Craig Ferguson remembers his father

If you haven't been watching The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, you've been missing out. And if you didn't watch it last night, you missed out on something extraordinary.

Last night, Craig replaced his monologue with a tribute to his father Robert Ferguson, who died of cancer over the weekend at age 75. It was one of the most heartfelt, eloquent, courageous, and deeply moving moments of television I've ever seen. In the finest Scottish storytelling tradition he shared richly textured memories of his father with equal parts humor and heart - and in those fifteen mesmerzing minutes, his loss became ours as we all came to know, love and mourn the man.

You can watch it here.

This was magnificent television. My heart goes out - and my hat comes off - to Craig.

2006 Oscar nominations announced

Earlier today, nominations for the 78th Annual Academy Awards were announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - and my friend John Pritchett was among them (for sound mixing Memoirs of a Geisha). Congrats, John!

Here are all the nominations, which turned out pretty much as expected, with few surprises. Brokeback Mountain leads with eight followed by Crash, Good Night and Good Luck and Memoirs of a Geisha with six each - while George Clooney personally got three nominations (for directing and co-writing Good Night, and as supporting actor in Syriana).

And for the first time since 1981, Best Picture and Director nominees matched - Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee), Capote (Bennett Miller), Crash (Paul Haggis), Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney) and Munich (Steven Spielberg). (Check out Newsweek's roundtable interview with them.)

My predictions? While Brokeback is the odds-on favorite for Best Picture, I think there's a fair chance that Crash could steal it away (it won the SAG Award for Best Ensemble, and actors are the largest branch of Academy voters) - leaving Best Director for Ang Lee (who won the DGA Award).

In the acting categories, Phillip Seymour Hoffman is a lock to win Best Actor (for Capote), while Felicity Huffman (Transamerica) must fend off Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) - and I think she just might. For supporting roles, Rachel Weisz is a near-lock for The Constant Gardener (per her Golden Globe and SAG Award), and I expect Paul Giamatti to win for Cinderella Man (another SAG winner, who's still due for Sideways).

My favorite category? Best Animated Feature - Howl's Moving Castle, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

The Oscars air Sunday March 5 on ABC, hosted by Jon Stewart.

Did Buffy slay the WB and UPN?

From an article by Meg James in Sunday's Los Angeles Times...

Last week, when the money-losing WB and UPN networks announced that they were pulling the plug to form a single new broadcast network [The CW], many television veterans traced the roots of the decision back five years, when a fight over the fate of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" drove what would prove to be a fatal stake through the WB's heart.

The show, produced by 20th Century Fox Television, was a runaway hit with teenage girls. But in early 2001, the WB balked when Fox executives demanded $44 million to license a single season. That fall, the show shifted to UPN, and with it went the WB's identity as the go-to destination for young viewers.

In the end, many agree, the WB's loss of "Buffy" — which breathed new life into the struggling UPN — set in motion a pitched battle for the coveted youth market that would eventually doom both networks.

(Read the complete article here - and buy Buffy DVDs here.)

Pixar/Disney follow-up(s)

Over the weekend, the New York Times ran a fascinating feature entitled How Pixar Adds a New School of Thought to Disney, which examines the fundamental (non-)corporate culture of Pixar, and how it is both a critical factor to its unrivaled success - and a stark contrast to the way the rest of Hollywood works.

More than a few business pundits have drawn parallels between the flat, decentralized "corporation of the future" and the ad-hoc collection of actors, producers and technicians that come together around a film and disband once it is finished. In the Hollywood model... highly talented people agree to terms, do their jobs, and move on to the next project. Turn that model on its head and you get the Pixar version: a tightknit company of long-term collaborators who stick together, learn from one another and strive to improve with every production.

"The problem with the Hollywood model is that it's generally the day you wrap production that you realize you've finally figured out how to work together," said [Randy] Nelson [dean of Pixar University, the company's in-house education and training operation]. "We've made the leap from an idea-centered business to a people-centered business. Instead of developing ideas, we develop people. Instead of investing in ideas, we invest in people."

