I'm glad I'm not in the middle of a Glendale Blvd. commute right now, 1:11 a.m. Monday night. Or trying to sleep in a home close by. They're said to be pulling an all-nighter down on Glendale below Sunset for an installment of the incredibly silly Fast & Furious franchise.* In one of the problem spots of the neighborhood, where the problem is that traffic gets plugged up so badly by commuters who just want to cross through the area as quickly as possible -- trying to get from Downtown to the start of the 2 Freeway at the far northern end of Echo Park -- Hollywood is assembling a tale of cars that drive too fast. Que viva la fiction.

There's been a lively discussion recently of how to manage/enhance the landscaping on the parkways down there. As it stands, it's been volunteer (read Michael O'Brien) directed. I like it the way it is -- but the xeriscape is a bit too desert for some of my neighbors. And that's a question of taste if not water.

In any case, the first of the Furious series was set in Echo Park. It opened with Paul Walker, as an undercover cop, zooming around a parking lot at Dodger Stadium in an enhanced Honda (I think it was a Honda), some kind of compact. Later, he hung around (or should that be "hanged around"?) with thugs from an "Italian" gang, who hung around "Joe's" grocery store on Marion, a nice, quiet little coming together of streets in Angeleno Heights. They were drag racers. Despite the authentic Echo Park locations, it looked fake, but the story caught on. There's no accounting for taste.

*Based on the 1st installment.