Althouse: "Every swear filled breathless account of violence should indeed be prefaced by a benediction for universal love and respect."

February 4, 2013

"Every swear filled breathless account of violence should indeed be prefaced by a benediction for universal love and respect."

"This is a 5+ minute local news video of a young surfer dude who is recounting his brush with some psycho dude...."

(Warning: Some bad language.)

"Mesmerizing. He speaks like how a Beckett novel reads, just with some surferisms thrown in. Ending is about as bleak as Beckett, too. Someone get that guy a wet suit and a hug if it's real, which I doubt. Still mesmerizing either way."

I thought it seemed like an extra scene from the movie "Slacker."

61 comments:

Anonymous said...: "Every swear filled breathless account of violence should indeed be prefaced by a benediction for universal love and respect, a respect moved against a benediction above, gave way to another respect, an indefinite procession of respect, that rouged and powdered in an invisible glass.

Everything is Gatsby Day.; 2/4/13, 9:27 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Fucking A!

Whatever this guy is smoking, I want some!; 2/4/13, 9:32 PM
Anonymous said...: "As far as who I grew up with, I'm already dead". First glimmer of vulnerability.; 2/4/13, 9:33 PM
kentuckyliz said...: And that's why hillbillies should be our sky marshals.; 2/4/13, 9:33 PM
kentuckyliz said...: I know Inga, I found that sad and wanted to know more of that backstory.; 2/4/13, 9:34 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: I hope they didn't bleep any of that shit when they broadcast it.

Would destroy the whole thing.

First glimmer of vulnerability.

Give the caring and vulnerability shit a break for a while, Inga. Can't you ever enjoy somebody being a hard ass... that is, besides yourself?

You wear people out with that shit. Have a sense of humor.; 2/4/13, 9:35 PM
kentuckyliz said...: A brush with? He killed him with axe blows to the head.; 2/4/13, 9:35 PM
Revenant said...: This seems unbelievably fake to me.; 2/4/13, 9:35 PM
Anonymous said...: ST!

Did I say I didn't get a kick out of the guy? He's adorable in frenetic kind of way. He was just a bit sad at the end.; 2/4/13, 9:37 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Adrenalin high.

Action is fun. Sometimes, even crazy action.

Women are a drag when it comes to this shit.

At least, most women. My late wife, Myrna, loved action, loved the adrenalin high, and would have waded right into the fight.

God, I miss that! That's hard to find in a woman.; 2/4/13, 9:38 PM
Anonymous said...: Re: "First glimmer of vulnerability."

First glimmer of vulnerability was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart."

Everything is Gatsby Day.

(Thank you, Inga); 2/4/13, 9:38 PM
Anonymous said...: You are entirely welcome Betamax!; 2/4/13, 9:41 PM
Anonymous said...: "A young surfer dude who is recounting his brush with some psycho dude: there is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind, and as he surfed away he was feeling the hot whips of panic."

Everything is Gatsby Day.; 2/4/13, 9:43 PM
Wince said...: He should be the Masschusetts Republican Party candidate for US senator.; 2/4/13, 9:45 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: As far as who I grew up with, I'm already dead.

He's from West God Damned Virginia, as they like to call it in NYC.

My bet... He's got a good Dad back home who's waiting for his son to find himself and return home.; 2/4/13, 9:45 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: "My son," the father said, "you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."

From the Parable of the Lost Son. Luke 15:11.; 2/4/13, 9:48 PM
edutcher said...: Shout, if our paths ever cross, you'd love The Blonde.; 2/4/13, 9:50 PM
Anonymous said...: "Every swear filled breathless account of violence was marked 'The Swastika Holding Company..."

Everything is Gatsby Day.; 2/4/13, 9:51 PM
The Godfather said...: Tomorrow, Obama and Feinstein will be proposing banning assault axes.; 2/4/13, 9:51 PM
effinayright said...: Blogger kentuckyliz said...

And that's why hillbillies should be our sky marshals

**********

Careful...we recently had a swollen-faced hillbilly President, and he wasn't so heroic.; 2/4/13, 9:53 PM
Anonymous said...: "Someone get that guy a wet suit and a hug if it's real, he could suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder."

