Tanglin Club Singapore, Xmas tree decoration, lights, choir

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

Tree

The Tanglin Club in Singapore celebrated Xmas with a Christmas tree light-up. This year , 2023, a reinder was in blue lights. 

Santa

Santa as usual paraded around, then sat, so people could be photographed standing alongside. 

Choir

A choir sang carols from the sweeping senu curcular staircase.  

Stitl walker

Other entertainments included a stilt walker. You could be phtographed alongisde.

Photo Booth

My favourite was the photo booth. This was free. They had a series of hats and decorated glasses, headbands, beards. After having my photo taken, I went back to look at the table of accessories. I had seen somebody wearing somthing I preferred to what I had chosen. I was considering queing up again but the queue was too long. So I decided to wear it and ask somebody else to take my photo. Nobody was to hand. So I reversed the camer on my mobile phone and took a selfie.

Then I spied another head dress which I fanced wearing. Nobody in charge noticed or cared. So I took selfies of myself with all the props in turn.

How to appear at distant events with a time difference

How to appear at distant events with a time difference.

 The simple solution is to do a recording. If you prefer, have a photo of yourself on screen.

 I wrote this on Friday Jun 10th, on receiving the reminder from organizing chair Rahul Mehndiratta, about the Toastmasters International, District 80/ Div S, Achievers Day 2021, 10 am to 12 noon.

I checked time on timebie.com. The event is 3 am to 5 am UK time.

S For SUCCESS

S stands for Singapore, S stands for Success

And Division S, yes, yes, yes

In Toastmasters, we like to send

Great surprise starts and echoing ends 

Kipling said East and West could never meet

Poor Kipling had not heard of Zoom

We're busier than a crowded street

With screens in every country's room

I can't be with you, I'm fast asleep

But organizers don't frown and weep

Don't shake your head and tut and curse

I've sent my photo and written verse

I shall start with dear 'Chair' Rahul

A man who sees a glass half full

And organizes opportunity

For wakeful you and sleepy me 

(12.46 pm Friday)

How quickly can I be a poet

And help my fellow friends to do it?

How do you start, and end, and win it?

The secret, as always, is - just begin it

Just make sure that you can be heard

You can use a dictionary of rhyming words

Listen how the syllables are said

I link rhyme chains inside my head

I have blogspots on comic verse

I have a poetry workbook

I have blogspots on what I wear

Each day new colours, take a look

12.51 pm

And now I've told you what to do

I'd like to give some praise to you

We started with TMD Thomas Chen

He wins ribbons again and again

We also heard from winner Shuzen

Another notable DTM

Poh Kim Siong our honoured guest

Gave 3 Es and 3Cs in his (guest) address

We grew clubs with prize-giving Swarna Kalyan

Today, awards given by careful Koh Lee Siang

To make sure you don't go too far

You're timed by Ravindar Kumar

And zoom master Zeph Teo

A duo with Datta says, gosh - we must go.

Next Director will be our old friend Saddiq

Who always gets things done real quick

When I call up to ask Saddiq

He says, 'Yes, that was done last week'

Division S thinks we're the best

Yet there's much potential in the rest

By holding (out) hands we help do more

In District 80, Singapore.

(By Angela Lansbury PM5, EH5

VP PR of BHA and TCA

Former Area Director of S3)

Author of: Improve Your English 

Add Alliteration, assonance and rhyme (on Amazon)

Useful Websites

http://www.timebie.com/timezone/singaporelondon.php

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Improve-Your-English-alliteration-assonance-ebook/dp/

ebook and paperback plus postage (unless you are a paid up member of Amazon Prime which gives free postage included)

UK price ebook 15 pounds 21 pence, paperback 20 pounds sterling.  If you buy the paperback, when Angela is in the same country she can sign it for you and write a rhyming couplet on your name. If you buy the ebook, she can email or whatsapp a rhyming couplet on your name.

For BHA meetings I added an extra verse

Yenny is BHA's president

We and she agree her year was well spent 

She soothed our ills and taught new skills

A walking ad wherever she went.

How To Cure Fly Away Hair When Travelling: Your Hair, your Friend's, The Person You Want To Change

Selfie by Angela.

 Sometimes I take off my hat for a photo and I have fly away hair. It looks untidy. Worse, messy. It might look tousled and sexy. But more often it does not look professional. It sometimes ruins an otherwise good photo.

On Zoom, in close-up when I am sitting down, even worse.

Other people also have this problem. For years I went to the World Travel market and saw an acquaintance who turned up every year with attractive orange hair, but such a mop that she looked untidy. I always wondered what was the cause and cure. I wanted to talk to her. But I worried that she looked such a scarecrow that the hosts seeing me with her would think less well of me. I could not understand what was wrong with her hair. Why was it such a huge ball? Why was it so different? So annoying?

The cause is simply dry hair. Dry hair also tangles easily. How to remove tangles? And fly-away hair? I discovered that the cure is simply conditioner. 

If you don't have conditioner, hand lotion makes a last resort substitute. You will find hand lotion in public toilets more often than hair conditioner.

If you pop into a large hotel or restaurant for a meal or snack or to check out their clothes shop and souvenirs, you might go into the rest room and find moisturiser.

Once I knew the answer, I was tempted to go up to her and stroke her hair with conditioner on my hands. But I would have to do it four or five times to have any effect. 

Recently I met another girl with the same problem. Gorgeous colour hair. But a scarecrow, straw effect. She wants me to take photo of her. I take good photos. And I am willing to help. Again, I have the urge to tell her. And if she does not take action, to help her by subtly stroking conditioner or moisturizer all over her hair. 

Useful Websites

https://groceries.asda.com/product/2-in-1/dove-nutritive-solutions-daily-moisture-2-in-1/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asda

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_conditioner

About the author

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time on bha.learncool.sg  

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 

How to promote an online meeting

Here I am, top left, with my bee toy signalling that I am busy as a bee.



