Try clicking on the blob and not the sphere. The shpere icon is jut that a sphere. The blob next to it is the metaball modeler. It works fie for me. You can also set up mutiple textures on an object by assigning a different testure to each metaball.

The wit of a misplaced ex-patriot.
I cheated on my metaphysics exam by looking into the soul of the person next to me.