into the wild

April 7, 2013 12:45 PM

Catching Up with Kai - "Which is the thing about being home free, when you submit to the authority of pieces of paper you lose your personal identity and the identity you find through nature." (previously; via)
posted by kliuless (43 comments total)

I hope they had cameras in the court during Kai's testimony. That sounds hilarious.
posted by homunculus at 1:03 PM on April 7, 2013

I like this typo from the article: As his skills with hatchet might suggest, Kai has a violent steak.
posted by sweetkid at 1:03 PM on April 7, 2013 [5 favorites]

Kai is abiding. Good on him.
posted by arcticseal at 1:07 PM on April 7, 2013

Ohhh, so that's his power tool.
posted by gwint at 1:09 PM on April 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

reminds me of every barroom Bodhidharma who has decided that what I was hoping for is that he'd explain the universe to me: "No man! That's because consciousness is a fractal!"
posted by thelonius at 1:10 PM on April 7, 2013 [3 favorites]

Thanks for the follow up. I'd invite him to sail across the Atlantic with us next month but the lack of a passport poses a bit of a challenge.

I like his pronoia lyrics.
posted by karst at 1:14 PM on April 7, 2013

Setting aside the hatchet incident, which is legitimately deserving of thanks, Kai is a creature I will never, ever understand why they get admired and exalted on any level. Even the Dude had a house with a rug that really tied the room together.

"Papa was a rolling stone. Where ever he laid his hat was his home." I get that. Except the song is not about Papa, but about the broken people they leave behind. That's where Kai's headed.

Someone will then tell me, "You don't need a house to be a free spirit, to be a poet."

And I say, "All the poets and free spirits you can name ... the reason you can name them is because they didn't fly out into the ether as completely as Kai seems to want to do."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:21 PM on April 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Ehh, so far from what we know of him, he hasn't done anybody any harm, so it's a bit too fast to think he's heading to a home wrecker future or something.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:33 PM on April 7, 2013 [5 favorites]

The rainbow gathering hippies being classified as a gang thing really bothers me, though in retrospect I'm not surprised. Still it sucks.
posted by windykites at 1:54 PM on April 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

Assuming that's accurate. Why would the CIA or John Brennan be involved? I'd think the FBI would make that call, like they did with the Juggalos.
posted by homunculus at 2:07 PM on April 7, 2013

Whenever I read anything that he says, I wonder why I can't follow it. If his logic is just that outside of the way I think, or if he just generally doesn't make much sense. Not that it matters, it's just a little frustrating as an experience, because he sounds interesting...maybe.
posted by xingcat at 2:14 PM on April 7, 2013

All the poets and free spirits you can name ... the reason you can name them is because they didn't fly out into the ether as completely as Kai seems to want to do.

and the hundreds of millions who can't ever be bothered to look at the ether, much less fly out into it? - how many of them can you name?

it's not about being able to be named, is it?

i'm not even sure it boils down to what kai wants to do with his life - i'd say he's looked over the options our society offers for him and pretty much decided on "none of the above"

there was a point in my life back when i was a little younger than kai where i seriously tried a life like kai's, but decided it was too hard, that maybe there was a place for me after all, and maybe i wasn't all that well, anyway

at times, i still wonder if i was right about that

but anyway, as long as he hasn't got any responsibilities to someone, i don't see what the problem really is with his journey, as long as it leads him somewhere good - and it might - he's not leaving broken people behind, he's leaving broken places behind - and he just might find his place with the rainbow people; he seems like the type

at least he's got the insight to see what a crock he's being offered by the straight world and the guts to act on that knowledge

that's admirable on some level, isn't it?
posted by pyramid termite at 2:17 PM on April 7, 2013 [15 favorites]

I like this guy! Go, Kai!
posted by ericb at 2:27 PM on April 7, 2013

It takes a fair amount of grit for a kid to escape a cult-like upbringing. Kai sounds pretty savvy with his flight to a Native American reservation for what served as needed therapy and rehab. He seems to have great instincts and survival skills. Nothing lasts forever but Kai seems able to adapt and I hope he continues to be free.