1 Make the meeting part of your introduction. Your elevator speech yourself. For example mine might be:
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, organizer and speaker.

2 If you are asked, 'Any problems?' or 'How are you coping?' Describe organizing your meeting and how you solved the problem?

Add your position in the organization to your name in your online photo.
Add your club position on the photo.
Add your club title and meeting dates to the signature of your emails.

Create a template for each committee member of your club with space for the next meeting date so when they answer a query such as, 'May I attend your next meeting?', the committee member doesn't just answer 'yes' but adds 'our next meeting is on  (date ...........) please invite your friends and tell them our website is ............. and our secretary is .................

For privacy, you can create an email such as secretaryofclubNewYorkSpeakers200@gmail.com
You could add a date and change it so that people aren't emailing last year's secretary. It is up to the new one to change the date and create a new email.

Invite everybody in the other groups you attend to your meeting. If you are forbidden to promote rival groups, instead give out your email or phone and then promote your club when they contact you.

When doing somebody a favour by sending them information, add your contact details and meeting details.

When somebody asks you to attend their meeting, say you would be delighted, and ask them to attend your meeting.  And/or send your meetings details to their club members.

Facebook
Promote yourself on Facebook.



And Meetup

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, organizer and speaker.
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations
lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product-21713991
learncool.sg
Braddell Heights Advanced speakers club meets every Wednesday, currently on line.
Future Meetings include
Wednesday may 13th, lucky for us, as we have Thomas Chen running a workshop on Networking.
Contact President Angela Lansbury or VPE Faith. Then login to learncool.sg and wait to be admitted by the host.
Please share links to your favourite posts

Label Travel Photos while you are at home - for order, a travel book, or a family history book

Are all your photos labelled and captioned? I shall tell you why you should caption them. The day after my mother died, I sorted through a box of photos at my father's place for a photo to display on the dining table.


Who? What? Where? When? Why? My parents' wedding photo. Who? Netta and Albert. Where? London.

I wrote in small capital letters on the back margin: my mother's married name, her maiden name, and her date of birth, and date of death. That was in the year 2000. Now, in 2020, twenty years later, I have trouble remembering the date my mother was born and the date she died.

Those photo labels at the time were easy to write, when my father was alive. Which year did they get married? The date is in a book I self-published of my family history.

My father's box of photos mostly had no captions. He did not tell me much detail. He said about some of them, 'That was last year.' Others were labelled, that was 'France', or that was 'Venice'.

"Who were these people?" I asked my father.

"Those were our neighbours. ... A couple we met on holiday. ... Auntie Sarah." And so on.

When I finished, I went through the photos, again. I was able to add dates to places, and places to dates.

Sometimes I was able to pair up the pictures using landmarks. The picture of a church, 'I don't know where' was my father's comment on the background to a photo of my parents. In another picture I found a French signpost. France, Belgium, Switzerland or Canada or some French-speaking island?

Label Your Own Photos
When I left my father's flat and went home, I started the same exercise again with my own photos. I had tutted disapprovingly over the fact that my father had not labelled his own wedding photo. Of course, he knew it was himself and his wife and the year they married and where.

But my own photos of my wedding were not labelled! For the same reason.

At the time of my wedding to my husband, in the 1970s, both sets of parents shown in the group photos were alive. Now all four are gone. When I pass on, and the photos are passed on, my descendants will be trying to work out which woman was my mother and which was my husband's mother.

If you label your own photos with even only the most basic information, the name of the family members, the year, the country, that can trigger memories.

Why bother labelling the country? While you are all living in the same country, your country and your home town is obvious. Five years later, when you move house to another city, or go to work overseas, or emigrate, the identity of those old photos is less clear.

You might be able to check on dates with other sources such as who went where and when. A photo taken of South America has to be my husband's because I have not been there.
'Where?' I called.
He just told me, 'Argentina.'
'Which city?'
'Cordoba.'
Which year?
'1976. No 1978. I was invited to the World Cup of Soccer. I had written a paper on football attendance when I was a lecturer in statistics at Aberdeen university.'

I can check on the dates of the World Cup in Argentina to be sure which year.

But a photo of Mexico was my trip on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. My husband has never been to Mexico.

Signposts Opening Sets Of Photos
Nowadays I include the welcome sign as we drive into a city. I take a photo of the airport on arrival with the sign. I photograph signposts.

Romantic Road sign, Germany.

Self-captioning Photos
I often take self-captioning photos. I include the name of the hotel with a picture of the outside.

Why use labels?
When I worked for a photo agency, we were instructed to write on  labels and stick the photos on the back. Never write on the middle of the back of a photo, because the indentation of the pen or pencil would impact the front of the photo.

Now you can use your grouped photos for a blog on your travels, or a printed book.

Storage Systems
I visited the head of a photographic society in New Zealand. He had a simple dating system. He kept all photos in date order in numbered shoe boxes. January 1999 was followed by February 1999. To find photos of particular places, he used books of indexes. He kept one book in date order. The other was by country and City, alphabetically by country and within that alphabetically by city.

So his page on France, Paris, might have an entry: France, Paris, Notre Dame Cathedral, exterior, June 1999.
Another later entry would read: France, Paris, Notre Dame Cathedral, interior, altar, 2002.

He could use this system to pair up photos at different dates, his first photo of a place fifty years ago with the same place last year or this year.

Each photo had a number. It helps if you make notes of what you have photographed every evening on a trip.

Mystery Photo
I have a mystery photo of a wedding taken in what looks like a back garden in the East End of London. Was it from my mother's family, or from my aunty Pearl? If only they had written the bride's first name, I could have checked back in the family history and found the bride, the groom, and maybe many more people, and the location where they lived.

You could use a similar system with family photos. You can compile a family history.

I used a stock photo on the front of this book for the 90th birthday of my relative Pearl.

