YES, BUT HOW CAN YOU AVOID THAT TIE-UP ON THE NJ TURNPIKE SOUTH BEFORE THE MERGE AROUND EXIT 8A? Echoing thoughts I've advanced here before, Charles Passy argues that the just-concluded National Geographic Bee is a more meaningful competition than the Spelling Bee:

True, spelling is a gateway to understanding language, but what possible value is there to knowing how to spell "appoggiatura" (a musical embellishment) and "pococurante" (an indifferent person), to name two of the more recent winning words? By contrast, knowing about Cuba or Russia means knowing about Communism, the political ideology that has informed much of America's foreign policy in the past half-century.

And yet the spelling bee continues to receive all the attention. Perhaps that's because spelling is a tantalizingly easy concept to grasp. You either spell a word right or you don't. The answers are all in the dictionary.

Geography, on the other hand, asks more. But it offers more in return: to know the world is to know how to make it a better place, from a path to peace in war-torn regions to a promise to conserve our planet's natural resources.

Regardless of the merits of the above, this is Spelling Bee Week, and, yes, Shonda's coming back for another year of our live coverage.

IT WAS A BALL, IT WAS A BLAST: I finally got around to seeing the much-acclaimed Dirty Rotten Scoundrels last night, and that's some good stuff. Nice to see a traditional, not particularly meta-theatrical (though it has its share of meta) musical comedy on the boards. In particular, snaps are due to Norbert Leo Butz, who won a much-deserved Tony last year for playing Freddy (the Steve Martin part). What's truly impressive about Butz is his range--not only in the show, where he's got the show-stopping quasi-rap number "Great Big Stuff" but also manages to sing a gorgeous ballad, sending up both Broadway and pop music conventions, called "Love Is My Legs," but generally--he plays a vulgar idiot so amazingly effectively here, but his prior roles (as a vengeful ghost in Thou Shalt Not, he was the best thing about that mess, and originating the thankless part of Fiyero in Wicked, he gets to play a traditional leading man). Two nits to pick, though:

• The show is a bit too long. running about 2:45. The show could easily have been brought down to 2:15-2:20 simply by cutting a lengthy and spurious subplot between a wealthy widow and a sidekick character. Maybe I would have felt diferently if Joanna Gleason, whom I love, had still been in the female part, but this subplot felt like a distraction from the narrative thrust of the show. There's also a small early subplot involving an oil heiress from Oklahoma that's a bit tacked on, but it does move the main plot forward.
• Structurally, the show suffers from the problem that its best and biggest number comes early in Act I ("Great Big Stuff"), and while there are decent production numbers thereafter ("Here I Am," "Love Is My Legs"), and some solid songs ("Nothing Is Too Wonderful To Be True," "Dirty Rotten Number"), it never reaches that height again, rendering the show a tad anti-climactic.

Still, if you want to laugh a lot, have your toes tap a lot, and maybe even learn a lesson along the way, it's one of the best readily available options in NYC.

FUNNIEST TRAMPOLINE-RELATED VIDEO SINCE TRAMPOLINE BEAR: Seriously, friends, do not attempt to play Trampoline Basketball.

(I laughed so much I started crying. Then it stopped being funny for a few seconds. Then it got funny again. Via Deadspin.)

WHO AM I? WHAT AM I DOING HERE? So I'm having a bit of an identity crisis. For the last several months, my posts here have focused on a number of television shows, a little theatre, a little celebrity babynaming, and a little restauranting. But now, with Memorial Day looming, summertime is nearly upon us. The TV season is going into hiatus, no new shows will be opening over the next few months, nearly all of the pregnant celebrities have finished spawning for the 2006 season, and, well, I guess I can still talk about food.

In short, unless I come up with something new to talk about this summer, my repertoire is likely to consist of So You Think You Can Dance, cultural analysis of the 17 different Starbucks (is the plural of Starbucks "Starbucks" or "Starbuckses"?) within walking distance of my apartment, whatever weird grammatical and spelling nuances capture my attention (see prior note re Starbucks), and my thoughts on the Firefly and Veronica Mars DVDs I've been saving for this summer. Anything else anyone would like to suggest, be my guest.

SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL: NBC has done big reshuffling of their fall schedule. High points:

• Studio 60 to Mondays at 10 from Thursdays at 9. (And many breathe a sigh of relief, as giving up What About Brian? is a lot easier than giving up Grey's.)
• Law and Order: CI to Tuesdays at 9 from from Fridays at 10.
• 20 Good Years and 30 Rock swap timeslots with The Biggest Loser on Wednesdays, so the sitcoms will lead off the night, Kidnapped now on Wednesdays at 10.
• Deal or No Deal goes into the Thursday night 9 PM death slot.
• Crossing Jordan returns in the fall on Fridays at 8, with Law and Order surprisingly banished to Fridays at 10.
• Scrubs still being held for midseason, with Medium joining it on the bench.

The most interesting thing is that NBC (wisely, in my view) is going with disposable programming in the 9 PM Wednesday and Thursday slot rather than trying to compete on a prestige level in those nasty timeslots, and seems to be giving L&O a none-too-dignified trip toward the grave.

ALL OF HIS LIFE HE HAS RESISTED THE TUG OF ATTAINABLE LOVE: The New York Daily News asserts that "attainable hot" is the new "hot." Among those listed as "attainable hot" are Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan, Ashley Williams, Amanda Bynes, Laura Prepon, Sara Ramirez, and Jenna Fischer (or at least the characters they play on TV). If that's "attainable hot," I'll take it.

EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOU: According to a scientific study, eating chocolate may well boost your brain functions. Guess I need to sit down with a Hershey bar and play some Brain Age this afternoon.