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 agenda 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…

EAT

Did you know that there is a hot chocolate festival going on at this very moment? No word of a lie. Our friends at City Food asked us to spread the word: “In support of their favourite charities, six top chocolate makers and one gelato guy will spike their hot chocolate drinks with the wildest, most delicious flavours they can dream up.”  I’m really liking the sound of Bella Gelateria’s Honey Nougat & Hazelnut hot chocolate…
Now – February 13 | Various Chocolate joints about town | more info here.

The Winter Farmers Market fills the Nat Bailey Stadium parking lot on Saturday. Hook yourself up with hearty root vegetables,  fresh bread, dried fruit and scores of other locally-grown goodies. Get the full list of who will be there here.
Saturday, January 22 | 10am – 2pm | East Parking Lot of Nat Bailey Stadium

The Baker’s Market is on. Hightail it over to Olympic Village to stock up on baked goods.
Saturday, January 22 | 11 am – 3pm | Creekside Community Centre

GREEN

Nature Vancouver has lined up Dr. Elizabeth Elle (SFU Biology Department) to talk about the all-important bee on Thursday night. “British Columbia is home to incredible wildflower diversity, the vast majority of which rely on insects (mostly bees) for successful reproduction.  This lecture will introduce you to the diversity and pollination needs of wildflowers in two of Canada’s most endangered ecosystems.  You’ll also learn the natural history of wild bees; we have more than 300 species in BC, that look and behave nothing like the introduced European honeybee.  Our “charismatic microfauna” come in all shapes and sizes and colors of the rainbow and may be threatened by habitat loss, potentially impacting the persistence of wildflower populations.” Bees are awesome. See you there.
Thursday, January 20 | 7:30pm | Unity Church (5840 Oak) | Details

Sit in on a two-hour class (followed by a one-hour activity) on how to plan a food garden and knowing the importance of preparing beds for planting. Registration required. Find out more here.
Sunday, January 23 | 1:30-4:30pm | Strathcona Community Centre (601 Keefer) | $35

Can bicycling and walking really be the key to bringing our world back from the brink of environmental disaster?  Mia Birk,  author of Joyride: Walking and Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet thinks so. Hook up with Mia to join in the discussion about the role of active transportation in worldwide climate change, peak oil, and energy dependence. To reserve a seat, visit: www.sfu.ca/reserve
January 26 | 7pm | Segal Centre (515 W Hastings) | Free!

Backyard Chickens 101! Head to the Strathcona Community Centre to learn about the basics of proper care and keeping of small urban flocks of hens. More here, and even more here.
Tuesday, January 25 | 7-9pm | Strathcona Community Centre | $10

ART

Chapel Arts plays host to an artist networking event and Eco Art Salon
Thursday, January 20 | 5-9 pm | Chapel Arts (304 Dunlevy) | Free

The VAG launches “Unreal”, featuring works from their collection that include Marcel Dzama (swoon), Maxwell Bates, Cindy Sherman, Annette Messager and others. Catch a New Gallery Tour for a guided walkthrough. Dates + times here.
January 22 to September 5 | Vancouver Art Gallery | $19.50

Also at the VAG this coming week: the annual Emerging Artist Lecture. Every year it focuses on the work of a local artist who is breaking out on to the international scene. This year it’s Germaine Koh. “Koh’s work looks at everyday objects and daily activities that often go unnoticed, yet profoundly shape our experiences.” Find out more…
Tuesday, January 25 | 7pm | Vancouver Art Gallery | Free with Gallery admission ($19.50)

“MOA presents a talk by an artist from the Antwerp-based artist collective known as Berlin, which recently spent two months in the Arctic Circle creating a documentary-like installation that captures the essence of Canada’s most remote capital city, Iqualuit.”  The film itself is part of the PuSh festival and will be showing at SFU Woodwards.
Tuesday, January 25 | 7- 9pm | $14/$12 | Details

If you dig lighthouses (and who doesn’t?) head to Granville Island to check out the new show at Emily Carr’s Charles H. Scott Gallery: The Voyage, or Three Years at Sea Part I, an exhibition featuring the work of Rodney Graham and Tacita Dean. “The exhibition is the first in a series about the sea that will take place at the Gallery over the next three years. Lighthouses have long held a place in art and literature. Behind these fictional representations are the remarkable stories of the engineers that built the lighthouses and the keepers that have manned them through the centuries.” More here.
Now – February 20 | Charles H Scott Gallery | Free

BOOKS + THE LIKE

If you’re a lover of typeface and letterpress printing (how can you not be?) there is a cool flick going down at Blim: Typeface, A Chronicle of Typography in the Digital Age and Dying Art of Timeless Craftsmanship. “Typeface focuses on a rural Midwestern museum and print shop where international artists meet retired craftsmen and together navigate the convergence of modern design and traditional technique.”
Friday January 21 | Doors: 7 & 9 pm | Screening: 7:30 & 9:30pm | $7–10 sliding scale

