HOMETOWN BANDS: Disc jockey Mimi Chen, above,...

HOMETOWN BANDS: Disc jockey Mimi Chen, above, is used to begging musicians. They try to bribe her too. She hears from them every day at KSCA-FM. . . . All they want is to be a part of her nightly show, “Local Spotlight,” which features a song by a local band waiting to be discovered (F19).

HAPPY HOWLIDAYS: “Rocket” could be barking up a tree near you this Christmas. . . . He ain’t nothing like a hound dog either. He’s top dog in a recording duo, with a new album. It’s called “The Jingle Dogs: Christmas Unleashed.” Rocket’s owner, Mike Spalla, is the guy who brought the world “Jingle Cats.” The felines sing backup vocals for the dogs (F1B). Also in Valley Calendar this week: counting birds and saving on toys.

OPEN SPACE: Make way for a new 12-acre park in Sherman Oaks Canyon. . . . The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy board Monday approved a land swap by trading land with the Buckley School. That means the preservation of an almost pristine glen, thanks in part to the efforts of author Harlan Ellison. . . .

ME JANE, YOU TARZAN: Ellison wants to name the park for Edgar Rice Burroughs. As the story goes, Burroughs was inspired to write “Tarzan” while on outings in the area. But there’s not much enthusiasm for this idea. The image of the helpless woman, associated with Tarzan, “might not be exactly what we want to portray,” says the conservancy’s John Diaz. . . . Responds the author’s grandson, Danton Burroughs: People are thinking about the movie. “She wasn’t weak in the book.”