The Cubs: Oh, what do I say, what do I say? What a year, what a season! I have not had this much fun in such a long time. People got together at homes, and bars, and anywhere else, and cheered on their Cubbies. They played so well, and then it all fell apart, and reminded us how life doesn’t always give us everything we want.

Okay, that sucked. Why can this team fall apar when you're only 5 outs away? 5! That's nothing! They did it time and time again this year. Are they that bad? Were they pretending this entire time? What happened to taking 2 out of 3 from the Yankees? Division champs? 3 from the 101-game winning Braves? 3-1 against the Marlins?

Did they get cocky? Did they think they had it all wrapped up and got lazy? Were they just young and inexperienced? Is God a White Sox fan and just wanted to beat up on us some more?

And I've been sooooo good not to mention Mr. Steve Bartman, the poor unfortunate fellow who got on the wrong side of a line drive to Left Field. My friend Matt is ready to kill this guy if he doesn't kill himself first. There has been a vicious argument all day about this guy, on whether he's the goat or not. The better angels of my nature want to exonerate him, saying that it was the Cubs that fell apart not him. But man oh man. Just look at where everything went wrong.

Okay, on to other matters.

Belle and Sebastian - "Dear Catastrophe Waitress."

One of the best albums I have bought this year. B&S have kind of sucked lately; they haven't released anything really, really memorable since "Arab Strap" or at least the "Modern Rock Song" EP. Losing Stuart David and Isobel Campbell seemed a serious blow to their creativity, as their last albums lacked the soaring melodic brilliance of their earlier albums.

"Waitress" puts my fears to rest, though. A different album than ones past, this one seems rooted more in a tighter, rock band sound than the happy chamber pop they used to perform. "I'm a Cuckoo" sounds just like Thin Lizzy and doesn't shy away from admitting it. The harpsichord and strings from "Fold your Hands, Child" have been replaced by more guitars and horns. Stuart Murdoch has stopped singing about isolated girls named Judy and Lisa and has starting singing about himself. Specifically, he seems to really open up about his break-up with former band member Isobel.

Is this really true? Were they really an item through most of the early days of Belle and Sebastian? The band played so much with truth and fiction that I could never tell. I guess if you dig deep enough many of the "stories" were true, but I'm glad that Stuart has picked up, moved on, and has learned how to turn out a quality album with memorable songs for once.

Go Red Sox.

I'm watching the Cubs beat up on the Marlins in the National League Championship on the day that Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California. To say that today is a day of "I never thought that would happen" events is an understatement.

This is a very uninspired first entry for this blog, but I'm basically just checking to see if it's working or not. I'm not sure why I created this thing. It'll most likely become yet another format for my poor ramblings that exists for a few weeks and then falls away and dies like so many of my other Brilliant Projects. I have about a dozen short stories, plays, and essays that have about a dozen pages to them total. I am a notorious beginner of projects, but I also lack the discipline to finish them. And now I'm inviting whomever is reading this to watch.

Enough. This is what's on my mind:

I can't stand that new Sprint cell phone commercial, where the slovenly bushy-haired Dave Grohl-ish guy is feeding his mustard-stained face while some girl sits a few stools away from him and takes his picture, then sends it to a)her friend, and b) his girlfriend. (They happen to be the same person.) The fact that two late-teen individuals are hanging out having lunch in a diner doesn't bother me so much, even though it just doesn't seem very likely. No, it's a matter of language. The girl says the phrase "I'm taking a picture of your new boyfriend," or something like that, and then says, "Don't you just love your new boyfriend?" The repeated use of the phrase "your new boyfriend" right next to each other really, really bothers me. Why? Because it's a junior high mistake, that's why! Plus that guy in the black coat really freaks me out. And I don't really get why the ability to take pictures with your phone is such a big deal.

The Cubs just scored again, and now it's 12-2. It may be scandalous to say that this balances the scales on the whole "We Invaded Iraq and Really Fucked It All Up" thing, karma-wise. Hmm, nahh, it doesn't.