I am visiting family in the USA for Christmas. Though Shanghai has been my home for 5 years, my kids moved back to USA. 11 year old Basil and 13 year old Anastasia were happy to have Dad home for christmas. My son was happy to find the presents under the tree. Yes it is a white and cold Christmas in the Boston area. one of the Christmas presents was the immigration of Max the cat. Found on the streets of Shanghai and adopted by my daughter, Max cameto USA on the plane with me (costing and extra $150!!!) This is his first time dealing with snow.After opening presents, my daughter Ansatasia played her violin and Basil played guitar. Anastasia's favorite present was her new electric violin... She is starting a folk-rock band with some other talented young friends.While I am here, I decided to do some PR of my films in USA. And it paid off. My film Dengdai will be included in the Emerging Artists Showcase at Northampton, Massachusetts Pleasant Street Theater which also takes part in running the Northampton Independent Film Festival and where many of the films for NIFF are screened. (the NIFF happens in the fall and I did not want to wait until fall 2009 to show it in my home area.)Best wishes to all in the coming year!Richard
Richard Trombly richard@trombly.com www.obscure-productions.com is an American writer, journalist and filmmaker who has been living in China since 2003 and has