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.