2008 - Page 4 of 10 - Ryan McLaughlin

Using Skype in China?

Just a quick note that if you’re using Skype in China, or more importantly, using a TOM-Skype (from skype.tom.com) download of the software, you should check out my most recent post on Lost Laowai: Chinese Skype privacy breech. If you are, or have chatted to anyone using the Chinese-version of Skype, there’s a good chance …

October 4, 2008

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Food for thought

Having just finished smacking a god-like amount of meat into patties for a BBQ I’m hosting tomorrow, food isn’t exactly the topic I’m most excited to blog about. However, a little vodka’n’cranberry therapy at hand, it’s time I tackle a topic I’ve been meaning to address for a while now – the biggest bone of …

October 1, 2008

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Sexy Bitch

Addie just recently went into heat for the first time (snuck up on us – we were still thinking she was just a puppy). For anyone that’s never had a (ahem) bitch in heat, it can be a bit messy. To combat this we’ve employed a couple pairs of old undies – much to our …

September 26, 2008

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Yoga lessons in Suzhou’s SIP – Maggie gets a Web site

About a week and a half ago Maggie told me she was a bit worried because there was an unprecidented meeting of a large group of “business people” at her yoga studio when she arrived to teach her class. Turns out her fears were not unfounded, and last week the whole business closed (it was …

September 17, 2008

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Greens will be seen

With all the news about the US presidential race taking up the majority of space in the media these days, it might come as a surprise that Canada’s having another federal election – our third in four years. I guess it’s a good thing then that the whole process moves at a quick jaunt. Our …

September 13, 2008

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If it had been a mirror, this would all be over now

I barely remember where I was last week at this time, but like most North Americans, I can clearly remember where I was 7 years ago on this day. I was the assistant editor for a series of music/performance-based magazines. I had grabbed my extra large double double and headed in to work. I hadn’t …

September 11, 2008

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What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?

The Costello hit that plays as the credits roll to “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?” is pretty aptly answered in the latest doc(me)mentary by “Super Size Me” director Morgan Spurlock. As with his breakthrough film, “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?” follows Spurlock’s personal journey to dig around an issue …

September 8, 2008

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Farrago: Water, Chrome, Money and Ass

I’ve been super busy as late – first with my usual workload, but also spending much of my free time edumacating myself on personal finance. It’s amazing I’ve passed my 31st year on this planet and know next to nothing about saving and investing. Anyway, time being tight I still wanted to jot down and …

September 4, 2008

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It’s time to confess – Web 2.0 style

The other day an idea for a new site hit me, and as I was waiting for some deliverables from a client to arrive and didn’t have much to do, I figured – what the hell. The site is called Twitfessions, and essentially it tracks and displays any Twitter tweets that are tagged with #confession. …

August 24, 2008

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Dead babies don’t get A.D.D.

i just finished reading this MSNBC article: “Vaccine-wary parents spark public health worry” and I’ve gotta say, man are we eager to be ignorant. Essentially the article talks about how pockets of populations in the US have had large increases in the number of parents that are getting immunization exemptions. Their argument is that there …

August 23, 2008

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Tim Horton’s in China (Timmie’s secret revealed)

I drink a lot of coffee. I’m sure I’m not alone in this confession, but I thought I’d make it regardless. I drink so much in a day that I’ve set a cut-off limit of 5pm, anything later and I increase my chances of having night-terrors. Now, instead of night-time misadventures, I find myself cramming …

August 19, 2008

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Love will keep us together

Today marks Maggie’s and my 18 month anniversary. I didn’t think it was a thing to be celebrated – Maggie set me straight. Though it’s a lot more just a quirk that my wife like’s to celebrate things, I found it interesting that 18 (yÄobÄ) is considered lucky by Chinese superstitious mumbo jumbo. In addition …

August 16, 2008

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