darwin8, lookup issue

Apologies if this is too off-base, working with a fresh darwin801 
install.. ncutil doesn't work just yet, so I'm limping around.  As I 
tried to pull darwinports down, I got a lookup error.  I tried adding a 
dns entry to /etc/resolv.conf.  No luck.  Auto-conf'd bind and started 
it.  Now I can dig darwinports.. but I still can't curl anything unless 
I put the IP address in the url.  Any ideas appreciated.  And Jeff 
Frey, I salute you and beckon you to the battlefield.

Cheers,
Winston