Emily Carr is kicking off a series of interdisciplinary forums entitled – More Than Words: Art, Language and Textual Practices. Short story: text as art and the ways in which we use it in our efforts to challenge the limits of communication. The first lecture (Text + Image Practice) goes down Thursday afternoon. Gonna be interesting.
Thursday, January 20  | 3:50pm | Room 301, South Building | Free

Have a few outdated books collecting dust in the corner? Don’t chuck ‘em. Re-purpose them into shiny new journals or sketchbooks at Blim! “This beginners course introduces the basics of hand-sewn book binding with a focus on rebinding old and discarded book covers to create something new. Materials included in this course include book covers, paper and ribbon for built-in bookmarks but feel free to bring in your own crafty items for embellishment.”
Saturday, January 22 | 2 – 5pm | Blim | $65

Do you really want to attend the above, but don’t have any old junkers kicking about? Score yourself some good looking, second-hand reads at St. A’s Book Sale. Two bucks will get you five paperbacks or one hardcover.  Details.
Friday, January 21 from 6 to 8 pm; Saturday, January 22 from 10am to 1 pm. | St Augustine’s (8680 Hudson)

MUSIC

There is some awesome going down at the Astoria on Saturday night. Line-up details here.

Salem plays the Waldorf Hotel on Saturday night. Read Pitchfork’s take here. You’ll want to get sorted with tickets pretty quick. Try here.
Saturday, January 22 | 10pm | Waldorf | $15 | More info…

Indie pop looker Darwin Deez (crazy-ass fashion sense) is sliding in to town to support their self-titled debut release. Dig it (the hair-do is killer).
Monday, January 24 | 8pm | The Media Club | $13

Ween is playing the QE on Monday night (and there was much rejoicing).
Monday, January 24 | 7pm | Queen Elizabeth Theatre (600 Hamilton) |$45

MISCELLANY

Don’t forget Architectural Karaoke goes down at the Museum of Vancouver, wherein “architects face off in provocative and funny reactions to some of Vancouver’s architectural icons.” Cash bar. Awesome. Details.
January 20 | 7:30pm | Museum of Vancouver | $12

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival on. Check out this year’s line-up of theatre, dance, music (and various “hybrid forms” of performance) from all over the world over at the PUsh website. I dig choose your own adventure stuff like this…
Jan 18 to Feb 6 | Various times and venues

Opera Pro Cantanti throws down again with Norma on Sunday night. “Norma is a masterpiece of the Bel Canto period, and one of the most famous operas of all time. It tells the story of a Druid Priestess who forms an illicit bond with a Proconsul of the Roman army, thereby betraying her people and beginning a chain reaction of events that may lead to war. Bellini’s great work contains some of the most beloved music in all opera, including the glorious soprano aria “Casta Diva.”
January 23 | 7pm | Cambrian Hall (215 E17) | $18

Terminal City Soundscape! “Through intercultural music and free improv, through the World Soundscape Project and a musical fascination with beauty, Vancouver leaders composers, performers and musical thinkers have shown us how the local is universal.” Curated by Music on Main’s David Pay, music will be accompanied by video projected on to a 48 foot long screen.
January 23, 24 & 25 | Heritage Hall | Bar 7pm Concert 8pm | $29 | Details

For the fellow science nerds out there: get your space fix with a lecture entitled Exploring the Early Universe From the Edge of Space with BLAST. That’s right. No one gets down like Gaelen Marsden from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UBC. More info…
Wedensday, January 26 | 5-6:30pm | Coach House, 6201 Cecil Green, UBC | Free

FILM

There’ s a heavy flick worth seeing at the Rio late on Friday night:  “The City of the Lost Children is a fantasy science fiction film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet about a scientist who kidnaps children and steals their dreams.” Creepy, right?
January 21 | 11:55pm | Rio Theatre | $10

Speaking of creepy, Never Let Me Go is screening at the Hollywood this week. Also a good flick, but not really ‘uplifting’. They are also showing Conviction. The good news is that the double bill for only $8 will leave you a little leftover cash for a good strong post-movie pick-me-up.
January  21 – 27 | 7:30pm/10:15pm | Hollywood Theatre | $8

If you’re looking for something a little lighter, word has it that there is a special event out at UBC this Friday and “It’s kind of a big deal…” Yes, it’s the Anchorman Beverage Garden. Discover the The Legend of Ron Burgundy and share a few drinks, dorky frat boy style. Having trouble remembering Ron Burgundy? Refresh your memory here.
January 21 | 7:00pm | Norm Theatre @ UBC SUB | $6

Pull up a chair the dim light of the Waldorf Hotel’s Library to catch a pay-what-you-can movie. This week: “Full Moon in Paris” by Eric Rohmer. A nice way to spend a Sunday for sure.
Sunday, January 23 | 3pm | Waldorf Hotel | pay-what-you-can | Details

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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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