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 August 6 to August 12, 2020. 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.

DISCUSS | The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm is offering an interesting webinar on food security today (Thursday, August 6th, 3pm). From event organizers: “As COVID-19 outbreaks and restaurant closures have exposed the fragility of the industrial food system, local food producers are stepping in to pick up the slack. For many local farmers, processors, restaurant-owners, and community workers, COVID-19 has opened a window of opportunity to put control back into the hands of local communities. Join Éliane Verret-Fournier, Emma Bryce, Dr. Lenore Newman, and Katie Koralesky, as they share their reflections on how we can seize the moment to call for a more localized, resilient, and sustainable food system.” To register for Eating Close to Home: Fostering Local Food Production During COVID-19, visit the website here.

ART | Now that it’s a possibility again, how about breaking away from the virtual world to actually get up close to some art? Beginning this Friday, August 7th and running until the end of the month, Massy Books is hosting Lind Prize Runner-Up Rydel Cerezo‘s topical and beautiful To Be From the Same Tree exhibition in their upstairs gallery. (Check here to see whether there are still any spots available for the Thursday opening.) An exploration of family and unexpected links between Cerezo’s Filipino roots and his Belgian partner’s family history, the collection of photographs “is comprised of a series that exists on the knife’s edge of staged and documentary portraits. The exhibition uses the ‘family album’ as a point of departure in addressing cultural disorientation and racial entanglement while combining moments that testify love as a process of understanding.” Find out more.

FILM | Looking for a little escapism? Film Noir might be the ticket! From our friends at The Cinematheque : “This cruel COVID summer got you down in the dumps? Well, doll, The Cinematheque has the antidote! Join them for the sordid, sleazy, cynical return of Film Noir to stream in the comfort of your own home” That’s right, celebrate one of classic American cinema’s most creative periods in all its “stylish, feverish, fatalistic glory” from your very own couch! Think The Maltese Falcon, Gilda, The Lady from Shanghai, Pickup on South Street and Double Indemnity — dark, sexy drama and all the double crossing! Details here.

BLACKBERRIES | Local blackberries are moving into the good-for-picking zone right now. Don’t miss this precious window — grab a bucket, find yourself a thicket and load up! Our spots are next to train tracks (careful), in empty lots, and in other wild, unkept spaces. Perfect for smoothies, crumbles, jams, or syrups for summer cocktails!

SUMMER | Let this rain serve as a gentle reminder that warm weather and sunshine are not a constant in Vancouver and summer won’t stick around forever. Now is the time. Eat dinner outside (see below), drink beer on patios and picnic on the beach – do it all! Winter will be less gloomy if you can look back on a summer well spent. Need inspiration? Consider a trip out to UBC to wander the serene beauty of the Nitobe Memorial Garden. Carefully designed to offer visitors a thoughtful vantage point on the subtle changes of each season, it’s the perfect place to get philosophical about the seasons. Nitobe is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10am to 3pm. You can visit by reserving an entry time with the gardens here.

FARM DINNER | Speaking of making the most of summer, how about putting some time aside to savour the bounty of the season? If you hurry (ticket sales end Friday, August 7th) you can still score a Fresh Roots Farm Schoolyard Harvest Dinner – a summer harvest box filled with everything from an elegant amuse bouche, charcuterie board fixings, and a delicious main course through to dessert (cheesecake), wine, beer or kombucha and flowers for the table. Have a look at the full menu here. This will be a tasty meal. Spread a blanket on your deck, back yard or living room floor and enjoy! The Schoolyard Harvest Dinner is a fundraiser for Fresh Roots and funds generated from the dinner directly benefit its SOYL (Sustainable Opportunities Youth Leadership) program, which engages and empowers youth to learn about working together to grow food. Good food for a great cause. Do it! Find out more.

STARS | Every year around this time, stargazers and naturalists flee the bright lights of the city to catch the Perseid meteor shower. The shower is visible from mid-July each year but the most pronounced activity goes down in the pre-dawn hours this coming weekend and next. This year we can expect to see 60 to 100 meteors per hour. Pretty much any open sky free of light noise will do the trick. Find out more.

OPENING | Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, opens at The Museum of Anthropology Thursday, August 6. From MOA: “This searing exhibition takes you on a journey through the past 150 years of Canada—reclaiming and reinserting Indigenous voices into the collective memory of our country.” This exhibition has important things to say, we should all make time to listen. Pre-book your timed-entry admission tickets here.

CATCHWEIGHT | What’s summer without fish n’ chips? Brought to you by the team at Downlow, Catch Weight is all about local, sustainable fish ‘n chips and hot fish sandwiches. Bonus: it’s parked right outside a cocktail bar. How’s that for convenience? Just place your order, slip inside Resurrection Spirits for a distanced drink and when your food is ready, pick it up and enjoy. So easy! Catch Weight is parked outside @resurrectionspirits Thursday through Saturday from 6:00 pm until Late! Find out more.

LIGHT | The Pie Shoppe is having an art show next Thursday(August 13th) and we couldn’t be more excited. Yes, there will be mask wearing and distancing, but there will also be art, conversation, and the possibility of peach pie –  and those things together offer a brief reprieve from the stunted flow of community connection affecting us all right now. Expect natural wines by the glass, new ceramic work by @francisstudio, flowers by @wildbeeflorals, and new artwork by the talented @kleelarsen.