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…

MONDAY | December 5

LEARN | UBC Reads Sustainability brings well-known sustainability authors to the UBC campus to speak on the topic. Tonight, it’s Ronald Wright (CBC Massey Lecturer, A Short History of Progress) giving a free lecture entitled Homo sapiens: Repeat Offender. That, my friends, is some solid brain stimulation! | DETAILS

DIM SUM | Wild Rice Executive Chef Todd Bright is offering a cooking classes in dim-sum making at the newly opened Wild Rice in New Westminster’s River Market starting tonight (as well as the following two Mondays – December 12th and 19th respectively.) If you live in Vancouver, hop the skytrain and you’ll be there in no time. $30 includes a four-course dinner after the lesson. Total deal! | DETAILS

TUESDAY | December 6

AWESOME | The Cass McCombs Band is playing at the at Electric Owl with White Magic tonight. This is going to be a really fine show. Drop what you had planned and get your ass to the Owl! | DETAILS

ART | The Vancouver Art Gallery is open late tonight and after 5pm admission “by donation”. If you haven’t seen it yet, this is a good time to scoot in to check out Shore, Forest and Beyond: Art from the Audain Collection. | DETAILS

PARTY | BeatRoute Magazine is having a December Issue release party at the Astoria tonight. Good place to head after the VAG or the Electric Owl. Beatroute always has it going on. Tonight will be no different. Plus, the Astoria has cheap beer. Cheap beer on a Tuesday? Good stuff. | DETAILS

CINEMA | There’s a Cinema Salon going on at the Vancity Theatre tonight. Dig this: once a month the theatre invites a distinguished guest to present their favourite film. After the screening, audiences and guests have the opportunity to discuss the film over drinks in the lounge. Tonights presenter is Ken Pickering (Artistic Director, Coastal Jazz and Blues Society), and the movie he has chosen is Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up. Looks like a sexy flick. | DETAILS

WEDNESDAY | December 7

FRESH AIR | Word on the street is that there might be some sun today. Skip school, call in sick, whatever, just to walk the seawall. Everyone has their favourite bit of seawall, and mine is one that ends with a treat. I’m thinking about the stretch between science world and Granville Island. Ending with a basket of duck fat french fries at Edible BC. You know the ones… | DETAILS

THINK | Tonight, the Vancouver Food Policy Council and Village Vancouver Transition Society come together at the Museum of Vancouver for a public dialogue aimed at the development of a Vancouver Food Energy Descent Action Plan (FED-AP) to address Community Food Resiliency. This is important stuff, though it sounds complicated. Get in on this community visioning session aimed at getting people to think about the future of food in Vancouver, “especially as cheap energy sources peak and climate change intensifies.” Want o help direct change? Go. | DETAILS

HIGHNESS | Jay and Silent Bob are at the Vogue. At capacity this will be a theater of over one thousand really stoned people. Always room for one more. Anyway, the show is called Jay and Silent Bob Get Old. I hope this is a reference to their chronological age and not their act, but there’s only one way to find out. See you there. | DETAILS

LAUGH MORE | Comedy night at the Rio Theatre tonight. MC Graham Clark (CTV Comedy Now) will ‘keep things rolling’ with acts like Whiskey Jane, Andrew Barber, Slam Poetry, Comedian Ivan Decker, and PHS employee Chris Tait with his band. The event aims to raise funds for The Portland Hotel Society and Insite Safe Injection Site. Do it. | DETAILS

TWEET | #EastVanLove is holding a tweetup today and if you love EastVan as much as we do, you’ll want to get in on this action. Head to The Hood (395 Kingsway @12th) to hook up with other Eastside enthusiasts. | DETAILS

THURSDAY | December 8

CRAFT | The One of a Kind show is on at the Vancouver Convention Centre starting today. With a focus on homegrown talent, the show is all about innovative artisans, craftspeople, and designers with contemporary and unique style. It’s big, but it’s pretty cool. | DETAILS

CULTURE | Oh, I like the sound of this: Amber Weber of Black Mountain/Lightning Dust is throwing down with “A Soundtrack To My Life” at The Waldorf tonight. This’ll be a good playlist! | DETAILS

BOOKS | The Vancouver Public Library is unloading some books at their Winter book sale this weekend. The sale starts today and runs through to 6pm on Saturday. Prices range from 55 cents to $2.25. Can’t beat that! You never know what sort of treasure you might uncover. | DETAILS

TUNES | Sting is in town. Catch him at the QE Thursday, Friday or Saturday night.

