Chiff & Fipple: St. Patrick's 2004

MARCH MADNESS

Special Guest St. Patrick's Day Greeting

I.  ST. LOUIS TIONOL 2004

Tommy Peoples, Mary Bergin, and Paddy O'Brien will be joining the good folks in St. Louis, along with piper Tommy Martin and John Carty.  Go.

II.  What up?:  The Tinwhistle Fingerings Research Center

Many of you will recall that Chiff & Fippler Richard Gross, award-winning tinwhistle haiku author, had a really interesting webpage with some of the most graphically sophisticated tinwhistle finger charts I've ever seen.   Richard had to take the pages down recently to make room for more important pursuits.  Richard knows, of course, that there really aren't any more important pursuits, but he had, like, a job to do.  So, just wanted you fans of his website to know that I am negotiating with Richard to move these on the the Chiff & Fippler servers at our secure, underground facility in France. Shown below, secret entrance to facility.

  

III.  Martha, My Dear

From the Chiff & Fipple Archives.  For a mercifully brief time in the late '90s, we did this thing about Martha Stewart's company buying Chiff & Fipple.  For a couple of days, this is what you would get if you came to the main page: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/martha/martha.html

IV.  INCREDIBLE WHISTLE DEALS!

UNBELIEVABLE PRICES

V.   MICHO RUSSELL RE-ISSUES

http://pennywhistle.com/micho.html

VI.  COMING SOON FROM CHIFF & FIPPLE

 

VII.  C&F LURKERS: THEY'D BE A CLUB IF THEY WEREN'T, WELL, LURKERS

Hi, Dale -

I feel I can speak for the many silent 'lurker' members of the C&F family when I say that we're behind you 100 percent... in the shadows...

lurking.... reading message posts, checking the for sale ads, perusing the latest edition of the C&F 6 hole theory, yet never really piping up, as it were, until now.

Many of us have been members for years, but please don't mistake our silence for indifference. We're silent members of C&F but we're here to stay. We're kind of like Tom Joad - whenever there's a new whistle review, we'll be there. Whenever there's an altercation on the message board over the proper polishing cloth one must use for a Walton's 'Mellow' D as opposed to the regular D, we'll be there. And whenever you're besieged by nattering nabobs of naysayers and complainers, we'll be there - on your side, albeit silently, skulking around in the background, but behind you nonetheless.

Please keep up the great work you are doing, for without you, where else could we lurk, ever vigilant, ever watchful for a new tune or a whistle bargain or just a laugh to help us through some of those long low D nights?

So, as self-appointed spokesman for the C&F lurkers, I wish to send you a hearty Bravo from all of us who reside in the shadows, who never post a message or send an email, for reasons of our own, yet who value our C&F membership and have benefitted greatly from your monumental efforts. Thanks for providing those oh-so-entertaining shadows in which we lurk and for providing a whistle in the darkness.

Sincerely,

Chris Nolin

Another satisfied customer back in the shadows somewhere

 

VIII.  JOANIE SMOOCHES BIRTHDAY BOY A COUPLE OF TIMES

Hi Dale,

 

I've been lurking but not actively participating for quite a while now. You know how busy things can get. I had to write to tell you this because, of anyone, I knew you'd appreciate it.

 

I got a call from my wife on Thursday asking if I'd be home from work by 5:30. I said sure, why? She said she was making an appointment and wanted to make sure I'd be able to make it. I figured it was something to do with the endless parade of mortgage companies we've been talking to about refinancing.

 

I get home and am told that we're going on a date and I have to get ready because it's going to take over an hour and a half to get there. Huh? It's a surprise.

 

Cut to the chase. My birthday is this coming Monday and my wife surprised me with tickets to see Cherish the Ladies in Stuart, FL that night. I've been a fan for a long time but haven't had a chance to see them. WOW. What a great show.

 

After the show, Joanie says she'll be in the lobby to say hi. After she's finished playing, she hops down off the stage and runs up the aisle to the lobby as promised. When we finally get to her, my wife tells her that she was amazing and thanks her for helping to give me a great birthday present. She loudly exclaims, "Well happy birthday! I've gotta give ya a kiss!" And she did. I thanked her and told her how brilliant I thought she was and as I was walking away I mentioned that I was a follower of Dale Wisely. She puts her hand up for a high five and even more excitedly says, "You're a fellow whistler, that's gonna get ya another kiss! I hope you have a happy birthday and a great St. Patrick's day."

 

I got outside and murmured to my wife, she called me a fellow whistler. After watching and listening to what she can do with a whistle, I don't think what I do with one can be called whistling. She was amazing and the performance was great. I recommend seeing them to anyone that gets a chance.

 

I hope you and your family are well and I hope you have a great St. Patrick's day.

 

Bruce Kelly

Melbourne, FL

 

IX.  TINWHISTLE, PENNYWHISTLE, GOOGLE, and EBAY.

               That's a law firm from hell, right?

So, if you search "tinwhistle" on Google, Chiff & Fipple is the first-ranked site.  No contest, really.  We had to "eliminate" some competitors to make it happen.

If, on the other hand, you search "pennywhistle," Chiff & Fipple is #3, after Bill Och's pennywhistle.com and Mike Burke's site.

 

 

Not that it bothers me or anything.

 

 

 

 

For those of you new to all of this, the tinwhistle and the pennywhistle are the same.  It used to be, by the way, that if you typed either of these words into ebay, you'd get all kinds of stuff that was neither a tinwhistle or a pennywhistle.  Police whistles, Cracker Jack^TM style whistles, etc.   More recently, ebay seems to have learned what the words refer to, however, because searches for whistles work better now.  

 

X.  people who, so far as we know, don’t play the whistle 

a rotating gallery of people who don’t play the whistle, and aren’t likely to take it up.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more people who, so far as we know, don’t play the whistle (A Quinn-Martin Production)

 

Speaking of which.....

 

 

 

 

Chiff & Fipple is a production of the North Central Alabama Home Gorilla Breeding Association, in association with Red Wolverine Enterprises,  "What the Hell is Wrong With My Daddy?", a new film by Mel Gibson, Halliburton ,  Two Unemployed Democrats, and 3Fish Productions

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Lord, help us see how near is your kingdom.