a nice article
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Awww, sweet, he loves kids and seems to be so friendly with them, what a lovely guy our dear Jason is!"I love that I'm in the Harry Potter films, I've always loved kids, I was a children's entertainer and I love making kids have a good time," he said.
"If I'm round someone's house and there's a room of kids I'm invariably playing hide and seek or doing magic tricks or something but I'm so glad I don't look like Lucius Malfoy in the street."
Thanks Kj,
~me
- Hilary the Touched
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Don't need no Brits, Helen--you may have had one yourself.
It's the plastic farecard used on London's mass-transit system. You use it like a credit card, passing it in front of an electronic scanner before boarding trains or buses. When you run out of money, you add more to your Oyster account.
Not sure why it's called an Oyster . . . I thought maybe because they're originally issued in a blue plastic wallet/folder, that sort of flips open, but that's pretty feeble. I dunno!
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/2732.aspx
On edit: according to Wikipedia, "Oyster was conceived and subsequently promoted because of the metaphorical implications of security and value in the component meanings of the hard bivalve shell and the concealed pearl. Its associations with London through Thames estuary oyster beds and the popular idiom 'the world is your oyster' were also significant factors in its selection as was the uniqueness of the word Oyster."
Ooooookaythen.
It's the plastic farecard used on London's mass-transit system. You use it like a credit card, passing it in front of an electronic scanner before boarding trains or buses. When you run out of money, you add more to your Oyster account.
Not sure why it's called an Oyster . . . I thought maybe because they're originally issued in a blue plastic wallet/folder, that sort of flips open, but that's pretty feeble. I dunno!
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/2732.aspx
On edit: according to Wikipedia, "Oyster was conceived and subsequently promoted because of the metaphorical implications of security and value in the component meanings of the hard bivalve shell and the concealed pearl. Its associations with London through Thames estuary oyster beds and the popular idiom 'the world is your oyster' were also significant factors in its selection as was the uniqueness of the word Oyster."
Ooooookaythen.
Last edited by Hilary the Touched on Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
you may have had one yourself.
Last time I was there (1989), they used a thick paper ticket that went in one end of the turnstyle and flew out the other end . . . sometimes onto the floor. I'd sheepishly pick it up and put it in my pocket, hoping the germs from a million shoes, etc., wouldn't kill me.
Last time I was there (1989), they used a thick paper ticket that went in one end of the turnstyle and flew out the other end . . . sometimes onto the floor. I'd sheepishly pick it up and put it in my pocket, hoping the germs from a million shoes, etc., wouldn't kill me.
- Hilary the Touched
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Weeellll . . . sort of. It has a computerized chip in it that stores information about how much money you have deposited into your travel account; when you pass it over a card reader upon either starting or stopping a trip, it automatically transfers the money for the fare out of your account.
It means that you don't have to carry cash around to pay for bus or train trips, you don't have to worry about exact change, you don't have to wait in lines, and so on. This speeds up loading and reduces the number of employees necessary for selling and collecting tickets, etc.
There's a surprisingly lengthy article (with photos!) here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card
Washington, D.C., uses a very similar system now; it was introduced because they charge for parking at Metro lots, but discovered that parking attendants were skimming outrageously from the cash collected, since there was no record of the number of vehicles in lots. They fired the attendants and mandate the cards for parking.
On edit: Helen, I'm so sorry--I had you in London with us for Dumb Waiter. You were there both in spirit and my heart, so I forgot that you'd missed out on carrying an Oyster!
It means that you don't have to carry cash around to pay for bus or train trips, you don't have to worry about exact change, you don't have to wait in lines, and so on. This speeds up loading and reduces the number of employees necessary for selling and collecting tickets, etc.
There's a surprisingly lengthy article (with photos!) here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card
Washington, D.C., uses a very similar system now; it was introduced because they charge for parking at Metro lots, but discovered that parking attendants were skimming outrageously from the cash collected, since there was no record of the number of vehicles in lots. They fired the attendants and mandate the cards for parking.
On edit: Helen, I'm so sorry--I had you in London with us for Dumb Waiter. You were there both in spirit and my heart, so I forgot that you'd missed out on carrying an Oyster!
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