I prefer the family photo I used on this book of family history, which I wrote for my neighbours.

Alice and Loudon

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.) See books and profiles on Lulu.com and  Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts, Quick Quotations, Who Said What When. Also watch videos on YouTube.

Photos and Privacy, Duty of Care

You often see comments for and against taking photo and respecting privacy. As a keen amateur (unpaid) and professional (paid) photographer, I have seen arguments for and against.  Here are the arguments for and against. I am stating both sides of the argument, although I shall make it clear which side and support and when.

Here are my experiences and reactions. Please do not take my word for legality, as laws may have changed in your country or by the time you read this. Check local laws. If challenged be polite. If necessary produce a typed document or photo on your phone showing the regulations.

1 You should not photograph people in public places.

2 You should not photograph people without their permission.

3 You should not photograph public buildings and faces.

4 You need permission to publish photos of people

5 You should not publish phone numbers.

6 You should not publish the names of victims, those accused of crime, minors, relatives of minors.

7 You should not photograph victims instead

8 You should go to the aid of victims

9 You should attempt to deter attackers

10 You should not photograph the injured or dead.

11 Even if the victim gives permission you should not inflict such horrors on the reader.

12 Reporting crimes encourages copycat crimes.

13 You should not publish pictures of private homes.

14 You should not publish pictures of the rich and their possessions because jealous people will try to steal or cause damage.

15 You should not show the poor and unfortunate because that makes them ashamed and embarrassed and makes other troll and write rude remarks and brings them into disrepute.

16 You should not report crimes before a trial because that prejudices the trial.

17 People who do wrong (accidentally or when drunk) should apologize.

The opposing arguments include:

1 In some place beggars demand money if you take close up or even distant photos. They may pose and then demand money. You might think that giving money is ok or want to negotiate the price.

Sometimes they have no camera or a hone which does not take good photos. They would like the photo. Are you prepared to give strangers your email? Could you carry a teeny printer and give them a copy of themselves as payment?

Two small children in a remote Nepalese village ran up out of curiosity when campers were cleaning their teeth. The children were thrilled to be given a tiny tube of toothpaste and an airline toothbrush and to be photographed cleaning their teeth. The kids danced around, stayed still when asked to do so, posed by a signboard, and were excited to see photos of themselves on the camera.

 The solution is to photograph a family member with the local person in the far distance (to blow up later).  It is forbidden in South Africa to deter crime. It is permitted in the UK where the argument is that if you were to forbid crowd and public places nobody could ever photograph themselves in public places and monuments for fear that somebody else is int he picture. You could no photograph events but many people want photos. It is impossible to police. And in any case a witness is often useful.

2 Data protection in the UK, USA and Singapore is now increasingly making it a requirement to inform people that they are being photographed and to ask their permission.
In the old days this was so that the event organizer could make a profit on their investment. Now it is for privacy reasons.

3
(More later. This is growing increasingly long and complicated.)

17 Your insurance, especially car insurance, may forbid you to say anything, on the grounds it may prejudice your case by implying your guilt and invalidate your insurance.

Any admission of guilt might encourage the other party to demand money or an out of court payment. The apparent accident could be a scam.  You may need photo of the vehicles position in road and damage to cars before moving vehicles.The other party might not want themselves or their wife and children or friends who are drivers or passengers or bystanders to be photographed. My view is that a useful tip is to take a surreptitious photo of the people from a distance, then several of the cars from a distance then close up. You want to photograph the front and sides and rear of all the cars, plus any damage to the road and private or public property. If asked to show what I have taken I show the car pictures. I later delete the family photos out of respect, but have them if the driver does a runner.

Animals and Roadkill
If an animals ran across the road or was hit in the road, you need a photo of that too. "Why are you photographing a dead ..., Mum. That's disgusting!"  Because in some countries you have to report that you have killed a cat or dog (the owner will want to know why their beloved pet is missing - or could be liable for damages to your car). Killing deer which are protected could be a reportable incident in Scandinavian countries or places where animals are protected. Or you might wish to join a group which wants evidence that animals are causing accident in order to gt roads fences or animals moved to remote areas or fenced areas. You may also need to note the location so recovery vehicles can collect your car or debris in the road or a dead animal which could cause subsequent accidents.

Snakes Alive!
Wow. There's a snake in the road. You are alone and afraid, don't know if it is dangerous or protected. What do I do?

Call local people. In some countries, snakes are a local food. The Chinese, the saying goes, 'eat anything that moves, and anything with four legs except the table.'

Just take a photo, keep an eye on the snake to be sure it is not getting nearer your car. Call local people from another car or working on a nearby construction site. They may have shovels or other equipment to move the snake. They may be totally unafraid, curious and keen to see it and thrilled to get a free dinner.

The rules vary from country

More information from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_of_care

Label your photos and certificates - here's why

Paper Storage Problem

I inherited boxes, deed boxes, of old papers and certificates after the deaths of my parents and uncle. Some of the documents were clear. I was awarded a pass in a speech test as a child. I had totally forgotten it. Bu there was my name and the name of the organization and date.

Holiday Photos

  Later I looked at notes I was making. I had a photo with the name of an Italian restaurant, IO, in Singapore. I had other photos of an Italian restaurant in London, Osteria Modigliani. If I simply labelled the photo 'us in Italian restaurant', that would be meaningless years later. Since it was a restaurant I went to the previous week in Singapore, I knew where it was. However, if I had looked at it back in the UK twenty years later, I would have forgotten.

Awards And Ribbons

  Similarly, I found myself writing on the back of a ribbon for Best Speaker, from Toastmasters International, the date and place. What was missing? My name!
I know my name. I know I won the ribbon. But if I dropped it in another meeting, nobody would know which of the twenty people in the room the ribbon belonged to.

  My husband also won a ribbon. Which was his ribbon and which was mine? When we both die, our son will inherit all our possessions. He won't know which ribbons were won by which of us. If a stranger were to be your executor, and they find a certificate with no name on it, there's no record of who won it and what date.

