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…

MISCELLANY

It’s tax time, so pretty much the worst time of the year to check your mailbox. But you can make things better by spreading some love around. How great would it be to open the mailbox to find a beautiful hand-written letter telling you how great you are, rather than one of those impersonal gimme jobs that Revenue Canada churns out like awful cookies. Do a good thing by sending someone you like a hand-penned note. It ain’t weird. It can even include little drawings of what you would like to do to Canada Revenue Agency (a benign thought with flowers). The Regional Assembly of Text can set you up with a brilliant collection of paper, cards and stamps to help you get the job done, and on the first Thursday of every month they host a Letter Writing Club. It’s free, open to everyone, and supplies are provided.
Thursday, April 7 | 7:30 pm | Regional Assembly of Text | FREE

The Vancouver Institute ends it’s 2011 Spring series of phenomenal lectures with Professor William McKibben, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College, Vermont who is in town to discuss Making a Life On a Tough New Planet. “Described by the Boston Globe as “the nation’s leading environmentalist,” Professor McKibben is the author of more than a dozen books, including The End of Nature, Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age, and Deep Economy. A former staff writer for the New Yorker, he writes often for Harper’s, National Geographic, and the New York Review of Books, among other publications. He is the founder of the environmental organizations Step It Up and 350.org, a global warming awareness campaign that in October 2009 coordinated what CNN called “the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history.”  Not too shabby. Chances are you will walk out of this lecture hall feeling inspired and awake.
Saturday, April 9 |  8:15 pm | Lecture Hall No. 2 in the Woodward Instructional Resources Centre | Free but Seating is otherwise first-come, first-served.

Hey, why not take a 90-minute tour into the dark past of the building that was once Vancouver’s city morgue. Creepy, right?  Find out all you need to know here.
April 9 | 10am-2pm |Vancouver Police Museum (240 E Cordova) | $10

Like yourself a good game of Monopoly or Risk? Consider yourself queer-friendly? Maybe you want to hit the Board Games are Sooooo Gay! night at Rhizome Café on Saturday night. It’s free and good honest fun. From Rhizome: “Bring your favourite games or use ours. Bring some friends, or come on your own!” Kids and straight folk are welcome too. Dig it.
Saturday, April 9 | 7pm-11:30pm | Rhizome Cafe (317 E Broadway) | Free

After whipping through this list of things to get up to around town, you made need some help ‘coming down’. Consider dropping in for yoga and meditation taught by Radha instructors in the reflective environment of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden (578 Carrall). Details.
Sunday, April 10 | 11am-12:15pm | $13.50. Call 604.605.0011 to register.

CULTURE

There’s a reading by Ryan Knighton and Ed Macdonald at Robson Square tonight. More information here.
Thursday, April 7  | 7pm | UBC Library/Bookstore at Robson Square | Free

Greg Hill, the Audain Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada, offers two different perspectives on his role as curator of the exhibition, Carl Beam. Hill was born in Fort Erie, Ontario and is a Kanyen’kehaka (Mohawk) of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Details.
Tuesday, April 12 | 7pm | UBC Museum of Anthropology | $14

Check out the Arts and Culture Mash Up at ArtStarts this coming week. ArtStarts has pulled together an impressive line-up of presenters including (to name just a few) Amir Ali Alibhai (Executive Director, Alliance for Arts & Culture); writer and comedian Charlie Demers; Jeffrey Boone (Executive Director, East Side Culture Crawl); Jill Henderson (Gallery Coordinator, Contemporary Art Gallery); artist Richard Tetrault and Laura Grieco (Managing Director, Public Dreams). See the full crew here.
Wednesday, April 13 | 6:30-10pm | ArtStarts (808 Richards)

MUSIC

Remember the choral version of Radiohead’s “Creep” that you heard in The Social Network? It was sung by an amazing Belgian girls’ choir called Scala & Kolacny Brothers (conducted by Stijn Kolacny and accompanied by Steven Kolacny on the piano). They’re in town and they plan to sing up a storm at the Rio Theatre tonight, sprinkling their sugar fairy pixie dust all over classics like Teen Spirit, Bittersweet Symphony and With Or Without You. I gotta say…Creep is really the best, check it here.
Thursday, April 7th  | 8pm | $25 Tickets here (or at the door)