Everything is Gatsby Day.; 2/4/13, 9:55 PM
Methadras said...: All these douche bags think they are Spicoli. Morons.; 2/4/13, 9:56 PM
Anonymous said...: "Mesmerizing. He speaks like how a Beckett novel reads, just with some surferisms thrown in, each surferism introduced to us as Mr. Mumble."

Everything is Gatsby Day.; 2/4/13, 10:04 PM
Thomas said...: As Dodge would say, here's the rest of the story:

http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/02/01/3157402/man-rams-pge-worker-with-car-assaults.html; 2/4/13, 10:04 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Redneck kid from West God Damn Virginia saves the life of a black man he doesn't even know.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13.

Did the music for a mass given by an Irish priest from Belfast yesterday. His sermon was on this subject.; 2/4/13, 10:12 PM
DADvocate said...: Sophia, WV? That's back in the hills. WAaayy back in the hills.; 2/4/13, 10:14 PM
traditionalguy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/4/13, 10:15 PM
traditionalguy said...: This seemed to be staged and scripted.

The TV interviewer was very well spoken and seriously intelligent in his approach to the questions...and that never happens.

And why does he keep his pack on the whole interview?

That was a perfect interview of a perfect character. Therefore it was not real people.; 2/4/13, 10:15 PM
F said...: This bizarre story gets even stranger when you read the Fresno Bee article Thomas linked to above. A passenger in the car hits the driver over the head with an axe and he's released? The kid from WV actually works for some super-secret intelligence agency. Or he's really Latino and the police were afraid to ask for papers. Or, like The Shadow, he has the power to cloud men's minds. He surely has the power to cloud his own mind!; 2/4/13, 10:18 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Sophia was the hometown of the late U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd.

From Wikipedia.

Byrd was a KKK Grand Wizard.; 2/4/13, 10:18 PM
DADvocate said...: we recently had a swollen-faced hillbilly President,

Who was that? In my book, we haven't had a real hillbilly president on over 100 years.; 2/4/13, 10:18 PM
bagoh20 said...: I think it's awesome on a number of levels, with the most awesome part being it's all this one guy delivering a wonderfully entertaining story in a unique style in which he's the star of an incredible drama of heroism and standing up for others, and it's true. No rehearsals. A damned good day in anyone's life. The guy makes we wish I was a homeless drifter with nothing. I feel pure envy.; 2/4/13, 10:30 PM
virgil xenophon said...: The Movie Slacker? Naw, more like the young Sean "Hey Bud, lets party" Penn in Fast Times At Ridgemont High,; 2/4/13, 10:52 PM
ampersand said...: If Cosmo Kramer had a son,he would look just like Ky.; 2/4/13, 11:19 PM
sonicfrog said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/4/13, 11:19 PM
sonicfrog said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/4/13, 11:21 PM
William said...: The young man is likeable and entertaining. I didn't think people like that existed outside of movies. I get the sense that some of this might be a send up, but apparently the story is legit.... I also admire the libidinal drive of the criminal. It's not every person who, after being cleaved with an axe, will take the time to stand around and masturbate. This facilitates the work of the police enormously.; 2/4/13, 11:22 PM
sonicfrog said...: I sent the full story to Ann on Saturday... I live in Fresno. It's very real.

I know this guy is a walking stereotype, but this is who he is (stereotypes are typically base on some semblance of reality after all). It's kind of sad. He sounds. Here is the original news cast.

I cried just a little at the end of his full interview. He has no friends or family. He may very well be a total druggie and everyone has abandoned him. They may have very good reason for all I know. Still, he's got what he wants in life. He just wants to go places and do things. And he has the balls to act and defend someone who is in danger.

Ultimately, the world is a better place with him in it.

PS. I think I'll borrow this quote when someone asks my age

Reporter: "How old are you?"

Kai the Hero Hitchhiker "I cant call it"; 2/4/13, 11:24 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Its real if we believe is real.; 2/5/13, 12:32 AM
Texan99 said...: I liked him more and more the longer he talked.

