Thursday, January 21 For a rockin’ good time, hang out at the Bourbon for up-and-coming female-led group Mia Moth also featuring The Shrugs. If you’re in more of a dancing mood, then head over to Honey Lounge where the cover is only $5 and The League of Opiate Mystics are the thing to groove with. Want to get political? Go to the Yale for a fund raiser for African schools featuring Zeppelin cover band No Quarter My Pick: Mia first, No Quarter second and Honey if you’re broke. Friday, January 22 Check out the Whiskey Dicks playing Malone’s Pub. Those guys are great and usually put on a good show. Feel like rocking out old school metal style? Hit up the Railway for Black Wizard—tonight is their CD release party. My Pick: This one, I’m on the fence, but go to Malone’s. Saturday, January 23 It’s a Vancouver Seeds competition “Best of’ at the Commodore Ballroom tonight. Thornley are playing with Daniel Wesley and power duo Black Betty for an interesting line up. If you’re interested in theatre, then make your way to UBC’s Chan Center and see Shakespeare’s classic Romeo & Juliet. My Pick: Romeo & Juliet runs all weekend, but if you’ re at the Commodore, leave before Thornley! Sunday, January 24 Teenage sell out punk group A.F.I. Are playing a show at the Commodore ballroom, but that place is almost guaranteed to be empty seeing as most of their fan base is under 19. Instead, why don’t you try hanging out with Chris Sigerson at O’Doul’s pub for some relaxing jazz? My Pick: O’Doul’s, no questions asked. Mia Moth Chaplin’s Tramp updated for “modem times” Several animation studios are turning Tramp shorts into a CGI series By Angela Espinoza ooner or later, we all come to S realize that some things in life are timeless. Be it your own treasured childhood toy or a classical symphony, there are just some things that will never become outdated. Not being interpreted or re-created time and time again, but often enough, doing so is what retains the original’s charm. Of course, it can also be said that there’s re-imaging, and then there’s just tampering. Hyderabad, India’s DQ Entertainment has joined forces with French production companies Method Animation and MK2 in a collaborative effort to adapt several of the classic Charlie Chaplin short films into (take a deep breath) a CGI animated television series. I hope you’re still holding that breath, because they’ll be writing original stories for the Tramp character as well. The goal is to bring the “outdated” image of Chaplin’s Tramp into a new light for today’s kids. Luckily, they’re not going as far as to replace the bowler hat with a beanie. What they are planning to do, however, is create 104 animated shorts spanning six minutes in length each. The series will have a nostalgic world adapted from the original films, but will feature modernized situations. I love the idea of exposing a new generation to the iconic character, but this isn’t the right way to do it. The original shorts, as well as the feature films, have withstood the test of time successfully for nearly a century; I’d like to meet the person who wants to claim The Notebook was more romantic than Chaplin’s City Lights. to say : Chaplin’s these sorts “1 love the idea of exposing a new bumbling of things generation to the iconic character, but vagabond is still aren't this isn’t the right way to do it.” as charming | prone to today as he ever was, and just as hilarious to boot. Granted, after several negative experiences with company, I’ve come to understand that the idea of someone running from a black-and-white silent film is not rare. However, slapping together a CGI cartoon for that reason is just going to keep stubborn young minds closed to a world of great works—that and it’s just unnecessary to take such a drastic approach to the Chaplin shorts. Despite all the measures being taken, the cartoon, aimed for children aged six and up, will remain silent to fit with the “retro” setting. Just the idea of this series is unsettling; to be lacing these memorable classics with forgettable dime-a-dozen children’s programs is almost like a cruel April Fool’s joke. The one ray of light stemming from this $11.5 million project is that it won't hit television until next year. Who knows, maybe they’ll persuade young viewers to go out and look for the originals. Until then, we can only hope that the result won’t completely tarnish the Tramp for the next generation of kids.