Humbled and Overwhelmed

Cast of tonight's Parsifal I attended my second performance of Parsifal this season. I did not come to this decision lightly. Originally I had a ticket for tomorrow night's Semiramide . But the thought of experiencing Parsifal with René Pape and Peter Mattei was tempting, and I agonized all week about whether to swap out my Semiramide ticket for Parsifal . This included making a poll on Facebook and drawing up pros and cons on an index card. Yeah, I know. But finally after listening to a less-than-impressive livestream of the Semiramide premiere and also armed with the knowledge that there were only 2 performances of Parsifal left while Semiramide is likely to improve during its run, Parsifal it was.

The cast of Hansel and Gretel take a bow I've come to accept that the Met opera seasons are like a curate's egg. You can't expect a consistent level of quality and inspiration anymore. But once in awhile, you might stumble upon a totally delightful performance. And such was the case with their holiday presentation of Hansel and Gretel . Despite a mid-performance substitution (Tara Erraught, the production's Hansel, sounded wan in the first two acts and was replaced after intermission by Ingeborg Gillebo) the overall performance was one of the best things I've seen the Met do in, well, quite awhile.

I am as excited as anyone that the underdog Jets defeated the Patriots yesterday. I have become a football fan in recent years, and today I was talking with my mom and my mom said, "I'm happy for the Jets, but it's not right what they're saying about Tom Brady. He seems like an okay guy." She was probably referring to comments like these . Tom Brady is one of the most hated athletes in the country, and the thing is, other than winning three Superbowl rings, he hasn't done much to deserve the hatred. Unlike Michael Vick, he hasn't served two years in jail for running a vicious dogfighting ring. Unlike Ben Roethlisberger, he hasn't been charged numerous times of sexual assault. Unlike Brett Favre, he hasn't become a national joke in terms of crying , when the cardinal rule is "no crying in football." Unlike Ray Lewis, he hasn't killed a guy. And unlike Antonio Cromartie, who trash-talked Brady in the article I linked, he hasn't