This is a story that began back in May of this year, when I first heard about this annual event that had been going on for a few years in Gore, Va. "Anarcon" is billed as a freedom festival, hosted every fall at a campgrounds called The Cove, in Gore, Va. I thought this sort of gathering would be very appealing to people like me in times like these, and I decided to go this year.
As I read through and absorbed all the information on the Anarcon website I also saw an opportunity. They were asking for speakers who had some expertise to offer. Because the website encouraged people to sign up I went ahead and did that, but my initial request, and at least two follow ups, were ignored.
Not a great start, but what should one rightfully expect from a group of anarchists? Certainly not orderly, disciplined follow-up and scheduling -- Right? I figured, it's best not to pre-judge. Maybe they sort it out on the day.
Since the event was still a few months out, and clearly a somewhat low budget affair put on by a bevy of volunteers, I figured this was probably nothing unusual for them. I have seen lots of great events that are basically just "same time next year" type gatherings that come off beautifully, time after time, without any semblance of professional event planning.
As the summer months rolled by, I almost forgot about this thing entirely a couple times. Both because I had not heard any response to my submissions and, although I tried to find literally anyone I knew to come along, I could find not a single person who wanted to do it with me. Again, not all that surprising. It’s a weekend camping out basically, but with fun events, speakers, music but… What Else?
And therein lies the rub. As once famous Jerry Seinfeld would say: "Who are these people?"
The term "anarchy" has a bad rap. My best friend, being a bit "judgy", declined my invite because he thought it would be full of gruff biker types and possibly dangerous. Most people hear the word "anarchy" and erroneously think; disorder, chaos, crime, violence, sometimes weapons, but also libertarianism, self-reliance, bush craft, sovereignty, limited or even self-government. Really, and a proper anarchist will tell you this, all the word "anarchy" really means is "without rulers"-- that’s it. But because of this broad range of socially acceptable interpretations, about the only thing you are guaranteed to find at an anarchists hangout is a bunch of people who do not like being told what they can and cannot do.
But what if, what you want to do, includes being an asshole?
If you are the organizer of an event like Anarcon, you are in kind of an impossible position, because there is no way around having to impose a few rules. Since this obvious paradox makes you a hypocrite statist right out of the starting gate, the trick here, I would think, would be to try and downplay that wrinkle and focus on winning hearts and minds, and just keep the list of rules as short as possible. You do what you must. Weakly protest, even bombastically ridicule, (but follow), the rules you cannot get around; like the rules the campground hosting your event insists upon. Anarcon allows fireworks, but guests must still observe rules about flying fireworks that the State of Virginia insists upon. Always sell your victories, and refuse to acknowledge any defeats.
For those attending the event, you should expect to uphold and defend mutual respect as a common sense shared value amongst the attendees, negotiation and compromise will serve as the "courts". (That second part being an assumption, not necessarily a guarantee.)
Anarcon has a loyal cadre of vendors that sell a number of things any good anarchist would love to have.
You can buy everything from canned food to laptops that run on a 12-volt power source. (When I saw that I just had to have one.) Booze was ample and free, a very uncommon thing for a 3 day event that only has a $50 admission price. There were also commemorative cups, and T-shirts, and custom jewelry. I brought along a few books to hand out, and I left with plenty of anarchist treasure.
Other vendors are their to teach, and let you sample products they either make themselves or promote. Anarcon also provides a program of wildly fun activities, so as an organizer you have a schedule you try to follow, but if you can't? Well, that’s just anarchy for ya, what did you expect? As the organizer of Anarcon, lets face it, the competency bar as an event planner is pretty low to begin with, so complaints are few, and the rewards are vast. Who would not want to step into the role of an immensely popular people's champion for a few days. I can see why a person would do this. It’s a good deal.
As far as how things went over the weekend, I would give Anarcon high marks for delivering what was promised in terms of fun activities, but as far as when those activities actually happened, well, nothing started earlier than promised, but about all you could count on was they would happen on the day they were promised. The entire weekend ran as if nobody wore a watch, including the organizer.
I was more than a little impressed with the crowd in attendance, in fact, I could not have asked for a better crowd of potentially new friends and allies in whatever I was doing, and with the possible exception of loud trance music that droned on from 9pm to 4:30 in the morning, the vibe was brilliant. Very friendly, very open, But not entirely "snowflake-safe". If you support a thing that imposes on anyone else, its kind of like you did that yourself, and while the people you will meet at Anarcon know the difference, you will be corrected if you support anything shitty and put it out for opinion.
Fortunately, most of those who would proudly wear the anarchist label have a common belief in certain tenets, Natural Law being chief amongst them, and that is the idea that good and evil are simply defined as right and wrong. "Right" includes treating others as you would want them to treat you, so easy golden rule stuff, and "wrong" is anything that basically boils down to some form of theft. You can be robbed of your property, your wealth, your rights, your dignity, your physical and mental health… So far the line is clear enough.
But such a line never met a politician, and this black and white line of thinking can get pretty granular. For example; If you break commitments you make to others, and this happens frequently enough, that just makes you a liar. But it could be argued that since liars are thieves that rob you of access to the truth, can you also claim that all those who lie to you, if there are many instances, should rightly be considered thieves that have robbed you of your trust in others? I think extending this idea that far is a bit exploitive of the concept.
While this principle is very solid, and I would even go so far as to say it is solid enough to eliminate the need for all the codified laws we have on the books these days, I feel it should not be extended to involve anyone's personal discernment.
A victim mentality is a heavy sack to carry, and there is a palpable culture out there today that encourages this behavior, so even among the anarchists of the world one can find plenty of victims. To such folks I would suggest that the world may not be out to get you. You may however be hanging about in the wrong types of crowds, and that would put the burden back on you, to make better decisions about that.
I believe it always comes back to personal responsibility. Every interaction is an opportunity to do the right thing. It is an obligation to the concept of anarchy, and so to others, that you strive to be trustworthy, straightforward, and honest in your personal relationships. And, in the event you happen to choose poorly, it should be possible to expunge an occasional misstep if your intentions were correct. People I think generally deserve a chance to start over if they make a mistake.
I saw this principle observed by every person I met at Anarcon, except one. Disappointingly, that one person was the events organizer, Kal Molinet. Kal turned out to have quite a few facets to his personality, and while I really liked his public persona, I still have some reservations about the real guy under all that bluster. I saw a few facets of Kal that frankly, weren't all that attractive, as you will learn.
I had hoped to share my experience at Anarcon with Lonnee Rey. Lonnee is an author herself, and she provides editing and advice to other authors. It was Lonnee who first approached me back in 2020, and encouraged me to write my first book. Now a personal friend, I told Lonnie about Anarcon and hoped we could meet in person there. She also emailed Kal and offered to do a talk. Lonnee also has a new book she is promoting titled "How to Deal With A Dumbass".
Unlike my submission, Lonnee's offer was accepted, however as the events date drew closer impending weather posed a problem for her. The forecast called for rain, lots of it, and because of the prospect of an eight hour drive from Tennessee in that rain, and possibly even during the event, that took all the appeal out of Anarcon for her. She thought it best to cancel.
Because this was a last minute decision, I was able to reap a benefit. Lonnee not only apologized and informed Kal, she also volunteered me as a speaker, displaying what I thought was a great example of "anarchist social responsibility". She knew I had applied and wanted to speak as well and she gave Kal lots of reasons to accept me as a replacement. I emailed Kal the same day to let him know I would fill Lonnee's slot if he would have me, and he did.
We had a quick phone conversation that day. Kal asked me to provide him with an introduction he could read and put in the program and also a headshot photo for the website, which I gave him. I said in this introduction that I was an author of two censored books, a line to describe what each one was about, and the topic I wanted to cover, which would be a hard left from what I was accustomed to doing.