(In other words, as I'm fond of saying: a great idea doesn't really matter unless you have the ability to execute it successfully.)

Meanwhile, Reuters recently reported details on the terms of the Pixar/Disney deal - which is clearly more of a merger than an acquisition, as Pixar retains broad autonomy while also assuming control of Disney animation. And what will happen to Disney now that Steve Jobs is on the board as its largest shareholder? Both BusinessWeek and Slate speculate that it may only be a matter of time before he takes over completely - just as he took over Apple after it similarly acquired (read: merged with) NeXT... which is exactly what I was alluding to a week ago.

P.S.: BusinessWeek also has a profile of Pixar's John Lasseter (Disney's new Chief Creative Officer for animation), and an interview with Edgar Woolard, Jr. (the former Apple board member who brought Steve Jobs back to Apple in 1997).

Interviews: Stephen Colbert & Richard Linklater

The Onion A.V. Club interviews Stephen Colbert:
"Truthiness is tearing apart our country, and I don't mean the argument over who came up with the word. I don't know whether it's a new thing, but it's certainly a current thing, in that it doesn't seem to matter what facts are. It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that's not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It's certainty. People love the president because he's certain of his choices as a leader, even if the facts that back him up don't seem to exist. It's the fact that he's certain that is very appealing to a certain section of the country. I really feel a dichotomy in the American populace. What is important? What you want to be true, or what is true?"

Filmmaker Magazine interviews Richard Linklater:
"[Philip K.] Dick wrote this paranoid future, and my premise with the movie was that we are living in science fiction now. This is the paranoid future. I mean, Dick was coming out of the Nixon era in which there was wiretapping, there was COINTELPRO, [the government was] after citizens, even to the extent of assassinating citizens like [Black Panther] Fred Hampton. There’s always a time to be a little paranoid about your government, but I think that’s hit another peak today. If you put a peak in a chart during the Nixon era, I think we’re at another little peak in the graph, a spike up, today in the Bush administration. What he was writing about, which we would term paranoia, well, you just wait a generation and paranoia becomes reality quite often."

The $220,000 Watch

Holy crap.

Check out the Cabestan, designed by Jean-Francois Ruchonnet and Vianney Halter. The gold and platinum watch will be sold in a limited edition of 135 starting late this year.

(Found on Boing Boing, who found it on OhGizmo!, who found it on Real Tech News, who found it on BornRich.)

Sony kills Aibo and Qrio

In case you haven't heard, Sony really kinda sucks these days. The latest evidence of this is that they are killing the Aibo and Qrio lines of consumer robots.

Now, I own neither an Aibo or Qrio, and frankly have little desire to. But their mere existence has been a source of comfort for me, and a pleasant reminder that yes, we are indeed living in the 21st century. Sure, they were indulgent, expensive niche products, but they were potent symbols of Sony's technological vision and leadership - both of which sadly continue to fade.

But all is not lost in Japan! The (previously mentioned) HRP-2 Promet has now been taught to fetch beer.

Rachael Ray must be destroyed.

She's everywhere. TV, magazines, and soon - God help us - her own Oprah-produced show. She never stops talking. In the most incredibly grating voice. That comes out of a disturbingly huge mouth. And she has no neck! It's like she's a mutant, or something. An evil, nightmare-inducing mutant that wants to suck out your soul and serve it on a plate with butternut squash.

She is quite possibly the most annoying person on the media landscape right now.

Something must be done.

Why do all "entertainment news" shows suck?

So yesterday, not one but two major media mergers/acquisitions were announced, transforming the very landscape of the entertainment industry. Pretty big news, and certainly the biggest entertainment news of the year so far. But you wouldn't know it from watching the leading "entertainment news" shows - which buried the UPN/WB merger in the middle of their broadcasts yesterday... and after two days still haven't even mentioned the Disney/Pixar deal.

