(believe/don't believe) the hype

This story was the third link down on espn.com's hot headlines at one point this evening. I love the buzz, of course, and I'm more hopeful than anybody that the production will exceed the publicity, but it's pretty laughable. Crosby making some nice plays in a non-contact scrimmage against guys who in three weeks will be lucky to be playing in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is just news for news's sake. It's times like these that I like to remind myself that Sid's landlord/left wing/check-signer won two Stanley Cups at a time when each and every playoff game was broadcast only on regional television.

Best press exchange thus far occurred when Mario was asked if Sid would be allowed to have girls over, and he replied that he would, but "No sleepovers."

Those pictures look ungood

I'm not going to take them down, but do excuse the low quality scans below. I'm not sure why they uploaded so poorly. They don't look that bad at flickr. Could it be a symptom of dial-up?

One: Indicator #1 of Lameness or the Exact Opposite

Every week, when I take the recycling bin out to the roadside, I put the tequila bottle(s) and beer bottles on top of the pop cans and milk jugs and detergent bottles. I turn the labels upward. My specific intent is to induce the municipal collectors to say to themselves, "Hey, they have a lot of fun."

Two: Virginia: You Are Two (Sunday)

You are a uniquely delightful creature, both superlatively adorable and uncannily mischievous.

Four: Four Films Confirmed, One Not Yet Confirmed

Next Friday night I'm driving up to Toronto to spend the last day of TIFF with some friends. Well, and we'll be seeing movies. Here are the shows I'm confirmed to see, provided I can avoid getting horrendously lost before or between screenings:

9/17
9:30 a.m. The Wayward Cloud
12:00 p.m. All the Invisible Children
2:45 p.m. L'Enfant
9:15 p.m. The Porcelain Doll

I'm going to do everything I can to get in to a 6:30 p.m. show of Ferrara's Mary.

I'm excited for a bunch of reasons. I've been wanting to see the Dardenne film for too long and I'll enjoy having the chance to see some friends and meet new ones. But I'm fairly perplexed at the thought of seeing five full-length films in one day. I haven't really binged like that too often. It's like ordering a huge pizza all for yourself.

Six: Ruby: You Are Six

Last night we told Ruby she could pick any restaurant for a birthday meal, provided that she didn't choose either McDonald's or Chuck E. Cheese. To our surprise and delight, she said without hesitation that she wanted to go to abay, to which we had taken her and her sisters last winter. We had a great time. Then she threw up on the car ride home.

we are winning

Ali's Grandma Pearl presents eight year-old Leah with a snazzy, shiny red purse on the occasion of her beginning third grade.

GRANDMA PEARL: It's Mary-Kate and Ashley's!
LEAH: (perplexed) But it looks new.