Diary -  of a Nobody!

  Why would anybody care about your old diaries? Maybe you are not a VIP. Let's look at a few scenarios.

AA Certificate

  I have an AA award to my father from the 1900s. Maybe not very important to anybody but him when he was alive. Not important to anybody but me now. But in a few decades time that could be important to my grandchildren or even to the AA.

Roman Records, Victorian Victories, Recent Way Of Life

   A Roman inscription is fascinating to children and teachers nowadays. The everyday life 100 years ago is fascinating to schoolchildren.
   Cemeteries worldwide show that after people have died their relatives, and even strangers, think that a recording of somebody's life should be made and kept.

Language Preserved In Captions

Even the way you record names and places and people and events can be important.

Lockerbie Plane Crash

 Do you recall the Lockerbie plane disaster? A plane came down over Scotland caused by a bomb. All the possessions of the people were stored for decades afterwards. The curators of the possessions meticulously recorded every item. What use were the items?

a) They were used to identify who was on board. 

b )They were treasured by the relatives and descendants. 
  We went to Scotland and on the drive back to London, England, from Edinburgh (where we attended the jolly Edinburgh Festival with its street comedy acts) we passed the sign to Lockerbie.
If you go to Scotland you can visit the cemetery. At the far back, right, at the top of the slope, is the semi-circular memorial with the lives of each of the passengers and crew victims around the front and on the wall at the back. The lives of each person are meticulously recorded.

Why Label Awards, Documents & Photos?

   If an entire family dies in an accident, there's nobody left to ask. But the papers, photos, certificates, awards and other items with dates and names tell their story.
  So please label every photo and certificate with the name, date, place. Your moment of happiness and success will be recorded for the information and pleasure of your descendants and even complete strangers.

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker..

Please share links to your favourite posts.

The Skywalk in Singapore - my favourite photo

Skywalk. Photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot.
Look closely and you can see the people walking along the OCBC Skyway skywalk. It costs $8 (Singapore dollars) per person to take the walk. You can book online. Some websites offer a ticket combined with the other two main attractions, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest (waterfall walk).

USEFUL WEBSITES
gardensbythebay.com.sg (NB Our combined two-attraction ticket was only for the two conservatories, not the skywalk pictured here.)
singaporeair.com (Singapore Airlines)

For more photos by Trevor Sharot see
http://trevorsharotphotography.com

What your phone can do for your photos

Problem
Your phone has magic features.

QUICK SNAP
Phones are designed so that you can turn on and take a photo instantly by pressing power on and swiping right or left. (Check the instructions online.)

Remember to do this. Practise it at least three ties at home before going out for the day. Then you will be able to catch moving objects in a hurry and keep up with your friends and family and tour guides.

UNWANTED PHOTO MODE
This features also explains why sometimes you go to make a phone call to a friend and find the camera keeps switching to camera mode. You have turned on by swiping right, then impatiently swiped a second time and got the photo mode.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Learn a few words of Indonesian-Malay

Problem
How do I remember the Indonesian words?

Answer
No problem. Just look for the connections between the words in English and Indonesian-Malay.












Indonesian / Malay - English
goreng - fried (I think of the g in greasy and that reminds me of fried in oil or butter.)
kereta api - train (Malay)
maaf! - sorry! (My awful toe AAH! What the f. happened? It got trodden on but because I'm British I'll say sorry MAAF.)
silakan - please / please come in (letters 's l a' in silakan and 'l a s' in please. Silakan ends kan - sounds like can I come in - yes you can.
tidak - no (Concentrate on the d in the centre of the word as a reminder: you don't say, no - don't even think it)

English - Indonesian / Malay
fried - goreng
no - tidak
please (come in) - silakan
train - kereta api

REVISION
Words from pervious posts and earlier lessons in Duolingo:
Malay / Indonesian - English
apel - apple
ayam - chicken
bukit - hill
dia - he/she
dua - two (as in dual)
es - ice
foto - photo
merah - red (As in the place name in Singapore, Bukit Merah, meaning red hill, literally hill red.)
pintu - door
saya - I myself (s and y in both words)
selamat pagi - good morning (start a new page)
wanita - woman (Both words have the letter w, a n. Yes, it is a woman. Wan-it-a.)
Ya - Yes

English - Malay
apple - apple
chicken - ayam
door - pintu
good morning - selamat pagi
he/she - dia
hill - bukit
I - saya
ice - es
photo - foto
two - dua
woman - wanita
Yes! - Ya!

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Standard_Malay_and_Indonesian
duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages. 

Photo opportunity - your head in a monster's mouth

A photo or poster of any animal or fish or bird or statue with an open mouth is an opportunity for a fun photo. This one was at Harbourfront, Singapore, on the railway station near the place where you etner and exit through the barrier. 

The posters for the safari park and zoo and films seen to attract a lot of people, Japanese tourists, teenage friends taking turns to be photographed individually, families photographing single children, pairs of siblings and small groups of children. 

You don't have to visit a zoo or safari park. Just see the poster!

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, atuhor and speaker.

Photos and Privacy: Are You Followed As Photographer And Your Subjects Safe?

Photo Problem

What does your photo reveal?

How Data Can Help You - Locate You In Emergency

I have looked at lots of photos on Wikipedia which show the type of camera and place. They get the place from a GPS reading built into the camera of smart phone. That's really handy. If you are floating out to sea and need help, lost in a snowstorm, trapped by an abductor, in a car which rolled off a road into a gully, your photo will tell anybody you send it to where you are.

Revealing Location Of Valuables
What about your own photos? Supposing a film star or a friend is showing their diamond engagemnt ring? You take a photo.

They change their mind and say, "I don't want my photo taken."

You agree not to put it on Facebook. Then you decide to just show the lovely ring but not the face which would reveal who it belongs to. The photo data might reveal the jewellery shop, the hotel, or the country.

