In honor of this episode, when Shawn went to Christopher's place to record, the gate at the apartment complex where Christopher lives was closed.

Shawn could not get in... (The horror!!!)

He faced...a boundary...that lasted all of a moment when another vehicle came in, opened the gate, and Shawn followed them in...where he then parked in Christopher's spot under a carport.

That spot belongs to Christopher and his wife. Anyone not supposed to be parking there can be towed at their command...although Christopher and his wife have never exerted that power.

Boundaries are strange things. Some people require a 10-foot invisible bubble of personal space, while others are fine packed together tightly with strangers. Some people hide who they are deep down inside, while others are open to the point of some finding those people uncomfortable. (If you listen to this podcast, we're guessing you're fine with open people because we will talk about anything...even devoting an hour, once, to talking about poo.) Some people think it's money well spent to build a wall between America and Mexico, while others (i.e. not racist douchenozzles) can think of a bazillion better uses for that much money.

This week, we're all about boundaries...

We begin by talking about the first boundary in life we each remember, and then...we drop a [philosophy] bomb on y'all by talking about what seems more limiting to us: physical or mental boundaries. (While Christopher often writes these show notes in third person, he has never used "y'all" in an entry. That he knows of. After almost 125 episodes -- and some aging -- it all gets hazy...)

Personal space. Barring those with dragon breath, we discuss whether or not we have problems with people getting all up in our personal space. Next, we leap to how important boundaries are in our lives...and also: how important national boundaries are to us. (i.e. how utterly fucking stupid is the proposed wall with Mexico? Which probably gives away our answer...and might stir up the bile of some neo-cons, which -- let's be honest -- is not difficult at all. Shit, they are really more sensitive and easily offended as extreme liberals...which is really saying something. But we [Christopher] digress...)

Then we get all techie...and talk about digital rights management, software keycodes, and boundaries like that. Then...we talk not only about boundaries we are comfortable breaking, but we also share our favorite trespassing stories (where you learn that Shawn was a good boy in that regard, and Christopher really was a little shit-monkey! Like a bonafide bolt-cutter trespasser...)

Find out what we feel is the worst breach of a boundary, and then find out what boundary we would eradicate from the world if we had the power. (Another bit leaning more toward the philosophical, rather than some stupid, physical thing in the world.)

But let's pretend we're in Colorado and totally toasty and talking about space and time...which is funny, 'cause even if a life like this were legal, neither Christopher or Shawn would partake in the herb...even though we are all for legalization.

Anyway...assuming we colonize other planets, how will boundaries factor in to human development in space?

And then we close it out with this question: as we move forward as a species, do you think boundaries will become more or less important...or the same as it ever was? (Same as it ever was... Same as it ever was...)

ANYWAY...feel free to break down that boundary of the Internet and have your say in the comments. And, as always, thanks for taking time out of all you could have done with this hour of your life and listening to us instead of myriad other things. We really do appreciate it.

As you read this sentence, you're getting older. Now you're even older than when you started reading this entry. You can step away and turn your head, hoping to not be reminded that you are aging, but time marches on.

Forward...

Always...

This week, we're talking about aging!

We begin by talking about the first time we realized that childhood was temporary -- that one day we would become adults. But aging is not all bad...we discuss the first time we were aware of our bodies aging in positive ways. After that, though, we talk about some negative things we're felt or experienced as we've aged. We also talk about age-related problems we've noticed...and age-related problems that scare us.

Hundreds of years ago, we'd probably be dead by now. We devote some time to the positive and negative effects of longer lifespans in modern times -- and then talk about how old we want to live to be.

We also chat about some benefits of getting older and whether we consider ourselves old, middle aged, young, or something else entirely.

We wrap up this episode on the front lawn (chasing off those damn kids!) to discuss whether or not we are, indeed, getting "too old for this shit!"

As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts about aging in the comments.

