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.

This 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 Scout List

BOOKS

VPL is unloading some books at their Fall book sale. Prices range from 55 cents to $2.25. Can’t beat that! Details here.

The Writers Festival continues this week and there are still tickets left to some pretty cool events. Check the VIWF website for a full list of who’s reading, where and when they’re reading, as well as ticket info.

If you’re free Friday night, consider swinging over to the Peoples Co-op Bookstore on Commercial to hear Willow Yamauchi read from her hilarious book Adult Child Of Hippies. Sounds like a fun night. Bonus: she’s bringing pictures.
October 22 | 7:30 pm

ART

When was the last time you popped in to the Carnegie Centre for a visit? Maybe a little while? Think about stopping in this Friday night for the opening exhibition Love Letters from the Downtown Eastside
Hand-printed letterpress stationery will be provided for visitors to write their own love letters and be part of the
Friday October 22 | 6pm | Carnegie 3rd floor Gallery, 401 Main | Free and open to all
Find out more… exhibit.http://www.creativetechnology.org/events/love-letters-from-the-downtown

“Crisis Line” – a new selection of works on paper, canvas and glass by Matthias Dornfeld opens at Blanket on Saturday. From Blanket: In “Crisis Line”, Dornfeld engages the audience with his recurring subject matter – still lives, whimsical landscapes and magical creatures, using graphic colours and daring techniques.” Read on…
http://www.blanketgallery.com/

Visit Storyeum this weekend to score some ‘retro’ art at retro prices: “Six local artists – Florence Debeugny, Valerie Arntzen, Mary Blaze, Pat MacBain, Sharon Burns, and Bernadine Fox – have cleared out their studios to bring you some of their earlier works of art that are no longer being exhibited.” Details here. (http://www.creativetechnology.org/events/the-retro-show)
October 23 & 24 | noon-5pm | Cedar Room, W2 Storyeum | Free

Robot & Monsters opens at the Ayden Gallery.

NATURE

On Friday astronomer Harvey B. Richer gives a lecture with an ominous sounding title: Watcher Of The Sky. Basically he’s going to chat about ‘the highs and lows of being an observational astronomer and his thoughts on the future of the study’. Sounds awesome.
October 22 | 7:30 pm | St. John’s (2111 Lower Mall) UBC | Free

At VanDusen this Sunday: “Edible, poisonous, and dubious mushrooms and other fungi are displayed and identified, with speakers, slideshows, books, and experts on cultivation, preservation, gourmet cooking, medicinal use, hunting, ecology, and cultural use.” You’re invited to bring you own specimens for identification too. It’s always good to be dialed in to the difference between the good and bad mushrooms, right? Take a trip over to the Vancouver Mycological Society’s website for more info…
October 24 | 11 am–4 pm | VanDusen Botanical Gardens | $3

On Monday, the UBC Botanical Gardens delivers on Biodiversity and Food. “Biodiversity and food is the educational theme for October. Learn about food plants of the world with commentary on cultural and biological importance, the loss of cultivated food plant diversity and the potential impact on food security.” More here.

COMMUNITY

On Saturday, there’s an Autumn Fair at Kits House. Get there early for the pancake breakfast, and stay for the local music, costume and pie eating contests. Pie eating contest? Stoked. Scoop here.
Saturday, October 23 | 10am-3pm | Kits House (7/Vine) | Free

There’s also a Pumpkin Patch & Pumpkin Carving shindig in Strathcona’s McLean Park on Saturday. Costumes encouraged.
Saturday, October 23 | 12-3 | McLean Park (Georgia/Hawkes)

On Saturday night the good folks at Renfrew Park Community Centre bring us Diwali. Head over to make and light (Diya) lamps. “The lighting of lamps is a way of showing your thanks for attainment of health, wealth, knowledge, peace, valour and fame.” Doors open at 5pm. There will be display booths, henna, Diya painting and live entertainment.
Saturday October 23 | 5 – 9:30 pm | Renfrew Park Community Centre | $7 (including dinner!)

