When a friend today asked what I preferred for lunch, I replied with the reassuring but unhelpful "I'll eat anything." Will's post about the overfished beluga reminded me that that wasn't strictly true: I refuse to eat bunnies anymore for sentimental reasons, and I will not order anything that had to be treated cruelly or is in danger of extinction. I don't like to be obnoxious about this, however, so when veal was served Monday night, I ate it without protest. (As this was at a conservative legal event, "without protest" probably was the theme of the night anyway.)

I can't imagine that I'll miss beluga caviar, not having consumed much of it and being of the opinion that all caviar, though tasty, smells much like fishfood. However, abstaining from Chilean sea bass until the population recovers is more difficult. My mother once ordered an entire fish, cut into individual-sized filets, and these were so delicious -- even the time that she overcooked them -- that I'm grateful to the chefs who don't make it an option on their menus.

Some time ago, after seeing it in person, my father vowed never again to eat anything that came out of the Caspian Sea, e.g., beluga caviar. Thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, soon nobody here will be allowed to eat the beluga.

A reader responds to my previous post on Schubert:

Just a quick note on your Schubert post: Schubert happens to be one of the exceptions to my "music has regressed since the death of Beethoven" general rule. But I am stunned that there is no mention of the glorious Mathias Goerne in your post. Goerne's performance of Schwanengesang in Paris is the one time in my life that I've stood up to give a standing ovation at a concert. It's also the source of my rule that multiple people in your row have to be crying in order to bestow a standing ovation...

Indeed.

Although the work day is winding to an end, it's never too late to wish everyone a happy Michaelmas---the feast of St. Michael. Michaelmas is also traditionally the first day of school for older institutions, and a marker for time school should be starting again for newer institutions (on the quarter system).

In other interesting news, this is about the time the Bonnie Barabara Allen rebuffed Sir John Graeme, and also marks the beginning of a ban on men's beige trousers...all the way until Whitsun in the Spring.

At any rate, a very Happy Michaelmas to all.

Some folks pooh-poohed the idea of a University of Chicago Law School blog when rumors about it first got out. It's now time to let the thing speak for itself. Saul Levmore and David Strauss will be kicking things off on Monday, but several of the folks who have been at Randy Picker's blog--Doug Lichtman, Lior Straihlevitz, and Picker himself--will be joining in after that.

One hesitates to be seen as a mere cheerleader for one's alma mater, but this should be cool.

As I was walking this morning, a rat and I mutually startled each other. This reminded me of yet another difference between New York and my hometown: the lack of varmints in the former and the less obvious presence of vermin in the latter.

Vermin, to clarify, are creatures that are likely to infest the interior of a living environment. I agree with the American Heritage definition here -- "Various small animals or insects, such as rats or cockroaches, that are destructive, annoying, or injurious to health."

However, I find their animal-related meaning for varmint to be somewhat imprecise -- "any usually predatory wild animal considered undesirable; e.g. coyote" doesn't quite capture the connotation of varmint as I've understood it. The undesirable wild animal part is essentially correct, though even a nominally tame dog can be apostrophized as a varmint. However, a varmint need not be predatory in a carnivorous sense. Deer and rabbits that destroy a garden, for example, will be categorized as varmints; so will the dog, 'coon or 'possum that gets into the garbage and makes a mess. The Varmint Hunters Association, judging by the animals pictured on the homepage, includes groundhogs among foxes and coyotes as varmints.

Which perhaps points to another functional type of distinction: vermin can be exterminated, whereas varmints must be hunted. Even the VHA's pursuit of "the highly refined accuracy necessary for the taking of smaller game at longer distances" likely wouldn't extend to the ignoble killing of rats.

Speaking of exterminators, people have been asking me what I think of Tom DeLay's indictment.

Keep in mind that the House Majority Leader (as the website still shows DeLay to be) is being charged with conspiracy with the intent to commit a felony, that felony being knowingly making a political contribution in violation of Subchapter D (corporations and labor organizations) of Chapter 253 of the Texas Election Code. In other words, he violated a state campaign law that is stricter than the federal law; Texas prohibits corporate political contributions from going to support candidates directly, though such monies can be used for measures like propositions for constitutional amendment or for voter registration drives.

DeLay also is an easy target because of his previous record of ethical lapses. The House ethics committee privately rebuked him in 1998 for attacking the hire of a former Democratic Representative as a lobbyist (DeLay presuming that such positions should be reserved for the Republican faithful). He also was admonished last fall for offering to support the House candidacy of Michigan Republican Rep. Nick Smith's son in return for the lawmaker's vote for a Medicare prescription drug benefit; creating the appearance of linking political donations to a legislative favor; and improperly seeking the Federal Aviation Administration's intervention in a Texas political dispute. This dispute, of course, was the infamous attempt of Democratic state legislators to avoid passing a Republican-favoring redistricting by fleeing the state.

As DeLay has shown pretty good survival skills thus far, I wouldn't get my hopes up that this latest attempt to pierce his shell will succeed.

UPDATE: Happy birthday to Max Sandlin, who was my Congressional representative for several years until last year's loss after the redistricting of the state.

All Roads Film Festival

7:00 p.m. Saturday, October 1 The Hunter** (Kazakhstan, 2004, 93 minutes) Serik Aprymov A young boy learns important life lessons from a lonely, wise wolf hunter.

A young village boy is befriended by the hunter he stole from and learns to overcome his coldness by understanding the laws of nature, women, and death.