In which Cinderella's glass shoe breaks...

My bracket after 2 full rounds. Click to make larger.

Last year, I won my March Madness bracket for the first time, after playing for more than ten years.

This year, my winner got busted in the second round.

Yes, I picked Villanova to go back to back as winners.  Because I am an idiot. Because I believed in Cinderella.  And because I cast myself as the Cinderella.  Even though I am last year's reigning champion.

In my defense, there have been 48 games so far, and I picked 39 of them correctly.  Last year I picked 46 games correctly, and there are still 16 more games to go (so I could theoretically beat my # of picks from last year, and still finish in the bottom.)

And I'm still currently in 2nd place.  But obviously, that won't continue.

This may be the earliest I've ever lost my champion in the 10 years of playing.

As I said last year, I don't pretend to be a college basketball guru.  I'm usually picking teams that were hot 20 years ago.  But I usually manage to do okay. Somehow,  I'm still disappointed that I didn't pull out a miracle out of my... let's just say, for politeness sake, out of thin air.

It's unrealistic, but it's still what makes March Madness so interesting-- all the Cinderella stories.

The possibilities that an under-talented team could somehow gut it out on sheer will and beat much more talented teams 5 times in a row to become a national champion.

This dream is what fuels lottery sales, and television shows, and even American political elections.  I think American's love the story of the underdog.

 Last year I was a Cinderella story, but this year, I'm more like a bad episode of People's Court.

I'm still watching March Madness, but I have much less interest in what's going on now.

How are you doing in your bracket?  Are you living Cinderella's dream?

The Lyric's Cinderella- Family Friendly Opera Fun!

Isabel Leonard in the title role
photo by Scott Suchman
Washington National Opera

After last year's introduction to opera, we've been looking for an opportunity to bring our son to a show that's full length and family/kid friendly.

We (and you) have the perfect opportunity this October, as the Lyric is presenting a very family friendly production of Rossini's Cinderella.  It's a story that he already knows (we just finished watching the newly released live action movie at a school movie night), and this particular opera seems designed for people who have never been to the opera before- projected titles in English, lots of colorful costumes, dancers in mouse costumes, and lots of other stuff.

The show is directed by the co-founder of a Barcelona Street theatre company, Els Comediants, and is full of colorful costumes, lots of comedy and zany activity, and Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in the title role. (Although in the opera, her name is Angelina, and not Cinderella!)

Here's Leonard doing a funny gig on Sesame Street:(The People In Your Neighborhood.)

The production is new to Chicago, but it has been presented successfully in a number of places, including at the Kennedy Center, at the Welsh National Opera, and in Houston.

Here are some photos of a previous production at the Washington National Opera.  The sets and costumes will be VERY similar!)

"Cinderella," images by Scott Suchman (Washington National Opera).

Cinderella opens on Sunday, October 4 with 8 performances through Friday, October 30. Performance dates are Oct. 7, 10, 13, 17, 23, 26 at 7:30pm; and Oct 4 and 30 at 2pm. 

For tickets and information call (312) 827-5600 or go to lyricopera.org. 

(And by the way, the Lyric is also sponsoring Operathon on Saturday October 3, an almost full day of opera on the radio at WFMT, supported in part by opera loving power forward Pau Gasol.  You'll hear interviews with some of the opera stars of the Lyric, including cast members of Cinderella, get great deals on tickets and merchandise, and in general, support the Lyric's operations.)

To find out more, visit this link online.