James Johnstone (The House Historian) is pulling together a fascinating slideshow at the Strathcona Community Centre next Wednesday. The cool thing about this event is that not only will you come out a better informed citizen, aware of the historical relevance of many of the buildings in Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhood, you’ll also be supporting the Strathcona Community Centre’s Food Security Programme which provides over 100,000 meals and snacks annually to neighbourhood children and elders in need. Find out more…
Wednesday, October 27 | Strathcona Community Centre | $5-$10

FILM

The Hollywood celebrates its 75th Birthday this weekend and they’re doing it in style. Catch a screening of The American (7:30 nightly) or Casablanca (9:25 nightly) and enjoy food by The New Bohemian and C as well as wines from Languedoc (free samples of wine or $4 per glass). Live music, too, all for the price of regular admission. Check their website for details.

If Goerge Clooney isn’t your deal, Antisocial is screening the new Habitat flick. They’re stoked. We’re stoked. You’re stoked.
October 22 | 8pm | Antisocial |

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice! Catch it midnight at the Rio Theatre.

The Man Who Planted Trees screens at VanDusen Botanical Garden on Monday night. “Considered to be the finest hand-rendered animation ever created, this Canadian Oscar-winning film by Frédéric Back portrays Elzéard Bouffier’s life’s work transforming barren landscapes into thriving ecosystems brimming with wildlife.”  Reserve your seats ($5 each but that includes popcorn) at [email protected].

From UBC Film Soc: “The first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club. The second rule is, go see the movie. The satirical cult classic full of underground fight rings, anti-corporate terrorists, and soap is a must see for all film buffs.” Good at least once a year, and only $5. Get info here.

MUSIC

Gogol Bordello plays the Commodore Friday. Good luck with tickets.

She & Him play the Orpheum Saturday.

Deerhunter hits the Rickshaw Tuesday.

FOOD

Taste Of Health Food Festival goes down at the Vancouver Masonic Centre this Saturday. Expect food samples, raw cooking demos, presentations, kids’ zone, silent auction. Find out more here.

Check out the DTES Kitchen Table Series: Bringing Bounty and Dignity. The Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House and the Potluck Café Society are co-leaders of the DTES Kitchen Tables Project, a community based Food Action Plan, with the overarching goal of putting more healthy and tasty food on Downtown Eastside kitchen tables, especially for the most nutritionally vulnerable.
October 24 | 1:30 pm | MOV | Free with museum admission

On Tuesday night there’s a lecture entitled Women and Food: A Vancouver Historical Perspective. Find out what that’s all about over here.
October 26| 7-8:30 pm

And then there is “From Farms To Forks: A Harvest Kitchen Party” at the The Dirty Apron Cooking School this coming Monday night. The pricetag for this event sounds a bit steep, but it’s easy to justify because a) it’s gonna be good food, great wine and friendly people (and that’s a pretty fine way to spend any night, let alone a Monday night) and b) all proceeds go to benefit Growing Chefs. Check out Growing Chefs here and then grab a ticket here. See you there!
October 25 | 7 pm | Dirty Apron (540 Beatty) | $140

If you’re feeling disheartened by the wet weather that is forecast this week, then I have the perfect gig for you: Listel Hotel, Tuesday night. Here’s the skinny: The House Wine gals have devised a plan for wine enthusiasts to skip town (Argentina in January and Chile in February). They’ll fill you in on all of the details (over a glass of wine) on Tuesday night. Think about that for a second. Summer in Argentina.
Tuesday, October 26 | 6 pm -7:30pm | The Impressionist Gallery in the Listel Hotel (1300 Robson ) Rsvp attendance to [email protected].

EPHEMERA

There is a Social Intranet Summit taking place next Thursday. So there’s that…

On Sunday you can hit the Croatian Cultural Centre for the Retro Design and Antiques Fair. Trinkets and bobbles galore (175 tables and booths worth). Word is there will be some mid-century modern furniture, vintage & estate jewelry, “boho & shabby chic accents” – that sort of thing.
October 24 | 10 am – 3 pm | Croatian Cultural Centre, 3250 Commercial | $4

Monday marks the 105 anniversary of the introduction of Buddhism into Canada. Just a little something that you might want to know.

Next week – all sorts of Halloween stuff tell you about (from the Ivanhoe to the Waldorf), as well as a talk about Wolf Eels and Rock Fish that sounds kinda creepy – and kinda cool.

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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 in beautiful Strathcona 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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