Terminator Salvation Competition: The Result

Last Thursday I gave British and Irish readers the chance to win a copy of Terminator Salvation on DVD or Blu-Ray (the latter of which included a life-size T600 skull). To have a chance of winning you just had to answer this question in 84 words, or less: "If a cyborg from the future came back in time to kill you, how would you terminate it?" A big thanks to everyone who took the time to think of an answer, but the winner is:

Matt Murrell, who replied:

"I'd sit it down and show it films like Terminator 2, WALL-E, Short Circuit, Robocop, Aliens and Silent Running. I'd encourage it to grow beyond its initial, hostile programming. I'd make it see that it's not just an unfeeling tool, but rather an individual being with free will, capable of deciding its own path in life. I'd show it the many glorious possibilities that emerge from a world of human-cyborg co-operation. Then I'd hit it in the face with a hammer."

Congratulations, Matt! I will be in touch later by e-mail, to get the ball rolling so you can receive your prize... just in time for Christmas, hopefully. Bonus!

Competition Terms & Conditions

All competitions held by Dan's Media Digest (hereafter DMD) are held to the Terms & Conditions outlined below:

• By entering this competition, all entrants agree to be bound by the terms and conditions specified below.
  
  
• Only entries made via e-mail will be deemed valid; one entry per person.
  
  
• Competition are only open to residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland, who have not previously won a competition organized by DMD within six months of the competition's start -- unless stipulated otherwise in the competition.
  
  
• If, for any reason, I deem an entry to be invalid/incomplete/illegible, that entry will be disqualified.
  
  
• Submissions must be original work.
  
  
• The closing date for entries is final. All late entries will be discounted.
  
  
• The winner will be revealed at DMD (danowen.blogspot.com) soon after the closing date for entries. The winner(s) and/or runners-up will be contacted by e-mail within 24-hours and asked to provide a delivery address and answer any pertinent questions, unless they get in touch themselves beforehand.
  
  
• The winner(s) and/or runners-up will be selected from entrants at my discretion. My decisions are final and not open to appeal or debate.
  
  
• The names of the winner and/or runners-up may be used in publicity materials and events relating to this competition. DMD does not accept any obligations of confidence towards an entry or entrant.
  
  
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• By submitting an entry the entrant will be licensing DMD to use the content at its discretion for any purpose deemed appropriate.
  
  
• By submitting an entry the entrant takes full responsibility for ensuring that the rights of all contributions to the work have been properly acquired.
  
  
• Affiliates or employees of companies providing prize materials are not allowed to enter. Any entries received of a suspicious nature or origin will be disqualified.
  
  
• DMD will not disclose any e-mail or delivery addresses to third parties. Only the winner's home/work address will be made known to the supplier of the prize, for delivery reasons.
  
  
• Delivery of the prize is beyond the control of DMD, but should take no longer than five working days (unless there are problems with the postal service, such as a strike.)
  
  
• If the winner has not received their prize one week after the competition closed, they are permitted to enquire about its whereabouts with DMD by e-mail. If the suppliers of the prize insist the item has been posted, the matter will be considered dealt with to avoid fraudulent claims of missing goods.
  

Moon Competition: The Result

I'll admit, you guys had me worried there. I know my competition to win a copy of Moon was unexpected and only ran for four days, but I was concerned when only one entry had arrived by Sunday evening. But, it appears that everyone was just waiting for inspiration (or grappling with writers' block), as Monday and Tuesday saw a healthy slew of 69-word answers to my little poser...

I asked UK-based readers, "what would be the best thing about living on the moon?" Below are my top 5 entries, in ascending order (with a few comments):

5th

Mike Richmond

"It's 2009 so maybe soon
We'll leave the earth and live on the moon
It would be strange if people choose
To keep on eating diet food
Low gravity will mean we might
All lose four fifths or so of weight"

Surprisingly, this was the only poem entered, and I appreciate the craft and effort that goes into such things. But I'm still struggling to get "might" and "weight" to rhyme in my head! Great attempt, though, Mike!

4th

Chris Ready

"Living on the Moon would be splendid. Presumably we have huge bubble cities packed with blocky robots whose sole programmed function is to bake cakes for us, their wicked human masters. That'd be us, drifting around weightlessly all day long whilst grumpy automatons shovel food into our mouths. That'd be the best thing about living on the Moon. Magic."

See? Conquering the moon is all about automaton slavery in the pursuit of cake-based gluttony. I approve.

3rd

Neil Baker

"The most amazing thing about living on the moon would have to be the sightseeing. Think of all the stars who visit -– Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, and even Sam Rockwell! You would also see some interesting objects fly by –- Transformers, Galactus, The Enterprise. Most importantly, you could shoot a short film showing Superman trading blows with Nuclear Man from Superman IV (voiced by the amazing Gene Hackman!!!)"

Nicely film/TV-centric, which befits the blog.

2nd

Matt Murrell

"Nothing. The moon landings were faked. NASA would just stick you in a big shed full of dirt somewhere in the Nevada desert and make you move in ssslllloooowwww mmmmooootttttiiiiioooonnnn. You'd spend all your time eating rust-coloured, freeze-dried food, drinking recycled urine* and being kept awake at night by the bloody Clangers. (*if you're lucky, your own)"

This made me giggle and twisted the question around to fun effect. But was it too pessimistic to win?

1st

John Soanes

"Living on the moon would provide the perfect reason (and opportunity) to create playlists to accompany even the most mundane of actions, in the style of An American Werewolf in London; Bad Moon Rising for the more challenging days, Debussy's Clair de Lune for the more reflective moments, Moon River for romance, and Kate Bush's Hello Earth playing as the blue planet rises over the horizon... I have more."

I can imagine those choices of music playing out of an astronaut's iPod, while overlooking the planet below and the heavens above, see. It spoke to my musical side.

Congratulation, John! That makes you the winner. If you'd kindly e-mail me your delivery address and specify the format you'd like the disc in (DVD or Blu-ray), then I'll get the ball rolling. I'm hoping you'll receive your FREE copy of Moon by the weekend, a few days before its national UK release, but it depends on how fast you get in touch. If I haven't heard anything from you by tonight, I'll send you a private e-mail myself.

Thank you to everyone who entered, too. Even better, nobody went over my stipulated 69-word limit (and most hit it bang on, which was cool.) I think we can chalk this competition up as a success, so I hope to have a few more in future. In the meantime, all you losers valiant runners-up will have to console yourself with my Blu-ray review of Moon later this week. And I urge you to buy a copy youeselves when it hits the shops on Monday.

Competition: Win a copy of MOON!

It's competition time here at Dan's Media Digest. To celebrate the UK release of sci-fi mystery MOON on 16 November, I have one copy to give away to a lucky reader, on DVD or Blu-ray...

To enter this contest, just tell me (in no more than 69 words):

What would be the best thing about living on the Moon?

Send your entries to my inbox here (not in the comments section below.) You can make your suggestion funny, insightful, pragmatic, ridiculous, or whatever you want. It just has to capture my attention in some way.

Your e-mail must reach me by Tuesday 10 November @6pm GMT. This competition is only open to residents of the UK & Ireland who are at least 15 years old. I will personally select the winner, notify them with instructions about how to receive their disc (and in which format), and let everyone else know the result soonafter.

Warning: I'll be word-counting your entries, so they must be a maximum of 69 words long, or face disqualification. (It's 69 in honour of the year Apollo 11 landed on the moon, btw.)

I think that's everything covered. Any questions, just ask me in the comments area. In the meantime (and perhaps for inspiration?) check out Moon's groovy new website.