Now, it’s getting flat-out macabre.

That would be the continuing swirl of attention the health of Apple icon Steve Jobs has been getting.

Rumors of his impending demise have been popping up periodically since the too-thin crisis of the Worldwide Developers Conference in June and look like they won’t stop until it actually comes true.

My grandmother used to have a perfect rejoinder for this kind of funeral-chasing behavior, which was prevalent among her gang of Italian sisters, who–whenever anyone caught a cold–predicted the worst outcome: “Don’t be a crepe-hanger.”

This time, more rumors surfaced yesterday in Gizmodo, curiously, a week before the Macworld at which he is famously not appearing. The site used a single–yes, that’s right–source saying his illness and not Apple’s business troubles with the conference’s organizer, IDG, was the reason for his pull-out.

The rumor, of course, sent Apple (AAPL) shares into a tailspin for the day, before others–such as CNBC’s Jim Goldman–posted just-as-strong refutations of the Jobs-Is-On-His-Last-Legs stories.

Blogger Robert Scoble even talked to a worker at a yogurt store that Jobs frequents and got a health report (good!).

Oh, dear–yogurt workers as medical experts? What’s next? Brain surgery consultation from the Starbucks barista? This is what we’ve descended to?

It has to stop, because the fact of the matter is that Jobs’s health is still nobody’s business, as it has not been throughout this bizarre obsession with one man’s personal issues.

In a post in late July, the last time this issue surged, I wrote:

And after listening to all of the debate about it–mostly indignant declarations by the media, making their case mostly by wheedling milder indignant declarations from stock analysts and corporate tsk-tsk outfits–I have concluded that what is ailing Jobs is exactly no one’s business.

Even if his every breath is critical to the ongoing operations of Apple, the reason most use as their main argument for Jobs to tell all, it goes double.

Why?

Well, any Apple investor has to know by now that Jobs suffered from a rather serious bout with a curable version of pancreatic cancer some years ago and that recovery includes inevitable complications.”

And, indeed, the only decent argument you can make to focus so intently on Jobs’s health of any relevance is the impact on Apple company stock, which is self-righteously trotted out each time these specious reports emerge.

The thing is, a lot of companies have been run by execs with health issues (and countries too–VP Dick Cheney’s ticker has been misfiring for a long time now, for example, and he still seems to have been running the show with a verve we wish he perhaps did not have so much of now).

But, to be fair, I will acknowledge the issue. But if anyone does not get that Apple’s CEO has health issues by now, they are ignorant in the extreme. The situation should be baked into the stock price.

In addition, Apple is run by a lot of other competent people besides Jobs and they too are part of its success. Here’s a news flash–Steve Jobs does not conceive, manufacture and wrap every iPhone and iPod.

That is the kind of mythology that has, of course, been propagated a lot by Apple and it is–like a lot of things–a bit true in a bigger concept.

But, as I recently said, when Jobs inevitably leaves the company, probably on his own two feet in retirement, the Cupertino HQ will not suddenly be taken up to the skies as if it were the rapture.

Maybe the yogurt shop guy knows about when that’s going to happen.

Speaking of rapture, here’s singer Jill Sobule singing about that at a recent D: All Things Digital conference.

And, in a second video, she sings perfectly about how we should behave when it comes to what is inevitable for us all. People riveted by Jobs’s fate might do well to take her sage advice.

Here are the videos:

If ever Steve or the board of directors decided that he was no longer capable of doing his job as CEO of Apple, I’m sure they will let you know.”

– An Apple spokesperson

Three days of gains gone in just two minutes. That’s what happened to Apple shares today after Gizmodo published a rumor suggesting Steve Jobs’s declining health is the real reason he won’t deliver the keynote at Macworld 2009. Apple (AAPL) hasn’t yet commented on the report, nor has anyone who could reasonably verify it. And they almost certainly won’t; Apple’s longstanding company line has always been “Steve’s health is a private matter.” And those close enough to Jobs to comment on such rumors with any degree of authority surely won’t for fear that Jobs would brain them with the nearest Mac Pro.

But CNBC’s Jim Goldman–who earlier this month reported that Jobs’s decision to skip the Macworld keynote had nothing to do with his health–is calling BS on the Gizmodo report. “I spoke to Apple after these headlines crossed and the company, which officially doesn’t comment on rumors, reiterated the reasons it offered two weeks ago: Apple was pulling out of Macworld because the company didn’t see the need to continue its investment in the expo, which included Steve Jobs’s keynote. I was told this morning (Tuesday) that nothing has changed since then. The same reasons apply today that applied two weeks ago. I was told two weeks ago by sources inside Apple that the decision had nothing to do with Jobs’s health. I got the same message today. Period.”

