RIP - Another good one gone to soon - Gone but not forgotten - yada yada yada

Prologue: It used to be that when I’d hear more than one song by a band or singer, I’d automatically assume that somebody died. The first time I remember it happening was Stevie Ray Vaughan. I was going through a whole classic rock phase. And even on the mighty KSLX a double-play of Stevie Ray was unusual. Then when it was a third song, it became “Hmmm. That’s odd.” Then the DJ with the sad, sad voice informing you that another one has died too soon. Michael Hutchence, Curt Cobain, Left Eye, Jerry Garcia. All of them I heard first on the radio, and it was preceded by a DJ throwing out the mini-music-marathon.

Of course, that’s now been replaced by the internet. Especially, Yahoo!’s “Most Searched” list. Especially if it’s somebody famous who doesn’t get much press attention any more. And it’s one thing if they’re really old or really sick. Ted Kennedy or Patrick Swayze pops up, and you kinda know. Awwwwww. But it’s something else when you see somebody like John Hughes pop up and you think “Oh, hey, great. Maybe he’s coming out of retirement. What’s John Hughes up to (click). . . oh.” Bummer. It happens more than a few times and you start to get a little gun shy.

So, that was a long way of getting around to:

The Point: I pull up the Yahoo! home page, and happen to glance at the “Most Searched” list, and there’s Jon Cryer. “Oh, what’s Jon Cryer up t. . . No! Duckie! DUCKIE!!!!” Breathe. He’s fine. He and his missus are adopting. No worries. But that was a really bad minute. Maybe Yahoo! should come up with a color coded early warning system. Green – everything’s A-OK. Black – dum dum dum-dum.