Perfect Pitch, Imperfect Social Graces
Today it came out that the elusive quality of having perfect pitch–that is, being able to name a musical note without a reference quote–may in fact be genetic, a fact that will no doubt cause many an American Idol aspirant’s face to fall. But they can probably take heart in the fact that their lack of being able to distinguish between an E-flat and a D on the fly hasn’t resulted in them making curious boasts like this one:
“One guy said, ‘I can name the pitch of anything — even farts,'” said Dr. Jane Gitschier of the University of California, San Francisco, whose study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
OK, now raise your hand if you didn’t get a horrible flasback to middle-school drama club when you heard that quote. Jeez, do you think that guy puts that little nugget about himself in his personal ads?
