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Each week our Boomer-In-Charge, Hershel Chicowitz, has something to say about life, society, or what's going on... from the perspective of a baby boomer. This is what's on his mind the week of March 1:
I am very excited about commerce on the Internet, and I'd like to talk about that this week, but first I have a little old business: A couple weeks ago, speaking of the president's popularity, I said "all he has to do is commit a couple assaults and a few armed robberies and he'll go into triple digits." Friends, I was just kidding! I didn't really mean it! Honest!
Now, there seems to be a little confusion about our involvement in commerce on the Internet. One self-described "cranky boomer" recently complained to us, claiming we are nothing but a front for Amazon.com. (I think he may have used the word "sleazy," too, but I'm not sure.) Whew! In fact, what we are is one of about 200,000 "associates" of Amazon.com, which means that we make a teeny, weany commission when you buy something from them through our link to them. And we really mean teeny weany! We are such small potatoes to them, they barely recognize our existence. No, Amazon.com should only be so lucky as to have a "front" such as BBHQ. But as my mother used to say, "T'ain't so, McGee."
That having been said, I think we are on to a good thing here. When we started with Amazon.com, all they sold was books. Now you can buy books, CD's, and other gifts from them (using our link to them, we would certainly hope). Last week, Amazon.com purchased 49% of DrugStore.com, the biggest online drug store. So it won't be long before you can get that prescription for Percostat, Prozac, or whatever your pleasure might be right here via BBHQ! I can see the revenues pouring in already. "Step right up, folks, no need to push and shove; just stick your hand in the cookie jar; there's plenty for everybody!" Gees, if Elvis were alive, he surely would be a visitor to BBHQ, and we'd be millionaires overnight! (My, they are certainly right when they say, "timing is everything.")
But as pure idealists at heart, we are more excited about what the
Internet can do for small entrepreneurs. We told you
a few weeks ago about the lady in Kansas who
is selling tumbleweeds on the Internet at $19.95 a pop. (By the way, the
price is now up to $24.95.) Since then, we have found something much
better. About a month ago, I ran across Dr. Jeff Bjorck, a boomer,
clinical psychologist and professor at some school in California. (I
know, big yawn, big deal.) But aside from that, Jeff is an amateur
photographer, an avid hang glide enthusiast, and a composer and
pianist.
| He recently recorded his first CD, 12 New Age songs that he composed over the last several years. The CD is called "Pure Piano Portraits." He took the cover photo himself, too, while hang gliding over Glacier National Park in Montana, camera in one hand, hat in the other. This is very good stuff, of the caliber of George Winston, Danny Wright, David Lanz, and Jim Brickman (admittedly, impressive only if you like that kind of stuff. I do.) | 
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So suppose you have this great album that you want to sell. How do you get it "out there," just take a few hundred copies around to local Borders, Specs, and other music stores, and wait for the money to roll in? Hardly. Basically, until recently you simply could not buy his CD; not anywhere, at any price.
Enter the Internet: Amazon.com won't carry stuff unless you bar code it using some expensive gizmo. All of the sudden, it can get to be very expensive to become an overnight success. So Jeff created his own web site: www.purepiano.com. At this point, he is not actually selling directly over the Internet; the software to do that is too expensive. But you can listen to samples from his CD, and fill out an order form on his site and send him a check. It's still early, but at this point, he is keeping his day job.
Enter BBHQ: Aside from just wanting to promote small entrepreneurs, we really like the CD. That is why we have chosen "Pure Piano Portraits" as our album of the month. If you like New Age piano music (and I recognize that not all of you do - that's OK), I think you will like this. Track number 4, "Walk Down Steward Lane," is particularly good. So is track 1.
(And to show just how much we like the CD and the idea of small business on the Internet, we are not making any commission on sales of this CD. Jeff simply does not have the mechanism to do that. So we are doing this out of pure enthusiasm. We'll probably be enthusiastic all the way to the poor house, but that never stopped us before.)
But to be fair, we should acknowledge that there is just a little graft in this deal. Remember the record payola scandals in the fifties? Record promoters used to pay DJ's big bucks to play their artists' records on the radio. Dozens of DJ's made a fortune from that. Of course, nothing like that goes on today.... but we should admit that there was a little bribery right here at BHBQ. In order to get me to consider his CD, I required Jeff to send me a copy of it. Silly him... he actually did. Like taking candy from a baby, folks. (Goes to show that a Ph.D. doesn't necessarily mean one is immune from being foolishly gullible.) Of course, we're just taking after the big boys. Amazon.com recently admitted that book promoters pay as much as $10,000 to have their books listed on Amazon.com's "Hot 100" list.
So like the corner grocer (remember them) who framed the first dollar he made, I am hanging this CD on the wall as my first, but certainly not my last, item of bribery. Oh, make no mistake about it. In these early days of e-commerce, I can be bought off relatively cheaply. But I warn you, when I become famous, it'll cost a whole lot more. So if you have anything to sell, you better jump on board now while the gettin's good.
And to sweeten the deal, when you visit Jeff's site and order a copy of his CD, if you mention BBHQ, Jeff will come directly to your house or place of business, dragging his baby grand behind him, and perform several selections from his CD for you in a private concert. But you better hurry, 'cause the bookings are likely to fill up fast, and a threatening letter from Jeff's lawyer is likely only days away. We really mean it when we say this deal won't last forever!
So even if you don't buy his CD, go to his web site. Read his stuff and send him an e-mail. Ask him if he'll come to Bayone, New Jersey this Memorial Day to play for you and your mother. Please do that, just to show that you read this essay. Some day... maybe way in the future, we'll all have a good laugh over this.
Enjoy the CD.
If you want to write more, we're open to offerings from other boomers. If you have something to say of interest to boomers, write it as well as you can in 700-900 words, and send it to us. We can't guarantee we'll publish it, but we'll surely consider it.
For more of Hershel's essays, check the BBHQ Archives or the Boomer Essays.
Hershel will have something else to say on March 8; mark your calendar to come back to BBHQ every Monday.
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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