DC--NYC Trip Day 8

Today was our day in the City with Elliot and Antonella. For this little excursion, we decided our rather large stroller would not do (nor would the small, ten dollar Wal-Mart stroller Gretchen was nice enough to buy us), so we packed Elliot around in our kid-carrier.

We walked and saw Radio City Music Hall,

Rockefeller Center (as you can see, the tree wasn't fully decorated. Somewhat of a dissapointment),

over to Carnegie Hall, and then to Patelson's Music House. Patelson's is a musician's paradise, and Dem and Antonella explored the premises like giddy little school girls for forty-five minutes. Dem ended up buying some Cornelius Reid books, as well as the music to Carmen.

Next stop was FAO Schwartz, which is, I must admit, one kickin' toy store. At this point, we parted ways. Dem and Antonella went to a backstage tour of the Metropolitan Opera, and Elliot and I walked fifty blocks south to see Teddy Roosevelt's birthplace at 28 E 20th St. About halfway there, Elliot became hungry, so I took out the cheerios and held them over my shoulder. Elliot would take it and put it in his mouth. We did this for about twenty-five blocks until Elliot sated and fell asleep.

Teddy's birthplace is an old, unassuming browstone.

The inside (of which I have pictures I will post shortly) was pure Victorian style, and not nearly as large as one would think one of the wealthiest New York families would have enjoyed. After the tour, I spoke with the guide and was pleased to hear Edmund Morris, who has written the first two volumes of a three-volume biography on TR, is writing the third volume now (the guide was a good source since he had spoken to Morris two weeks earlier about the third volume). Of course, this means it won't be out for another couple years, but for TR like me that have been waiting years for the third volume, this is music to our ears.

After a quick change and feeding, Elliot and I walked up Broadway to Time Square, where we met Dem and Antonella. We ate at Le Pain Quotidien, which was quite good before hopping the train back to Nel Nel's.

DC--NYC Trip Day 7

Today was my and Demaree's day in the city together. Antonella and her family graciously took care of Elliot while we galavanted. After entering the city, we decided to walk from Grand Central Station to the Frick Collection on the upper west side (70th St. and 5th Ave. to be precise). They had an Andrea Riccio (Renaissance sculptor who worked with bronze) exhibition; it was quite good.

Leaving Frick, we cut across Central Park and ate at Trattoria Sambuca on 20 West 72nd St. I had a grilled calamari appetizer (of which Dem did not partake). For the entree we had pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe. Good. For dessert we had a warm apple crumb, which was spectacular. Honestly, I believe apple pie is the quintessential Americana dessert, but this, this blew apple pie out of the water. Next time you're in New York, try this dessert. You won't be sorry.

After dinner came the main attraction: the Metropolitan Opera's rendition of the Damnation of Faust.

We had standing room only tickets, which was unfortunate because the staging was vertical, which meant we could not see some of the characters unless we crouched on our knees to get a better angle. In any case, it was a great show and we had a great time.

After a long train ride, we made it home around 2 a.m.

DC--NYC Trip Day 6

Gretchen drove us to Reagan National Airport and we picked our exceedingly expensive one-way Toyota Carolla rental car from Avis. We spent the ensuing six hours driving from DC to Antonella Delli Carpini's house in Hopewell Junction, New York. We experienced fairly little resistance, except for the long, dreadful hours in New Jersey (Garden State my foot).

Meeting Antonella's family was a real treat. They made us fettucini and meatballs for dinner. We ate. We talked. All was well.

DC--NYC Trip Day 5

We awoke and went to a Spanish Speaking sacrament meeting before heading into the city. We went by Union Station,

the Capital,

the Supreme Court,

and the Library of Congress.

We then went home returned to Gretchen's house, hung for a while, and packed for the next day.

DC--NYC Trip Day 4

Last day of the National Lawyers Convention started with a panel on second look doctrines enabling people and legislatures to overturn judicial decisions. Then on to an administrative law presentation on Chevron. Lunch afforded the best discussion an infinitely fascinating discussion between Michael McConnell (my legal hero) and Richard Posner about judicial decision making. McConnell is an originalist, while Posner is a judicial pragmatist who believes judges should make decisions based on their best policy estimations. The back and forth was lively yet restrained (both have great respect for each other). I learned Posner believes the Bill of Rights is "fluff." (An audible gasp echoed through the crowd with that statement.) Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

The rest of the day consisted of a debate on congressional regulation of judicial education trips authored by Russ Feinstein (D-Minnesota). Feinstein sent his aide Robert Schiff to defend the proposal. Poor Schiff, he was sorely outmatched by DC Appeals Court judge Raymond Randolph and UCLA professor Eugene Volokh. They pointed out the obvious problems with Feinstein's proposal, and exposed the fact Schiff didn't actually know what his bill meant. It was like watching two cats bat around a mouse before they dismember and devour it.

