UltrasparkyYour primary source for all things SparkyOh Guardian, my Guardian- April 29, 2008 Just this past weekend I was saying how much I wished the Guardian family designed by Paul Barnes and Christian Schwartz was done with its exclusive contract with the Guardian and available to other people. Lo and behold, the time has come already. Yay! That is, "Yay! I can imagine using them now," but I doubt I have any projects coming up that could justify the cost of buying a massive type family, no matter how pretty and awesome it is. It will be interesting is to see how designers work...http://www.ultrasparky.org/archives/2008/04/oh_guardian_my.html Language barrier- April 26, 2008 I don't think I will ever live here long enough to be able to say "mate" in a way that sounds at all natural. It just doesn't come naturally in American English, like "pal" or "buddy". My reflex is to think of "mate" as a zoological term, as in, "In the mixed groups of savanna baboons, each male can mate with any female." Likewise, I don't see myself adapting to the use of "nought", "whilst", "banger", "bollocks", "snog", or "shag" in the kind of reflexive way you need to make them work. And..http://www.ultrasparky.org/archives/2008/04/language_barrie.html Undervalued much- April 26, 2008 Here's one for the type designers out there, especially those of you who've dipped your toes into the murky depths of non-Latin typefaces: The project is for outputing a variant Typeface from an existing open source Typeface, where the variant is replacing only 1 alphabet (upper,lower case, basic and italic) and putting a sanskrit alphabet (upper, lower case, basic and italic) that will have to be designed. . . . The budget is about $100 via Paypal, Moneybookers. Delivery for...http://www.ultrasparky.org/archives/2008/04/undervalued_muc.html Glyphs on Film- April 21, 2008 I finally had a chance to watch the outtakes from Helvetica (the documentary that any and all type andor graphic designers know about, but the rest of you may or may not know about), and I was pleasantly surprised. The surprise was not that I enjoyed the film and the extra footage. When I first saw Helvetica last summer I really enjoyed it, and thought it might be the best way to actually make other people understand what I do and why I often feel so passionate about typography and design....http://www.ultrasparky.org/archives/2008/04/glyphs_on_film.html Words to Live By- April 12, 2008 We have to make books cool again. You know If you go home with somebody and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em. And DVDs don't count, either. — John Waters, This Filthy Worldhttp://www.ultrasparky.org/archives/2008/04/words_to_live_b_1.html Cultural Miseducation- April 10, 2008 For ages, most of what I knew about the golden age of Hollywood came from figuring out the jokes on old sketches from The Carol Burnett Show, which I watched in reruns pretty regularly as a kid. Until about three or four years ago, this was all I really knew about the story of Gone with the Wind: (From Nerve and IFC's "50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time", which is filed with genius.)http://www.ultrasparky.org/archives/2008/04/cultural_misedu.html Battlestar Barbarella- April 8, 2008 When worlds collide, eh I love both Barbarella and Battlestar Galactica, but for very, very different reasons. Seeing them mashed together for a promo shoot makes my head hurt a teeny bit. If I were more of a straight persuasion, though, this would make me all tingly, though. Of course, Apollo or Helo done up as Pygar would certainly do the trick. Barbarella — The Bob Crewe Generation Pygar's New Wings — The Bob Crewe Generationhttp://www.ultrasparky.org/archives/2008/04/battlestar_barb.html Goodbye to the Cheyenne- April 7, 2008 Farewell, originally uploaded by Goggla. Well, looks like there's another reason not to bother going back to New York. My beloved Cheyenne Diner is finally closing down. I used to work down the street, and spent many, many happy lunch hours there, enjoying almost perfect platters of grilled cheese with fries. It was also a favorite spot to drag anyone I ever had to meet in Midtown, and not just because I'll take any excuse to get a decent milkshake. I can't say that I'm shocked...http://www.ultrasparky.org/archives/2008/04/goodbye_to_the.html Very Barbara Pym- April 6, 2008 It is these asides, I think, that make Excellent Women so beguiling. The plot itself is not without interest, but it is the narrator's comments on her world and on the scraps of pleasure it allows her that are so utterly engaging; as where Mildred says, right at the beginning: " 'I have to share a bathroom,' I had so often murmured, almost with shame, as if I personally had been found unworthy of a bathroom of my own." To be found unworthy of having one's own bathroom is such an unexpected...http://www.ultrasparky.org/archives/2008/04/very_barbara_py.html |