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…

PUNCH DRUNK LOVE | Every month, producer/presenter Melanie Friesen of Vancity Theatre’s Cinema Salon asks a prominent Vancouverite to present their favourite film and speak to its greatness. This month, it’s award-winning musician and producer Steve Dawson. He’s screening his favourite film: Punch Drunk Love (Adam Sandler, Emily Watson). Discussion of the film follows the screening with drinks
Tuesday, April 2 | 7:30pm | Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour) | $13 | DETAILS

TEA | This Tuesday night, Kitsilano’s O5 Tea kicks off a series of Tuesday night movie screenings designed to be a fun way to connect with other Vancouver tea wonks. The series begins with Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited starring Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson. Have a laugh and enjoy compilentary tea and nerd-out with like minded tea drinkers. Best part, it’s all free.
Tuesday, April 2 | 7pm | | O5 Tea bar (2208 W 4) | Free | DETAILS

TASTE | We can think of no better way to celebrate Spring than with a four course ‘Cuisine de Terroir’ meal prepared by Joy Road Catering, except for the same dinner paired with wines from Road 13 Vineyards. The Country In The City dinner has the Okanagan coming to us inside the beautiful Vancouver Urban Winery on Wednesday night. Cam Smith and Dana Ewart of Joy Road do a stellar job of making the most out of fresh local ingredients (think wild nettle pesto with house made ricotta prosciutto, fresh oysters, poached trout, roasted lamb, pearl barley risotto with wild fire morel mushrooms). Tickets are going fast. See you there?
Wednesday, April 3 | 7pm | Vancouver Urban Winery (55 Dunlevy) | $100 | DETAILS

KNOW YOUR CITY |  Check out the Secrets of the Penthouse tour this Thursday night. Led by the good folks at Forbidden Vancouver, this tour will reveal the juicy secrets and varied histories of Vancouver’s most infamous nightclub. Meet owner Danny Filippone, hear star-studded stories, take in the wall of historical photographs, catch a bit of burlesque, and learn about police raids, murders and fires. As you can imagine, this event will be popular and, although there are two tours running, it will likely sell out. If you don’t make this tour, don’t panic. You can get in line for the ones on May 2nd or June 6th.
Thursday, April 4 | 6:15pm + 7:15pm | The Penthouse (1019 Seymour) | 6pm | $38 | DETAILS

GET UP | This Friday brings Creative Mornings, the monthly morning gathering for creative types. 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’s speaker, Ian Ruhter, is an old school photographer. Way old-school. This is an artist who sought to restore some of the depth and soul of the photograph by returning to over 100 year old technologies and methods. He captures on film what he could not achieve with present day equipment. Sign-up for a ticket here (they get snapped up FAST, so don’t wait.)
Friday, April 5 | 8:30-10am | Dodson House (25 E Hastings) | Free | DETAILS

NIRVANA NIGHT | Celebrate the life and talent of Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) at Fortune Sound Club on Friday night. Event organizers will screen the documentary “I Hate Myself & I Want To Die” followed by a chat with the film’s director Benjamin Shapiro and an evening of Nirvana covers performed by local bands.
Friday, April 5 | 6pm Film 8pm music | Fortune Sound Club (147 E. Pender) | $10 | DETAILS

ENTANGLEMENT | Vancouver artist, photographer and environmentalist Michael Hall is fascinated by single-use plastic waste. He might see the ugliness in the physical evidence of a consumer-driven society disenfranchised from the natural environment, but he also sees the beauty in this man-made and easily discarded material. He plans to use that beauty to engage the community in thinking about it. Head to the EastVan Studios this Saturday for an art auction and party with DJs and such, the proceeds of which will help Hall pay for the printing of photographs and the development of the theme.
Saturday, April 6 | Auction 2-9pm Party 9pm | EastVan Studios (870 E. Cordova) | DETAILS

BLOSSOMS | How awesome is it to have a city full of cherry blossoms right now? Get excited about it with the likeminded at the Sakura Days Japan Fair at VanDusen this weekend. Cruising the Sakura Days Japan Fair is like being teleported to Japan, or as close as most of us are going to get by Saturday anyway. The gardens are packed full of cherry blossom gazers, live entertainment, arts and crafts tables and martial arts performers as well as tea ceremony stations, flower arranging stations, origami making booths and lots of traditional and anime-inspired costumes.
April 6+7 | 10am-5pm | VanDusen Botanical Garden (5251 Oak) | $12 | DETAILS

LISTEN | Canadian artist Roy Henry Vickers will be in town this week for an art exhibition and storytelling event in support of his new book, Raven Brings the Light. A collaboration between Vickers and historian Robert Budd, Raven Brings the Light tells the ancient First Nations legend of how Raven brought light into a world of darkness. Vickers will treat attendees to a reading from the book and a look at 18 new prints created as illustrations for the book. The one day show will pop-up at the Waterfall Building near Granville Island (1540 W 2nd) and is free to all.
Saturday, April 6 | 10:30am-4pm, Storytelling @ 11am | 1540 W 2nd | FREE | DETAILS

GO GREEN | It’s time to get your garden sorted. Hook up with Victory Gardens this Saturday for a composting workshop with soil specialist Emma Holmes. The hands-on workshop will cover important topics such as what different types of compost can be made, the different soil situations that will influence the type of compost you choose to create, what you should and should not put in to compost, and how a compost should be maintained for maximum benefit.
Saturday, April 6 | 10:30 | 151 W 1st Ave False Creek Village | $18 | DETAILS

CHEKHOV | It’s altogether too seldom that Vancouver sees a Chekhov play on stage. That oversight will be addressed this week by The Only Child Collective when they present Three Sisters at the Vancity Culture Lab. The century old drama opens a four year window on the lives of the Prozorov family (sisters Olga, Masha, and Irina) and their brother Andrei as they come to terms with their place in a changing Russian society.
Now-April 20 | Various times | Vancity Culture Lab (1895 Venables) $14-$28 | DETAILS

Check the Globe & Mail every Thursday for our Special Weekend Edition of the Scout List

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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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