Dan’s entry below inspires me to comment on my ability to smell a certain shade of the colour red. This will sound odd. That’s because it *is* odd.
It happens about once a fortnight, and it always perplexes me, although I love it when it occurs. More often than not the red is on a computer screen. The shade is somewhere between the London Transport Red and that of a glass of Ribena (or Ribena equivalent) that is just that tiny bit too weak and watery, and makes you disappointed and momentarily sad.
When I see this shade, I smell something akin to a gentle burning. It’s not unpleasant, and it’s not a memory of a smell - it *is* the smell. It is in my nose, and I can sniff it and it gets stronger. It seems to persist for as long as I look at the exciting hue, although I haven’t done extensive tests of this.
I have a feeling this phenomenon is linked to my extensive use of an overheating ZX Spectrum when I was a littl’un. I think if I were to boot up a Spectrum (although ‘boot up’ doesn’t quite seem like the right phrase), and caught a glimpse of the standard Speccy red, The Smell would make itself known. And The Smell would be the smell of that little plastic box after 4 hours of Jet Set Willy.