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 sweet things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week…

Get Your Letter On

Summer should be a little slower. Read a little, eat fresh fruit, drink good wine, get in touch with old friends – that kind of thing. But if old friends are too far away to drop around for a glass of wine consider sitting down to pen a hand written letter – let them know you would pour them a glass if they were a little closer. It’s nice to get something in the mail that doesn’t ask for money. Check out the Regional Assembly of Text, a wonderful Main St. store with a brilliant collection of books, paper, cards, stamps, chalkboards, boxes, and yes, even clothing. On the first Thursday of every month they host a Letter Writing Club. It’s free, open to everyone, and supplies are provided. July 2 | 7:30 pm | Regional Assembly of Text | FREE

Animal Names

Animal Names is a five-piece indie pop band from Vancouver that will blow you away with their super mellow tunes (in that “wow, I’m totally relaxed and I might just take a little nap kind of way. Have a listen to My Friends for Mayor, but mix things up with some more up-beat tunes like We Mean Big). They’re playing with Woolworm (mellow on valium) and Axis of Conversation (synthy, poppy, sweet and busy). A good bet for a fun night on the town.
July 2nd | 8pm | Media Club | $10

Get To Know Yer Bees

I noticed a poster while walking through the community gardens along the railway tracks on 5th Avenue the other day. It said: “Bring your kids for an interactive family lesson on how vital bees are for healthy plants! This informative workshop will address the importance of nature’s own pollinators and pest controllers in maintaining the health of an organic garden. We will review methods for attracting ‘beneficials’ and putting them to work for us; take a look at issues concerning the alarming mortality rates in the cultured bee industry; and enjoy some of the fruits of the bees’ labour: seasonal berries from BC local producers will be served in style! Workshop participant’s will also have the opportunity to construct their own mason bee houses, using tools and materials provided for a modest extra charge.” Yay bees! Pre-register on www.spec.bc.ca
July 4 | 2pm | Society Promoting Environmental Conservation | $25

CHEAP Books

Summer Book Sale at the Vancouver Public Library. Stock up on fiction for your summer reading and while you’re at it, flip through cookbooks, gardening books, children’s picture books, travel guides, DVDs and Cd’s. Admission ends 30 minutes before sale closes. All sales final, but prices range from .55 to 2.50 (which is pretty darn good) so please don’t complain or try to return.
July 9 | 10 am 9 pm | VPL Main Branch | FREE

The Handmade Revolution

Vancouver’s joins the handmade revolution tonight. The good people at Got Craft! sent over the following details (and a few tickets to the event): ” Tagged as the ‘Ambassador of Handmade’, Faythe Levine has traveled 19,000 miles to document what has emerged as a marriage between historical technique, punk culture, and the D.I.Y. ethos. Handmade Nation (The Rise of D.I.Y., Art, Craft, and Design) features 24 artists, their work environment, their process, their work, and discussions of how they got their start and what motivates them. ” For the record – the artists featured aren’t too shabby – check out (one of my all time favourites) Nikki McClure, and the gorilla gangsta ‘Knittas’ for an idea of what to expect. Director Faythe Levine will be there to participate in a Q&A and book signing session after the screening. Scout will be there and, as mentioned, we have two tickets give away as well. If you are dying to attend this event – let us know and we’ll try to hook you up.
July 9 | 8pm | Rio Theatre | $20 (and selling fast)

Narcissist Sale

Narcissist is hosting a housecleaning event that you’ll want to be around for as everything that doesn’t fit goes on sale. You’ll find sweet dresses at 50 to 90% off – with styles starting well below wholesale prices at only $39. From the release: “Plan a day with the girls and snap up some pretty dresses, tops and lightweight sweaters at ridiculous savings. Bring a friend and you’ll each save an extra $10 off your purchases. Be the 50th, 100th or 150th customer on any given sale day and you could pay nothing for your items at checkout!” Check out the goods at their warehouse space: #307 – 318 Homer Street. Scout plans to be there.
July 9th | 10am-6pm | 318 Homer Street | I’ll say it one more time: 50 to 90% off

Chantale Doyle

Tonight at the magical Blim Art and Craft Facility you can catch an opening featuring works by Chantale Doyle. A quick description of the artist’s work explains that it “is almost always created on paper with pencil, ink, colored pencil or a combination thereof. Images are usually accompanied by text which is designed to lead to viewer to determine their own meaning in the combination of words and images.” Check out Blim for further deets.
July 3 | 8pm | Blim Art and Craft Facility

Perogy Night!

