Meeting Mandolin Man (Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2005)

So mandolin man wasn't a psycho - though I had my doubts at first meeting. I waited for him at the bus stop at Finsbury Park, and he just appeared from nowhere. Well on first look, I think he had appeared from one of the cardboard boxes lining the street. "No way is this guy going to have the money for the mandolin" was my first impression. He seemed nice enough, insisted on inspecting the mandolin as if it were fine jewelry, and then reached into his bag for the money. And then the inevitable happened - out comes a long knife and I think about running, but of course it wasn't a knife, just a violin bow - of course, most street bums carry a violin bow in their rucksack, I'd simply forgotten.

Out comes the money, I'm happy, but it's not over. "So when can we get together to play?" he says, grabbing my arm. I try to explain to him that when you purchase an item on eBay, you get the item only, not the seller as well, but he insists that we're 'friends' now. With a ridiculous "is that your bus?" pointing at the road, I run off in the opposite direction back to the safety of my train platform, probably looking a complete girl in the process. The train isn't for another 10 minutes, so I find myself staring at the steps up to the platform, waiting for the chap to materialise slowly, like a scene from "The Living Dead".

Met my good friend Patrick at Kings Cross last night, who was telling me that he actually got to meet the pope 10 years ago. Not only that, he got the chance to kiss the pope's ring! And he turned it down instead preferring a firm hand-shake.

Not sure if I'd have turned down the chance to kiss the pope's ring was I given such an opportunity, at the very least I'd want to give his ring a poke.

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