It has been a sad weekend to read about another young man brought up in fundamentalism, albeit the more visible, affluent side, and mourn the death of Matthew Warren. If it was oppression he was escaping, I just wish he had been able to choose Kai's way.
posted by Anitanola at 2:39 PM on April 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

It has been a sad weekend because many years ago now, my own son died at 27, trying to escape the pain of his life by drinking. Matthew immersed himself in helping others but could not help himself. Kai's choice, I believe, would look better today to Matthew's parents, as it does to me.
posted by Anitanola at 2:50 PM on April 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm sorry for your loss. It's a hell of a thing to live with.
posted by thelonius at 3:36 PM on April 7, 2013 [3 favorites]

What if Kai's story is just the made up patter of a hobo trying for a handout? I doubt Vice spent any time fact checking his autobiographical narrative. Maybe he isn't the enlightened wanderer, but just a guy living at the margins trying to get buy. I worry the larger the myth the harder the fall and he doesn't have much of a cushion to land on.
posted by humanfont at 3:38 PM on April 7, 2013 [3 favorites]

I have a cousin who claims to have been in a shared housing situation with Kai, though he was going by a different name then. (Said cousin, while an awesome guy, is not a 100% reliable narrator.) According to him, Kai was the sort of guy who would live in the broom closet to lower his share of the rent, but would always do the dishes if they piled up even if it wasn't his turn.

"Of course, he would also fight at the slightest provocation," he told me. "He never hit anyone who didn't deserve to get hit, and he virtually never hit first, but he was definitely in a lot of fights that could have been easily and peacefully avoided. Oh, and he NEVER lost a fight."

Like I said, my cuz is not a completely reliable narrator. . . but that sounds pretty consistent with what I've seen from Kai.
posted by KathrynT at 4:14 PM on April 7, 2013 [4 favorites]

Whenever I read anything that he says, I wonder why I can't follow it. If his logic is just that outside of the way I think, or if he just generally doesn't make much sense.

I have no trouble following, and I'm as boring a regular society guy as you can find. I think you just need to spend enough time around hippies / Rainbow gathering people / commune folk / crusties / etc. and the worldview starts to make sense. Not the life for me, but there is a logic there.
posted by feckless at 4:27 PM on April 7, 2013

Maybe he isn't the enlightened wanderer, but just a guy living at the margins trying to get buy.

Ah, so no different from the rest of us?
posted by leftcoastbob at 4:46 PM on April 7, 2013 [3 favorites]

She was trying to trick me up, and I said 'Excuse me miss, please don't mistake my hesitation for weakness, I realize you're trying to trick me and I just need to consider what I am saying as not to allow you to trick me,' and she said, 'No further questions.' The judge laughed in her face.

PWNED.
posted by ShutterBun at 4:50 PM on April 7, 2013

He never hit anyone who didn't deserve to get hit, and he virtually never hit first, but he was definitely in a lot of fights that could have been easily and peacefully avoided.

If this is true (and you've given us plenty of reason to doubt it), that would mean he's pretty "good" at escalating things verbally, and it sure doesn't sound very hippie.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 4:53 PM on April 7, 2013

Well, neither does boasting about putting a guy in the hospital in a bar fight
posted by thelonius at 4:59 PM on April 7, 2013

Quit trying to label him, maybe?
posted by The Hamms Bear at 5:07 PM on April 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

If this is true (and you've given us plenty of reason to doubt it), that would mean he's pretty "good" at escalating things verbally

That is absolutely the impression I gained from my cousin -- if there was a path he could take that would lead to him righteously beating people down, he was for-sure going to take it. "Definitely put a lot more energy into escalation than de-escalation," I believe was the phrase used.
posted by KathrynT at 5:30 PM on April 7, 2013

Kind of reminds me of a reflection of one of my college friends. "Why are crazy people always 'bad crazy' and never 'good crazy?'" Kai seems "good crazy" and entertainingly articulate to boot. I'd read his memoirs, if and when he ever settles down to write them.
posted by Morrigan at 6:14 PM on April 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

What if Kai's story is just the made up patter of a hobo trying for a handout?

