Merrick here...
...with a pretty cool opportunity. James Cameron's AVATAR doesn't hit theaters until December 18, but Abrams' THE ART OF AVATAR book is out today. It's quite lovely, featuring approximately 108 pages of high quality images chronicling the design of the film. In essence, the book is broken into sections covering specific design elements of the film (forest creatures, specific vehicles,etc.) Each of these sections features brief contextualization/intro material, but the rest is pretty much art. Lots of it, and most of it's well presented and beautiful. The book, authored by Lisa Fitzpatrick, features a Preface by Peter Jackson, a Foreward by Producer Jon Landau, and an Epilogue by Cameron. As indicated above, the emphasis here in on images - conceptual & developmental art pertaining to a gamut of designs: spaceships (The Valkyrie Shuttle), aerial vehicles (the helicopter-like "Samson" we've seen in the trailers)…
...military compounds, Na'vi in forests...
Flying beasties (Banshees)...
Mech (AMP Suits)...
....jungle monsters (like the Viper Wolf), and much, much more. So how do you put this fine publication in your hands? Simple! We have three (3) copies to give away. For a chance to receive one...
** Sometime between the time you read this and 11:59 PM CST USA on Thursday December 3, send an e-mail to me VIA THE LINK BELOW. You can enter twice a day for the contest's duration. ** I've already pre-selected ONE time of day on each of the three days between now (Tuesday December 1) and Thursday December 3. The person who e-mails me at (or closest to) one of these pre-selected times will receive 1 (one) copy of the book. NOTE: I've been asked this before, so...for clarity...I'm using whatever time is stamped on the Yahoo mailing address established for this contest as the determiner. I'm in Central Time USA, so I guess that's a CST time stamp (?). ** Include your name and mailing address in this e-mail. The address is to expedite prize shipment only and will be summarily discarded once book recipients are chosen. No spam, no mailing lists, etc. ** CONTEST IS OPEN TO INTERNATIONAL READERS!!! ** Be sure to send from an ACTIVE (and frequently checked) E-MAIL ACCOUNT. If I try to reach you & my message bounces back? I'll trash your win and move on to the next closest/winning contestant I can reach. ** The three recipients will be announced 'round early next week. ** Abrams will have your addresses in hand by or before next Wednesday (Dec 9) morning & they've been kind enough to handle fulfillment in this contest. ** As a general FYI, you should know that...due to the number and frequency of entries...recipients in past contests were sometimes selected by matters of seconds. Literally.
To enter, simply...

BEHOLD PANDORA!!!

Have fun with this, and best of luck! You should be able to find THE ART OF AVATAR in bookstores today or tomorrow or so; it can also be ordered HERE. More information can be found at Abrams website HERE.
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