Blogwatch: in brief

First up, a couple of projects which demand your participation:

Following the success of last year's Shuffleathon, Swiss Toni's doing it all over again. The premise is simple: you register and make a mixtape (well, a CD, now that it's the 21st century an' that) featuring songs that say something about you which is then sent to another participant drawn at random. You in turn receive a compilation from someone else, give it a listen and post some thoughts on your blog. Last year Martin was the recipient of my selection, while I got a great CD from Mandy of I Have Ordinary Addictions, so I signed up eagerly. You can too, by going here sharpish before Swiss closes the registration.

And then, on a similarly musical note, there's Going Deaf For A Fortnight. Originally conceived and carried out in 2005 by Pete Ashton, it involved going to a gig (preferably a local one) every night for a fortnight, and writing about it. Last year fellow Brum resident RussL took up the gauntlet, and this year it's being thrown open to anyone who wants to give it a go. It kicks off on 6th October, and there's even a new website dedicated to the project where reviews and links can be pooled. Annoyingly I'm going to be off on my travels from the 6th for the entire duration of the fortnight, but at least I'm hoping I'll be able to catch a gig or two while I'm away.

Elsewhere:

Del sets a mini music quiz.

The Last Bus Home finds himself unable to meet famous people who don't have the surname Reid.

The Overnight Editor reports on all the things he's been told to do by inanimate objects in the last month.