I guess there must have been more important news for them to report, right? Let's check the TiVo...

On Entertainment Tonight yesterday ("The most watched entertainment news program in the world."), the top three stories were: Brad and (pregnant) Angelina and their kids walk through London's Heathrow airport, sparking a media frenzy; former child star Todd Bridges is the first to get the boot on "Skating with Celebrities"; celebrity wedding dress designers spill secrets about their clients. It took ET 14 minutes to (barely) report the UPN/WB merger. (ET's top three stories today? More video stalking of Brad and Angelina in London, the death of Chris Penn, and inside Tiffani Thiessen's wedding.)

On E! News yesterday (which proudly proclaims itself as "Your hookup to young Hollywood"), their top three stories were: the "controversy" about a missing Katie Holmes sex scene from a film at Sundance, the hottest parties at Sundance, and Jennifer Lopez (excuse me, "J-Lo") baby rumors. It took them 13 minutes to report the UPN/WB merger. (Their top three stories for today were: Brad and Angelina baby gender rumors, the death of actor Chris Penn, and Nicollette Sheridan and Michael Bolton still aren't engaged.)

On Extra yesterday they managed to get to the UPN/WB merger in 10 minutes, but their top three stories were Meg Ryan baby news, American Idol under fire for gay-bashing (a word they made pains to avoid), and Todd Bridges losing on "Skating with Celebrities". (Today it was Mick Jagger wedding rumors, Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn moving in together, and Brad and Angelina holding hands for the first time in public.)

But not a word - on any of these three shows over two days - about the $7.4 billion Disney/Pixar deal.

Can I vomit now?

Seriously, why can't CNBC or someone produce a solid, substantive half-hour on the entertainment industry from a saavy business perspective? Is that really so much to ask?

iDeal: Pixar takes over Disney Animation and Imagineering

So unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard that Disney is buying Pixar. But what I find particularly interesting and exciting - aside from the obvious implications for Apple - is that Pixar will actually take over the entire Disney animation unit, and John Lasseter will also take the reins of Disney Imagineering (encompassing Disney theme parks).

Disney's purchase of Pixar is smelling a whole lot like Apple's purchase of NeXT. And that's a very good thing.

UPN + WB = CW

UPN and The WB will merge to form a new network called The CW, launching this fall. (The C stands for CBS Corp., which owns UPN; the W stands for Warner Bros.)

So... will they combine their assets to form a real, full-fledged network by expanding to a complete primetime schedule in order to go toe-to-toe with ABC, CBS and NBC? Not so much. The new network will offer a mere 13 hours of primetime programming (2 hours M-F and 3 hours on Sunday, the same as the WB does now) - which means no 10pm (9pm CST) shows... so many current shows will be getting the axe (along with a whole lot of network affiliate stations).

Sadly, this is not a net gain, but two struggling networks that are going nowhere finally admitting it and cutting their losses. (And frankly, the only show I really care about on either network is America's Next Top Model anyway.)

Relatively random reading

Psychology Today has an article about how to get great sleep.

CNNMoney.com offers some advice regarding the best time to buy everything from plane tickets to TVs to houses to cars and more.

The Hollywood Reporter takes a look at video games' write stuff.

In other news...

Following his fantastic profile on Sunday's 60 Minutes (which you can watch here), Kinky Friedman will be a guest on Wednesday's Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Meanwhile, everyone's waiting to hear whether or not Disney buys Pixar, and pondering what the implications will be (besides Steve Jobs becoming Disney's largest individual shareholder).

What do Romero and Scorsese have in common?

The Telegraph recently interviewed lord of the undead George A. Romero about his favorite film (as part of their Film-makers on Film series) - and was surprised as anyone might be to learn it's Powell and Pressburger's The Tales of Hoffmann, their spellbinding 1951 adaptation of Offenbach's opera of unrequited love.

