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…

MONDAY | November 28

INSIGHT | Food Network host Anna Olson, restaurant critic Alexandra Gill, and Scout’s Andrew Morrison speak at UBC tonight on “the art of food writing”. The fundraiser is called Speaking of Taste Buds, and it supports a program that helps local, inner-city kids to build lifelong literacy skills through creative writing projects, tutoring and mentorships. | DETAILS

KARMA | Time to do that pre-Cristmas purge. Dig out the closet to find a coat that you don’t need anymore and take it down to ALIFE in Gastown. ALIFE will make sure your coat get to someone in need AND they’ll give you 30% off of their stock while you’re there. | DETAILS

EAT LOCAL | Monday is the best day to make the rounds at Granville Island. Load up on fresh food for your week without the weekend line-ups. Lees Doughnuts, here we come… | DETAILS

TRADITION | As December looms (that was fast!), it’s time to coordinate the holiday schedule. Tickets to The Nutcracker are high on our list. Opening night is December 15, so get on it! | DETAILS 

TUESDAY | November 29

ENGAGE | The Vancouver Public Library invites you to take part in shaping its future. They want community to brainstorm and daydream about the future of the Library. What should it look like? What services woud be useful? How do you use your library and what would make you use it more often? Get involved. Those who show up shape change! | DETAILS

ART| Vancouver Art Gallery is open late tonight and, after 5pm, admission is by donation. If you haven’t seen it yet, this is a good time to scoot in to check out Shore, Forest and Beyond: Art from the Audain Collection. | DETAILS

PHOTOS | Over on Main Street you can catch  Into Thin Air, a show of photographs by Vancouver artist Christopher Brayshaw. The show features photos taken between 2005 and 2011 in Vancouver, LA, Las Vegas, and New York. | DETAILS

SOCIALISM | The Social Feed is having another one of their dinners. Tonight’s meal has an Izakaya feel and will go down at The Electric Owl. They’re talking Tuna Tataki and late-night karaoke. Good times. | DETAILS 

WEDNESDAY | November 30

MAKING | This is the perfect time of year to take up knitting. Think of it: handmade Christmas gifts. How great would that be? If you’re interested in learning, consider hanging out at UBC Farm for Knitting It Together: An Introduction to Knitting. You’ll learn the basics of casting on and off, knit and pearl and what swear words are most effective when you realize that you pearled when you should have knit. Only $25 beans with materials included. | DETAILS 

STARRING | Margin Call is playing at the Fifth Avenue Cinema. “A thriller that revolves around the key people at a investment bank over a 24-hour period during the early stages of the financial crisis.” May not be terribly uplifting but sweet Jesus, have you seen the cast? a few highlights include Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci.| DETAILS

HOOKY | Cast your eyes North my friends. Those mountains are looking pretty nice. You should be up there! Nobody will suspect a thing if you call in sick. It’s November, so everyone is sick anyway! | DETAILS

PRIDE | On the last Wednesday of every month (that’s today), the Vancouver Pride Society and Denman Cinemas host a movie night for the members of the LGBTTQ community. Half of the ticket sales go back to Vancouver Pride. This month’s flick is Ma Vie En Rose. | DETAILS 

THURSDAY | December 1

WRITE | This is a pretty good time of year to take a few minutes out to write a letter. Holiday season in approaching and everyone appreciates a hand-penned letter or card in the mailbox. Way better than another bill, am I right?  The Regional Assembly of Text on Main St. makes it real easy. They provide the paper and gadgets to make your letters look beautiful. Plus there’ll be a bunch of cool fellow letter writers there to join you. Can’t really go wrong. | DETAILS

OCCUPY | There is new show on at Emily Carr, a group exhibition of works by current grad students entitled “Occupy Art”. The show considers the Occupy Movement and wider ideas of protest.  Timely, interesting, and likely to be rad. | DETAILS

SOUNDTRACK | Graeme Berglund (The Cheaper Show) gives us the Soundtrack To His Life on Thursday night. You can learn a lot about a person by listening to their biographical playlist. Give ‘er Graeme. DETAILS

