Rants and Other Like Stuff

If any of you thought for an instant that I'd actually get a website without a place to rant, you obviously don't know me at all. This is for my rants, updates on my life (if there are any), comments on latest comics and solicitations and links to anything I find interesting or hilariously amusing.

***

Rant #5 (13/4/05) - I've Found My Black Tom Look-Alike!

    I can't remember who suggested it, but someone was putting up their ideal casting for another X-Men movie and mentioned Jason Carter as Black Tom. Of course, for the most part I blew off the idea (who'd cast Brad Pitt as Banshee?), but just to fulfill my fangirlishness I did a search on Mr. Carter.

    Sweet lawd on a pogostick with a banjo! The resemblance is uncanny! And he's hot, too...;) While I may be opposed to the idea of seeing the Charismatic Cassidy onscreen (I have my reasons), I'd still give myself a heart attack if ever I did see Jason Carter play Sir Tom. It's creepy, is what it is...

   Mmm, Tomness...He's kinda creepy AND sexy!

***

Rant #4 (13/4/05) - Music in My Life

    For those of you who didn't watch American Idol last night, or didn't stick around to watch a certain blonde nerd sing his soul out, I'm sorry. Because he was simply the sexiest thing I've ever seen on that show. He gave me chills.

    Anthony Fedorov, after two mediocre weeks, brought it home. Mmm, hmm! Wonderful!

    In other music related news, Sister Hazel released their acoustic renditions of five 'Lift' songs. For the most part it's divine. I think "Firefly", a song I was originally skeptical about, got the most benefits of being acoustic. "All About the Love" was a bit too much on the bluegrass side, but all the songs were fun. The only problem I have is that the band doesn't seem to have a much punch as acoustics. The songs are all lovely, but they almost all have the same tone. It seems Sis. Hazel has mistaken 'acoustic' with 'soft and tender'.

    Not that there's any problem with that.

***

Rant #3 (28/3/05) - Some Incredibly Stupid Tom and Cain Pictures

    I have no idea where either of these pictures came from. I think Lia told me where the first one came from when she sent it to me (love you Lia!), but having a bad memory, I promptly forgot. Something with Venom or something.

    Anyway, I think I have two of the best Black Tom and/or Juggernaut pictures ever drawn saved right here to me computer. So why not share?

    Oh, right, because all arguments about why Black Tom is such a hottie are INSTANTLY nullified upon looking at this picture. Wow...that kind of mess takes serious talent. I'm not sure which scares me more, the hair, the creepily disfigured neck, or the fact that those aren't sunglasses. Would that they were.

    And yes, that is the only time Tom's ever had a tattoo. I think it's freaky that he's suddenly connected to the Yakuza too, but hey...

    Normally I wouldn't be complaining. He just randomly showed up shirtless in Juggernaut's room without explanation. Under any other artist I'd be thrilled.

    I just don't know what to make out of this one.

    On another entirely different note, if the page looks cluttered...well, it is. As soon as I get five rants up here, I'll start a linked page for them, I swear. It wouldn't do to have a gargantuan block of text with some awkward pictures scattered all over, would it?

    Even pictures as adowwable as this. ;)

End Ramble,

~Patchy-SheCat

***

Rant #2 (20/3/05) - BT&J Theory (Alias the 'Just-Because-I-Think-They-Loved-Each-Other-Doesn't-Mean-I-Think-They-Had-Rabid-Weasel-Sex-Every-Ten-Minutes' Rant)

    Well, this rant was inspired by several things. First, my brain was entirely congested with rants, and I felt I ought to let some of it out. Second, what with my most interesting homework assignment being an essay on Ernest Meyer's contribution to the science of plants, my brains were leaking out my ears. Third, I broke up with my boyfriend, I feel guilty as hell about it, and I need a distraction. Fourth, my artistic muses have fled. They're somewhere on a hilltop pointing at me and laughing sadistically. Fifth, I recently got into an online argument about the nature of love and sex in couples, and felt the argument applied to someone else's comment to me about Tom/Cain.

    That would be a rant within a rant up there, in case you didn't catch it.

