Re: Smelly Power Supply

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:54:04 -0700, "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
<paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

D from BC wrote:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian>
Interesting... :) I've never heard of durian.

What I find interesting, and worrisome, is that people actually eat
these.

Can I offer you some chocolate covered ants? Perhaps some
entomological delights (i.e. bugs)?
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophagy>
<http://eatbug.com>
I had some roasted crickets a few weeks ago. Quite good. I guess you
haven't watched any of the "reality" shows on TV, where the actors eat
all manner of disgusting bugs.

What flaw in our ancestors' genetics and/or instincts drove them to pick
up a piece of fruit, sniff it, nearly gag, and then decide to taste it?
And how might this flaw manifest itself in modern man?

It's not a flaw if you consider the local environment. Durian
originally came from Borneo, which is one big hot and humid jungle.
There are enough bugs and small critters around, that unprotected
fruit will be either eaten, become moldy, or rot almost overnight.
Almost everything in south-east Asia is therefore very spicy. That's
one way that nature discourages the bugs and critters and also acts as
a preservative. Another way is by stench, which is what protects the
durian fruit. Primitive man probably tried eating anything that even
looked edible. The survivors wrote the cook books afterwards.

In college, one of my friends would order pancakes with maple syrup
for breakfast. Then, I mentioned that real maple syrup was refined
tree sap. "Eat a tree"? So much for his favorite breakfast. I'm far
from perfect as I thought marshmallows were a plant and jello was
alive because it moved.

Incidentally, when I go mushroom hunting, one way to determine if the
fungus is edible is to watch what the local banana slugs will eat. If
they like it, it's probably safe for humans. (Note: The banana slugs
also eat dog and deer droppings, so don't follow this rule
exclusively).

Re-electing GOP candidates, perhaps? (Ducking and running).

Yuck. My ancestors were from Poland. If it hadn't been for World War
1.0, the Polish cavalry would have overrun the world and you would now
be speaking Polish instead of gibberish. Forget the elephants and the
jackasses. What this country needs is a good monarchy to tell people
how they should behave.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@xxxxxxxxxx
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
.