the smartest when I lose, I’m like, this game is bullshit. It doesn’t count. This doesn’t mean anything. But that’s like, it was kind of his gambling philosophy. Also, it’s like, if I lose, it was like, rigged. But if I win, I’m literally the smartest person ever. And I’m like, yeah, I feel that I used to play Monopoly almost every day when I was, like, ten. That’s why the psychopath, my buddy and I both loved it. And I was sure I was going to be a real estate tycoon because I was like, I win it all the time. I was like, I’m going to be a real estate tycoon and fast forward 20 years. I’m literally homeless. So you hit Park Place a couple of times too wrong. I went to jail. I went to jail immediately to jail. Yeah, but the Vegas store is amazing. I’m agreeing with you on that. I mean, they played 11 hours of blackjack and we’re on a heater, and there’s nothing I like more than going to casino and playing blackjack. It’s like my favorite table game because everyone’s against the dealer. If you have a good table, everyone’s kind of rooting together. You’re screaming. It’s awesome. Ripping Sigs. It’s just great. I just love how they went on that heater. And then to put all your winnings on the Super Bowl and to spread it out. But with one goal in mind is like, the bills, but they took the money line. They took the spread. They took all sorts of different quarters and stuff like that. And to lose everything. I mean, I can relate to that that’s the People magazine, like, celebrities are just like us because you go in, you’re like, I’m going to win it all. I’m going to have an epic day, like, my face is going to be on the newspaper as, like, the most epic win. And instead, you’re eating peanuts for the next week. Definitely relatable for us. Yeah. And my favorite, though, is the mud wrestling in Africa, which is actually funny because I got in my car and we just went to the driving range, and I just picked a random part of the story and started listening to it. And it was right on this part. So I was like, oh, amazing. But, yeah, he basically goes and wrestles a guy in the dirt in Africa, and I think it was probably the greatest sporting event not captured on film since the 1992 Dream Team practice. Right. Because he goes into in depth of this recipe. His head was here. My head was there, beard was ripped out. There’s blood coming out of my knees. It was like, oh, my God. Like, the crowd is going crazy. Yes, I’m in. And then afterwards, in the greatest end of the story ever, they hold hands and walk together for 15 miles. What’s better than that? They literally walked off into the sunset. And that’s something I put in my love category. He’s an amazing writer. You could see that fight going down in your head, right. Like that usually takes, I don’t know, years and years of practice of writing, to be able to articulate and draw that up. Right. His adjectives are great. Yeah. Also him explaining it makes the story so good. So that’s why we kind of recommend the auto book. It brings you in real quick, I will say, though not a huge fan of his African accent. Not a huge fan. Oh, come on. It was like I didn’t know he had that range. I thought he only played. He only had that one accent, but he showed some range there. Yeah, it was good. I’m just saying it reminded me a lot of it wasn’t good. Actually, I’m giving too much credit. It reminded me of Will Smith in the Concussion movie Trying to Stop. Yes, and that was probably bad. He could have played at Vanilla and just spoke his normal voice the whole time, but he didn’t. He got after me. No. Hey, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate it. There’s no question. I appreciate it. You know what I mean? To just let go and be like I’m going to do. Whenever I speak about an African person, I’m going to do an African accent. I respect that. I just didn’t love it. It’s my opinion, simple as that. No, I just hate to do it. Totally. The story was phenomenal, but let’s jump ahead here. Are we going to do questionable stories? Questionable stories? Is there anything Besides all the times he had wet dreams? That’s what I was getting at. Okay, let’s say, is that what you’re working towards you want to talk about is wet dreams? Please go ahead. Talk about. Well, I needed to get into my big one. So the questionable stories I listed were the African wrestling, which was, like, a little bit far fetched, but him, like fighting a huge dude that’s, like, the best wrestler in all the towns. And winning was pretty insane. I don’t think he won that to be clear. And I don’t think he said anything. That’s a win. After walking, I think he walked 15 miles to get there immediately, got thrown into a ring with a dude that wrestles all the time. There’s not entertainment out there for them to do. That’s their entertainment. So you must wrestle all the time. There’s entertainment. They’re not just wrestling all the time for me. And you. There are more options for entertainment. I would say for them, they don’t have the electricity, right? You did say there was no electricity correctly. Eliminate 90% of my entertainment there. So now it’s like outdoors activities, right? So what activities are we doing? So if they don’t have balls or they don’t have sports, okay, now it’s fighting. That’s it, right? Yeah. All right. Thank you. I logically talk myself into that one. There we go. But the biggest one was the Treehouse story. Which him going off stealing the actual materials. All that was like, yeah, that checks out. I can see someone doing that, especially back in the day. Boys will be boys. Whatever. Yeah, it seemed like a Huckleberry Finn kind of type thing, right? And like, you kind of sneak away. I thought that was pretty impressive, but that him saying that he built a 13 storey tree house 100ft high when he was twelve. Again, he might be an architectural genius, maybe, but I’ve never seen a two storey tree house, let alone 13. See, this is your problem. You’re thinking