Farrago

Danwei.TV: My latest project

Just want to take a moment and brag about a cool new project I’ve been hard at work on: Danwei.TV. Most foreign folks living in China, or with any interest in China, are bound to know Danwei.org, possibly the most widely-read English-language blog about China, and many of you have also likely watched Danwei-produced and …

August 13, 2008
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#080808 – Everybody Ba Ba Ba

So the day is upon us. 08/08/08 is here – the Olympics have arrived. And in good Web meme fashion, the China Twitterati have come up with the #080808 campaign. I first read about it from David Feng over at CNReviews after having seen everyone on my Twitter list 080808’ing their avatars. It was started …

August 8, 2008
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Total Pro

After having used Flickr for a couple years, I’ve finally sprung for a Flickr pro account. I was tired of being confined to a limited number of sets (categories for your pictures), and of being reminded that my account had reached the maximum number of photos that could be displayed. When I first got a …

August 8, 2008
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A weekend in Hangzhou

Last weekend Maggie and I finally got down to Hangzhou. We’d been meaning to visit the place (a mere 2 hour bus ride from Suzhou) since moving here two years ago, but it always seemed to fall by the wayside. With work keeping us both insanely busy, it’s been a little too easy to forget …

August 7, 2008
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Good Video: Bono at NAACP Ceremony

Alright, this video is well-over a year old, but I just came across it at Biscuet.com, a site who’s author is joining the ranks at Lost Laowai (which is always looking for new writers). I’ll let the video speak for itself: Update Not sure why, but I accidentally turned off comments when posting this yesterday. …

August 4, 2008
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Beijing Blacklisting Blacks?

So, story goes – sometime yesterday afternoon both Shanghaiist and Beijing Boyce reported on a South China Morning Post article by Tom Miller entitled “Authorities order bars not to serve black people”. Mrs. Granite Studio (YJ), Danwei, Beijing Boyce and a number of others have jumped to the call and found no evidence that supports …

July 19, 2008
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Who stopped the rain?

Suzhou is green. Hell, it’s a garden city. And a great part about it, is it stays green all year round. It makes the city a nice place to look at no matter what time of year you come here. The tradeoff is that it rains non-stop. We go from rainy season to typhoon season …

July 8, 2008
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Emergency Fundraiser BBQ for Xiao Hua

And now news of a barbecue of a different, and much more solemn and purposeful nature – I received word late yesterday from several friends that there will be an emergency fundraising BBQ for their friend Xiao Hua, whom was the victim of a hit and run here in Suzhou on Sunday and is now …

July 4, 2008
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Canada Day BBQ in Suzhou

Ok, I’m a couple days late in posting it – but Happy Canada Day! This year’s Canada Day marked the fourth I’ve been in China for, but the first I’ve celebrated – and what’s better, we did it properly with a BBQ and beer! I had tossed around the idea of doing a Canada Day …

July 3, 2008
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George Carlin expires ‘like a magazine subscription’

George, you paved the way for some of my favourite socially and politically charged comedians. You showed me just how versatile a word can be. And, you gave substance to TheHumanaught.com’s #1 visited post. “Older” sounds a little better than “old,” doesn’t it? Sounds like it might even last a little longer … I’m getting …

June 24, 2008
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Mailbag: Suzhou, home for cheats and liars?

Being that this blog has been around for a while now, and that it consistently lists at the top of the search results for many things “Suzhou”, I tend to get my fair share of e-mails from readers or random passers-by. Most of these are e-mails from folks moving to Suzhou, or China in general, …

June 22, 2008
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