It’s finally warm. It’s green. The flowering trees have erupted. Perfect May - and rain for the next week, which is fine by me because by CROM I have grass to grow.

Who was Crom, anyway? That’s who Conan the Barbarian evoked in the comic books.

Crom is the chief god of the Cimmerian pantheon, and he lives within a great mountain, from where he sends forth doom or death. It's useless to call upon Crom, because he is a gloomy and savage god who despises the weak.

However, Crom gives a man courage, free-will, and the strength to kill their enemies at birth. Crom doesn't care if individuals live or die, and he despises weakness, therefore the name of Crom is typically only invoked during an oath or curse.

He is the only member of the Cimmerian pantheon named with any regularity.

Okay. Anyway. This is what it looks like around here:

That’s across the street from my office.

Who are these people?

Thanks to Twitter, I’m introduced to the worst people in the world at the moment of their downfall. They all seem to be prattling nattering narcissists who’ve let their celebrity go to their heads, and figured they can be lousy people without consequence. Then something happens, and the counters run backwards on their follower count, subreddits are created to sing the saga of their sins and convert it into memes. It’s fascinating. It’s not like people being destroyed on social media for wrong think - it’s due to actual behavior that affects other people IRL, or meatspace to use the hideous old term.

I said “thanks to Twitter,” and I mean it - if you follow people who are soaking in internet culture 24/7, they will detect and amplify these issues before the regular old media does. If ever. SO WHAT you say. WHO CARES. Granted; I don’t, except some of these people have millions of subscribers. Their audience is larger than all the cable news networks combined.

It’s not as if those people would be watching the news otherwise, so that’s not the problem. Actually, there is no problem, except to remind you the culture has fractured in curious ways: it’s not just that people aren’t watching the same thing, but a huge quantity of people who are in the media are unaware of the existence of the other information streams.

		This is a surprise? They think these people are watching CNN?

If I may use the vernacular: YouTube sucks. While it’s a great resource full of interesting stuff, a limitless library, the experience is a horror - the cretins that populate the comments, and the sidebar of similar videos that dance in the periphery of your vision promising More Better Different Same. It's designed to rip your attention into pieces and stick ads in the gaps.

I think you can spot the fatal detail right away.

This he knows right away? Off the top of his head?

Solution is here.

We continue the 2019 review of the music at the Blue Note Cafe.

This seems to be an insufficient reason for the path-beating. Especially since there might be broken - well, you know.

		The Casey Chord, the custom cue. Why so much whistling?

There was a lot of whistling in radio audiences in the mid-late 40s. You can just see guys with jughead hats with their fingers in their mouths.

2019 returns to the bins, and the records dumped back into the world when someone dies and the kids give the contents of Mom and Dad's entertainment system to the Goodwill.

Wikipedia says the Limelighters ARE an American folk group. As in, "still around." True . . . but here's the deal. They were . . .

. . . formed in July 1959 by Lou Gottlieb (bass violin/bass), Alex Hassilev (banjo/baritone), and Glenn Yarbrough (guitar/tenor).  The group was active from 1959 until 1965, when they disbanded.  After a hiatus of sixteen years Yarbrough, Hassilev, and Gottlieb reunited and began performing again as The Limeliters in reunion tours. On a regular basis a continuation The Limeliters group is still active and performing. Gottlieb died in 1996 (age 73), Yarbrough died in 2016 (age 86) and Hassilev (born 1932), the last founding member who had remained active in the group, has retired, leaving the group to carry on without any of the original members.

		Sometimes this stuff drives me nuts . . . and sometimes it makes me smile, just because.

		1948: when you can't sell them on taste, try coupons.

And remember, Bleat+ members - two pages of updates. If you haven't gotten your credentials, send me an email - my last name @ icloud dot com - with the subject line DILLWEED I appreciate your contribution and want to make sure everyone gets to experience the most exciting site on the Internet.

I found a few in the spam folder, so check your mail around noon today.

That'll do - see you Monday!