The Times reports that TfL is near to launching the Oyster card for non-transit transactions: at the newsagent, for example.
I love the space-age waving of the Oyster card, and it would be fantastic to be able to report a lost or stolen card and not lose the money on it. But I hesitate to contribute even more to the great personal database in the sky.
I’e never got any cash on me anyway and this is just going to make it worse!
Gary Phillips says,
I so love London and I love the Thames; 1000 years of history and it feels like it was only yesterday, such is the powerfully understated atmosphere that emanates from it.
He creates framed collections of discarded, ethereal items from London’s past.
Via Boing Boing
If, like me, you’ve spent more hours than it is plausible trying to figure out who would impersonate the prefect Tintin and his friends on screen, then you may be curious to see whether you agree with
…1773.
Rather than chucking a bunch of tea in the already off-color Thames, I suggest downing a good cup instead.
I imagine there’s a lot of discussion to be had on the finest cup of tea in London, but here’s a few starters:
The Wolseley, naturally, is a legend. I went for tea earlier this year, and was impressed to see David Blunkett, Paul Burrell and a few others hovering around. The service is spectacular, and it’s just a pleasure to be there. I hope to pay off the bill sometime by 2008…
Another particularly posh afternoon tea can be found at The Park restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental hotel. I went when it first opened, and the service was still ironing out a few kinks - in a good way (they kept inadvertantly bringing us sandwiches). Hopefully it’s still retained the charm.
Naturally, the British Museum needed a mention. The cafe in the courtyard does an afternoon tea that won’t do unholy things to your bank account. Unfortunately, it’s culinary Russian Roulette - as they seem to change management and menus regularly. Initially, your fiver got you an amazing amount of quality food, but the service was atrocious. Then, they halved the portions, removed the charm, and the service was still horrible. Now, the food is back, and the service seems to have vastly improved. So go quickly, before they change their minds. It’s also worth the wait to get a table towards one edge or the other - overlooking the courtyard or the reading room. In the center, it can be a little sterile.
Finally, no mention of tea would be complete without a visit to A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down. The couple behind this are clever, quaint, and absolutely charming - they’ve made a cottage industry out of touring Britain looking for a good cuppa and a comfy seat. The book came out last year around Christmastime, and would still make a nice present. And the website, of course, is worth a visit - their rankings of dunkable biscuits are well worth a read.
Today marks the 473rd anniversary of the massacre of the Incas by Pizarro.
Celebrate (if that’s the right word) to a visit to the Americas collection at the British Museum.
Or, if the thought of going outside during the British winter is too much for you, take the tour virtually with the Museum’s excellent online collection…
(more…)
Was waiting for someone to mention Harold Pinter
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the foundation of SAVE, a campaigning body working to save Britain’s architectural heritage, the Victoria & Albert Museum is hosting a free exhibition until next February.
Here you will get the chance to learn, through drawings, photographs and architectural fragments, the story behind decaying churches, chapels, railway stations, markets, town houses and country houses that have been given a new lease of life throughout all these years.
And tomorrow, president Marcus Binney will talk about how SAVE has campaigned to rescue major landmarks of British heritage.
Wednesday Late Lecture at the V&A Museum, 14th December 2005, 19.15
How about the Pizza Hut Literary Awards?
The Whitbread Company, realizing that they don’t actually produce anything themselves, is contemplating spinning off the sponsorship of one of Britain’s leading literary prizes to a sub-brand. I’m also a big fan of the David Lloyd Gym Literary Awards… or perhaps the Premier Travel Inn Prize?
The Costa Cup?
If you want to be truly informed then you should have more than one clearly biased source of information. I thought we’d put all this scarmongering about MMR and other vaccines behind us, but no.
Please have a look here too if you want to know a little bit more than a site that actually suggests you don’t vaccinate your children and here.
Thanks
Sean
Staying in London for Christmas, but really looking forward to it. The flatmate is leaving on Christmas eve and will be gone for an entire week. That means the we have the flat to ourselves where we can stretch out, walk around naked and I can make a big Christmas dinner for the two of us. I’m making a chicken…fuck avian flu. Actually, my theory about it is that there was a glut of flu vaccine in the pharmaceutical store. They didn’t want to dump it, so they used their good friends” the media” to create a scare about this stupid bird flu. Everybody freaked and demanded the vaccine and the whole thing back fired and now there’s an anti-cancer vaccine and a million other stupid vaccines. I just don’t buy it. Petro-chemical companies are ruling the world. They own everything. It’s a billion pound industry that is based on fear…your fear of dying, growing old or being less than. Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean it’s not true.
Had a gig on Friday shooting this lady who runs a newsletter called The Informed Parent. She had some interesting things to say about vaccines and how horrible they are to give to your kids. Check it out if you are concerned about what goes into the noxious little coctails that the gov’t is trying to scare you into jabbing into your kids.
