Random Observations

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A week and $200 million in to the new book, there's little left to say about Harry Potter...but have you heard about the latest adventures of Tanya Grotter and her Magic Double Bass?



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Musings on passing youth: Five years to the month after high school graduation, one friend got married and I hear another girl is pregnant. I'm sure this means something, but I can't figure out what.


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Camden Yards was stuffed on Saturday night. A mild miracle, given Ripken's run for the record in 1995 and two years worth of playoffs. But it was more than a baseball game back then--it was an event, often infused with that strange electricity when a town comes together to follow a sports team. This weekend, with the Phillies sweeping the series, about half the fans in attendance drove home happily to Philadelphia. The other half started wondering when Ravens training camp opens.

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Ebert on The Last Days of Disco

The movie has barely enough plot to hold it together; it involves drugs and money laundering, but it's typical of Stillman that most of the suspense involves the young D.A. fretting about a romantic conflict of interest. The underlying tone of the film is sweet, fond and a little sad: These characters believe the disco period was the most wonderful period of their lives, and we realize that it wasn't disco that was so special, but youth. They were young, they danced, they drank, they fell in love, they learned a few lessons, and the music of that time will always reawaken those emotions.

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A show that celebrates Transformers, Saved by the Bell, and Long Duk Dong. Has anyone else seen VH1's "I love the 80s"?
- posted by DD @ 10:39 PM

 
with minor apologies to uninterested parties...come back later this week. please grant me this sports digression...

Obligatory NBA DRAFT Posting

Running the risk of alienating half my audience here...sorry Mom, please come back...but it's that time of year. The time that gives ill-informed fansites and overweight sofa jockeys a reason for being. And I've always watched, jealously, as "draftniks" pontificated, ruminated, and speculated their way into front-row seats at Madison Square Garden, their 'analysis' of the NBA Draft a typical cookie cutter blabbering like the following:

TV 'ANALYST'(from the L.A. Clippers Draft War Room): Well, now that all four predictable picks have been made, we've actually had to do some investigation to tell you who the Clippers will select. They're considering taking T.J. Ford (video of Ford chest passing the ball on the break pops up on screen), or maybe Michael Sweetney (now shows Sweetney rebounding and going up for the dunk) and they're very high on European player Mickael Pietraus' upside, I mean, he's got that international experience in the tough French league (cut to Pietraus wearing a kilt, a turban and John Stockton short shorts in an attempt to look as foreign as possible) but they also like Chris Kaman to be their new center (a very white looking Kaman is shown outfitted in an El Busto warmup. Guess Sean John was taken.) So frankly we, and by we I mean me, have no idea.

or...

BANAL-YST (to newly drafted player): So, you're going to realize your lifelong dream of playing in the NBA. You're geting a contract for millions of dollars and per diems of $93 per day, just for food. Thousands of new fans will spend the next few months, possibly years, judging you solely on hype rather than performance. Are you happy?

POTENTIAL PLAYER RESPONSE #1: (unintelligbly crying, pointing, rubbing the bald head of his Dickie V bobblehead in shock)

POTENTIAL PLAYER RESPONSE #2: (turns his head and stares at BANAL-YST, once again realizing that, though the only degree he's going to get is his N.B.A., staying in school doesn't necessarily give you a F.C. Gee, I'm young, rich, and will play hotel room video games with other young, rich guys for a living. I'll also play basketball about 2 hours a day. Of course I'm happy, you shmuck.)

If anyone knows what sort of preparation you need to be in this line of work, let me know, because I'm pretty sure I've done it. (Incidentally, when guys like--to borrow Lang Whitaker's term--the NBA Outsider, whose sole job is to report on draft plans and what not, are reinforcing how inexact the process is...)

Should you choose to suffer through it...keep a scorecard of certain words handy. These Hubie Browns and John Thompsons must have some side pool going, where you try to come as close as possible to saying 'upside' for a player for as many people in his entourage, Bob Barker-style: whoever gets closer without going over wins. (Potential or develop each count for half a point apiece.)