Marketing Fusion and Ages

Marketing organisations use fusion. They piece together a mosaic of their customers. They know that elderly people buy walking sticks, that mothers buy nappies, that large families buy giant packs of rice. No surprises there. Older people read the Help The Aged magazines, whilst young mother are likely to read Mother and Baby or Parents. The readers of car magazines and bikers' magazines form another subgroup. Some categories overlap. Others are separate.

It doesn't happen every time. You could be buying goods or magazines for somebody else. But it happens more often than not.

Government Data

The UK government has already sold off your address to marketing companies. I once filled in a library car application. My name was mis-spelled, on their computer. My library card was printed with a C instead of an L. Years later I started getting information from companies spelling my name with a C.

Marketing Areas and Journals

The marketing people also know that the seafront in one remote resort has small bungalows; another area has opulent Hollywood mansions. They know that Irish people read Irish newspapers; Indians read newspapers in their language. Technical journals are read by people with Phds. By asking you two questions about yourself, they can guess another fact, or track it down from another survey.

Seasonal Buying

Sellers, insurers and burglars know that people buy gifts at Christmas time. The same applies to other national holidays. The same goes for weddings. Birthdays also attract advertisers. I am very a happy to be emailed by Café Rouge offering me free Champagne or sparkling white wine if I book a table for four or more, better still if the offer has no minimum persons requirement. Otherwise, if one person is ill with flu, we cancel the dinner, postpone it, find the voucher has expired and never go.

Hotel Customers

It is the same sort of piecing together information as is done by the shopkeeper who ask a tourist, 'which hotel are you staying in?' If you are staying in the five star hotel, he gets out his more expensive goods. If you are staying in a youth hostel, he find you something in your budget.

GPS

When my photos are stored on my computer, it's quite handy to have the rough location. Sometimes the location is wrong, off by a few miles. The GPS is at fault.

We were looking for a cemetery for a funeral in the car. The GPS was wrong. We were in the adjacent road, separated from the cemetery by a road of houses. The entrance was around the corner and down a side road.

Delay

However, I am getting increasingly wary about which photos I show. I often put up photos a week later, after I have changed location. I no longer feel guilty that my pictures are no longer news, that I have not shown a photo taken right this second. I am not into 'news'. I am into features.

Wikipedia warns about photos:

 A photo taken with a GPS-enabled camera can reveal the exact location and time it was taken, and the unique ID number of the device - this is all done by default - often without the user's knowledge. Many users may be unaware that their photos are tagged by default in this manner, or that specialist software may be required to remove the Exif tag before publishing. 

For example, a whistle-blower, journalist or political dissident relying on the protection of anonymity to allow them to report malfeasance by a corporate entity, criminal, or government may therefore find their safety compromised by this default data collection.

In December 2012, anti-virus programmer John McAfee was arrested in Guatemala while fleeing from alleged persecution^[15] in Belize, which shares a border. Vice magazine had published an exclusive interview on their website with McAfee "on the run"^[16] that included a photo of McAfee with a Vice reporter taken with a phone that had geotagged the image.^[17] The photo's metadata included GPS coordinates locating McAfee in Guatemala, and he was captured two days later.^[18]

According to documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the NSA is targeting Exif information under the XKeyscoreprogram.^[19]

The privacy problem of Exif data can be avoided by removing the Exif data using a metadata removal tool.^[20]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5448389/Facebook-personal-data-files-Australia-inquiry.html

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

How Do I Photograph Groups And Individuals At Clubs and Events and Add Captions

Problem
Pictures come out blurred or with unwanted people and funny faces.

Answer
If you take pictures unobtrusively from the back of the room at night with just a mobile phone, even an iphone, you are likely to end up with blurred pictures. So get in closer. (Or buy a better camera with more pixels.)

Close-ups and Timing
Take a few close-ups. Do this at the end of the meeting with a self-captioning photo, a certificate with the person's name and event, a sign showing the club or business logo, the venue or restaurant name. Better still, photograph at the meeting start, because people may want to rush off, and so do you. You may now find you are too far away and need to take an empty seat further forward, take the place of somebody who leaves the room, or stand in the aisle (against the wall so as not to block the fire exit - or you might get asked to move).

Don't Wave
Once the meeting starts, you can take photos surreptitiously of the audience and president or person introducing the meeting. Turn off sound so your shutter click does not annoy the person being photographed nor disturb those alongside you.

To get a person who is pacing the stage, walking up and down and walking side-to-side, you can either keep taking several photos, or try to get them as they walk away. Why? Because you find a delay in taking the photo. If you try to take them facing you, they have turned away by the time you log in with your password. So try to take them when they are facing away then agains as they turn and you should get one.

Smile, Please!
I have tried waving at the audience to get their attention, when somebody else is talking on stage so I can't shout, 'Look this way', or 'Cheese!' Last time I tried, waving worked with the group on the right of the room. However, the group on the left followed a person in the front row who waved back. That meant a lot of blurred hands. Win some, lose some.

Signs Needed
I need a set of cards with the words:

Smile for photo.

Keep still.

Unfold your arms.

Move bags under chairs.

I used to take a lot of photos to be sure of getting one perfect shot. I would take up to twenty of each speaker. Then my phone memory on both my mobile and my laptop got too full.

Now I take fewer photos. If somebody is sitting looking bad, I can cut them out of a group photo, or send it. I had one Club President who kept demanding that I delete pictures if she shut her eyes or did not look good. She wanted me to take and send videos which I could not upload. Eventually, I ran out of time and patience. I took just one or two photos, not twenty. I took no video, except with her camera.

I often spend up to three hours trying to send the photos out immediately, the same day or evening or the morning after. After that, if they complain, I shall say, 'I only take a photo. It's up to you to make sure you always look good.'

