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…

FILM

Fightclub is the Rio’s midnight movie this week.
Friday, May 27 | Midnight | Rio Theatre | $8

Dare to Care, the first of a series of documentary film screenings, is on at Strathcona’s ChalkXChange this Saturday.  Filmmakers Mike Hawley and Darcy Van Poelgeest dive into a critical discussion with some of British Columbia’s leading experts on the Ethics of Care theory, a basis for ethical decision-making. Dare to Care challenges our basic perceptions of education and the role ethical caring plays in our schools and the greater community.  Blending uniquely styled interviews with black and white imagery and archival educational films, this documentary visually blurs the line between past and present while provoking a new dialogue over the age-old question, “What is education”? ChalkXChange is a creative neighborhood space in Strathcona that hosts events, workshops and classes in the spirit of promoting an exchange of ideas. Documentary film screenings are just one of the great things that Chalk does.
May 28th | 8pm | ChalkXChange | By donation

Looking for Richard! Bard on the Beach wants to get you in the mood for a little Shakespeare with a pre-season teaser. This weekend the Bard folks present a screening of actor-director Al Pacino’s ode to Shakespeare Looking for Richard. If you haven’t seen it, go – it’s a great flick. Catch a Pacino-typical clip here.
Monday, May 30 | 7:30pm | Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour) | $11

Katherine Monk (Author/Film Critic Postmedia) will be at the Park Theatre on Sunday morning to talk about (and watch) Woody Allen’s latest film, Midnight In Paris. “A romantic comedy about a family on a business trip in the City of Light. As a young couple engaged to be married experiences a profound transformation during their visit to Paris, an idealistic man with a romanticized view of the city finds that there’s plenty of truth to that old adage about the grass being greener on the other side.”
Sunday, May 29 | 10am | Park Theatre |(free breakfast of bagels, coffee, juice before the show. Doors open at 9:30am)

GLUTTONY

Our friends over at Calabash Carribean Bistro are throwing a bit of a shin-dig to celebrate their first anniversary. Rum punch on entry and complimentary canapes all night.
June 1 | 5-9pm | 428 Carrall Street

It’s Garden Festival time at Trout Lake this week. “Celebrate the growing season with demos and displays about composting, heirloom seeds, planning your garden and even info on community gardens in your area.”
Saturday | 9am-2pm | Trout Lake | Free

Kitsilano Farmers Market!
Sunday | 10am – 2pm | 2690 Larch @ 10th | Free | DETAILS

Welcome back Thornton Park Farmer’s Market! We’ve missed you! Can’t wait to see what Campagnolo has on offer this season. Scout’s weekly BBQs are back on!
Wednesday | 3pm – 7pm | Main Street Station (Terminal) | DETAILS

CULTURE

Wow, people are really excited about VAG’s new show: The Colour of My Dreams, The Surrealist Revolution in Art. This exhibit is said to be the most comprehensive exhibition of Surrealist art ever to be shown in Canada. It opens on May 28 and will feature some 350 works by leading artists of the milieu, including André Breton, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Alberto Giacometti, Leonora Carrington, Brassaï, André Masson, Man Ray, Edith Rimmington, Wifredo Lam and many others.
May 28 – September 25 | Vancouver Art Gallery | $19.50

If you just can’t wait until Saturday, you can attend a lecture with internationally renowned Surrealism expert Dawn Ades. She’s giving an illustrated public talk about The Colour of My Dreams at the VAG on Thursday night.  Get the inside scoop on this exhibition before the formal opening. Bonus: your lecture ticket stub will get you admission to The Colour of My Dreams after May 28th). For reservations, call 604-662-4717.
Thursday, May 26 | 7pm | Vancouver Art Gallery | $30

In Gastown, Caleb Beyers opens a show at Catalog.
May 27 | Catalog Gallery (100-56 Powell)

Laura Piasta swings in to town and shows some work at LES Gallery.
Opening Reception | Friday, May 27 | 7pm | Artist in attendance | LESGallery | Free

Beginning next week, the winners of the 2011 Annual Architectural Institute of BC (AIBC) awards will be on display at the AIBC Gallery. The exhibit showcases 64 submissions from four award categories: The Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Awards in Architecture; The AIBC Innovation Award; The AIBC Special Jury Award; and the AIBC Emerging Firm Award. Award recipients will be announced at the Presidents’ Dinner & Awards Gala on Friday, May 27.
June 1 -20 | AIBC Gallery (440 Cambie) | Free

Centre A throws down with a fascinating solo exhibition of Howie Tsui’s work. The show, called Celestials of Saltwater City, consists of two bodies of work: Horror Fables (a series of paintings and a multi-media sculpture using imagery from ancient Asian ghost stories to satirize the disturbing climate of fear in contemporary society) and a newly commissioned performance and multi-media installation (stories from Vancouver’s Chinese community re-interpreted and transformed into otherworldly fables that will “deify” Chinese immigrants from the turn of the century until now).
Opening reception Friday May 27 | 8 pm | Centre A (2 W Hastings) Free

