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…

ARTS & CRAFTS

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Head over to the Grace Gallery Thursday night for the opening reception of an important show, ‘A Day In The Life’. It’s the end result of The Creative Journey by local artist Pamela Masik. She founded this program to help women of the Downtown East Side express themselves through art. A selection of artwork by those participants who followed the eight week course (designed to inspire and aid individuals to find their artistic voice) will hang on the walls of Grace during this exhibition. Drop in. Worth your attention.
Jan 14 | 6 – 9pm | Grace-Gallery | FREE

WHAT IS…LANDSCAPE?

What Is… is a new series of courses at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It explores ideas and themes rooted in historical and contemporary art.  This month: What is Landscape? Zero in on the importance of landscape in the history of art and how the genre has changed in contemporary culture.
Jan 16 | 2-5 pm | VAG | $45 beans – but – hold on to your beret – that includes Gallery admission.

NOISEMAKER

Catch an opening night reception for a great Vancouver artist. Blanket is “pleased to present How I Became A Solitary Noisemaker, a solo exhibition of works by Canadian artist Audrey Capel Doray. The exhibition consists of a selection of paintings produced during 1965-1966 and is the first of three intended exhibitions at the gallery with a central focus on Capel Doray’s cultural production during the 1960s.” Score background on the artist here.
Jan 14 | Blanket Gallery | FREE

BOOKS and STUFF

ROBSON READING SERIES

Take advantage of a free double whammy of a reading with Ian Ferguson and Mark Leiren-Young this week. “Ian Ferguson is an award-winning playwright and humorist whose book Village of the Small Houses (Douglas & McIntyre, 2003) won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. He is the creator of the live improvised soap operas “Die-Nasty” and “Sin City” and is currently writing a sitcom pilot for a major U.S. television network. With his brother Will, he is the co-author of the runaway best-seller How to Be a Canadian (Douglas & McIntyre, 2001/2007). As a tongue-in-cheek guidebook, How to Be a Canadian tackles the many humorous complexities and nuances of what it means to be Canadian. Mark Leiren-Young’s comic memoir, Never Shoot a Stampede Queen (Heritage House, 2008), also won the 2009 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.” Basically –  for a few laughs and a bit of culture – this event will sort you out.
Jan 14 | 7pm | Bookstore – UBC Robson Square | FREE

SLOTH

Following the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins, Vancouver Storytellers plan to bring you tales of Sloth this weekend. Enter the church through the alley and settle in to listen. Stick around afterward to a potluck. Dare ya. Sounds like a trip if you ask us. Yarns will be spun by Vancouverites Erin Graham, Larry Matier, Tony Rainbow, Alvin Sanders, and Rita Taylor. More information here.
Jan 17 | 7pm | St. Mark’s (1805 Larch) | $7

BOOK SALE

The UBC Continuing Studies Writing Centre will be holding its annual used book sale this week. Expect a wide variety of subjects, from cookery books to classics of fiction, from history and political science to books on astrology, home decorating, and Greek philosophy. All books are just 50 cents each, and proceeds go to awards and scholarships in the UBC Writing Centre. Get there early to grab the good stuff. PS. be kind by bringing change and small bills.
Jan 14, 15 | 10 am – 4pm | UBC Writing Centre | CHEAP!

DREAM ON

Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, will be reading at various locations this coming week. Really, there’s no chance that you will score any tickets to the sold out event at this late stage – we’re only telling you in case you notice the crowds and wonder what you’re missing. Can you imagine, though, how awesome it would be if there was a scalper at a book reading?

FLICKS

THE AGE OF STUPID

Catch a screening of the sci-fi docu-drama described as the best climate change film to hit the big screen. Presented by UBC Continuing Studies Centre for Sustainability, The Age of Stupid follows a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking at old footage from present day and asking why we didn’t stop climate change when we had the chance? After the film, there will be a panel discussion featuring Brian Nattrass of Sustainability Partners Inc, Robert Safrata of Novex Couriers and Elisa Campbell of the UBC Design Centre for Sustainability. Together, they will examine potential forward steps in the fight against climate change. Vanessa Timmer of One Earth will moderate.
Jan 19 | Doors 6pm; film 6:30pm | UBC – Woodward Instructional Resources Centre | $10

PRIVATE CENTURY

There’s a really interesting-sounding film series playing at Vancity Theatre this week called Private Country. “The political and social upheavals of twentieth-century Czechoslovakia – war and occupation, the twin spectres of Nazism and Communism, the Velvet Revolution – have never been more intimately rendered than in Jan Sikl’s landmark film cycle, Private Century. Composed entirely of family home movies, still photographs, letters, and diaries dating from the 1920s to the 1960s, Private Century explores how sweeping historical events transform the private lives of ordinary people, and how small domestic pleasures can crystallize into profound and enduring memories.” Find out more…
Jan 15-18 | Vancity Theatre | Various times | $10

