Actually, I’ve concluded that after an indepth and throughly non-scientific study that whistling at red-lights actually causes the light to TURN GREEN!!
I hard part is talking on the celling phone will whistling as I drive.
On 2002-10-22 01:13, JohnPalmer wrote:
This all gave me an idea. I think I’ll get out my portable keyboard and put it up on the dash of my van and play as I go down the road.
Wasn’t something like that done on a real piano in the film ‘Five Easy Pieces’? He wasn’t driving though.
I don’t, but I must confess I whistle on the toilet.
If I’m not supposed to whistle while we drive, why is the bottom of the steering wheel so close to my knee???
I whistle in my car anytime I’m sure no one else can see me. I have an older car with no airbag, so if I’m in a bad wreck, at least the dashboard will drive my whistle through my head and end it quick. (ewwww)
I’ve got a question of my own; those of us that do kneedrive… how many have automatic vs straight drive transmissions?
The worst thing for me is finding any place with good acoustics (stairwells, empty hallways, etc). How can you not stop and rattle through a few tunes in a good place?
To Sweetone:
Too much information.
Of course I whistle in the car…when else would I have time to practice…
So! I’m not alone…
I am a bad person too.
I play my Dixon lowD while driving, steer with my left knee, stick shift, and I don’t whistle at red lights for the same reason that Whitmores75087 doesn’t…
I confess.
Count me in… I’m always practicing at stop lights, in traffic jams… Keep a Burke WBB in the car…
On 2002-10-22 13:20, Rhudi wrote:
The worst thing for me is finding any place with good acoustics (stairwells, empty hallways, etc). How can you not stop and rattle through a few tunes in a good place?
“Worst”? I LOVE finding those places. One of them is the entryway at work. Glass enclosed, about 10x15 feet. . .makes me sound almost good. Another is the pool at the gym.
I whistled in the car once and was told off by my mum. She was quite miffed that I’d do such a thing especially since she’s driving 
Whistling in the car can cause accidents to the whistler! Also whistled at the bus stop…and had smiles from fellow bus-people. Was really chuffed about that 
~chih
On 2002-10-22 04:45, nickt wrote:
Completely baffled. A few weeks ago there was a thread started by me old mate Martin Milner about mobiles (cellphones) being used in cars and mostly everyone piled in and said “dangerous, should be banned, I’d never do it” etc etc, but it seems that playing the whistle is okay! (Okay, playing at red lights or when parked is not the same).
I’ve never been cut off by somebody playing the whistle.
The other day I was passed by a teenage girl going down the freeway with both feet up on the dashboard.
I whistle at stoplights all the time. I get a lot of comments as well. (Although I’ve never had anyone recognize a tune – or join in – as people have related previously when this has come up.)
Coming out of the airport the other day and waiting to pay my parking fee, the woman in the adjacent lane rolled down her passenger-side window and waved frantically at me. She was on her cellphone and was shouting into it “The guy next to me is playing the flute!” Then she held the phone out to me and shouted “Play louder!” Of course I responded “It’s a tinwhistle.” I didn’t bother to explain that there was no volume control.
– Scott
I whistle in the car while it’s parked and I am waiting for my daughter while she’s taking Irish dance lessons. Occasionally I will play a high whistle at stop lights. Low whistles are harder to quickly slap down when the light changes.
On 2002-10-22 18:14, psychih wrote:
I whistled in the car once and was told off by my mum. She was quite miffed that I’d do such a thing especially since she’s driving >
Same with me and my husband…I started in on the Racks of Mallow and he got very grumpy and didn’t speak to me for the rest of the evening.
Needless to say, I never play my Feadóg in the car when he’s in it, anymore. I rarely play when he’s in the house!
K
Get a low whistle, Kim - it soothes the savage beast! 
I keep a Little Black D and Mellow D in the car. But I only play when the car’s not moving.
I don’t drive a car - I’m more of a cyclist. I haven’t yet tried playing the whistle whilst riding my bike, and I don’t think it’s to be recommended cycling in London - or any place subject to gravity, for that matter. I do often play in other peoples cars, although poor suspension and uneven road surfaces can make it difficult to produce a steady tone and keep the fingers in the right places. There have been incidences of nasty accidents involving whistles played in moving vehicles that have had to brake suddenly.
A favourite pastime of mine is playing the whistle(or indeed, mandolin)on the upper decks of double-decker buses late at night, usually on the way home from sessions. I usually only do it if I am the only passenger, but occasionally the urge is too great to contain, and I will play to a small incidental audience, provided they are seated suitably far away. On one occasion, I was playing alone upstairs, when the driver came stomping up the stairs - it is always a gamble, as you never know what sort of a person the driver is. Anyway, having reached the top of the stairs, he shouted, “Will you stop tapping your foot! It’s putting me off my driving!” I wasn’t even aware that I was tapping my foot. I suggested that I might sit at the other end of the bus, so that I would not be directly above the driver, to which his reponse was, “If you don’t stop tapping your foot I’ll throw you off the bus!” So I crossed my legs - thus rendering myself incapable of tapping my foot - and carried on playing quite happily.
Other places I would recomended for playing whistles are: Station waiting rooms, tube(for those that don’t know - the London subway/metro)station platforms, stairwells, riverbanks, bathrooms(washrooms).
Hey Kim, I think Rakes of Mallow qualifies as “grounds”. If played on a Susato it’s considered justification for adultery in Italy.
Hey Kim, I think Rakes of Mallow qualifies as “grounds”. If played on a Susato it’s considered justification for adultery in Italy.
Tom