I know the three people reading this well enough that at least one thinks ESPN's the Sports Guy does this a lot better than I ever could...you're right, tall man. No shame to be influenced by him, consciously or not. The SG is kind of uneven these days, writing for a television show too and all, but you can count on him to hit at least two of the three entertaining things about the NBA draft--the player's suits (1) and their...for lack of a better word...accessories (2), which can range from color-coordinated posses to future NBA player-coordinated girlfriends. Dickau!

Funny stuff indeed, but a few chuckles can't sustain a 4-hour extravaganza. It's not NFL-long, but it's hard to watch the whole thing through...by the end you're so tired and confused and Marv Albert looks so much like your uncle that you're down under the couch hunting for the Afikoman, thinking it's Passover again. As a fan, the draft only really hits home when you've got the personal connection. The good local player waiting to be drafted, your favorite NBA team hoping to get that missing piece. Last year was perfect--I'd been Yao-za for Yao for Years, four Terps were in the mix to be picked, and the Wizards had the look of a contender in the NBDL/EC (National Basketball Developmental League/Eastern Conference). So Yao goes #1, awkward high-fives and all, and Dixon goes to the Wiz in the first round. Even overlooking that Wilcox (who?) was in the lottery, a fun draft to catch for a few minutes. This year...maybe U and Blake will get 2nd round nods, Nicholas and Randle too but no one who inspires Dixon-like devotion...the Wizards are a missing piece away from being two missing pieces away.

So here we are, many rambles later I finally have my own forum where no one can cut me off...and the draft just seems so pointless. Might as well get it over with.

MY OWN MOCK DRAFT BASED ON no SIGNIFICANT EXPERTISE

Pick 1. Cleveland - LeBron James. In his honor, and because nothing is sacred in sports, Cleve is given the old ho-ho and the city is renamed LeBronland. (or maybe Jamestown. I can see some funny copywriter at the Plain Dealer working that into a headline some day.)

Pick 2. Detroit - Darko Milicic. "Better than Dirk." Well, Pau was going to be better than Dirk and then Nik was going to be better than Pau. Way to ruin that counting set, Tsk tsk.

Pick 3. Denver - Carmelo Anthony. Hole in the local theory, but it's not like we go back to the hoods of Guilford or anything.

Pick 4. Toronto - Chris Bosh (probably).

Picks 5-9. - Don't really know

Pick 10. Washington - Washington's really drafting for some other team, but they don't know it yet, until the Wiz trade whoever this pick becomes and he becomes a star somewhere else. See Webber, Sheed, and soon-to-be Kwame.

Picks 11-49. - Don't really care.

Pick 50. Philadelphia - Ugonna Onyekwe. I'm feeling you, U.

More picks - Do you care?

Pick 56. Boston - Steve Blake. The "word" is they need a PG.

and two more bonus picks for staying until the end of the show. Though like the Matrix: Revolutions preview, sure to disappoint.

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Final thought...no one really calls people on missing terribly on predictions like sports drafts, but news networks get blasted for picking the wrong president. Screwed up priorities, no? Of all the rumormongers in the NBA, one of the worst has made his predictions for tomorrow. Take a look at the picks of Sam Smith, writer for the Chicago Tribune...I'll do you the favor of post-analyzing how close he comes.
- posted by DD @ 10:51 PM

 
Dan Diamond gets kind of a bad name on the internet. Hey, it's no one's fault but his own. And it's not like there aren't skeletons out there in Godzilla-loving Nick Hill's or 'lady-killer' Joe Muller's closet. Dammit, where did Joe Muller's webpage go...that scored a perfect 100 on the unintentional comedy scale. But let's face it: the DD name doesn't need this kind of publicity. Carrying this thing around is hard enough as it is.

What do you want to know? Screw that, who you do want to know? Pick any question these days, and there's a one-word answer--google.

