Celebrate USA’s Character Project with a BC Giveaway!

Have you ever watched someone do their thing, be it a ridiculously unfunny bit of shtick, lambasting an unsuspecting waiter for no good reason, or recite both parts of "Who's on First?" all by themselves. What do you think to yourself when that happens? Don't know? Well, I'll tell you, you think to yourself "gee, he's quite a character." I myself never think the "gee" part, but I certainly imagine you to, it's one of those things that makes you quite a character, the "gee." If you said "golly" you'd just be foolish, but the "gee" I think is swell. Hey, "swell," that's another good one, I like "swell," but I don't really think it fits before "he's quite a character." Maybe if you said "That's swell! I tell ya, he's quite a character," it would work, but then you're adding more than just the "swell" bit, aren't you? Let's leave it at "gee" and move on, shall we?

Let's…

So, characters. It's not necessarily bad to be a character, I like characters, I'm one of those people who think to themselves "Characters Welcome." Yes, I thought "Characters Welcome" well before USA ever made that they're slogan, I don't begrudge them using a thought I once had, I'm convinced they didn't steal it from me, and it really seems to work with their general ethos.

Now, I don't know if you knew this, but USA has been expanding this whole "Character" notion, and just recently started the "Character Project." Rather than my explaining the whole thing to you though, I'm going to let one of their wordsmiths do it:

USA Network announces the launch of Character Project, an ongoing artistic initiative to celebrate the extraordinary people, from all walks of life, who make this country unique. Inspired by USA’s iconic “Characters Welcome” brand, and with the support of the not-for-profit photography organization Aperture Foundation, USA assembled a team of 11 world-class photographers to capture the character of America during the summer of 2008. The artists’ work is showcased in the powerful photography book entitled American Character: A Photographic Journey(Chronicle Books), which features a foreword by best-selling author and former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw.

American Character features the work of legendary artists Mary Ellen Mark and Sylvia Plachy as well as Dawoud Bey, Jeff Dunas, David Eustace, Eric Ogden and emerging talents Marla Rutherford, Anna Mia Davidson, Joe Fornabaio, Eric McNatt and Richard Renaldi. Each photographer provides a provocative perspective on our nation’s most compelling characters. From high school football players in Brownwood, Texas and organic farmers in the Northwest, to residents of Alaska, famous left-of-center musicians and the people connected by a single transcontinental road, the book celebrates the distinct characters and varied pockets of life that make our country great.

In order to help USA celebrate their doing of good (to learn more about the Character Project click here), we're going to do a little bit of good ourselves, we're going to give out free stuff! Woo-hoo!

We've got two prize packs to giveaway, each of which contains the aforementioned book, a t-shirt, and a Character Project poster. Gee, that's swell, isn't it?
Okay, the rules (these plus the ones on the entry page):

• Fill out the entry form.
• Entries must be received by April 11, 2009.
• The winner will be drawn on or after April 12, 2009.
• The winner will be notified by e-mail and in the comments section below.
• You must be a U.S. resident to enter.