ask Dr. Fipple
Issue #5
Issue #1 Issue #2 Issue # 3 Issue #4
This week's question comes by email from Mr. Harding Gentry from Tennessee.
To: Dr. Fipple <drfipple@6holetheory.com>
From: Harding Gentry <email address deleted>
Date: May 5, 2004
hi. my name is Harding Gentry, age 12, but my friends call me Harry because of Harding being a uncool name and Harry's not so bad since the whole Harry Potter deal. I have had something on my mind constantly and I was so glad I found your website. Nobody has been able to explain to me the difference between a tinwhistle and Neil Sedaka with food on his head. I know you may not konw much about Neil Sedaka, but I thought since you are the Chiffman mayhbe you 'd know part of it.
thanks for your answer.
Harry
Wow. Harry. That's a hard one. No one has asked me this particular question in months. I was beginning to think the whole Neil-Sedaka-with-food-on-his-head thing was over. Looks like it is starting up in Tennessee. Seems like a lot of trends get a kind of late start in Tennessee, if you know what I mean. :]
"Chiff & Fipple" is all about tinwhistles and about the crazy, mixed-up people that make them and play them. Here is a picture that may help you.
That's a tinwhistle above. It some ways, it may remind you of Neil Sedaka with food on his head, but they simply aren't the same thing. Scientists are still at work on a good theory for why people confuse them so often. Psychologists believe it has to do with a little-known psycho-perceptual syndrome known as Flageolette-Sedaka Syndrome. This disorder is believed to reside on the same chromosome as the tendency to get ice-cream headache.
So, let's look graphically at the problem. First, let's repeat and take a close look at a tinwhistle:
Now, as you know, all actual photographs and videos of Neil Sedaka with food on his head were purged by the Bush Administration by a often-criticized court interpretation of an obscure component of the Patriot Act. I was able to locate a painting by the artist Dick Algebra which depicts Food-on-Neil in a stylized way. It's the best I can do.
These really aren't that easy to confuse. Just try harder. Breaking up is hard to do.
Dr. Fipple
Coming soon:
How is Chiff & Fipple different from West Side Story?
Issue #1 Issue #2 Issue # 3 Issue #4