1978

Vancouver was a very clean town and the people didn't have that hard city look. - Charles Bukowski

When Charles came to Dope City in 1978 he entered Canada at the Peace Arch. The line-up to get into Canada was horrendous, perhaps as many as 100 cars. I guess he took the highway through Richmond. If he had looked out his window as he passed over the Knight Street bridge he may have seen me puking into the log jammed Fraser River in the distance. If he had been driven along the King George Highway through Whalley he would have seen a young hard city and its hard city look.

Dope City's hard city look is still on its outskirts, where motherfuckers do not give a fuck about their city's place on the world stage. If you are coming to the Dope Smoking Olympics in 2010 plan to spend an afternoon at the Flamingo, the Chief, Fraser Downs or the Langley Hotel. You will have more fun there than you will watching Britain and Norway curling.