The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit.

The Scout List is our carefully considered first rate list of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours…

THE GOODS

Santa Claustrophobia

First things first, if you are planing to go anywhere in the city today keep in mind that Santa Claus will mess with you. The parade route will run along Georgia and Howe Streets starting at Broughton and finishing at Davie. “The parade will be marshaled by Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympic hopefuls as well as past Canadian Winter Olympians. It will feature more than 60 marching bands, choirs, festive floats, and community groups. The Coast Capital Savings Christmas Square, located in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, will host pre-parade activities such as face painting, gingerbread making and entertainment.” Translation: a lot of people will be in your way.
Dec 6 | 1pm | Downtown | FREE

Public Skating at Robson Square

Once again, we can all go for spins around an outdoor ice rink right smack in the middle of downtown Vancouver. How cool is that? And the killer kicker is that it’s FREE. Robson Square is open for free, public skating – every freakin’ day. Awesome.
Dec | 12 – 9pm | FREE (rentals are $3)

Get It In The Mail!

If there is one month of the year that the Regional Assembly of Text Letter Writing Club is a must – it’s got to be this one. Don’t leave Christmas Cards until the last minute. Get ’em done and in the mail. If you’ve never heard of it before, The Regional Assembly of Text is a wonderful Main St. store with a brilliant collection of books, paper, cards, stamps, chalkboards, boxes, and yes, even clothing. On the first Thursday of every month they host a Letter Writing Club. It’s free, open to everyone, and supplies are provided. Highly recommended by Santa.
December 3 | 7:30 pm | Regional Assembly of Text | FREE

A Soldier First

Because every holiday season needs a little war for balanced dueling realities, check out General Rick Hillier recounting his roles and experiences within the Canadian military in his new book, A Soldier First: Bureaucrats and the Politics of War.
Dec 4 | 12pm – 1.30 pm | Vancouver Public Library | FREE

Tour The New CBC Digs

Writer/broadcaster Bill Richardson and other CBC personalities welcome the public to CBC Vancouver for a tour of their newly renovated, state of the art broadcast centre at 700 Hamilton Street. Food Bank volunteers will accept donations at stations around the building.
Dec 4 | 700 Hamilton | FREE – but bring a few cans (and coin) for donation to the Food Bank

FILM

Found Footage

I love the sound of this: The Found Footage Festival is a one-of-a-kind event that compiles more than an hour’s worth of footage from videos that were found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout the US. Curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher host each screening in-person and provide their unique observations and commentary on these found video obscurities. From the curiously-produced industrial training video to the forsaken home movie donated to Goodwill, the Found Footage Festival resurrects these forgotten treasures and serves them up in a lively celebration of all things found.
Dec 7 | 7.30 | Vancity Theatre | $10

FOOD

Perogies!

First Friday of the month – you know what that means: yup, it’s perogy dinner night at the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral on 10th (just off of Main). The delicious old-school perogies are handmade by church volunteers. A ‘regular dinner’ will cost you $11 and consists of 6 perogies, 2 cabbage rolls, sauerkraut or salad and Ukrainian sausage. If you are looking for something a little lighter, borscht served with rye bread is only three bucks.
Dec 4 | 5 till 8 pm | Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral | 154 E 10th | $3 – $14

Winter Farmer’s Market

Head to the Winter Farmers’ Market at WISE Hall to pick up some hearty root vegetables, home-baked bread, crafts, and plenty of other cool bits. Visit EatLocal.org to see the full list of vendors (Scout goes for Pasture to Plate, Little Qualicum Cheeseworks and always a visit to The Fruit Guy for dried Okanagan nosh).
Dec 5| 10am – 2pm | WISE Hall | FREE

BECAUSE MALL IS A FOUR LETTER WORD…

Got Craft

Billy Would will be there, so will Abeego (great stocking stuffer for environmentally concious) and The Beautiful Project. Check out the clean simplicity of wood-burned art panels, notebooks, art prints and cards from Cabin + Cup (hard to beat). The woolly scarves, wraps & mittens from Florence Ann rock (I LOVE the red plaid mittens, in case anyone is paying attention). Who couldn’t use a fashionable protective case for their computer from Track and Field? Or, for that hard to buy for person who has everything, check out terrariums at Plantscapes or the collection of wearable felted fruits and veggies from Moobs. The list goes on and on – all cool, all local. Check out the Got Craft? site for the sweet deets.
Dec 6 | 11 – 5 | Royal Canadian Legion (Commercial Drive @ E.6th) | $2