you’re picturing like a Swiss family Robinson Treehouse, where there’s, like, a coconut water supply and stuff like that. I don’t think it was that elaborate. There might have been what you think of as a tree house in terms of a platform with a railing, like, maybe 1015ft up. But I think from there on out, it was just like, a really good tree that he could climb and where he couldn’t. He would then just like, put a two by four so that he could then get to the next level. And we just keep doing that until he got to the top. So I think the beginning, the bottom part might have been a tree house, but everywhere else was mostly tree and not house. Still, he’s a 13 storey. And just the logistics of getting wood up 13ft is like, unbelievably impressive. And he was like, ten or twelve. Yeah. And he was like, I wonder if it’s still up there. And I was like, if I went back to College right now, I built a shitty, shitty beer pong table. I would be looking for that beer pong table because I’m impressed. I’m like, oh, that table is amazing. It wasn’t amazing, but that’s how impressed I was with myself. He’s like, yeah, I don’t really care. It’s down the road, but I’m not going to go check to see if it’s still there. Bro. Go get a picture of it. I’m just picturing you going back to Clemson and being like, hey, so I used to live here. Is there a beer pong table here? And they’ll be like, what the fuck are you talking about? Dude? What? It was a great beer pong table. I was a legend.
Participant #1:
Do you have any other questionable stories you’d like to discuss? No, those are my biggest ones. How about you? I believe in no matter what, nothing was questionable to me, it was all 100% accurate. I believed every word that came out of it. Okay, fair enough. All right. Just making me look like an asshole. I guess it was like, Jesus talking. And I was writing the gospel as he spoke. That’s how it felt. I don’t think that’s how the Bible works, but okay, let’s get into stock up, stock down. This is where we talk about different aspects of the book, and we either buy or sell the stock. It’s pretty undefined, just like the stock market. So, Keith, what do you get for stock up? Yeah, I have more stock down, but for stock up, truck swagger, truck swagger. In high school, he essentially got this truck, and it was his character. Basically, he got the loudspeaker would, like, chat up ladies on it. He’d go mudding. And then he turned it in for a red muscle car, and he parked away from the school, made sure nobody dinged. It became like, oh, I’m the man because I have this good car. And then all of a sudden, he started to see his personality, and everything changed with it. And girls stopped liking him. But, yes, the stock up is because basically, I want to get a truck now, right? Like, the swagger that brings you. It sounds like, yes. And I told you, my car, I have a pretty expensive it’s red, Gray American muscle car. It’s a Nissan Sentra, but, yeah, it’s like this really good car currently, and I might be missing out. So that’s why I might turn it in and get a truck. That’s what I’m thinking. But do you have any sort of truck swagger? Do you have any sort of thing that kind of defines you other than your gorgeous looks and face? I mean, what I sure had truck swagger. That was my first car. Ford F 150, quad Cab black. It was a nice car. The quad cab was sweet because you could pull people around in it. And whatnot? And you were the guy when it came to sports practice, because it was like, everyone just like, throw your stuff in the back or like, hey, jump in the back. I’ll drive you to the field. That was fine. I never had the balls to go like, mudding in it. We did that with one of our buddies cars, and it took two tow trucks to get him out. So I was like, no, I’m not going to do that. It did have the four wheel drive. So I definitely felt the truck swag, but it was more of, like, that was kind of before the proliferation of SUVs and trucks everywhere. So you were definitely higher up on everyone else in terms of the driving, like, physically higher up, which made you feel emotionally higher up. You didn’t mention, like, the engine type. You didn’t say V six or B eight. So I almost feel like, I don’t believe you. Yeah, I’m not a car guy. Exactly. It had four wheel drive. Yeah. You’re kept on saying that? Yes. It was good in the snow. Yes, but I’ve since moved on to now I have a Mazda hatchback, and I can tell you the plus has gone way down high school specifically, is that you’re talking about it. It’s not as much. Not as much since high school. Yeah. No, not as much high school as I’m saying. Jesus Christ, my stock up is aforementioned wet dreams. I mean, he references wet dreams three times in the book. None of them are of a sexual nature, which is interesting, actually. I think the first two, he was like being attacked by snakes and crocodiles. And then came, the line is so good, too. Oh, my God. It’s like something. And then I came green lights. So fucking good green lights. But these wet dreams led to his trip to the Amazon. His second one led to his trip to Africa, where he had his wrestling match, and the third and final led him to his Mermaid Camilla. So, I mean, I can’t say if we’re going to lay it all out there for the listeners out here, I can’t say I’ve had one in a while, but now I really want to, because I’m down for either of these three things. So wet dreams. I’m buying the stock, baby. I love that. Also tidbit. I read on Reddit that if you wake up from a really important dream and you don’t write it down, throw something on the ground. So you’ll remember when you wake up. So I did that recently. I threw my pillow on the ground. I have an extra pillow, and I woke up the next morning and was like, oh, shit. Like, Why is that pillow on the ground? I was like, oh, yeah. I had an amazing dream. And all I remember is remembering to throw the pillow on the ground. It didn’t fucking work. Yeah, I