The bidding really heated up at one point...aka, the house later burned down

My pal John sent me this link, to a borderline nuts, borderline sweet story about the family who tried to make millions selling Madonna's childhood home on eBay 10 years ago.

I remember they contacted me for advice, but can't recall what I told them. (You can see one of the brothers reading my Encyclopedia Madonnica in one fuzzy picture.)

The site of Madonna's live birth

I can't quite sign off on the film's assertion that the whacky bids they received all failed to materialize strictly due to 9/11 or get into the sadness that their 15 minutes of fame flew by so quickly. Also, the narrator (one of the brothers in the family) claims eBay was a relatively new thing then, but it wasn't really. I've been a member since 1998 and it was launched in 1995.

Still, it's a pleasant way to pass a few minutes if you can tear yourself away from leaving pro or con comments about Britney's pink dress all over the blogosphere.