Matt Said, Jay Said VIII

It’s Saturday. MSJS. Go.

Matt: “I thought I blocked this numer.”
Jay: “You can’t cause I’m a NINJAAAA”
Matt: “A Redneck Ninja?”
Jay: “They exist. I mean, WE exist.”
Matt: “Were you trained by Mr. Miyagi?”
Jay: “No, I just watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a bunch of times.

Matt: “Damn, Wednesday’s show was a good one!”
Jay: “Hell yeah! Even my mother thought it was really good.”
Matt: “Wow! It MUST have been good then.”
Jay: “Yeah, because she’s not one to just hand out compliments.”
Matt: “Well, no. It’s hard enough keeping your ego in check as it is.”
Jay: “I can’t help it. I’ve got a lot of game.”
Matt: “And swagger?”
Jay: “Goes without saying.”

Matt: “Want me to do the Babe of the Week on Sunday this week?”
Jay: “Sure. Got anyone in mind?”
Matt: “No.”
Jay: “Well, it’s Yom Kippur, so you should go with a Jewish girl.”
Matt: “You’re just so damn practical.”
Jay: “Well, when I think Jewish Girls, I think Natalie Portman.”
Matt: “Yeahhhhhhh .. but …”
Jay: “TO THE GOOGLE MACHINE! I’ll search for ‘Jewish celebrities’”
Matt: “Great idea! That list can’t be too long.
Jay: “How ‘bout Bar Rafaeli? She’s an Israeli Jew.”
Matt: “As Hank Jr would say “OOHHHHHH YEAHHHHHH!”
Jay: “I’m sure she’ll be honored.”
Matt: “Well, she won’t be offended at least. I mean, it’s not HER Sabbath.”

Matt: “Fucking Hank Williams Jr.”
Jay: “He’s kind of a dumb ass.”
Matt: “Yeah, and now we have to include him on the blog and show too somehow.”
Jay: “This is getting ridiculous.”
Matt: “So much stupid, so little time.”
Jay: “Why do they all have to do stupid shit at once?”
Matt: “Jay, our burden is heavy. But, we can handle it.”
Jay: “We’ll just keep on, keeping on.”

Matt: “I bet Christie will still kinda, sorta run.”
Jay: “Nah. He doesn’t want to run.”
Matt: “Well, he might allow himself to be drafted.”
Jay: “Maybe, but I think it’s over. The establishment will rally around Romney like Mormons attacking a wagon train in Mountain Meadows. Or something.”
Matt: “I don’t know.”
Jay: “I think they’re ready to start working on ‘The Big One.”
Matt: “Exactly! Christie!” 

Jay: “Okay show ideas.”
Matt: “Yom Kippur. Hank Jr. Columbus Day?”
Jay: “Right! Good call.”
Matt: “Which one.”
Jay: “All of ‘em. We’ll jump around a bit.”
Matt: “I guess we could work with that.”
Jay: “Okay then. Done.”
Matt: “Later ya Sick Fuck.”
Jay: “Later Freak.”

So, don’t forget to join us at 6:30 pm EDT TONIGHT for the “Jews, Booze and a Caribbean Cruise” episode of “I’m With Stupid!”

And, if you would like to get ready for tonight’s show by listening to our AWESOME Wednesday show where we talked Amanda Knox, Occupy Wall Street and other fascinating stuff with three truly wonderful calls. First was Hannah (A.K.A. Sweet Pea), then Lisa in Chicago called with some great insight and then we hung out with the always fun and charming Warrior Kat and talked about cops and illegals and Texas and Mexico among other things. And then at one point Kat and Jayman sand a little bit of “Working for the Weekend” by Loverboy. So check it out!!

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Book Review - The Underdogs : Mariano Azuela 6*

Image via Wikipedia Written about events during the Mexican Revolution, this tale follows the exploits of a group of villagers who band together under their local leader Demetrio Macias.  The men seemed to have joined the Revolution not out of ideals, but because a side has to be picked, and a poor working man has to be anti-Federal.

Demetrio leads through force of action, but when a Federal deserter, Luis Cervantes, arrives with his city education and, initially at least, his strong sense of ideals for the Revolution, the group find they have a spokesman who can express why they are fighting.

As the war grinds on, Demetrio's band experience some success, but along the way they become corrupted by greed and revenge.  Petty killings occur on the flimsiest of pretexts, and robbery and looting become the order of the day.  Eventually they come to be feared and hated by the peasentry in turn as the federal soldiers who burn Demetrio's home were hated by them. Cervantes uses the power of his speech to set Demetrio up as a great general, with Cervantes rising in power at his side.  The city man though can see which way the wind blows, and as the Revolution begins to turn on those people it was meant to serve, he flees the fighting with his war loot and sets himself up in business.

When the gang eventually return home they can find no peace.  Demetrio is asked why he keeps on fighting, but after two years the fighting has come to define his life and he can see no other purpose for it.

The Underdogs chronicles the failures of the Mexican Revolution as it turns on the very people it was meant to serve.  In its unflinching treatment of the main characters and Azuela's depiction of men changed by war and greed, it paints a picture which has become more familiar to us in more recent war books and films, particularly those concerning the American involvement in Vietnam.

An interesting read that introduced to me a period of history I knew nothing about, but which makes clear the eternal pointlessness and brutalising nature of war.