Kal wasn’t very thrilled about covid related stuff, which I could understand. Talking about death is a downer at any party but, as I explained to Kal, I was very tired of talking about medical topics. I didn't want to talk about my books at all, however they are part of my story, so I had to at least mention them. The performance I envisioned would be about peaceably and effectively resisting tyranny, and I would use examples from my own experience, things I do myself almost every day now. Any talk of covid would only be there to provide context. I am creative enough to promote myself while not promoting myself.
I am known for being a rabid anti-vaxxer and because that reputation has preceded me all over the world at this point, its difficult to avoid the topic. This pivot had to be done right, it had to make sense, and it had to be effective, otherwise it would not be worth the additional effort. I assured Kal I could pull it off. I told him before I got in to "how" I would first provide good reasons to be civilly disobedient. The blog article I just posted that day would provide lots of reasons. What would quickly follow would be a litany of every possible way I had time to share, that one could use to non-violently, but forcefully, bring about a change that the world sorely needs right now. But without a compelling argument, a build up, to create urgency, this would be a lackluster performance. I asked him to trust me, and told him I could deliver a memorable show.
Excited as I was to fill a prime spot, this also meant I now had a huge job ahead of me and barely a day to accomplish it. My weekend vacation had now become work, but I never wanted to do anything more than deliver a speech like this to a receptive audience.
What I had in mind was big, really big, and it was to be the type of presentation people would not soon forget. Kal told me my time slot would close the activity. Even better I thought. Wow. I get to close the show! I had 30 minutes to fill. I decided the first ten minutes would be a fiery speech to rile everyone up, the rest would be all about how to channel that energy. I was coming to build support for a worthy cause everyone would get behind. This audience was a potential army, and I was recruiting. When I eventually took the stage I even said that straight away.
I wanted to deliver a speech that would unify and energize the entire crowd, and this was something I can do, but such a thing requires a fair amount of preparation, and there was no time to lose now. I worked on my delivery for the next 24 hours straight, then packed the car and set off on a two hour drive with a folder of notes and a bunch of ideas. I hit the campgrounds just three minutes before the scheduled start time on Friday, but I was exhausted.
My talk was the following evening just before dark, and it was still a bit rough, but I had time to work on it. Mostly this work involved getting the flow correct, having notes where I could see them, and being familiar enough with the outline to be able to connect with the crowd so I would not have to boorishly read the entire thing.
I barely did anything else the entire first day but hone my script into a polished weapon.
The weather was scorching hot and it barely rained at all the whole weekend. I was so focused on my speech that I suddenly noticed I hadn't even brought anything to drink along, no cooler, no ice, but a fellow camper came to my rescue, so no big deal. That evening thunderous music filled the forest until about four in the morning. I didn't get much sleep, but by Saturday morning I felt pretty good about my preparations.
Saturday afternoon was filled with talks and speakers. Most were pretty good, but no rock stars. A couple speakers appeared comfortable in their own skin while on stage, a few did not. Jeff Connor was a stand out, as was Jack Shimek. Jeff spoke on nutrition and medicine, and got lots of rousing encouragement from me throughout his speech. Jack successfully sued his own Mayor over a taxation matter, and even taught me something I never knew about taxation which had to do with how this one mayor decided how much to tax Jack. He simply totaled up the cost of every pork program he wanted and divided by the number of taxpayers he had, which was very unfair to many, including Jack.
As I read through and absorbed all the information on the Anarcon website I also saw an opportunity. They were asking for speakers who had some expertise to offer. Because the website encouraged people to sign up I went ahead and did that, but my initial request, and at least two follow ups, were ignored.
Not a great start, but what should one rightfully expect from a group of anarchists? Certainly not orderly, disciplined follow-up and scheduling -- Right? I figured, it's best not to pre-judge. Maybe they sort it out on the day.
Since the event was still a few months out, and clearly a somewhat low budget affair put on by a bevy of volunteers, I figured this was probably nothing unusual for them. I have seen lots of great events that are basically just "same time next year" type gatherings that come off beautifully, time after time, without any semblance of professional event planning.
As the summer months rolled by, I almost forgot about this thing entirely a couple times. Both because I had not heard any response to my submissions and, although I tried to find literally anyone I knew to come along, I could find not a single person who wanted to do it with me. Again, not all that surprising. It’s a weekend camping out basically, but with fun events, speakers, music but… What Else?
And therein lies the rub. As once famous Jerry Seinfeld would say: "Who are these people?"
The term "anarchy" has a bad rap. My best friend, being a bit "judgy", declined my invite because he thought it would be full of gruff biker types and possibly dangerous. Most people hear the word "anarchy" and erroneously think; disorder, chaos, crime, violence, sometimes weapons, but also libertarianism, self-reliance, bush craft, sovereignty, limited or even self-government. Really, and a proper anarchist will tell you this, all the word "anarchy" really means is "without rulers"-- that’s it. But because of this broad range of socially acceptable interpretations, about the only thing you are guaranteed to find at an anarchists hangout is a bunch of people who do not like being told what they can and cannot do.
But what if, what you want to do, includes being an asshole?
If you are the organizer of an event like Anarcon, you are in kind of an impossible position, because there is no way around having to impose a few rules. Since this obvious paradox makes you a hypocrite statist right out of the starting gate, the trick here, I would think, would be to try and downplay that wrinkle and focus on winning hearts and minds, and just keep the list of rules as short as possible. You do what you must. Weakly protest, even bombastically ridicule, (but follow), the rules you cannot get around; like the rules the campground hosting your event insists upon. Anarcon allows fireworks, but guests must still observe rules about flying fireworks that the State of Virginia insists upon. Always sell your victories, and refuse to acknowledge any defeats.
For those attending the event, you should expect to uphold and defend mutual respect as a common sense shared value amongst the attendees, negotiation and compromise will serve as the "courts". (That second part being an assumption, not necessarily a guarantee.)
Anarcon has a loyal cadre of vendors that sell a number of things any good anarchist would love to have.
You can buy everything from canned food to laptops that run on a 12-volt power source. (When I saw that I just had to have one.) Booze was ample and free, a very uncommon thing for a 3 day event that only has a $50 admission price. There were also commemorative cups, and T-shirts, and custom jewelry. I brought along a few books to hand out, and I left with plenty of anarchist treasure.
Other vendors are their to teach, and let you sample products they either make themselves or promote. Anarcon also provides a program of wildly fun activities, so as an organizer you have a schedule you try to follow, but if you can't? Well, that’s just anarchy for ya, what did you expect? As the organizer of Anarcon, lets face it, the competency bar as an event planner is pretty low to begin with, so complaints are few, and the rewards are vast. Who would not want to step into the role of an immensely popular people's champion for a few days. I can see why a person would do this. It’s a good deal.
As far as how things went over the weekend, I would give Anarcon high marks for delivering what was promised in terms of fun activities, but as far as when those activities actually happened, well, nothing started earlier than promised, but about all you could count on was they would happen on the day they were promised. The entire weekend ran as if nobody wore a watch, including the organizer.
I was more than a little impressed with the crowd in attendance, in fact, I could not have asked for a better crowd of potentially new friends and allies in whatever I was doing, and with the possible exception of loud trance music that droned on from 9pm to 4:30 in the morning, the vibe was brilliant. Very friendly, very open, But not entirely "snowflake-safe". If you support a thing that imposes on anyone else, its kind of like you did that yourself, and while the people you will meet at Anarcon know the difference, you will be corrected if you support anything shitty and put it out for opinion.
Fortunately, most of those who would proudly wear the anarchist label have a common belief in certain tenets, Natural Law being chief amongst them, and that is the idea that good and evil are simply defined as right and wrong. "Right" includes treating others as you would want them to treat you, so easy golden rule stuff, and "wrong" is anything that basically boils down to some form of theft. You can be robbed of your property, your wealth, your rights, your dignity, your physical and mental health… So far the line is clear enough.