COMMUNITY

The Vancouver Public Library is looking for your feedback/input about the new Downtown Eastside/Strathcona Library branch that will be built at #720-730 East Hastings. If you have something you want to say, now would be a good time to get involved. Oh, and free refreshments!
Saturday May 28 | 1-4pm | Oppenheimer Park (400 Powell).
Monday May 30 | 5-9 pm |.S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Social Service Centre (28 W Pender)
Wednesday June 1 | 5-9 pm | Carnegie Community Centre (401 Main)
Sunday June 5, 1-5 pm | Strathcona Branch (VPL)

Ever find yourself stuck in slow moving traffic somewhere along Broadway and you look around and find yourself filled with a hopelessly depressed feeling? I do. I mean, what can be done about Broadway? It goes on and on and, except for one or two bright spots, is dead ugly and right inhospitable. This is a street that cuts across almost the entire city. It’s one of Vancouver’s busiest transit corridors, and insightliest. It’s easy to complain about. I know because I do it all the time. But that’s not going to get us anywhere. How can we make it better? Allan Jacobs, former Director of City Planning for San Francisco (author of Great Streets) and Elizabeth Macdonald, Professor of Urban Design at the University of California, Berkeley might have a few ideas to share. The two are slated to speak about best practices in street design and provide advice on the design of Broadway and how it could be a ‘Really Good’ Street, if not a ‘Great Street.'” I’m dying to hear what they have to say.
Monday, May 30 | 7–9pm | SFU at Harbour Centre, Room 1400 | Register here

Consider attending the Mid-Scale Composting in the City workshop at SFU next week:  “With residential food scraps banned from the landfills in 2012 and all organics banned by 2015, Metro Van municipalities need to find a new home for 250,000 tonnes of organic waste in the next few years. Join us as we discuss best solutions for this current issue.”
Tuesday, May 31 | 7–9pm | SFU at Harbour Centre | Free but pre-registration is required.

May 28: Can’t miss walking tour: Historical and Architectural Tour of Commercial Drive.

If you’re interested in creating Vibrant Sustainable Communities you might want to head out to UBC this Saturday afternoon. There’s a panel discussion going down focusing on building a ‘Smart Future’ On the panel will be former Vancouver mayor and B.C. premier Mike Harcourt, associate director of policy planning at UBC Lisa Colby, and founding director of UBC’s sustainability office Dr. Freda Pagani
Saturday, May 28 | 3:15-4:15pm | UBC SUB (6138 Student Union Blvd) | Free

There’s a Community Seed-Saving Workshop in Strathcona this Sunday. Learn how to save this year’s seeds for next season. Basic and intermediate seed-saving techniques will be covered with hands-on demonstrations. The workshop is presented by Village Vancouver’s Cedar Cottage Seed Saving Collective.
Sunday, May 29 | Strathcona Community Centre, 601 Keefer | $10 | email [email protected] to register

Hook up with bird watcher Cathy Aitchison in Stanley Park this weekend. Cathy will lead a two-hour walk exploring Stanley Park’s varied and beautiful bird population.
Sunday, May 29 | 9am | Lagoon Nature House | Free

What is/was life in the DTES really like? Head to the Main Branch of the Vancouver Public Library to catch screenings of two old CBC documentaries, Skid Row (1957) and When I’m Alone (1968) for a little historical perspective before listening to a panel discussion on what the reality of life in the DTES is today.
Monday, May 30 |  7-9pm | Central Library (350 W Georgia) | Free, but seating is limited.

Learn about history of the Commercial Drive area on another amazing Heritage Vancouver walking tour. This week local historian Maurice Guibord takes tour participants down The Drive to point out historic and architectural details of the neighbourhood. “You’ll see examples of gentrification at its best and its worst, and some surprising examples of re-use.”
Saturday, May 28  | 10am | Meet at Northwest Corner of Commercial and Charles | $15

MUSIC

NoMeansNo plays the Biltmore.
Friday, May 27 | Biltmore Cabaret

Coco Love Alcorn is holding a CD release gig for new album “Play”
June 1 | doors 7:30 / show 8pm | Wise Hall (1882 Adanac Street) | $18

Get outside and pretend it’s nice out. We recommend Malkin Bowl on Friday night. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears take the stage at 7pm and Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings take over at 8pm. There’s just something about an outdoor gig in Stanley Park that is too magical to pass up. Watch summer materialize!
Friday, May 27 | Malkin Bowl, Stanley Park | $45

Oh, and Supertramp plays Rogers Arena Wednesday night. SUPERTRAMP!

If you are involved in or know of an event that you think we should add to the Scout List, drop us a line and we’ll see what we can do. Keep in mind that we’re looking for cool, cheap and accessible events. Michelle [@] Scoutmagazine [dot] ca.

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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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