Black Francis Performs Live!

So I've been very into the Pixies for a long, long time now. This interview with Black Francis on Minnesota Public Radio, is worth a watch/listen. He explains where the lyrics for some of the songs come from and gives a few acoustic performances. I hear the Pixies are going on tour again soon, those money grubbing capitalists. Though I'll definitely shell out to see them again. I missed them in their hayday, but was overly joyed to see them in Geneva with DC and at UMASS with JR.

Listen here:

Watch my favorite performance here:

Shorter.

Thanks to LW for passing along this cool NPR story:

A Shorter Route To Communication

by Mark Allen

Commentator Mark Allen is a writer living in New York. He says there is one word to deal with every hassling request. Can you guess what it is?

All Things Considered, July 8, 2009

Best line of the year for me? Shorter. I sent an e-mail that was four sentences long to one of my bosses, and he sent a one-word reply back from his Blackberry: Shorter—one time he jokingly mentioned that I sent long-winded e-mails (I do, sometimes). This e-mail I sent was just quick, information, work-related...and I needed answers.

At first I thought it was a weird typo, but indeed it was him, telling me to make my e-mail to him shorter. Basically re-type it, shorter, and submit it again for his "is-it-short-enough" approval. And his e-mail was an example for me on how to do that. Because he's savvier than me, that's why. Not even a period, just "Shorter". Even the "Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry" at the bottom was longer. I didn't even respond. It's probably because he's very into the one-sentence blogging social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, which he still uses constantly (but if you ask him, he'll tell you he's "over" them).

Anyway, it's now my new favorite response to anyone, at anytime, for anything. I've been saying it to my boyfriend all day. I just say "shorter" and walk away. Next time someone you don't like hassles you about something and uses more than two syllables to do it, just calmly say "shorter" and walk out of the room. Try it! It's brilliant!