HISTORY | There’s a curator’s talk and tour of Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver at the Museum of Vancouver tonight. Joan Seidl, Director of Collections and curator of Neon Vancouver talks about “Vancouver’s evolving hate/love relationship with neon, and how MOV came to hold a significant neon collection.” | DETAILS 

FRIDAY | December 2

VINTAGE | Hooray! Community Thrift and Vintage is opening a second Gastown shop this week. This one is called the Frock Shoppe and it’s just in time for holiday soirée frock-buying season. Don’t miss the special opening party tonight , wine will be served with a suggested $4 donation going towards a blanket drive that aims to purchase 100 wool blankets for Vancouverites without homes. | DETAILS 

GLUTTONY | Vancity is screening El Bulli: Cooking in Progress. So what if the famous Spanish molecular gastronomy mecca closed for good July 30, 2011? The reviews for this have been mouth-watering, so if you dig food, go. | DETAILS 

CULTURE | There’s an interesting performance going down at the Firehall Centre. “Set in Oppenheimer Park, Shadow Catch tells the story of a young runaway’s night-time encounters with four different people who turn out to be quite other than they seem.” [sic]  | DETAILS 

MUSIC | If you’re in the mood for a live gig of sweet tunes, Girlfriends + Boyfriends are tearing the Biltmore a new one tonight. | DETAILS

SATURDAY | December 3

CRAWL | Winter Wander going on in Vanier Park today. Crawl through six of Vancouver’s cultural centres with live music, food vendors and prizes thrown in to make it that much more festive. Think about it: Bard on the Beach, City Archives, The Planetarium, Museum of Vancouver, Vancouver Academy of Music, and the Vancouver Maritime Museum all in one go. That’s a lot of awesome for just $5. | DETAILS 

CRAFTINESS | Make your Christmas cards yourself this year. Head to Blim today to learn how to use a Japanese Print Gocco Machine to do it. Gocco is a portable, hand-held screenprinting device invented by the Japanese to make mess-free screenprinted cards at home. The possibilities are endless. | DETAILS 

LOCALISM | The Farmers Market goes down just one per week during the winter months, so it’s important that you hit the Nat Baily parking lot to load up on fresh, locally produced goodies. | DETAILS 

MUSIC | Blind Pilot plays the Venue tonight. They’re on the road to promote their latest album We Are The Tide. I can’t imagine that this will be anything less than an amazing show. Lots of talent! | DETAILS 

SUNDAY | December 4

ANTI-MALL | Got Craft? You should. Because MALL is a four letter word and there is no reason that you need to visit one with Got Craft? on the scene. Make your way over to Commercial Drive today to check out the supercool handmade wares of over 50 indie artists. This event is a Scout favourite, definitely one of the best craft shows we have. Be one of the first 45 people through the door and score a free swag bag of goodies, which include handmade items from vendors at the show. | DETAILS 

RETRO | It’s worth noting that there is a Retro Design and Antique Fair at the Croatian Culture Centre today. Good place to pick up one of a kind trinkets and bobbles. Also a good place to pick up a sweet, mid-century modern chair or two. | DETAILS 

SANTA! | The Rogers Santa Claus Parade hits downtown today. The procession of holiday cheer will start at West Georgia Street and Broughton (at 1:00 pm), travel east along West Georgia, turn north on Burrard and finish at Burrard and Cordova. | DETAILS 

NATURE | We’re on ‘The Edge of Winter’ and there’s a cool gig on in Stanley Park that looks at how plants and animals adjust to survive the cooler months on the West Coast. I’m a sucker for good nature programming, and so are you. | DETAILS

HEADS UP FOR NEXT WEEK

JUMPSTART | The Festival of Lights is on at VanDusen Botanical Gardens. An invigorating walk through a garden decorated with 1.4 million twinkling lights is pretty great way to jump start your holiday spirit. Watch for a ticket give-away this week. | DETAILS

——————————————————————————————–

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.

——————————————————————————————–