Donita Sparks

Here’s some video weirdness for you from Japan. Apparently a recent study revealed that mechanical pets, over time, are as effective as real pets in treating loneliness with the elderly in nursing homes. I’ve watched these YouTube clips numerous times. My cats are as pissed at me as a drummer listening to a drum machine.

My band The Stellar Moments and I had a great time in Brazil last week. The shows in Sao Jose dos Campos and Sao Paulo were a blast and we got to meet a lot of cool people. Rock and Roll is very big in Brazil. The fans are totally passionate and un-jaded.

Hey everybody, Fini Finito here. Donita caught a flight to Brazil yesterday and so I am filling in for her today while she does a couple of shows in Brazil tonight and tomorrow night. I've got the second part of her podcast with her Goddess of Thunder Lady Dee Plakas wherein they play for us four more tracks off Transmiticate.

Greeting everyone! I’m very happy to present this advance listening party of my upcoming record “Transmiticate” to the Firedoglake community. Joining me talking about the record, which releases on Tuesday, February 19th, is my longtime drummer and partner in crime Lady Dee Plakas. My band The Stellar Moments and I want to thank everyone here at Firedoglake for their support. We hope you like our baby.

As some of you may know, my very first solo record that has taken me through a lot of trials and tribulations is finally coming out this month on February 19th. With all of the stuff I’ve been doing in preparation for the release date, I’ve been living in “deadline” mode for the last two months straight and I now have the swollen glands the size of golf-balls around my right ear to prove it.

Perfect timing with this week’s Mardi Gras festivities upon New Orleans, singer, songwriter and badass bass wizard Abby Travis just released a very cool song on iTunes called LIES, featuring The Bangles. The song was inspired by the Bad Decider in the White House, and the heartbreaking tragedy/fiasco that followed Katrina on his watch.

Well let’s see, this week CD sales are down blah blah blah, downloads don’t fill the financial gaps blah blah blah. Personally, I’ve just been getting my kicks from all of the leaked Tom Cruise Scientology videos and parodies on YouTube all week.

Walking into any Guitar Center store is a sensory overload experience. One is immediately hit with fluorescent lighting and a cacophony of guitars, drums, and keyboards all playing different things at the same time. It’s an instant headache, but the store does have...

Reality Art Playlist The Spin I'm In VH1 has had some genius trash culture “reality” programming the last few years. The best of them have been Strange Love chronicling the relationship between Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav and actress Bridgette Nielsen, and the reality dating shows Flavor of Love, and Rock of Love starring Flavor Flav and Brett Michaels (of Poison). But no one has come as close to Andy Kaufman-esque put-on/ reality like “New York” and “Sister Patterson” from this season’s “I Love New York 2”.

First off, let me say that I have total YouTube clip envy of Christy's Chet Atkins video in the last post. So to curb my jealousy I'm going to lay down a little Oscar Peterson, who passed away last week at his home in Mississauga, Ontario