No one around here likes strawberry pie but me. I got to Marie Callender’s earlier tonight, and there it was, with my name on it.

A much-maligned fruit, the durian, is viewed by many with great amusement, while its devotees quietly consume as much as they can. The smell, apparently, is the offensive part, and most descriptions include words related to sewage. The fruit inside the spiky exterior has been extolled as smooth and custardy, and is, for fans, an addictive food.

On a recent night walk, the subject came up (don’t ask), and it turned out that my companion had eaten fresh durian in Malaysia. I was assured that the frozen ones available in Asian markets did not have the odor, and the fruit not that inferior to the real thing.

Doing a little more online research, I see that some people detect a garlic/onion/ham essense in the taste. I’m having some trouble imagining this in a fruit.

Sometime soon, I will buy one, and check it out. If it fails to enchant my taste buds, at least I’ll have something weighty and seriously weapon-like to heave at the squirrels methodically digging in all my containers of flowers and seedling tomatoes.

Listening to the ice cream machine stirring away in the background, I try to get some work done. Then I realize there’s a slight undertone to the motor sound, and it is remarkably similar to that of a didgeridoo. There’s no variation, though, but so far, I’ve only made vanilla. Perhaps when I try the strawberry or chocolate chip, things will get more interesting.

The whale as seen through the eyes of the Mirning , also known as the People of the Whale. In their creation stories, the whale made its way across the landscape, carving out the terrain with its movements. Woven into this trail are songs and words that reveal to modern scientists the depth of whale knowledge of this Aborigine nation.

How Sedna came to rule over undersea life, from Inuit legends .

Various actions of whales, dolphins and porpoises, an illustrated guide in case you happen to go cetacean-watching.

Last week, I had to wait while a prescription was filled at the drugstore. Killing 20 minutes was tedious, and I wandered into the world of supplements. Not a simple display of a few products and the store brands, but an entire aisle was devoted to these products. The sheer number of different items must be in answer to a huge demand.

Companies such as Proctor & Gamble (Oil of Olay) and Kelloggs (Total, Wheaties) have joined the parade of vitamins. Now, Bumble Bee is launching its line of omega-3 fish oils.

If whales, like pigeons, use the earth’s magnetic field to navigate, cycles of higher solar activity may be one of the causes of beachings.

Listening in on bacterial communication will help researchers find a way to keep toxin-producing colonies in check.

Despite all the hand-wringing over weight issues, we’re still buying a little something for a treat now and then.

Hand-fishing season opens soon in Missouri. No poles, no lines, no hooks allowed. You can leave your hat on.

At an older link , there are pictures of what can be achieved by getting down there under the water and wrestling a big one out of a log or underbrush. Watch out for those snakes, though.

From Briefing.com, news that Google’s first annual meeting produced food for shareholders, but no stock split in the near future.