Recap for September 15-23

So, I turned 50 yesterday, and spent most of the day... working. My school had its annual Back to School Bash, which is an outdoor carnival of sorts. It's a fun day, but it is a long day of work on a Saturday. After the event, we made our way to Hub Mall and caught Canadian country/rock artist Nicole Rayy and her band playing the World Music Asia Shanghai series which was a lot of fun.

Today we're doing most of the birthday festivities. Heading in town to visit the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, then eating at an American BBQ restaurant and maybe checking out some more World Music Asia Shanghai musical acts. I do have Monday off, which I'm hoping to spend wandering downtown alone with my camera to finish up the birthday weekend.

Then four days of work and we're on Fall break and traveling again!

Here's what I've read/reviewed this week.

Book Reviews on Goodreads

The 39 Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

Tigers at Twilight from Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series.

Comic Reviews on Comic A Day
The Course by Alex Ferree.

The Amazing Spider-Man #800 from Marvel Comics.

Supporting

This week I'm supporting this Facebook fundraiser for expenses related to medical issues for my good friends Laura and Aus Cushing.

Looking Ahead

Our next adventure is coming up soon. We depart by train for Xi'an, China on Saturday. We have a street food tour booked, and we're looking forward to seeing the famous Terracotta Army.

Not much planned beyond that. I have to get my passport renewed (I'm out of visa pages! Achievement unlocked!). Once that happens, we'll start making plans for Christmas break, which will probably involve more travel within China, but we are open to any and all possibilities.

Summer Review Recap

Once again, things got busy and I dropped out of the habit of doing these weekly recap blogs.

Here is a quick recap of reviews I wrote over the summer.

We had a great summer trip to the USA, half of our vacation in New Hampshire, and half on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with a Father/Son Road Trip to Maine. Plenty of summer photos have been posted on Flickr and Instagram.

I also joined Bookcrossing. You can find me here.

And I did a lot of reading and wrote a lot of reviews.

Comic Reviews on Comic A Day

Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude from Marvel Comics.

Princeless Book 4: Be Yourself #1 from Action Lab Entertainment.

Batwoman #7 from DC Comics.

Doodles Vol. 1 from Kaiser Studio.

Dark Sights from Against Studios.

Lumberjanes Vol. 3: A Terrible Plan from Boom! Studios

Daredevil Noir from Marvel Comics.

Batman '66 Meets Steed and Mrs. Peel #1 from DC Comics and Boom! Studios

The Heavenly Bride Book 2 by Katrina Joyner.

Geraniums and Bacon #5 by Cathy Leamy.

Coelacanthid #5 by Michael Connor.

Robin Red and the Lutins #1 from ACE.

Darth Vader #1 from Marvel Comics.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 1: Squirrel Power from Marvel Comics.

Marvel Fanfare #2 from Marvel Comics.

DC Nation #0 from DC Comics.

Captain Phasma #1 from Marvel Comics.

Metamo Kiss Vol. 1 by Sora Omote.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi #1 from Marvel Comics.

The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura from Image Comics.

Eensy Weensy Monster Vol. 1 by Masami Tsuda

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 2: Squirrel You Know It's True from Marvel Comics

Magic: The Gathering #4 from IDW.

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey.

Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties by Dav Pilkey

Axis Powers Hetalia Artbook Artestella Piccolo by Hidekaz Himaruya

Errand of Mercy: The Irish Potato Blight And The Good Ship Jamestown by J.L. Bell and Olivia Li

Warriors: Graystripe's Adventure by Erin Hunter, Dan Jolley, and James L. Barry.

A Prelude To Penemue by Sara M. Harvey.

Batwoman #6 from DC Comics.

Steal This Comic.com Presents: The Punchlines by Carlisle Devonish

This is a Sampler! by Aya Rothwell.

Batwoman #8 from DC Comics.

Rival Angels: Damsels of Destruction: Wrestling Maneuvers And Techniques Volume 1 by Rival Angels

Infinity Countdown: Black Widow #1 from DC Comics.

Red Sonja / Tarzan #1 from Dynamite.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi #3 from Marvel Comics.

Red Sonja / Tarzan #2 from Dynamite.

Steven Universe #17 from Kaboom!.

Action Comics #1000 from DC Comics.

Captain Spectacular #1 from Gumshoe Comics.

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Red Hood vs. Anarky #1 from DC Comics.

Book Reviews on Goodreads

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by Greer Gilman.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.

Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green.

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl.

The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss.

One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey.

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl.

A Little Book of Campfire Songs by Brian Denington.

How to be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell.

Bozo the Clone by Dan Greenburg.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to the Great Wall, the Forbidden Palace, and Other Tourist Attractions by Lenore Look.

Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger.

A Glory of Unicorns edited by Bruce Coville.

The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Who Is Stan Lee? by Geoff Edgers.

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett.

Shanghai Bund Architecture by Michelle Qiao.

Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.

Wild Fairies: Daisy's Decorating Dilemma by Brandi Dougherty.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.

Who Was Rosa Parks? by Yona Zeldis McDonough.

Succeeding With Inquiry in Science and Math Classrooms by Jeff C. Marshall.

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.

Bad Gurus: Fiction From a Near Future by Jay O'Connell.

Phineas and Ferb: Wild Surprise by Helena Mayer.

Upcoming

We are heading to Xi'an by train the first week in October. I'm excited for the chance to photograph this historic city.

[WWE] WWE Shanghai China September 1 2018

Our first live WWE show outside of the US!

Here are the quick results.

Bobby Roode def. Bray Wyatt (rollup)

The B-Team retained via pinfall (rollup on Dash Wilder) in a triple threat match against Titus Worldwide and The Revival. Dana Brooke was not at ringside for Titus Worldwide. This was played mostly as a comedy match.

Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose def. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre via pinfall (stomp) in a pretty good match.

Bobby Lashley, Finn Balor, and John Cena def. Elias, Baron Corbin, and Jinder Mahal via pinfall. Cena hit the AA on Elias, then followed up with what looked like a stiff forearm for the win. This may have been what he was talking about in a recent interview where he said he was adding a sixth "Move of Doom". Cena then spoke to the crowd for several minutes in what sounded to me (who is a complete beginner at learning the language) like pretty fluent Mandarin. He introduced a group of people seated at ringside who I believe were recent WWE developmental signees from China.

(Intermission)

Cedric Alexander retained via pinfall (lumbar check) vs. Drew Gulak

Bayley, Sasha Banks, Natalya, and Ronda Rousey def. Alexa Bliss and the Riott Squad. Rousey submitted Blis with the armbar for the win in a fun match.

Roman Reigns def. Braun Strowman via DQ when Ziggler and McIntyre interferred. Rollins and Ambrose came out to the Shield music to make the save, and they ended up putting McIntyre through a table with the Shield Bomb to send the crowd home happy.

Decent-sized crowd in the Mercedes Benz arena, though not sold out. Biggest pop of the night was for Cena, with Balor a close second. Crowd was mostly behind Strowman in the main event, but cheered the shield during the ending brawl.