The Ugly Tomatoe

I heard a very interesting piece on The Splendid Table this weekend about the UglyRipe Tomato. It is a tomato that is not allowed to be shipped out of Florida by the Florida Tomato Committee because it isn't pretty enough. The UglyRipe has a reputation for having a great taste and was developed for taste not stamina on store shelves. It means that we could be eating good tasting tomatoes year round if not for the Florida Tomato Committee. Well this was the first I had heard of this, but looking on the web there is quite a bit about it. Wikipedia of course has a good write up.

Mercury in CFL Bulbs

I heard a story on NPR yesterday about the mercury that is in CFL bulbs and was really surprised to hear all the problems associated with disposing of the bulbs. If you care about the environment and want to switch to using these energy saving bulbs you should listen to this story.

New Music Makes Me Happy

I subscribe to Yahoo Music Unlimited and love the fact that I can so easily be exposed to so much new music. I've recently finally started focusing on MySpace as well since I've finally come to realize it is one of the best places to get current information on artists that you might have an interest in. Here are a few artists worth checking out when you have the time.

Tracey Thorn of Everything But the Girl has a new solo album coming out and you can hear her new single at her MySpace site.

Jon Redfern is a new artist worth checking out, especially if you like the sound of people like Badly Drawn Boy.

Metisse is a new band with an interesting sound. It is made up of Aida and Skully an African singer and an Irish musician/producer. Definitely worth checking out, a very cool sound.

Editors is a relatively new band with a very 80's sound. If you like 80's U2, Big Country, and The Call, then you'll really like these guys.

The Wealth Imbalance in the United States

NPR is running a series this week on the growing gap between the poor and rich in the United States. It has been very good so far and worth a listen.

North Carolina Voices

WUNC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina has done a nice job with their last two North Carolina Voices series. Their latest Considering College was very good, and their previous series Studying High School was excellent.