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Shaft
Boulder climber
SL,UT
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2001, I was lurking on wreck.climbing and watched as Batten inadvertently (but brilliantly) trolled Eugene Miya (a founder of the newsgroup?) but surely one of the biggest fish out there.
Batten:
I don't know how long you have been using the internet, but maybe
you should lurk a bit before you start posting.
Damm Newbies
Peace and Live
Batten
Miya:
Oh since 1973.
Posting? Try running it.
Next post by Frank Stock:
Dawn, you should consider adding this to the faq under how to troll.
It's just beautiful.
Cheers,
Frank
RIP Batten, you opened my eyes to the elegance of a well-crafted troll and made me realize only the noobs get butthurt, the seasoned veterans quietly chuckle and make a mental note to read carefully....
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.climbing/browse_thread/thread/d00ac19028be0730/a8b84db4e8f1705d?hl=en&q=rec.climbing+french+kissing+batten&lnk=nl&
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altieboo
Boulder climber
Livermore, Ca
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My condolences to Family and Friends. Didn't know the man but knew the name and words. Rest In Peace.
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Fletcher
Trad climber
from the place of breath
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Dang, he got Eugene Miya (inventor of the FAQ)? Brilliant. No doubt about it now, Jeff was a troll grand master!
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Risk
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
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Always welcome words herein, Jeff. Thank you. We'll certainly miss you for a very long time. Say hello to the gang up there!
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, Ca
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Eugene Miya - an odd bird if there ever was one.
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illusiondweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Glory to God for using Jeff to spread the Gospel!
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." - John 3:16 (KJV)
I truly hope you've met your maker Jeff.
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Terry
climber
Spokane
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So sad to hear this. The Taco has lost some of its flavor.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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I was saddened to hear the news a few days ago that Jeff had passed away. I met Jeff once at Stoney Point but not under climbing circumstances but to pick up a HAM radio he was giving to me, yes giving to me. He said he had an old HAM radio that he never used much and that he just didn't see himself using it again in the future. I offered to pay but he would have none of that. We made arrangements to meet at Stoney and I figured some bouldering would be part of the deal so I brought my shoes and chalk and had fun repeating some fun problems on Boulder 1 that
I had not climbed since my last visit to Stoney over 10 years earlier, it's funny how your muscle memory allows you to do things that because of a extra 20lbs around my waist I would not normally be able to do.
Soon Jeff pulls up and strolls down the steep short trail from the car to where I am sitting staring at the mantle left of Three Pigs. Jeff is dressed for something but not climbing and I am bummed. He thrusts a box at me and tells me he is on his way to therapy and that he cant drive because of some meeds he was on for pain and depression, I try and tell him I can relate due to similar circumstances that I had been through and continue to go through and try and offer some encouragement. He tells me to have fun with the radio and turns and walks away. I couldn't help notice a vacant look or expression Jeff had and it scared me a little but more than that it made me sad.
I thought back to a friend of mine who had climbed El Cap with Jeff back in the 80's and his description of what a laid back fun partner he had been and could believe this was the same person. Motivation now lost for that mantle problem I changed my shoes and walked back to the car for the drive back home. I kept in contact with Jeff frequently on ST sharing my struggles with back pain and depression that was associated with it and he would write back periodically with reports on how different treatments were going or not going. Slowly the communication eased. The last major post I read that involved Jeff was the Suicide Rock Bolt debacle. I was encouraged by his passion about the subject even if a little misguided because it meant he cared about something and when you are depressed it's tough to care for anything.
So long Jeff.
BTW the "old" radio he had given me turned out to be a brand new Yaesu Mobile radio that retails for about $400
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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From the "Why do so many people believe in god thread"
Oct1 2006
Face it. Living in America you won the lottery. You have no idea of what it is to go Hungry or live in the constant fear of death. We hide in out material world and rarely think of the rest of the world unless it slows down our constant search for pleasure. I had never followed this thread, I'm so over the question. Also it had about 2000 posts by the time I stumbled into SuperTopo.
I'll miss JDF et. al. even though I've no really good idea who his other aliases were. I'm certain I got hooked by a more than a few of his trolls when I was new to this forum. I usually take myself too seriously, making me an easy catch.
I often read his geology posts, mostly because geology is necromancy to me, yet I understood his explanations (sometimes).
It's curious how we dismiss a troll (the poster or the thread). Like the court Jester there is often wisdom buried in the tangle of ad hominem and reductio absurdum arguments. Everyone gets their knickers in a twist and someone like JDF, finally belly sore from laughing, blows the smoke away to reveal a truth that had been lurking all along.
RIP
condolences to his wife, family and friends.
Wait a minute: RIP? Jeff Batten? He'd be turning over in his grave, if he could.
The more I study Buddhism the more I like it.