But such a line never met a politician, and this black and white line of thinking can get pretty granular. For example; If you break commitments you make to others, and this happens frequently enough, that just makes you a liar. But it could be argued that since liars are thieves that rob you of access to the truth, can you also claim that all those who lie to you, if there are many instances, should rightly be considered thieves that have robbed you of your trust in others? I think extending this idea that far is a bit exploitive of the concept.
While this principle is very solid, and I would even go so far as to say it is solid enough to eliminate the need for all the codified laws we have on the books these days, I feel it should not be extended to involve anyone's personal discernment.
A victim mentality is a heavy sack to carry, and there is a palpable culture out there today that encourages this behavior, so even among the anarchists of the world one can find plenty of victims. To such folks I would suggest that the world may not be out to get you. You may however be hanging about in the wrong types of crowds, and that would put the burden back on you, to make better decisions about that.
I believe it always comes back to personal responsibility. Every interaction is an opportunity to do the right thing. It is an obligation to the concept of anarchy, and so to others, that you strive to be trustworthy, straightforward, and honest in your personal relationships. And, in the event you happen to choose poorly, it should be possible to expunge an occasional misstep if your intentions were correct. People I think generally deserve a chance to start over if they make a mistake.
I saw this principle observed by every person I met at Anarcon, except one. Disappointingly, that one person was the events organizer, Kal Molinet. Kal turned out to have quite a few facets to his personality, and while I really liked his public persona, I still have some reservations about the real guy under all that bluster. I saw a few facets of Kal that frankly, weren't all that attractive, as you will learn.
I had hoped to share my experience at Anarcon with Lonnee Rey. Lonnee is an author herself, and she provides editing and advice to other authors. It was Lonnee who first approached me back in 2020, and encouraged me to write my first book. Now a personal friend, I told Lonnie about Anarcon and hoped we could meet in person there. She also emailed Kal and offered to do a talk. Lonnee also has a new book she is promoting titled "How to Deal With A Dumbass".
Unlike my submission, Lonnee's offer was accepted, however as the events date drew closer impending weather posed a problem for her. The forecast called for rain, lots of it, and because of the prospect of an eight hour drive from Tennessee in that rain, and possibly even during the event, that took all the appeal out of Anarcon for her. She thought it best to cancel.
Because this was a last minute decision, I was able to reap a benefit. Lonnee not only apologized and informed Kal, she also volunteered me as a speaker, displaying what I thought was a great example of "anarchist social responsibility". She knew I had applied and wanted to speak as well and she gave Kal lots of reasons to accept me as a replacement. I emailed Kal the same day to let him know I would fill Lonnee's slot if he would have me, and he did.
We had a quick phone conversation that day. Kal asked me to provide him with an introduction he could read and put in the program and also a headshot photo for the website, which I gave him. I said in this introduction that I was an author of two censored books, a line to describe what each one was about, and the topic I wanted to cover, which would be a hard left from what I was accustomed to doing.
Kal wasn’t very thrilled about covid related stuff, which I could understand. Talking about death is a downer at any party but, as I explained to Kal, I was very tired of talking about medical topics. I didn't want to talk about my books at all, however they are part of my story, so I had to at least mention them. The performance I envisioned would be about peaceably and effectively resisting tyranny, and I would use examples from my own experience, things I do myself almost every day now. Any talk of covid would only be there to provide context. I am creative enough to promote myself while not promoting myself.
I am known for being a rabid anti-vaxxer and because that reputation has preceded me all over the world at this point, its difficult to avoid the topic. This pivot had to be done right, it had to make sense, and it had to be effective, otherwise it would not be worth the additional effort. I assured Kal I could pull it off. I told him before I got in to "how" I would first provide good reasons to be civilly disobedient. The blog article I just posted that day would provide lots of reasons. What would quickly follow would be a litany of every possible way I had time to share, that one could use to non-violently, but forcefully, bring about a change that the world sorely needs right now. But without a compelling argument, a build up, to create urgency, this would be a lackluster performance. I asked him to trust me, and told him I could deliver a memorable show.
Excited as I was to fill a prime spot, this also meant I now had a huge job ahead of me and barely a day to accomplish it. My weekend vacation had now become work, but I never wanted to do anything more than deliver a speech like this to a receptive audience.
What I had in mind was big, really big, and it was to be the type of presentation people would not soon forget. Kal told me my time slot would close the activity. Even better I thought. Wow. I get to close the show! I had 30 minutes to fill. I decided the first ten minutes would be a fiery speech to rile everyone up, the rest would be all about how to channel that energy. I was coming to build support for a worthy cause everyone would get behind. This audience was a potential army, and I was recruiting. When I eventually took the stage I even said that straight away.
I wanted to deliver a speech that would unify and energize the entire crowd, and this was something I can do, but such a thing requires a fair amount of preparation, and there was no time to lose now. I worked on my delivery for the next 24 hours straight, then packed the car and set off on a two hour drive with a folder of notes and a bunch of ideas. I hit the campgrounds just three minutes before the scheduled start time on Friday, but I was exhausted.
My talk was the following evening just before dark, and it was still a bit rough, but I had time to work on it. Mostly this work involved getting the flow correct, having notes where I could see them, and being familiar enough with the outline to be able to connect with the crowd so I would not have to boorishly read the entire thing.
I barely did anything else the entire first day but hone my script into a polished weapon.
The weather was scorching hot and it barely rained at all the whole weekend. I was so focused on my speech that I suddenly noticed I hadn't even brought anything to drink along, no cooler, no ice, but a fellow camper came to my rescue, so no big deal. That evening thunderous music filled the forest until about four in the morning. I didn't get much sleep, but by Saturday morning I felt pretty good about my preparations.
Saturday afternoon was filled with talks and speakers. Most were pretty good, but no rock stars. A couple speakers appeared comfortable in their own skin while on stage, a few did not. Jeff Connor was a stand out, as was Jack Shimek. Jeff spoke on nutrition and medicine, and got lots of rousing encouragement from me throughout his speech. Jack successfully sued his own Mayor over a taxation matter, and even taught me something I never knew about taxation which had to do with how this one mayor decided how much to tax Jack. He simply totaled up the cost of every pork program he wanted and divided by the number of taxpayers he had, which was very unfair to many, including Jack.
The afternoon speeches were given on a large stage. My speech was scheduled for the evening but this was where I would give it. The amphitheater consisted of a giant aluminum half-pipe which amplified the sound really well. I helped Kal setup a large presentation backdrop under it earlier that morning. Kal played MC that afternoon and announced that for the first time all the speeches would be recorded, so a videographer was all setup with a camera right in front of the stage, and Kal introduced each speaker. This was even better. I would have a copy of this act to share around.
Having only 15 minutes each, scheduled speakers came to the stage with little more than a few notes. It was open mic style, so there was no podium, but there was a short barstool they could sit on or use for notes or props. After watching how this went for everyone my only concern was the barstool. I had a lot to cover and really needed a place to at least lay out two pages of notebook paper side by side, so after the speakers were done I went up on stage and asked Kal if there was any way I could get a box or a cooler or something to place on top of the barstool. That’s really all I needed to keep things moving and ensure a stray breeze would not wreck my whole plan.
He thought about it a minute and then told me " ok, yeah no problem, we can find something". Feeling very relieved I had this in the bag, we all got organized for an event everyone was waiting for.
Target shooting on the Cove's open air live fire gun range.
Almost everyone brought firearms, and there was some really wild guns there. I have to admit this was the high point of the entire weekend for me. What a blast, literally. I didn't want to worry about carrying too many guns to this, but I did bring a Walther PPK along and had a hundred rounds of ammo.
