Today in Boing Boing Video: David Tennant and Russell T. Davies of Doctor Who, interviewed by BB guest host Richard Metzger of Dangerous Minds. Richard is a *very* knowledgeable Doctor Who trufan, so the resulting conversation -- which we're presenting here in extended 20-minute form -- is deep and comprehensive, with lots for hardcore Doctor Who junkies to love. Recently, both Russell and David left the show, and this amounts to the definitive "exit interview." Let the fangasms commence.
Metzger says,
I'm one of those guys who downloads Doctor Who and Torchwood
within seconds of them hitting the torrent trackers. Just a few hours after they air in the UK, I'm watching them in Los Angeles. My wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year and I said "A new Doctor Who episode, but I'm getting that already." That's how much I love the show (She's a fan too, but drew the line at me using the TARDIS landing for my ring tone).
So it was great fun for me to meet Russell and David. A real treat. They're both friendly, charismatic guys who who were really easy to interview. They clearly enjoy each others company and there was a nice, loose banter between them that I think will be fun for the fans to watch here. They've got their double act down pat, let's just say.
This interview took place at an interesting moment in time for both men as they've only just left behind their respective starring roles in one of the biggest television successes in the world today. As difficult as that may sound, you can only imagine how much pressure is off them after four years of practically non-stop work. I think it shows in this interview, as they're both very relaxed and jovial. David had just come from Comic Con where he was treated with fan adulation bordering on Beatlemania and Russell is starting a new phase of his life here in Los Angeles.
Their show has been aptly described as "a Sid and Marty Krofft production engineered by Frank Zappa [with] fantastic plots, genre parody, warped songcraft and quick-witted off-road conversations." Barratt and Fielding crafted a weird, playful universe with odd characters -- a talking gorilla, a stoned shaman, a tentacled and disembodied hot pink head -- that quickly converts viewers into obsessed fans.
The Boosh gang were in the states to promote the US release of a three-season DVD set, also available on iTunes. They drew crazed costumed throngs of fans at Comic-Con and signing appearances, and played to packed houses in New York and Los Angeles. The US television network Adult Swim recently begain airing episodes.
In this interview, Noel and Julian speak about their crazed trufans (who craft outlandish, wonderfully nerdy costumes), why reviewers always think hallucinogenic drugs are involved in the show's creation -- and the guys kick things off with a Boing Boing crimp. What's a crimp? Watch and enjoy.
Founders of The Pirate Bay have made a deal to sell off "the world's largest BitTorrent tracker" to a Swedish gaming company for about $7.8 million.
More than 20 million visitors use the site each month. This April, TPB's three founders and a representative of their ISP were sentenced to a year in prison and damages of about $4 million over allegations of copyright violation.
A week before the news was announced, I interviewed Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde at the Open Video Conference in New York City, about that lawsuit, and about their plans for the future. He mentioned that "huge, huge news" was coming up, but refused to disclose the news at that time. An edited version of our conversation above, including Peter's explanation of why he believes filesharing and anonymity are good for democracy, is above.
Sponsor shout-out: This week's Boing Boing Video episodes are brought to you in part byWEPC.com, in partnership withIntelandAsus.WePC.comis a site where users come together to "share ideas, images and inspiration about the ideal PC." Participants' designs, feature ideas and community feedback will be evaluated by ASUS and "will influence the blueprint for an actual notebook PC built by ASUS with Intel inside."
Ari Kuschnir, Producer and co-founder of m ss ng peces, on the shoot:
Shhhhh is such an intense, infectious beat that -- we wanted the video to complement the arc of the track. I've been a big fan of HESS since 2006, and we've collaborated on a number of projects. Knowing that the single and album were his official US debut, we wanted to show HESS running through NYC and training to earn his 'spot' in the US charts.
We chose to shoot at 59.97 frames per second on the Panasonic HPX-170 to give it a crisp 'video' look. The Bodymount (by Doggicam) we attached to HESS for a number of scenes was brought in to match the energy and tempo of Shhhh.
