As was said Thursday night at Capone's, good match making Trifecta Alan! The Larch shared a bill with Swagg and quality jangle-pop was enjoyed by all. The generous bar keep brought us a second round before we even started playing, and we stayed a while getting to know our new Swagg friends, and I was as tipsy as I ever wanna be by the time we left. Friday morning I got up earlier than usual, bleary and feeling the effects of that fourth glass. It's always the fourth glass... There are two things that help settle the stomach, and ignoring it by watching TV is one of them. So I switch on the tube (it's like 7:23 a.m.) and on comes the breakfast-cheery propaganda of fox five news, and just as I turn it on the anchor is saying "And now to check the traffic, our own Lani Ford" and who is looking very chipper and professional and extremely pretty while I am staring agape at the TV screen, but the same Lani Ford of Stark , the same Stark we saw play at Manitoba's on Monday. What a trip! Congratulations Lani Ford you completely blew my mind. John Pinamonti's live recording show at Sunny's on Friday night was as impressively focused, smooth and genuine as I expected. He plays with the highest caliper of musicians across the board, and this show was no exception, but if you like guitar players the masterful Rod Hohl must be called out. Both he and John are a pleasure to watch, and I felt especially privileged to enjoy music in the back room of Sunny's, a cozy art cabin of a space where we were practically in the lap of the band, and adjoining tables have no choice but to interact with each other. It's been a great few days all 'round. The private party in NJ was just marvelous. We played for about five hours, and in the break between the second and third set there was a record-breaking crack-up during which I fell down from laughing so hard.