Dan is a writer living in Shanghai, China.
Photos Archive
June 19 08
Photos: Old images of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Photos extracted from the "Bloomsburg Bicentennial" screen saver, created in 2002. Special thanks to the Columbia County Historical and Genealogical Society (columbiacountyhistory.org). If you can identify the subject of a particular photo, please leave a comment on that photo.
June 17 08
Photos: The Kunming leg of the 2007 China Tour
Thanks to the glorious Shanghai internet, it took me more than 24 hours to upload these 81 photos related to the Par for China book project. Sadly, the end result probably isn't worth that much effort. Fortunately, though, it will take you much less time to look at the photos.
June 16 08
A photo I took of Tim Russert in 2000
Pictured with Tim is Kim Craft, former photographer for The Times, in Gainesville, Georgia, with whom I was covering the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Atlanta.
June 8 08
Photos: H. Scott Killam's Memorial Gathering
June 7, 2008 at Killam Lake, near Bendertown, Pennsylvania (map: is.gd/sQJ). A fine send-off for a fine man. He will be missed by many.
June 5 08
Photos: Scott's tree at Kocher Park
Near Orangeville, Pennsylvania. In memory of H. Scott Killam by the Fishing Creek Watershed Association and the North Branch Bird Club. Tree is a Service Berry.
May 7 08
Photos: Yunnan Trip, 2007
Better late than never. Photos from our trip to Kunming and Dali last August.
May 4 08
My fantasy basketball trophy
Photographed with Michael Hughes (who I defeated in the championship) in The Times newsroom in Gainesville, Ga. A note from my former sports editor, Keith Albertson:
Attached is a picture of your basketball Championship Trophy, the symbol of your triumph over The Evil One. Alas, we got him in the picture, too. Not sure if that makes it better or takes away from the aesthetic value, but you got it. Enjoy and congratulations. If you win baseball, I'll send you one with me and the trophy, though you can imagine what I might be doing to it in that photo.
May 2 08
Photos: Grant and Liz do China
In mid-April my college roommate Grant and his girlfriend Liz (who, like us, also happens to be a proud Fighting Blue Jay) spent 10 days in China. During their time in Shanghai, I got to play tourist a bit and I broke out the old camera, so plenty of photos of famous landmarks, old buildings and people singing bad karaoke songs. Some of these pics were taken by Grant, and you'll see that I have perfected the "just got out of bed" look. In my defense, I was sick for part of their trip (I blame four hours at the KTV).
April 17 08
Mr. Stay Tab, welcome to Shanghai!
I had heard rumors of "stay tabs" replacing "pull tabs" on locally produced soda cans, but not until this week did I actually see some in my local store. Welcome to the 1980s, Shanghai! More on soda can tab evolution here.
April 12 08
Dog license renewal near Shanghai Stadium
A pretty pleasant experience, all things considered. (Tux may not agree, although he did surprisingly well with the two shots and the taking of blood.) Lots of collies and golden retrievers. Dog licenses in Shanghai are RMB 2,000 (US$285) each year, by the way.
April 11 08
Dan and Glen at Eager Beaver
I have known Glen since I moved to Shanghai in 2002. Based in Seattle now, Glen was in Shanghai for one night on a business trip. If you are in the market for a TV mirror, Glen is the guy you want to talk to.
March 30 08
A major league ballpark I could bat clean-up in
If you aren't one of the more than 115,000 people in attendance, read all about the first big league baseball game at the Los Angeles Coliseum since 1961 here.
March 27 08
The new desktop art on my MacBook
I have always liked this print, but thought making it my desktop image was a safer move than getting a tattoo (seeing how I have never been to Japan, know nothing about Japanese art and very little about art in general). I also have no interest in getting a tattoo.
Yes, desktop. Good move.
March 17 08
And then the doctor told me to suck on this
It's called a nebulizer. It was meant to help my cough. And maybe it did. A little.
I can go to real doctors now — ones that actually take appointments and regularly clean the things they stick in your ears and nose — because I have health insurance for the first time since moving to China in 2002. (I am married to someone who has a real job.)
So anyway, what I initially thought was allergies ended up being a cold that recently added a nasty cough to its repertoire.