Unlikely. 'Kai' is not a hobo name.
posted by homunculus at 6:26 PM on April 7, 2013

Kind of reminds me of a reflection of one of my college friends. "Why are crazy people always 'bad crazy' and never 'good crazy?'" Kai seems "good crazy" and entertainingly articulate to boot. I'd read his memoirs, if and when he ever settles down to write them.

The alignment you are looking for is "Chaotic Good".
posted by Going To Maine at 6:26 PM on April 7, 2013 [5 favorites]

If I don't label him, my label maker will sit unused in the drawer. The machine has an intrinsic purpose which you would deny. You monster. Shall we deny the right of the sun to shine, the flower to bloom. It possesses 9 type styles, 3 framing options and supports 173 symbols. It is powered by exactly 4 "AAA" batteries. I wield this machine by right accorded to the rules of barter established by the list of Craig. We machine and man together will not be told whom and what we shall not label. On the first day we labeled each cable from from the av system, and the mysteries of the switch box were revealed to all. There was joy and access Apple TV, the old VCR and Xbox. When we labeled the toy shelves and order came to the play room from chaos there was at last peace. Then we labeled the kitchen so that each counter top item could be returned to its proper cabinet. Then the entire household starting with the cat to free visitors from the awkwardness that comes from forgetting a family memeber or pet's name. I will not give into your protests, just as I did not give into the cats claws. My brother the label maker and I have found our calling and will not be denied. We have printed the label for Kai, and it shall be affixed. Will you not join me in destiny's call? For the gods have told me in a dream that I will need 3 acccolytes to secure any light weapons and the Kai himself for this label to be stuck.
posted by humanfont at 6:29 PM on April 7, 2013 [13 favorites]

Ten bucks says he disappears in a freak surfing accident and pops up as a charismatic leader of a cult in five years, only to end up back on Vice.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:56 PM on April 7, 2013

I've been to rainbow gatherings and was a vagabond when I was younger. Kai kinda sounds like a Drainbow, but like, whatever man.
posted by Catblack at 7:21 PM on April 7, 2013

So pronoia is agreeing that the universe wants to interject blessing into our life in disguise, so we choose to explore the mystery of the situation at hand and figure out in what way the universe is trying to grow our soul.

This is just a magical thought, in every way.
posted by Sebmojo at 7:55 PM on April 7, 2013

I doubt Vice spent any time fact checking his autobiographical narrative.

I spent a few hours with Kai this year, hanging out in the car lineup at the Nanaimo ferry terminal as we waited out a delay. If the Vice article is true in claiming he doesn't have a driver's license, then he was illegally operating the car that was queued up with. He was the vehicle's only occupant and it was full of his belongings (backpacks, surf gear, etc.)

I found him pleasant, sincere and forthcoming, occasionally annoying although ultimately I was pleased that he honed in on my friends and I as the approachable ones in the lineup because, really, it cut the tedium for both us and him. I didn't think his character was as out there and sui generis as reality TV producers apparently do, but I've known all kinds of charismatic young people who speak west coast traveller argot, claim mix-and-match neo-Crowleyan mystical practices, and broadly share the same values. It's entirely possible that this group is marginal and/or hermetic enough not to have gained much media attention outside of, e.g., photocopied zine distribution networks, though.

Oh, and if the time I spent with him is any indication, he's absolutely loving the attention.
posted by metaman livingblog at 8:07 PM on April 7, 2013 [5 favorites]

If the Vice article is true in claiming he doesn't have a driver's license, then he was illegally operating the car that was queued up with. He was the vehicle's only occupant and it was full of his belongings (backpacks, surf gear, etc.)

