Simpsons director David Silverman plays his flaming tuba for us. He built the propane-fueled "Tubatron" himself with help from pyro expert pals, and he puffs out a few bars of the Simpsons theme song. You can catch him and the flammable sousaphone in action at parades from time to time, and every year at Burning Man. (0:00-2:30)

And finally, a (cough) happy ending for the week: BB co-editor Mark Frauenfelder visited the Los Angeles Zoo and watched a zookeeper massage a grateful Tapir. We should all be as blissed-out as this odd-toed ungulate. (2:47-3:28)

-- XJ

David Silverman, director of The Simpsons, answers questions from our audience and cringes in horror when we drag an animated skeleton out of his closet -- Turbo Teen! (0:08 - 3:00) Then, we seek "slack" and internet salvation in a classic Church of the Subgenius ad from 1991, featuring music by Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO. (3:21 - end)

-- XJ

Mark talks to Mister Jalopy, a guy who scavenges the world for discarded treasures, often creating some treasures of his own. He shows us the "museum in a jar" he discovered at an LA garage sale. (@0:09-3:38)

And during a trip to Mister Jalopy's garage of delights, Eric Jon Kurland shows off his homemade 3-D movie camera made from scavenged parts, and gets into a stereoscopic camcorder duel with BBtv producer Nihar Patel. (@3:54-end).

Tired of talking hair delivering the news? The Intelligent Information Laboratory at Northwestern University has developed an avatar news broadcast. India-based investigative journalist and BBC contributor Scott Carney tells us about a violent clash between Maoists and the government.