The doctor asked me an interesting question: "Have you taken any over-the-counter cold medicines?" (Actually that's not a very interesting question — but his reason for asking was interesting.) My answer was yes. Initially I took Claritin and Alavert when I thought it was allergies, and then I switched to a nice cocktail of a generic DayQuil, generic Sudafed and non-generic Benadryl (not all at the same time).
The doctor thinks taking those meds actually made my cold worse — they thickened everything up — and caused my cough. Basically, he said over-the-counter cold medications are useless and that the U.S. FDA wants to ban them (they already have, supposedly, for children). Naturally, the pharmaceutical companies are putting up a fight.
It's kind of refreshing to have a doctor tell you that while he could make the hospital more money by prescribing drugs, he'd rather just do things the right way. And the right way seems to be just let your nose run and let things run their course. My doctor, originally from Hong Kong but most recently a long-time resident of Vancouver, also said chrysanthemum tea (ju hua or 菊花) could help, if you're into the Chinese voodoo.
And Bliss' parents swear by some kind of black pepper chicken broth soup.
Bad timing for this Google ad about Tibet to show up on Shanghaiist
"We will help you explore the mysteries of Tibet. We will give you memories that will last a lifetime."
March 8 08
Orange Slices candy in Shanghai
As I often do, I made a random statement to Bliss this afternoon. "You know what I could go for?" I asked. "Those gumdrops in the shape of orange wedges." I didn't think I'd ever get any, and wasn't really willing to put any effort into finding them, so I forgot about my unhealthy craving for Orange Slices. A little while later, I had to run some errands in the neighborhood — eggs, fruit, Diet Coke ... the usual — and I ducked into one of those local shops that sells nuts and dried fruits by the jin (an arrangement very similar to candy shops back home). And whaddya know: Pretty much the only candy they had were miniature Orange Slices! RMB 10 (US$1.41) per half kilo (1.1 pounds). And now I have to ask Bliss to hide the Orange Slices I bought, because like a typical 7 year old, if there is candy that I like in the house and I know where it is, I will eat it until its gone or until I am sick, whichever comes first.
Anyway, more proof to my theory: You can find pretty much everything you need in life on Wulumuqi Lu.
March 4 08
Note to Indie Rockers: If you come to China on vacation, schedule a gig or two1
You can listen to the song here. And here are the lyrics:
Children by the water banks laughing long and loud Changbai’s high fine western peaks just beneath the clouds Currents in the water churning in their course Body of a sea-lion, head just like a horsePreacher in the soft brown sand begins to speak his piece
High winds in the treetops low flying winter geese
No one taking pictures everybody still
And then the water sought its course again the way that waters willNo one at the lakeside now, moon up in the sky
Night birds in the dragon spruce, moaning long and high
Backstroking on the surface, moonlight on its face
Floats the Tianchi Monster, staring into spaceOut around the temple now narcissus in bloom
Censers packed with sandalwood send smoke into the room
Children in the sand outside on their hands and knees
Sketching pictures all day long of stranger things than these
Here's a photo of the "monster" John Darnielle sings of.
Side note: One of my Tianchi photos was actually picked up and used in the Satellite World Atlas (page 249), which I still receive royalty checks for every time a new edition is printed. Last year they sent me a copy in Cyrillic!
1 This goes for Bishop Allen, too. While things have gotten better in recent years, we are still seriously starving for good live music over here.
March 2 08
Hmmm, that's not The Break-Up I remember ...
... but I would like to see The Prestige repackaged as a romantic comedy.
Why would anyone throw this out?
It's a knee-high stool someone placed outside the dumpster in our lane. Bliss would not let me adopt it.
February 22 08
Photo: All parts of the pig
Greetings from Chongqing. Leaving for Guizhou today (around nine hours by
bus).
February 20 08
Frank eats a pineapple smoothie at Charmant!
Perhaps the first thing he has eaten since touching down in Shanghai two days ago. For an explanation and more of Frank's wild Shanghai adventures, visit morrowandme.com (already blocked in China!).
February 17 08
Photo: Old Shanghai mattress
At least I think it is a mattress and that it is old. Could be wrong on both accounts. Any ideas?
Spotted next to the trash bins in my neighborhood.
January 27 08
Photos: Holidays in Florida and Pennsylvania
I kind of took a vacation from my camera during this trip, but here's what I took when I managed to take the old Canon Powershot S5 out of its bag.
