Completely Conspicuous 605: Playing the Role

This week, I'm joined by guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the resurgence of role-playing games. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded in Salem, Mass.

- Last time we recorded for the show was two years ago

- Time is passing quickly

- Jay: Going into the office once a week now

- Matt: It was an extrovert's world for a long time

- Matt's still writing YA books

- Matt has been running Dungeons & Dragons games since pandemic started

- Unprepared for the number of people who wanted to jump in

- Matt: Didn't have enough friends to play in high school

- Was going to start doing it for corporate retreats when COVID hit

- A legal dispute over licensing with Hasbro

- Jay: Was a total comics nerd in high school

- D&D made a comeback thanks to Stranger Things

- A D&D movie is coming out with Chris Pine

- Tom Hanks starred in Mazes & Monsters, a "Satanic panic" movie about D&D

- Stopped buying comics when there were bills to pay

- Matt: Plenty of non-D&D role-playing games are popular

- Played Vampire: The Masquerade in the '90s

- Matt does a podcast called The Ravenfolly Institute that follows D&D campaigns as they happen

- Matt's super-productive in his spare time

- Working on an "adult" gritty fantasy book

- Book industry is in "dire need of reform"

- The first of Matt's books is getting an audiobook

- Struggling to get through Dune (the book)

- Matt's learning how to play a Dune role-playing game

- Listens to a lot of RPG podcasts; helps you learn the game

- D&D has had peaks and valleys of popularity since the mid-70s

- On its 5th edition; went back to older style but streamlined

- The stigma of being a nerd is gone now

- Board games in general have become popular again

- You get what you put into playing RPGs

- A lot of mystery-themed games

- Matt: Storytelling is storytelling, whether it's books or RPGs or podcasts

- Matt's the D&Dealer

- Gotta have the "math rocks"

 - Also does sister podcast Characters & Class

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 388: Your Attention, Please

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the art of hype. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3
- Patreon is a crowdfunding option
- The patronage model
- Kickstarter, Indie GoGo efforts are commonplace
- Matt loves board games
- Contributing to podcasts and radio shows
- Matt's research on dino romance novels
- A Gronk to Remember was a big-selling e-book
- Matt: "People are hot for were-critters"
- Readers like series and formulas
- John Irving always writes the last line first
- Matt: Want to interact with more people to hype books
- The problem with contests
- The vagaries of web traffic
- Nine years, man

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 387: The Hype Machine

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the art of hype. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3
- Avoiding overhype
- Getting RTs from celebrities
- Sometimes it feels like there's no benefit to Internet hype
- Getting bummed out to write sad scenes
- Cosplayers are having a moment
- Day jobs are a must, unfortunately
- Tagging somebody famous can work from time to time
- YouTube "stars"
- Spider-man with no butt
- To be continued


Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 386: Hustle n' Hype

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the art of hype and celebrate CompCon's 9th anniversary. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Pre-order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3
- When your medical professional is younger than you
- It's all about the hype
- Matt was at Boston ComiCon last weekend
- How to effectively hype your stuff online
- Perfecting the pitch
- Geeking out like a fanboy
- Books sell better when you meet people face to face
- One of a handful of authors
- Writing is fun, editing sucks
- Gotta hustle to sell books
- To hype without hyping
- Matt live-tweets superhero shows
- Making friends with people you've never met
- Women 18-40 are Matt's target audience
- Ensemble cast
- Harley the cat wants in
- To be continued


Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 377: Disposable Heroes

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss hero worship. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Check out Matt's book, The Indestructibles: Breakout
- Matt founded Home For Wayward Geeks to rant about superheroes
- The problem with binge watching TV
- Superhero movies and TV shows are everywhere now
- Marvel's got a new movie coming out every few months
- Simon Pegg bites the hand that feeds him
- Comics are still big business, but the real money is in movies and merch
- Do we need superheroes?
- Matt: They're not going away until things get better in the real world
- We love to tear our heroes down
- Nobody likes a winner
- Robert Downey Jr. was a mess before he became Iron Man
- The Hugo Awards controversy
- People get all worked up over casting in comic book movies
- Matt doesn't get aniime
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 342: Your Famous Friends

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:
- Celebrity deaths
- Jay: Robin Williams' death hit me hard
- We don't have royalty so celebs fill that role
- Getting rich doesn't necessarily equal happiness
- Americans are surprisingly fascinated by the British royal family
- Dealing with fans could get annoying after a while
- Matt was at Boston ComiCon hyping his book
- Check out his YA superhero novel The Indestructibles
- Saw some minor celebs like Jason Momoa and John Barrowman
- What do you say to an actor or musician you admire?
- Matt met Susan Sarandon while working at Museum of Science
- Jay: Met my favorite hockey player and I was a dork
- Many movies filmed around here and people flock to watch
- People will do anything to get onscreen
- Worked with a guy who was on a short-lived reality show
- Matt went to college with actor Charlie Day
- The lameness of celeb interviews during sports telecasts
- To be continued

Music:
The Wytches - Digsaw
Aan - Spiritual Provisions
Little Racer - Dancing

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Wytches song is on the album Annabel Dream Reader on Partisan Records. Download the song for free from KEXP.
The Aan song is on the album Amor Ad Nauseum on Party Damage Records. Download the song for free from KEXP.
The Little Racer song is on the EP Modern Accent on PaperCup Music. Download the song for free from KEXP.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 328: Shooting from the Hip

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss hipsters. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Matt recently became a published author
- Check out his YA superhero novel The Indestructibles
- Matt: The definition of cool is not trying too hard
- Shopping is simple if you don't care about trends
- WTF is up with skinny jeans?
- Changing office dress codes
- Matt's office phobia
- Hippies turned into yuppies
- Aging well
- Bronies are hipsters who have gone too far
- The life cycle of a hipster
- Matt lived in Hipster Ground Zero for a while
- Saw early signs of the hipster look a decade ago
- The seamy underside of politics
- You need a lack of self-awareness to run for office
- Some employers seem to want mindless worker drones
- Conclusion: We're not hipsters

Music:
Twin Peaks - Flavor
Feral Jenny - Tearless Creep
Ancient Babes - What Mean Expendable?

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Twin Peaks song is on the album Sunken. Download the album for free from Noisetrade.
The Feral Jenny song is on the EP Sylvia Songs. Download the EP for free from Bandcamp.
The Ancient Babes song is available for free download on Soundcloud.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 327: Artificial Hip

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the scourge of hipsterism. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Matt recently became a published author
- Check out his YA superhero novel The Indestructibles
- Vin Diesel, businessman
- The brilliance of True Detective
- Hipsters: Is there a cutoff age?
- '90s hipsters were into the grunge look
- The mysterious allure of Mumford and Sons
- Hipsters love shitty beer
- Going to an effort to not look attractive
- Of beards and men
- Tattoos are trendy
- The Beatles set the trends of their day
- Where does it go from here?
- For a few years in the late '90s, it was nu metal and baggy pants
- We're all about the low-maintenance wardrobe
- Hair today, gone tomorrow
- To be continued

Music:
Bob Mould - Hey Mr. Grey
The Hold Steady - Spinners
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - She's On It/Jack the Ripper (live)

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Bob Mould song is on the forthcoming album Beauty & Ruin on Merge Records. Download the song for free from KEXP.
The Hold Steady song is on the album Teeth Dreams on Washington Square/Razor and Tie. Download the song for free from KEXP.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion song is available for free download on Bandcamp.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.