It's Here! The Monthly Mix Contest!

I try to take good care of my little Damper Pedal blog, but I feel like it's been lacking, oh, I don't know, some element of inconsequential and unpredictable competition. I've also recently gotten back into the lost art of the mixtape (well, mix CDs now). So today, I'm rolling out the Monthly Mix Contest.

Look to your right and you'll see a new polling feature in the sidebar under "Monthly Mix." Here's how it works:

• I'll post three themes/ideas for a custom mix CD, either my own or based on your suggestions.
• Over the course of the month, I'll announce a little contest (different each month) to decide who gets a CD chock full of new music from my favorite artists. (Fair warning: while the contests will hopefully be fair and transparent, they will also be completely self-serving. I have no qualms about sending hordes of you, my loyal readers, out into the Internets to do my bidding. Mwa ha ha ha ha!)
• I'll announce the winner here on Damper Pedal (unless they're shy); meanwhile, another poll will go up for the next mix contest.
• Repeat steps 1-3.

I've posted three of my own ideas to get us started. If you have a theme or idea you want to go into the next poll, leave your suggestions in the comments here.

Like they say in Chicago: vote early, vote often!