by Michelle Sproule | 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…

GRAPES | Wine Fest is on. This year is the 34th Annual Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival and it’s going to be pretty sweet. The best in local and international wines will be celebrated alongside theme region Chile and the global focus of Cabernet(s). 1,700 wines from 180 wineries and 64 events. That’s a lot of awesome. Check out the “Everything You Need To Know About The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Fest” guide on our front page and get yourself sorted.
February 27 – March 4 | Vancouver Conference Centre 1055 Canada Place

LEARN | The Museum of Vancouver is hosting an interactive public dialogue aimed at getting Vancouverites to talk about ways we can transition toward community-based food resiliency. They plan is to tackle the big questions, like “What is the future of food in Vancouver, especially as cheap energy sources peak and climate change intensifies?” They want to stir up some community visioning and identify key strategic planning considerations. This just seems like a good idea all around.
February 28 | Registration 5:30pm | Presentations 6pm | Museum of Vancouver (1100 Chestnut) | By donation | Details

NERDITUDE | So get this: there’s an improvised role-play comedy going down at the Rio this week and we’re betting it’ll be pretty rad. Dungeons & Dragons Live On Stage will be led by dungeon master Eric Fell of Vancouver TheatreSports League with the help of the Justice Pals Improv Group, and the Anza Bonanza Pub Quiz gang. Guaranteed to make you laugh, and it’s a licensed event, which always helps with D&D (we imagine).
February 29 | doors 7:30 pm | Rio Theatre (1660 E. Broadway) | $8 | Details

EXHIBITION | There is still time to catch the Association of Canadian Industrial Designers (that’s ACID to those of you who get off on acronyms) first annual National Student Industrial Design Recognition Show at Emily Carr. The exhibition features the ‘best of the best’ student industrial design work from across the country.
Until March 3 | Emily Carr U, North Building (1399 Johnston) | Free | Details

SHITLOADS | With spring comes gardening and nothing makes your garden happier than a healthy dose of horse poo. But where can you get hooked up with some quality dung? It just so happens that the annual manure sale is happening up at VanDusen Botanical Gardens this weekend. Head to the VanDusen parking lot to load up. But remember, this is a first come, first served set up. So don’t be lazy about it. This is some seriously opportunistic shit, so score a shitload.
Saturday, March 3 | 10am-3pm | VanDusen Botanical Garden (5251 Oak Street | $5 for a 20kg bag | Details

AGRI-PARTY | Don’t miss the Victory Gardens launch party at Nelson The Seagull on Friday Night. Vancouverites Lisa Giroday, Sam Philips and Sandra Lopuch are midwifing this new urban farming project that imagines lending their knowledge and skills to turning front yards into food producing gardens all over the city and they are kicking off their first growing season with a proper party. Head down to the Gastown hotspot to meet the ladies, sign up for a free garden consultation, peruse or bid on the silent auction (featuring items from Collage Collage, Raincity Chronicles, Pickershack, Gravity Pope, Lark, Regional Assembly of Text, Beth Richards, Heartbreaker Salon, Rocklore, Dace, Back-yard Buzz, Humble Roots Wellness, Community Vintage and more.) If you can’t make it to the Friday night shin-dig, don’t fret: Victory Gardens will also be putting on occasional workshops (think useful stuff like how to “Grow Your Own Pizza”). We’ll keep you posted on what’s going down and when if it tickles.
Friday, March 2 | 7-11pm | Nelson the Seagull (315 Carall) | Details

PECHA KUCHA | The 20th installment of the popular 20 images x 20 seconds presentation format goes down at the Vogue Theatre and it’s going to be sweet. To mark the auspicious day, organizers at Cause + Affect asked PKN enthusiasts to choose their very favourite of 226 past presenters. The result is the All-Stars Special Edition (Sean Orr and Andrew Morrison from SCOUT made the cut). Not surprisingly, the gig sold out in, like, three minutes, but don’t fret. We still have a pair of tickets to give away. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, February 29 | 7:30pm | Vogue Theatre | $15 | Details

GET UP | Friday is Creative Mornings, the monthly AM gathering for creative types in the Woodward’s W2 Media Cafe. Each event includes a 20 minute lecture, followed by a 20 minute group discussion. It begins at 8:30am and ends with everyone splitting for work at 10am. This month, Sergio Toporek will talk about his animated documentary, Beware Of Images, which explores the technology, regulation and social impacts of visual representation in our culture. Sign-up starts today (Monday) and tickets go FAST. Don’t miss out.
Friday, March 2 |8:30am | W2 Media Café | Free | Details

VAG | Two new exhibits are up and running at the Vancouver Art Gallery: Beat Nation (Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture) and Lights Out! (Canadian Painting from the 1960s). If you head to the gallery this Thursday (March 1), you can catch an in-gallery tour that will give an exhibition overview with specific attention paid to their social and historical contexts. I’m really digging the look of the 60’s paintings | Details

ART AUCTION | The Western Front is holding it’s 39th Annual Gala Dinner and Art Auction this week. The Auction is the signature event held at the Western Front: the Grand Luxe Hall hosts 80 guests during the evening with a catered three-course dinner, complementary beverages, musical entertainment and returning auctioneer Hank Bull. Tickets are steep, but consider that proceeds from the evening help support arts programming and solid efforts to foster a vibrant cultural scene in Vancouver and a vibrant cultural scene makes everyone happy. The online catalogue has some interesting pieces – I particularly like Casey Wei, untitled, 2012. Have a look at the auction catalogue here.
Saturday, March 3 | 6pm | Western Front Grand Luxe Hall 303 East 8 | $175 or $150 | 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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