Last week, friend of the Gorillamen, Rick Coste, had his site for the Evolution Talk podcast hacked. Rick half-joked that an upcoming episode of Men in Gorilla Suits should be about hacking and hackers, so...here it is!

We begin the episode by talking about the first instance of hacking -- whether real or fictional -- that we remember seeing. After that, it's confession time: find out if we've ever hacked anything (or known people who have).

There's a lot behind hackers and the reasons they do what they do. We take some time to discuss what makes someone become a hacker, and then devote time to chatting about why even people who despise hackers are often fascinated by stories about hacking things. Next, we ask if there's ever a good reason to hack something.

"Hack" has become a word applied to many other things. Find out what we think about lifehacking and other so-called types of hacks.

We've talked about technology at length before, and we return to tech talk for a moment when we talk about whether or not we're concerned about hacking as we begin creating computer-controlled implants, like some pacemakers. How secure is a controlled heartbeat in the big city? Keeping in the spirit of things very big to people that can be hacked, we know voting machines can be hacked -- we talk about whether or not we think we'll see a major election stolen from hacking...or if it's happened already.

Groups like Anonymous are sometimes praised and often scorned for their efforts. Find out where we stand on groups like that. Also find out if we've ever been hacked or had personal data compromised.

With so much national infrastructure relying on technology, how has hacking become a weapon for some nations? (Find out how we feel about this.)

There's no denying that technology will only get more complex, and that people will figure out ways to compromise the integrity of systems and items. Find out if we think we'll ever stop hackers.

As always, we'd love to know how you feel about anything from this week's episode on the comments section.

Oh, cults...you all so wacky! With your indoctrinating and control and all those other culty things. Which makes one wonder...where is the line drawn when it comes to cults?

With Josh Duggar in the news, recently , one must even question if even Christianity can have cultish sects. (Seen people defending him and molestation -- gah, people...what the fuck is wrong with you?! And should you be like, "It's liberals picking on conservatives!" instead of, "Holy shit, that's wrong," -- at least Christopher (and he's guessing, Shawn) would like to go on record as saying Roman Polanski (and those who'd work with him -- [probably] mostly liberals), [probably] Woody Allen, Jimmy Page, and a whole lotta other famous people are also vile and cannot be defended, so stop trying to defend a child molester, neo-cons! And also: we don't give atheists a free ride in this episode, so chill if you think we're picking on Christians. People in clusters can be the most awesome thing on the planet...and the scariest!)

The point: cults are probably much more common than many of us like to consider. So...it seemed a worthy topic for the week.

We begin by talking about the first time we ever heard of a cult, and then move on to why humans seem so fascinated by cults. After that, we discuss the most disturbing cult story we remember hearing or seeing. But it's not all doomsday and craziness -- we also talk about the silliest cults we've heard about.

But it's mostly doomsday and craziness because cults are dangerous things. We chat about the most dangerous cults we know of, and then talk about groups that aren't technically cults, but that we'd consider very cult-like. (If not full-blown cults in their own rights.)

The big question is what makes someone join a cult? We talk about that before talking about if we've ever known anyone who's actually been in a cult.

Is there a cult either of us even partially kind of agree with? And if we had to join a cult, find out which one we'd join.

We close out this episode talking about what kind of cult we'd start (what we'd call it, what the basic tenets would be...all kinds of nifty things like that) if we had to form a cult of our own devising.

If you're so inclined, join the Cult of a Divine Gorilla Suit by leaving a comment about this episode. We promise a ride on a comet, or something as equally far-fetched. (Although humans have landed a spacecraft on a comet, so maybe one day we can all don Nike space boots and one-up the Heaven's Gate cult with a groovy comet ride that doesn't kill us. Unless, you know...space mishap!)

The problem with an audio podcast is you can't lay your mortal eyes on just how damn good looking we are! That might be to our advantage; we're such stunners that you all would do nothing but think about us all the time if you had to actually watch us speak. Really, just letting you hear our golden voices is a gift you should cherish.

