Want a nice smile? Just say “cheese”
i just finished brushing my straight, white, american teeth … and i was reminded of something one of my students asked me not too long ago.
“dan, why do americans have such white teeth?” she asked.
05.28.2004, 7:44 PM · Humor, Observations, School
“Have your good time, Mr. Sadam”
yesterday was my last day of teaching at shanghai university. forever. and, right now, that’s all i have to say about that.
i will leave you with the transcript from a mid-term skit two of my students performed for me monday, five weeks after it was due. no, the dialogue has nothing to do with what the assignment was actually about. yes, the students received very bad grades for their efforts.
but i thought it was fittingly bizarre. enjoy.
The baby was unbelievably ugly
from the shanghai daily …
A woman who had undergone plastic surgery recently agreed to pay 1 million yuan (US$120,000) in compensation to her husband in a court-mediated divorce for not telling him about it before they married. After she gave birth last September, her husband was amazed to find the baby was unbelievably ugly. As her suspicious husband demanded a DNA test, she told the secret: She had plastic surgery in South Korea for 1 million yuan during a trip there years ago.thanks to cecil for forwarding this one along.
05.18.2004, 9:35 PM · Humor
Tracking The Shark
i followed the group that included greg norman (otherwise known as “the great white shark”) and zhang lian wei, arguably china’s top pro golfer. last year, he became the first chinese golfer to win a european tour tournament.
most of these photos were taken on the sly, as photography by fans is strongly frowned upon. and imported security personnel communicating through earpieces, looking like members of the aryan nation or perhaps extras from sprockets, loomed and chastised those who dared to disobey their directives.
camera nazis notwithstanding, i must say that, after several years spent covering sports for newspapers, i’m having fun just being a sports fan again. it no longer feels like work.
anyway, enjoy the photos.
05.15.2004, 2:54 PM · Photos, Sports · Comments (1)
Chinese Football: Wilkinson’s Shanghai surprise
Hired by reigning league champs, Sgt. Wilko could be gone before the fall
by DAN WASHBURN
SHANGHAI — Every time Howard Wilkinson exits his five-star Shanghai hotel, he thinks about Flash Gordon. Overlooking the Huangpu River, the Oriental Riverside Hotel sits in the shadow of the Pudong skyline, a scattershot vision of the future that feels about as humanistic as a set for a science-fiction movie. One of the otherworldly skyscrapers reminds Wilkinson of the Saturday morning trips to the cinema he used to make as a child in Sheffield, England. To him, the building looks just like Flash Gordon’s rocket ship. To him, the building, and those that surround it, look nothing like China — or at least the China that he was anticipating when he arrived in Shanghai in March.
05.14.2004, 9:59 AM · Sports, Stories · Comments (6)
mmmmmmm. georgia.
and i’m tired.
so feast on these georgia photos until i wake up.
it could be a while.
goodnight.
05.11.2004, 12:33 AM · Georgia 2004, Photos · Comments (2)
‘we just got hitched!’
this new album features more than 125 photos from brian and jill’s wedding weekend in albany, georgia.
and these pics will do nothing to disprove the notions that americans love shooting guns, getting drunk and making babies.
i’m in jesup now. heading back to atlanta later this afternoon. then it’s off to gainesville mid-week.
(note: you can leave comments on photos if you feel the urge. just click on the photo you’d like to comment on and then click the “add comment” link below the photo.)
05.05.2004, 1:43 AM · Georgia 2004, Photos
About Dan
Dan Washburn is an American journalist based in Shanghai. His work has appeared in such publications as Budget Travel, ESPN.com, Business China (part of The Economist), Baseball America and the South China Morning Post. In June 2005, Dan became the founding editor of Shanghaiist.com, a city-centric blog about Shanghai. Shanghaiist is the 11th website in the highly-successful Gothamist.com network of city blogs.
Dan has been writing professionally for daily newspapers and magazines since he was 17 years old. Before moving to China in 2002, Dan spent four years writing for The Times of Gainesville, Ga., located 45 minutes northeast of Atlanta. At The Times, Dan wrote the popular Sporting Life column, a weekly foray into participatory journalism. For the sake of a good story, Dan took part in activities like bull riding, sky diving, ice climbing, “handgrabbing” for giant catfish — even nude water volleyball — and lived to write about it.
Dan won the Georgia Sports Writers Association’s top prize in Outdoors Writing four years in a row. In 2001, he was named Georgia’s Best Sports Columnist. Dan has been recognized nationally several times by the Associated Press Sports Editors for his Enterprise Reporting. He has also earned the top prize in Sports Writing from both the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Associated Press.
Dan currently works as a freelance writer in Shanghai. In 2004, he spent four months traveling through China … and wrote about it from every stop.
• Dan’s writing awards
• Dan’s resume
• Dan in the news
• Dan’s recent stories
Email: dan(@)danwashburn.com
More Dan Washburn links: Flickr, Friendster, Audioscrobbler, LinkedIn, Google, Technorati (also here)
05.01.2004, 1:57 PM · About Dan
Writing Awards
2002 Associated Press Sports Editors. Earned fifth place nationally in Enterprise Reporting for contribution to package on knee injuries in female athletes. Story followed a high school sophomore into the surgery room for her second ACL operation in a year.
05.01.2004, 12:47 PM · About Dan
Resume
Work Experience
Freelance Writer. September ‘02-Present. Contributing writer to publications such as Budget Travel, Business China (part of The Economist), ESPN.com, Baseball America and the South China Morning Post. Click here for an archive of recent published stories.
Shanghaiist.com, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. Editor. June ‘05-Present. Oversee all content for and determine editorial direction of a popular city blog, the 11th site in the Gothamist.com global network of city blogs, which attracts hundreds of thousands of unique visitors and millions of pageviews each month. In addition to contributing several posts to the website each day, I also direct a growing team of contributors and manage the site’s marketing and advertising efforts. More about Shanghaiist.
05.01.2004, 12:30 PM · About Dan
Press
Modern Weekly (Jul. 8, ‘06): Foreigner’s Map of Shanghai
Shanghai Pictorial (Apr. ‘06): The City Walker: Dan Washburn
ShanghaiTalk, BeijingTalk, CityTalk (Jan. ‘05): From travel bug to travel blog
that’s Shanghai (Jan. ‘05): Siteswapping (brief mention)
The Times (May 11, ‘04): Scene & Heard: Daring Dan Washburn visits from Shanghai
The Chinese Outpost (Apr. 28, ‘03): Subject of ‘Westerners in China’ profile
Press Enterprise (Mar. 16, ‘03): Bloom native finds challenge in China (link dead)
Shanghai Daily (Mar. 2, ‘03): ‘Small town boy’ in big city (if you read this story, be sure to take a look at the fact checker.)
Shanghai Magazine (Jan. ‘03, page 19): Shanghai Diaries featured in "web" section
The Times (Jan. 19, ‘03): Ex-Times columnist calls Shanghai home
Red & White (Dec. 10, ‘02): ePals: New friends in new places
The Times (July 28, ‘02): Sporting Life’s writer: Honorary good ol’ boy
05.01.2004, 12:27 PM · About Dan