Field Trip Photo: On Packing Up And Getting Back To Work

Our annual late-summer winding road trip through the Okanagan Valley and across the breadth of Vancouver Island to Tofino has come to a close. However much I tried to regularly post via iPhone, reception was pretty spotty in most of the places we went. Admittedly, this was largely by design, plus I was having too much jolly fun to bother. I’m glad to report that dear Westy (pictured above at our Tofino campsite) survived its 21st long haul under our broods’ care and is still not the least bit worse for wear (400,000kms and counting). We have hundreds of lovely photos to compile for a post on our journey (coming soon), but in the shorter term it’s back to the magic grindstone of print deadlines and daily updates right here on Scout. Thanks for sticking with us.

Scout List: Our Agenda Of Cheap & Cool For Adventurous Locals

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 list 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… Read more

Scout Photos: Eating & Sipping Our Way Through New York City

Michelle and I took some time off in New York City last week. We’d done all the touristy things in past Big Apple trips, so the bulk of our time was spent engaging in various self-indulgent behaviors. When we weren’t passed out in the marvelous Ace Hotel, we were drinking lots of really good booze, staying up to ridiculous hours and walking, walking, walking and people-watching in the blistering heat with good food either in our mouths or on our minds.

The trip was a barn burner: too much fun every day. In the midst of all the good times, however, I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed as a Vancouverite. New York is a very permissive town in comparison to my own. I could buy a single can of beer at a corner store at midnight, be ridiculed in my hotel bar for asking if they’re still serving drinks at 3:00am (”Of course we are! You must be from Canada…”), and eat just about anything I wanted from an almost obscene abundance of street food vendors.

People weren’t dropping dead on every street corner as a consequence of those petit freedoms. They were having a jolly fine time of it, and really, I’d never seen New York look and feel so vibrant, clean and healthy in all my life. It made me wonder at how much better Vancouver could be if City Hall and the provincial government just loosened the reins a little. We have our strengths, sure, but the barriers to enjoying oneself freely as they do in so many cities elsewhere are often so hard to surmount that it makes it tricky to muster the will to even bother sometimes.

The more I walked around the more I asked myself what it was that our municipal governments were so afraid of back home. If it’s mayhem on the streets, I don’t see it. If it’s food poisoning or rampant alcoholism, I don’t see it. While I realise that there have been baby steps toward progress here (the fumbling toward street food; the addition of an hour to liquor licenses), the generally restrictive attitude remains firmly entrenched, an ugly birthmark disfiguring our potential. Indeed, if I took one thing home with me from this trip, it was a tired sigh rather an epiphany. I love my city more than any other, but it would be especially nice if it took its damn nappy off and grew the fuck up.

That said and cast aside (I do like to bitch), here are a few of the things we ate, drank and saw. Enjoy… Read more

Scout List: Our Guide To Milking Vancouver On The Super Cheap

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 list 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… Read more

Scout List: All The Extra Super Goods Going Down In Vancouver

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 list 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… Read more

Scout List: The Cool Agenda For City Life On The Cheap & Sweet…

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 list 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… Read more

Scout List: Owen Lightly Cooks For Kicks & Other Cool Beans…

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 list 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… Read more

Scout List: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Of The Next Little Bit

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 list 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… Read more

Scout List: On Air Conditioned Theaters & Cool Heritage Tours

It’s freakin’ hot. Chill out in a theater. American Graffiti plays at the Rio on Friday night.
July 9 | Midnight | Rio | $10 | find out more…

Theater Under the Stars goes down in Stanley Park – such a great concept. I’m not a huge fan of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” but it’s outdoor theater. Moonlight makes a lot of things better. Maybe this is one of them. Details.
July 9 | 8pm – 10pm | tickets are somewhere in the $30 – 40 range

On Saturday Heritage Vancouver offers another one of their historical walks – this one is “From Sawmill to Strathcona: An East End History Tour” Find out all about it here.

And speaking of Vancouver Heritage – this is Hotdogs for Heritage weekend – here is the scoop from The Vancouver Heritage Foundation: “Step out of the ballroom and into the backyard The Vancouver Heritage Foundation is hosting its second annual Hotdogs for Heritage fundraiser.  This fun-filled family fair takes fundraising out of the ballroom and into the backyard of an elegant old home in Shaughnessy.  The event features an architectural salvage sale with items from Vancouver’s iconic buildings including the Hotel Georgia, the original downtown Woodward’s, the Marine Building and much more.  Incorporate a bit of Vancouver’s heritage into your own house, all the while grooving to live music from local band Headwater, relaxing with a beer and, of course, enjoying a free hotdog!” Find out more…
July 11 | 11 am – 3 pm | 5026 Connaught Drive, Vancouver | Admission by donation ~  $10 suggested

Or there is the  2010 West Coast Tattoo Culture Show – it’s in Langley over the weekend.

On Monday night we urge you to attend Cinema to Savour, the most delicious film festival to ever hit Vancouver screens.  Guests will be treated to a screening of Campbell Scott’s foodie classic, Big Night, starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub followed by Italian food prepared by one of Canada’s top chefs, Pino Posteraro of Cioppino’s. Chef Posteraro will share with the audience why he selected the film and will prepare and serve Italian-inspired food, paired with wines from Burrow, Luongo & Associates, local craft beer from R&B Brewing Co., and finished with Caffe Artigiano coffee and fabulous biscotti provided by Terra Breads.
July 12 | 7pm | Vancity Theatre |  $75 (includes movie, food, wine, beer and a cookbook) | Details

Break out the blanket and lawn chair – there is an outdoor screening of Goonies on Wednesday night. Bring your own popcorn, or whatever.
July 14 | 9 pm | Ceperley Meadow (Second Beach) | A link to a sort of useless website. Read more

Scout List: Celebrating Canada Day & All The Ones That Follow

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 list 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… Read more

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