The movie is based on the story of the same name written by Neil Gaiman. It is the tale of a little girl who moves into a new home with her parents. Her parents don’t pay her much attention as they are workaholics who work from home. She discovers that her new home is the entrance to a different world where her ‘Other’ parents dote her with non-stop attention. She later realizes that things aren’t always what they seem.
If you have read the book, don’t worry the movie is different enough to be entertaining, but not so much that it is a completely different story.

What makes the movie spectacular is how its made. Stop-motion animation (according to Wikipedia) is ‘an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own’ (think of Rudolf, the Red Nose Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman). So the entire movie (characters, set and all) is made up of miniatures that are moved one bit at a time to make the movie. This means that one simple scene usually takes weeks to shoot because in order to get one second of the movie done, the animators must move and take pictures of the scene 24 times. The movie has an added complexity because it was also shot in 3-D. In order for them to do this, they had to build special hardware to hold the cameras in place.

If you purchase the DVD, I would highly recommend that you watch ‘the Making of Coraline’ feature after the movie. This feature will give you an appreciation of the movie, and when you watch it again (as I know you will) you will see how fantastic it really is. Especially when you learn that nothing was computer generated.

I have seen many stop-motion movies in my day, but I have to say that Coraline is the best I have seen to date. I would highly recommend it to all.

What I particularly like about the show is that the characters are multidimensional, for example; Daniel Desario which one can call the leader of the Freaks is the tough guy but one sees the softer side of him as the show progresses.

Another aspect of the show I like is the way it deals with issues that are important to teenagers going through that time, everything from sex to peer pressure is covered. Unfortunately, I don’t think many teens watched the show when it originally aired so the message may have been lost but with the DVD release the series turns out to be a great way for families to discuss these issues without it being a lecture.

The show I feel, was made better by the cast. Lindsay Weir is played by Linda Cardellini who recently played a major character in the now canceled show ER. John Francis Daley who plays Sam does an excellent job at being the naive brother to Lindsay (you can see him now as the intelligent psychiatrist on Bones). And of course there is Ken (portrayed by Seth Rogen) who you can’t miss if you go to the theater these days.

Freaks and Geeks was another one of those shows canceled by the network prematurely because of the impatient nature of the executives. I believe that if they would have let the show continue, it would have been another one of those great shows of all time. If you haven’t seen the show, I would highly recommended it.

Oh and if you have kids in their early teens it is a must see.

The pen comes in two different sizes 1GB or 2GB. Along with the pen, the package contains 1 100 sheet college-ruled notebook, charging cradle, headset, and a case. The notebook includes three ‘training’ pages where one quickly learns how to use the pen.

I have been using it for the last seven months and must say it is the easiest tool I have used. It does what it says it does and does it well.
I guess one can say that the pen is on the thicker side, but I have found that once you use it for a while it is not a problem. Actually according to some pen manufacturers, thicker pens are better for you because it minimizes writing stress.

So how does it do it you might be asking yourself. Simple, the pen requires that you use special paper (called Dot Paper) which has microdots in the background. This allows the built-in infrared camera to record every stroke of the pen. I can say from experience that this technology is remarkably accurate, the pen seems to record even the tiniest wiggle of the pen.
The paper comes in various forms, there are spiral-bound notebooks, journals (lined and blank), and notepads for starters. When I received the pen, I thought the price of the paper was going to be expensive, but it is not. The prices are pretty much similar to those of other high end paper products.

In order to get the most of the pen, one has to use a computer. Livescribe Desktop comes for Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. Like the pen, the software is easy to use. One of the best features of the software is it’s handwriting recognition. When searching for a specific word or phrase, the software is able to find it even when I don’t write it down too well (which is somewhat often). The desktop software does not do translation (taking your chicken scratch and turning it into text), but there are software packages out there that work with it that can do this.

This alone makes this a worthwhile tool, but it does more. The pen is also able to record audio. It can do this while you write or not. The included headset also has microphones so that when plugged into the pen one can record audio in 3D (easier to determine who said what in a meeting). It does this while keeping track of what one is writing while it records the audio. When you synchronize your pen to the computer all the writing and audio is transferred to it. The software displays the writing that has audio associated with it in green so you can tell where the recorded audio starts and ends. One of the niftiest features is where you can actually playback audio on the pen itself. To initiate playback, one just has to touch the notes that you were writing while it was recording the audio.
It also has the ability to create movies of what you write where it will play it back on your pen (why one would do this I don’t know, but it is neat).
There are also additional features that are just prototypes at the moment (the ability to translate a written word to another language), but do seem promising.

If you just look at what the pen currently can do, this is one tool that no student or business professional can do without. It has made my life better at home and at work.

