Dilettantes and the News

Ever since Arvin Sloane on Alias called that one guy(you know, the guy he beat to death with a rambaldi artifact) a "dilettante", I have seen the word twice. Is this just an example of that phenomenon where you become aware of something and then all of a sudden see it everywhere -- it was there before, but now you happen to be aware of it? Does this new and interesting word qualify as news? As an educated U.S. human, am I supposed to know what this word means? Well, dictionary.com defines "dilettante" as a synonym for "amateur". A dilettante is a dabbler in something who isn't serious about it. It is another word used by people who are established in a particular interest or field of study to use against people who aren't as established. It's a word that doesn't need to exist.

Thank you for reading my dilettantish efforts at writing. I'm just an amateur, I'm not cool like real writers.

THE NEWS:

A daily suicide bombing in Iraq, this time as the "new Iraqi government" did something that was supposedly big. Didn't Iraq just get a new government last week? And the week before that? Is this a 30-step process? Could I be more ignorant?

This brain-damaged patient all-of-a-sudden woke up. Hmm. I don't know what this means, but it could be important.

Finally, a computer virus that attacks the dregs of society! Seriously, if you know any soccer fans...wait, nobody knows any soccer fans. Sorry, Pete -- don't you play soccer or something? That story was for you, then.

In sports, Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was hit with the biggest coach-fine ever, $100,000, for saying that he was recently told by an "unnamed referee friend" that playoff refs are "looking harder at Yao" because of complaints to the league office from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Of course, this is just him trying to use the media to get better calls, which many coaches have done in the past. However, by introducing the concept of "my referee friend told me this" and not telling the NBA who that referee is, Van Gundy may have gotten himself into some sort of lifetime ban situation. The NBA takes things like referee integrity and privacy very seriously, and Van Gundy should have thought of this before saying something so stupid. If he had left his theoretical ref buddy out of it and just said, "The refs have changed the way they call the game, and are calling more fouls on Yao since game 3," nobody would have cared or noticed, especially since it's not true. I'll be following this story closely, but for now the usually unreliable Mark Stein makes some good points about it here, if you're interested.

Dilettante Pape. Sounds like a good name for a first born. It could be either a boy or a girl name, it doesn't matter. The only potential problem I see is the nickname: "Dil."

Linkin Park will soon be writing the word "slave" on each of their foreheads and changing their name to a rune-looking symbol, if this impasse with WB records keeps up.

Look for "FKBK" clothing to appear in stores soon, causing many question marks to form over the heads of shoppers. But seriously (sort of), Former President Bill Clinton has decided to fight a different kind of war: A war against fat kids. And this war won't cost us anything except fat.

I've got a philosophical question: If there were a celebrity that was famous for just being famous, and that had no discernable talent, and she suddenly became very popular for no reason, would he powers that be in the entertainment industry even notice if everyone got tired of her, or would they keep giving her roles in movies and TV? After "House of Wax" fails, we may get our answer.