Final address was Antonin Scalia's. He spoke for approximately thirty minutes about originalism before taking five or six questions. Turns out his favorite operas are La Traviata and Madama Butterfly. Good stuff. And with that, the Convention was over. Three intellectually stimulating days that will keep me going for another year.

After the Convention, we all picked up dinner at an indian restaurant in Pentagon City.

DC--NYC Trip Day 3

Arrived a little late to the Convention this morning, but still caught the lion's share of a panel discussion on whether life tenure for judges is a good idea, and if not, what other system is preferable. Amazingly, this subject engenders much animosity among some law professors. University of Pennsylvania Professor Stephen Burbank was especially obnoxious in his advocacy for lifetime tenure. He described those who disagreed with him as engaging in "judicial navel looking" and "tendentious." Those who disagree with life tenure had good arguments, but I ultimately believe they're wrong in their assessment. Next, there was a discussion on judicial independence. On one side, Thomas Wells, President of the ABA, talked about how the Judiciary is under assault from all sides (blah, blah, blah). On the other side, 5th Circuit judge William Pryor talked about how questioning the Judiciary was a healthy part of democracy, and ultimately makes the Judiciary stronger. Unfortunately, the discussion devolved somewhat into how the ABA is a liberal partisan organization, but up to that point it was very interesting.

Lunch inlcuded a panel on civil litigation under the Robert's Court. Could have been interesting, but it wasn't.

The post-lunch talk by Mark Steyn, author of America Alone, the single most enjoyable presentation during the Convention.

Steyn, a Canadian who now lives in New Hampshire, talked about how he was brought before three Canadian Human Rights Councils because a few Canadian Muslims found some passages from his book insulting. (They didn't argue what he wrote was incorrect, just that they didn't like what he said and found it insulting.) It was a laugh riot. Steyn is a gifted story-teller with an insightful mind. The funniest portion of his talk was his description of returning to America after attending the HRC's kangaroo courts (his words, not mine). When the border guard asked Steyn the reason for his visit to Canada, he responded, "I was put on trial for crimes against humanity." The guard looked at Steyn, undoubtedly saw the smirk on his face, and said, "Well, welcome home." Classic.

Last panel of the day was about freedom of speech v. anti-discrimination laws. Interesting, scary but interesting. This was my first time seeing Andrew Koppleman. He's almost as utterly obnoxious and unwittingly uninformed in person as he is in print.

I skipped out on the Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lecuture by Edith Jones to eat dinner with Dem, Gretchen, and Elliot. We ate at Old Ebbitt Grill near the White House.

Since this was one of Teddy Roosevelt's old haunts, I ordered one of his favorite dishes: calf's liver and onions (his favorite dish was fried chicken). It was quite good, little grainy and minerally, but very enjoyable.

Home it was after the meal.

DC--NYC Trip Day 2

Today started the first leg of our DC--NYC trip. I awoke early and Gretchen drove me to the metro so I could catch a train to the Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention. After opening remarks by Mitch McConnell (R-Kenutcky), I attended a panel on judicial selection, then listened to an address by Michael Chertoff (Homeland Security Secretary). During lunch we had a panel on the International Religious Freedom Act, which was, for someone like me, an incredibly interesting experience. Next was a panel discussion on the implications of the reaction to climate change. (During this panel, I learned Obama wants to reduce US carbon emissions by 80% of 1991 levels by, I think, 2030. This sounds fantastically great, until one realizes those levels are equivalent to emission levels of such great industrial nations like Angola and Somalia. Ah, pipe dreams that will bankrupt the American economy and send us back to the dark ages: that's change you can believe in.) Next was a panel on the Heller case (Second Amendment case handed down this last term). After listening to the panel, I'm pretty convinced Scalia was wrong and the federal government had the contitutional authority to ban handguns from DC.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the day was the annual dinner. After an exceptional surf and turf meal, we listened to Michael Mukasey (US Attorney General). About twenty minutes into his talk, he began to slur his speech. Ten seconds later, he slumped unconscious over the lecturn. We all gave an exasperated gasp, Secret Service rushed the stage, and people yelled out, "Is there a doctor in the room?" There was, which was lucky because it took paramedics fifteen minutes to arrive. We left after Mukasey was taken to the hospital. He was at work the next afternoon.