Day 1:
Found old Feadog whistle and book with CD in closet intended to be a present for someone (brother) years ago. Opened it up and tried to play for some fun, whistle horribly out-of-tune, but still fun in some strange, disturbing way.
Day 2:
Saw the Shifty Sailors singing at Arts & Crafts Festival in town the other day- boy do they ROCK! I think one of the songs they sang, “Drunken Sailor”, is in my whistle book at home- the song keeps repeating in my head- made worse after going home and consuming large quantities of Newcastle Brown Ale, and then singing the first verse of it over and over until my wife threatens to divorce me. My two year old son does not mind, however, and tries to join in.
Day 3:
After some thick coffee, I try to do the song “Drunken Sailor” on my new-found instrument of torture. The shreaking high-pitched squeals coming from it hurt my head. I put it down and take some aspirin. I get out my tuner, and see how far out of tune the whistle is, just out of curiosity. Whoa, the first note, D, is in the red. I then log on to the internet, and do a search on Irish Whistles. Find many links, and click on one titled “Chiff & Fipple”. Find a section on how to “Modify” a whistle with a plastic mouthpiece. Here we go, now that sounds like fun! Follow the directions to a “T”, even use beeswax to plug the hollow section behind the window (and spend an hour cleaing out the rest of the mouthpiece that does not get wax in it.). Actually get it to play a “D” in tune, but everything after that is out- play “Drunken Sailor” over and over again for the fun of it.
Day 4:
Maybe I need another whistle, I’m sure if I buy another, it will be in tune. Go to the music store on the mainland and purchase a Generation, and also a shiney tin one that has a cone shape to it and a wooden plug in the mouthpiece. When I get them out to the car, I try them out. Both sound “off”, especially the Generation one, it sounds even worse than my Feadog, if that is possible, but I am sure it’s just the player. Pick up some more Brown Ale, and head back to the island with my booty.
Day 5:
Attempt to “modify” the whistle I got yesterday with the blue plastic mouthpiece, in the same manner as the Feadog. Heck, it can’t make it worse that it is. Finished the operation, with a certain improvement over what it used to sound like. Get out a “Dog” and celebrate.
Day 6:
Finish full tour of the Chiff & Fipple website. Sounds like a bunch of freaks on there, the way they go on and on about their obvious obsession with what is really, a child’s toy! And what is up with this problem that some of the “members” have with buying one whistle after another? Really, what is wrong? Isn’t a few whistles enough, especially after you have a few that play well? They even have a term for this, called “WhOA”! I pick up what I now call “Quick-Silver”, the shiney Shaw whistle and play “Drunken Sailor” on it. It just doesn’t sound right. It seems harder to play than the whistles with the plastic and metal construction. Maybe I can stop by a music store that I found a link to on Chiff & Fipple, in down-town Seattle next week and see what they have in stock.
Day 10:
Stopped at the “Lark in the Morning” music shop in Seattle today. Boy, do the have a selection of whistles! After careful consideration, I opt not to buy any Newcastle Brown Ale, and use my hard-earned beer money to buy a Susato whistle in D. Took it out of the package when I got out to the car and played it, “Drunken Sailor” never sounded so good!! A homeless person came up to my car with a spray bottle and towels in her hand. She looked through my window, and I think was going to ask for some money, but her eyes got really big and she quickly walked away- I guess some people just don’t like the sound of a penny whistle? Oh-well, to each their own.
Day 14:
I think something is wrong with my Susato. It is now getting harder to play a D on it, it wants to flip up into a shrill note every once and awhile. My wife came up to my office the other day and asked me where I got the whistles. She had thought I was just playing on my Feadog all this time. After hearing about how we don’t have enough money to be buying silly whistles, she comments on why I have not been drinking any beer lately. With a shifty look of my eyes, I casually say that I am trying to cut back. She said that was good, that we could use the money for bills. I agreed with her, feeling a trickle of sweat flow down my back. How am I going to pay now for the copper whistle covered in silver (nickel) that sounds so beautiful from David O’Brien?!?! I heard it played on Chiff & Fipple the other day and fell in love with the sound. Not a fake, plastic sound, but a true, ringing pure sound of joy, and I bet they are in-tune. Damn.
Day 15:
Think I destryed my Shaw whistle today. Guess I should not have crimped down so hard on the mouthpiece with the pliers. I just wanted to make the airway closed off a bit, to make it sound better. heard about that from Chiff & Fipple. Now I am out one of my whistles, and have no beer. Maybe I can sell our chihuahua on Ebay, and get some quick cash…
Day 16:
Made a display rack for my whistles to hang on the wall. My wife asked me why there was so many extra spaces on it, when I only have four whistles. “Oh, no reason, just didn’t want to waste the good wood.” I said to her. Maybe I should see the doctor, I’ve been sweating a lot lately…
. So…fifty, and most of mine still play 
.