Your favorite band tastes bad.

March 4, 2005 10:43 AM

Synaesthetes are people who can hear colors, see sounds, and taste tactile sensations. Swiss neuropsychologist Lutz Jäncke has found a unique synaesthete (a musician named Elizabeth Sulston) who can taste music.
posted by Quartermass (17 comments total)

Another article from the CBC.
posted by Quartermass at 10:45 AM on March 4, 2005

Tastes stale.

(As an aside, I wish there were more support resources for this condition. As it is, it's treated as a curiosity.)
posted by Jairus at 10:46 AM on March 4, 2005

Aw, it doesn't taste that stale - I mean, it was just posted yesterday.
posted by soyjoy at 10:56 AM on March 4, 2005

soyjoy, yesterday sounds loud.
posted by Gyan at 11:06 AM on March 4, 2005

i have an interesting condition as well...my eyes are out of focus such that I cannot see things clearly more than 2' in front of me without the use of special 'lenses' fitted into molded 'frames' that i must wear everyday...since first diagnosed, i have found that many artists and musicians share the same condition, though i have been disappointed by the lack of resources that would allow me to exploit this special gift for personal success

i also have a very strange thing happen when i smoke weed in which the part of my brain that signals hunger seems to be stimulated, and I have a desire to eat corn dogs when i get high...i believe many successful musicians and artists have this condition as well...again, i hope to find resources in the use of this unique gift
posted by troybob at 11:06 AM on March 4, 2005

also, i find that unlike the general population, i am sexually attracted to people of the same sex, such that provocative photos of breasts elicit very little sexual response in my special case, while naked photos of aroused men are actually a turn-on...since i first realized this, i undestand that many artists and musicians possess this unique alignment of preference, even at a deep emotional level...resources, anyone?
posted by troybob at 11:11 AM on March 4, 2005

Maybe if you tried rhyme, troybob?
posted by kenko at 11:13 AM on March 4, 2005

and i also notice that sometimes when i go to the bathroom, particularly when standing, i have a phenomenon that i have named 'forked pee,' in which my urine stream will split at the point of exit from my penis, and will shoot into two opposite directions, often such that the forked streams cannot both be accurately aimed into a urinal or toilet bowl...i would very much like to know if artists and/or musicians possess this unique talent...
posted by troybob at 11:13 AM on March 4, 2005

You are indeed a uniquely giften individual, troybob. Personally, I'm looking for resources that would provide lifetime support for people such as myself who, through no faul of our own, read compulsively, sometimes for hours every day. Where's my telethon?
posted by jokeefe at 11:17 AM on March 4, 2005

Also, donations for people who don't spellcheck their Mefi posts can be sent to me via Paypal.

Actually, why would anyone want support resources for synasthesia? I've never heard anyone complain about having it.... Just curious.
posted by jokeefe at 11:19 AM on March 4, 2005

i also associate numbers with various sexual situations, such that a phone number can send me into bouts of orgasm:

0 = ron jeremy
1 = jeff stryker
2 = blake thompson
3 = me on my back, man astride
4 = fred durst
5 = leather daddy
6 = me on knees, man leaned back on sofa
7 = sean connery
8 = woofy bears
9 = me leaned back on sofa, man on knees

interestingly, the number '69' seems to inspire a unique feeling of harmony and peace
posted by troybob at 11:27 AM on March 4, 2005

Why do I feel like I'm in the movie "Groundhog Day"?
: )
posted by spock at 11:29 AM on March 4, 2005

Troy seems to be counting on Matt deleting this thread.
posted by Gyan at 11:33 AM on March 4, 2005

also, the names of major cities often remind me of different kinds of birds

atlanta = falcon, sometimes hawk
philadelphia = eagle
baltimore = raven
seattle = seahawk
st. louis = cardinal
posted by troybob at 11:39 AM on March 4, 2005

Gives a fresh perspective on cross-channel marketing. A line of microwave dinners developed from the taste of popular songs. A CD series based on what what the Sistine ceiling sounds like. Air fresheners based on your favorite novels. (No, not that.) The synaesthetic product possibilities are endless.
posted by immerito at 11:40 AM on March 4, 2005

OMFG
posted by Satapher at 11:41 AM on March 4, 2005

The Febreze thing freaks me out. Reminds me of "Brave New World" and the feelies, not to mention Centrifugal Bumble Puppy and sex hormone chewing gum.
posted by Specklet at 11:52 AM on March 4, 2005