Men In Gorilla Suits

Defend the wicket and pile up the Atlas stones -- this week, we're talking sports! Obviously, we're talking about some more obscure sports in that opening line (to Americans, anyway), but trust us: there's plenty of talk about football, baseball, and that other sporting event Americans clamor for: lumberjacking! Wait -- basketball...we mean basketball. (Even though hockey's probably mentioned most...because hockey is BEST!!!) But don't think this is a talk all about games and stats and players because...well, we probably couldn't sustain sports radio-esque chatter like that for an hour. (At least Christopher couldn't.) Instead, listen to Shawn talk about striking out at T-ball and find out what Christopher once did to get much more than a red card in a soccer game. At the same time, we chat a little bit about the sports we have actually succeeded in pulling off...sometimes to levels of actual proficiency. Shawn talks about the sport that saw many broken bones for him, while Christopher talks about the sport i

Now we are 25! If episodes were years and the podcast were a person, we'd finally be getting lower auto insurance rates. We'd have enough years of adulthood beneath us to have the confidence to do bigger things. We might still get goofy on the weekends, but we'd have a better idea of what we wanted out of life. While the podcast isn't a person, it's a good analogy: we have enough experience working together to now look forward and know what we want out of the show. We'll always be goofy, but we're more confident and ready to focus on more than simply producing weekly episodes. We know we can do that -- now it's time to make things even better! The episode isn't quite like a "looking back" episode of a sitcom, but it's all about the show: our favorite episodes and our favorite things about doing a weekly show. Our least favorite things about Men in Gorilla Suits. Things we'd change, and things we're proud of. The prevailing sentiment of this episode is just doing the things you want to do! So many times, we ta

Break out the knives and get that fire and oven going--this week, we're all about cooking! We begin by talking about our first memories of food and move on to whether or not cooking was an important thing in our households growing up. (Spoiler: it was!) We talk about family recipes passed down through generations, and then talk about the first thing we learned how to cook. But this episode isn't all about the past--we talk about what we like to cook now and who does the cooking in our households these days. Then we get a little philosophical, asking if different kinds of foods can bring people together and give us a better understanding of the world. (Spoiler: we think so!) In the middle of it all, we talk about restaurants: restaurants we've worked in, our favorite restaurants, and suggestions for some good places to eat if you ever find yourself in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. While singing the praises of restaurants, we'd be remiss to not mention our favorite guilty pleasures when it comes to going out

Number one reason you want to listen to this week's podcast? Christopher figures out how much he'd have to weigh to have Godzilla's body mass index (BMI). From there, we talk about how food and shopping has changed and ask if it's possible to eat healthy on a budget any more. Is health what we see in magazines, or is it possible to be small and strong? Really, what is healthy? What can we learn about health from other countries? From there, a bit about whether or not there's a conscious effort to keep people unhealthy for profit. (Can that even be something done by design?) Are bad health habits really that bad, or can what some deem as unhealthy actually be healthy? Holistic health management: bunch of BS or is there something to it? And finally, as a society with a large percentage of people who work while sitting, what are some of the best things a desk-bound jockey can do for better health? If you've been listening and enjoy the podcast, consider going to iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you find the show an

This week, we're all about failure! We kick off talking about our first failures in life and move on to how some people take failure so personally that they become terrified to try anything. (That's called failing at life!) We devote a bit of time to self sabotage as a ridiculous form of "defense" from the possibility of failure and why some people deal with failure better than others. For those who have a tough time with failing, we talk about how failure can lead to better things and offer some ways to not be so afraid of failing at something. What differentiates those who give up easily and those who stick with things? We talk about that...as well as devoting some time to if there are times one should give up on something. Along the way, we talk about The Cult of Fail: people who seem almost excited to get out and fail...and how that's good and bad. We close out the show by discussing our funniest failures because we believe it's important to be reminded that it's important to see humor in failure.

This week's show is all about criticism. While it leans heavily toward writing criticism, we do talk about general criticism and criticism as it pertains to the arts and jobs in general. So here we go: We begin with an important question: is criticism even helpful for writers and artists, or is it counterproductive to creating "pure" art? Along the way, we discuss how to offer criticism and take criticism that comes your way. We share some personal stories about criticism: the best and worst criticism we've received as well as some other tales of being criticized. With anyone with an Internet connection able to review someone's work online, the review has become a type of criticism. We discuss ways writers and artists can use reviews to see how people feel about what they are doing and maybe even improve their work. We close by looping back to the beginning and asking if criticism is a necessary component of art, or if great work can be created with no outside influence.

