READ IT (AGAIN): Pair An “Alibi Room” Pint With The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
March 25, 2013
by George Giannakos and Robyn Yager | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, we’ve picked Douglas Adams’ cult novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.
Why You Should Read It Again: Published in 1979 from a series of Radio Shows, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is the first novel in a 5 part saga. It’s about a huge number of things. Among these are space travel, the end of the world, the fabrication of planets, the quest for answers to the ultimate questions of life, the universe, and everything. It’s a very easy read.
Pair it With: A pint of bitter at the Alibi Room (157 Alexander in Gastown) whilst channelling the main character, a hapless Englishman named Arthur Dent (preferably in a dressing gown). But be quick about it. Because the world is about to end in order to make way for a hyperspace bypass.
OTHER CLASSIC PAIRINGS
READ IT (AGAIN): Pair Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” With A Cocktail At Chambar
March 4, 2013
by George Giannakos and Robyn Yager | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, we’ve picked Harper Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird.
Why You Should Read It Again: Two words. Atticus Finch. Also, it serves as one of the most beloved novels ever written, and one of the first to ever tackle the theme of tolerance. The story is told through the eyes of a young, appropriately named girl called Scout who – together with brother Jem and friend Dill – finds herself for the first time witnessing social injustice as her father, the great Atticus Finch, defends a man wrongly accused of rape. It’s a solid, uplifting reminder that there are still some pretty rad people in the world who fight for what’s right, and a welcome change from all the novels that leave us drained and heartbroken.
Pair it With: The main characters in this book are either too younger to drink or they type to happily pass. So we’ll give you a couple of options here. First, the perfect drink to sip on while stalking Boo Radley from the front porch in the sticky heat of Southern summer is a Spanish Fly from Chambar (orange-infused vermouth, Campari, sherry, house made cherry syrup, and whiskey bitters). Second, Atticus Finch seems like the kind of man to never let a day go by without a good cup of coffee. We therefore suggest a visit to the beautiful Matchstick Coffee Roasters over on Fraser Street. Grab one of their delicious coffees, a croissant, and a chair and get to reading.
OTHER CLASSIC PAIRINGS
READ IT (AGAIN): Pair “A Farewell To Arms” With Some Quality Whisky At The Shebeen
February 1, 2013
by George Giannakos and Robyn Yager | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, we’ve picked Ernest Hemingway’s 1929 novel, A Farewell To Arms.
Why You Should Read It (Again) | Hemingway gives us everything he’s got in this bestseller. It’s a classic of love and war with just the right dose of both. The story follows Frederic “Tenente” Henry, an American serving in the Italian Red Cross in World War I, and his affections for a nurse named Catherine Barkley. Parts of it are obviously autobiographical, which makes it all the more enjoyable.
Pair It With | There were 40 occasions in which someone takes a drink in this book, of either grappa, brandy, whisky, Cognac, vermouth, gin or wine. While they’re all tempting choices, we’re thinking a quiet corner in The Shebeen would suit these pages perfectly. Choose a sipper from their ridiculously extensive whisky list and ease into it…
‘What are you thinking, darling?’
‘About whiskey.’
‘What about whiskey?’
‘About how nice it is.’
Catherine made a face. ‘All right,’ she said.
Go ahead and order two.
HEADS UP: The Vancouver Public Library Is In The Midst Of A Massive Used Book Sale!
October 26, 2012
by Claudia Chan | Looking for some good books to curl up with in this cold and rainy Fall weather? The Vancouver Public Library is having a massive book sale and its already started. Books were going for 75 cents to $2.50 today and the awesomeness continues over the weekend (Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 12pm – 5pm). They have thousands of bargains and treasures worth rummaging through, but don’t forget to bring your pockets full of change because it’s cash only!
Alice MacKay Room | Lower Level | Central Library | 350 West Georgia Street
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READ IT (AGAIN): Pair An Old Pal Cocktail With John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice And Men”
October 2, 2012
by George Giannakos and Robyn Yager | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, we’ve picked John Steinbeck’s 1937 classic, Of Mice And Men.