No less an authority than the New York Times is now telling you that's it's morally ok to google someone you just went on a date with. Gee, thanks for putting my conscience to rest--it must have been the shame from googling people for four years in college that was keeping me up at night, not the time actually wasted on googling people.

But I've gotta say, that goofy contraption really opened up my eyes. Without it, I'd never have known that aimless Jake Moss has ambitions after all, or find out that Will Yeung's obssessive karaoke habit has finally paid off. (Speaking of the Sin-imon Bon, he's feeling the pressure over on Progressively Incomprehensible...two posts in one night Will? Who are you trying to outdo?) Rachel Adams is a more esoteric author that any of us could have guessed. And Emily Hoffman may be the coolest girl I've ever met.

So that leaves us with:
a champion motocross biker---a UK singing sensation---a travelogue writer---and a chick's who doing all three of those things.
Not too shabby. Look, we're all going to get googled anyway--you guys might as well bring laptops to dinner and MAKE your date look you up.

Me...I get the RPG-loving college dropout dude. Or the girl who's apparently seen me in the nude (I don't know where I know her from but she certainly seems to know me). It was the greatest day of my life when I found out that Dan Diamond was a "sportswriter"--but he writes about Hockey! Might as well pick Jai Alai while you're at it chief...I've been in DC a year and seen all of one Capitals highlight, or lowlight as the case may be.

I didn't say this explicitly on Sunday--though the two people who are looking at this site may already know--I despise blogs. Apparently, I'm not the only self-hater. Your typical blog is a boring person who rants about whatever dumb thing is annoying them and post links to all their friends. And pictures of cats. There are always pictures of cats. Hey, I know I'm toeing the line here.

So, like all heroic endeavors, and totally different from your typical self-absorbed blogger, I'm writing this against my will, for a noble, only slightly self-serving goal: to rescue the name of Dan Diamond on the internet. For the average Dan Diamonds who make America so great, from your doctors to your DJs. To make sure that there's a little more of Dan Diamond, future representative of the American government, and a lot less of Dan Diamond, PI, taking it from behind. I'm tired of everyone finding these embarassing websites all the time. How do people know where to look?

Or so I could just make us all laugh at crazy ol Matt Simon.

- posted by DD @ 7:42 PM

 
Testing, testing...can you hear me out there?

Maybe this post can get deleted in the future...but just in case...should probably put a little more meat on these bones.

First of all, considering that NotYourAverage.blogspot.com sets kind of a high bar for quality, that title is going to be out of here before you know it.

Having seen very few blogs(take web-log, shorten it down and you've got BLOG), it's quite likely that this will be the most average. Just another self-absorbed, unedited journal free to the public. (I promise not to put up pictures of cats or link to star trek websites though). The only blog I regularly enjoy is college buddy Will's"Progressive Impromptu"--you could make the argument for "Today's Links" but it's really just an online basketball column, albeit a very good and self-aware one.

So what's the protocol with starting a blog? Your first day of work, you're trotted around the office...first day of college, maybe you spend an awkward day walking around the dorm. But in those places, nobody knows you--those are the rules if you want any play. Do I even have to introduce myself here? The first few readers of this blog--who will probably be the last few readers--are going to come from the pool of

a)people who already know me
and from that
b)those who have regular internet access
and further
c)care enough to browse to yet another website I've sent them

So my regular readership is going to be about 3: my mom, my dad, and Randy (though I'm not too confident about mom). And they already know me pretty well. In fact, I'll do you guys a favor and tell you to stop reading--I'll let you know when there's something new and different up here.

as a WARNING: I write by profession. I am not a professional writer, though--read any good book and you'll see the difference between "author" and "white collar worker who slops together research briefs." It should be obvious by now what camp I fall into. While I'd love you to suffer through me regularly, I'm not twisting your arm to come back. Frankly, I always lose my journals...just needed something that wasn't going anywhere. The internet, being kind of nowhere and everywhere...well, it fits the bill. Welcome to my blog. We're glad to have you.
- posted by DD @ 1:24 AM