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…

Drink | Le Vieux Pin is at Blood Alley’s Salt Cellar this week. Slip into the softly-lit cellar under Salt Tasting Room for an evening of wine, charcuterie and a little bit of first-hand knowledge from the winemakers themselves. Le Vieux Pin just won first place at the Judgement of Montreal for their 2009 Equinoxe Syrah, so they’ll likely be in a celebratory mood. If you can’t make it, don’t worry. Tinhorn Creek Vineyards is next up on November 13th, and those guys are all kinds of awesome (and their wine is pretty darn good, too).
Tuesday, October 30 | 7pm | Salt Cellar | $40 | Details

Catch a Matinee | Searching For Sugar Man is playing at the Fifth Avenue Cinemas until Thursday and something worth knocking off work a little early for. The official skinny: “Relatively unknown to the rest of the world, musician Rodriguez was once the most popular musician in South Africa. Standing for anti-establishment through his lyrics on Cold Fact (1970), his songs were the anthem for a generation of revolutionary people standing up against Apartheid. He was rumored to have committed suicide, but two devoted fans set out to find the truth, and in a twist of fate, find their hero.” It’s a great film, and exactly the kind of thing we are meant to be doing with our rainy afternoons.
Today through Thursday, November 1 | 4:15 | Fifth Avenue Cinemas (2110 Burrard St.) | $8.50 | Details 

Documentary | Do you love farmers markets and apples? Of course you do, because what kind of person says “No, I don’t like farmers markets and apples”? FarmFolk CityFolk and The World In A Garden have joined forces to screen a documentary on apples called “The Apple Pushers” (narrated by Edward Norton). I’m guessing this is the kind of film that you will walk out of feeling inspired and full of hope for the human race. Price of admission includes the film, some food and drink, earnest speakers and more.
Thursday, November 1 | Doors 7pm | Ridge Theatre (3131 Arbutus St.) | $29 | Details 

Eat Local | You will remember, sadly, that we will lose an hour of daylight this weekend. It’s time to accept it: winter is coming. Be strong, eat well, and take your vitamins. Thank the theoretical heavens that the Winter Farmers Market is up and running this weekend. Shoot over to 30th and Ontario to load up on local fruits and veggies that will keep you healthy and happy in these dark times. Look for fresh SOLEfood kale, crispy apples from Klipper’s Organics, Caerphilly cheese from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, as well as baked goods, preserves and local honey. Finish the experience off with a Pig LT from Pig on the Street (or try the veg option “No Piggy” with grilled haloumi, shrooms, tomato, and pesto). And don’t let the line-up intimidate you. It moves fast!
Saturdays, November 3 – April 27, 2013 | 10am – 2pm | East Parking Lot of Nat Bailey Stadium (30th and Ontario St)

The Bakers Market |  The best way to hide from cold damp weather is to stuff your face with artisanal breads, scones, cookies and cakes. We’re guessing this weekend’s Baker’s Market will still see all manner of pumpkin-flavoured macaroons, madeleines, cupcakes and marshmallows, but we should also anticipate the beginnings of gingerbread and peppermint. Lots of gluten free and vegan options – the whole shebang. It’s like a dreamy dessert buffet or the biggest bakery you’ve ever set foot in. So great! Take your own containers and bags.
Saturday, November 3 | 11am–3pm | Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre, 7646 Prince Albert (2 blocks East of Fraser @ 60th) | Details

Echo Chamber | As Vancouverites are well aware, on one weekend a year the artists of the east side open their doors to the public so they can get a feel for place and process . It’s called the Eastside Culture Crawl and it’s fast approaching (November 16, 17, 18), but before that the event organizers do Echo Chamber, a pre-Crawl event at the Wise Hall featuring music, spoken word, and all manner of performances besides produced by artists living or working outside of the Crawl’s catchment zone. It’s eclectic, off the mainstream grid and super playful with a mood somewhere between cabaret and gypsy caravan. This year’s line up will include the Tim Sars Trio, Swank, Deanna Knight & the Hot Club of Mars, and The Sidewalk Cellist (to name a few).
Friday, November 2 | 8pm-1am | The Wise Hall (1882 Adanac St.) | $15 | Details 

Think | When you think of the multiple layers of experience that add up to your understanding of Vancouver as a place, you likely fold into that plenty of personal memories and media-generated profiles, not to mention traffic, walks through downtown and your mother’s stories about being a girl in this neighbourhood or that neighbourhood and how it’s all changed since. But do buildings influence our sense of place? Think on that this Sunday afternoon when author and SALA professor Christopher Macdonald presents an illustrated lecture on the theme at the Museum of Vancouver.
Sunday, November 4 | 2:30-4:00pm (talk begins at 2:30pm)| Museum of Vancouver (1100 Chestnut St.) | $12 | Details 

Grow | Ever fancy a sandwich and go about constructing it only to discover that the finishing touch, the lettuce, has turned dark and slimy at the back of the fridge? An easy fix is to grow your own greens. They can be grown inside all year. If you are at all baffled as to the how of this, there’s a workshop going on at Britannia Centre this weekend that will walk you through the process. Growing Lush Winter Greens Indoors will teach attendees methods for cultivating everything from peashoots to baby lettuce in the comfort of their own home.
Saturday, November 3 | 2pm – 4pm | Britannia Centre (1661 Napier St) | $25 | Details 

Buy Art | This week at Chinatown’s Good Luck Gallery, Vancouver artist Andy Dixon shows The Great Conversation. “After years of involving myself with art that uses outsider techniques to communicate outsider content, I am taking steps inward to join the Great Conversation of art in the last few hundred years. While my work still offers a critique of the art world, I am becoming an artist joining in, rather than a painter commenting from the sideline.” What’s the Good Luck Gallery all about? It’s a small pop-up exhibition space on Union St. that aims to connect emerging artists with would be collectors and art enthusiasts. Exhibitions are short (one week) and sweet (wall space accommodates only a handful of pieces), but they are well attended, thoughtfully presented, and doing a nice job of connecting folks in the community.
Friday, November 2 | 6-10pm | Good Luck Gallery (243 Union St.) | Free | Details 

Make Something | Do you convince yourself each year that you are going to make lovely handmade holiday greeting cards in time for the holiday season? Do you then end up buying something from the drugstore because time got away from, you? You’re not alone. Luckily, all the renewed interest in do-it-yourself stuff has brought about classes on just about everything, including how to make your own hand printed greeting cards using a Japanese Print Gocco Machine (Blim explains that “Gocco is a hand held screen printing device invented by the Japanese to make mess free screen printed cards at home”). Sounds different, and different is good. All you have to do is choose a 4″×5″ black and white image and get yourself down to Blim for the class. You’ll walk away with 20 uniquely printed cards and no need to resort to Hallmark.
Saturday, November 3 | 2–5pm | Blim (115 E Pender St.) | $65

Great Gig | Chan Marshall, or “Cat Power”, is bringing her unique and bluesy, soulful, folkish, punk (and sometimes electronica) sound to Vancouver this Friday night at the Vogue Theatre. The eccentric Georgian New Yorker (whose live performances are the stuff of legend) is touring to promote her new and highly regarded (ninth!) studio album, Sun.
Friday, November 2 | 8pm | Vogue Theatre (918 Granville St.) | $35

Have a good week, and be sure to check out our updated Scout List for the weekend in the Globe & Mail this Thursday!

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Michelle Sproule grew up in Kitsilano and attended 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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