Friday, November 26, 2021

New Pictures from Piccadilly in Old London, England

Piccadilly provides many pleasures
Green scenes and architectural treasures
Tour old times, on top of a modern bus
Take brollies. If it rains, don't make a fuss

You can see the sights by the light of day
Or see sunsets and night life in the dark
I like to walk even on drizzly days
To read and photograph historic plaques


You can pedal around, take your own time
By hiring and handy red and green bike
The latest brand's name is the short word Lime
You can take any bike - just don't take mine!



When you're tired of wet shoes and hat and socks, 
When you're feeling tired, your body clock stops
Then it's time for you to take hot time out
With cold ice cream at the good old Hard Rock


If you walk or bike, feel sad and alone
Don't moan and bleed, about postcard price greed
Don't tell strangers about rain and life's knocks
Phone from the classy, glassy red phone box


Everyone at home thinks you're having fun
That all tourists enjoy eternal sun
That you're not tired when the day's fun is done
That you're the rich trav'ler, the lucky one

So call them all, call Billy, call Willy
Tell them all proudly that willy-nilly
At serious sights, or simply silly
You'll call them from famous Piccadilly

Before you smile and wave for your selfie
Or your blog, hello and goodbye today
Remember, on holiday, interrupt
Jealous friends worldwide, on their working day.

-ends-
Revised to ten syllable line count, by Angela Lansbury April 26th 2022.
Brolly is the British English short form for umbrella.

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Hammer Grammar - whilst swimming

Cashew Heights Condo Swimming pool Photo by Angela Lansbury.


You can begin

Thinking English

Whilst in the gym

Or whilst you swim


Whilst in the gym

Or swimming pool

You can repeat

Some simple rules


In the mirror

When in the gym

He looks at me

I look at him


She looks at her

Notes what she saw

Of what they did

And what they wore




While by mirrors

Keep fit or dance

Watch the teacher

Copy, one glance


It's so simple

My dearest friends

The subject starts

The object ends


I want to learn

I need a guide

A guide outside

A guide inside


The teacher's job's

To help you start

Get you going

To give you heart


But why should I?

Why should I try?

Must keep alert

Or I might die!


Don't fear, my dear

I'm glad you ask

'cos whilst I swim

I multi-task


Avoid deep water

Because my friend

I swim only

In the shallow end


Grammar lessons?

Because I think

Moving forward

Whilst in 'the drink'


In the drink is

A metaphor

Opens your mind

Opens a door


Similes use as 

Same as or like

I swim and learn

Fast, like I bike 


Alliteration's

Our last great thought

Remember what

Your teacher taught


Angela reading a poem, Be busy as a bee.


You just repeat

The first letter

Make your sentence

Sound much better


Like the sunlight

Twisting, turning.

Swimming slowly

Lovely learning.

-ends-



Sunday, November 21, 2021

Swim, Swam, swum - comic poem by Angela Lansbury number ...

Today I thought

That while I swim

I'll not waste time

I shall begin


From Wikipedia. Swimming


So let's dive in

We shall begin

The sooner we start

The sooner we win


 Today I swam

Today I've swum

The grammar lesson

Has begun


In the beginning

I'd thought of swimming

My dearest dears, here's the thing

You add ing when continuing


I hope that's clear

It should clear up a lot of tears

And add a laugh

To conquer fears


While done, and won

Far past, contract

Add ing to things

Which are abstract


Yesterday we began

With verbs known to

Each English man

And women, too


Add me and you, and others, too

I have begun, to have some fun

I had planned the lesson

While I had swum



I did have fun, made a beginning

To teaching you

The past was swam

Whilst I was swimming.







In marriages you say I do

What's in the past is gone and done

In the beginning, swimmers keep on winning

Look back at the past, and say I won.


In the future I shall begin

In the future I shall win

In the infinitive, what I want to do

Is to teach swimming and grammar to you.


I know that we have hardly begun

In the future you'll be able to pass it on

In the future you'll be able to reflect on what you've done

Your past successes, didn't we have fun!

-ends-


About the Author of this blog, Author Angela Lansbury

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 

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.

I  also have a blog on comic poems.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.




Saturday, November 20, 2021

Funny Bunny Blogger Spotted by Angela Lansbury

 

A blog's exiting, new and cute
Like fur, like smiles, like a silky suit


But a blogger's like a farmer
Looking, waiting, for a reader



A blog's a battle, a blog is art
A blog's a skill, speaks from your heart

Yet being a blogger's such a bother

Watching the numbers tumble and crumble



What can I add to the mixture?