Okay, so we're average looking guys with average voices, but for some people, the self-love-fest is in constant effect! From Narcissus admiring his reflection in a pool of water to Kim Kardashian releasing a book of carefully composed selfies, narcissists are around us all. It's a fascinating topic, so...we of course decided to make it the topic of this week's episode.

We begin by talking about when we first became aware of narcissism -- and quickly move on to what causes some people to become narcissists. After that, we discuss whether of not we consider ourselves narcissistic...and if others might.

Most of us at least have one feature or thing about ourselves that we love. We talk about the closest we lean toward narcissism before talking about why some are so quick to label others narcissists.

There's no denying that social media can feed into a narcissistic routine. We discuss how social media has affected narcissism and even devote some time to discussing the rise of the selfie.

If you've ever been around a truly narcissistic person, you know it can be tough dealing with the constant self-love-fest. We talk about the hardest aspect of narcissism to deal with, and then devote some time to chatting about the most narcissistic person we know.

Narcissists can make great characters. We talk about our favorite narcissists from film, television, or literature for a bit. After that, we discuss if there are any benefits to being a narcissist.

We wrap up this week's episode pondering this: will there always be narcissism in the world?

If you can tear yourself free from the looking glass long enough, we'd love to hear your thoughts about this week's episode in the comments below.

What do you think of when you hear the word discipline? Here at Men in Gorilla Suits, we hope it makes you think of mental and physical focus -- not spankings and other forms of control. While that would make for an interesting show (and possibly a sad one, evoking memories from Christopher about a messed-up woman he once worked with who seriously once said, "I miss Daddy and the days when he brought out the brush or belt..."), this week, we're talking about the kind of discipline that drives people to do bigger things.

We begin by discussing what we think of when we hear the word discipline. After that, we talk about how old we were when the concept of mental or physical discipline was introduced to us...and which kind of discipline we first experienced.

If you've ever wondered what the hardest things we've trained our minds to do, we talk about that -- and then move on to the hardest things we've ever trained our bodies to do. Next, we talk about the areas in our lives where we are most disciplined...and the least disciplined.

Find out how we feel we compare to the average person when it comes to being disciplined (hint: Christopher will have this episode online before he begins his work day (with time to spare), and we've never missed a week of Men in Gorilla Suits in 119 weeks so far); and then find out who are the most disciplined people we know.

We wrap up this week's show by talking about the one thing we wish we had trained ourselves to do and then discuss if discipline is going away or still in abundance in modern society.

As always, free to chime in with your thoughts about discipline in the comments below.

Odds are, if you've looked at Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media platform in the past week, you've seen a quote of some kind. People seem to love quotes over pretty photos even more than they once loved books containing quotes before the Internet was really much of a thing. There was a time when it was hard to not see a motivational quote on a middle manager's wall meant to inspire all those who entered, no matter the reason. Some people even quote themselves.

So...we decided to do an episode about quotes.
- Christopher and Shawn

We begin with the first quote we remember reading or seeing, and then talk about whether or not we're fans of quotes.

Most quotes are attributed to famous people, but must that always be the case? And speaking of managers with the dreaded Successories motivational poster in a frame on the wall, how does business speak differ from quotes...if they even differ at all?

No matter where you stand on the quote fandom spectrum, at some point, quotes can become little more than platitudes. We discuss where that point occurs before discussing the worst platitude we've experienced or seen. We take it even further and discuss whether or not motivational quotes can be damaging.

After that, we talk about social media's affect on the popularity of quotes; then: are people who dislike motivational quotes inherently negative people? And...who decides that a quote is worthy of sticking around?

We close out this week's show with the funniest quotes we've ever heard and our all-time favorite quotes.

Feel free to quote yourself and reply about this episode in the comments below.

Respect means different things to people. For some, it is something to be demanded; others respect everyone until they are given reasons not to. Some people respect others so much that they have a hard time respecting themselves, while megalomaniacs often respect only the person they see in the mirror. It's a fascinating thing, respect -- so much so that it's the topic for this week's episode.

