Yuk Yuk. We've Got A Million Of Them

After he'd read my latest book, Bob Resta came up with this suggestion:

        Hey, here's an idea for your next series: Jew escapes Russian Gulag, sneaks into America, builds a business dealing in Oriental rugs.  He develops a special weaving pattern/technique that deviates from the usual rug patterns, and copyrights it as Syncopated Weaving.  You can call the book The King of Rugtime.

        Hmm.  Most people know that the punched cards used by Joseph Marie Jacquard for his mechanical looms foreshadowed modern computer technology ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_loom).  But those cards also served as the operational basis for many forms of automatic music, including the player piano.  And Scott Joplin recorded several of his rags on piano rolls.  What if Joplin had met the King of Rugtime, and been inspired to write the Cutting a Rug Rag?   
        Thanks, Bob.  I think I'll go back to work now.