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.

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 only thing we don't get into is what's better: Star Trek or Star Wars.

We know better than that!

Warning: For those who listen to the podcast while driving...there's a section in the podcast (when we talk about Jodi Foster) that gets very loud, very fast. It's an accident Shawn had -- not a wreck or something about to hit you in traffic!

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.

In last week's podcast, we ended up chatting quite a bit about copyright. Somewhere along the way, we mentioned it would be a good topic for a future episode.

The future is now!

This week, it's all about copyright, trademarks, and patents. Do they help the little guy as intended, or have they now become a method of coercion used by large corporations? In a world where rulings against people downloading a handful of music files illegally amount to greater penalties than a negligent doctor killing a family member, it definitely seems like corporations have the upper hand. But is that truly the case? What would a world without copyright, trademarks, or patents look like? And how do Creative Commons licenses factor into all this? Oh yeah, and we talk about piracy. Quite a bit.

It's a controversial topic, and we look forward to hearing what you think in the comments!

Note: Yes, Christopher knows he calls Disney's Steamboat Willie "Boxcar Willie." Twice! That's because he's never more than 7 minutes away from having hobos on his mind...

Remember when there were only three TV networks (no cable) and not as many spots on the radio as there are now? Remember when bookstores were smaller, and underground bands were truly underground? All that changed with the Internet.

Today we're talking about the democratization of content. What does that mean? Well...this podcast is all about the good, the bad, and many things in between that come with being able to do it yourself in ways we never dreamed of when Evel Knieval was falling into the Snake River and one of the bigger local syndicated TV shows was in the hands of a clown named Bozo!

The gatekeepers are gone; today -- whether what you do is great or...not so great -- you can get it out there and at least have a shot. And it's not just traditional entertainment that's available. Wanna see a group of guys make a living making 20,000+ calorie gut-busting culinary nightmares? It's out there right alongside the angry guy who sits at his dining room table in the dark unboxing electronics and talking about them. There are also people making their own entertainment empires with reasonably-priced gear many of us can afford.

So have a seat and listen to two people who never dreamed of a day like this talk about the ups and downs of a world where everybody has a shot -- and not even Jamie Farr's Gong Show mallet can stop the madness!

A quick note: This episode is an hour and a half long. Yep, it ran much longer than intended. We considered breaking it up into two podcasts but figured, "Just run with it." And in a way, that's the very thing we're talking about. There is still so much content forced into an allotted time or space, but now there are options to occasionally run longer than normal if necessary. We promise not to make long shows a habit.

A quick note...Part II: Check back tomorrow for a big list of links to many of the things discussed during this episode...and maybe even a bit more!

This week, we engage with our synergistic dynamic by eating our own dogfood in the audio-podding arena to leverage some low-hanging fruit in order to fashion a new paradigm to bring convergence to multi-platform ideas and solution all that ails corporate speak. In simpler terms: we're talking about clear communication and the abuse of buzzwords. Along the way, we talk quite a bit about office attitudes in general -- going as far as revealing secrets that might allow you to work less, but appear to be doing more. But this episode is mostly about the way people talk -- and why we'd do well to consider direct communication, instead of talking above the bar in an effort to further our brand-attitude as an outlying linguistic ninja thinking outside the box where the rubber meets the road, but really...just not caring about the message.

This week, we're all about conspiracy theories. Or...are we?!

Why did we choose conspiracy theories for episode #3? Because aliens.

Okay, enough of that...

Join us as we talk about the strange things people believe and how we all have a little conspiracy theorist in us. Listen to Christopher talk about the time he picked up Nano-Jesus in a parking lot and attempted to drive him to his ultimate destiny in North Texas. Shawn talks about his strange trip to Area 51...well, as close as one can get to Area 51 without bad things happening. We also talk about living in Dallas, where people still debate about who really killed Kennedy. Somewhere along the way, we even talk about how beneficial conspiracy theories can be to one's writing. It's the podcast the government doesn't want you to hear! (Not really, but that sounds better than, "It's an hour of conspiracy madness!")

First, thank you to everybody who listened to the first episode of Men in Gorilla Suits last week! Really loved the comments, too. There's always time to comment on last week's episode before commenting on this week's.

Speaking of this week...today we're talking about building one's own reality. No, not like Dr. Manhattan in the Watchman -- this week it's all about creating spaces that suit your personality and finding spaces while out and about where you can do your own thing. And realities aren't just physical space anymore; we now have the ability to create virtual realities -- we talk about that for a bit...as well as talk about how people create realities with role playing games and video games. All that's rounded out with talk about fitness hacks, meditation, and lucid dreaming. There's really no excuse to not have fun with the real world!

Hope you enjoy this week's chat and let us know in comments. Come back next week when it's all about...Conspiracy Theories!

Learn the secret origins of hosts Shawn Kupfer and Christopher Gronlund...when the geek bug bit and what was to blame for the lifetime of geekery that followed. Find out what Shawn almost did in a space suit and what name Christopher insisted even teachers call him after he saw <em>Star Wars</em>. But it's not all about us -- it's as much a discussion about how it's become acceptable for adults to embrace their inner nerd as it is about the nerdy things that have become life-long obsessions for so many.