Always pouncing on a picture



Noting everything you eat

Your every move, or treat, must tweet


Or short and sweet

Or better be bitter on Twitter


Then after you put in lots of time

Suddenly the numbers climb



I really want my posts to thrive

I wonder, and worry, if they'll survive


Readers, breeders, who are they? Far away

My unknown friends have made my day


I hope I gave them a great big laugh

Sigh, smile, confused, half and half


I must make blogging a daily habit

Until the readers breed like rabbits


I'm rarely rude, or crude or lewd -

Unless that happens to be my mood

A picture's worth a thousand words

So add cute pix, make sure I'm heard


I need not end too worldly wise

Enough ears up, wide-eyed surprise.

-ends-

Pictures from rabbit, wikimedia.

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Everything's old, feeling blue, stained and old, need something new

Selfie photo by Angela Lansbury


I have a dream of the way I should look

Like a princess in a fairytale book

At least I could look like the fairy godmother

But looking good is such a great bother


Two hours searching for something to wear

Matching hidden eyes and fly-away hair

To make me and not my rivals feel good

Admiring stares, not a shocked stare


Not something I've worn again and again

'Not that old thing, again,' my spouse will complain

'Look, keep trying, you're always buying

You can't wear that - it's got a stain 


'You can't wear that

It's shapeless and torn'

My son: 'That's the Sixties

Before I was born!'


I keep on looking, but having no luck

Yesterday I went out in the rain

Dirty hem, shovel sandals covered in muck

My toes have borrowed a strange black stain



My new red dress is too long and too large

The cape sleeves so long they trail on the floor

I look like a hippo driving a barge

No red hat, six colours - yet must order more

I thought the answer was something new

It's better, now that the belt is tied

I won't trip up, though it's still creased

I hoisted it up, I tried


I've three hundred items but nothing looks right

When it's daytime I see clothes all suited to night

At night, beach and swimsuits, for sunny days

I don't have enough clothes, whatever they say


I'm showing my roots, must cover my head

I can't wear gray, it makes me look dead

I love the red, but I bet they will say,

'Did you wash it? You wore it yesterday!'


The heels on my sandals are all falling off

My pink baseball hat is growing black mould

The cheap dress, I just bought, is much too short

Clothes make me look old, because I am old


I'm searching and searching the internet

I've found just the right item which matches my hair

I'll have to keep searching, because I still need

To pay, so I need a millionaire. 


I'm wearing bright pink, what do you think?

You can't see my boots and you can't see my roots

The new dress is short, more like a top

But it's good enough, so it's time I should stop.

-ends-


Angela Lansbury. Written  Nov 19 2021.

More details of the clothes in

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com


About the Author of this blog, Author Angela Lansbury

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 

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.

I  also havemany more posts in my blog on comic poems.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.


Saturday, November 13, 2021

Global Warming & Cooling

 


They say the world is warming

That seems a good idea

It's meant to be a warning

I like summer all the year


I've never been a fan of snow

I slip around on ice

I only like my ice in drinks

White as snow? White as rice!


And yet I've read it every day

The news is getting worse 

The dreadful news won't go away

The whole world's in a hearse



The seasides will be sinking

The capitals must move

Whatever were they thinking?

Go with the flow, get in the groove


The timeline is too short, not long

Jakarta's moved already

We now know what we're doing wrong

We must be firm and steady


Romantic Venice will be gone

Bye bye to Amersterdam

In fact the whole of Holland

No - the whole of the Netherlands!


The riverside parts of London

My God - oh what a mess

Calcutta, and the whole of Bangladesh

I'm fanning my distress 


I know it's after we have gone

But for our grandchild's sake

Think of the choices we must make

The action we must take


We have too many people

Waste not, want not, re-sell, don't sell

It's not just me, see the BBC

Yes, check them out as well.

-ends-

Reference

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

About the Author of this blog, Author Angela Lansbury

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 

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.

I  also have more posts in my blog on comic poems.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.


Who can I blame?



😓 

When things go wrong

Who can I blame?

It's no good blaming

What's-his-name? 

😕

'cos what-is-name

Has gone away

He won't be back

For many a day

😲

It isn't fair

It isn't right

It's no good saying

It'll be all right

😫

It's no good blaming

God or Fate 

For the next round

You just have to wait

😦

It's not your turn

Your day will come

It's come and gone

Pull the other one

😳

I don't have fortune

I didn't gain fame

And nobody

Remembers my name

😠

And if they do

Much good it makes

Maybe I've not got

What it takes


Well, don't blame me

It's not my fault

I've only done

What I've been taught

🙍

I'm not the sort

To always complain

So I won't say

That you're to blame.

