The Diamonds and Studs are a North San Diego County Country& Western dance team under the direction of Lynda Robinson. The team has been together since the early 90s, and performs at local events and competitions.


This is the team in 1998 after a performance at the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe in Vista. From left to right: Sam Fernandez*, Marilyn Harris, Marlene Lockhart, Debbie Dunn*, Veronica and Frank Gordon*, Susie Armstrong, Keith Marzullo, Jackie and Little John Basset*. Missing are Charlyn, Linda, and Patti White, Jay Hammerer, Roxanne Jones, Carolyn Pfaffenberger, Gail Ferrell, and director Lynda Robinson.

Test: identify the ex-marine, the hula dancer, the salad dressing magnate, the vice-president of a major local high-tech company, the orchid expert, the marathon runner, the miniature dollhouse manufacturer, the one with a tattoo of a pig in an unusual location (think "cheek"), and the one with a tattoo of a duck in the same unusual location? 


Del Mar Fair, 1998. Left to right: Keith, Jay, Little John, Frank.

Test: identify the two US Marines, the British Marine, and the guy who was happy he didn't get drafted? 


We were a "Solo A" large team (we don't touch each other and we're better than novice but not as good as AA). Record when in this division: Pismo Beach 1996 (fourth in division), Pismo Beach 1997 (second in division), Las Vegas 1997 (second in division), Pismo Beach 1998 (first in division), Las Vegas 1998 (first in division), Pismo Beach 1999 (first in division), Las Vegas 1999 (first in division), Pismo Beach 2000 (first in division).

This last win pushed us up to AA. We'll see how we do... We competed in Las Vegas 2000 and didn't place. There were dark mutters of unfair grouping of teams.

This dancin' is serious business. Don't even think of makin' fun of those purty blue shirts.


Taken during a performance of Diamonds and Studs at Leo's Little Bit O' Country in San Marcos, July, 1995. This bar is now called the North County Sports Club and the dancehall is called They Asylum. C&W Dancing has recently become even more of a marginal activity, ranked with clogging and contra dancing. The best place to go within a reasonable drive is up in Temecula at the Stampede, where you can still ride a mechanical bull as well as drink bad beer and hear some good live music every now and then.
 

When I lived in Ithaca, I was initially timid about wearing a string tie in public thinking that my friends would make fun of me. When I finally tried wearing one, I found the truth darker: people avoided eye contact while having a vaguely troubled look on their face, and refused to mention it. I concluded that Easterners consider wearing a string tie a sign of a mental defect, or perhaps an indication that one belongs to a dangerous cult.
 

Jeremy Sussman, native New Yorker, notes: "If I had seen someone wearing a string tie when I was living back East, I would have thought 'Why is this guy trying to look like Colonel Sanders?'"