Klarinet Archive - Posting 000358.txt from 2001/06

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: [kl] Rhythm --- what is it?
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 21:17:06 -0400

I admit that this is a bit far afield, but....

They were interviewing Kobe (basketball) while replaying footage of one
of his baskets. He bulldozed his way through the defense, erupted
upwards in a contortion, and sank the shot. The sportscaster said
something to the effect of (not verbatim), "Everything seems to be
working for you today, Kobe!" Kobe's reply was (again, not verbatim):

"Yeh, I feel the rhythm of the game today."

There was no 'grace' or 'periodic movement' or 'smooth movement' to his
shot in the sense of dance or music. It was all muscle and being able
to contort while still knowing exactly where everything was, including
all of his body parts and the ball and the hoop and hs opponent. Yet,
with sweat still rolling down and sucking air, he used the word 'rhythm'
to describe his feeling for all of this.

I'm not sure what (if any) conclusion to draw from his statement except
that rhythm includes both microstructure and macrostructure (thoughts of
Mandelbrot), neither of which are always apparent at a 'normal' scale
and neither of which are necessairly measured in the most obvious
physical units.

In fact, since an 'image' is a mapping of something onto a different
coordinate system or 'space', I think that Kobe's statement is a
meaningful analogy to how music and language can share a common basis
even though they appear worlds apart and even though they are measured
in completely different ways.

....back to the game.....

Cheers,
Bill

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org