From our calendar to yours comes this carefully considered agenda of cool things we are doing, wishing we could do, or conspiring to do in Vancouver from January 24 to January 30, 2018 Please note that you can now get the Scout List – with a few extra pieces of intel included – sent to your inbox every Thursday. Sign up for your subscription in the sidebar.

NATURE | Feel like you have a good grasp of Vancouver’s wildlife situation? Take it up a macabre notch by checking out the Inside Story: Goose vs. Heron guided dissection workshop in Stanley Park this Thursday evening. From the Stanley Park Ecology peeps: “Canada geese and great blue herons are similarly-sized birds found in similar habitats and yet do vastly different things. Dive in for the ‘inside story’ and see what anatomically makes a heron and a goose through a guided dissection of each.” Inside Scoop – see what I did there? Find out more.

SLURP | One of the tastiest ways to combat the drain of the rain is to fill your belly with a hot and delicious bowl of ramen. Everyone agrees on that, right? With more rain in the forecast, sit back and enjoy Koki Shigeno’s crowd-pleasing ‘Ramen Heads’, which plays at the Vancity Theatre this week. Work up an appetite as the documentary follows Osamu Tomita – Japan’s king of ramen – through the history, fanaticism and definition of what it takes to make the perfect bowl of noodles and soup. Afterwards, hit up one of the best local ramen joints for a comforting bowl of awesome. Find out more.

REPAIR | Regardless of the sorry state of your post-holiday wallet, the urge to get rid of old stuff and accumulate new things tends to hit strong this time of year. Before you break down and do anything hasty, we recommend you dig out your stash of broken electronics, unravelling sweaters and anything else that’s cluttering up your physical/mental space and head over to the Fraserhood’s Grace Church this Saturday. The handy people of Repair Matters will be there to lend their know-how and help you fix your stuff so that you can reintroduce it into your life as if it were brand new! The event is free and, on top of that, you’ll walk away with at least one new skill. Find out more.

SCIENCE | There’s a rad-sounding group of science-minded people gathering at Britannia Community Centre this weekend. Scoot over to the Commercial Drive neighbourhood hub to connect with makers, growers, fixers and experimenters – all jacked on sharing information about how things work and why they work that way. Representatives from Science 101, MakerLabs, Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society, Decoda Literacy Solutions, Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC (ASTTBC), Vancouver Public Library, DTES Women’s Centre, GenomeBC, Environmental Youth, Alliance (EYA), and Growing Chefs will all be on site with booths, tables, displays and demonstrations to get you inspired. Find out more.

THRIVE | Since they started Thrive Art Studios three years ago, Jamie and Tara have been busy building a community of female artists in Vancouver by creating a supportive space and facilitating meetings, a speaker series, art school and podcast. This Thursday evening is your chance to show your support for these awesome women as they move into a new downtown space (which notably includes a foosball table). There’ll be the usual party fixings of snacks and beverages, plus good and creative people to enjoy them with. Find out more.

LISTEN | Fine (an evening of storytelling) is having their one-year anniversary event at the Lido on Monday. Hiding out and drinking beer in a dark bar while listening to a line-up of local writers and comedians recite their original anecdotes sounds like the perfect rainy evening activity. It’s like the adult version of our favourite childhood pastime of being tucked in and read to from a new storybook… Find out more.

TOAST | This Friday evening the Fraserhood’s long-running community hub, the Toast Collective, is holding a fundraiser that’s a combination of marketplace, silent auction and live music featuring four local bands. The majority of items for purchase will be available by donation, with all proceeds going towards keeping the Toast running. The collective is an important part of the DIY arts community in Vancouver, and we think this event definitely warrants dipping into your weekend beer/laundry funds for. Find out more.

LEARN | Leaning Out of Windows is a neat new collaborative exhibition from Emily Carr University and TRIUMF particle accelerator centre that bridges art and science. The first part of the two-part series explores the topic of Antimatter, as interpreted by 27 participating artists. The show opens on Thursday evening, followed by a “Translation Hub” on Saturday where you can get the full explanation of the project from the artists and physicists involved, plus some special guests. Regardless of your level of academia in either subject, this event looks like it will be equally educational and visually interesting. Plus, if you still haven’t made it down to the new ECUAD campus since it opening the end of last October, it’s a great excuse to bundle up and take a walk along the Central Valley Greenway to check it out. Find out more.

WATCH | The 19th Annual Animation Show of Shows is on at The Rio on Monday night. This line-up of 16 carefully selected short animated films from around the world is mind blowing. The diversity of story, social and political impact, and pure artistic talent make this an inspiring evening. From The Rio: “At a time of increasing social instability and global anxiety about a range of issues, the works in this year’s show have a special resonance, presenting compelling ideas about our place in society, and how we fit into the world…Funny, moving, engaging, and thought-provoking, the ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS not only has something for everyone, but is a remarkable and insightful microcosm of our world.” Find out more.

NEW WEST | Kicking off this Thursday (and open to the public until April 8th) there’s a super cool and eerie new interactive exhibit to check out at the New Media Gallery in New Westminster called “Corpus”. The six international artists involved explore the evolving concept of being human in this day and age, as the line separating us from our technologies continues to blur. Among the works included are a “beating” glass heart that responds to touch, an intuitive drone that learns as it roams, and a petunia infused with the artist’s DNA. Whether you’re into Sci-Fi or not, this exhibit raises a lot of interesting questions about the near future that will definitely get you thinking. Find out more.