Gerald Ford

[TimC]

Emotion has gotten the best of all of us at one time or another. Be thankful that we weren't on such a large stage when it happened.

-Tim

[cessna152towser]

Weather can play havoc with pipes, be it cold air or wind, and in cold dry atmospheric conditions a sheepskin bag can prove less airtight than normal. I know many pipers nowadays use goretex bags, but I would expect that a piper of the calibre who would be rostered to play on such a momentous occasion would only be prepared to play the real instrument with a sheepskin bag. It can also be more difficult to seal your mouth airtight over the pipe chanter when your lips are very cold. Compound standing in the cold with the emotional nature of the occasion and it would be a difficult occasion for even the most experienced piper. I'm sure he will be very disappointed indeed at the way the performance turned out and one has to wonder if anyone else could have done better in the particular circumstances.

[davedove]

I'm sure he will be very disappointed indeed at the way the performance turned out and one has to wonder if anyone else could have done better in the particular circumstances.

I'm sure after reviewing the recording, he will be harder on himself than anyone else ever could be.

[mddock58]

Also at the times we are trying hard NOT to make mistakes, is usually when they are made!
I'm sure he could hear, and in trying to overcome, it can lead to more problems. Under the pressure and exposure of the situation, I'm glad he could play!

Unfortunately his performance is now out there to be ridiculed by the masses.

[Barclay]

He played far better than I could.

Every piper I know can play Amazing Grace in their sleep with one hand tied behind their back.

You would think that this was true, but I can attest that good funeral pipers are sometimes in short supply. It seems that, too often, anyone with a set of pipes and a business card can solicit funeral homes and many funeral homes have learned, too late, that they should have auditioned the piper beforehand. Even worse, some families have supplied their own pipers that end up being a friend-of-a-neighbor's-cousin that "plays the pipes". Yeah, those can be reeeeeeaaaaal painful to hear.

[Frank McGrath]

Walk a mile in his shoes before you condemn. Please be kind to your feliow man. We have no idea what was going through his mind at the time.

[macwilkin]

I'll let the Bard say it best:

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!

-- Robert Burns

Regards,

Todd

[mudd]

It kind of reminds me of that guy playing “Goin’ Home” on the accordion while he was crying his eyes out, at FDR’s funereal.

[mbhandy]

I'm sure after reviewing the recording, he will be harder on himself than anyone else ever could be.

I'm sure that was the case and He more than any one is taking it the hardest. Although Katie was almost as bad trying to cover for him, best left unsaid.

MrBill

[Navyguy]

It was bad, but the hopefuly the situation at hand caused people not to notice at the time. He will most definatly be his own worst critic.