At the next meeting, I shall ask to make a one-minute announcement. If they object that they don't have time, I shall tell the organizer, 'It's a legal requirment because of data protection.'

I shall tell the audience whether the photos are likely to go on the club's own website or on Facebook. I shall ask them to raise their hands if they don't want to be included. If anybody replies (rare) I ask them to sit at the right hand side so they can be cut out of the photo. They can also hold the agenda in front of their face, when I raise my hand silently to show I am taking a photo. I then count to three with my fingers, three fingers, two fingers, one thumbs up.

I can demonstrate my mime signals by miming:
smile (big grin); lift corners of mouth with right-hand finger
Don't frown (draw finger across right eyebrow
unfold arms (demo)
Keep still (I move ten freeze).

Editing
If I have two photos I send out only the best one. The club President or person in the front row or centre of the row should be smiling.

If somebody is looking bad, I can rectify this with a serious or funny caption.

Too Serious?
Sometimes every looks glum. For example, my only photo of the Area Director shows her with her hand covering her mouth. Behind her, the President is sitting frowning. A shy guest is cowering at the back. Another photo has a club VIP at the back because he was meeter and greeter - and he complained he couldn't hear. With some diplomacy and euphermismsI can label those photos with euphemisms and praise, using one or more of the following captions:

Area director, S ..., in pensive mood.

President M ... , listening intently to the debate.
President M, a local school governor, sits at the back to better observe proceedings.
P, a Past President, sits at the back, checking and advising on voice projection.

Guest, hiding, looks like he is trying not to be picked on!

The audience taking the proceedings seriously.

Er - You Can't Be Serious
On other occasions at a Christmas party I have grins, everybody leaning at odd angles, wearing silly hats, looking drunk and disorderly. I am looking for a photo to show we are a professional club, aiming at excellence, so what can I do?

I have to give some thought to a suitable caption. Maybe I should stick to the truth. For example:

1 After weeks of hard work and winning Area contests, the group enjoy a Christmas party.
2 After the evening's serious speeches, we gather for food and drink and a 'fun shot!'

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of Harrovians and HOD Speakers' clubs in London, England, and previously Bradell Heights Advanced Club, Singapore and other Singapore clubs when moving from one area to another to live.

Learning to Blog on Blogger

I have been on this blogging site for years but only recenty discovered how to make my website names turn into links. It's so simple. You click on the website name in your text and highlight it. Then click on the word link in the middle of the symbols across the top of your text screen.

Why did I never learn that before? I said to myself what I would say if I were teaching somebody else:

Don't be afraid. Just click on each symbol left to right and see what comes up. Yes, you may forget at first. But do it every day for a week and you'll soon get familiar with each symbol and what it can do for you.

I started following my own advice, clicking on the symbols. I thought I knew almost all of them although I regularly use only a few. I think you will be as amazed as I was at what I found. The big surprise was the little face symbol. I'll come to that later. I'll take each symbol in logical order.

Left arrow. That's undo. Really handy. Right arrow is redo (or restore).

F is font.
Click on the downwards arrow.
Default fonts are: Arial courier georgia Helvetica Times Trebuschet and Verdana.

T is text (size)
Smallest, small, normal, large and largest.

 If you have copied a piece of text from elsewhere, such as Wikipedia, and inserted it, you might find you now have two pieces of texts in different sizes. You can increase the size of the small text to make it more readable. Or reduced the size of a footnote.

B is for bold.
I is for Italic.
U underscored is underline.

ABC struck through - why would you need this? I suppose a teacher could show a pupil a delted word which was wrongl spelled, or correcting a proof but leaving the original visible but not part of your text.

The Large A underscored is text colour.

If you copy a text from elsewhere and it appears in green or blue you can change it back to black.

The paintbrush is for text background colour. Probably most useful when you make a text box like a poster with a word against a background, or to highlight parts of your text.

If you have a drama script for an amateur dramatics play or skit, you might highlight with a background yellow colour the parts which you speak. Highlight in green background the last sentence or last two words which are the cue from the other character that you should be ready to speak.

Link turns the website name into another colour when you hover over it. When you click on it you, the reader, automatically get connected to the website.

The movie clipboard symbolises video if you want to insert video.

Smiley face. What did I think it was? Maybe a smiley face?

Yes, indeed, if you want to insert smiley faces and emoticaons.

Also a host of other symbols including:
the Euro symbol of a £ or $ sign,
an umbrella, a bicycle for a map.
Mahjong and domino pieces.
See Hebrew and Arabic and Aramaic.
Chinese. Cuneform.

Recording yourself and your family and colleagues on holidays and business trips

Problems
When my uncle who was a professional musician, died; and I had no photos or recordings or him speaking or playing. At our wedding, my family insisted that the two musicians on both sides of the family should be invited to a meal and not have to perform. The result was that after they died we had not record of them playing, for ourselfves or our children and grandchildren.

At weddings and other important occasions, we were at venues far from work and home and our musicians who were guests did not have musical instruments with them, so even if we had asked them to play, they could not.

When my mother died in her late eighties I had no instant record of her life ready to help me write a quick speech for her funeral.

When my father died a few years I was better prepared. I went through family photos with him and added dates, places and names. I wrote 100 word and 500 word and 1000 word accounts of his life ready for a funeral speech or obituary for a local paper and professional journals. I still had not thought to make a video of him.

Now if I were to organise a wedding for my son I would ask the photographer to ask everybody in the room their name, what they did for a living, the country they were born and where they met their spouse and their advice on life of business.

Answers
Video records.

If you have a musician in the family, make sure you get a recording of them playing. Either go to watch them perform. Or ask them to play just an opening bar.

If they say it's not professional, you caon't play except when being paid, instead ask them to demonstrate their musical instrument and why it's good. Or ask them to teach or deomonstrate to a child in the family. Ask uncle of grandad or auntie or grandma to teach the grandchild. (And pay the going rate or if they won't take money then give them soemthing else they need.) Then ostensibly photogh or video the child, whilst at the same time you will have the video of the adult.

