We drove back into the city over the bridge from the north shore. Just me and Parker. It was a beautiful day in early September and the golden afternoon light was cutting through the streets and setting the trees quietly ablaze above the neighbourhoods of east Vancouver. I eased the old Dart gently through the uneven avenues of Hastings-Sunrise as we cruised west. Parker was in the passenger seat flipping through my box of cassettes. The glow of joy that she emitted and the sound of her tumbling laughter battled the sun for radiance. "Let me tell you about what is so fucking awesome about the whole thing, Buster," she said as she triumphantly produced a black cassette from the box and brandished it between us like it was proof of a lost civilization. "This Misfits tape fucking rules. I'm putting it on, don't try to stop me." "Ok, Parker." I laughed. Not that I would have tried to stop her. We had rules about music in the Dart. Passenger had veto power on the tunage during daylight hours. Driver made the calls after the sun went down. Things could get a little dicey at dusk. Parker slammed the Misfits into the dashboard player and 20 Eyes busted from the speakers like a clutch of vampire bats. Parker was banging her head and air drumming in exultation. We were coming up on Oppenheimer Park. The sidewalks were littered with straggling figures lurching with carts or bikes, leaning in door ways. "The fucking awesome thing is that nobody with any taste exists until after everybody with any real talent is already dead. That's the secret to art and that's why it's doesn't fucking matter that nobody comes to our shows. We're ahead of our fucking time, man, we're geniuses!" She'd found a smoke, had lit it, and was dragging the red embers to life. "It's like what you say about The Chemical Spray when somebody hates on us." "What do I say when somebody hates on us?" "You say, 'fuck em, we're going to be vindicated by history.'" She laughed through the smoke as I eased the Dart into the lot behind the Orange No 5, found a spot and cut the engine. | image via @moon_patrol