I liked the characters as they were portrayed particularly because they were almost identically like the book. I also liked that the magic was not the focal point of the story, just like in the book. The final battle scene was a bit of a let down for me, I pictured it more dramatic but I do have to say that Mr. Chris Columbus did work very hard to ensure the movie did not stray from the book. The one thing that I wished they had done was selected younger actors to play the characters. I can’t see how those involved did not think that the other books would not be made into film. If they would have chosen actors that were three to four years younger they would be able to grow with the movies and look the part better.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by Chris Columbus was a very good adaptation of the book and I must commend Mr. Columbus for keeping his artistic license in check and translating the feeling of the book to his film without altering the story. I would highly recommend this movie.

Some of these books have had a mind altering effect on me others just made me think. I know there will be more books to add to the list, but here I list the top ten in no particular order.

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
I was introduced to this book by my 8th grade teacher (I think.. I know it was a teacher, but am fuzzy about the grade). He was very much into this book and used it throughout the year to teach us everything from grammar to how to write using the Futhorc runes. The book introduced me to the world of fantasy. I was unable to put it down the first time I read it.

The Lord Of The Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Of course, once you read the Hobbit you must read the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. I truly enjoyed this book (although it is a series of books, you can find it in one physical book so I am counting it as one). The first time I read it, I was somewhat confused by the many references to historical (for the story) events. This is one of the very few books that I have read more than once.

Z For Zacharia by Robert C. O’Brien
This book was the first book I read which I just picked up off the shelf without knowing what it was about. The synopsis on the back intrigued me enough that I had to read it. I did not want the story to end when I got to the last page. I found the book in the Young Adult’s section of the Queens, NY library I was a frequent patron of, I spent many months in that section looking for and reading many good books.

Pet’s Cementary by Stephen King
This book introduced me to Stephen King. To date he is my favorite author. The story had me riveted, and I have to admit it scared me a little. When I was almost finished with the book, it was late at night and I was alone in the living room. The description of the living room was so similar to where I sat that I had to stop and check the house to ensure that nothing undead was in there with me trying to finish me off. Since then I have read almost everything that has come from Mr. Stephen King and quite a few of his books have left an imprint on me.

Birthright – The Book Of Man by Mike Resnick
This book, I recently read and was one of those I could not put down. The book could actually be called a collection of short stories, because each chapter is it’s own story with different characters. All the stories are linked to each other by the time line that goes throughout the book. If you enjoy reading science fiction or just like thinking about the future of mankind, I would highly recommend this book.

Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier by Suelette Dreyfus
If technology interests you in any way, this is a great book. It tells the story of the start of the Hacker Underground. This is not a work of fiction, but more of a dramatized account of factual events. This book allows you to see how we have come to where we are. Many of the technologies we have today are due to some of the events that are described in this book.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
This story introduced me to John Irving. It is the story of a man who recounts his friendship with a small boy named Owen Meany. The events that take place are used by the narrator to explain why his faith is what it is. Although the story does feel like it can get preachy, it actually does not. It is such a good story that I recommend it often to those that I meet that haven’t read it.

Thurston House by Danielle Steele
One summer, my mother had us stay with our grandmother. She had several books in the house and I began to go through them. I read Amityville Horror, Jaws, a couple of books on the mafia, and some others that I can’t remember. Each time I went to the shelf, I would see the Thurston House by Danielle Steele book. I would move it aside and pick something else to read. At the time, I only knew of Danielle Steele as a writer of “women’s novels”. I thought that the book would be some sappy love story that I would not enjoy. A few weeks into our stay, I had read every book in the house except for this one. After a while I couldn’t hold off any longer and I picked the book up. To my utter suprise, I was captivated by the book. It is a great story about a family and what their lives are like through generations. I couldn’t put the book down. At night, (after my grandmother turned off the lights) I would read using the light streaming in through the window from the street light. This book taught me never to judge a book by it’s cover (or author for that matter).

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
If history books were written more like Bill Bryson’s book, we would have way more people interested in history today. This book takes a subject that is considered boring to most and makes it unbelievably interesting. The title does not mislead either, the book covers everything from the universe to our founding fathers. What is so great about this book is that it takes historical facts and makes them more interesting by recounting events or things about the people involved that makes them more human. It literally makes you relate to history. I would highly recommend this book to all, especially those with children.

On Writing by Stephen King
The only reason I picked up this book was because it was written by Stephen King. I am glad that I did though. I was always interested in writing, but thought that the only way one can write stories and novels is by going to school and dedicating themselves to this. After reading this book, I realized that writing can be done by anyone. It may not be good writing, but if one keeps practicing it does get better. So I guess I must thank Mr. King for not only encouraging my love of reading, but encouraging me to write. If you have thought about writing anything and thought that it would be too difficult, read this book and I think you’ll realize (as I did) that anyone can do this (perhaps not as good as Mr. King, but it is possible).

As I came to the end of my list, I thought of other books that have had a lasting impression on me: The Stand by Stephen King, Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card are just a few. I know that there will be more to come as well. I have decided to review each book I read from now on. Maybe something I read will inspire someone else to pick up a book and expand their world.