Help me, I’ve got a book to plug!

Viewers of this evening’s BBC News were treated to a Hugh Pym report on Chip and Pin card fraud centred around a small number of Shell petrol stations (256Kbps, WMV format).

Near the end Pym appears next to a till with a card terminal to wrap up his report – strangely though not a till in a Shell petrol station! No, Pym manages to get himself downstairs to the BBC Shop in Television Centre, where he lounges, quite coincidentally, next to a prominent display of signed copies, no less, of the new book, Blood & Sand, by his colleague, Frank “Help me, I’m a muslim“ Gardner.

Still, I suppose the nearest Shell service station was at least, er, a mile away, with another six within just a little over two miles!

For those who wish to sample Frank’s rather sorry for himself account of events the book was serialised in The Sunday Times over the last three weeks, The day I was shot, Being Daddy and The sweet joys of Arabia.

Update, May 12th: In response to a couple of comments, I think if I were in Frank’s predicament I would undergo an instant ‘conversion’ to Islam too, but I’d also be quite happy to include that detail in my account of events afterwards. As for feeling sorry for myself, I certainly would, but I’d feel a lot more sorry for poor Mr. Cumbers who didn’t survive to tell the tale – I know which of the two outcomes I’d opt for. To be fair, perhaps this is down to the Sunday Times editing of Frank’s account – if you know different please do comment.