Since many of you know I can produce a frothing-at-the-mouth rant as well as the next person, you may (or may not) be surprised that I did a bit of “housekeeping” on my site and took out a few of my frothier posts.

Why, you ask? Well, a couple reasons. First, I am now a “government employee” (and no, I will not tell you what branch or where. Muahahah). Second, I have now reached the minimal level of Google fame that has managed to link my so-carefully-chosen Internet pseudonym with my acutal name. (Fuck you, Twitter).

I’m not “Google safe” anymore. I like my job. You do the math. I’ve still left some frothy posts, but I took out the “really” bad ones.

Yeah, I know. I don’t believe in censorship, either, but I DO believe my employer has a right to decide if he wants to deal with my shit or not. So, there you go. Hopefully I made all of us happy. Also, to that end, I DO NOT friend coworkers ANYWHERE, and I block them if they follow me on Twitter (Facebook requires me to friend them, which I don’t). Still, the Internet is forever, and you never know what random cached file is going to make the six o’clock news.

Welcome to the 21st Century. I’ll still try to be a cynical sarcastic bitch, but I may have to start using my big words to do it. Enjoy.

I have no idea what put this idea in my head, but damn, it sounded like a lot of fun. So, put on your helmets, kids, it’s time to take a ride back to the 80’s!

First up: Okay, even by 80’s standards I have to say these girls had no fashion sense, but the song still rocks. I give you Bananarama, with Cruel Summer:

I know, I know. Overalls six sizes too big, hair that needs a comb, subtle (or not) banana/phallic references. Yep. All there.

Next up: Bringing the pretty – Corey Hart. God only knows WTF happened to him, but he was certainly cute, wasn’t he? *sigh*

Next up: Cool and innovative. Okay, I realize that in this day and age I could do this on my MacBook Pro, but in the 80’s this was beyond cool, and really cutting edge. And the song ain’t bad either.

Besides, you know it’s cool if Family Guy spoofs it.

‘Nuf said.

And, let’s talk about the ladies of the eighties, Cyndi Lauper and Pat Benatar.

First up, Cyndi:

And Pat:

Pat wrote the book on the 80’s, IMHO. If the first one didin’t get you, the second one should:

Oh, and let’s talk Prince. Yeah, I know, he got all weird and freaky later on, but in the 80’s he was still quasi-normal and kicking out good tunes, like these:

Some of my other faves of the 80’s, in no particular order (and you have to remember, at that time we *really* thought Russia was going to try and nuke us back to the Stone Age – yeah, I know, I laugh about it now too):

Toto – GREAT song!

Mike and the Mechanics:

Nik Kershaw: (and again, watch Nik’s suit – this was 80’s supercool graphics, y’all):

And, the poster child of the 80’s for me, Nena (and yes, I know ALL the words. In GERMAN. And yes, I know what they mean. I took German in the 80’s. Need I say more?)

So, there you have it. Some of the better stuff from the 80’s, from someone who was there.