Bryster, there are ways to seamlessly map a sphere using pictures or a panoramic picture.  I usually use HDRShop to do it.

I've also used that to make what I've heard called a "magic cube" which is a cube primitive that is mapped differently on each side.  In fact, you can take a cube, and without doing any boolean operations, open up one side of the cube to see the interior.

It's fun. 

Could be worse, could be raining.