Weblog Awards: Nominate Shanghaiist in the 2006 Bloggies
Just a quick note to let you know that nominations for the Sixth Annual Weblog Awards (aka The Bloggies) close in about 36 hours. I’m not going to ask you to nominate Shanghai Diaries for Best Asian Weblog — 2005 was a down year for this site — but I am going to encourage you to nominate Shanghaiist in that category (and whatever other categories you think it might deserve). Make sure to read the directions carefully and make your Bloggie nominations now! (Or should that be Bloggy nominations? Anyway, just do it.)
Turns out Shanghai Diaries, and not Shanghaiist, was nominated for Best Asian Blog in the Weblog Awards 2005. I didn’t realize this, however, until after voting closed. At least we didn’t finish last.
01.09.2006, 11:46 PM · Site News
Puppy X: Help us name our new dog!
Say hello to the newest, and cutest, member of the Washburn-Khaw Shanghai household! We’re not sure how old he is, he doesn’t have a name yet, and we have no idea what kind of puppy he is … other than 100 percent mutt. (Someone said they think he might have a little St. Bernard in him — we’d like to think they emphasized little when they said that. Our new apartment is only a little more than 80 square meters “big.”)
We adopted our puppy last night from Shauna and Martin, the super kind Australian couple who saved him from the side of the road the morning of December 30. Shauna was heading to work on Pudong Da Dao and saw a man place a cardboard box on the sidewalk and scramble away. Then our puppy hopped out of the box and ran onto the street. (OK, he likely hobbled onto the street. His rear right leg is a little gimpy — perhaps the reason he was abandoned — and he walks with a cute little limp. The vet told Shauna and Martin this was likely due to malnutrition — all he he had was some rice in that cardboard box — and his leg should improve with time and real food.)
Shauna snatched up the puppy and she and Martin welcomed him into their small Pudong apartment. They knew they couldn’t keep him (returning to Australia with a Chinese dog is a real … um … bitch) so they contacted Carol Wolfson at Second Chance Animal Aid, a privately run animal protection association in Shanghai. And then Carol emailed us — we had expressed our interest in adopting a puppy about a month ago — and the moment we saw those puppy photos, we were sold. This is a very nice way to start 2006 (the Year of the Dog, coincidentally).
But we need your help! Help us name our new puppy! (UPDATE: Voting has closed. We have a winner.)
We’ve come up with 11 possible names and would like you to choose your favorite (you can place your vote at the end of this post). Here are the nominees:
- Stanislaw: Author Stanislaw J. Lec once said, “He who limps is still walking.” He is also responsible for many other quotations.
- Coleby: A.E. Coleby wrote and directed the 1923 movie The Man With the Limp. In that film, by the way, H. Agar Lyons played the role of Dr. Fu Manchu.
- Claudius: Claudius I was the fourth Roman emperor. He walked with a limp and stuttered.
- Bowie: Music star David Bowie was born on January 8, 1947. We adopted the puppy on January 8, 2006.
- Mattingly: Former New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly is my favorite baseball player.
- Ewing: Former New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing is my favorite basketball player.
- Duke: The family dog I grew up with was named Duchess. And Duke University was my favorite college basketball team for many years.
- Pogo: Pogo is a cartoon possum who lives in the Okefenokee Swamp, in southeast Georgia. He was created in 1943 by Walt Kelly. I asked Bliss’ dad for his blessing on our engagement at Okefenokee Swamp Park.
- Shelton: Bliss grew up in Shelton, Washington.
- Grover: Grover is a character in Kicking and Screaming, one of my favorite movies.
- Ozzie: In honor of Australia, homeland of Shauna and Martin, the couple who saved our puppy.
So, please vote below. And tell your friends to do the same. We will announce the winner on January 14. Also, if you live in Shanghai and would like to adopt a dog or cat, try to make it to the SCAA’s next adoption day on January 15 at O’Malley’s Irish Pub.
UPDATE: A couple more photos of Puppy X.
01.09.2006, 7:47 AM · Diary · Comments (3)