FRIDAY | December 9

COOL | The best thing about today is Toque at the Western Front. There are craft fairs and then there are craft fairs, and this is one of the good ones. Toque takes the concept to a whole new level. Henderson Dry Goods, The Beautiful Project, Contexture Design, Simply Read Books and Tin Can Studio are just a handful of the vendors. Really, this will be awesome. If you make only one craft fair this year, this should be it. | DETAILS

FESTIVE | The Festival of Lights is on at VanDusen Botanical Gardens. In fact, it kicks off today. An invigorating walk through a garden decorated with 1.4 million twinkling lights is a pretty great way to jump start your holiday spirit. Watch for a ticket give-away on Scout this week. | DETAILS

ART | There’s a show opening at the Ayden Gallery today. It’s called Post Up and it will feature the works of Jeff Boyes, Todd Slater, Camilla d’Errico, Emi Kanomata, Jason Wasserman, Matt Andres, Ahssan Moshref and Colin Moore. Ayden always throws a good bash. | DETAILS

GIG | Papercuts and Tim Cohen’s Magic Trick are playing the The Waldorf tonight. The Papercuts have been on heavy rotation in the Scout office for the past few weeks (have a listen). | DETAILS

SATURDAY | December 10

LISTEN | We Are The City plays the Rio tonight. If you were at the food-themed Pecha Kucha last month, you will remember them as the very compelling opening act that everyone was talking about. They’ll be playing with Treelines & Fields of Green. | DETAILS

TRINKETS | The Beehive Hair Lounge (up on Fraser at 23rd) is holding a Craftacular Frosty Winter Stache sale today and it involves booze. Crafts and booze! Together at last! See you there. | DETAILS

SHINY FUZZY MUDDY |  Three craft fairs in one weekend? It must be December. Don’t miss out on Shiny Fuzzy Muddy. Pick up cashmere Winterluxe gloves from Astrosatchel, art from Arleigh Wood, chocolates from BETA5, and laptop carry cases from Track & Field Design. All handmade. All local. All good. | DETAILS

EAT LOCAL | The Farmers Market goes down today and, with only one per week during the winter months, it’s important that you hit the Nat Bailey parking lot to load up on those fresh, locally produced goodies that will keep you healthy and happy. | DETAILS

SUNDAY | December 11 

MIDWINTER | Naturalist Jennifer Swanston will be at the Lost Lagoon Nature House in Stanley Park today to talk about “the history and customs of midwinter festivals” and to help you “understand the traditions behind the plants and decorations that we associate with the season.” | DETAILS

OPERA | Opera Pro Cantanti presents Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues). (Bellini’s rendition of that age old tale of “star-cross’d lovers,” Romeo and Juliet). | DETAILS

SNOW | There is snow up there folks. Think about taking an afternoon trip to Mount Seymour to do a little Snowshoeing on their exclusive snowshoe trails that offer “a place of quiet and stillness amidst the vast trail system, especially during the busy weekends. A special feature of the trail system is the two scenic lakes and old growth forests where guests can look for animal tracks and listen for bird calls.” I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty perfect. | DETAILS

FREE | Sunday movies are a good thing. Particularly if they are free. Hit Denman Theatres today for a free screening of A Christmas Story (next week it’s The Polar Express). Find out more here. Tell someone who knows someone who could benefit from taking the kids to a movie without having to fork out a gazillion bucks. Props to Denman Theatre, cool move gang. | DETAILS

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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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