Voluntarily Mugged in Times Square!

Tonya has just posted a comment saying "What is the CD picture of Andy?". I'm glad I have become good friends with Tonya as otherwise I might be offended by the fact that she has expertly managed to detect the one picture associated with a ridiculous story and highlight it to the world!

The picture I think she is referring to is this one:


I'd like to say that this was a picture of me with a famous rap star...Fifty Cent...P Diddy....some one like that... but we all know the story isn't going to pan out like that.

I'd just like to start by saying, in my defence, I had just stepped off a plane so I was tired, jet-lagged, etc.

So we were in times square and the guy in the picture stops me in the street. Clare knew right from the start where it was heading but what you can't see in the picture is the oblivious bubble I'm standing in! The guy tells me he's DJ BlingMan (or something). He's filming for MTV and can I look up at the top of the tall sky-scraper, where there's a camera(!), and repeat a message along the lines of "Yo, whasup, this is DJ BlingMan on MTV!" I do this, and then he puts his cap on my head and gets Clare to take a picture.

I'm having a great time, grinning like an idiot. Clare is rolling her eyes up and giving me a look that says I know what's going on but you are clearly clueless. Passers-by just think I'm a moron.

So then he thrusts two of "his" CDs in my hands and says I can have them. "What a lovely, generous man!", I think. THEN, he says that they would normally cost $10 each but he'll let me have them both for $10. I tell him I only have $5. He takes one CD from me and packs me on my way. "His" CD is a load of other rappers tunes he's downloaded and burnt onto CD. I haven't listened to it yet!

Of course, Clare tells me how she saw it all along and what a muppet I am! But you may be wondering where she got this lovely cap from!


Later in the holiday, we get stopped by another guy. Admittedly, this guy is funnier and working for a charity. After exchanging a few witty comments, he asks Clare if she'd like to donate money for the kids in exchange for a cap (I think this guy was legit....he had a pass round his neck and there were a few of them standing around). So although I payed $5 for a copied CD, Clare paid $10 for a (dirty) cap which she could have got for $3 from a street-seller. At least it was for a good cause!