This week, we're talking about influences. Find out our earliest influences--and what/who later influenced us to write. Discover our strangest influences, and what influences changed as we got older. We take a detour and discuss creating under the influence of alcohol and drugs. It's easy to think about people and things that influence us, but we take time out to acknowledge that we all have the ability to influence others. Christopher shares a great story about somebody he influenced without ever knowing. And because not all influences are good, we talk about negative influences. Finally, we wrap up with our most recent influences. As always, we'd love to know what has influenced you over the years; leave a comment and we'll reply!

You probably didn't know this, but Shawn was once a reserve "mathlete" as well as a benchwarmer for his school's classical music team. (Those nutty Germans!) Christopher was good friends with the first kid on the block with an Apple II in his house. But that's all in the past... This week we're talking about...THE FUTURE!!! More specifically, we're talking about fiction's importance on the future. From cyberpunk to warp drives (even penises drawn on the surface of Mars), we have it covered. Along the way, we discuss stories that got the future right -- and those that got it very wrong (including the movie that made Shawn almost fashion a noose from Red Vines and hang himself in the theater.) While much of this episode is about the future as it pertains to science fiction, we also talk about predictions we got right, and what we think will happen to the world in the next 10 and 20 years. (Clearly, we are seers!) Also, our hopes for the future of fiction and for the real world of tomorrow. We'd love to hear wha

BOOOOOooOOoOoOOOOOooooOOOO!!! This week, it's all about fear! Find out what things from childhood still creep us out--and what our greatest fears are today. Listen to us talk about how we've overcome many of the fears we've faced. Learn about how anger and fear are related. We all have a phobia or two, but what happens when we give into irrational fears? We talk about how statistically, most of us are safer than ever, and yet many people we talk to have never seemed more afraid. Many of these people watch a lot of "news." We discuss how the media, in a race for ratings, benefits when it can play to our fears and keep us on edge. Fear isn't just about things that go bump in the night--the stresses of working in a time when layoffs are not uncommon leads to fear at work. We talk about how to break those fears, and most other fears you have (including how to use fear to overcome fear). Finally, sometimes we love being scared. We close this episode talking about why some scary things bother us, but yet we gravita

Ah, microfiche! We friggin' LOVE microfiche, even today (especially today)! Libraries? Wonderful things -- perfect places for...research! This week, we're talking all about research: online, in libraries, and research obtained simply by living a cool life! More specifically, we're discussing writing research. Does every story need to be researched? Shawn spins the adage, "Write what you know," on its head, making much better sense of the saying. Christopher gives in and is forced to admit that he researches much more than he thought he did. Along the way, Shawn mentions why cramming 10 pounds of poo into a 5-pound bag is not a good writing move, and Chris sings praises to Jim Lynch. We also discuss some of our specific research methods (Christopher: "ALL HAIL EVERNOTE!!!"), and it's revealed how Shawn's 47 Echo series is really all about tap dancing mimes! Whether you research for writing, school, hobbies, or other reasons, we hope this episode has something that can help you.

Ah, to live the life as a National Hockey League rover, or to entertain the cigar-rolling masses as a lector. To pump gas or serve as the director of photography on pornographic movies. To open your own Blockbuster Video store franchise or manufacture cassette tapes. These are jobs...some totally obsolete, some on their way out... This week, it's all about jobs that no longer exist: some long gone, and some we've seen die in our own time. We talk about jobs that are fading, many jobs shoved into one catch-all job, and even discuss why outsourcing may not be the evil many believe it to be. (We might not be in the majority on this one.) We discuss how the "Good ol' days," were only good for some, and why our jobs these days is to simply figure things out. Of course, Shawn works Star Trek into the discussion, and Christopher entertains what a future in which computers write novels might be like. (Smash Gerbils reference goes to Deacon McClendon.) We wrap it up by discussing how the Internet and nostalgia have br

This week we're talking about characterization -- in particular, characterization in fiction. While the episode skews a bit toward writing, what makes a good character should interest everybody. We talk about some of our favorite characters, characters that don't work so well for us, and how we go about tackling strong characters in our own writing. No matter how grounded or out there a story is, chances are, one of the things that keeps you coming back to certain stories are the characters. Find out why some characters have such a strong appeal in this episode.

This week, it's all about those little things that get under our skin: pet peeves! What's the difference between a pet peeve and a complaint? We talk about that as well as how so many people inflate pet peeves into bigger issues. Is social media part of the problem, or does it all depend on how we use things? When is a pet peeve a sign of a bigger problem, and how can pet peeves actually be good? We talk about that as well as revealing our own pet peeves. Somewhere along the way, Shawn talks about eating chalk. Seriously. That part alone is worth the listen, but even beta listeners admit -- from start to finish -- this is one of the best episodes of Men in Gorilla Suits to date! Feel free to share your pet peeves in the comments, or leave a rating or review on iTunes if you like this.

