Hit up the UBC Reads sustainability talk by Raj Patel (author of bestsellers The Value of Nothing, Stuffed and Starved) to bring yourself up to speed on the global food crisis this Thursday.Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail
A curated list of other things to do this weekend, brought to you by Scout Magazine. Find the Scout List at tgam.ca/scoutlist.
Learn: Hit up the UBC Reads sustainability talk by Raj Patel (author of bestsellers The Value of Nothing, Stuffed and Starved) to bring yourself up to speed on the global food crisis this Thursday. Patel is one badass activist and research professor who has been paving the way for sustainable food practices. Expect to hear stories from some of the world's poorest citizens, to learn legitimate ways to combat the downfalls of our current food system and to envision a future world where the nine billion won't go hungry.
Feb. 11, 12-2 p.m., AMS Student Nest, UBC (6133 University Blvd.), $5, sustain.ubc.ca
Science: Feb. 12 is Charles Darwin's birthday. Go big and celebrate by taking a trip out to UBC to get in on an entire festival focused on the evolution of life. FestEVOLVE honours the science, theories and physical evidence of evolution through talks and museum tours, as well as an evolution-themed cake competition. Festivities begin with cake judging at 4:30 p.m. and is followed by Nerd Nite, Darwin Day Edition.
Bake a Cake for Darwin: Feb. 12, 4 p.m., Beaty Biodiversity Museum, free
Nerd Nite: Feb. 12, 6:30-9:30 p.m., Beaty Biodiversity Museum, $9, beatymuseum.ubc.ca
Fast times at Sad Mag High: Sad Mag is a cool local magazine that celebrates independent art and culture in Vancouver. It's issued on a quarterly basis and contains some seriously compelling pages packed with beautiful imagery. This Saturday night, they're hosting the launch party for their latest issue and its high school theme. From Sad Mag: "We'll have a Strokes cover band, drag by Rose Butch, choir stylings from the Kingsgate Chorus, and a dance party to the high school era faves of our editorial team." Sounds pretty rad to us!
Feb. 13, 8:30 p.m.-late, Remington Gallery (108 East Hastings St.), $8 in advance, $10 at the door, sadmag.ca
Year of the monkey: Find a way (that doesn't include driving) to get yourself to Chinatown for the Chinese New Year parade on Sunday. The crowds are always huge (we're talking in the 100,000-plus range) but don't let that stop you – this is a Vancouver tradition! The parade starts at 11 a.m. at the Millennium Gate on Pender and travels east along Pender to Gore. It then turns south onto Gore and west onto Keefer before ending at Carrall. We suggest you take along a hot drink to keep your hands warm and wear a nice thick red (a lucky colour) sweater.
Feb. 14, 11 a.m., Chinatown, free, cbavancouver.ca
Pizza art: Hit up the always imaginative Hot Art Wet City gallery this Thursday for the opening of I Chew Chew Chew You and take in what surely must be Vancouver's only pizza inspired art exhibition. Over 80 artists have contributed paintings, drawings and digital works celebrating everybody's favourite moving-day meal. The opening reception goes down Friday (Feb. 12), from 7-11 p.m. (yes, edible pizza will also be involved). This show continues to Feb. 27.
Feb. 11-27, 12-5 p.m. 7-11 p.m., Hot Art Wet City (2206 Main St.), hotartwetcity.com