unicode is going away in py3k should steer clear of that | http://www.google.com/search?q=unicode+to+ascii+python&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:official&client=firefox-a | unicode to ascii python - Google Search | http://www.diveintopython.org/xml_processing/unicode.html | 9.4.Unicode | http://www.reportlab.com/i18n/python_unicode_tutorial.html | Python Unicode Tutorial | http://www.google.com/search?q=mako+unicode&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:official&client=firefox-a | mako unicode - Google Search | http://www.makotemplates.org/docs/unicode.html | Mako Documentation - The Unicode Chapter | http://www.google.com/search?q=python+path+unicode&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:official&client=firefox-a | python path unicode - Google Search | http://www.python.org/doc/2.5.2/lib/module-os.path.html | 11.1 os.path -- Common pathname manipulations