could have had my wet dream moment there. I just didn’t get it because Red lied to me. I don’t think it was a wet dream moment. You could have built to have some lucid dreams, which is possible. I mean, that’s a whole another podcast, because I used to be really into the idea of lucid dreams. I’ve had a couple of my life, and we can work on that, though. We can work on that. But if you want to remember your dreams, you got to write them down because your brain purposely throws that information away once you wake up. So that’s just how your brain works. Which is another book that I read that was actually really good. The body, Bill Bryson, check it out. Uber and Lyft stock up for me, specifically in reference to Las Vegas cab driver. So after the big loss of betting the bill, so they lose all their money there in the cab, going to the airport, they’re down their luck, the cab driver gets in and like, oh, you guys bet the bills. You guys are idiots. First off, fuck you, buddy. Right? What is that? We’re in Vegas. You should probably know the Etiquette a little better. Secondly, I thought he brought that story up because he was like, yeah, so then my brother got upset and murdered him, which I’d be like, yeah, that’s fine. That’s okay. I would have been okay, Pat just murdering those guys. Yes, you lose, like, a shitload of money, and some dude calls you an idiot after you can murder that guy. That’s fair in Las Vegas. That’s allowed you should know better. Yes, that should be legal. It should be legal. And this is why cabs went the way of what’s? Something that went out of business. The Dodo, the Xerox machine is that, though? What is it? Yeah. Xerox machine. Okay, all right. I don’t know what Xerox is photocopier. Okay, that’s right. Yeah. Way of the Xerox because it didn’t adapt and they’re doing shit like this. Uber and Lyft, you’d get that person one star and you would get them kicked off the app. They’d be gone. Jesus or murders. You’re talking about murdering this guy or make him lose his livelihood because he was just kind of. They just potentially lost their livelihood and money over these bets. Kid, you can’t be going out there and calling people idiots after that. It’s fair on Uber. Unless you get at least I thought you were going to be on my side. You haven’t lost a big bet recently. That’s your problem. You were talking about murdering this kind, man. I don’t think that’s an overreach kind. He was an asshole. Maybe he had some shit going on that day. Maybe you’re stopped. Maybe he hit a red light in his life. Next time you lose a big bet, I’m just going to text you. Wow, you’re really idiot for betting that. And I don’t see how you react to that. I’ll forgive you. I’m Volvo forgiveness these days. Ever since I turned in my F 150, everything’s been about forgiveness. Watch your sweat. My other stock up is having an unconventional family dynamic because his parents were married and divorced three times over. So married to each other and divorced. So I guess divorced. Twice. Married. Thrice. I mean, there’s lots of interesting stories that he has just a quick one here. They had a fight in which his mom broke his dad’s nose and brandished a twelve inch chef’s knife. Which, to be honest, having a twelve inch chef’s knife already is like, a bit insane. That’s a big chef’s knife. And then instead of that story ending in Murder and Matthew’s orphanage situation, it ended up with his parents having sex on the living room floor. It wasn’t clear whether the kids were present or not, but either way, that sounds pretty legit. Also, he got his ass whipped with a belt until it bled over. Putting on a cracker Jack tattoo basically found a cracker Jack tattoo. Put it on. Got the shit beat out of him by his dad. Not really ideal. Definitely wouldn’t be considered a conventional family dynamic. And on the same pugilistic nature, his brother Mike beat up his dad with a two by four until he was unconscious and was pretty much like begging him to not keep attacking him and just ended up beating him until he was unconscious. Rooster and Matthew have since gone on to Matthew is, however, many movies and Roosters on like Southern Shark Tank or something like that. I think it’s like Country Shark Tank or something along those lines. So maybe this, like, participation trophy culture that we’ve created isn’t the right way to do it and instead beat the shit out of your children and break your spouse’s nose. As long as you’re having sex on the living room floor, everything’s going to work out fine. That’s basically what I got out of it. So next time someone tells me that they’re spanking their kids instead of being like, maybe not the right idea at this time and age will be like, you’re not going far enough way to be a good parent. Yes. So unconventional family dynamics stock up just to tie this together. A few books ago, the body. I had said that physical abuse was a stock up and demon scoffed at me, much like the murdering. The cabinet just scoffed, oh, my God. How dare you. But now he’s come around my stock. I bought it very low as a Penny stock. It’s now blown up. It’s Bitcoin. I’m going to cash in. I’m going to sell. Probably now that you’re buying who’s the sucker now? It’s like a DOJ coin or something like that. But I will admit, hey, I make mistakes in life. And maybe you read on this one. That’s what I’m saying. I appreciate it. That’s all. It’s about just seeing the market as it is and buying when it’s right. When it’s wrong, you get stuck down. So what do you get for that? Yeah. So my stock down, learning to swim. So don’t learn to swim. No, let me explain. Okay. When he was really young, he basically got thrown into a violent river by his parents when he was younger. Just like to learn how to swim. And as someone that swim at a very young age and was a huge pussy. And it was like, afraid of the water. And I hated when it was cold. If my parents just took me and threw me into a moving River, I’d die