He was 11 when it was released. "I saw it at exactly the right time," he says. "I was a Bronx kid, and I had this aunt and uncle who lived in Manhattan. They had to take me kicking and screaming." But the young George was captivated immediately. "I was just blown away by the fantasy elements. It also opened my ears to classical music." And it's the film that convinced him he had to become a filmmaker.

Remarkably, Romero wasn't the only boy in early-'50s New York who was obsessed with The Tales of Hoffmann. "When I was old enough," recalls Romero, "I used to go downtown and rent the movie. In those days, you had to go rent a projector and then rent a 16mm print in order to see a movie at home. It was a big deal: you had to save up.

"Whenever I went to the store and the movie wasn't there, Marty [Scorsese] had it. And whenever he went and it wasn't there, I had it. So, when we finally met - only about 10 years ago - we had this amazing thing in common. "And we looked at each other and said, 'You son of a bitch! It was you who had The Tales of Hoffmann out when I wanted it!"

Read the whole story here (and buy the Criterion Collection DVD here).

Watch Kinky on 60 Minutes tonight!

Kinky Friedman will be profiled on 60 Minutes tonight, interviewed by Morley Safer about his run for the Texas governorship. (A preview is available here.)

Tonight's broadcast also features Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, the highest paid professional videogame player.

The Pong Clock

Behold the power of Dutch ingenuity! Eindhoven-based design firm Buro Vormkrijgers has officially made the world a cooler place by creating the Pong Clock - a wall-mounted flat-screen that tells time by playing Pong against itself. (You can play against it, too.) They sell for a pricey 200 euros (about $240) plus shipping, but their first run of 200 sold out in a day. (They're now taking a new batch of orders which will ship by the end of February.)

Giant Jellyfish Invade Japan!

National Geographic reports that since last summer, Japanese waters have been inundated with an armada of massive jellyfish up to 6.5 feet wide and 450 pounds. The invertebrates, whose numbers have grown a hundredfold in some areas off Japan, are causing a crisis in the local fishing industry by choking fishing nets and poisoning the catch with their toxic stingers.

Three things to do in Austin this weekend

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with the Austin Symphony, performing two works by Shostakovich (the Scherzo in F# Minor and Violin Concerto No. 1), and the Sibleius Symphony No. 1 in E Minor.

Tapestry Dance Company at the Paramount Theatre, performing "JASS", a syncopated journey through jazz.

FronteraFest at Hyde Park Theatre (through February 11).

Joss talks Astonishing X-Men

On February 22, Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men will return for a second series of 12 issues. Newsarama reports on Whedon's press conference earlier today, while Comic Book Resources offers a complete transcript.

"The next arc of the X-Men is so entirely internal, it's really a six-issue examination of who the people are, what makes them tick and how do you take them apart. Good Lord am I having fun. There's a moment coming up in issue #14 that is something I've been waiting for since before I got the gig. In issue #15 I have a Logan moment planned that I think is going to just completely alter the fabric of the actual known universe!"

The Return of Gillian Anderson

X-Files fans who may have been wondering whatever happened to Gillian Anderson will be glad to know she's been happily living in London - and returns to American television this Sunday.

Anderson stars as Lady Deadlock in the acclaimed BBC / Masterpiece Theatre mini-series production of Charles Dickens' Bleak House, which airs in six installments on PBS starting Sunday. She was recently interviewed by the AP...

"I respond very strongly to characters I have not done before... something I can really sink my teeth into, and what's scary, and what terrifies me, because that's where I need to go," says Anderson. "I'm just always looking for stuff to change people's minds about me."

Shatner's kidney stone sells for $25,000

William Shatner has sold his kidney stone for $25,000. The money will go to Habitat for Humanity (and should cover half the cost of a house). The stone was so big, Shatner said, "you'd want to wear it on your finger."

Denny Crane.

In completely unrelated news, scientists in Taiwan have bred three fluorescent green pigs that glow in the dark.

Two Freaky Trailers

Bubble. Apocalypto. (They'll do things to your brain.)

Build the Dream

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Click here to contribute to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The best show on television returns

Jack is back!