Why You Should Read It Again: Though it’s heavy in content and theme, this 75 year old story is still only a novella no thicker than an iPhone 4S. It traces the fates of George Milton and Lennie Small, two opposites both physically and mentally, who are out looking for work in California during the Great Depression with the shared hope of having a place of their own someday. It’s still required reading for most English classes in North America (and for anyone wanting to understand American aspirationalism), and justly so.
Pair It With: A stiff, classic drink composed of Whiskey, Dry Vermouth and Campari called an Old Pal. It should provide a (false?) sense of security with which you can brace against Fall. The drink was invented in the ’20s and would have been well known during Steinbeck’s long reign of fiction, its popularity contemporary with the misadventures of “old pals” George and Lennie. Any of Vancouver’s better cocktail joints should be able to take care of you with one of these.
OTHER CLASSIC PAIRINGS
READ IT (AGAIN): Pair A Boozy Shake At Save On Meats With “Slaughterhouse Five”
August 30, 2012
by George Giannakos and Robyn Yager | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, we’ve picked Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s 1969 anti-war satire, Slaughterhouse Five.
Why You Should Read It Again: “All this happened, more or less…” so Kurt Vonnegut Jr. opens his cult, World War 2 classic. After the famous line it’s just go go go with protagonist Billy Pilgrim. It’s a light read – both physically and mentally – and it’s pretty hilarious, albeit in a really dark, war-seriously-sucks kinda way. And if aliens (ahem, Tralfamadorians) and time travel (to both the past and the future) don’t make you want to pick up the book again – perhaps this link with multiple pages of the novel’s take away phrase “So it goes” tattooed on people will.
Pair It With: The book has no direct mention of any particular drink, so one must get a little more creative. Considering how it’s the end of summer and Slaughterhouse Five blends comedy and tragedy seamlessly, I think it’s only appropriate to take a stool at the long bar of Hasting’s Save-On-Meats and grab yourself a thick and boozy Bacon Bourbon Chocolate Milkshake. If that isn’t a blend of comedy and tragedy, then I really don’t want to know what is.
OTHER CLASSIC PAIRINGS
READ IT (AGAIN): Pair Albert Camus’ “The Stranger” With A Glass Of Wine At A Beach
August 13, 2012
by George Giannakos and Robyn Yager | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, we’ve picked Albert Camus’ 1942 novel: The Stranger.
Why you should read it again: Take an apathetic anti-hero, throw him into a heat wave, and make him go through a bizarre sequence of ill-fated events. What do you have? Your life last week in Vancouver, you say? Perhaps, but I was thinking about Meursault in “The Stranger.” Written in short, sparse sentences and weighing in at just over one hundred pages, it’s a perfect candidate for a lazy August read. The book gets bonus points for inspiring The Cure’s first single “Killing An Arab” and for turning 70 years old this year. Give yourself bonus points if you can read it in the original French.
Pair with: wine seems to be the drink of choice for Meursault and his friends, and with the novel being set in French Algiers, French wine seems to be the obvious choice. The ladies from House Wine recently compiled a list of their favourite summer wines of 2012, and both French reds and whites are in attendance. As for where you should do the pairing, it’s good to remember that the book is seperated into 2 parts: the first near (or on) a beach (preferably white), and the second inside a small, dark room (ideally read). Vancouver has plenty of both, so take your pick and enjoy.
OTHER CLASSIC PAIRINGS
READ IT (AGAIN): Pair “Madame Bovary” With New Shoes & A Sidecar At L’Abattoir
July 27, 2012
by George Giannakos and Robyn Yager | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, we’ve picked Gustave Flaubert’s 1856 masterpiece: Madame Bovary.
Why you should read it again: Emma Bovary isn’t a typical, provincial French woman from mid-19th century Normandy. She is one of the most twisted, selfish, weak and complex characters in the history of literature – and Flaubert writes her beautifully. The novel is filled with luxurious spending, affairs, lies, romance, passion, lust, debt, greed – all the necessary ingredients for a scandalously good summer read. Parisian public prosecutors tried to get Madame Bovary banned and actually went so far as putting its author on trial for obscenity in 1857 (he was acquitted). It has – unsurprisingly – never been out of print since (it has also been adapted for the screen many times).
Pair with: A fancy new pair of shoes from Rowan Sky and a solo date to L’Abbatoir sitting at the bar complete with a cocktail, preferably the Sidecar, made with brandy, curacao, and lemon juice (curacao is mentioned in the book during one of Mr. and Mrs. Bovary’s first encounters).
