Every now and then, an item hits eBay’s online auction listings that captures the imagination of people across the world. Sometimes it’ll have religious connotations, like the piece of toast that featured the likeness of God. Other times, it’ll be a biological issue, like the people regularly removed for trying to sell body parts, or sperm.

Today’s eBay buzz?

That brown dress.

The wearer is Melissa Lima, wife of Jose Lima, New York Mets pitcher. He sang the national anthem not long ago, and his wife stood next to him for the duration.

Nobody remembers Jose. Everybody remembers Melissa. Couldn’t say why.

Bidding as of the time of writing was 2, though some 75,000 people have viewed the page. I wonder why…

In other news, if you’ve ever wondered what pitchers were talking about when they discuss their mechanics, and release points, and that kind of thing, this website is something you should totally go look at. This blogger has taken video footage of Mark Mulder over the last three seasons – from his last season in Oakland in 2004, to the beginning of his problems in 2004, to his most recent turn before hitting the DL (again) – and the footage tells a thousand stories.

It takes a while to load, but load it you should. Load and learn.

I’m working on an end of season recap, but I’ve been on planes, buses and trains almost continually since Friday afternoon on a business trip, taking me through Nevada, Texas, Utah and Washington state, and during that time I have been pegged for the supposedly ‘random’ physical search three times in six flights, interrogated for 45 minutes once, and had my bags screened at least eight different times.

Despite all of that, and with new rules in place banning liquids, creams and gels on all flights, I somehow managed to hide a tube of toothpaste that nobody has yet detected, even though the contents of my hand luggage have been emptied at three different security checkpoints.

It was either hide the stuff, or buy a new tube every eight hours, or go for four days without brushing my teeth, so I went the hidey option. And for all the security checks I’ve had to endure in that time, nobody has found the thing yet.

Did I mention that I don’t think I’m going to bother trying to enter the US ever again? Security, my ass. This is nothing more than window dressing designed to scare and annoy the general population into believing that something is being done to protect them, and I, frankly, have no intention of ever again having to ‘prove’ to a border guard that I’m not a terrorist, just so I can catch a flight to Vegas and talk to a client for two hours.

If the terrorists truly ‘hate use for our freedoms’ (they don’t, but let’s pretend), then isn’t removing all of our freedoms by choice, in essence, handing them victory? It’s five years since 9/11, and not only is the guy that planned that attack still alive, but I’m not allowed to take underarm deodorant with me to Salt Lake City.

Somewhere in Pakistan, a guy named Osama is pointing at me and saying "owned".