Which makes you wonder about the motives of these “previously reliable sources.” There’s sometimes a very fine line between solid sources and stock manipulators looking to make a quick profit. With little in the way of news this week, the Macworld keynote issue still fresh in our minds and Jobs’s health an obvious shareholder concern, a rumor like this one seems a little too perfectly timed, doesn’t it?

If ever Steve or the board of directors decided that he was no longer capable of doing his job as CEO of Apple, I’m sure they will let you know.”

– An Apple spokesperson

Three days of gains gone in just two minutes. That’s what happened to Apple shares today after Gizmodo published a rumor suggesting Steve Jobs’s declining health is the real reason he won’t deliver the keynote at Macworld 2009. Apple (AAPL) hasn’t yet commented on the report, nor has anyone who could reasonably verify it. And they almost certainly won’t; Apple’s longstanding company line has always been “Steve’s health is a private matter.” And those close enough to Jobs to comment on such rumors with any degree of authority surely won’t for fear that Jobs would brain them with the nearest Mac Pro.

But CNBC’s Jim Goldman–who earlier this month reported that Jobs’s decision to skip the Macworld keynote had nothing to do with his health–is calling BS on the Gizmodo report. “I spoke to Apple after these headlines crossed and the company, which officially doesn’t comment on rumors, reiterated the reasons it offered two weeks ago: Apple was pulling out of Macworld because the company didn’t see the need to continue its investment in the expo, which included Steve Jobs’s keynote. I was told this morning (Tuesday) that nothing has changed since then. The same reasons apply today that applied two weeks ago. I was told two weeks ago by sources inside Apple that the decision had nothing to do with Jobs’s health. I got the same message today. Period.”

Which makes you wonder about the motives of these “previously reliable sources.” There’s sometimes a very fine line between solid sources and stock manipulators looking to make a quick profit. With little in the way of news this week, the Macworld keynote issue still fresh in our minds and Jobs’s health an obvious shareholder concern, a rumor like this one seems a little too perfectly timed, doesn’t it?

A quick thought on that last point: CNBC’s Jim Goldman says he’s sure Jobs’s decision to skip the Macworld keynote has nothing to do with his health. If that’s the case, tapping Phil Schiller to deliver the company’s final Macworld “Stevenote” likely has more to do with Apple’s acrimonious relationship with Macworld organizer IDG than anything else. Given the media attention the company’s able to command these days, Apple no longer really needs events like Macworld. The company’s special events are equally as effective in generating publicity and far easier to orchestrate and control.

So would Apple really send Senior VP Phil Schiller out onto the Macworld stage without a cool new product to introduce? Probably. So much for that netbook …

A quick thought on that last point: CNBC’s Jim Goldman says he’s sure Jobs’s decision to skip the Macworld keynote has nothing to do with his health. If that’s the case, tapping Phil Schiller to deliver the company’s final Macworld “Stevenote” likely has more to do with Apple’s acrimonious relationship with Macworld organizer IDG than anything else. Given the media attention the company’s able to command these days, Apple no longer really needs events like Macworld. The company’s special events are equally as effective in generating publicity and far easier to orchestrate and control.

So would Apple really send Senior VP Phil Schiller out onto the Macworld stage without a cool new product to introduce? Probably. So much for that netbook …

BoomTown was one of the tech writers on the panel, which was talking about what the big trends in tech in 2007 were and what they would be in 2008. The others were: Victoria Barret of Forbes, CNBC’s Jim Goldman, Business Week’s Rob Hof, The Wall Street Journal’s Don Clark and Robert Scoble of Scobleizer. (USA Today’s Jon Swartz could not attend.)

Venture capitalist Ann Winblad moderated the event.

Here is the whole thing:

And here is my video of the event too (and here is the post):

(I still am having problems with the Brightcove player, so I uploaded the video to YouTube.)

Last night, the Public Relations Society of America’s Silicon Valley chapter held its annual “Media Influencer” dinner at the Computer History Museum, which featured a spate of tech journalists pitching a large room full of PR people about what’s hot in the sector.

Turning the tables this year–and apparently getting “honored” by the group–were: Victoria Barret of Forbes, CNBC’s Jim Goldman, Business Week’s Rob Hof, The Wall Street Journal’s Don Clark, Robert Scoble of Scobleizer and BoomTown. (USA Today’s Jon Swartz could not attend.)

Venture capitalist Ann Winblad moderated the event, which seemed akin to trying to herd cats.

Some of the topics included: Facebook (of course, and whose PR head Brandee Barker appears in the video below after a harrowing day handling Lesley Stahl of “60 Minutes,” which is doing a piece on the social-networking site with an apparent focus on–also, of course–privacy); the impact of the possibly looming recession on tech; Apple’s iPhone (of course, of course); Google (triple of course); the resurgence of the enterprise space; and the fate of Yahoo.

Here is video of the event:

(I still am having problems with the Brightcove player, so I uploaded the video to YouTube.)