🙊

I do not want

To cause a riot

I'll say nothing

Just keep quiet.

😴

-ends-

Credit. emoji from wikimedia.


About the Author Angela Lansbury

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 

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.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Talk To Whom? Listen To Me!

 

Angela Lansbury annalondon8@gmail.com

00:53 (10 hours ago)
to me


A thousand people read my blog
And treat it like the word of God
The source of health, the source of wealth
'til they convert to something else

I make them vow that they'll come back 
Before I send them on their way
Yes, I've true words which must be heard
I'm never short of things to say

You can write your hopes on the train 
And pray to all gods on the plane
Your hope that you will land again
Pray to clouds for more or less rain

If your room, money, wife or life
Is muddled, mangled, in a mess
Why should the universe send help
It shrugs and won't care more, or less

You can talk to the sun, send mail
Write to Santa, sing to the sky 
Run down the street, stop passers-by 
And ask them why the end is nigh

Do no exaggerate your fate
Nor underestimate life's wait
Powerful praise can raise dim days
So do not curse the universe

In the tropics, see no seasons
Proves nothing's done, for good reasons
Then when I'm dead just talk to me
I promise I won't disagree

Every parent's a great teacher
Passing lies like a good preacher
All wise books, websites and pages
Knock down sages of past ages

Don't ask why? Why not? Do not ask
But every day, do each small task
Small troubles? Darling, you'll be fine
Big ones? Not me - call 999 

I shout to God, 'Don't let me die!'
I don't expect a quick reply
Just because I'm in a tizzy
Doesn't mean karma's not busy

Then when I'm dotty, deaf and blind
What can I hope to leave behind?
Framed photos all around the home
A message on a mobile phone

If I want immortality
My best hope's pretty poetry
To leave last words, witty, pearly
One must write one's last words early

Please, when I'm dead send me huge hugs
Warm wishes wrapped in Chinese rugs
Smile at the poster in my hearse:
Goodbye dear Queen of nonsense verse.

By now you have guessed my intent
To make sure you leave here content
Now's the time to state my mission
End works with a happy vision

If there were heaven, I'd be sat
With orchids on a golden throne
Eating bagels and smoked salmon
Smiling like a Cheshire cat.
-ends-

About the author

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 

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.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.




Monday, September 27, 2021

Last Time's Lost Time Tour






We thought we'd manage on our own

A little trip not far from home

We got lost last time

Should have known!


We did not mean to take a tour

We don't admit that we were lost

We wasted too much time walking

Only one listed sight got crossed


We took the A tour

The nearby B tour

Lastly the C tour

And then our detour. 


Writing Every Day's Wrongs


I ought to write every day

I wish this thought would go away

Do what I think, not do and say

Then you could read me every day.


They say that writing clears your mind

Of things which should be left behind

Unfortunately love is blind

Re-living past wrongs is unkind.


Some things are better left unsaid

Unwritten, buried with the dead

Will writing really clear your head?

Move on's what mother often said


So now I see what holds me back

The barrier, the will I lack

I have exposed that fatal fact

That child's ear thought holds my hand back.



Friday, September 10, 2021

My name is Angela Lansbury




 My name is Angela Lansbury

And I write comic poetry

I hope that you'll remember me

My name is Angela Lansbury



Written and performed at Writers' Summer School, Swanwick, an annual event known for short as Swanwick.

My Phone And My Rule



 My Phone 

by Angela Lansbury


You are never alone

With a mobile phone

It's the link between

Yourself and your home


It's like a mother which minds your day

You panic when it goes astray

I might never find it again

My God - have I left it on the train!


I tell my family, "I think I've lost it!"

They snap, "Not again! Empty your pockets!"

No luck. "Then empty out your bag.

Why d'you have two tote bags, like an old hag!


"You do this to us, every time

Why don't you remember where you put it!

I'm not going to help you out again

This time you go back and look for it 


I regret that the whole world would agree

That most of my troubles are caused by me

I make the whole world grumpty and cross

As I lurch through the day with loss after loss


But now I'm a granny so I can teach

And demonstrate, show, tell and preach

"Knot every knot, tie every lace

And make sure each item's in its home place


Don't live you live a crumpled mess

Know your phone number, your hotel's address

List what you packed in your suitcase

So you can win life's potholed race.

-ends-

Written at Swanwick, Writers Summer School.