Puck’s Prattle

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) gets caught cottaging. The best part is the audiotape in which he tries to explain away his under-stall sexual overtures. It made me think of this series of Little Britain sketches in which MP Sir Norman Fry, flanked by his family, repeatedly finds himself in much the same position (har, har) as Craig.

…or should help South Africa, it should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future… for our children.

Miss South Carolina Teen USA, Lauren Caitlin Upton, screws up her answer big time, the video of which goes viral for the entire planet to mock.

Listen carefully to her words. The irony is deliciously cruel.

More excellent disco here on Puck’s Prattle.

This is brilliant, infectious electrodisco at the very beginning of the hi-NRG sound, which would continue through to the mid 80s. “Giving Up Giving In” is the signature song of the Three Degrees’ late 70s collaboration with electrodisco pioneer Giorgio Moroder.

This song comes on hyper-strong and never lets go. Listen carefully to how stacked the backing vocals are. The best word I can find to describe them is bewitching.

Her joyous delivery is mesmerizing. She’s in a bellbottomed pink jumpsuit, riding on the hood of a car driving through 1970s New York City.

I just realized what sub-genre of disco this perennial Barry Manilow hit falls into: New York Jewish. It’s so excellently tacky. Delicious to watch.

In one of the more interesting surprise evictions in Big Brother history, Dustin inadvertently backdoors himself—no dildo needed.

He totally did not see that coming. Dustin leaves the house wearing the same cruddy gray V-neck T-shirt and is interviewed by the Chenbot in her gazebo.

Those who know me know I’m fond of dissing the 1980s; I refer to them as being “a horrible, horrible time.” And there’s more than enough 80s hideousness to go around. Still, some good music came out of that decade. Case in point: well-done synth pop, or “sophisti-pop,” with solid hooks and evocative lyrics. For the first time, mainstream pop music that made no apologies for being completely synthetic with not the slightest hint of an acoustic instrument (other than voice). I think most are in agreement that the best of it came out of the U.K.

First, two prime examples of synth pop at its best:

Human League, “Don’t You Want Me Baby”

Depeche Mode, “Just Can’t Get Enough”

And for sophisti-pop:

Blow Monkeys, “Digging Your Scene”

Double, “Captain of Her Heart”