On a normal indoor shooting range a hundred rounds is like a half hour, but here they lasted several hours and I didn't even use them all! There was so much to do. Everyone was checking out each others guns, swapping guns and trying things out. I saw things there I have never seen before. One guy brought a sniper rifle with a Tommy gun clip and a foot long silencer on the barrel. For any that don't know, silencers don't quiet a round all that much. That is all mostly Hollywood effects, but this rifle… Unless you put your ear next to the receiver when the round was fired you could not hear it! I never saw anything like that. This thing made no more noise than a bb pistol.
I also got to shoot a serious assault rifle. That was new. I grabbed a ride to the range with Kal in his car and we shared a range table. What Kal brought was no joke. I forgot to ask what sort of assault rifle he brought along but it was pretty impressive looking, and a little intimidating. He shot my pistol, I shot his rifle. Man, the optics he had on this thing were insane. You literally could not miss anything you aimed at. Kind of makes ya think a bit about what is possible. I left there kind of wanting one myself, but I don't really have $3500 to blow on a weapon, so I will have to settle for emptying a huge banana clip as a fond memory.
Around 6pm everyone lined up for a group photo before we were on the move again, making our way back to the campground for the evening events. A food truck had set up while we were away and I had gone almost 24 hours without eating, so I was ready to eat my shoes by the time we got back. I grabbed a quick shower and still had a little time before my speech.
The food was great, and it wasn't long after that everyone was lining up for the "toxic masculinity" contest event.
I was to give my speech immediately after.
Having only 15 minutes each, scheduled speakers came to the stage with little more than a few notes. It was open mic style, so there was no podium, but there was a short barstool they could sit on or use for notes or props. After watching how this went for everyone my only concern was the barstool. I had a lot to cover and really needed a place to at least lay out two pages of notebook paper side by side, so after the speakers were done I went up on stage and asked Kal if there was any way I could get a box or a cooler or something to place on top of the barstool. That’s really all I needed to keep things moving and ensure a stray breeze would not wreck my whole plan.
He thought about it a minute and then told me " ok, yeah no problem, we can find something". Feeling very relieved I had this in the bag, we all got organized for an event everyone was waiting for.
Target shooting on the Cove's open air live fire gun range.
Almost everyone brought firearms, and there was some really wild guns there. I have to admit this was the high point of the entire weekend for me. What a blast, literally. I didn't want to worry about carrying too many guns to this, but I did bring a Walther PPK along and had a hundred rounds of ammo.
On a normal indoor shooting range a hundred rounds is like a half hour, but here they lasted several hours and I didn't even use them all! There was so much to do. Everyone was checking out each others guns, swapping guns and trying things out. I saw things there I have never seen before. One guy brought a sniper rifle with a Tommy gun clip and a foot long silencer on the barrel. For any that don't know, silencers don't quiet a round all that much. That is all mostly Hollywood effects, but this rifle… Unless you put your ear next to the receiver when the round was fired you could not hear it! I never saw anything like that. This thing made no more noise than a bb pistol.
I also got to shoot a serious assault rifle. That was new. I grabbed a ride to the range with Kal in his car and we shared a range table. What Kal brought was no joke. I forgot to ask what sort of assault rifle he brought along but it was pretty impressive looking, and a little intimidating. He shot my pistol, I shot his rifle. Man, the optics he had on this thing were insane. You literally could not miss anything you aimed at. Kind of makes ya think a bit about what is possible. I left there kind of wanting one myself, but I don't really have $3500 to blow on a weapon, so I will have to settle for emptying a huge banana clip as a fond memory.
Around 6pm everyone lined up for a group photo before we were on the move again, making our way back to the campground for the evening events. A food truck had set up while we were away and I had gone almost 24 hours without eating, so I was ready to eat my shoes by the time we got back. I grabbed a quick shower and still had a little time before my speech.
The food was great, and it wasn't long after that everyone was lining up for the "toxic masculinity" contest event.
I was to give my speech immediately after.
Kal was offering a door prize to anyone that scored the most points throwing spears and axes at a target. Everyone chipped in providing comic relief to the event, which mostly put on display how toxic everyone's hunting and killing skills were with anything other than a bag of guns. But it was great fun.
When the time involved in finishing up this silly contest and crowning a victor threatened to derail the schedule Kal suggested I depart for the stage with whatever I had. I was to go on in less than 20 minutes and it would be getting dark just as I finished. I took the suggestion, but there was the still the matter of securing that box he agreed to help me find. This was when things began to go south for Kal and I, and potentially my performance as well.
To my surprise, Kal told me I was on my own with that. Crap, I thought. Well, I can figure it out I suppose. Just then Kal remembered there was a folding coffee table type thing up there. That would have to do, so off I went. I grabbed my notes, a few books, just to use as a prop and maybe pass out to a few people.
When the time involved in finishing up this silly contest and crowning a victor threatened to derail the schedule Kal suggested I depart for the stage with whatever I had. I was to go on in less than 20 minutes and it would be getting dark just as I finished. I took the suggestion, but there was the still the matter of securing that box he agreed to help me find. This was when things began to go south for Kal and I, and potentially my performance as well.
To my surprise, Kal told me I was on my own with that. Crap, I thought. Well, I can figure it out I suppose. Just then Kal remembered there was a folding coffee table type thing up there. That would have to do, so off I went. I grabbed my notes, a few books, just to use as a prop and maybe pass out to a few people.
Earlier that day, before we went to the range I asked Kal if it would be possible to play a recording. It was a last minute theatrical prop I found which I thought would be a good example of someone standing up for their rights. It was a bit much to add and wasn't really needed, but if there was time to squeeze it in it would be sort of cool to use. After some thought we decided if I simply brought up a small speaker, something I had with me, I could use the mic and amplify the recording, so I had that in my stage bag.
I went to the stage and Kal finished up the contest. Once up there I was suddenly in a panic. The mic didn't work. I needed to run off a PA speaker that needed its own plug and it was in the wrong place. It needed to be near me if I was to have a mic and I scrambled with a couple guys who didn't know how anything worked to setup the PA system.
Fortunately I knew how to do it, but this was Kal's role, not mine, and Kal had VANISHED!
I went to the stage and Kal finished up the contest. Once up there I was suddenly in a panic. The mic didn't work. I needed to run off a PA speaker that needed its own plug and it was in the wrong place. It needed to be near me if I was to have a mic and I scrambled with a couple guys who didn't know how anything worked to setup the PA system.
Fortunately I knew how to do it, but this was Kal's role, not mine, and Kal had VANISHED!
Time ticked away. There was nobody around the stage either. The contest ended and everyone retreated to the vendor tent hill that was quite a distance away. It wasn't really that this was a problem, Kal had my introduction, he put it in the program, but where was he? Suddenly he appeared, and I asked him, "hey Kal, I am ready. You want to call them in?" Kal said "No. that's on you." On me, eh? Fine. By that time I was well versed in the battle cry heard frequently throughout the course of the event. Whenever Kal wanted attention he would yell out ANARCON! and the guests would repeat it and assemble. Then, another surprise. At the last minute, Kal told me there was another person after me and he asked if I could shorten my talk to 25 minutes. I had a glowing timer on the table so I could keep a control my pace. So I said yeah, I just won't use that recording, so its all good. Then, again, Kal vanished.
This was the program:
This was the program:
8 - 8:30 P.M. | John Lukach Performance on Stage: "Civil disobedience, and promises to fill your bag with monkey wrenches you can throw into globalist agendas where you live"
9:00 P.M. | Honey Badger Burn: All night party till sunrise: Presented by DJ Lightspeed and DJ Dirty Phil
9:00 P.M. | Honey Badger Burn: All night party till sunrise: Presented by DJ Lightspeed and DJ Dirty Phil
Not sure who this other insertion was, but I had bigger fish to fry. The AV kid was still struggling to get the mic turned on and all this delay wasted a bunch more time. It was now getting dark. So dark I could no longer read my notes or even see my table. I ran for a headlamp I had in the car nearby. When I returned it was raining as well, and the mic still didn't work. I wasn't deterred, I had a bull horn with me. I began to bellow "ANARCON!" through the bullhorn at the tent village to fill a totally empty field. I did this a couple times. I heard a few people cry out in response, but nobody came to the stage.