    As many of you know, I'm a gay rights activist. This is largely because I believe that love shouldn't know the boundaries of gender. It's also partly because I think that banning same-sex marriage is simply a further way of discriminating against people, and that discrimination is a detriment to our societies as a whole. And it's partly because I'm an atheist, and can believe whatever the hell I want. Atheism knows no religious doctrine. Therefore it is a 'freelance religion', which allows me to form my own beliefs on any given subject, from the sanctity of human life to the validity of homosexual romance. My beliefs on ethics and morals are based on how I think my actions and thoughts both benefit me and benefit society, equally. I'm not downplaying the beneficial effects of other religions, but I found atheism is the right path for me, personally.

    Anyway. I bet you're wondering how my atheism relates back to Tom/Cain. I'll be honest that it doesn't. But I wanted to explain myself.

    As I mentioned earlier in the second Really Big Paragraph, I don't think love is limited by the boundaries of gender. I also don't think love is mediated by sex. This was the argument I had with another poster, where they excused Gambit's infidelity (which I highly disliked) by saying something to the extent of 'a man needs sex'. This insulted me, as I had always held to the moral doctrine of chastity, and that human urges could be overcome by respect for your significant other.

    The poster followed this up by stating that only poets and romantics believed that the physical didn't matter in a relationship. I suppose that makes me a romantic, because I believe that sex and physical intimacy reinforce a relationship, they do not define it. Granted, aspects of a relationship can be created by sex (like dominancy, security, and the most obvious, KIDS), but I think love is defined by the brains of a human, not the genitals. Maybe it's because I'm young and immature. Or it could be because the romantic doctrine is my dogma.

    I'm getting to Tom/Cain, I swear.

    In a friendlier debate, another poster defended their belief in Cain and Tom's heterosexuality by stating that 'Neither Tom nor Cain has ever acted upon or expressed desire to sleep with men, only with women'. This was intended to negate my stance as a Tom/Cain supporter. However, this was simply an error in translation between us posters. I don't think either character engaged in homosexual activities. What I think of when I refer to Tom/Cain is simply one step above strong friendship - the bond between true soulmates.

    That is BT&J theory: the belief that true love can be found without sensuality, family connection or romance - that friendship surpasses the standards and evolves into a more-than-brotherly type of bond.

    This will not, of course, stop me from making Tom/Cain sex jokes at any opportune moment for the sake of pissing off Johnny Demonic. That's just too hard to resist.

    End Rant.

~Patchy-SheCat
 

***

Rant #1 (21/10/04)  - How bleeding hard it is to use a friggin' computer.

    Normally, I'm fine with computers. Namely, I can use Word, Paint and Excel, and if I'm lucky I can trek my way through a Powerpoint presentation. I've figured out how to use email (something my mother has yet to do) and I started thinking to myself - why not make a website?

    Duh-errrr. 1) I'm using Frontpage. 2) I know nothing about making websites. 3) I'm using bleeding Frontpage. 4) It'll be about random, useless stuff like my obsession with Tom Cassidy and 5) I'm using Frontpage.

    Of course, being me, the first thing I do is tell myself I can do anything. Such is the price of being an egomaniac. I should have learned my lesson last time when I tried to figure out how to make Speech-Bubbles on Photoshop (haven't figured it out yet). Then again, as a techno-retard, apparently I don't learn quickly.

    So I make myself a site. My sailor's mouth goes into overdrive as I try to figure out the strange ritual used to make a 'hy-per-link'. I nearly knock myself silly with X-Men: The Ultimate Guide as I have to remake all my art pages because my thumbnails are defective. Then, I forget what I'm doing, wander off to read my Maverick series, and return to think - what music was I listening to when I made this? And why has the effect worn off so soon?

    In the end, I turned up the Primitive Radio Gods/Five For Fighting/Joni Mitchell/Sister Hazel mix track I have on, and just got my butt back in front of the computer and fixed the art gallery. And the fanfiction gallery. And it was exhausting.

    What do I have to show for my work? An easy-to-copy, idiot-proof history of Black Tom Cassidy. And that makes it worth it .

    End Rant.

~Patchy-SheCat

***