title: Error when trying to set plotting font using Matplotlib
body: <p>I'm running into a new error with Matplotlib 1.4.2 on Mac OS X (10.10.2) when trying to set the font to Times New Roman in my plot. Here is a MWE that gives an error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import numpy as np
  import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
  
  x = np.arange(0, 5, 0.1);
  y = np.sin(x)
  plt.plot(x, y)
  plt.xlabel('X axis', fontname='Times New Roman')
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>If I try this, I receive <code>ValueError: failed to convert font family name to ASCII</code>. Adding the label without setting the font works fine.</p>
  
  <p>This issue doesn't seem to be related to the specific font, because trying <code>Helvetica</code> or <code>Arial</code> causes the same issue.</p>
  
  <p>I've tried deleting the font cache in <code>~/.matplotlib/fontList.cache</code> and then uninstalling and reinstalling Matplotlib, and get the same error. As I expect, when I check the font manager using <code>matplotlib.font_manager.OSXInstalledFonts()</code>, I see my full list of installed fonts.</p>
  
  <p>I'm not sure what change triggered this error (it may be upgrading to 10.10.2), but I was able to set the font this way just fine up until I tried it today—I'm even trying to use previously working code.</p>