At long last, Season 5 of 24 kicks off tonight with part one of the four-hour season premiere (which continues Monday). As much as I love Lost and Galactica and a bunch of other great shows, this remains my absolute favorite, hands-down. Each season is a gripping, gutsy 24-hour thriller (well, 18-hour, minus commercials). This is television of motion picture quality, and promises not to disappoint. (The Hollywood Reporter says "Sutherland has never been better. Suffice it to say that this brilliant creation of Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran will only enhance its reputation as the most reliable and involving thriller in TV history.")

And if you didn't see it on the Season 4 DVD, you can check out the 10-minute Season 5 prequel online (along with a host of teasers). For more, check out this excellent feature story from the Associated Press, as well as this interview with executive producer Howard Gordon.

Checking in on Clark

Today's Los Angeles Times takes a look behind the scenes of Superman Returns, with an accompanying 18-photo slideshow. There are some particularly interesting tidbits regarding Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor...

"This is a darker Lex, because he's been in prison and he wants revenge," Singer said. "He's not playing around." The movie is split between the hero and villain, and it builds to a climactic showdown — the only time Spacey is on camera with his caped rival ("If you're Lex Luthor," Spacey noted, "you don't want to get near Superman because, well, you're not going to win if it comes down to a fistfight, are you?").

The Great April 1st Apple Prediction

...was recorded for posterity by my pal Mike Curtis yesterday over at his excellent HD For Indies (where he published lots of great MWSF coverage, btw).

Basically, I'm going out on a limb and predicting that Apple will unveil its "holy grail" media center / convergence device (based on Intel's Viiv platform) on its 30th birthday, making a bold play for the living room (and continuing the company's expansion into consumer electronics). As hypothesized by myself, Mike and many others, it will be an evolved Mac mini (with an iPod dock) that will incorporate next generation versions of Apple's Front Row (with DVR capabilities added) and the iTunes Video Store (which will do for movies what they've done for music, and already started to do for TV).

P.S.: Ars Technica and the Chicago Tribune report that Apple may be preparing to launch its own "Mobile Me" Apple-branded MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) cel phone service, possibly with an iPhone that could purchase and download songs wirelessly - which I also think could be announced April 1.

The only joy at 5 am

Robin & Company on CNN Headline News. Damn good (and fun) broadcasting.

That is all.

Assorted Apple Analysis

In advance of Steve's keynote yesterday, BusinessWeek published a bigass "Tech Special Report" on Apple in the current issue, comprised of seven articles under the headline Apple at the Crossroads. They've since added three more stories - a keynote report on Apple's Intel, iPod Revelations, a column on The Media's Crush on Apple, and analysis regarding Should Apple Open Up? Twelve articles on Apple in two days. In BusinessWeek. (And no, even I haven't bothered to read them all, though the last one is worth a look.)

Oh, and here's one I missed on $200 iPod jeans from Levi's and other forthcoming iPod apparel, including the Tunebuckle - yes, a belt buckle that holds an iPod nano. (Apparently this is what happens when you sell 42 million of something. Madness.)

Meanwhile, Unsanity compares the MacBook Pro to the PowerBook G4, in case you're weighing your options. (Clearly it's a transitional product.)

Finally, The Guardian has a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Steve's keynotes (written by a former Apple insider) entitled Behind the Magic Curtain, while The Joy of Tech offers their own take on what's really behind a Steve Jobs keynote.

P.S.: Google Earth for Mac OS X!

Welcome to MacIntel

Today at Macworld San Francisco, Steve Jobs unveiled the first two Macs running Intel [dual core, or "Core Duo"] processors six months ahead of schedule - the MacBook Pro (four times faster than the PowerBook G4, which it will apparently/eventually replace) and iMac (twice as fast). Check out the gorgeous new commercial narrated by Kiefer Sutherland. (Also: new versions of iLife and iWork software suites have been released.)

