Blunderbuss
Back when The White Stripes first started, I can't say I was their biggest fan. Not that I didn't listen, I just wasn't as invested in them as so many other people. Their frontman, Jack White, just weirded me out a bit. But, over the years and through many side projects, I've grown to truly respect the hell out of him as a musician. And yesterday marked the release of his first solo album Blunderbuss. But I was a little ticked off about it. Why? I was upset with just how damned expensive it is. If you can believe it, the album is actually more expensive in release-week pricing in digital music stores like iTunes and Amazon's MP3 Store than it is to buy it on physical CD format in places like Target and Best Buy. Sure, the digital pricing will seem much better once the sales are done. But there is absolutely no reason a digital album needs to cost $10.99. There is no physical media changing hands. No CD pressing. No shipping. No manufacturing at all. WHY???

Red
I'm not entirely certain, but I think I learned about this artist through some random article in my Flipboard app. It doesn't really matter where I found out about her, just that I'm now completely won over by the art of Hong Yi (aka Red). She's an artist from Borneo ("Bornean"?) who employs not-so-standard methods of creating her art. For example, she created a portrait of NBA star Yao Ming using a basketball as her paintbrush. Yes, seriously, a basketball paintbrush. She also created a portrait of Chinese pop star Jay Chou using coffee cup ring stains. It's soooo cool!

Foam
If you follow my Twitter feed, you may have seen earlier today a Tweet about a friend who said that her department at work decided to honor Earth Day by planting seeds in cups. It's an intra-department competition to see whose plant will sprout first. The winner will receive a Starbucks gift card. Never mind that Earth Day was Sunday, that's beside the point. The kicker of this whole thing is that they've planted the seeds in styrofoam cups. Honoring Planet Earth by employing a material that's killing it. Gotta love it, don'cha?

Newt
The web has been all abuzz today with news that Newt Gingrich will announce next Tuesday that he is withdrawing from the race for the Republican Presidential nomination. I've got one thing to say about that... he was still in the race??? I thought he withdrew a couple months ago. Wow. Who knew?