2 + 2 = 5

1 and 2) "Extraordinary Machine" by Fiona Apple and "I Know What It's Like" by Miranda Lee Richards.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: the return of the Apple is cause for celebration. Forget the haters, this track is deliriously good and a bold step in a new direction. My compulsive playing of the track made me dig out another great piece of Jon Brion-produced female-singer/songwriter pop... Miranda Lee Richards' "I Know What It's Like."
Despite the association, the two tracks couldn't be more different. "Extraordinary Machine" is upbeat, musically sparse and lyrically complex. "I Know What It's Like" features a few evocative, snap-shot lyrics, a melancholic vocal melody and Jon Brion going the kitchen sink route by playing the following instruments (at least according to the liner notes): "Chamberlin, optigan, bass, percussion bells, Marxophone, guitar and various foreign instruments." It might be a tad on the baroque side, but man does it work.

3) Gouge (documentary on the new Pixies DVD).
The documentary itself is fun (if fawning and not all that illuminating), but its real coup is that the good people of Channel 4 managed to snag quite a few A-list Pixies fans to gush on camera. Among them: David Bowie, Thom Yorke, PJ Harvey, Johnny Greenwood, and Badly Drawn Boy. Best bit: Mr. Greenwood announcing that the reason Radiohead has drifted away from guitar based music is "there are only so many ways to rip off the Pixies."

4) James Agee's review of You Were Meant For Me.
Allow me to reprint the entire review:

"You Were Meant For Me. That's what you think."

5) Casa Vega's original margarita on the rocks, no salt.
Hey Tito, next time your Mom leaves empanadas and Coke, tell her to sub out the Coke and drop one of these. Thanks.