Dream cars by Lamborghini and Bugatti

This afternoon at the Detroit Auto Show, Lamborghini will officially unveil the 40th Anniversary Miura concept car, which was previewed last week at the Museum of Television & Radio in Los Angeles. It beautifully revives the iconic mid-60s design, but "will not go into production", according to CEO Stephan Winkelmann - though AutoWeek thinks otherwise. (Here's the official press release.)

And yet even it pales in comparison to the fastest, most expensive car ever made - the $1.2 million, 250+ mph, 1,001-hp Veyron 16.4 by Bugatti, which no less an authority than Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson has hailed as "the most stunning piece of automotive engineering ever created". (The "16.4" refers to 16 cylinders and four turbos, which'll hit 62 mph in 2.5 seconds.) Only 300 will be made.


Speaking of Top Gear (which I first got hooked on back in September), although it sadly no longer airs on Discovery (which is prepping a sure to be less cool American remake), you can watch segments online via Google Video - including the entire Top Gear episode devoted to the Bugatti Veyron. (Click here for a preview.) Or, if you're feeling a bit more adventurous, you can find torrents for every Top Gear episode ever here. Robogeeky bliss!

Warp Speed, Mr. Scott

From Haiko Lietz's must-read cover story in this week's issue of New Scientist...

Every year, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics awards prizes for the best papers presented at its annual conference. Last year's winner in the nuclear and future flight category went to a paper calling for experimental tests of an astonishing new type of engine. According to the paper, this hyperdrive motor would propel a craft through another dimension at enormous speeds. Forget spending six months or more holed up in a rocket on the way to Mars, a round trip on the hyperdrive could take as little as 5 hours... while a trip to a star 11 light years away would take a mere 80 days.

TiVo unveils Series 3 HD DVR

Well it's about damn time. (Of course, it isn't slated for release until "mid-to-late 2006", which means by Christmas if we're lucky.)

Galactica Returns

Named the best television series of 2005 by TIME magazine last month, Battlestar Galactica returns from its hiatus on Sci Fi tonight, resuming its second season (10pm/9pm CST, rebroadcast at 1am/midnight CST).

The Heart of the World

Six minutes (by Guy Maddin).

Texas wins!

I'm not a football fan and certainly not a Longhorn (quite the contrary), but as an Austinite this is pretty damn cool. (Bonus trivia: It was UT's 800th win.)

And yet I'm very happy to be a safe distance from the unbridled pandemonium currently unfolding downtown (which is being valiantly - and quite amusingly - covered on News 8 Austin by a very brave Amy Hadley).

Miyazaki Retrospective on Turner Classic Movies

In celebration of his 65th birthday tomorrow, Turner Classic Movies launches an unprecedented Hayao Miyazaki Retrospective, showcasing nine films written, directed and/or produced by Miyazaki each and every Thursday night through January. All films will be shown letterboxed in both dubbed and subtitled versions (primetime and late night, respectively; I of course urge you to watch/TiVo the latter).

These are not only some of my all-time favorite films, but true masterpieces of animation - and at least one of them ranks among the greatest films ever made, period. (My only complaint is the unfortunate and inexplicable omission of my beloved Kiki's Delivery Service.)

The series kicks off tomorrow (1/5) with the Oscar-winning
Spirited Away (2001) at 8pm/7pm CST (dubbed) and midnight/11pm CST (subtitled), followed by the mesmerizing fantasy epic Princess Mononoke (1997) at 10:15pm/9:15pm CST (dubbed) and 3:15am/2:15am CST Fri. (subtitled).

Next week (1/12) features Miyazaki's two seminal fantasy adventures - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) at 8pm/7pm CST (dubbed) and 12:15am/11:15pm CST (subtitled), alongside Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) at 10pm/9pm CST (dubbed) and 2:15am/1:15am CST Fri. (subtitled).