First Friday of the month – you know what that means: yup, tonight is perogy dinner night at the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral on 10th (just off of Main). The delicious old-school perogies are handmade by church volunteers. A ‘regular dinner’ will cost you $11 and consists of 6 perogies, 2 cabbage rolls, sauerkraut or salad and Ukrainian sausage. If you are looking for something a little lighter, borscht served with rye bread is only three bucks.
July 3 | 5 till 8 pm | Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral | 154 E 10th | $3 – $14

341 Saturday

If you’re on Main Street in the late afternoon of Saturday July 4th – are you ever in for a treat! Check the deets on the poster above. We’ll see you there!
July 4 | 4-6pm | Regional Assembly of Text | FREE

Infected Mushroom

Psych-trance band Infected Mushroom at the Commodore Ballroom tonight. I didn’t know anything about them, but the name sounded interesting, so I dug around a bit. Here’s a little bit of information about this album/band that I don’t know quite what to do with: “It was originally going to be a concept album about food we are addicted to,” says Amit “Duvdev” Duvedevani of electronic-rock phenoms INFECTED MUSHROOM about the group’s latest album, Legend of the Black Shawarma. “We had a batch of songs celebrating our favorite places to eat around the world. Then we got into more intense subject matter, but as the title suggests, there’s still a lot of material about getting your grub on.” I had a listen – I didn’t get a lot about “getting my grub on”, to be honest, what I ‘got’ was a dose of dark boom boom – more acid than mushrooms – but maybe that’s your thing. If you check it out, we would love to know how it went down. More than anything, we want to know where these dude’s eat when they are in Vancouver, so let us know if you serve them.
July 4 | 8pm | Commodore Ballroom | $25

Farmers Markets Rule

Here are some good places to buy locally grown produce from really good people. In season this month are luscious salad greens, green onions, radishes, shallots, spinach, sprouts, sunchokes, tomatoes, rhubarb, fresh strawberries, raspberries and even early blueberries. You’ll also find sweet peas, bay leaves, chervil, rosemary, sage, savoury goat and cow’s milk cheeses, yogurt, eggs, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, cod, sablefish, shrimp, salmon, tuna, and a boggling array of bedding plants.
East Side: July 4| 9am – 2pm | Trout Lake | FREE
West End: July 4 | 9am – 2pm | 1100 Block of Comox | FREE
Kits: July 5 | 10am – 2pm | Parking Lot of Kits Community Centre | FREE
DTES: July 8 | 3pm – 7pm | Thornton Park | FREE
UBC: July 4| 9-1 | UBC Farm | FREE (but make a donation – they needs the support)
West Van: July 4 | 9am – 2pm | Dundarave Village | FREE
West Van: July 5 | 9am – 2pm | Ambelside – parking lot beside Police Station (off of Bellevue/13)

Doctor Zhivago

Once a month, the Vancouver International Film Centre invites a distinguished guest to present his/her favourite film. This month Vancouver Playhouse’s artistic director Max Reimer presents a screening of David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago. The film “follows its characters from the decadence of fin de siècle Russia, through the revolution of 1905, World War I, the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 until the purges of Stalin’s government. Against this backdrop, Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif), a married Moscow physician, is conscripted into the medical corps, meets and falls in love with army nurse Lara (Julie Christie) as they care for the wounded and dying soldiers from the front. Winner of five Academy Awards, the story is the hell of war and the smallness of the individual when caught up in the vast political upheaval of 1900 – 1935 Russia.” After the screening, audiences and guests have the opportunity to discuss the film over drinks and snacks in our spacious lounge. Click here for the full scoop.
July 7 | 7pm | Vancouver International Film Centre |$10

Save The CBC

The first three things I do every morning are – 1) check my email, 2) boil some water for tea, and 3) turn on the radio to listen to the CBC. To me, the CBC is a comforting, trusted source of information and entertainment. I’ve loved it since childhood and I feel bad because lately they’ve been having a tough time of it. You might say, “but who hasn’t?”, and that would be true enough, but the CBC belongs to all of us as Canadians and we can offer our input in order to help protect it. Have your say on its fate by joining a public forum on federal cutbacks and the future of the CBC featuring NDP MPs Don Davies, Libby Davies, Peter Julian, Bill Siksay, and Charlie Angus. For more information, contact 604-775-5800 or email [email protected]
July 8 | 7 pm to 9 pm | VPL (Alice MacKay Room) | FREE

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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 by the beach in Vancouver 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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