So here I was, standing partially in the rain, pumped and ready to deliver a ball buster of a show and it was pitch black on stage except for my headlamp. The mic worked finally, so I began to shout "Bring it in. AP Anarchy Class is starting now!" Still nothing. No Kal, no introduction, no audience. This was a bit strange I thought. Really it was a total event organizer fail, but I wasn't letting my chance evaporate, so I simply began.
I summoned PT Barnum from the grave and broadcasted so loud everyone could hear me up on the hill, and my delivery and content began to draw people to the stage. I was maybe 5 minutes into the show and I had managed to attract half the camp down from their tents with their lawn chairs despite the drizzle, and more were walking towards me. I was loudly running down a list of everything we have all been force fed by tyrannical globalists, calling it all horseshit, even getting the audience to participate.
Covid is Horseshit, Vaccines are horseshit, Ukraine is what? "HORSESHIT!" the crowd all cried out. Pandemics, The Need for Global Governance, Climate Change, Russia's Responsible, Recession is Good, The Economy is Better, Heart Attacks are Normal, Free Speech is Bad, what is all of this? "HORSESHIT!" the crowd rallied.
I had this. In spite of every obstacle placed in my way, despite darkness and rain, I am stealing the show.
My only regret about this at this point was there was no camera this time, and nobody outside of the event would ever see this.
Kal would admit to me in a later conversation that this time slot was special, just not for the reasons I assumed. He told me if there was anyone he was unsure about they got pushed into the evening. That explained a few things, but not everything. Maybe there was an actual reason why my previously submitted offers to speak were ignored. I could accept being an unknown element. I was a last minute fill in for Lonnie, but the attention given to a speaker that was good enough to put in the program but not good enough to support was a little disappointing. It wasn't insulting until Kal had repeatedly left me hanging out to dry with all these challenges to overcome, and by the time I went on it certainly felt as if he was trying to make me fail.
Then, nine minutes into my address, Kal suddenly appeared at my side. He interrupted me and asked me so say my last lines and wrap it up so the DJ could begin. To say I was surprised by this is an understatement. Looking back on the series of events, it seemed obvious to me in this moment that Kal had hoped I would give up. When I didn't he personally terminated me like Chuck Berry, Gong Show style.
I took it like a man. I still had the mic in my hand. I could have bested his insult, but I didn't. Instead I announced to my audience that Kal had just informed me the music needs to start now. "I'm sorry we didn't get to the meat of this talk", I told the audience, "but collar me later on someplace if you want to hear more."
There was nothing else to say. I packed up my notes and whatever else I had on that table and put it all in my car before relocating it to a spot closer to the vendor tents.
All that effort, wasted. I could have just been a guest at a really fun event, doing something I really needed to do, which was to take a breather from all the writing, the interviews, the endless emails and Zoom calls I am invited to attend. The fact my offer to speak was ignored didn't bother me at all, it was a relief actually. I could just be here and have fun, but activism is a duty and if you are serious about a cause you give it everything you have. Having done that faithfully, I was really pissed off at how this turned out. I wanted to scream in Kal's face. So I avoided him.
The night hike is another activity Kal leads and he was gathering up heads for that while the music blared. I was just milling about. I wanted an Anarcon T-Shirt so I went over to see Kal's wife about that and while we were making change for a Franklin Kal walked up. I admit I kind of snubbed him. His wife was fiddling with change for a twenty and looked at me and said "oh ask Kal, he's right there." I just said "I probably shouldn't talk to Kal right now." That was noticed by them both, but nobody inquired further. Kal went off with the hiking group and I made myself a drink and began mingling elsewhere.
I returned to Jacks tent to see about that laptop and Jack asked me about my speech. He had more questions. Then a couple other people came over and they had questions. Not about what happened, although they did ask that. They wanted to hear more! So I gave them more. Then I walked a few feet and another bunch of people did the same thing. It was good to see and made me feel a lot better, and a lot less pissed off. They wanted book copies. They asked if I would sign them. The numbers grew until it became a bit cumbersome to answer questions being asked of me three at a time, so I offered a solution. I suggested if everyone who was similarly interested would just grab a chair we can sit in a circle and I will finish my talk for them, without all the theatrics. They said ok. So I went to the car and fetch my notes while they arranged the setting.
It was a little less orderly, the way I went about this, but I was happy to do it and I passed some of my notes around and answered covid and vaccine questions mostly for about an hour. It was what they wanted to talk about. I learned from many of them that they had vaxxed parents, some had dead family members. Many were unvaccinated, knowing full well the vaccines being given out were killing people, but many did not know that and some of those had concerns now, about themselves and others. This made me think a bit myself. Maybe this had something to do with my treatment here.
So here I was, standing partially in the rain, pumped and ready to deliver a ball buster of a show and it was pitch black on stage except for my headlamp. The mic worked finally, so I began to shout "Bring it in. AP Anarchy Class is starting now!" Still nothing. No Kal, no introduction, no audience. This was a bit strange I thought. Really it was a total event organizer fail, but I wasn't letting my chance evaporate, so I simply began.
I summoned PT Barnum from the grave and broadcasted so loud everyone could hear me up on the hill, and my delivery and content began to draw people to the stage. I was maybe 5 minutes into the show and I had managed to attract half the camp down from their tents with their lawn chairs despite the drizzle, and more were walking towards me. I was loudly running down a list of everything we have all been force fed by tyrannical globalists, calling it all horseshit, even getting the audience to participate.
Covid is Horseshit, Vaccines are horseshit, Ukraine is what? "HORSESHIT!" the crowd all cried out. Pandemics, The Need for Global Governance, Climate Change, Russia's Responsible, Recession is Good, The Economy is Better, Heart Attacks are Normal, Free Speech is Bad, what is all of this? "HORSESHIT!" the crowd rallied.
I had this. In spite of every obstacle placed in my way, despite darkness and rain, I am stealing the show.
My only regret about this at this point was there was no camera this time, and nobody outside of the event would ever see this.
Kal would admit to me in a later conversation that this time slot was special, just not for the reasons I assumed. He told me if there was anyone he was unsure about they got pushed into the evening. That explained a few things, but not everything. Maybe there was an actual reason why my previously submitted offers to speak were ignored. I could accept being an unknown element. I was a last minute fill in for Lonnie, but the attention given to a speaker that was good enough to put in the program but not good enough to support was a little disappointing. It wasn't insulting until Kal had repeatedly left me hanging out to dry with all these challenges to overcome, and by the time I went on it certainly felt as if he was trying to make me fail.
Then, nine minutes into my address, Kal suddenly appeared at my side. He interrupted me and asked me so say my last lines and wrap it up so the DJ could begin. To say I was surprised by this is an understatement. Looking back on the series of events, it seemed obvious to me in this moment that Kal had hoped I would give up. When I didn't he personally terminated me like Chuck Berry, Gong Show style.
I took it like a man. I still had the mic in my hand. I could have bested his insult, but I didn't. Instead I announced to my audience that Kal had just informed me the music needs to start now. "I'm sorry we didn't get to the meat of this talk", I told the audience, "but collar me later on someplace if you want to hear more."
There was nothing else to say. I packed up my notes and whatever else I had on that table and put it all in my car before relocating it to a spot closer to the vendor tents.