Yo-Yo Ma swings by the Orpheum on Sunday. He’s playing with the Silk Road Ensemble (a collective of approximately 60 internationally renowned musicians, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers from more than 20 countries). “Led by renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the Silk Road Ensemble is the musical face of Ma’s Silk Road Project, an artistic, cultural and educational organization he founded in 1998 to study the ebb and flow of ideas along the ancient trade route.” Find out all about it here.
Sunday April 10 | 7:30pm | The Orpheum Theatre | $100 easy – but worth it.

This Friday night at the Biltmore there’s a prohibition-themed fundraiser celebrating the Police Museum’s 25th Anniversary. Organisers are asking you to put on your best pinstriped suit or flapper dress (prizes for best dressed) and hit the Biltmore for a night of Vaudeville and burlesque. The Creaking Planks and The Vaudevillians play. Lola Frost, Darla DeVine and Lacey L’Amour dance. Good times! Oh, and there will be a silent auction (a list of contributors include Rocky Mountaineer Vacations, 2 Chefs and a Table, Big Lou’s Butcher Shop, Les Faux Bourgeois, The Vancouver Aquarium, Harbour Cruises, Grouse Mountain, Pandora Jewelery, Tour Guys, Trialto Wines, Axiom Salon, Bard on the Beach, Granville Island Beer, The Pourhouse and Sean Heather Restaurant Group). All proceeds go to support the Vancouver Police Museum and its efforts to collect, preserve and share the history of lawlessness and law enforcement in Vancouver.
Friday, April 8 | 7pm | The Biltmore Cabaret | $40 in advance from www.vancouverpolicemuseum.ca

Local electro/indie/rock band Ladner is throwing an EP Release Party at the ANZA on Friday night. They’re just starting out and I’ll bet they’ll play their hearts out. They’ll be joined by Young Pacific and Pineapple as well as DJ Blondtron. View the Facebook event page here. Catchy…have a listen.
Friday, April 8 | Doors 9pm. Band 9:30 | ANZA Club |  DJ ’til late | $7

And hey, no one sizes-up the music in town better than Zulu Records, so check the Zulu Report too…

CITY

Good god, it’s sunny out! Get out there. Hike some trails, cruise the seawall, walk the beach. MAKE THE MOST OF IT! It’s days like these that gather memories and damn the rain.

Dr. Steve Mitchell addresses the question of what is Natural in a situation where so much human influence has changed the ecosystem Pacific Spirit Park. He looks at issues such as the impact of logging, road building, fires, clearing for housing, and introduction of invasive plants and explores the following question: given this history, and the incredibly high number of user visits (more than a million and a half per year), how should we go about taking care of this park? Should we interfere or just let it be? On Saturday’s walk  participants will visit an area that was once a farm and a riding stables to witness way in which human influence has imprinted on the landscape. Sounds sort of like Time Team to me, and that’s rad.  Find out more.
Talk: Thursday, April 7 | 7pm | St. Philips Church 3737 W. 27 |
Walk: Saturday, April 9 | 10am | meet @ 33rd and Camosun Park Entrance

As part of the WE: Vancouver exhibition the Vancouver Art Gallery is hosting a one-day “SUSTAIN” conference that presents a panel of speakers in an “exploration of present and future ways of living together in the community and how current models of culture, ecology, and economics impact the future of urban living.” Full story here.
April 9 | 9:30am–5:30pm | Vancouver Art Gallery | $65 |

It’s meant to be nice weather this weekend. Consider taking in the Cherry Blossom Festival at UBC’s Nitobe Gardens. Highlights include formal tea ceremonies on tatami mats, origami lessons,  storytelling, cherry blossoms haiku reading, guided tours of Nitobe Memorial Garden, Sakura bento boxes, sakura and matcha chocolate, organic shiitake and oyster mushrooms, and koto (Japanese harp) musical performances. Find out more.
April 9 | 12pm-7pm | Nitobe Memorial Garden | $6

GET INVOLVED

The good and wonderful FarmFolkCityFolk are looking for volunteers for their “Get Local” table at EPIC, the Environmental Progressive Intelligent Consumer trade show (May 13-15 Vancouver Convention Centre). Get in touch with Bonita if you’re keen. Hop to the Farm Folk website for all the details.

