Alex Gibney’s documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief is playing at Vancity Theatre this weekLarry Busacca/Getty Images
Editor's Note: Globe B.C. has joined forces with Scout Magazine to give you the best of what's happening in Vancouver this weekend. For a full week's worth of listings, head over to the complete Scout List, updated each week.
Opening: Andy Dixon has a show opening this week. The local painter and all-around awesome human's latest show, Canadiana, injects his trademark vibrant colours and playful style into Canadian classics. As Initial Gallery explains: "Compiling and sampling national symbols, identities from the Canadian canon, Dixon reserves equal reverence for the low and the high brow. Interpreted through the irreverent eye and loose gestural hand of the artist, Canadiana strikes a unique tone of tongue-in-cheek sincerity."
Thursday, May 14, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m., Initial Gallery (2339 Granville St.), www.initialgallery.com
Ice cream: Brown Paper Packages Ice Cream has started Ice Cream Thursdays at Pazzo Chow. Slip into the adorable (and always delicious) Italian deli for a night of sundaes, ice cream floats, sandwiches and classic scoops. Some of our fave flavours include milk chocolate cardamom, coconut vanilla bean and lemon olive oil scoops as well as the Gingeroo Sandwich (rhubarb, ginger and buttermilk ice cream with a ginger cookie) and the White Turtle (vanilla bean ice cream with a double chocolate, pecan, caramel and sea salt cookie).
Thursday, May 14 (+ every Thursday thereafter), 7 p.m. - 10 p.m., Pazzo Chow (620 Quebec St.), www.brownpaperpackages.ca
Design: Hit the Museum of Vancouver Thursday night for a "fun and brainy" examination of happiness that will propel you toward the weekend with a smile on your face. Artist Shannon Powell will be on site to talk a little about Exchange of Charm – a project that explores the potential power of social exchange between strangers – at 6:15 p.m. After the talk, take some time to wander through Stefan Sagmeister's The Happy Show (the most recent exhibition to launch at MOV). Bonus: have a drink (cash bar), mingle and just celebrate being happy.
Thursday, May 14, 6 p.m. - 10 p.m., The Museum of Vancouver, $14, www.museumofvancouver.ca
Art: Take some time out of your schedule to boot out to the Museum of Anthropology for the new Heaven, Hell & Somewhere In Between exhibit of Portuguese pop art. Expect a wide range of media and styles, from graffiti and murals to puppets and masks. From MOA: "Displays will reflect the national identity, history, and creativity of Portugal from a passing generation of great craftspeople, illustrators, and painters, as well as that of young urban graffiti artists working today." The exhibition just opened, and if you hit the museum on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.) you can get in on a tour with curator/director Anthony Shelton and Portuguese anthropologist/researcher Eduardo Tome.
Now through Oct. 12 , 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., MoA (6393 NW Marine Drive), $16.75, www.moa.ubc.ca
Needs: Local punk band Needs is having an album-release party at Fortune Sound Club on Thursday. Rescue Don is described by vocalist Sean Orr as being about "mortality, aging, resurrection, with a Joy Division reference thrown in for good measure …" Also taking the stage: Brass, Low Levels, and Flowers & Fire. Bonus: an exhibit of Mr. Orr's photographs. Pre-gig beers and bratwurst at Bestie and an aftershow wander through Chinatown and you've got yourself an amazingly well-rounded evening. Thursday, May 14, 8 p.m., Fortune Sound Club (147 E Pender St.), $10, www.fortunesoundclub.com
Feast: Spot prawns are coming to False Creek's Fishermen's Wharf this weekend! The annual Spot Prawn Festival, founded by the Chefs' Table Society of B.C., always sells out, so snatch your $15 ticket fast. That gets you a plate of three B.C. spot prawns as well as sauces, salad and baked goods. In an effort to accommodate everyone, tickets are being sold according to an hourly schedule, but don't be fooled, this event will still sell out. And for good reason: The first spot prawns of the season are worth a celebration. Expect cooking demos, a children's area and educational displays, as well as beer, wine and a few salty fishermen.
Sunday, May 17, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., False Creek Fishermen's Wharf (1505 West 1st Ave.), $17.50, www.spotprawnfestival.com
Film: Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief is playing at Vancity Theatre this week. In this mind-blower of a documentary, director Alex Gibney (We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, Freakonomics, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Taxi to the Dark Side) takes an in-depth look at the belief system of Scientology. Mr. Gibney aims to explore "…Scientology's disturbing, symbiotic relationship with Hollywood celebrities like Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and its dubious dealings with the IRS."
Now through May 20, Various times, Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour St.), $11, www.viff.org
Pupusa party: If you love Latin food, there's an awesome two-part cooking workshop going down on Sunday. A Taste Of Latin America – organized by the Grandview Woodland Neighbourhood Food Network – will not only teach participants how to make pupusas and tamales from scratch, but will also cover the fillings, salsas and pickled veggies that accompany them. Chef Elizabeth Cruz is set to share her El Salvadoran secrets, tip and tricks; all you have to do is show up with an apron. Pupusas are up this weekend, followed by tamales on May 24th. Dishes can easily be adapted to be vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian or full-on meat.
Sunday, May 17, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m., Grandview Woodland Food Connection (1661 Napier St.), $30, www.gwfoodconnection.wordpress.com