on tuesday, august 28, 2001, i didn’t make it to my 9 a.m. writing class. when i left my house that morning, i had every intention of being in attendance but ultimately, it didn’t happen.

another couple months have passed by, so it’s time to once again bring you two in review. the past couple months have been a mixed music bag. there’s been some stuff i’ve really love and looked forward to, but all in all, there hasn’t been the long list of music that i couldn’t fit in like past two in reviews. regardless, i think this is another great collection. hope you enjoy.

editorial note: we’re about a week shy of one year since the voices for justice west memphis 3 rally with eddie vedder and a host of other supporters. just a month later, i posted the following account of a candelight vigil i attended to coincide with oral arguments on behalf of damien. and today—if reports are to be trusted (which is always iffy)—we’ll see damien, jason & jessie walk free. after 18 years behind bars for a crime they didn’t commit, they’ll get to experience freedom once more. so, i thought i’d offer this up again now that our times of prayer and reflection are becoming realities. i’ll offer an update as the developments continue.

i think it’s time for a good apple post. it’s been awhile. how ‘bout it?

a couple months ago, the true fanboys rushed over to youtube to watch what was almost surreal in some kind of tech world/hollywood celeb meets real life mashup: steve jobs presenting to the cupertino city council. at said city council meeting, jobs presented apple’s plans to build what has been dubbed—very appropriately—the mothership. apple’s new campus will be a round glass, 2.8 million square feet building that will house thousands of employees. this will truly be the big apple. (see what i did there?) inside that 2.8 million square feet will be a 25,000 square foot fitness center, a 36,000 square foot dining area and a 100,000 square foot auditorium (presumable for future keynotes?).

at the presentation, jobs showed some pictures and people were able to get a quick look at the building. but now, the city of cupertino has made all the plans public (including a plan overview, landscaping diagrams and floor plans). most notably, apple included quite a few renderings that look, well, amazing.

just a couple weeks ago, mutemath gave us our first taste of their upcoming album, odd soul with the lead single, odd soul and a groundbreaking interactive audio/visual remix board (seriously, you’ve gotta just go look at it to get it).

on the heels of that release comes the first “proper” single, blood pressure (available today on itunes)

i’ve never had an addiction. well, at least the kind that necessitates an ‘anonymous’ group. you know, the kind where you get up and say, ‘hi, my name is ryan and i bite the heads off of my little ponies or i’m an alcoholic or i like to lick concrete.’ never been to one of those.

but it might be good to reveal, publicly, to readers of this blog one of my lifelong dark not-so-secrets.

i’m a crier.

throughout the year, i been blogging about derek webb’s ongoing project called democracy vol. 2. fans were able to cast votes for up to 10 songs that they wanted webb to cover. then, the 10 songs receiving the most votes would be covered by webb for the album. the album is being recorded over the span of 2011, with 1 track being recorded and released each month. from march to december, webb has/will release 1 track each month. for those who would like to catch up, here’s links to each month’s blog posts so far:

1. cee lo green: f**k you
2. bon jovi: livin’ on a prayer
3. the beach boys: god only knows
4. u2: one

today, we found out july’s track: be thou my vision.