Stock photo appearances

Retirement Life 

Now I can say that I've appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon!

Early on in my post-retirement alternate career, I pretty much took any gigs that my agent sent my way. A few times, she asked me to do some stock photo (and video) shoots, and they paid as good or better than a day of background work, so I thought, why not? The downside is that your photos (and videos) can live in the ether forever, and folks who pay $36 can pretty well use your image for anything. Who remembers the episode of Friends where Joey gets used for the STD poster? 

The first one was for a government of Canada tourism entity known as Destination Canada. They gather all sorts of photos and videos that are available to use for free, when promoting tourism in conjunction with Canada's agencies. What we were working on that day, was a set of images that was specific to disabilities; i.e. that Canada is a great place to visit for those with physical challenges. I met Clement that morning, who is totally blind, and would be my partner for the day. We went all over downtown, shooting stills and video at many of Vancouver's recognisable places.

We started at the harbour, by the cruise ship terminal, and slowly worked our way around the sea wall to the Vancouver aquarium, where a staffer there introduced Clement to the different textures of the undersea creatures in the touch tank. After that session, we moved downstairs to the large fish tanks, and we took a number of shots down there.

Surprisingly, we'd be standing in front of the huge glass aquarium, and the director would say, "Point at the fish" to which I'd reply, "you do know he's blind, right?" If you haven't been to the Vancouver Aquarium, it's worth a visit when you come to town. We took our lunch break at a great sushi joint, which also got used for more photos and then we headed to Granville Island.

There's a lot of neat stuff to see for visitors at what is really no longer an island, and we took a bunch of shots near the famous Stuart's Bakery. Again, the director had me pointing out all of the nummy snacks to the blind guy. If you don't get sucked in by the amazing treats there, Lee's Donuts is just around the corner in the market area.
After our tour through the market, it was time to go kayaking. Cool.

But what they didn't tell me up front, was that we were going to be in singles... wait what? The blind guy is going kayaking on his own? So the camera teams get into their double kayaks, and the two of us hop into the singles. Apparently Clement has been kayaking before? Anyhow, so for the whole time, I'm giving him instructions... "more to the left, now straight. A little to your right". All the while, boats are going past along the busy False Creek, while the team captures our stills and video. "Synchronise your paddles!" What? But we managed to do it.

Anyhow, there was more to our day than I've detailed here, but suffice it to say that it was a pretty fun day. I never actually expected to see any images used, nor any of the video segments. But one day, we're sitting in the lineup for a ferry, and my wife is scrolling on her iPhone, when an Expedia ad with me kayaking scrolls by! Not long after, WestJet teamed up with Destination Canada too, and I was appearing on Facebook and Instagram feeds everywhere. And then there's the time I'm watching the morning news, and a commercial for the Trans Canada Trail pops up, with me paddling across the screen.

The second stock photo shoot I did was 1/2 day gig with a local photographer, who then takes his shots and sells them to iStock or whomever. It was a pretty easy day, unlike the one above, as we just stayed in place at the location all afternoon. As part of the paid gig, Shannon would give anyone copies of the headshots he'd take (that would get sold), so it was a good deal. And I thought, who in the world is going to use my iStock shots?

Well, if you read my past blog posts, you might have seen that The Good Doctor did; it's a pretty strange and coincidental story, so worth a read. Go ahead. I'll wait. If you go onto iStock and search for "Asian male doctor", you'll get thousands of results - 88,091 to be exact; the fact that someone in the art department picked me, a guy who plays a doctor on The Good Doctor, would randomly pull my photo is hard to fathom, but it happened.

Which makes this next one even stranger. So my brother texts me one morning, with a screenshot, saying, "hey, is this you?" Like he doesn't recognise his own brother! It was a small appearance on the opening monologue of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Let me tell you, I got more than a few folks messaging me to say that they saw me on TV. But if you try iStock search "confused Asian man" I actually do appear on the first page of results. Here's the segment from The Tonight Show:

But it doesn't end there. Recently on the set of "Wild Cards", a Canadian TV series, I'm doing some random background scene at a golf club. As the crew is setting up the shot, the 1st Assistant Director, Caroline, walks by and says, "Richard. There's a portrait of you hanging in our studio." Is this another déjà vu moment? She goes on to say, "There's a Wall of Heroes at the set back at the studio, and you're on it." Ok, so I have worked a couple of days this season on Wild Cards, but haven't done any studio days. The irony of it, is that I'm supposed to be dead - i.e. a fallen hero. But there I was, living and breathing at the country club that day... and at the dog show on another episode!