out of spite of spite. I would just be like, no, fuck you guys and die. But he survived. He learned how to swim in that violent river. And maybe that’s why he’s a famous actor. And I’m only the host of this internationally successful podcast. So that’s the problem. Okay. I said I believed every story had. I don’t remember this one, but I don’t think you can just throw someone into a violent river. Is that the thing? I might have asked? That additive. Okay, but even as somewhat River, I assume it moves, right? Yeah. I’ve still pool. That was 3ft tall. I didn’t want to get into. I don’t think you just throw people into Rivers and they swim. Maybe that might happen, like one in 50. And then it’s like, oh, cool. They learned how to swim. But then there’s 49 bodies at the bottom of that river. I don’t think that works of family dynamics. Yes. Unconventional family dynamics. Really disruptive family dynamics works, too. But yeah, truthfully, it’s just another notch in my stock for unconventional family. Dennis. Yeah, I’m there. That one’s. Weird. I had stock down for foreign exchange programs. So you think these things are interesting in the sense of, oh, you’re getting exposed to a different culture. You can live with this other family so they can kind of assimilate you and show you around. Whatever the case is. No, his time with the Dualis was well, adozy Norvell Super odd dude. Like, super odd dude. Definitely pedo vibes. Like some creepy, weird religious. He had that picture, like, Churchill. I think we just stared at every night already. Weird enough. But then all the other Idiosyncrasies he had. I mean, just read the book and you’ll be like, this is uncomfortable. And then ultimately, the cringeworthy scene with Marjorie and the kiss with Meredith. I mean, it felt to me like something out of the movie. Get out where he realizes that this thing. I thought it was going to turn into a horror movie. Personally, I was reading the book. I knew this guy survived and was like, oh, this is where they throw them in a cage together or something like that. But it was so creepy that I’m uncomfortable. And the fact that this family so easily was able to get into the foreign exchange program. No, I’m out stocked down. It’s not happening. Not happening with my kids. After reading that, his only form of entertainment was taking hour long baths at night and masturbating in the bathtub. Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. No, I might have a bath after this after spot, but I’m not going to put extra soap in the water. Yeah. And I think along the exact same lines, my Stock down was last name, starting with D and ending in Lee’s Stop Down, Sell Kid Dooleys Dursley’s. And then Dudley, this is the same family from Harry Potter. It’s the exact same family. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. He basically got locked in a closet. Like, what was it, the broom closet or something underneath the stairs. That’s basically what happened here. So any names like that that you can think of just immediately. So I don’t think there’s any brooms in Harry’s closet. That would be too on point for the aspect. It was a cupboard. I think it was a cupboard under the stairs. Cupboards where you put food, isn’t it? Yeah, but I’m pretty sure it was the first chapter. The first book is the cupboard under the stairs. Maybe we got to check through, I think. Don’t tempt me Frodo. Don’t tempt me Frodo. All right. God, that would be the best. But yes, I agree. I can’t think of anyone that doesn’t fit that dandy in Le situation. Sorry to all of our listeners that fit into that last name. Yeah, I can’t even think of another name. So I’ll take it. Did you have anything else for Stock down? Last one was just the truth. Stock down. Essentially, Matthew would describe people more ancillary characters in the book. But, for instance, my boy Johann’s wife, he was like, yeah, she was fucking ugly as Sin Perry Armpits had, like, a man’s voice. I’m like, Man, this is Johan’s wife, buddy. Come on. He was being so mean. Yeah, this is your boy’s wife. Yeah. And then he would come up on some roadside bar and be like, yeah, the person behind the counter had a lazy eye, but she had a good heart. And I’m like, Jesus, I was reading that after Connor this one time, and he’s like, oh, yeah, that was a person with a lazy eye, and it’s an ugly person. Like, oh, that’s me. I thought it was kind of funny, but, yeah, definitely hurtful. Yeah. Johann gets the book and starts reading in his kitchen. He’s like, wow, look at this story is so nice of Matthew, and then gets the part about his wife, and he looks over and just probably gives, like, a head nod. He’s like, Well, he knows telling the truth, but I think that gives credence to the rest. That’s why I believe everything else he said because he was so Truthful with every he didn’t hold back. At least they’re amazing. They’re good descriptions, too. So I agree. But I was like, oh, man, my boy Johan is just taking a beating here. Okay, that’s fair. I accepted. I’m not buying the stock. Let’s get into love. Hate. What do you love about the book? What do we hate about it? What do we love about this one? Yeah. I think the biggest thing was that just as a writing ability, I was super impressed. We all knew he was a good storyteller, and maybe the audiobook even kind of brought that even more. But I was surprised how good a writer he was. I’m shocked that he hasn’t written any screenplays himself, especially since how deep he gets into characters. It seems like it’d be a natural transition for him to start writing more true Detective type stuff. Yeah. It seems like he has a knack for dialogue. Right. And what’s a screenplay? Besides a lot of different scenes of dialogue. I mean, obviously I’m oversimplifying it, but I think if you have that ability, then the rest of it you can obtain. Whereas if you have the rest of the stuff, but you can’t write dialogue, then you’re kind of screwed.
