We're in the New York Times!

"If the spelling bee final on Oct. 17 is anything like the twice-monthly bees that have preceded it, the room will be packed. The air will be warm and thick with anticipation, not to mention the smell of beer."

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee is in today's Thursday style section! If you pick up a print edition, there is a color photo of Josh Malamy and Jonathan Lill, the two contestants who happened to respond to my last-minute email that the Times wanted people to come to Pete's for a photo.

"A new kind of bee has emerged, one where participants tackle baffling words between flirty smiles and sips of Yuengling."

Are you guys drinking Yuengling?

The Night Life of Bees

October 3 - last regular season bee before the finals

Last chance to qualify for the finals!

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee
Monday, October 3
7pm signup, 7:30 competition
Pete's Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St. (map)

TimeOut really will be filming this time. They'll just be there for a little bit in the beginning.

Important: Will you be competing in the finals?

If you have already placed in the top three of a spelling bee this season, we need you to please pre-register for the finals on October 17 (if, indeed, you will be competing).

To do that, all you have to do is email jen(insert appropriate preposition here)jenisfamous.com with these answers:

Name:
Age:
Profession:
Which bee did you place in (approximate is fine):
How do you feel about your chances in the finals?

(All the finals contestants will be listed here on the blog!)

October 17 Finals - a few preparatory notes

The finals will begin promptly at 7:30pm on October 17th. Contestants -- please arrive early to secure a seat! We would reserve seats, but most people bring friends and want to sit with them, so we suggest just showing up in time to grab some real estate before it's gone. We expect a packed house.

For those of you not competing in the finals, never fear! We are putting on a show! Spectacular, spectacular! In between rounds of the finals, we will have short, silly audience participation contests for which anyone may volunteer -- for instance, spelling backwards, or spelling a long sentence under a time limit. So even if you are not competing, this is an event not to be missed!

Also, our own bobbyblue will open the bee with the Williamsburg Spelling Bee theme song. I'll bet some of you didn't even know we had a theme song.

We expect the bee to last until about 10pm, after which there will be live entertainment.

After the finals, we will take the next alternating Monday (which is Halloween) off, and then begin Season Three on November 14th. On non-spelling Mondays, you may also enjoy show and tell.

September 22, 2005 spelling bee recap

The spelling bee tonight was charming! It was a full room but not overly packed, with fourteen contestants (we'll take up to twenty if people sign up in time, but with twenty, I have to rush things a bit).

The bee was won decisively by Mr. Josh Malamy (also winner of the August 22 bee), who brought his mother and aunt to watch. He spelled a fantastic array of words correctly, including "chaffinch" and "lepidopterologist." Spellers Jean and Annie took second and third place, respectively. Annie actually conquered in a runoff for third, thus achieving a particularly hard-won sandwich.

bobbyblue and I did a bit of bantering about the sandwiches at Pete's (third place winner gets a free sandwich) and why it is that panini sandwiches become better because they've been pressed. Do we really want our sandwiches denser and flatter? I theorized that it was related to the desire to smush Wonderbread into dough when you're a kid -- pressing is great! Pressing greatly adds to the desirability of bread products. Mmmn, Wonderdough.

Josh may soon be moving to Chicago, where he is thinking of starting up his own spelling bee. I have given my blessing to this project. We could have a sister spelling bee!

At some point during the bee, I made remarks about spellers uniting to form a giant Voltron Speller. I really can't remember the context. I have no idea why I said this.

Spelly-spellers, unite!

Next installment: tomorrow!

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee

Monday, Sept. 19
Pete's Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St. in Williamsburg
www.petescandystore.com
7:30pm, signup 7:15pm
FREE