Tretakoff Musings

I recently got into a kick of listening to the James Bond themes, triggered by Billie Eilish releasing her latest version in advance of "No Time To Die". It got me to do some reassessment of my own previous rankings: some came down, some went up. In no particular order: No Time To Die , Billie Eilish. I don't particularly see the appeal of this young wunderkind, but that's cool. I was particularly amused when I saw the description of the song as "James Bond ASMR." Perfect. However, her breathless, quiet voice is undeniably amazing pared with James Horner's orchestral score. I should hate this, but I find myself grudgingly admiring it, and wondering if, in the future, this becomes an all timer. I'll confidently put it in the lower end of the second tier of themes. Writing's On The Wall , Sam Smith . I originally panned the hell out of this, thinking it sounded l ike a mashup of a musical number with a Bond theme. However, time has been ki...

Ok, see that card? It was sent as part of a direct marketing campaign from Sirius/XM. See, I bought a car a while ago, and considered activating the Sirius receiver built in. However, I am so rarely in my car, and usually listen to my iPhone, it didn't seem worth it. However, this was a nice gimmick: reactivate the receiver for 2 weeks with the selected channels, and try to get me hooked. Like what the premium channels do on cable and satellite. Kudos on the creative marketing idea. Just one problem. See that picture of the card? See where it says the free preview starts May 24th? Ah yes. Guess when I got this in the mail. Today. June 1st.  Yep, my two week free preview is now reduced to 5 days. This is a significant error. Sirius took on some costs to give away their premium product. They targeted this to let potential subscribers who already had the hardware know. And now more than 60% of the potential to get me to try Sirius is gone. Squandered. Poof. And why? Well, it...

Every day, I ride the ferry from Marin to San Francisco. Frequently accompanying me is my friend and coworker, Charles. We often take inspiration in the Bay air and beautiful scenery and come up with what we call "The Million Dollar Idea of the Day." I've been coming up with these since I was a kid, and I vow to someday make good on one, but for now, I am content to share them with the world...and you, gentle reader. :-) Today's was inspired by a recent concert I attended . I hadn't been to a live orchestral performance in some time, and I was surprised and shocked to see two cellists experiencing what I can only consider to be challenges of the trade. Both were sharing a single music stand and the sheet music on it; when the piece they were playing came to the end of the page, one stopped playing and reached out to turn the page. When he picked up his bow again, he was lost as to where in the piece he was. The other cellist stopped playing, and, with his bow, ind...

With the Olympics looming large, there's been a lot of discussion on my daily ferry commute about the rise of China in the international stage, and, of course, the debate if the USA has already gone past it's nadir as the pre-eminent international power. In other words, has the USA already begun its decline, like the great empires before it? Many factors lead to this possibility, primarily the lack of investment in a manufacturing base: when a society becomes so wealthy that they find it less expensive to send work to another country, or to employ illegal aliens, no matter how trivial or important the work, I maintain that it is officially on the decline. As part of this exercise, we look at key indicators that might represent the telltale signs of when the USA "jumped the shark." For the Roman empire, it might have been the gladiatorial games and vomitoriums; the British empire saw the East India Company become it's de facto ambassador to the world. What might th...

Well, it's been nearly a month with my new Treo 680, and I'm pleased to report it's been a significantly better device than I had anticipated. I was moving from a Palm TX, with it's big screen and integrated WiFi, with a Bluetooth connection to my Sony Ericsson Z520 as backup. My biggest concerns were the sacrifice of speed of WiFi and the lack of screen real estate, as well as the purported disastrous Treo 680 battery life. I'm please to report that all of those concerns have been addressed. Ok, let's start with the obvious. The keyboard is phenomenally easy to use, and makes mobile email a reality. Yes, I am now getting enticed by the prospects of checking email at any moment, but even for things like Twitter or detailed messages, it's extremely workable. The form factor of the Treo is the right balance of size and sleekness to me: it allows me to slip the Treo in a blazer pocket or the front pocket of my jeans, equally. Having never had another Treo, I ca...

Courtesy of the wondrous Ms. P, I bring you the first new song from the Piano Man himself, Billy Joel, in a dozen years. While he has been busy touring, teaching (Yay Berklee School of Music!), and writing classical pieces, he has pretty much said he's done with the genre that brought him to the Rock N'Roll Hall Of Fame. This piece, written as a tribute to his wife, is a unique blend of Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Billy Joel himself. And a welcome throwback to a simpler time. Anytime you want an audience, Billy, we're all still here.

I've only recently started to discover some music and artists that are not from before 1990. :-) One of them is Pink , an evolution of Joan Jett, one of my all time favorites. She's got a tough, rough approach that just exudes energy. As NBC launched their inaugural season of Sunday Night Football, they tapped Pink to do a cover of Jett's "I Hate Myself For Loving You" for the opening of the show, called "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night." Check out the clip from the season opener: Catchy, right? She's the modern approach to Hank Williams Jr.'s Monday Night Football montage. In fact, it's a hell of a lot better. Now, here's where it went wrong. It's 2006 (almost 2007): music and ringtones are ubiquitous. Can I buy a clip of this for my MP3 player? No. Ringtone? Uh-uh. How about as a single? Nope. In fact, the ONLY place I can even hear the song is on this YouTube clip. What kind of marketers are these? Put it up on iTunes! Hell, i...