Thursday the 19th brings a Miyazaki triple feature, starting with one of the greatest movies ever made, My Neighbor Totoro (1988), followed by the adventures of my favorite WWI Italian flying ace Porco Rosso (1992), and then the contemporary coming-of-age fantasy (and directorial debut of Miyazaki's late protege Yoshifumi Kondou; Miyazaki wrote, storyboarded and produced) Whisper of the Heart (1995). I dearly, deeply love these three films in particular.

Finally, on the 26th, TCM showcases two Miyazaki-produced films written and directed by Isao Takahata - Only Yesterday (1991) and Pom Poko (1994), the latter of which I've never seen.

P.S.: BTW, you can order (or pre-order) all of these films on (discounted!) DVD from Amazon.

Pan's Labyrinth Teaser

Behold. (Click "Rejouer la video" to play the Flash-embedded French teaser trailer, though you may have to wait for or click past an ad to get to it.)

UPDATE: Here it is in glorious hi-res QuickTime (otherwise identical to the above, but with Spanish titles).

Typographica's Top Fonts of 2005; Fonts in Film

Over the holiday, Typographica posted [Part 1 of] their Favorite Fonts of 2005. (Shown above: example of Cézanne Pro by James Greishaber.) Oh, and if you missed it, here's last year's list.

Which (sort of) reminds me of an amusing recent New York Times feature about nitpicking anachronistic typography choices in movies - Good Film, Shame About the Helvetica. Very robogeeky.

Which in turn reminds me of another recent New York Times feature about movie poster design entitled Not Just Another Half-Dozen Pretty, Floating Faces - not to mention an absolutely amazing online gallery of Film Titles Designed by Saul Bass. A must-click!

Rocky Recreated

One of my favorite links from last year that [I think] I neglected to share is some French guy's amazing (and amazingly funny) recreation of the "Eye of the Tiger" training montage from Rocky. It has to be seen to be believed.

FYI, it's an HTML-embedded 8.5 MB Shockwave Flash video file, so the playback may be intermittently held up while you're downloading it. I was reminded of it via Kottke's excellent round-up of The Best Links of 2005, which I recommend browsing through (along with his Rest of the Best).

Whedon on the future of TV

TV Guide Online has an amusing (if brief) guest column penned by Joss Whedon, in which he forecasts the future of television...

The networks will all be creating exciting, innovative new spin-offs of today's shows. Approximately 67 percent of all television will be CSI-based, including CSI: Des Moines, CSI: New York but a Different Part than Gary Sinise Is In and NCSI: SVU WKRP, which covers every possible gruesome crime with a groovin' '70s beat. (Jerry Bruckheimer will also have conquered Broadway with the CSI musical "FOLLICLE!" starring Nathan Lane as a frenetic but lovable blood spatter and Matthew Broderick as lint.)

In a stunningly cost-effective move, CBS will air How I Met Your Biological Mother, That Bitch, which is just old episodes of How I Met Your Mother with snarkier narration. HBO's Westminster will continue the trend pioneered by Deadwood and Rome by making 19th-century England really dirty and weird, like Jane Austen with Tourette's. (Actually, I can't wait for that one.) Also, the constant slew of cable mergers will result in the creation of CinePax, a channel that's just very confused about its morals.

The Totoro Cuckoo Clock

Happy (belated) New Year! I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday.

If you were very, very lucky and/or very, very good, you just might have been blessed with one of the ultimate geek gifts ever conceived, much less made. Yes, I speak of the highly coveted masterpiece of merchandising that is the My Neighbor Totoro Deluxe Cuckoo Clock. Which sadly I didn't get, and is currently out of stock at J-List (though you can behold the Google cache). However, they do have lots of other wondrous Totoro imports I crave, including the Totoro Alarm Clock. But if you're dead-set on the cuckoo (and you will be once you see video of it in action), J-List can probably special order it (for a mere $288).

In related Totoro news, the 2-Disc Special Edition U.S. DVD is finally available for pre-order (it comes out March 7), while the English-language hardcover The Art of My Neighbor Totoro book is now available. (And both are on sale!)