Banalities, ooh, that's the hard one, isn't it. It is rare that I can agree so completely with something posted here. Refreshing actually. One can only hope that Mr. Buckley didn't have a website where he posted his tripe. OF course, one can hope he was tripeless in life. If only more of us were. I needed to laugh, so I came here to post something, my ego being what it is. The chinese water torture that can be my life has to be set aside for a bit to be silly. That top ten list of books looked like the most contrived peice I have seen in weeks. Like a Big Mac. If you're gonna complain about something, or make excuses for it, then just don't do it. I learned this lesson by the time I was 24. ( Now THAT is honesty) It fills me with great sadness to see this site getting few to no responses. I have visited others and they get 30 to 50 WITHOUT ME!
pitcher, I want to help. I say this in all sincerity. And I emplore all of you out there reading this; Tell your friends! Let's make this a talked about site! pitcher, you have nothing to lose (snicker). I may, but being the guy I am I accept responsibility for my actions.
Oh, and maybe I'm being obtuse but I'm willing to bet that squirrels don't actually understand trees. What is the structure made of that you live in pitcher? Rocks? Glass.
TOP TEN REASONS JOHN RENSING SHOULD NOT POST HERE.
Just a thought. I'm sure that would be funny.
Take suggestions from the audience.
Lastly, you have made progress with quite and rather but perhaps still rears its' ugly head a bit too much, see what you can do.
All smiles, John Rensing

I remember when I discovered Jeff Buckley. It is odd to me that I hadn't heard of him before a fluke led me to buy his cd, not knowing who he was or the world that was about to open up to me. It seems especially odd since I had been immersed in a degree in music - or perhaps that was the problem. Anyway, as I listened to the cd for the first time I was in awe and struck by his genius immediately. After listening to the album through a couple of times, I read the liner notes and distinctly remember my sadness upon realizing that he was gone. I felt the loss from the world as distinctly as if I had known him personally. To this day I am amazed at his ability to put so much of the feeling of truth into his music. I am amazed at the talent, artistry and again, genius of his ability that is so elegantly given in every raw and perfect note of his music. His ability to pull the most personal out of himself in order that it is shared so universally is amazing. What a loss to the world, but what a gift to be able to give so openly that a complete stranger could feel so personally touched by both the gift and the loss.

Hey Jeff,
This question is sincere - Who is this Rensing fellow and how do you know him? How did you two meet and why does he treat you so poorly? I am very interested in hearing what makes this ruthless character tick. Can anyone shed light on this? Does anyone know John Rensing in person?

Mr Rensing,
please do not manufacture a character who “knows you” in response to this query. I’m looking for a legitimate answer.

Frankly, Mr. Frank, I'm wounded that you would suggest that I would "manufacture" a character. I have been nothing if not honest when posting here.
I doubt you will get an answer from pitcher. I can only assume that he hates my guts now. We had a mutual friend when pitcher lived in Davis years ago. I spent a decent amount of time as something of a groupie at the inception of Above the orange trees. I have always prided myself on seeing talent. I saw it there. The two other members went in different directions and pitcher was left with ATOT. How well I new pitcher? Well enough in my estimation. He had ideas and such that I respected. He had a fire in his belly that I demand of people to even get in to my friend door. In the last few years he has gone insane. He has surrounded himself with people that are blind ot certain aspects of life. I am being vague so as not to insult people (yeah, yeah, why start now?) Who am I. In the immortal words of Popeye the Sailor, "I yam what I yam." If anyone wants to read a good book, get Wating for snow in Havanah. That will make you want to be ten again. And rich. At first look I would appear to fall into the genus of Redneckus. But upon further observation, an intelligent person would reclassify me as Contradicticus. (I'm a huge fan of roadrunner cartoons). If I can answer your question I would but I would prefer to do it on your e-mail address for reasons of my own. If you are that interested. Oh yeah, and who might you be?
John Rensing. loved by millions

Just to stir things up... some food for thought:

"I do not value those who steal ideas and believe themselves clever. I do not value those who boast and believe themselves courageous. I do not value those who reveal the secrets of others and believe themselves honest." Zi Gong

Wow, those Chinese are smart. I hope you read that pitcher and took it to heart. I think it was a little harsh on FD's part to post that, but sometimes we need help from other quarters to see our faults. Mm. Yeah. Tell people that I exist and breathe. In Davis. Anybody that wants a good glass of wine, E-mail me and we'll meet in town. Hey, pitcher, awhile back you stated that you were biding your time, are you still biding your time?
I miss the good ol' days. Everyone is ignoring me now. Guess I'm just gonna have to post things for my own personal reading enjoyment. You really don't want that. Trust me.
Love, John

I have to say that I've never really gotten the Jeff Buckley thing. Not that he didn't have a wonderful instrument, but I don't think that makes him a genius. Talented? Sure! But genius? I don't know. I like his music, but genius is a heavy word to throw around. What's genius about the actual music itself? The songwriting? The lyrics? He had a good band and clearly a great voice, but something always seemed hollow there (to me).

Wow! Your thoughts on Buckley are as foreign to me as mine seem to be to you! Perhaps it is a musician thing? Or perhaps it is all a matter of taste.

He had, this Buckley, a massive penis. Big as horse. Stuffed it in the universe's eye and came like Nagasaki. A very beautiful thing.

Amy:

Your connection to music, Buckley's or anyone else's, is certainly valid. The personal connection we feel to art is what it's all about. Of course, there are plenty of musicians that I listen to that would probably send you lurching for the bathroom (and vice versa, of course), but that doesn't make them any less valid for the listener.

Of course, you know this already, and I realize that. I'm just trying to put my comments into a particular context. One of my jobs is to write music reviews for our weekly paper here in Sacramento. I tend to be very, very critical of music. While I do understand and appreciate the force of Buckley's influence on other musicians (and many of those musicians I like very much) Buckley himself seemed a somewhat more limited talent. Perhaps one could say that he was a brilliant singer--perhaps even a genius singer--but sometimes I found myself wishing that someone else would have written his songs. They're good, yes, but not as good as his voice. If only someone like Arvo Part of Paul Hillier would have gotten ahold of that voice--that would have been the motherfucker.

Christian

what amazes me regarding jeff buckley is that jeff was actually a very impressive guitar player. he went to school for guitar, I think to some crappy music school in la somewhere. i had no idea of this in the beginning until I read liner notes. his song structures are so unique and the music he plays is very hard to play and sing at the same time. what drew me initially to his music was his incredible voice. then i listened to his lyrics, so intense and personal it made me uncomfortable...i felt like i was snooping in his diary or something. and then i picked apart the song structure and it never occured to me that he played guitar. i thought it was impossible. it is actually scary that someone can play that technical while singing a crazy range simultaneously. the best part is jeff never sang in front of anyone until around the time he made grace. just played guitar in different bands in la and in new york. he started singing in the cafe he played in nyc. for jeff buckley fans you should read dream brother by david browne. it is about the lives of tim and jeff buckley. pretty fascinating.

Christian,

I did understand where your comments were coming from, but appreciate you qualifying them nonetheless. Perhaps you have explained my views better than I have... I was a singer (opera for training, jazz for love). I'm usually turned off by bands with sub-par singers regardless of how good a song might otherwise be. As a really terrible songwriter, I notice the quality of the song last. All I really need is a line of two that expresses something I have felt in a poetic way and I'm happy. So perhaps that is where our differences of opinion stem from! =)

Oops... as I've just scanned over my posted comment I feel the need to apologize for my various typos and shifting tenses. My bad! I use tiredness as my excuse...