All that effort, wasted. I could have just been a guest at a really fun event, doing something I really needed to do, which was to take a breather from all the writing, the interviews, the endless emails and Zoom calls I am invited to attend. The fact my offer to speak was ignored didn't bother me at all, it was a relief actually. I could just be here and have fun, but activism is a duty and if you are serious about a cause you give it everything you have. Having done that faithfully, I was really pissed off at how this turned out. I wanted to scream in Kal's face. So I avoided him.
The night hike is another activity Kal leads and he was gathering up heads for that while the music blared. I was just milling about. I wanted an Anarcon T-Shirt so I went over to see Kal's wife about that and while we were making change for a Franklin Kal walked up. I admit I kind of snubbed him. His wife was fiddling with change for a twenty and looked at me and said "oh ask Kal, he's right there." I just said "I probably shouldn't talk to Kal right now." That was noticed by them both, but nobody inquired further. Kal went off with the hiking group and I made myself a drink and began mingling elsewhere.
I returned to Jacks tent to see about that laptop and Jack asked me about my speech. He had more questions. Then a couple other people came over and they had questions. Not about what happened, although they did ask that. They wanted to hear more! So I gave them more. Then I walked a few feet and another bunch of people did the same thing. It was good to see and made me feel a lot better, and a lot less pissed off. They wanted book copies. They asked if I would sign them. The numbers grew until it became a bit cumbersome to answer questions being asked of me three at a time, so I offered a solution. I suggested if everyone who was similarly interested would just grab a chair we can sit in a circle and I will finish my talk for them, without all the theatrics. They said ok. So I went to the car and fetch my notes while they arranged the setting.
It was a little less orderly, the way I went about this, but I was happy to do it and I passed some of my notes around and answered covid and vaccine questions mostly for about an hour. It was what they wanted to talk about. I learned from many of them that they had vaxxed parents, some had dead family members. Many were unvaccinated, knowing full well the vaccines being given out were killing people, but many did not know that and some of those had concerns now, about themselves and others. This made me think a bit myself. Maybe this had something to do with my treatment here.
It's no fun having to always be the bearer of bad news. I really wanted this talk to be about anything but covid. I wanted it to be uplifting and empowering, and it would have been. But Kal prevented that. I was just about to pivot to what everyone can do to resist and possibly even stop all this horseshit from spreading further, and I prepared an elegant way to sum up and offer it, but Kal cut my address before I even got that far. So for all of nine minutes on stage, all I managed to do was remind everyone how negative things were, and that is what bugged me the most about it all.
But apparently that wasn't all I did. Because I was not being asked to continue a rant, I was being asked what I knew about vaccines. Because I had plenty of answers and was able to share them, I felt much better then and I wasn't pissed anymore. I was starting to get a headache though.
The music was loud, and awful. It was an endless trance loop, and not even a good one. The same noise droned on the night before well past the wee hours. It was then that I said to, I swear, ONE PERSON; "Is it me, or has the same 16 beat loop been repeating for like 90 minutes?"
Instantly the hypnosis she was under vanished and all of the sudden she noticed how bad the noise was herself. She said it out loud, and a few other people within earshot agreed. This spread a bit farther until there were about ten of us that began to feel that same headache coming on. So I asked one fellow if he knew if it was possible to make a request, like maybe ask the DJ if he would play a song or two? Nobody knew. From where we were it was hard to even see if there was a DJ or if this noise was just a taped loop being played.
I asked if anyone thought it would be ok to go down there and ask, you know, just to see if it was possible to play anything else or if there even was anything else. Long story short, I ended up being the guy who volunteered to take that walk, but along the way I stopped and checked with everyone I passed and every time the same thing happened. Just asking a question about music broke the trance, and people suddenly hated the repetition. Everyone I asked were just fine with me suggesting really anything else.
Even with all this support I realized that this was not my party, and messing with the tunes might be a risky move, but that’s not what I was doing really. I was going down to ask the DJ if he would take a request, and I didn't think there was anything wrong with asking. It's not like I was demanding anything. If the answer was no, so be it. I was rationalizing in my head, for sure, but now I had to go. What's the harm in asking a question? What could go wrong?
Well, I was about to find out. And whoo boy, did I ever! As it turned out, all it took to cause a disaster was for someone to ask this DJ a question. And guess who drew the short straw? Yep. Later I thought; "Man, I probably should have read Lonnee's book."
I walked up on stage and over to the DJ table. I told him that both myself and some people up on the hill were wondering if maybe you had anything else you could play. He stared blankly at me, so I said; "you know, like a song or two maybe? Its just that you have been playing the same loop for the last hour and a half and a little variety would go over well. Did you bring anything else?" He turned to face me, but said nothing. Could he possibly not hear me? I didn't know, but his posture seemed a bit threatening. I said a little louder, "do you have anything else to play? Like some music?" He then became really belligerent for some reason and banged on his little noisemaking machine creating blasts of discordant noise. "You like that? Is that better? How 'bout this?" and he banged on it some more, clearly insulted."
I realized this was going all wrong so I quickly shifted gears in an attempt to win him back over and I acted as if I didn't know he was generating this garbage. I pointed to the noisemaker and said "Oh, shit man, you are manufacturing this stuff? That makes you a musician, I get it now. I am a musician myself, that’s cool." I was just about to ask him how the noisemaker worked when he began to yell at me. "Kal said I can do whatever I want!" I said, "hey, dude, I'm not Kal, ok? I'm nobody. I am just a guest here. I only came over to you because I wasn't the only one feeling the repetition. I just wanted to see if you took requests, I didn't mean to insult you."
"Well you're pretty insulting motherfucker." He said.
But apparently that wasn't all I did. Because I was not being asked to continue a rant, I was being asked what I knew about vaccines. Because I had plenty of answers and was able to share them, I felt much better then and I wasn't pissed anymore. I was starting to get a headache though.
The music was loud, and awful. It was an endless trance loop, and not even a good one. The same noise droned on the night before well past the wee hours. It was then that I said to, I swear, ONE PERSON; "Is it me, or has the same 16 beat loop been repeating for like 90 minutes?"
Instantly the hypnosis she was under vanished and all of the sudden she noticed how bad the noise was herself. She said it out loud, and a few other people within earshot agreed. This spread a bit farther until there were about ten of us that began to feel that same headache coming on. So I asked one fellow if he knew if it was possible to make a request, like maybe ask the DJ if he would play a song or two? Nobody knew. From where we were it was hard to even see if there was a DJ or if this noise was just a taped loop being played.
I asked if anyone thought it would be ok to go down there and ask, you know, just to see if it was possible to play anything else or if there even was anything else. Long story short, I ended up being the guy who volunteered to take that walk, but along the way I stopped and checked with everyone I passed and every time the same thing happened. Just asking a question about music broke the trance, and people suddenly hated the repetition. Everyone I asked were just fine with me suggesting really anything else.
Even with all this support I realized that this was not my party, and messing with the tunes might be a risky move, but that’s not what I was doing really. I was going down to ask the DJ if he would take a request, and I didn't think there was anything wrong with asking. It's not like I was demanding anything. If the answer was no, so be it. I was rationalizing in my head, for sure, but now I had to go. What's the harm in asking a question? What could go wrong?
Well, I was about to find out. And whoo boy, did I ever! As it turned out, all it took to cause a disaster was for someone to ask this DJ a question. And guess who drew the short straw? Yep. Later I thought; "Man, I probably should have read Lonnee's book."
I walked up on stage and over to the DJ table. I told him that both myself and some people up on the hill were wondering if maybe you had anything else you could play. He stared blankly at me, so I said; "you know, like a song or two maybe? Its just that you have been playing the same loop for the last hour and a half and a little variety would go over well. Did you bring anything else?" He turned to face me, but said nothing. Could he possibly not hear me? I didn't know, but his posture seemed a bit threatening. I said a little louder, "do you have anything else to play? Like some music?" He then became really belligerent for some reason and banged on his little noisemaking machine creating blasts of discordant noise. "You like that? Is that better? How 'bout this?" and he banged on it some more, clearly insulted."
