Explanation: Addendum

So Emily posted a large part of the reason for the name of this blog. And the story she tells is very accurate, but there is a small part that is missing from the explanation.

This is not to say that Emily is wrong in any way (lord please don't get me on record saying she is wrong, because that COULDN'T happen). but maybe that there is a miniscule detail that she may have neglected to mention.

** SPOILER WARNING **

The most important detail of the NAME Rant, is the origin story of the book.  As Emily mentioned, it is a very entertaining book, that falls apart at the end.  But the  reason that Buster Casey is called Rant is because of the local church Halloween party.

When Buster, an enterprising young lad of age 10 or 11(details escape me, its been 6 months since I read it) heard that the local church haunted house event would require Cow's Eyeballs, Brains, and Pig Hearts, he was thoroughly disappointed to discover that through the magic of parental lies, the incredible tactile sensation that they had grown up with, was all a lie.  Peeled grapes, jello, and cooked spaghetti were the explanation that broke his heart with the same force of discovering dear Santa was just a figment.  So the following year, when he became rich through a scheme too long to recount here, he decides to go the the butcher in the next town over.  As you can imagine, the bloody mess that ensues that Halloween is visceral.  The image of the blood and gore on the freshly stripped church floors (hardwood of course), is compounded by the reactionary regurgitation of all of the members of the congregation.  And the sound that they all made... repeatedly.

This is how Buster "Rant" Casey, got his name.  

and this is why I don't want to buy a Verizon "Rant" phone.

Explanations

So it's a new year and time to start things anew. Like water aerobics. No, not really. But it's time to get this blog rolling. Or ranting. Thus, I will start the year with the explanation. An introduction to the title. Would a rant by any other name be as scary?

As the subtitle says, it is a tribute to the book Rant and the lasting effects it has had on Jeff. Rant is a book by Chuck Palahniuk that came out in 2007. Jeff and I read it when we went to Lake Tahoe this summer. (We stayed on the Nevada side, to the north of the lake). The book is the biography of "Rant" Buster Casey, one of the world's deadliest serial killers. Palahniuk uses a stream of consciousness style expressed by multiple characters that interacted with Rant Casey. The book is very dark and infused with a morbid sense of humor. It falls apart at the end though.

*Spoiler Alert*

Basically Rant loves to "play" with animals, snakes, all things gross and nasty. He gets rabies. Never treats it. And then proceeds to spread the rabies. Creates a biological nightmare larger than AIDS. And then it gets weird. Palahniuk incorporates this time travel shift where the grandfather is the father is the son all trying to live forever. So you unleash a world destroying communicable disease (the world is already on the brink of post-apocalyptic chaos but believable in the science fiction realm), but you and the people you chose to bring with you can have everlasting life. Like I said, it falls apart at the end.

It was very disturbing.

A few weeks ago, Jeff and I were watching tv, and a commercial for the new Rant phone came on. I didn't think anything of it, but after the commercial ended, Jeff said. I will never see the word Rant the same way again.

And there it is. Books affect us. Art affects us. So I borrowed a little language from Willie, and put my own spin on it. But isn't that where art comes from?

Guns don't kill people, Idiots with guns kill people

I apologize ahead of time for the serious nature of this particular blog. While I may write other blogs that contain serious topics, I also plan on writing blogs that are light-hearted and fun. But this is my rant...

So Thanksgiving weekend provided solid evidence that guns don't kill people, idiots with guns kill people.

Take the Toys 'R' Us shooting. You have two people who have a beef with each other take LOADED GUNS to a TOY STORE filled with CHILDREN. These two people end up shooting and killing each other in front of who knows how many people. First idiotic move, bringing a loaded gun with you to shop. I mean, why the hell do you need a loaded gun with you while you shop???

The next example doesn't involve a death, at least not of a life, maybe just a career. Plaxico Burress signed a five (or seven) year contract worth 35 million dollars at the beginning of the season. While out on the town "nursing his hamstring," his gun falls down his pants and goes off, sending a bullet through his leg. He them proceeds to try to cover this up. A) he has a loaded gun stuffed in his pants B) the safety is not on C) he does not have a permit for the gun D) he tries to cover all this up by providing a false name at the hospital E) the doctor treating him goes along with that plan (yet another idiot) F) and I don't even know what to say here except if I was making 5-7 million dollars a year, I would hire a bodyguard to carry my gun if I thought I needed one.

Ah, but these are only two examples that made it into the mainstream media over Thanksgiving. Earlier this year, a man shot and killed two people over the Alabama-LSU football game. The same thing happened last year after the South Carolina-Clemson game. Gun violence happens all the time, but maybe we should start calling it dumb people gun violence.

I mean, REALLY?