Where will I appear next? Who knows? Let me know if you see me on a random commercial or social media feed!

Coming soon: more ocean cruising

Travel and Leisure

Well, we're doing it again. That's right, taking another ocean cruise; two in fact. See, after the Alaskan cruise with Celebrity, we found that:

1. I didn't actually mind the onboard experience, and
2. She didn't get seasick

Virgin Voyages' Resilient Lady

Now, that said, not all ocean cruises and itineraries will yield the same results. With respect to the onboard experience, I think this has to do with the fact that we didn't have a large portion of "sea days", where you are literally stuck on the ship. Additionally, as we had chosen a mid-September date, there were virtually no children on board. And as far as the motion of the ocean goes, you can kind of pick itineraries that might not be as rocky as others. e.g. avoid going on long stretches of open ocean. Picking the right cabin location can help, but if you're in 10-metre waves going across the Atlantic, I think everyone is going to experience some nausea.

Anyhow, she received an email with what seemed like a pretty good deal for Virgin Voyages in the Caribbean. It wasn't an area that was on my radar, as I had spent a fair bit of time in the region as part of my sales territory before I retired. However, this itinerary goes to Cartagena and a number of islands that I have not been to. While there are four sea days, most notably two getting from San Juan to Cartagena, we are not spending days crossing from Miami as well.

Virgin has more inclusions

The next bonus, is that Virgin Voyages is not like other major cruise lines. First, they are an adult-only line... that's right, no kids. And then they are an "almost all-inclusive" line, where virtually all dining, tips and Wi-Fi are included. Yes you pay for drinks, but prices are reasonable, and you can buy a "bar tab" where they give you a bonus for upfront purchase. This is especially relevant for us, as she doesn't drink, and on other lines, I would be forced to pay for a drinks package for both of us regardless. The current sale actually gives a US$300 drink credit, so that's an even better deal. 

Virgin's "not-a-buffet" buffet

One of the things I didn't like on the Celebrity cruise, was the buffet. Sure there were plenty of options to eat, but it was chaos, with people going in all different directions, and sometimes a challenge to find an open table once you gathered your meal together. Of course, there was the main dining room that you could go to for breakfast and lunch, and we ate most of our dinners there. But on Virgin, there isn't a buffet or a main dining room. Instead they have The Galley, which is more like a Time Out Market, if you've ever been to one of those (there's one coming for Vancouver). And all of their "specialty" restaurants are included with your fare, except some that are specifically paired with alcohol, where an additional fee is involved. I'll write a follow-up on this cruise in February on our return.

Scandinavian itinerary

But she also recently came across a Scandinavian cruise that was on our list primarily due to the relatively high cost of travel in that region. Sure the Baltic Sea can act up, but since this itinerary departs/returns from Copenhagen, you don't have long stretches of open sea to cross. Most Baltic cruises will have you in and out of either Southampton or Amsterdam, both of which require extra sea days to get across the North Sea. This Princess route only has two sea days out of 12, so seemed like a good itinerary for us.

Costco Travel gives back store credit

We're not normally ones to use a travel agency, but after finding out that others got a better deal on their Alaska cruise through an agent, I did a quick google search. It turned out that Costco Travel offers good deals, as they either match or beat the direct booking price, but also include a Costco Card as part of your booking bonus. Actually, I found out from my ex-TA wife (not ex-wife) that often travel agencies are allocated blocks of rooms that are only released back to the cruise line closer to the sail date. In this case, we were able to book decent mid-ship oceanview rooms, where Princess direct only had fore or aft rooms (this factors into potential for seasickness). Ironically, one of the guys in my Background group on Tracker the other day said that his son works for Costco Travel. Because their agents are salaried employees, the commissions that are paid by the cruise lines mostly gets reimbursed back to the traveller via the Costco Card. And we got a small US$85 on-board credit too... woot!

This cruise with Princess isn't until 2026, and of course is a traditional cruise operator, not like Virgin Voyages. But stay tuned for an update on how that went as well.