More from director and m ss ng peces co-founder Scott Thrift:
The first time i heard Shhhhhh I was experiementing with a resistance work out using large rubber bands. I imagined HESS using the same workout, training his arms to be a great drummer. The music video format is a lot of fun to play with. Right now, we're putting the finishing touches on our next music video for DFA Records' outstanding new band Free Energy.
You really gotta watch it in HD -- select the higher-quality option in the embed above, or try the MP4 download. The visual progression of the video got stuck in my head as much as the catchy, poppy, nerdy tune. I really love this piece.
Boing Boing Video is proud to present the world-premiere of a new video with David Byrne from the forthcoming music documentary N.A.S.A. (Myspace Link), with art by Marcel Dzama and animation by Syd Garon. The track is "The People Tree," and also features the musical stylings of Chali 2na, Gift Of Gab & Z-Trip. We've been watching this one take shape, musically and visually, for months, and I'm so excited to be blogging this today.
Since I wrote a tune and some words for Mr Clean's track various layers of meaning have been added- not the least of which is Marcel's animated video. Having first seen his work at a show by the Royal Art Lodge collective I wondered if there might be something in the water up there in Winnipeg. Here is the voice of God speaking through an old Oak tree- which seems perfectly right...and it complements the song perfectly, as do the ghosty spermy spirits at one point. anyway, I'm flattered and thrilled that this all happened- I never would have dreamed it, but now I do
And Syd Garon, who animated and directed this beautiful gem of a video, says:
Lance Accord had an old roll of film he left out in the sun for 5 years, he shot the film for us then we aged it pretty good as per Marcel's request. I dragged it up and down the street several times, walked all over it and then let the cat bite it for while. Then we took it to a transfer house called New Hat in Santa Monica. They have a million dollar film transfer machine that had some awesome technology that made most of the scratches disappear. Doh! So we took it back into the parking lot, drove a car over it, threw some water on it and spliced it up a bit. The transfer guy cut his million dollar color correcting finger in the process and like trooper he poured the blood on the film
The debut album by N.A.S.A., "The Spirit of Apollo" was released today as well. The N.A.S.A. film project is one arm of the album, which has many different components.
">1 watt ( About what is required to keep a compact fluorescent burning for just 1 hour a day),
I bet you intend to say ten watts, and might want to correct the typo. Alternatively, you might let me know who sells those 1 watt compact fluorescents...."
"Actually I was thinking it sounded like L. L. Zamenhof, the developer of Esperanto. He grew up speaking four different languages in his native Bialystok, then part of the Russian Empire: Hebrew in the synagogue, Yiddish to family and friends, Polish in the streets and markets, and Russian when dealing with the government (his father was a minor functionary in the Imperial bureaucracy). The linguistic diversity of Bialystok and his observation of the linguistic hurdles people often had to clear led him to co..."
"Recent use of eminent domain for private development has often come about under the guise of "public-private partnership," one of the buzz terms used by the "small government" types who began to have increasing influence over policy starting in the '80s.
It's funny to see how robust these same people's stated concern for property rights remains in the face of corporate money...."
"Judging by what got leaked during the MK-ULTRA trials about not only the project's ideas for how to construct truth drugs but also their methods of testing the efficacy of said drugs, it isn't surprising that no real progress was made. About the best they managed in terms of what is out in the open is injecting a barbituate into one arm and then an amphetamine into the other (rocketing the subject into a babbling fit, during which they might say something vaguely useful)...."
"I've just invested in an induction hob a new frontier for me
there are remarkable value gained in how I boil water
let alone how and what type of food I prepare
for example it takes 50% less time now to cook rice
peter..."
within seconds of them hitting the torrent trackers. Just a few hours after they air in the UK, I'm watching them in Los Angeles. My wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year and I said "A new Doctor Who episode, but I'm getting that already." That's how much I love the show (She's a fan too, but drew the line at me using the TARDIS landing for my ring tone).
, also 
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