New York City Saturday seemed no different than it has on any other late summer weekend afternoon. Cabs were plentiful at LaGuardia at 4pm. There was no traffic getting into midtown. I didn't see any protesters.

At 7:00 pm, there was still no traffic in midtown. Nor at 9:00 pm. At 10pm, Ezra from Pandagon called to say there was a "Sleeping with the Enemy" party going on at the Tank, the performance art space where liberal bloggers will be headquartered this week. 42nd between 9th and 10th. It was a party for both Republican and Democratic bloggers.

Nic--the TL kid --and I headed down. No traffic getting there, even though security was heavy at Times Square. The Tank was packed. There was lots of beer, and you got to pick your color cup, blue if you were a Democrat, Red for Republican. The Tank has a wonderful outdoor interior courtyard with tables and chairs--with a West Village feel. Inside it is spacious and comfortable. It easily holds a few hundred people. The crowd was young--predominantly 20's--everyone talking politics and looking forward to the protests. Local tv news cameras were on site, interviewing participants.

We left the Tank around 11 and walked from 42nd and 9th through Times Square and back to 57th and 5th. Plenty of tourists, not a protester in sight. We started a game of "Count a Cop" on 42nd and 7th. By the time we got to 6th, one block, we spotted 20 uniformed cops on the block, some on horses, some in vans, some on the street. They were far outnumbered by tourists and pretty unobstrusive.

Midnight, we went out to dinner. At 1 am, I was back in my room, and I have to say, it was an uneventful day.

I'm staying right near Central Park, so that's where I will head in a few hours to catch the stray protesters who decide to go there after the march to Union Square. About a half hour ago, seven police vans with lights flashing but no sirens turned onto 57th from Sixth--looking like they were headed to the park.

Word on the march so far is its peaceful. Stay tuned.