HEADS UP: New “This Is East Van” Photo Book Launching At The Interurban July 7th
June 21, 2012
Scout was a proud sponsor of the first This Is East Van community book project, and we are again for the second, which started printing over the weekend. The launch party goes down at 7pm on July 7th at the Interurban Gallery (1 East Hastings at Carrall). Scout will be there, and we hope you will, too! Check out the video above for a behind the scenes look at the production. If you’re unfamiliar with the first book…
It all began with the idea of celebrating the many sides of East Vancouver through community art. In July of 2010 Erin Sinclair and Jason Uglanica put out a call for submissions: Any image of East Vancouver, from anyone, in any photographic medium. The response was overwhelming. Soon dozens of images started pouring in, in all shapes and sizes, from community members young and old, some of whom rarely picked up a camera, while others did so for a living.
Much like the progressive community that is East Vancouver, the photos demonstrated the diversity of its people, art, design, food and architecture. It soon became clear that the THIS IS EAST VAN project was going to be a candid snapshot, an authentic glimpse, of this diverse neighbourhood right now. Real images, by real people, in a very real, and vibrant community.
The collection of photos in the book give just a taste of East Vancouver. It would be impossible to capture it all, and that of course is part of the neighbourhood’s allure. The same allure is contained in every story told by these images, stories of a progressive, open-minded, and diverse community with a pace and energy that can’t be found anywhere else in the city.
THIS IS EAST VAN hopes to inspire thoughtfulness and change, even if that change is as small as seeing a part of your community through the eyes of your neighbours.
READ IT (AGAIN): Pair The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald With An Easy Gin Rickey
June 13, 2012
by Michelle Sproule | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? Sure, you could walk into Chapters and take a chance on a recent release. You might even score. But here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. Why not re-read a classic? It’s a classic for good reason and in re-visiting old favourites we can find memories of ourselves in its pages from when we first read picked it up years ago. With that in mind we’ve joined with a couple of friends of ours (George and Robyn of Sons & Lovers) to come up with a range of reliably awesome books, and we’ll be pairing each title with an appropriate place and a suitable drink. To start, we’re going back to 1925 with The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Why you should read it again: What’s not to love about the unrestrained decadence of New York during the Roaring Twenties? Not only is The Great Gatsby an evocatively boozy summer read, it’s also a means to refresh your memory in advance of the much anticipated Leonardo DiCaprio/Carey Mulligan film adaptation due this Christmas. The trailer looks good, but can DiCaprio really best Redford’s turn as Gatsby in 1974? It hardly matters, as the book will always be better than both.
Pair with: Five hours on a sunny day off, a deck chair and either a bottle of Champagne or a Gin Rickey (gin was Fitzgerald’s spirit of choice as he believed it was undetectable on his breath). Also consider a well-made Boulevardier, a bourbon/campari cocktail that gained in popularity at the same time as Fitzgerald’s writing. A Negroni would also be a nice fit, as it’s the same as a Boulevardier except with gin instead of bourbon (it only gained in popularity a couple decades later). If you don’t feel like making the drinks yourself, sneak in a chapter between sips at The Diamond well before the rush starts.
Cool Thing We Want #343: Beautiful Hand-Painted Bug Book Covers By Rose Sanderson
May 2, 2012
(via Colossal) Digging these hand-painted insect book covers by Bristol artist Rose Sanderson. Have a gander at more of her work here.
EVERY COOL THING WE WANT
Cool Thing We Want #319: Copy Of Marlene Yuen’s “A Haunting History of Vancouver”
January 3, 2012
A Haunting History of Vancouver by Marlene Yuen | $300
Expensive, yes, but only 8 copies of this glow-in-the dark accordion book were made, and we want one!
EVERY COOL THING WE WANT
Smoke Break #854: Samuel L. Jackson Does “Go The F@ck To Sleep” Audiobook
June 15, 2011
The much ballyhooed NSFW children’s book, Go The Fuck To Sleep, has finally got its official audiobook companion, and of course they’ve chosen the most appropriate narrator possible in Samuel L. Jackson. If you have kids, you’re going to dig this…