I realized this was going all wrong so I quickly shifted gears in an attempt to win him back over and I acted as if I didn't know he was generating this garbage. I pointed to the noisemaker and said "Oh, shit man, you are manufacturing this stuff? That makes you a musician, I get it now. I am a musician myself, that’s cool." I was just about to ask him how the noisemaker worked when he began to yell at me. "Kal said I can do whatever I want!" I said, "hey, dude, I'm not Kal, ok? I'm nobody. I am just a guest here. I only came over to you because I wasn't the only one feeling the repetition. I just wanted to see if you took requests, I didn't mean to insult you."
"Well you're pretty insulting motherfucker." He said.
Wow. Was this guy high? I was offered a variety of drugs by various people at Anarcon. Each time I said thanks but, no thanks. But the possibility this guy was on something seemed possible, if not likely, and I didn't know what it might be, so I immediately back-peddled and said; "Whoa, whoa, listen we got off on the wrong foot here. Listen man, I am sorry if this hit you that way. Maybe I came at you all wrong." "Damn straight you came at me wrong." he said. "Dude, listen, I apologize. Let's start over ok? I'm really sorry. I swear I didn't mean to piss you off, look, to prove it, I am going to kiss your feet right now." And I actually tried. I got down on one knee and put my head down right over the guys sneaker and was actually about to kiss this fools shoe, when he yanked it back and continued carrying on like a ghetto punk, screaming obscenities at me.
Needless to say I was a bit taken aback, and not sure what to do now. Then he said; "Why don't I just go home?" This had just became a serious problem. What if he did? I said "C'mon man that’s a bit much, don't you think?"
At that point I decided it was best to just take off. I told him nevermind, forget it, I'm leaving, play whatever you want to. And as I walked away he got even louder and more insulting, cussing at my back. "Fuck you, dick, I'm fucking leaving."
Now this began to feel a bit personal. I was about 20 feel away by this point, about to step off the platform and he was still going. It was right then that something in me just snapped. Still walking away, I looked back and said, "No, fuck YOU, go the fuck home if you want to, your shit blows and everyone knows it, crickets sound better. I don't care anymore!" And I left. The guy deserved it after all that, but now I was totally screwed, and I knew it.
I went back to the camp and resumed my conversations and all went quiet. The guy actually stopped! Shit. Was he actually packing up as well? I didn't know. But I relayed the experience of what occurred down there to a couple people I was with prior, and I was feeling really bad about it and I said that. But they didn't seem all that upset with the outcome, so I kind of felt like I ought to throw out a positive and began to talk about how beautiful it was there and the sound of nature and how relaxing it was and the people around me nodded in agreement and listened to it for a while. I sat down, and the vaccine questions began again. I was answering what I could. And it was right then that Kal walked up, having returned from the hike to a quiet hill -- and he was more than a little pissed.
He walked straight over to me and said "You, me, we need to talk." By this time I had finished a couple drinks that were mostly vodka and I was working on a third. I was feeling it for sure, but I wasn't completely blotto.
I certainly wasn't mad about the speech any longer. I honestly had almost managed to forget the DJ incident entirely, so when Kal asked me to take a walk I stupidly assumed he wanted to discuss what happened on stage and, equally stupidly, said to him "I told you earlier man, we can talk about that later." Kal knew exactly why he was there however, and he demanded I come with him. So, without much choice, I agreed, and turned to a woman who was throwing questions at me rapid fire just before this and apologized and excused myself, ready to face the music, (but really the lack of it).
Kal and I walked to the edge of the vendor camp and he blew up in my face. He said; "I want you out of here. Either you pack up your shit and leave right now or I will call the park service and have them call a cop to remove you!" Probably not the best time to point out he was being a little statist, but honestly, that was the moment I suddenly realized what this was all about, to which I said; "whoa, whoa, what the hell man?" Kal was yelling at me now. "You ruined the event! The DJ is leaving because of you, now I have no music. I don't know if I can get him to come back. Do you know how hard this is to put on? You wrecked the whole vibe. What am I supposed to do now?"
Kal continued complaining, so I had to interrupt him to defend myself a bit. "That guy you hired is fucking nuts, Kal! All I did was go down there and make a request, and it was at the behest of a whole bunch of other guests. I wasn't the only one who wanted a change, a lot of people did, I just ended up being the patsy that asked, and when I did he went off on me! "
Kal resumed his understandable rant, however based on what he was saying I surmised that he spoke to the DJ and got his version of events before coming to find me and that version was probably a lot different, so I interrupted him again. "Did he tell you I kissed his feet?
Kal's reaction was priceless. He stuttered for a second, mid-tirade, like a car running out of gas and said; "Wait. You did WHAT?" "I tried to kiss the man's FEET! I did NOT go down there like I owned the joint. I did NOT issue a bunch of drunken commands to your DJ. I asked him if he would play a song and he got all insulted and went off the rails. I did everything possible to calm him down and he just kept on self- escalating. That dude is on something. Nobody acts like he did, it wasn't normal, Kal."
"And another thing…" I figured this might be our last conversation so I wanted to know why he ruined my speech. "…what all happened earlier when you booted me off the stage, eh? I was doing you a favor by filling in at the last minute, I didn't have to do all that you know. You have no idea how hard I worked on that act and what else was riding on it." There was something else important he needed to hear, and I explained that to Kal, but I'd rather not repeat it here, since it involves something personal about a friend of mine. I just promised this friend I would close the speech a certain way and I was concerned about what might happen if I broke that promise.
"I said no covid!" Kal blurted out. " I told you I understood that Kal, more than once." I said. "You have not been listening to me. I told you I was not here to talk about my books, or anything medical. I explained to you that I was going to rev everyone up a bit before pivoting into my topic, to give people a reason to use the information. I asked you to trust me."
I think when Kal took me aside he was expecting to confront a jerk, and because I wasn't being one he began to second guess himself a bit. So it seemed like a good time to offer a compromise. I could see this situation had him all stressed out and I felt bad I had anything to do with it, but I wasn't leaving the grounds intoxicated, so I said; "How about this; I live two hours from here and I have been drinking. You expect me to pack up and leave and drive my ass home through the woods in this condition? Through miles of twisty dirt road and two hours of freeway? Be reasonable here. Tell you what, let's compromise. I apologize for everything that happened. You need to go try and fix this. I get that. How about I just banish myself to a quiet corner, right now, and let you punish me like a petulant child. I will stay in my car until morning and not talk to anyone, and first thing tomorrow morning I will just get the hell out of here. How about that?"
It was a sincere offer, and I thought maybe it brought us a little way forward in terms of mending our strained relationship. Kal decided it was fair and took the deal, and I felt like I had got through to the guy, just a bit, in spite of all his understandable outrage.
Looking back on all this, I still find it hilarious that I was almost ejected from an anarchist convention, basically for being to too much of an anarchist!
The last thing Kal said to me that night was; "Look, I don't know you. I think you may be doing something important, but I don't really know what it is. Let's talk some more tomorrow after breakfast and try to get to know each other better".
I didn't expect that, but it was nice to hear, and I crashed out looking forward to that chat. Unfortunately, it didn't really happen. Instead something else did.
Kal managed to get the DJ to stay and the same crappy trance loop continued loudly until the sun began to rise. I held up my end of the bargain and tried to sleep in my car with the windows rolled up, but it didn't help much, and it was hot. When the music stopped I was able to open the windows and I dozed off finally. I woke up around noon and saw that only then were people beginning to pack up for the trip home. I did the same and pulled my Jeep down to the vendor tents where I figured I would find Kal.