Participant #1:
Yes. And I’m actually kind of surprised because he wrote all those poems and stuff. He has all the poetry. There’s so much poetry that he puts in this book that you can only imagine how much more he has that he hasn’t done a poetry book. I wouldn’t be surprised if after a year or two after this comes out, he had a book of poetry, which nothing against you. Matthew loved all the poetry in the book, but just not a big poetry guy. Yeah. And I know screeners, too. Like, the big thing for them is getting and doing exactly what he does with the characters is like, you’re supposed to be able to say, what kind of food would they eat for dinner and all that type of shit he does is what screeners do. Yeah. I mean, just look at the brain of fire thing when he was like, what would a Dragon Hunter do? I was like, I’m going to wake up. I’m going to wake up at 500 in the morning and start my day with a shot of two shots of tequila. And then I’m going to tackle cows at midnight every single night. He was like, this is what Van Zant would do. Yeah. It’s kind of crazy to set up like, this is what a Dragon would do when Dragon hunters aren’t real. It’s not like you could just say they do nothing, and that’d be potentially what they do. Right? Dragon hunters. They like, watch YouTube videos, play video games for, like, 2 hours, and then go out and Hunt Dragons at night. Yeah, exactly. I’m like it could have been that. But yeah, I really liked his writing ability. I was very shocked by that. One thing on the book that I liked was when he was at art school, and I know this will resonate with you, Dan, because you’re an artsy fartsy type. Everyone there was like, it’s a popular movie. So therefore it’s not good, which I wholeheartedly disagree with. And this kind of goes back to the Oscars talk you’re having where they’re, like, everyone kind of agrees all of a sudden that every single artsy movie is good or bad popular doesn’t mean bad agree with him on that. I mean, just to kind of second your point. And because you said RC movie, a movie called The Artist, which was a silent black and white movie and was released in, like, 2015 or something. One best picture. Yeah. The Artist, one best picture. Oh, my gosh. So, hey, if people tell you it’s good, maybe it is good. I still haven’t seen it, though. Well, I guess. Yeah. And then I actually did like the honesty, even though I was selling the truth, he didn’t sugarcoat things a lot of times. And I liked that last thing was love the length he went to watch football and party. We’re going to have a beer with celebrities later on here. But this is why he fits that category for I think most dudes that are kind of like us that like football, like, partying, like drinking. He’s just, like, the lengths he went to do those things is hilarious. I mean, the one time he was at the RV park or whatever, his only concern was getting his car in a Southern facing lot so he could put his satellite up and get the I don’t know if it’s a UT game or something else, but we all know he’s a big UT guy. One thing I loved was how honest he was about the luck involved with this story. And I think a lot of times this incredible career and all these things happen to you. It’s probably easy to see yourself as being some sort of manifest destiny that you kind of did this on your own. And he talks about how super random and lucky it was. That how he got the script for days and Confused and how he met was basically like a friend of a friend in a bar who got him the days of confused job. Obviously, after that, you have to then grab the horse by the reins, which he did successfully on several accounts. But I always find those stores to be really interesting. How the universe collides for you in those certain moments, and then you have the ability to drive it in one way or another. And he seemed to have done that really well. And I always find those to be, like, somewhat inspiring. So I really like that. I mean, we have to talk about Cosmo the van, because how can you not love Cosmo? He goes in depth. After one of his early roles, he made a good chunk of money, and he was like, I just want to travel the United States and live in a van. And Cosmo had all of this sound system was awesome. He had a high grade microphone that was right in front of his face so he could take all of his notes and write his poems. And I wouldn’t be surprised that a lot of the bumper stickers from the book were directly from his trips with Cosmos. He was like reading bumper stickers off into his high grade microphone. But most importantly, was his genius idea. No, not for the cooler, not for the cooler under the seat, which is very smart, but for the P fault that he drilled through the van so that he didn’t have to stop while driving and could just pee into a funnel that then went out the side of the van. I mean, genius, it really is. It really is genius. Could you be able to hit the gas and break while peeing? Would you be able to do that? I feel like my mind goes blank when I’m peeing. I can’t do foot function. Yeah. As someone that has been taking some longer road trips of late, I will tell you that I have successfully peed into some one liter Poland Springs bottles, which have a pretty tight mouthpiece. So you really got to get a good latch going. You got to be like a Leech and just latch onto that thing, but you hit the cruise control, you put it in there, right? I assume you put the whole thing in too much. Oh, my God. Anyway. Yeah,