The Hastings Park Open Space Advisory Group is also looking for volunteers: “The City of Vancouver is looking for volunteers for the Hastings Park Open Space Advisory Group to provide feedback and input on the design development for new park spaces in Hastings Park including pedestrian and bicycle trails, the Plateau Activity Park, new Empire Field and running track, new habitat spaces, and a section of daylighted stream.” What you’d be in for: The Group will meet monthly on weekday evenings over the next 6 to 8 months. Dinner will be provided and childcare stipends are available if required.  More information.
Application deadline: Tuesday April 12

Growing Chefs is also looking for a little help. If you’re not familiar with this absolutely awesome outfit, they’re a non-profit society that works really hard to create a forum where chefs, educators, growers, community groups, and families can to work together to further awareness of food sustainability. Most importantly, they “inspire children with the idea that they can grow their own food, even in the city.” They are superheroes if you ask me. So if you want to hang with or even become a super hero of sorts, this is your chance, and you don’t have to be a chef! They need all sorts of help, so hook up here.

FOOD

Don’t forget to pick up provisions for the week at the Winter Farmer’s Market: fresh locally grown veggies and treats like carrot cake from Pure Bread and kickass crepes from the crepe people. Also stock up on dried apples and fruit leather, and buy eggs and fresh greens (stinging nettles are still in season and are so good for you!). Get over there and support your local farmers and food artisans! Afterwards, decompress in the chill environs of Marché St. George (pictured on our front page carousel).
Saturday, April 9 | 10am – 2pm | East Parking Lot/Nat Bailey

I know it’s a week ahead of time but OMG: CHEESEMAKING! Quick, sign up here. It only takes a minute for these classes to fill up. Details: Learn to make fromage frais, paneer, blue cheese, cheese curds, yogourt and kefir in the beginner cheese workshop. There are three workshops to choose from:
April 16th | 10am-1pm | Tapestry Learning Centre/3338 Wesbrook Mall UBC | $35
April 16th | 2pm-5pm | Tapestry Learning Centre/3338 Wesbrook Mall UBC | $35
April 17th 10am-1pm | Tapestry Learning Centre/3338 Wesbrook Mall UBC | $35

FILM

They’re screening Helvetica at Emily Carr tonight. If you love typography, it’s a must see.
Thursday, April 7 | 3:50 | Lecture Theatre, Room 301, South Building ECUAD | Free

The Fighter is playing at the Hollywood. Good film. Worth a watch on the big screen.
April 8 – 14 | 7:30 nightly + Sat/Sun 1:30

The only way to unwind the future is to follow the path… Jake Gyllenhaal is Donnie Darko at the Rio on Friday night.
Friday, April 8 | Rio Theatre | Doors @ 11:30. Show @ midnight | $8/$7 in costume

Hanna opens Friday at the Ridge. “Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is a teenage girl. Uniquely, she has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a solider; these come from being raised by her father (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland. Living a life unlike any other teenager, her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Cate Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.” Watch the trailer here. Looks like a bad-ass cross between The Professional and La Femme Nikita. Score by Chemical Brothers.
Friday April 8 | Daily: 4, 7, 9:20 pm | Ridge Theatre | 12.75 (8.50 on Tuesdays)

Gus Van Sant’s cult film My Own Private Idaho is the Day for Night flick this Sunday. River Phoenix. Imagine what he could have done.
Sunday, April 10 | 4 pm | The Waldorf Hotel | Free

And the Best from the 2010 Ottawa International Animation Festival is screening at Pacific Cinematheque. “This year’s eye-popping “Best of” program, made up of 13 outstanding shorts from around the world, showcases festival award winners, audience favourites, and other innovative and visionary entries in a wide variety of genres and forms.” I checked out a few of the shorts on the list; pretty cool stuff.  Have a look here.
Wednesday, April 13 | 7pm |  Pacific Cinémathèque | $11.50

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Michelle Sproule grew up in Kitsilano and attended Bond 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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