Xeni barges in to a hotel room where the great John Hodgman is writing his next book (not on a PC, oddly). The book comes out in 2008, and will include never before known knowledge about mysterious MOLE MEN (among many other things). Then, we enjoy a cavalcade of hobos drawn by Ape Lad -- these are but a few of the 700 hobos named in Hodgman's last book, Areas of My Expertise. THAT IS ALL.

Mad professor Mark Frauenfelder shows us how to make a Curie Effect Magnetic Heat Engine from common household items. Then, Austrian art-pranksters Monochrom sing a song of love for Stanford law prof and famed copyright reform advocate Lawrence Lessig.

Xeni visits BarCamp LA and trys out the work of wearable computing designer "Robo," known to humans as Ross Bochnek. Next, sneaky use expert and garage inventor Cy Tymony swings by Xeni's house -- Xeni's elderly Sicilian neighbor falls in love with the robot Cy constructed out of trash and knicknacks from the 99 cent store.

(Special thanks to Crystal and Jason "Boogah" Cosper and all the BarCamp organizers!)

Today on Boing Boing tv, more of our exclusive preview of American Furry, a documentary film in progress. Subtitled "Life, Liberty, and the Fursuit of Happiness," this feature project from Brooklyn-based filmmaker Marianne Shaneen involves more than two years' worth of footage, and explores many aspects of the furry fandom.

UPDATE: Shaneen tells BoingBoing, "I've also got new video that I've edited up on my website."

Part one of BBtv's sneak peek at Furry is here: Link.

Next, a visit to South Park Studios. From the command center of crew member Keef Barkus comes this time-lapse video of the last 24 hours of show preparation leading up to the airing of a South Park episode. Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and the rest of the South Park team sure do move fast.

(Music in this episode: Q Burns Abstract Message, Formidable Force, T Bias, and Kokomo Arnold.)

Joshua Glenn of the Boston Globe produced a neat audio slideshow interview with Mark about the iconography in BBtv's opening animation sequence: Link.

Over at New York Magazine, Emma Pearse interviewed Xeni about what could possibly be more awesome than unicorns, and how one might create "functioning spaceships out of Popsicle sticks and rubber bands." Link.