I found Jack Shimek, the guy I bought a 12 volt laptop from first, and we struck up a conversation. We were right in the middle of that conversation when Kal strolled up and, kind of rudely, took over and began to converse with Jack. I didn't react. Instead I just watched him and analyzed his behavior. I was actually doing this with Kal in every interaction we had, he just wasn't aware of it.
I was intrigued by Kal. He reminds me of myself many years ago and I saw a lot of myself in him. I was trying to get to know the man that puts on an event like this. He seemed like a guy I could be good friends with, and I could use a few more. But this thing he was doing made my spidey senses tingle. It felt like his version of a pissing contest. He went on with Jack for quite a while and completely ignored me the whole time. I kept watching him to see if he would even glance in my direction, but he never did. I found this sort of amusing, and I wanted to see how long he was going to keep it up, so I just stood there, waiting.
After a while I decided he wasn’t going to acknowledge my presence so I made him blink. I excused myself to go fetch a folding lawn chair a couple tents away and right on cue Kal broke off the conversation with Jack and asked me to take a walk with him to have our little chat.
As we strolled over to my car I picked up a distinct vibe from him that this was going to be really brief. He asked me about my business website, trying to remember what it was. "Estate Artistry" I told him. "Yeah," he said, "how did you get into that?" I gave him a brief history and told him it no longer operates. I wanted this "get to know each other" thing to happen, so I tried to expand the conversation, but he seemed ready for that, like he had been up all night trying to figure out how to get out of a thing he agreed to under duress, but later decided he really wanted to get out of. This is just a speculation on my part. But that is how it felt to me. I only think my suspicion is correct because of what he said next.
Kal said, "You know my wife made you a drink and you threw it on the ground."
Oh no you don't, I thought. Floating this story was a miscalculation on Kal's part. There is no way I am going to let this guy get away with pigeon-holing me into the role of a drunk who blacks out and does stupid things he doesn't remember. So I said. "That did NOT happen. Let me tell you what did happen." I remember every interaction we had because the recording button was on. "That drink you are talking about, was the first of four your wife made me. Two on Friday night and two on Saturday. There was no rude behavior, no drink was thrown on the ground. You were there. I offered that drink to you!"
The last thing Kal said to me that night was; "Look, I don't know you. I think you may be doing something important, but I don't really know what it is. Let's talk some more tomorrow after breakfast and try to get to know each other better".
I didn't expect that, but it was nice to hear, and I crashed out looking forward to that chat. Unfortunately, it didn't really happen. Instead something else did.
Kal managed to get the DJ to stay and the same crappy trance loop continued loudly until the sun began to rise. I held up my end of the bargain and tried to sleep in my car with the windows rolled up, but it didn't help much, and it was hot. When the music stopped I was able to open the windows and I dozed off finally. I woke up around noon and saw that only then were people beginning to pack up for the trip home. I did the same and pulled my Jeep down to the vendor tents where I figured I would find Kal.
I found Jack Shimek, the guy I bought a 12 volt laptop from first, and we struck up a conversation. We were right in the middle of that conversation when Kal strolled up and, kind of rudely, took over and began to converse with Jack. I didn't react. Instead I just watched him and analyzed his behavior. I was actually doing this with Kal in every interaction we had, he just wasn't aware of it.
I was intrigued by Kal. He reminds me of myself many years ago and I saw a lot of myself in him. I was trying to get to know the man that puts on an event like this. He seemed like a guy I could be good friends with, and I could use a few more. But this thing he was doing made my spidey senses tingle. It felt like his version of a pissing contest. He went on with Jack for quite a while and completely ignored me the whole time. I kept watching him to see if he would even glance in my direction, but he never did. I found this sort of amusing, and I wanted to see how long he was going to keep it up, so I just stood there, waiting.
After a while I decided he wasn’t going to acknowledge my presence so I made him blink. I excused myself to go fetch a folding lawn chair a couple tents away and right on cue Kal broke off the conversation with Jack and asked me to take a walk with him to have our little chat.
As we strolled over to my car I picked up a distinct vibe from him that this was going to be really brief. He asked me about my business website, trying to remember what it was. "Estate Artistry" I told him. "Yeah," he said, "how did you get into that?" I gave him a brief history and told him it no longer operates. I wanted this "get to know each other" thing to happen, so I tried to expand the conversation, but he seemed ready for that, like he had been up all night trying to figure out how to get out of a thing he agreed to under duress, but later decided he really wanted to get out of. This is just a speculation on my part. But that is how it felt to me. I only think my suspicion is correct because of what he said next.
Kal said, "You know my wife made you a drink and you threw it on the ground."
Oh no you don't, I thought. Floating this story was a miscalculation on Kal's part. There is no way I am going to let this guy get away with pigeon-holing me into the role of a drunk who blacks out and does stupid things he doesn't remember. So I said. "That did NOT happen. Let me tell you what did happen." I remember every interaction we had because the recording button was on. "That drink you are talking about, was the first of four your wife made me. Two on Friday night and two on Saturday. There was no rude behavior, no drink was thrown on the ground. You were there. I offered that drink to you!"
Which was true. Kal's wife asked me what I wanted at the bar and I asked for a simple shot of vodka. "Chilled?" she asked. " Sure" I said. "You don’t want anything in it?" And then she pointed out a bunch of mixers. I said; "ok good point" and she began to whip up a crazy blue concoction that made me grimace when I tasted it. It was just way to sweet. I am a scotch drinker normally, and there was no scotch, so I was winging it a bit, but this drink was just not something I could put down. We both looked at each other embarrassingly but for different reasons, and she immediately apologized and offered to make me another. She took the blue drink back and set it aside while she mixed a replacement.
It was at this moment that Kal strolled up right beside me. I figured he would like anything his wife made so I said; "Kal, perfect timing, see that blue drink over there. It's still fresh. Your wife just made it for me but it was too sweet. You should have it. Do you want it?" He said no, so I didn't push. I took the next one and went off to mingle a bit.
This display of photographic recollection should have been enough, I thought, to clear this new adversarial piece off the chessboard, but it fell on deaf ears. Kal just shrugged it off and asked me next; "Are you calling my wife a liar?" "Certainly not." I replied. "Maybe she has me mixed up with someone else, or maybe she just doesn't remember what happened" The last thing I wanted to do was let this go, but I decided to let him off the hook. This was a punk move. There was no point in defending myself against a witness testimony when the witness was nowhere to be found, especially when the witness was this guys wife. Then he said, "Look man, this just isn't your vibe, ok?" The "vibe" I was getting was loud and clear. It was, "you are not welcome here, so don't come back." "..but I just wanted us to part as friends, you know? Have a good trip home." Kal told me.
The last thing I said to Kal was; "can I at least offer you a couple books?" The response came instantly. "no, no." He replied.
So that was it. We shook hands and I got into my car and drove off. I'm pretty sure Kal is still congratulating himself on how he handled me. But maybe not, maybe there is a possibility this rift can be mended. I intend to at least make an effort to do that, so I will let some time go by and email him one last time. I hope that goes better than these other exchanges.
On the way out, right as I came to the main state highway, there was a broken down pickup, laden with camping gear and a few farm animals in cages. It was this nice kid named Grant that I met at Anarcon, who manned the "Grub Hub". He obviously wasn't going anywhere in this state. I pulled over and checked out his vehicle. His radiator had sprung a leak, so I helped him push his truck off the road and sat with him for an hour or so while he waited for Triple A to send a flatbed. After that I was once again on my way home.
All in all Anarcon was a super fun experience I would highly recommend. I give the event high marks despite all the friction that occurred between its organizer and myself. Any negatives I relate in this story had to do with my unique situation, because of who I am, and why I was there, all of which amounted to an unexpected comedy of errors. If you decide to attend Anarcon in the future, and I encourage you to do so, I doubt you would have anything but a great time.
-John
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