Yourself on video
I often go to events and take photos. I come back with photos and video of others but not myself.

Make sure something of yourself is in the public domain. You cannot expect your family to preserve every photo and old computer. Ensure that something is in the public domain so that it is preserved and can b found.

When you go on a trip, record the family. The recording is most likely to be o f interest and to be kept and passed to others if you say aomthing interesting about the place or the family history.

Place
Ask a family member to describe the place you are visiting on holiday or business and to say how it differed from their expectations. Ask them to describe how the place has changed over the years. Ask them to compare the old parts of the city with the newer and say whether the new parts are an improvement or if they are pleased the older areas have been preserved.

Books of family records which you can buy and fill in by hand. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Family
I was sold a family tree book from the trolley at a maternity ward after I had my baby. In addition to the books which you see in the pictures I have also bought a Grandparent's book which I gave to my father to fill in.

Media and On-line blogs
Nowadays you can make a book from Facebook or a blog dedicated to your family or business and add videos.

Family History
Ask people to describe how they have spent their holidays or business trips and how things have changed.  If you do this even two or three years running you will have an interesting record. If you do it every year for ten or twenty years. you will have a fascinating record for your family and local archives and businesses.

 Your local history society will eventually be interested in the past. They might be interested in recording the present. If you don't have recording equipment, the local history or school might be interested in making a recording of your grandma (with you and grandchildren)  for you.

Similarly, when visiting a foreign venue, you could ask the children and adults and elderly people to tell you how things have changed or whether they are the same - food, activities, transport, business, items they sell, crafts, clothes. household objects.

A lot of shy people don't like to talk about themselves or say they don't look good on camera. However, if you ask them to demisntrate an object, you can photograph them sewing or fishing, or cooking and get them in the picture.

If you make a recording of the grandparent and the grandchild, the boss and the receptionist or post room worker, you will have a quick record to make a speech of thanks for the trip at a farewell business dinner, or a wedding, retirement party or funeral or obituary or your own memoir.

If you make a short video when you start a business, years later you will be able to look back, or show it on your website.

Remember to add thanks verbally or in subtitles at the end, the way they do in the movies.That way you have a reason to send the video to all the participants and ask them to check the spelling of their names is correct.
One of the dangers is that they might decide they don't want the picture of video shown to anybody else. However, if you have your own copy, it will still be useful to you when keeping accurate records of the places or people, or going back to different people a year later.

Just as people can be happy to be recorded, then change their minds, people can withdraw permission, then later change their minds.

A simple short video an later be expanded who you have time. You can add opening credit, closing credits, still of places, a map of the country or local area at the start, music, a diary cover, turning pages, special effects, repeat of the opening photo.

Books
The conventional family history book is a handy reference for everything from your passport number and national insurance number to photos of family weddings, or photocopies of birth certificates, and locks of hair secured in a transparent bag.

Tips
https://www.craftsy.com/painting/classes/expressive-pages-journaling-the-everyday
Family history books for you to fill in can be bought on line.

Author Angela Lansbury. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Novelty Photos You Can Try - Wearing A Welsh Hat, Holding Up The Eiffel Tower

Problem
How can I do a different personalised photo?

Answer
Put yourself in a picture like this:
1 Wearing a hat at an exhibition.
2. Holding up a building.
Favourites are the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I've also seen similar things done in Cambodia at temples. You can do similar tricks with falling walls.

In Prague, Czech Republic, adults and children alike pose beside a naked man fountain in front of the Franz Kafka museum.

You can also pretend to fight dinosaurs, and do similar trick photos with statues.

Stories
I wanted a photo of myself next to Jemima, the Welsh heroine.When I saw that one model of the Welsh heroine, Jemima, was wearing a hat, I realised I could be photographed wearing the hat.
www.visitwales.com

Travel Tips
https://www.visitbritainshop.com/world/ (trips, tours, offers: London; England, Scotland, Wales)
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk (You get the UK version when you log in from the UK)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Angela Lansbury and Welsh hat at The Last Invasion Tapestry museum alongside the library in The Town Hall, Fishguard, Wales. Photo copyright Angela Lansbury.

What to do when stuck in a queue? Write Poems.

Problem
What do you do when stuck in a queue? (Americans say a line or line up.)

Answer
Write comic poetry. About the place you are in, and/or the people you have met.

If you haven't met anybody new, write about your family.

The simplest form is to find a rhyme and end the second and fourth lines of every four line verse with your rhyme.

To make your poem easier to remember, have eight syllables on each line. Count them on your fingers.

Write up on any handy piece of paper. Or speak into SIRI on your smart phone and get your verse recorded.

Later, type up your recording.

When you have time, add an illustration. The easiest is a recent holiday photo of your family or yourself as the subject or author.

Here's one I revised today.
http://comicpoemsbynutter.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/my-funny-family-version-7-poem-by.html

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author,  poet, speaker, author.
Please share posts.

Kota Kinabalu, A Mountain To Climb in Malaysia and happy thoughts for non climbers and readers

Kota Kinabalu
Kinabalu
In Malaysia there's a popular climb to the top of Kinabalu. The climb is so popular that you have to go on a waiting list.

Why? Numbers of climbers are limited because of the limited number of guides (obligatory).  Also there's limited accommodation at the top, or rather on the way to the top.

Why do people stay overnight?

An ex pat told me,
"It's a very tall mountain.You can then start the ascent at 3 am in order to be at the top to enjoy the sunrise, standard technique.

"If you are very fit you can s n e a k out (the automatic spell check chose snake out!) once you have claimed your bedroom and go to the top for sunset to take a look and take a photo.

 "I've heard people do it. It's easy to do and your guide would never notice."

I asked, "Have you done it?"

"No. I'm knackered. Also you get altitude sickness. It's a seriously high mountain, higher than anything in Indonesia."

