It is with great pleasure to introduce you to our dear friend Mark Stephen Pomianowski, known only as Sparky. He is a kind of Bay Area legend, infamous for his sense of humor, and his constant confrontations with wild (and quite literal) death defying situations.

“Sparx” (for short) was Russell’s Ashtanga Yoga student in San Francisco, as well as a great master of Chinese Medicine who helped cure Russell’s sciatica. Later, he became Russell’s teacher in acupuncture.

Sparky plays bass and classical guitar. His teacher is Jack Casady, the bassist for Jefferson Airplane—who in turn was the childhood friend of Jorma Kaukonen (the guitarist for Jefferson Airplane and the composer of their Embryonic Journey) and Sparky’s classical guitar teacher. If you listen to the end of the show you will hear Sparky give an impromptu, unrehearsed rendition of that song that left us breathless and speechless.

Sparky’s first life took shape as a student of the guitar and aspiring musician. Currently, he’s a sailboat captain, but first, many years ago, he somehow became a midshipman engineer (with no training and nearly died in by electrocution on a Sheik’s yacht in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean).

In another life he traveled as a roadie for R.E.M and became their lighting technician along with the Feelies. Also a Greenpeace rep, who Michael Stipe told in no uncertain terms to quit chasing a rock band and get on following his purpose as an acupuncturist. This sent him to China where he trained as a Chinese Medical doctor—and returned to practice acupuncture in the Bay Area, where he met Russell.

Sparky is also a surfer (who nearly died just last week by a great white shark attack), a yogi, and most of all a father of three, who you’ll hear crawling all over him, in the background during this insanely hilarious episode!

Listen Now…

The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.

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Opening and closing music compliments of my dear friend teaching Ashtanga yoga in Eindhoven, Nick Evans, with his band “dawnSong” from the album “for Morgan.”

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