Dana’s Column Archive

Dear Reader,

you might have already anticipated that this project called “Dana’s Hollywood” has been… completed.
This blog has been a great success and gained a large following in Germany, especially after a national TV station reported about my work during evening prime time back in spring last year. This blog also helped me in establishing a relationship with a large German newspaper that wanted me to write for them about “Living in Hollywood”.

So I want to thank all my readers for their interest and the many clicks (visits), which still continue to date–a pretty amazing fact considering that there were no updates for a while. I believe that these people find some content on here that is pretty timeless. Feel free to browse around a bit to see a roundabout of three years of work and dedication to an idea that used to sparked my interest.

Since I love to live an exciting life with never ending sparks I decided to plan on a new venture.

Keep a stiff upper lip.

Dana

Michael Quinn Pizarro has one particular passion: girls with tattoos. One can tell because they are his favorite models. Actually, he combines the pin-up style of the Fifties with nowadays pop art. To top it off, he also draws from his Hispanic roots.
When I met him recently at an art gallery in L.A. he said: “If I’m feeling something and I’m passionate about it, I will paint or want to draw it. Everything I see can inspire me to paint.”

Michael Pazzaro at Blue Canvas

Harrison Ford’s son Ben(jamin) usually does not appear in the news—seems he prefers the quiet life. On the other hand, can you refer to the life of a cook and restaurant owner as “quiet”? Maybe not so much… anyway–

The name of the place is Ford’s Filling Station. It is located in Culver City, South-East of Santa Monica in the middle of a well-known restaurant strip. I have been to lunch there recently, together with a colleague.
When I glanced over to the neighboring table, a plate with french fries caught my attention—particularly since we had been waiting for our meal since about half an hour. Not sure why a Turkey Sandwich and BLT-Burger took that long?

The French fries arrived with lightning speed—but were very disappointing. I hate mushy French fries.

So, when my sandwich came, my mood was dampened… until I took the first bite: it was juicy and crispy and delicious with a delicate, but not overpowering dressing and a perfect amount of Sauerkraut (what do you expect—I hail from Germany.)
It was delightful. And my colleague from Paris was really happy with his burger as well.

All in all I would say the place is recommendable. Just don’t get the French fries. You can also get full-blown meals there—it is just not common in the States to eat anything else than a small dish for lunch. We wait for dinner to fill our bellies with the elaborate stuff.

Seriously, you might miss something if you don’t look twice. It’s true.
This is one of the reasons why I like Mayer Hawthorne so much; one would not think that this white, kind of nerdy looking guy from Ann Arbor in Michigan does the most awesome Motown sound since… yeah, since Motown went down the drain, pretty much. (Mayer–you have the last laugh;)
Mayer’s song “A Long Time” has just recently been featured in the “Harald Schmidt Show,” Germany’s equivalent to America’s Jay Leno Show. Contrary to the light tune, it is a critical song about the downfall of the automobile industry in Detroit, where many, many workers were laid off, who are still trying to recover from the effects.

Mayer Hawthorne is going on his international tour this year. Here are the tour dates.

Mayer Hawthorne – A Long Time by zokerx

Recently, I was on the way to a screening of Wim Wender’s classic Wings of Desire, driving along beautiful Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.
When I turned on the radio, the song Balance by Future Islands was playing.
Future Islands consists of Gerrit Welmers (keyboards and programming), William Cashion (Bass, acoustic and electric guitars) and Samuel T. Herring (words and amazing vocals.) The three of them formed in 2006 in Greenville/North Carolina; now they live in Baltimore, Maryland.

Balance is from their third album On the Water. Word of Caution: this song is addictive!

Future Islands – Balance by Posh Magazine

Interested in the lyrics, too?  Here you go:

You can clean around the wound
but if you want it to… heal
It just takes time

And you can go to the moon
But if you want something to change
You gotta change your life
And take your time
It just takes time
It just takes time
It just takes time
Hard work and your time

And the sun will leave the moon
And leave you to the… night
And that’s alright
Because before the moonbeam comes
There’s a certain… calm
And then there’s light
It just takes time
It just takes time
A little trust in your time
You can change your life
It just takes time
trust in your time

And I can sit and talk
Cuz I was just like you
So arrogant and brave
Impetuous and rude

But trust me as a friend
And I’ll do all that I can do
And I’ll do anything for you
Because I want to see you… through
It just takes time
Hard work and your time
You can change your life

It just takes time
A little trust in your time
A little trust in your time
A little trust in your time
It just takes time
It just takes time
Hard work and your time

Link to their album On the Water on Amazon.