Here's To Ringo!

Okay, well you may have expected this. I am a huge Beatles fan and I am also a drummer, so logic will tell you I like Ringo. I think he is very, very talented.

(Pause for laughter and continue)

No, seriously. Ringo, along with George, was a hidden talent of The Beatles. We can all sing praise of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but what can be said about good ol’ Mr. Starkey?
“Erm, didn’t he sing lead on Yellow Submarine?”
To explain Ringo’s talent I’m going to have to talk drum technique so please, bare with me.

One of the wonderful things about Ringo’s drumming is that if you ignore all the other instruments in the song, you can still tell what song it is by the drums alone. I’m not sure if you realise how big a deal this is. I do. I mean, just listen to Come Together. Now, listen to the drums in it. You will not find any other song that has a rhythm like that.

In the early days of The Beatles, Ringo greatly contributed to their success. His fast and loose rhythms got people dancing. Now, this may not seem like much, but can you imagine The Beatles playing in The Cavern Club and nobody dancing? It would have been a long way to Shea Stadium if that were the way they had started off.

In an interview, Lennon was asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world. Lennon replied, "He's not even the best drummer in The Beatles!” Surely this was an insult? But Lennon went on to say “Ringo's a damn good drummer. He always was a good drummer. He's not technically good, but I think Ringo's drumming is underrated the same way as Paul's bass playing is underrated”

The only reason Ringo was ‘not technically good’ was because he was a left-handed drummer playing on a right-handed kit. He couldn’t do a roll to save his life but his fills are unique.

Ringo has influenced so many famous drummers, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, Dave Grohl of God knows how many bands and even Danny Carey of Tool. But most of all, he’s influenced me.

I really hope I have not bored you to death with all of this drum theory and all, but I want you to know there’s more to Ringo that meets the eye.

So, Ringo, you’re a star.

Peace,
Paul.

Trust Me On This One

After a few days of serious pondering, I’m still not entirely sure what I’ll be blogging about for the next while. I’m waiting for some sort of divine intervention to present me wondrous ideas and marvellous stories, which I can share with you all. (Even though ‘you all’ is a big exaggeration on how many people, that will probably read this blog.)

For now, I’ve decided to write a little bit about trust. It’s a topic I’ve been thinking a lot about recently and no, this is not about how I’ve lost the trust of a friend and I’m only using my blog to be all melodramatic about it. This is about the trust we have that we may not think about everyday.

Many people will relate trust with those who are close to them, friends, relatives etc. But what some of us may not realise is that we put so much trust into people we do not know or have never even met.
Let me explain myself by talking about toothpaste. Trust me on this one. When we buy or use toothpaste what do we expect of it? To clean our teeth, to make our breath minty fresh and to remove bacteria. We also expect that it’s not toxic and that it only contains the ingredients shown on the packaging.

But someone we will probably never meet has produced this tube of toothpaste. Don’t you think it’s wonderful the amount of trust we give to this stranger? The same idea applies when we may take out an insurance policy on our home, when we vote in an election, when we put our hard earned money into the bank and when we send our children to school. How can we be sure we’re getting what we expect?

Of course, 99% of the time we do get exactly what we wanted and this is one of the things I love about this world. How we can throw our lives into the arms of strangers and things will usually work out for us. So as I tuck into my Muller Corner yoghurt (Yes, that is a shameless plug), I thank the complete, utter stranger that made it for me.

Thank you.

Peace,
Paul.

Blogging, Paul. Paul, Blogging.

Okay, if I'm honest this isn't my first attempt at keeping a blog. I had a go once before but I shall never again reference it so don't ask.

To begin my blog I decided to tell you a little bit about myself. My names Paul, I'm 17 and I'm Irish. I live music, mostly classics; The Beatles, Thin Lizzy etc. At the moment I'm listening to Dire Straits so I have to stop writing every now and again for a bit of air guitar. I managed to type two words during Money For Nothing. A record.
I also play drums in a band with a few mates. Nothing big...yet.

As for blogging, I try to update it as much as I can but because of my internet connection that's not always possible

*Shakes fist at dongle*

Also, I get distracted easily.

Yo-yo!

*Ahem*

Right, back to blogging! I'll do my best to keep this going, exciting prospect. If you'd prefer, you can follow me with my more condensed blogs I like to call 'tweets' here. Anyway, enjoy!

Frisbee!

Peace,
Paul.