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY

“Playboy ex-husband Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) and aggressive tabloid reporter (Jimmy Stewart) join forces to harass heiress and socialite Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) on the eve of her second wedding. The sharp quips become a war of words as the two try to push Tracy get past her posh pretense and discover her true feelings about marrying painfully respectable George Kittredge (John Howard). Charming, stylish, and incredibly funny, the film, based on a hit stage play by Philip Barry, won Jimmy Stewart a Best Actor Academy Award.” All I have to say is that they don’t make playboys like they use to…nor heiress socialites for that matter. This is a FINE film. If you can swing the mid-week mid-day screening, you won’t be disappointed. Oh, Dexter…
Jan 19 | 1pm | Pacific Cinematheque | $9.50

SERIOUSLY WILD

Out at the Norm this week you can catch either Where the Wild Things Are or A Serious Man for the hard-to-beat price of only $4. Hell, you could catch both movies and still come in under ten bucks. Kind of a deal. With Where the Wild Things Are – you know the story (for background on the Spike Jonze version click here). A Serious Man is the new Coen Brothers flick summed up nicely by UBC Film Soc thusly; “Set in 1967 and focused on Larry Gopnik, a professor whose life begins to unravel when his wife leaves him because his incompetent brother refuses to move out of their house.” Sounds more serious than wild. Check UBC for times.
Jan 14 – 17th | Norm Theatre – UBC SUB | $4 – yes, you read it right – only $4!!

MUSIC

First off – for the definitive list of what gigs to catch this week – check out this week’s Zulu Report on the front page (nobody knows music in this city like Zulu). For a few off-the-radar music related ways to spend your time in the coming days – read on:

MAIN EVENT KICK OFF PARTY

For the full scoop on The Main Event – see below in the Grub section. Suffice it to say that tonight, the Biltmore will offer you the chance to score (free appetizers anyway) and guzzle cheap-ass drinks ($4) like never before. You might even walk away with a door prize. Other tantalizing bits include a silent auction, 50/50 draw and live music. But wait – NO CAKE WALK? Still, it sounds like a good night, and all for a good cause. Tickets available at participating restaurants. For a list of participating restaurants skip to the Main Event website.
Jan 18 | 8-10 om | Biltmore | By donation but all proceeds will go to the Food Bank (so don’t be cheap).

QUIET CITY

Chill out at Blim with a special ambient gig featuring Aerosol Constellations, 833-45, Coin Gutter, Scant Intone. Just relax, dudes. Shhh.
Jan 15 | 8 pm | $8–10 sliding scale

LA TRAVIATA

Opera Pro Cantanti presents Verdi’s classic about frivolity, folly, and faithful love.
Jan 17 | 7:30 pm | Cambrian Hall (215 E. 17th) | Pay What You Can

OTHER STUFF

A THOUSAND DREAMS

A Thousand Dreams: Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the Fight for Its Future. “In this mix of history, journalism, political analysis, and first-person accounts, former chief coroner and Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell, renowned criminologist Neil Boyd and investigative journalist Lori Culbert offer a portrait of one of North America’s poorest, most drug-challenged neighbourhoods: Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Their brand new release, A Thousand Dreams, raises provocative questions about the challenges confronting not only Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside but also all of North America’s major cities and offers concrete, urgently needed solutions.”
Jan 15 | 7:30pm |  Capilano University | $12/$10

BOZOSAPIENS

If you’re kicking around downtown with nothing to do Wednesday at around noon, you could slip into the VPL for a lecture about Bozosapiens – it’s free. Here’s the pitch: “A strong case can be made that, to err is, indeed, all-too-human. In this lecture, Peter Prontzos will review some of the ways in which our (often unconscious) decision-making prevents us from attaining Vulcan-like logic.”  I don’t know, maybe I just like saying Bozosapiens…
Jan 20 | 12 noon | Vancouver Public Library | FREE

GRUB

THE MAIN EVENT

Main Street restaurants are coming together to help fill the empty shelves of The Greater Vancouver Food Bank. The theme is “East Meets West” and includes 20+ of the area’s best restaurants offering three-course tasting menus for set prices of $25, $35 and $45 with partial proceeds going to locals in need. The Food Bank will also have a box located at each restaurant for customers to drop off non-perishable food items.
Jan 18 – 24 | Main Street, Baby | $25, $35 or $45 (bring non-perishable chow to donate as well)

FARMERS MARKET

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.
Jan 16 | 10am – 2pm | WISE Hall | FREE

OYAMA & VISTA D’ORO AT SALT TASTING ROOM

Word on the street is that Salt Tasting Room still has a few tickets left to their next Salt Cellar Series tasting – the one with Oyama Sausage Co. & Vista D’Oro! Mmm, red wine proscuitto.
Jan 18 | 7 pm | $40

SPEND

NARCISSIST

Kick-ass sale at Main Street’s Narcissist starts this weekend – it runs through to the end of the month, but the first days are always the best. You can grab dresses starting at only $29 and tops at $19 (nothing will be priced over $99).
Jan 14 – 31 | 11 am – 6pm | 3659 Main Street

KITCHENALIA

From the 21st Century Flea Market website: “With 175 different vendors offering everything from shabby chic to 50’s kitsch, collectibles and memorabilia to vintage kitchenalia, this popular European-style collectors market is a must-see…”
Jan 17  | 10am-3pm | Croatian Cultural Centre | $3 at Door – kids 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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