We begin talking about when we first became aware of this thing called respect. After that, we discuss what people need to do to earn our respect...if anything at all.

Next, we dedicate a bit of time to talking about whether or not we have self-respect before talking about how important respect is to a functioning society.

If you've ever wondered what we most respect about ourselves, we cover that...and then move on to why we think so many people have a hard time respecting themselves.

Find out if we've ever found ourselves in situations of conflicting respect before we get all sappy and share what we respect most about each other.

If there's one truth in the world, it's that "kids these days" have no respect...or is that something unfairly put upon them by disrespectful older people?

Find out who we've respected most -- and least -- in our lives before we wrap it all up by asking if respect for those around us is on the decline, the rise, or the same as it's always been.

Show some respect (or even disrespect) in the comments below.

The 5 1/4" floppy disk. Holding just over 1 megabyte of information, they were the proverbial shit. Until 3.5" floppies became all the rage! Somewhere in a closet, Christopher has an old tape drive...and even better: a Zip Drive.

Yes, there was a time when you could hold 100 megabytes of information on single disk!

Of course, all those storage methods are now obsolete. We can now access well over 100 gigabytes on a micro SD card that's a choking hazard to a two-year-old kid. (The past was such a safe place...never had to worry about a child choking on a copy of Zork!)

This week, we talk all about obsolete things. We really had a great time with this episode!

We begin by talking about the first thing we owned that ever went obsolete. After that, we jump to things that were around when we were younger -- that doesn't exist anymore...but we wish did.

Consumer products come and go (and a few lucky ones stick around a long time). We discuss our favorite failed consumer products, as well as those we wish succeeded...and those we were glad to see become obsolete and go away. Also: we talk about the consumer product we wish had failed, but still lingers on.

But it's not just things that become obsolete over time. We talk about places we went to when we were younger that no longer exist. After that, we talk about people you don't see anymore -- and the type of person we wish would fade away.

There are more things made today than any other time in history. We discuss whether new things have a shorter life span today, or if it's still about the same as it's always been. After that, we talk about the "next big thing" we were surprised to see fail.

Things are becoming obsolete right now. We talk about recent memories of things fading into obscurity and wrap up this episode discussing the next things to vanish from our lives.

There might be a day when comment sections on blogs are obsolete, but as of today, they are still a thing. We'd love to hear your thoughts about obsolete things in the comments below.

Binge-watch.

A few years ago, it meant nothing. Now, for many, it's a way of life: streaming television shows -- episode after episode. Last weekend, by lunch time, Christopher had watched all 13 episodes of Netflix's Daredevil. Shawn has watched time pass by in episodes of House of Cards. We both go back to different Star Trek series.

Technology has changed the way people watch television, and with that, television itself has changed...and even changed us. Ongoing storylines hook people, bringing them back and keeping them talking about TV more than ever. That's what we're talking about this week.

We begin by talking about the first series television shows we remember seeing, and then we jump to the biggest draw of ongoing storylines. After that, we talk about what kinds of stories seem more suited for series TV than others.

Sometimes, shows move along great and then...fall apart. We talk about some of the problems series shows can face, and then we talk not only about our all-time favorite (and current favorite) series shows, but why we like them so much. After that, we discuss how cable TV and Netflix/Amazon have changed series television.

Salman Rushdie has praised series TV. Other big writers are just as hooked. Some of these writers have stated that if they were starting out writing now, they've go straight to series television. We talk about how series television has affected novels, and then talk about the effect series TV has had on other media.

Being the geeks that we are, we devote some time to talking about things we'd love to see turned into ongoing television shows -- and then we talk about things we've written that we'd like to see as a series. (We even share loglines and the dreaded "It's Weekend at Bernies meets On Golden Pond" mash-up line we'd use to describe our show.)

We close out the episode talking about the future of series television...and how we'll view shows in the coming years.

As always, feel free to share your feelings about this week's topic in the comments below...