Participant #1:
just thinking about that in a polling spring bottle. It’s like literally a fucking worm. Hey, yeah, you hit the cruise control, you pee in the bottle and it’s a green light. As simple as that sounds good. Do you have anything else for love before you get into the hate? I do think that the theme in the book, which I really appreciated, was like, be nice to people, be a good person, and that drives your luck and then take advantage of your luck. Be confident, know who you are and strive for more. That was kind of like the whole sentiment. Like, if you got all these opportunities because he was a cool dude that was friendly to everyone. And then from there, he parlayed that with confidence into more opportunities. He even says in the book, some people find excuses not to. Some people find excuses to I’m butchering it. But that’s pretty much the idea. Some other loves. I had just some quick hitters. Speaking of quick hitters, using the one hitter before gardening in Austin as house in Austin. Yes, please. Nothing. Especially spring. Now start planting your tomatoes. Take a little taste of the marijuana before you do it. It makes you want there’s kids listening. See, man, come on,
Participant #1:
kids. This is to you. Take a little, just a little hit, and then you go gardening and you touch the plants and you become one with them. And you realize these are your children for the next six months, and they’re going to be fruitful to you. If you treat them well, they’ll treat you back well, simple as that. It’s wonderful. That’s all you need to know. So that one I really liked. He talked about people shooting dice at a bar one time. I need to go to that bar. That sounds amazing. I love the shit out of that. I liked how he called steroids, but darts. I found that to be a really good kind of phrase for steroids. Take a couple of butt darts. I assume that was during the Magic Mike filming. And then obviously the whose head can you pee over game, which his dad brought his brother to. That ended up winning him like a dirt bike. So unconventional parenting, once again, coming back for a dub stock up, also had his eight year old brother drinking a beer there to make sure his bladder is full. So that’s good. Yes. I don’t think he was eight, but okay, I think he was eight. I’m pretty sure. Fact check that. Well, at the end of the episode, we’ll fact check that there’s not much to hate about this book, but if you had to pick some stuff, what have you got for the hate call? Yes. The biggest thing is I’ll never be able to hear the word green light without thinking of green light. I’m like, yeah, it’s green. The Light’s. Green light will be like green light. Green light. I just came my pants green light. And then I kind of wish some of the best stories. Obviously, we’ve heard, like, the chest pounding story, but I kind of wish some of my favorite movies we had behind the scenes. I always think those are interesting. Like the U five, seven, one just being like, what was that like on the set or how to Lose a guy in ten days. Great movie. Immediately after I watch any movie that I really like. I just Google, like, deleted scenes or behind the scenes, something that we don’t have anymore because they used to have this on DVDs. It would be great. But, yeah, there’s a lot of times I watched Master and Commander recently, which I fucking love that. Man. I just started watching that based on your recommendation. I almost put subtitles on because I don’t know what the fuck they’re saying. All right, well, if you can understand the English language because they’re speaking English to the right Port. Yeah. Get the Condens out. I’m like, what the hell is going on here? That’s really good. That’s actually exactly what they’re saying. Thank you. But Peter Rear movie and there’s like, so I watched it and I was like, Goddamn, I really love this movie. And there was like, a three part documentary that was made on the making of that movie. So I was like, oh, shit. I found it on YouTube, and you get so much like, behind the scenes with Russell Crowe and Peter Weir, and you learn how all the set guys are actually just like, either they’re like, actual fishermen or people that Peter weird, just like, found out of a lineup who really don’t have teeth. And he was like, yes, this guy’s going to fit in really well. Yeah. So they have a lot of that stuff for movies. But I agree with you in terms of this. I would have liked those anecdotes from him of, like, what shit was going on and set, although it didn’t really fit in with the theme. No, I think it was fine. Honestly, if you made the book 12 hours long, doubled it and you put more of that in, I wouldn’t complain. I agree. So let me ask you this. Out of all the Rom coms that he’s in, which one would you want, like, behind the scenes, like filming of the filming of well, I mean, the Romcoms are a little different. U 571 was like, the one I mentioned or like, True Detective Romcoms are Romcoms for comedy. I love to see the fuck ups. I think those are hilarious because they do so many outtakes on those. Yes, a lot of the Jet abstract ones and stuff. I also would have liked to see his wife of Wall Street, just like the entire filming he had for that, just like how it started. And then how Marty was just like, oh, my God, try that again. Let’s roll that again with this for hate. Matthew, I understand your purpose. And I respect you for sticking to your convictions because obviously you’re listening. But he turned down 14 and a half million for Romcom. I think it started at, like, six or 8 million, and it kept growing. And he was trying to not do Romcoms anymore. And they built it up to 14 and a half million. We don’t know if they were offering him points behind that, but either way, 14. 