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.

DRAW | Grab your favourite pencil and make for The Stanley Park Nature House on Lost Lagoon to challenge your artistic abilities with some skull sketching tonight. Yep, skull sketching! But don’t get freaked out. The Stanley Park Ecology Society has a specimen collection of animal and bird skulls that they allow access to for this special activity, plus there’ll be an artist on site to guide you through the process — so all good. Paper, charcoal, and pastels also provided. Register in advance so that event organizers can line-up an adequate amount of materials. This workshop is a 19+ gig (beer provided by donation).

HUNDY | The tiny weekends-only spot sporting a delightfully limited menu of straight-forward but expertly executed burgers has some good news for you: they are now open Thursdays! Use this extra night to hustle yourself out to Kits and find out what all the hype is about. Hint: Two Rivers beef blend of brisket and shoulder, signature bun and special sauce along with house punched double cooked fries. The late night bar and kitchen are a counter service situation. Craft beer and natural wine available. Bases covered.

ART | Put your high brow art sensitivities on the back burner as it’s time some lowbrow business: “Boobies & Wieners” is a group show featuring the of art of over 50 contributing artists united under the common theme of male and female bits. Expect “Immature, crass, explicit, cartoonish, and odd art featuring nude subjects. A partnership between Hot Art Wet City and venue host, The Arts Factory, Boobies & Wieners will be best experienced when walls are full and boxed wine is flowing at Friday evening’s opening reception (6-10pm) but you can also slip in on Saturday January, 26 (12-4pm) Be warned: as art is sold, it will be going home with the purchaser on the spot, which may leave walls a little on the empty side by the end of Saturday. Viewer discretion advised. Find out more.

HOORAY | It’s Australia Day this weekend. If you’re looking for a place to meet up with some mates and crack a can of beer in celebration, there is no better venue that the ANZA club. Expect both fake and real Aussie accents, as well as real Bundaberg rum & cokes, Coopers beer, cheesymite treats and a soundtrack of Triple J’s Hottest 100 Countdown (the annual music listener poll hosted by the national Australian radio station). Festivities kick off at 5pm with a $5 cover. Find out more.

GALLERY | On the last Saturday of each month (that’s this Saturday!) the Contemporary Art Gallery invites art enthusiasts of all ages to drop-in for Family Day. The fun filled ad free day includes exhibition tours and art-making activities inspired by themes found in the current show (right now, that’s Anne Low | Chair for a woman). From The CAG “Responding to the work of Anne Low and her explorations of historic decorative arts, experiment with flocking powder to create your own textured artwork inspired by flocked wallpaper designs from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.” Roll up your sleeves and get a little messy making some art. Sounds like a good way to spend some Saturday to us! Find out more.

FIX | Gather your unravelling sweaters, ripped jeans, buttonless blouses and tattered t-shirt and make your way to the Mount Pleasant Library on Sunday for a fixing party. A team of handy peeps from Frameworq will be at this free, drop-in event to lend their patching, darning and stitching know-how and help you fix your stuff so that you can reintroduce it into your life as if it were brand new! Find out more.

FAMILY STYLE | Starting this weekend Ubuntu Canteen will host a Sunday night family-style feast that has all the comforting vibes of a home cooked hangout, but none of the prep or clean-up. Each week will see a different chefs to drop in to cook. This Sunday, Alvaro Montes de Oca (from Grapes & Soda) will serve up a Mexican-style Barbacoa with consommé, chickpeas and rice and fresh corn tortillas. Veg options – as well as local craft beer, organic and biodynamic wine – will also be available. Dinner kicks off at 5pm. No tickets required. Kids encouraged. This will be an open format, long table dinner aimed at strengthening the fabric of the community. Because yay community!

PuSh | The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival fills stages and unlikely venues around the city this week. With 24 companies from 13 countries performing 150 shows, it might be a good idea to peruse the PuSh website to devise a plan. Overwhelmed by choice? This week, we suggest Prince Hamlet playing out at the Frederic Wood Theatre at UBC (Shakespeare’s classic gets a “radically inclusive” update). Find out more.

TASTE | You’ve heard of, tasted and fallen in love with JoieFarm wines, but did you know that they have an awesome side label too? Chic Fille is a fun, experimental series of wines produced in super small batches. This Monday night winemaker Heidi Noble (along with her talented team) will be at Caffe La Tana pouring tastes from the full Chic Fille portfolio (from Pinot Noir Rosé and Pinot Gris to Gamay and Gewürztraminer). The event is free and the invite is open to all wine enthusiasts. In addition to snacks created to elevate the wines, there will also be beer and cocktails available for purchase. Details here. Can’t wait!

GIG | Heavy metal drummer turned experimental electronica ambient performer, Ólafur Arnalds, is in town from Iceland and playing the Commodore Monday night. Tickets to the early show are long gone, but the late show is still an option. Get on it! Not familiar? From Wikipedia: “Ólafur Arnalds is an Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. Ólafur Arnalds mixes strings and piano with loops and beats crossing over from ambient/electronic to pop.” Really, the best way to get a feel is to listen… Check it out. Mellow, right? Tickets here.

WANDER |  This weekend we suggest you give yourself some time to move slowly. Hit Main Street for a while. Pop in to Antisocial, visit the good folks at Dandelion Records, hit Pulp Fiction for a little something to read while you have coffee at Gene, and then stuff your face at Budgies. Throw in some vintage shopping, some vegan cheese (Blue Heron) or a milkshake at Fable Diner and you have yourself a nice low impact neighbourhood hangout. Relaxing, right? Make a full day of it by sticking around for a beer at Brassneck or cocktails and a taste of everything on the tapas menu at ¿CóMO?