I suspect that this isn't of major concern to The Kai who marches to the beat of no drummer.
posted by leftcoastbob at 8:42 PM on April 7, 2013

I've known all kinds of charismatic young people who speak west coast traveller argot, claim mix-and-match neo-Crowleyan mystical practices, and broadly share the same values. It's entirely possible that this group is marginal and/or hermetic enough not to have gained much media attention outside of, e.g., photocopied zine distribution networks, though.

I think Kai, having grown up in a cult, is not your standard hippy despite the bandana and the hippy-speak. There is a big contingent of third or even fourth generation (hippies breed young) off-the-grid-no-SSNs out there and they aren't typically very angry, they're pretty content in their little world. They not fighting mainstream society because they have no part of it and never have. ie they're not going to bars, never mind starting fights in bars. Also, people who have never once had or known anyone who has had health insurance generally try to avoid being punched in the teeth. I think Kai is more of your standard runaway angry middle class white kid than he lets on.

He does have a refreshingly pragmatic take on the Rainbow Gathering hand waviness about the power of hugging overcoming the impacts of pot farming on the community though.
posted by fshgrl at 9:40 PM on April 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think I know why this guy wins so many fights: when you escalate a situation and the other person isn't game to: you won. He picks on those weaker than himself. He's in a sense: a bully - he does the same thing my Brother would do in highschool (because he was bored, angry, highly-intelligent and there was absolutely nothing to do in our town): go out, look for easy trouble and cause it to happen.

Kai was sorta right in the whole, "anti-Christ" thing. "Turn the other cheek" he is not. I think we've found the world's oldest teenager. We can go all pop psych. on this and say he's sort of stuck in a fairly early emotional development level. This whole, "You can't FIND me!!!" b.s. is ridiculous. The reporter did - and he won't say how, which probably means, it wasn't all that hard. You can't say, "you can't find me!" and then ask people to basically find you, to take you on trips, for free (sailing, for example).

The initial hatchet story is bizarre - there's many ways to take someone down - with or without a hatchet, that doesn't involve pummeling the guy in the head. He brushed off (almost) killing someone with a, "dude, whateeeeever - time to surf". Is his conscious really that of a goldfish? He then boasted about showing no remorse for it, at the trial - he was more happy that he got a laugh from the judge. The dude ain't no Dean Moriarty, but it wouldn't surprise me if we found him dead on some train tracks, too.
posted by alex_skazat at 12:31 AM on April 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've been bemused by the whole cuddly-fun-character reaction most people seem to have had; he puts me on edge.

I'd expect someone who's just had to take down a violent lunatic with a hatchet to be sat on the pavement white as a sheet and puking from the adrenaline & shock, not grinning on TV and asking for freebies. A slightly disturbing sense of pride/glee/righteousness about violence combined with loving the attention, what could possibly go wrong...
posted by malevolent at 1:14 AM on April 8, 2013 [6 favorites]

homunculous: There were indeed cameras present!

I swear, I know a dude like Kai. So like Kai that it's creepy. They even look and talk alike. And I always smile when I see this kid walking around my small redneck town with no shoes, Willie Nelson bandana in his long hair, toting a guitar. You just know the hillbillies around here think he's a freak but I happen to think the kid's probably smarter than all of us.

Kai might need to work on his deescalation techniques (as in, he outta get some) but sadly, when you grow up on the margins like he seems to have, you start to believe that every situation is a potential thrown down and you've got to win if you want to stay alive. Another of my good buddies grew up that way and has a physical disability to boot. At the mere threat of a fight, we'll all just walk away from that drama but my buddy will break two beer bottles and stand his ground ready to defend himself. Not doing so might mean an injury he can't afford and doesn't have time for.

It's just the way it is. Violence is my least favorite thing but I get where Kai's head is at in regards to it.
posted by youandiandaflame at 5:22 AM on April 8, 2013 [2 favorites]

I think we've found the world's oldest teenager.

