What better place to see Rilo than at First Avenue, the setting of Purple Rain?

The show was, once again, really fun — extra fun to see them with Jamie and Erin. The only downside was that they played the same setlist as the previous night. The upside was that this show included a blacklight. And new outfits - well, at least for the females.

I have to say once again, that I’m loving Smoke Detector, Breakin’ Up, and Fifteen live. Also, Jenny refers to Give A Little Love as an ode to LL Cool J. As much as they tried to do a more rock live version of the song, there were still clearly some slow-jam head bobs from the band with accompanied slow jam expressions on their faces (read: confident, sexy, smooth, a little attitude — pursed lips and near squinting).

I also wanted to note that I thought the opening band Grand Ole Party was really good. Their album, Humanimals was produced by Blake Sennett. Check it out if you get the chance…they have a MySpace page where you can hear a few songs. The lead singer has a strong, distinctive voice, and she plays drums. There are also two guitarists named John Paul and Mike. They’re from San Diego and their songs are pretty catchy and danceable in a rock way.

Awesome. They always put on a good show. Jenny’s got some new moves for their new songs - especially Smoke Detector, which follows in the tradition of The Frug in its celebration of random (and made-up?) dance moves. There were lots of smiles; the band looked like they were having fun and the crowd was into it. They played a good mix of old and new stuff. I totally forgot about the song I Never and it was great live. Jenny’s voice sounds better than ever. I think she has acquired more range; loved hearing Close Call and her vocal stylings near the end of the song.

Hearing the new songs live makes me like them even better. The disco/cheesiness/ballad/beats/performance/fun vibe really works in a live setting — so much better than on the cd. There was a definite dance party going on during Breakin’ Up, and Fifteen is a really fun, lively song, especially for being about creepy internet stalkers preying on underage girls. There’s all this talk about the 70s influence and Fleetwood Mac, and while I can definitely hear the 70s influence, the record is also very 80s to me. Some of it could really be the result of hitting the “demo” button on an old Casio…and this band has never disguised their love of the 80s. And I don’t think it’s an ironic/tongue-in-cheek kind of love either, it’s the real thing. That’s what I love about them. That was a bit of a digression…just on my mind.

Greetings in Braille (which I’ve been listening to a lot lately even though it’s years old…it really is a good song) and Rise Up With Fists were thrown in there. They opened with It’s a Hit, closed with Does He Love Her? and had a bunch of good songs in between, including Portions for Foxes, Spectacular Views, Wires and Waves, and With Arms Outstretched (always a crowd favorite, sing-a-long style).

I’m heading to Minnesota tomorrow, where I get to see them again with my sisters - reunion! I’m excited. More to come.

I’ve been scanning some old photos taken with my old Lomo camera (that is sadly now broken) to create a lomo wall/home at the Lomographic Society, something I’ve been wanting to do just for about, oh, nine years now. Finally I am on my way.

In honor of my newfound motivation, and to continue my wave of nostalgia, I will be posting a lomo photo a day for the next few days, or until I tire of it.

First one to correctly guess what this line is from wins a prize.

“We did. We had a time.”

To: Michigan Wolverines
From: Lindsay Trapnell
Time: 4:05. 2 minutes to halftime against Oregon. I guess you were out playing, if that’s what you call it.
Message: Seriously? No, but I mean, really. Are you kidding me? It’s not funny.
Return call: Please do not.

I left a roll of film that I finished awhile back with LH in L.A. to get developed at Freestyle, thinking it would be harder to find a place that develops medium format film here in Omaha. I recently received the photos, so here are some of them.

From L to R: Rakiya, Tavis, Bersabell and Laura on my old street, Lyman Place.

Sunny C.A.

Hangin’ on Vermont St.

I’ve really been wanting to take more film photos lately as opposed to digital, and this only increases my motivation. Film has a quality that you really can’t replicate with digital, especially with the Holga and its imperfections. Half of the roll was shot because of a light leak. I’m going to take care of that and shoot some more. I also have another Holga with colored flashes that I have yet to put to great use. I tend to ration and save things I really love, so much so sometimes to the point of not using them.

Today I had my second day of training for my second job in the Academic Resource Center at MCC. The intent for the training days are for me to become familiar with the different computer programs that the students will be using in the center. Yesterday I was doing long division, dividing decimals, and calculating fractions. I started without scratch paper and quickly realized that was a mistake. Today I tested my reading comprehension and speed.

From the reading passages alone, I learned about Gail Borden, who invented evaporated milk by heating it in a vacuum. At that time, there was no refrigeration, and spoiled milk led to many deaths of infants and children. He also recognized a need for portable food that would not spoil easily. He also started using health inspections to ensure that the machinery and process was sanitary. He was really a pioneer for modern food processing and its inspection processes. I also read about workaholics, ritual apologies, WW II women spies, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

One of the reading training games would quickly flash words (it starts with one and progresses to four) and then you have to find and click those words amongst a large group of words. Sometimes the word pairings create unlikely phrases. My favorite was, “talented boys cry politely.” I agree.

The back to school fall craze and my sisters embarking on their own college experience has me thinking back to the good old days.

Ah, 118. You will always have a special place in my heart. A group of seven of us resided here Sophomore year. That’s my window to the left right above the porch roof. Yes, I did go out there sometimes.

The house where Jamie, Laura and I lived Senior year on Church Street in beautiful Ann Arbor.

The Graduate Library where I diligently worked in the Stacks shelving, organizing, call number reading/checking, wheeling my squeaky cart around, listening to music, and surreptitiously reading. I braved my allergies because I loved the job so much. I had to take a speed filing test on both the Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal system to get the job and passed with flying colors.

The incomparable NYPD. That’s New York Pizza Depot. So good. Spent a majority of my hours, especially late night ones, with friends within these walls.