If you think you don't have time to listen to this episode of Men in Gorilla Suits...you probably need to listen to this episode of Men in Gorilla Suits. This week it's all about time management! We'll tell you how to find the right time management system...for you! We discuss how having a day job can help you find time for your creative endeavors, and we praise the smart phone as a time management tool. (But probably not in the ways many "time management gurus" would tell us to use our phones.) We chat about time management tools and systems -- including how some can take up more time than they may be worth for your needs. We share ways to identify bad uses of time, and how sometimes you just gotta suck it up and not do the things you want to do because other things take priority in your life for awhile. Hell, we even discuss the importance of allowing yourself to occasionally give in to being lazy (i.e. the Netflix Marathon). Christopher shares the big time management tip that helped him tame his to-do list

Last week we talked about the independent pursuit of creative endeavors. Before you can get there, though, you have to make something -- and that usually means dealing with some level of creativity. For many, creativity is an ominous thing, the fickle Muse that may or may not show up and shower you with inspiration. We're here to tell you that the Muse is BS and that creativity, like anything, can be attained by simply working hard. Some highlights from this week's show: Tips for people who doubt they have creative abilities. Rethinking what creativity is -- The Creative Physicist and Programmer. The power of breaks from creative pursuits. How to take breaks from the things that distract you from finding time to create. Why we're not so enamored with those labeling themselves "Creatives." (Hint: actions speak louder than...well, you know...) How to deal with those wanting to exploit your creativity. (What we really mean: those who want to exploit your willingness to actually do the work!) Some of our creativ

This week, we talk about the benefits and pitfalls of independent pursuits and the benefits and pitfalls of going the traditional route. Some sides are all or nothing: extolling independence over all, or shunning anything remotely done completely on one's own. With recent leaps in technology, though, the lines are blurred -- even people who have spent decades going the traditional route with the things that matter to them are finding success blending working with established companies and doing it themselves. In many ways, there's never been a better time to do your own thing, even though it might be harder to be seen in the crowd. We'd love to hear about (or see) the stuff you make -- feel free to share stories and links in the comments.

This week's podcast is all about the creative power that comes with being positive...and negative. This episode is about much more than just attitude's effect on productivity, though. We talk about the power of apathy as it can relate to happiness (or at least reducing stress from one's life). There's a bit about Pollyannas vs. Doomsayers, and how being extremely positive isn't always a good thing. We ask if one's attitude really is as simple as making a decision to be a certain way; also, how people use social media as a platform for their moods. Finally, the episode wraps up with a simple conclusion about life. Disclaimer: We make a very clear distinction between negativity and depression in this episode. We know that negativity and depression are not synonymous, even though they sometimes move in each others' shadows. When we speak of negativity in this episode, we are talking about learned behavior or making a choice to be a certain way -- not the clinical reasons for some people's moods beyond their cont

This week, it's all about hobbies! Are they inherent things we're coded to do, or something that came about in more recent times? We discuss how people look at hobbies at different times in life, and how they can enrich all we do. We also talk about the downside of hobbies: when we become too involved in them or try making them a career and see that we sometimes lose the joy when a hobby becomes a job. Shawn and Christopher share their childhood hobbies, current hobbies, and talk about what hobbies they may find themselves doing in the future. We want to know what hobbies you love -- please take a moment and tell us in comments.

We've established that Shawn went to school wearing a Star Trek costume. "No problem," you say, thinking he may have worn it on Halloween. But he just wore it on a normal school day because...why not? We've also established that Christopher did everything in his power to use the Force to convince the world to call him Luke. It was a Jedi mind trick that didn't work. These stories establish an early stroll into becoming fans of properties, which is what we're talking about today. This week, it's all about fandom! We're not talking about past attempts at living a geeky dream (well, not entirely); we're talking about all kinds of fandom and how it's either all silly or all okay. We make the argument that the guy in the Klingon costume is no more odd than the guy wearing his favorite sports team's jersey. We talk a little bit about Rocketeer wannabe, Curtis Hart. (You may remember Curtis from an earlier entry.) All kinds of fans -- whether deemed normal or labeled extremely weird -- are the subject. About the onl

This week, it's a full-blown episode all about writing; specifically, all about world building. What is world building? Simple: it's a writer taking time to craft believable settings for their stories, even if their stories are set in places that don't even exist. But it's more than just creating a world -- it's the rules of that world and how everything affects the characters. Along the way, we talk about what ails literary fiction, Star Trek, Barry Eisler's mistakes, and plenty of talk about the power of Dungeons and Dragons. It only took seven episodes to get two writers to actually spend an hour talking about writing! Thanks for listening.