Oh, no. I know teenagers WAAAAAY older than Kai. I know one in his late fifties.

Kai might need to work on his deescalation techniques (as in, he outta get some) but sadly, when you grow up on the margins like he seems to have, you start to believe that every situation is a potential thrown down and you've got to win if you want to stay alive.

I'm just gonna put a global disclaimer up here: everything I say on this thread from here out is heavily influenced by my cousin's unreliable narrative. So, that having been said. . .

I think that Kai has chosen the life he lives now in part because it lets him act this way. I don't know how much of the cult stuff is literally true, Joe said that the story he was telling back when was that he was raised by crazy splinter Pentecostals who didn't "register their kids with the government," and I don't deny that his past may have been pretty fucked up, but I don't think he fights because he's afraid -- I think he fights because he likes to fight. He's found a way that, in least in his head, he can fight all he wants without ever being a bad guy, because he FIGHTS the bad guys. (See also Phoenix Jones.) It's not just that he doesn't walk away from fights. . . he sees fighting opportunities and walks TOWARDS them. He'll see two guys arguing in an alley, and cross the street to interfere.

It's totally possible that Kai could alter some things about his behavior and cognition and fit in just fine with normal life. I think he knows that, but has deliberately chosen to alter his life to fit his behavior and cognition instead. I . . . don't know if that's inherently a terrible choice.
posted by KathrynT at 9:17 AM on April 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

Back when I met him, which was before the hatchet incident, there was a long getting-to-know-you routine during which he told all kinds of tales of teenage derring-do to establish his credibility with me and, frankly, to kill time. His stories all placed him as a picaresque protagonist, but none specifically involved violence (which is something that would have stood out for me); rather, they painted him as someone who liked to outwit petty authorities, police, uptight rule-hounds, etc. Though I don't doubt the stories were partly true, I also knew that the overall thrust was to present me with a certain archetype with which to associate him, the lovable rogue. This is probably the aspect of his personality that he'd won the most positive regard for previously, and he was obviously good at playing the role.

So I think it's disturbing that the biggest outpouring of attention has come from this hatchet incident; his projected persona is darkening because of it, if the interviews I've seen since (incl. this one) are any indication. He earned his fame through violence, and his stories are increasingly reflecting this.

When we met, before his memedom, he either (correctly) read me as someone who wouldn't be won over by stories of fighting, or didn't know yet that this was the trait of his that people apparently wanted more of. If there was one thing this guy wanted, it was for me to acknowledge and respect him, and it seemed like he would have said anything to further edge in on this goal. Partly this is a learned survival skill for the career couchsurfer, partly it is just a wholesome human desire for positive attention. Either way, and I'm tiptoeing around concern trolling here, but I don't think Kai's life is going to turn out for the better now that he's won international acclaim for nearly braining someone.
posted by metaman livingblog at 10:31 AM on April 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

i think kai would be wise to learn that no matter how righteous and perhaps tough he thinks he is, there's a motherfucker somewhere who will put some serious harm on him if he doesn't learn to walk away

i'm not talking about the infamous hatchet incident - he HAD to do something - but he really needs to step away from the bar fights

some people settle those with guns these days
posted by pyramid termite at 5:46 PM on April 8, 2013

I'm disappointed that this has nothing to do with last of the Brunnen-G and undead assassin of His Divine Shadow, Kai.
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:24 AM on April 9, 2013

not your standard hippy despite the bandana and the hippy-speak.

Late to find this thread, but I'm glad for the update.

As a hippie kid, I would like to say that I haven't really met a "standard" hippie or hippie kid.

Also, boy do there seem to be a ton of religion-escapee vagabonds and counter-culture folks. They don't fit in their old world, and they don't fit in the mainstream one, which is pretty restrictive in most of the country.
posted by small_ruminant at 6:00 PM on April 29, 2013