Not such a good idea, then.

"It has a famous c r a t e r called Low's crater, or ravine, where the British army got lost about twenty years ago. They lowered themselves down and got lost and rescued by natives, some time later, I think. Don't take my word for it. Look it up."

I'm going off this idea. I think I'll just look at the picture on my computer.

I'll also put some cream on my split heels. Did I really agree to a holiday with climbers this year? I agreed just to see a new country and a new city.

Walkers and Non-walkers
What if, like me, you are not into climbing Everest?

Go with the flow. I once went on a so called golfing travel press trip to Florida. Despite my golf never having got beyond putting level, and my major interest being everything except golf. In the event traffic to the event was so bad that we never got near it. The tourist board was perfectly happy with travel articles of Florida written by all the journalists nearly (all of whom, like me, were not interested in golf).

As they say: Don't worry. Be Happy.

Cross your bridges when you come to them.

Climb every mountain - in your dreams.

As far as I'm concerned, today's major excursion is popping out for five minutes to buy bananas from a supermarket.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer

Neak Peak waterside walk to a small temple in Cambodia

Problem
So many temples, so little time. This is a good one. After I'd got fed up with umpteen temples this one was different. You walk up the boardwalk, with water below on both sides. At the far end, circle the square pond with the small temple in the middle. Then walk back. As the way in and the way out are the same, less chance of losing your friend, family, group nor your tuk tuk driver.

No room to get lost. Easy to manage.

Don't expect much of the so-called temple at the end of the walk, just a small monument in the middle of a lake. You photographed from the outside at a distance from the approach or the path circling it.

My favourite part was the long walk along the boards towards it over a man-made lake. The chopped seemingly sunken trees were deliberately cut down. It's like a film set, eerie yet romantic. The beautiful waterscape or landscape.

Yes, you will see some litter and a leftover fishing line or fishing basket made of dried leaves.

No barriers so not a place for kids who lark about or can't walk a straight line.

One you can strike of your list quite fast, on your last day when you are running out of time and want to see the last few temples on your list.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photopgrapher, author and speaker.

Me A Model? At My Age? Maybe Yes. Maybe No. Agencies in Australia, UK, Singapore

Australian Model Agency 

I have a friend, William, who appears in TV serials in Australia. He is signed on with an agency. They got him work on TV. Great success.

UK Work
Film Extras
I once answered an ad for extras in a film in the UK. We sat around all day in a church as part of a crowd at a wedding. We had to come with a hat. Most of the time you did nothing except sit silently.

No Pay
We filled in a form at the beginning. Everybody was asking everybody else, 'How much are you getting paid?' People were reeling off lists of film shoots they had been in earlier that month. I was at first too embarrassed to admit I was not being paid.

Payment
However, when I finally said I was not being paid, one of the older men who I thought would sneer at me instead was very kind and protective. He was indignant on my behalf and told me to say I came from his agency because I would then be paid a small sum of about £20. That was not much for four hours (plus travel) but a lot better than nothing.

Spotlight
I was asked to join Spotlight after my late uncle died. I had phoned them to cancel his subscription and to explain that he had died and they asked if I would like to join. This would have been really right for me a couple of years earlier when I would have loved to be featured in a professional listing. Unfortunately, at the time when I was in touch with them it was not a sensible use of money because I was a full time, on call, carer for my late father and I did not want to work, to be away from home. 

You had to pay an annual fee for membership which included a listing in their directory. If I remember rightly, to be listed you had to supply a professional photo or two, ideally one face close up and one full body.

Now I'd like to fulfil my dream and be a character actress. My favourite actress was the little old lady in The Ladykillers. She was in the film with Peter Sellars, and Alec Guinness.

Singapore
I passed a sign for a model creation agency in Singapore. I thought I'd go in and find out if they had any opportunities for an English voice over.

I filled out a form and was told to come back for an appointment. Because I had other engagements that day, I made an appointment for the following day. Meanwhile, I checked them out online.

It then transpired that I had to pay about 600 Singapore dollars - the sums were quite complicated, so much for the photographer, plus the make up artist, and the hairdresser, and that included so many photos for them to send out, plus several for me to keep, but after the first mailing out another set of photos would have to be printed, but I would not have to pay for these, it would come out of my first salary.

What if I did not ever get a job? Would that be a debt? I was told I would not have to pay the second sum. However, nothing in writing. I can't prove to you what was said, and that was what put me off the whole deal.

Apart from the actual cost, I was concerned that they could not give me any written account of the sums involved, just wrote it out on a piece of paper. To me that did not seem professional. The sums might increase. I had no way to be sure of the total.

They admitted they had very little chance of finding work for a Caucasian of my age, except for occasional government ads which features people of all races when promoting services for the retired.

I asked why I could not use my own photographer and they said it was a question of copyright, as well as having suitable photos of the kind they needed.

I looked at reports online for scams. One website I looked at said that any agency which insisted that you use their photographer was a scam.

CV and Portfolio
I would still be interested in putting together a portfolio including professional photos. If you look at online agencies you can see what is required. 

Some charge a monthly fee to reveal job ads. The ones I looked at required one face photo and one full body shot. If you a modelling any other part of your body, such as hands for nail polish advertisements, you are advised to include those. Some sites have a minimum number of photos. Others have a maximum.

Another promotional activity is to have a showreel of yourself, demonstrating your skills such as accents or singing or clips from previous amateur or professional productions.

Your CV will include age, height, weight, vital statistics (bust, waist, hips), language, accent, race, maybe shoe size. So if you don't know your weight and hip size, you might want to find out.

First, the photo. You need a professional photo (with copyright, meaning permission to use it by printing it or online for self publicity without paying the photographer for every use). It should be in focus. Ideally several shots, serious, smiling, assorted expresions. Clear background. Also any unform you may have (with permission to wear it).  

Angela Lansbury, travel writer