BLUE BOOKS O LT PE
THE RIGHT KIND OF TUTORING PAGE 5B.
DETROIT DESIGNER MAKES HER MARK PAGE 4B.
B
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2006
"US C " L
Ringo:
All-Starr
drummer
verybody knows that the
Beatles are without a doubt
the greatest band that has
ever existed and will ever exist,
but for some unfathomable reason
there's a widespread myth that
Ringo is actually a bad drummer.
Huh? It doesn't make any sense to
me either, but since morons still
perpetrate this incorrigible lie,
and I'll take any chance I can get
to give love to Ringo. Let's exam-
ine where
and how
this injus-
tice began,
and why the
"Ringo is a
bad drum-
mer" cliche
is downright
blasphemous. LLOYD H.
Ringo was one
of the best and CARGO
most influ-
ential drummers in rock-music
history, and deserves a little rec-
ognition every once and awhile.
Usually Ringo bashing begins
with "he couldn't hang with the
rest of the Beatles." Yes, John,
Paul and George were brilliant
songwriters, with great voices and
undeniable chops on their own
instruments, but that shouldn't
take away from Ringo. According
to Mark Lewisohn, who wrote a
book chronicling every single day
the Beatles ever spent in the stu-
dio, there were less than a dozen
times in the eight years the Bea-
tles recorded that sessions broke
down because of Ringo making a
mistake.
Sometimes people like to claim
"All of Ringo's parts are super
simple and anybody could've
played them." Well, Pete Best
couldn't. There's a reason why the
Beatles chose Ringo, and that's
because he was widely regarded
as the best drummer in Liver-
pool. He wasn't a virtuoso, but
his drum parts were very creative
stylistically, and were integral
to the Beatles studio aesthetic.
Isolate any of his drum tracks,
and the song is easily identifiable.
Those fills in "A Day in the Life?"
Ridiculous. It's not simplicity, it's
subtlety, and there's a huge dif-
ference.
Other criticisms are aimed at
his perceived lack of vocal ability.
But how many drummers wrote
any songs, or sung at all? Not a
hell of a whole lot. "Don't Pass
Me By" and "Octopus's Garden"
are compositions to be proud of,
and while he didn't have the most
expansive range, his baritone is
immediately recognizable and
always joyful.
There's all that, and then
there's the most important thing
to consider when debunking this
falsehood - the Beatles wouldn't
have been the Beatles without
Ringo. Yes, they probably still
would've been great with another
drummer, but they could've never
replaced Ringo's personality.
It's hard to fathom the insular
nature of the Beatles world, but
at the height of their fame, they
only had each other. Ringo was
one of those brothers, and who's
to say what would've happened
6 if he wasn't around. Without
his off-the-cuff sense of humor
or general good nature, maybe
the pressure would've gotten to
the other boys before they had
a chance to change the face of
popular music history.
His influence purely as a drum-
mer is hard to understate. Simply
being part of an unprecedented
cultural phenomenon makes him
the most famous drummer there
is. His style was copped by nearly
every rock drummer that came
See RINGO, page 28
Tom Watts, senior stage technician from the Royal Shakespeare Company, smoothes a screen curtain
on the set of "The Tempest" while IATSE member Jon Michelson inspects the sets suspended in the
rafters.
Nintendo's Wil
vs. Sony's PS3
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Deciding between the PS3and the Wii isjust the beginning.
Any gamer knows that a console is only as good as the games
you can playon it. This coming week, shoppers will have the
most diverse choice between launch titles in game history.
Wii
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
True fans will kill to have this game inftheirhands a week early, if only
to memorizefthe manual. For everyone else,fthis is the Wii's statement
of purpose, its Declaration of Independence, if you will.Must buy.
RedSteel
This game will hopefully show that the Wii can support a "Time
Crisis"-style shooter with a proper storyline and controls. Some initial
problems, but still a must-buy.
Excite Truck
I saw theftwo demo levels of this game played approximately
300,000 times as I was waiting in line forlRed Steel at E3. It looked
like a blast. Buy this one if you have fond memories of "Waverace64."
PS3
Resistance: Fallof Man
Straightforward shooter that appearsto be freshly funedfor the PS3s
graphical power. The story is about a WWIl alien invasion.Seriously.
That's pretty much it. The rest of the PS3 games aren't worth
mentioning. Butfhopeful PS3 owners prepare forfthe'07 release of
"Assasin's Creed," which looks to be the next truly epic game offthis
console generation.
By FOREST CASEY
Daily Arts Writer
This is an article in two parts. This is the only way
to discuss the new Nintendo Wii and the Sony
PS3.
You see, technology writers have to write for the low-
est common denominator. They can leave nothing to
question, because they are serving as an interpreter does
in a foreign land.
And this is great - the first aim of a newspaper is to
inform, and a good tech article will do that precisely. The
only problem is that this takes up too much space, leaving
only a few sentences for a proper review. So you have an
800-word article about the Bugatti Veyron supercar with
three paragraphs explaining how a turbocharger works
and a scant three sentences about how it goes like hell.
This is patronizing to those who don't understand
(those who might not need to understand) and boring to
those who do. This is whythis article is split into two. The
first part is opinionated and reductive, but it hopefully
will lend some help to those who are going to be stuck in
conversation about these new video game consoles until
the end of the holiday shopping season.
The second part is geared toward those who have been
following the console wars closer than the mostrecent elec-
tions. My opinions come from hours of playing both the
PS3 and Wii at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los
Angeles this summer. Hopefully it gives more thought to
the single toughest question of the year: Nintendo or Sony?
See NINTENDO/SONY, page 4B
iLIST
Nov. 16 to 19
4*The Daily Arts
guide to the best
upcoming events
- everywhere
you should
be this week
and why.
Did you know Ann Arbor had a
Polish film festival? Well, guess what
- it does. The Ann Arbor Polish Film
Festival presents several short films
at 7 p.m. at Lorch Hall tomorrow.
The festival will screen "From the
City of Lodz," "Factory," "Conversa-
tions with Krzysztof Kieslowski,"
"Seeds" and "The Collector." Direc-
tor Andreas Voigt is also scheduled
to appear at the event. Tickets are
$12, or just $6 for students.
Tonight at 7 p.m., Shaman Drum
plays host to a piece of Detroit histo-
ry. In 1969, RC Prof. Ken Mikolowski
founded the Detroit-based Alterna-
tive Press with his late wife, Ann.
The concept: 500 blank postcards
were given to poets to do with them
as they wished. Subscribers would
receive monthly packets of original,
unpublished postcards of poetry.
Tonight bids farewell toa truly beau-
tiful institution.
Youcannevergetenough Hendrix.
If you survive The Bang! at The Blind
Pig on Saturday Night without, then
head back over on Tuesday at 9:30
p.m. for the "Jimi Hendrix Celebra-
tion." You probably haven't heard of
any of the bands, but shit - it's a cel-
ebration of Hendrix. How could you
possibly go wrong? Tickets are $6 if
you're over 21, $9 if you're under. We
know it's not the cheapest place in
town, but come on, it's Hendrix.
This Sunday at 7 p.m., the long-
standing Michigan Pops Orchestra
will perform their "Pops at Sea"
production at The Michigan The-
ater. Tickets are $5 for students and
$8 for non-students. Included in the
program will be selections ranging
from the "Jaws" theme to numbers
from Disney's "The Little Mermaid.
For the classically-oriented, Tchai-
kovsky's "1812 Overture" will also
be performed.