December 3 07
Photos: Ruth and Sandy visit China
Bliss' mom (Ruth) and my mom (Sandy) traveled to China together in October ... and I finally got around to uploading the photos to Flickr. We visited Xiamen (where Ruth's parents grew up), Beijing and, of course, Shanghai.
October 29 07
'Peasant Bag Chic'
Bliss at the Shanghaiist Halloween Party
The photo doesn't really show the genius of Bliss' costume. We made clothing out of what I believe are referred to as "peasant bags." Very un-PC, I know, but these are the plaid plastic bags you often see migrant workers (and probably other people, too) using as luggage on Chinese trains — immediately recognizable to anyone who has spent more than 10 minutes in China. I believe my initial inspiration for the idea came from here.
The verdict? Peasant bag chic ain't comfortable. Those bags don't breathe at all, which is probably why normal people don't try to wear them. Hopefully I'll have some more pics that show the pants/skirt soon.
Party was a big success, by the way. Around 700 attendees. I got home slightly before 6 am. I think I am almost recovered now. Almost.
September 3 07
Omega China Tour: Shanghai Leg
Photos from the Omega China Tour's stop in "Shanghai," August 9-12, 2007, at Grand Shanghai International Golf & Holiday Resort, which is actually in Jiangsu Province, near the city of Kunshan. Most shots were taken in Zhengyi Zhen, a small water town near the golf course.
August 22 07
Stella's is related to Cafe de Jack (Stella is Jack's wife, I believe) and aside from pizza, the restaurant shares much of Jack's extensive and eclectic menu. There's a dining garden out back and the front porch is an excellent spot to enjoy a couple drinks, people watch or space out while watching a spider spin an intricate web between porch lights. (Spiders are everywhere in Dali, especially in the more rural areas outside of town. It's kind of frightening.)
There's a surprising dearth of English-language info on the web about Dali venues (most restaurants and bars don't have websites) so the Stella's link above is to a review from 2002.
August 12 07
Happy anniversary, baby
Hard to believe, but it was one year ago today that Bliss and I unwittingly got officially married here in Shanghai. So please don your T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops, and break out your finest artificial flowers to help us celebrate. If you would like to relive the joyous occasion, click the 'VIEW MORE' link below. Or just listen to this fitting tune from the Little River Band.
Little River Band – Happy Anniversary
UPDATE: Two things: Seems the Last.fm song I embedded only plays a 30-second clip. Anyone know a better way to embed a song? Second, the lyrics of "Happy Anniversary" by Little River Band, I realize now, are about a breakup (we are listening to it now), so it's definitely not "fitting" other than the chorus, and the chorus isn't included on the 30-second clip.
Hitting the driving range in Shanghai
On Sunday, Bliss, Inka, Luis, Jay and I headed out to the driving range at Hongqiao Golf Club. While I have written about golf (and continue to do so), I have not played much of it (and when I have, it was usually for a story). Following the China Tour this summer has made me think I should give golf another try (using the old "research" excuse). Thankfully, Bliss was game, too — and she earned extra credit by sitting through four days of British Open coverage.
The driving range at Hongqiao Golf Club isn't particularly pretty, but it doesn't need to be. It's got practice tees and a big patch of grass, and that's about all you need. It's 20 kuai for 30 balls on weekends, and if you don't have clubs, it's 20 kuai to rent one of those, too. The lower level was pretty crowded on Sunday, but not uncomfortably so — I didn't venture up to level two. Bliss and I will be back (I can see a batting cage-esque addiction forming), but it might be wise for us to invest in a lesson or two. If you know of any good instructors, please leave a comment.
Our post-driving-range dinner took place at — you guessed it — Hooters (hey, we don't get out to Hongqiao very often). But I think I owe Bliss a more romantic weekend very soon.
July 17 07
Six days in the mountains
Photos taken during the China Tour's stop in Yanji, a small city in northeast China's Jilin Province, located near the North Korean border. I miss the weather already (but not the buffet at Yanji Harangang Golf Resort).
July 9 07
Get to know Tux
I uploaded a whole bunch of photos of Tux (and Ozzie) dating back to October 2006, when we first met Tux. Awwww.
July 4 07
2007 Asian Gaelic Football Games in Singapore
Bliss is a starter on the Shanghai Sirens. (Don't ask how the Shanghai teams fared in Singapore.)