Reclaimed for Christmas

Hit the Antiques Fair at the Croatian Cultural Centre and score unique and reclaimed items from any one of the 175 tables and booths. Browse “mid-century Modernist decor, vintage & estate jewelry, pop culture classics, boho & shabby chic accents, French country collectibles, old toys & dolls, retro glam accessories, decorative art pottery & glass, funky 50’s kitsch, Art Deco & Art Nouveau, ephemera, paintings & prints, antiquarian books, textiles & linens, memorabilia, period lighting & fixtures, and much, much more.” Drop-in appraisals are running all day.
Dec 6 | Croatian Cultural Centre | 10am – 3pm| $4

Shop Hop

Thursday night is Shop Hop night in Gastown. Your favourite retailers (over 20 of them) are banding together to create a cool pre-Christmas shopping evening by offering discounts and deals and goodies and libations. Check out Obakki for 25% off on all items in the store as well as cocktails and martinis (to enhance the shopping experience). John Fluevog is offering %15 off. There will be a significant 33.33% discount at Dutildenim, home made cookies and hot chocolate (in addition to discounts on selected items) at Secrets of Identity, bubbly and 20% off everything at Mandula. Start with a drink at the Alibi room, break for dinner at The Irish Heather and end with a cocktail at the Diamond – pretty close to a perfect night.
Dec 3 | 5pm – 9pm | Gastown – check out the blog for details

GIGS

Japandroids

Lifted straight from this weeks Zulu Report (thanks gang): “There’s definitely a joy to be had in watching a local band rise out from the trenches of playing skid bars and progress to become a lethal headlining act in their own right.  Japandroids are one such band.  I can recall an initial local buzz about the band years ago, when they brought their first EP’s into the store, and now they’ve done gone grown up into an officially Pitchfork-approved rock band!  It’s not hard to imagine why, given that these two boys specialize in short, amped up songs that chronicle the travails of young adulthood: girls, drinking, living in East Van – you get the picture.  It’s the soundtrack to your life, whether you admit it or not, and so this show should be seen as a kind of group-therapy session, except instead of sitting in a circle talking about feelings you’ll be slamming beers and head banging as the Japandroids take to the tiny Biltmore stage and proceed to burn said stage down! Attendance is mandatory
Dec 2 | 8pmish | Biltmore | about 18.00 but going fast – check Zulu for tickets

Find Me

The Fugitives are back where they belong – in East Van – and ready to perform songs from their new EP “Find Me”. Bonus feature. There will be a guest appearance from Kinnie Starr. If you don’t already know – The Fugitives are the combined talents of Vancouver artists Adrian Glynn, Barbara Adler, Brendan McLeod, and Steve Charles. From their website: “Like most young bands The Fugitives have weathered poverty, missed trains, and a few line up changes (parting amicably with upcoming folk talents Mark Berube and CR Avery), while honing their live act into a versatile mix of story and song. As the CBC has it, “whether you go for the poetry, the music, or both, this show is simply brilliant.” They play the Biltmore Saturday night.
Dec 5 | 8.30 | Biltmore | $12 |

ART

Ravishing Beasts Curator’s Talk

Join MOV’s Director of Curatorial and Collections, Joan Seidl, for a tour through the feature exhibit of “Ravishing Beasts”. Joan will highlight some the history and issues associated with MOV’s extensive taxidermy collection.
Dec 3 | 7pm | Museum of Vancouver | FREE with Admission

Algonquin

New Works by Helen Eady. From Blim: “Helen Eady is an artist, illustrator and graphic designer based out of Vancouver. Since childhood Helen has taken a strong interest in artifact and natural history which led to a natural focus on museum studies, anthropology and art history in her university studies. These interests can be seen in her work which is also heavily influenced by her rural upbringing. Nature, mysticism, and pop culture meet in her work in an exploration of the intersection of culture and nature.”
Dec 4 | 8-11pm | BLIM | FREE

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Michelle Sproule grew up in Kitsilano and attended Bond University in Australia and the University of Victoria before receiving her graduate degree in Library Sciences from The University of Toronto. She lives by the beach in Vancouver and enjoys wandering aimlessly through the city’s shops and streets with her best friend – a beat up, sticky, grimy, and uncooperative camera.

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