5 million is insane. We talked about this last time, so I’m not going to act like this is a surprise to you, but Bruce Willis made 115,000,000 for the $0.06. That was the biggest ever. So I just want that to be out there. It would include 20 million upfront, which really isn’t that much more than 14 and a half million. But then he got 17. 5% for the box office gross. So that turned into $115,000,000. Not bad. So that was my hate. And then I’m going to slip this in here because it kind of ties back to what I had before, but did not really love the glorification of violence in the book. I’m not a little pissy pants, but the night he became a man in his dad’s eyes was when he beat the Paul butt of a bouncer who put his hand on his dad’s chest. He didn’t assault him. He put his hand on his dad’s chest, and Matthew McConaughey beat the living shit out of him. The bouncer is now breathing through a straw. It’s Texas locked in. It’s different. Daddy loved me. Green light, unconventional family dynamics. We got them. Let’s quickly go through some potent quotables before we get into something’s. Best flicks. Potent quotables. What did you have for some good quotes from this book here, which is greenlights, but Matthew McConnell? Yeah. If you don’t walk into a place like you want to buy it like you own it, which I love walking on the place mentality. His mom said that to him. You took that to heart and kind of parlayed it into a bunch of shit. Yeah. When I read that one, I thought about Patrick Swayzey in Roadhouse, just like him walking to the double loose like, no, no, you little miscreants don’t own this bar. I do. And then the unbelievable quote we discussed before I couldn’t find it. I tried again to find it. No one has amazing. It was basically like nothing is unbelievable. That’s where it’s used too much. And then I added one too, which I thought was poetic. Rather than struggling with time and waste it. Let’s dance with time. Redeem it because we don’t live longer. When you try to try not to die, we live longer when we are too busy living. Green lights. Indeed. Bopper sticker. Wow. I really like that. Wow. Big fan. Oh, yeah. Dancing with my high school yearbook quote. Hey, kids out there listening. Put down the dope, put down the dope. Stop gardening. Write that one down. I had for some good ones. It had all the elements of a nightmare, but it was a wet dream. Green light. Oh, my God. If we all made sense of humor, the default emotion, we’d all get along much better. I liked that very much because let’s all have a sense of humor. That’s really what we’re trying to do here. Let’s have a sense of humor. Let’s get a lot better. Simple as that. Fuck the Bucks. I’m going for the experience. That’s a good one for me. And pretty much also what the book was about and drink to remember not to forget that’s going on my card to my brother when he goes to College. Let’s get into quickly best Matthew McConaughey movies. That’s not his characters in movies. That’s his movies. Give me your top three. Quickly. What have you got? I got top five for you real quick here. Ghost of Girlfriends Pass. It’s a Romcom interstellar. I wouldn’t define it. True Math McConnell movie, but just a great movie. I think he made it way way better. So I just listed it on there. And then these three, I think, are his movies. True Detective. I think he made that TV show. I know 100% Amazing View 571, which I mentioned. I love that movie. It also hits home with me. There’s some nostalgia. There we go. And then how this guy in ten days? Just top two romcom like I mentioned. So that was mine. But yourself. I had Dallas Buyers Club. I thought that was amazing. And the story in the book about how it eventually got made was great, but he was not only Austrian, but it was a really good book. I mean, really good movie. Moving Mud, which a lot of people I don’t think have seen, but it was kind of written for him and he’s awesome in it. And it’s a coming of age movie for some kids and probably where they got the Treehouse idea from. But Mud is great. His first real dramatic role, a Time to Kill phenomenal film based on a John Grisham novel or something like that. But that movie is awesome and he delivers a line that is heard throughout the realm. And lastly, because I’m not going to say you 571 because I fucking love World War Two submarine movies. It’s frailty, which you should really check out frailty. Don’t forget that. Yeah, it’s popped up on my IMBD, like movies that you might like. I’m like, oh, yeah, check it out. It’s a good like if you want to watch something with your girlfriend that is kind of spooky but not like super spooky and different from what you’ve been watching recently. You watch that and you’re like, oh, this is pretty fucked up, but like in a good way. Okay. And if you have one of those, not a nightmare, but a wet