The cause of the Vietnam and Iraq wars?

I'm sure it will come as no surprise that the villain is: Helvetica.

Just finished watching a documentary on, yes, Helvetica, and I really enjoyed it. You know, not only does Netflix rock for renting movies, they rock for helping to produce documentaries via their Red Envelope initiative. I mean, how else are you going to get money to make a documentary about a friggin' typeface?

And an excellent documentary it was: they talked to old school typographers, young typographers, people who hate Helvetica with a passion, people who embrace Helvetica... and intersperse it with examples of Helvetica throughout the world, some good, some bad.

The editing was great, the music was very good, cinematography was excellent. I guess, given that this is basically a documentary on graphic design, they couldn't afford not to have a top-notch visual style in their film.

No, I couldn't sell either Maria or my mom on watching this with me. Oh well, their loss, it's not for them.

Helvetica documentary home page

Dancing w/Stars comments

I can't believe that the season is almost over and I haven't made hardly any comments about this year's competition. Well, actually, I can believe it. But I'll comment anyway.

* I'm rooting for Mel B to take it all. Her smile is infectious and she's done a great job in both the technical and the performance aspects. And yes, I did manage to notice her above her neck. Loved her waltz to "Somebody to Love" by Queen last night.

* Helio is quite good, has been from the start, but it's time to give the crown to a woman again. The men have had their run. Of course, I'm glad Helio has stuck in for this long because it gives Julianne more screen time. Hubba hubba.

* And speaking of Julianne, her brother's done very well this year. Derek is an inventive choreographer and has done a great job with Jennie Garth. I wouldn't mind if she won, but I just don't think she has the performance down to get it. Jennie's lookin' like home cookin', by the way. Seems that she's lost a lot of weight over the weeks. Maybe I should try that weight-loss regimen.

* Finally, Marie. She's done great, I've rooted for her, but I think if she makes it into the final, it won't be fair to whomever she bumps out of the way. She's doing a lot better than this 47-year-old could do, but she's just not at the other three's level. Quite the entertainer, though!

Final note: it's very interesting to see how the writer's strike has even hit this show--everyone's comments are actually more natural and less, well, scripted.

Quote from 30 Rock last night

Yes, the quote actually drove me to post it on the blog, which has been dormant as of late...

Tina Fey: "People are going to show up expecting all this great stuff and then they're going to be disappointed and angry. . ."
Tracey Morgan: "Just like Colonial Williamsburg."

Heh!