The Buddha said we do not even have a soul. I really like the idea of not having a soul. Post #19, "Why do so many people believe in......."
He's gone, reminding us of our own idiosyncracies, our own mortality, our own finite existence.
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junkie David Bowie
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Jeff Batten is a box of matches... rec.climing is puddle of white gas
Sketchball
I couldn't have said it better myself.
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Gary
climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Mad69Dog
Mountain climber
Superior, CO
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Jeff was a fun guy. Like many others here, I got to know him on rec.climbing. He invited us to climb with him in JTree and we accepted, then drove the kids alldaf*#kin' way from Michigan to SoCal. I still have rings under my eyes from that slog, thanks, buddy. What I liked about him was that he had that gyro in his head and it was always spinning, always looking for the angle to take that would kick off the next mental earthquake under the unsuspecting. He was fricken relentless in his pursuit. I was at work one my day when boss came by giving a tour to a half dozen big wigs. I'd just read a troll of his on rec.climbing and was laughing myself to tears as the fish got hooked one after another. It was all so innocently hilarious up to the point when my boss brought the tour into the lab... Damn, he got me with an indirect!
I really should say something disrespectful to try and make him laugh in the great beyond, but I'm just not up to that right now. It's like I had a premonition about him when he quit emailing a while back, and now he probably wants to make me feel guilty for not following up. If Rick tries to steal Juan's pin rack somebody should kick him in the nads. And if Jean is around, she should post a commemorative photo of those humongous ta-tas that had Jeff so hypnotized on that day in J Tree.
So long, big guy. You had a special gift and I'll miss you.
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Gary
climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Hey Mad Dog,
Very good post and straight to the point. That's Jeff in a nutshell. I introduced him to my girlfriend as the world's most accomplished Internet troll. He liked that.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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I've been away and am late seeing this thread.
To Jeff's family and friends, I'm sorry for your loss.
I remember seeing a note for him on the HVCG bulletin board about 10 years ago and being shocked to learn that he was a real person. I thought Batten was an avatar like wilson (maybe the first that hooked me), hi, prowsolo, etc.
I still didn't believe he was real until I googled a photo of him at work. Even then, I harbored doubts. Brent Ware said he'd climbed with him, so I thought maybe Brent was Batten.
Eventually, the real bits became evident, though. I'm sorry that the real bits were often in physical and mental pain.
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MH2
climber
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Thanks, Mad Dog.
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Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
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Quakes a comin! Huge aurora boreales tonight, Jeff is stirrin it up.
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Paul_in_Van
Trad climber
Near Squampton
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Well, I don't think I ever got trolled by Jeff, but he was a master.
I (and many others) learned to spot the trolls from his example. Most were weak attempts at what he was so skilled at.
RIP, my thoughts are with his family and friends.
Paul
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monolith
climber
Berkeley, CA
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I loved it when Juan said Bill Gates invented the NAND gate.
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em kn0t
Trad climber
isle of wyde
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Batten's personalities were legion; kudos for his razor-sharp wit. Sadness for his deep pain. Heartfelt sympathy to his friends and family who are left behind.
Sometimes, death doesn't seem like the worst thing that can happen; it might even be a welcome release...but then, seeing a night sky lit by a quadzillion stars, with the Milky Way spread out like the Sandman just opened his chalkbag and flung it into the wind... it all seems too beautiful to miss.
RIP, Batten.
I hope somewhere your spirit hears the voices telling you that you are missed.
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milt
climber
Indio, Ca
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I was hanging out in Humber Park in 83 or 84. I offered two dudes a case of beer to take me up Tahquitz. I had limited climbing experience from Georgia and from JT. I had never been on a big rock before. My anxiety and and anxiousness were well apparent but Jeff Batten and Mark L took me up on the offer! A climb called Traitor Horn. Life was good, I was in the saddle. Jeff marched up the true horn out of the alcove and pulled his rope after I untied his end(they don't teach you this in climbing school) Mark also led out. My turn! I jumped on the the horn like a saddle with terror and pride and then the sewing machine legs took over. Wow this experience with Jeff and Mark started about a year run with both climbers. Tahquitz, Suicide and JT. The beer loss(trade off) was well worth it! I called them the Redondo Boys.
All Jeff wanted to do was climb, climb and climb but still he gave me the opportunity lead and to learn. I read the Juan de Fuca and his other alias blogs over the years and enjoyed the jaded humor and politically incorrect advice and responses. Wow! I have recently read some of his blogs from January on... The map may have been there but only he knew the pain he was suffering. The last time I saw him was hammering a bolt in as the sun was setting on The Falcon and Snowman. Small snapshot of my memories. I hope his family and friends are coping. Jeff and all his characterizations will be missed. Godspeed in his new life!
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