1st Nanjing Super Tournament

Hola! I've got the driveway shoveled out (at last) - just in time for the sleet/rain. Geez! It took a good hour and it wasn't easy work, but with each shovelful I'm getting stronger and slimmer :) Isis called this morning from Las Vegas - it was 60 degrees F there and she was going outdoors to do some gardening. Geez! dondelion and I will be seeing Isis and Michelle over Christmas - can't wait for some relative warmth! Yesterday it was in the single digits temperature wise here and seven or eight below zero (windchill), but exactly as the weather man forecast, a warm front blew in from the southwest and it was a balmy 25 degrees F or so when I went out at 7 AM to fetch the newspaper. The ice was melting on the driveway! The only drawback is the precipitation, which started when I was about half-way finished with the remainder of the icy snow on the driveway, and strong non-stop winds out of the southwest. Whew! Gusts are up to 40 mph and at times were strong enough to blow icy snow right back in my face, ACH! The very first Nanjing Super Tournament is taking place in China and it's boring, darlings, boring. No young, new, exciting players (unless you count Bu, but he's already at the elite player level), the same old, same old. Snore. All chess dudes, too. The prizes are rich, but that's about all that can be said for this event. Except - Well, take a look at this photo. Does this not seem just a bit - hinky - to you? It does to me. Just what, exactly, are the little girls supposed to represent, heh??? VERY weird, having those big hairy chessplaying guys holding the hands of the little girls with painted faces. Rather like miniature courtesans - oh goddess, what a perverse idea. But that's what I thought when I saw this photo. Guess I have a sick mind - or maybe not so sick, having read some about what goes on in the world when it comes to the objectification and sexual exploitation of children. Now I'm not saying that was the implication in this display - but - what, exactly, was the point? And the grown-up lady in the background in the long red gown - what is she? A chaperon? Or a madam? Okay - guess I've watched Moulin Rouge one too many times. Or maye not enough...