dream green light afterwards. And you’re fucking sick in my head. Noted, let’s cast the movie here, which is what we would do normally, but instead we’re going to do top three celebrities have a cold beer with Matthew McConaughey, number one for all of us. Right after reading this, I think that his stories are too good. It’d be a one sided conversation. And then I was in the Amazon and going down this river and wasn’t in touch with anyone for, like, 60 days. And I’ll be like, yeah, one time I was in Mexico in Cabo. I had a flat with my Nissan Sentra, so I called AAA, but I’ll get into my three, and I kind of treated this as like a group. If we were going to go out on the town, I’d have Jamie Foxx, singer, actor, comedian, amazing storyteller I’ve ever heard of. An interview just brings enthusiasm and coolness. And that’s what it’s all about. Enthusiasm coolness. He’d bring the party. You could have, like, ten people at that place and to be a party because he’s there. He’d be hilarious, too. Yeah. I feel like you need someone to kind of be a little bit self deprecating on that end. And more funny. Adam Sandler kind of the man. Everyone that talks about him and says, he’s the fucking man, likes sports, just loves his friends and makes movies with all of them. Good dude, throw them in there. And then someone. I changed this up. I had originally Ryan Reynolds, but I think him and Adam Sandler kind of overlap. So I’m going with Gronk to bring the party. Well, you need to turn up, go to eleven. If anyone’s seen this is we need to bring the party to eleven. Cronk is just the ultimate. He’s like, a golden retriever. He’s just a fucking man. Just brings the party. So it’d be great to have in the crew. Yeah. Okay. I like it. I like your crew. Grocer might be a little much for me. I like your golden retriever aspect, because if you’re like, at a club or something like that, he would just like, go out somewhere and you just be like, oh, there’s Gronk. And then we all have that friend. They’re just, like, gone. And then you guys continue your conversation, and then he comes back and he’s like, oh, look what I brought back. Like, great time. I dig it. We’ll keep it. The football I’d have Tom Brady, naturally, Patriots right here, right? Of course. And he can drink beers. The boys, he likes to have a good time. I would also have Eddie Murphy for my comic relief. I think Eddie Murphy is not only like, a super interesting dude, but also is hilarious. And I’d love to sit like, his stories are hilarious. He likes to have a good time, and I’m talking Bo finger Museum. No, but it’s on my list. Bowfinger is amazing. How funny he is in that because he plays two characters in it. Unbelievable. I’d love that. And then I kind of want Phil Mickelson there. I think to be fair, I just started picking up golf. And so I watched a lot of Phil Nicholson videos. Seems like a good guy. Plus, he’s a huge sports gambler. So I’m picturing us in Vegas, like, having a blast. Phil Nicholson betting gobs and gobs of money. On games. Those are my three off the top of my head. Okay, let’s get into it. Would you recommend this book, green Lights? Would you recommend it to our listeners out there who haven’t read it yet? 100% really fun. Listen, really good writer. Like I mentioned, which is surprising. And I definitely recommend the audio book. This is the perfect beach book laid by the pool. Lay by the beach. Throw this on the audio tape. You’re going to have a good time. You smile and drink a couple of ice cold beers on the beach. Perfect beach book. We should do a rankings of top beach books, but this would be on the list for sure. Yeah, top audiobooks, which because if you’re on the beach, nothing’s worse than looking up at the sun and trying to read. So Audiobooks on the beach are like, the best things ever. And this would definitely be in my top three outside of books that are just kind of gripping in terms of, like a memoir. This is without question, number one beach book. It’s a thing if you’re on a road trip, listen to this for sure. Awesome. Did I ever tell you the beach book recommendation? I got no go on. I walked in and this is like, I’m literally leaving to go to Martin Vineyard for a beach weekend with the boys. And I’m like, hey, do you have a beach recommendation book? I’m about to head out and they’re like, Fuck, what’s it called? The room. The room. Oh, Jesus Christ. So I grabbed that book, started reading. Holy shit. Is that not a beat book? They’re like, hey, do you want to play Spike ball? You’re like, no, I’m enraptured by this book of these people living in this basement. Yes. Oh, my God. One of the darkest books I’ve read. So. Yeah, that’s not a good beach book. Let’s put it that way. Sorry, but go ahead. No, that’s it for me. I hope everyone who hasn’t read this book, I hope we’ve at least inspired you to read it because it’s really good. And for everyone who has. Thanks for coming on this journey with us. We’ll be moving on next into the scifi fantasy realm. What do we got, Keith? Yeah. Kind of back to more of our bread and butter, at least more fiction area that we’re typically reading. We’re in the fifth season by NK Jemison has won the Hugo Award. I think all three of her books won. It so very popular. Yeah. So we’ll be getting into that cool. Excited to do it. All right. Until next time. Thank you, brother. See ya.
