you gots questions? i gots answers.

Thanks to everyone who shared my joy over the Coraline box! I'm still pinching myself...and while we're waiting for the rest of the boxes to turn up, I figured I'd answer the questions from the comments.

Liz: How do you get a job like that? I dunno, but the production company is Laika and here's their careers page. How cool a job would that be?

To everyone who mentioned the secret code [sweaterxxs], it's not really a secret...it's meant to be shared! In case you missed the WWW update last week, here are the rest of the codes for the website:

stopmotion : the Biggest Smallest movie ever made.
buttoneyes : Meet the cast...
moustachio : Bo Henry, art director of Coraline, shows off his remarkable moustache tricks.
armpithair : Every hair in the film was placed there by hand...
puppetlove : Director Henry Selick explains what it must be like for the puppets in the film.

To those who recommended mounting options, thank you! I do want it to be accessible somehow but can't just screw it to the wall. It also needs to be protected against dust if I'm going to leave it open. One other concern is that it was meant to be displayed flat, and hanging it up vertically may put the tools and their little leather straps under too much stress and they may come loose [!]. So I'm thinking about that, too. Maybe a coffee table with built-in display under glass? Hrm.

To everyone who didn't know about the book, I'm thrilled to be the one to share it with you. Jeloca mentioned the audiobook version, read by Mr Gaiman himself, and that's how I read the book -- or rather had it read to me. I bought it at Audible.com [click that link for a free audiobook download if you're not yet a member]. Perfection.

Jeloca: I didn't need a reason to buy a DS or a Wii. You bad, bad enabler, you. :-)

Sharon: Lucky Portland! And yay you for getting to go home again!

Seanna Lee: You beat me. I've never gotten to hear him speak live yet. He's been to Toronto many times, but I didn't learn about the man until long after his last appearance. If he comes back, I'll be there, though.

Dawn: You described it perfectly.

Andrew: I don't think I knew about him when we had our walk. But I do still have "Little, Big" on my wishlist to read some day. :-)

Anonymous: You said it. A brilliant marketing scheme that makes people feel good AND want to see the movie. I hope they give the person who came up with the idea a big raise. Also, a thought...there are 50 of these sent out to active bloggers, but less than 20 have shown up. I wonder if they're sending them out staggered to prolong the excitement?

Obi-Shawn: The customs slip [because I'm in Canada, so they had to get it through customs with proper paperwork] said this was an exact replica of the sewing kit used in the movie. It looks identical to me, and if it's not the one they used, perhaps it was their backup prop in case of disaster. It matters not to me -- it's just as fabulous whether it got used or not.

Kim: You absolutely said it. The internet has been called the spreader of a lot of things, but I think the warm fuzzies that this gift represents is something the media doesn't talk about much. We should do something about that.

Okay, it's late. Night, all.