It was an unusually coherent account. That young man may be confused about where he's going, but he knows how to behave when the chips are down.; 2/5/13, 12:41 AM
Methadras said...: You gotta love that though, SMASH, SMASH, SUH-MASH!!!; 2/5/13, 1:34 AM
MJG said...: Oh, it's real. The tv station has the report on their site, and they also show the women the guy had bear hugged and was presumably trying to kill. She corroborates everything.

BTW, no one died, including the crazy guy. Apparently the loon was going around saying he was Jesus and that he had to kill black people before the bear hugged the lady.; 2/5/13, 1:40 AM
sonicfrog said...: MJG, It's an incredible story.... So many layers packed into one incident. You really couldn't make it up if you tried.

The interview has over a million hits. I expect the Auto-Tune The News guys will make good work out of this one. I also e-mailed it to them on Saturday.; 2/5/13, 2:01 AM
Palladian said...: What an amazing guy. That's freedom and responsibility, whatever the ultimate cost.

God speed, Kai.; 2/5/13, 2:44 AM
Anonymous said...: This was local news for me.

Thankfully neither of the two crazy people involved are locals.; 2/5/13, 3:29 AM
Charles said...: this guy is more articulate; 2/5/13, 4:22 AM
Robert Cook said...: "This seemed to be staged and scripted."

Not in the least. That had the breath and surprising twisty spontaneity of real life.; 2/5/13, 6:40 AM
David said...: If Janet Napolitano gets nominated, I'm going for Kai for President.; 2/5/13, 7:11 AM
John henry said...: Its Madison's own Noodles kid (Rob Lewis)all grown up!

Seriously, he tells me I have to respect him?

Why?

What possible reason on God's green Earth might there be for respecting someone like that? (Or the Noodles kid either, for that matter)

They are for laughing at not "respecting".

John Henry; 2/5/13, 7:35 AM
John henry said...: OK, flag on the play.

I had not realized that Kai had stopped the madman.

So he does deserve my respect for that.

Mea culpa, mea culpa.

John Henry; 2/5/13, 7:45 AM
paulmichiel said...: Kai seems pretty well groomed for a "homeless" person. And that patois--part hipster, part African-American--sounds like a affectation to me.; 2/5/13, 7:59 AM
Known Unknown said...: This is actually a plot to a failed David Lynch sitcom pilot.; 2/5/13, 10:40 AM
RazorSharpSundries said...: Oh my good God, that guy is totally believable, I love all you Althouse commenters, my love knows no bounds, but have you never met anyone like this?!? Maaaannn, that chills me to know that some of you think this is put-on. That guy is real. I run into guys and gals like him everyday. The nation is filled with 'em. I remember drifters like this when I was his age and they were there beforehand and are still there. SU-MASH!; 2/5/13, 10:44 AM
Writ Small said...: It never occurred to me that it was fake. Just seemed like a mixture of adrenaline and pot and a propensity to violence. I knew plenty of kids like him growing up. The country that produced Dylan couldn't give us Kai?; 2/5/13, 11:08 AM
Jerome said...: I like the fact that, when confronted with a 300-lb madman, Kai knew exactly where to put his hand on the haft of a hatchet. I'm guessing he has a PhD in hard knocks.

Go, Kai!; 2/5/13, 11:18 AM
sakredkow said...: Thank God he had his gun with him.; 2/5/13, 11:31 AM
NitneLiun said...: Kai is less Gatsby and more Kerouac. He's on the road and taking all of life in as it comes.; 2/5/13, 11:48 AM
tiger said...: WHY is a link supposedly about a surfer dude saved from death nothing but clips from 'Richard III'?

Inquiring minds want to know - at least this one does.; 2/5/13, 1:33 PM
tiger said...: Weird.

NOW the clip is there.; 2/5/13, 1:34 PM
pdn said...: He is more articulate when he briefly explains the ordeal at 2:40. He sounds educated.; 2/5/13, 2:04 PM
pdn said...: He is more articulate when he briefly explains the ordeal at 2:40. He sounds educated.; 2/5/13, 2:05 PM