Travelling Matt

by Kieran Healy on July 2, 2008

Via Teresa. I have to say that I was skeptical for the first fifty seconds or so, what with the new-agey soundtrack and the apparently solo globetrotting, but what comes after is just absurdly sweet in a nerd-brings-the-world-together sort of a way. Enjoy.

{ 13 comments }

1

Matt (not _That_ one) 07.02.08 at 3:30 am

The mean bastard in me wants to say that with all that dancing all over the world you’d think he’d lose some weight. The rest of me thinks it’s pretty cool, really, and is a bit jealous.

2

Mike D 07.02.08 at 7:28 am

The mean bastard in me thinks that he’s probably writing a whimsical (but ultimately heart-warming!) true-story book for the christmas market.

3

eszter 07.02.08 at 9:16 am

His solo act produced in 2005 was already impressive, this one would have taken even more guts and coordination, cool. (This coming from someone who’s had her share of unorthodox photo situations so I really appreciate what something like this would take.)

His Web site Where the Hell is Matt? has some interesting background info.

4

engels 07.02.08 at 12:28 pm

Heart-warming. It’s so important in these troubled times that we all remember that the developing world doesn’t just exist for American capitalism as somewhere to be exploited and bombed into submission. No, it also provides a backdrop for clueless over-leisured twenty-somethings to film viral marketing ads for chewing gum companies. Many thanks to the blogosphere for bringing us all this uplifting experience and a special thanks to Stride Gum (TM), The Ridiculously Long Last Gum.

5

bdbd 07.02.08 at 1:05 pm

most seamless use of green screen I’ve ever seen!

6

bdbd 07.02.08 at 1:09 pm

a question — how quickly does a project like this — something unique enough to populate a URL — become a commonplace part of 20-something travel itineraries, just another way to frame one’s digital home movies? From Here Comes Everyone to There Goes Everyone?

7

richard 07.02.08 at 10:32 pm

Clueless? I dunno, he managed to get funded to travel all over the world, and he persuaded crowds of people to join him doing silly stuff in front of a camera in quite a few of them. I wish I had the nous and the social ability to do the same. He’s now having 15 minutes of global goodwill in which he might, if he chooses, say something. I’ve never managed to engineer such an opportunity for myself. Go Matt. What’ve you done recently, engels?

8

Jon H 07.03.08 at 1:03 am

I think now we know why that ancient wooden structure in Seoul was burnt down by an arsonist.

9

Laura 07.03.08 at 4:55 am

Emissions!

10

ted 07.03.08 at 5:42 am

Notice when he was in East Jerusalem, it said “West Bank.”

11

Kathy 07.03.08 at 9:22 am

I discovered Matt last week … and was firmly set to believe it was all a visual hoax after he went gravity-free! But I checked it out and was impressed with what he’s done over the course of 4-5 years and with his sponsor.

Read the comments on his blog: he’s doing far more for world peace and the image of America than most folks being paid to do that stuff.

12

Kathy 07.03.08 at 9:26 am

To bdbd : it’s not greenscreen.

To Matt (not_that_one): He explains the change in weight on his website in the out-of-date FAQ.

13

engels 07.03.08 at 10:36 pm

he’s doing far more for world peace and the image of America than most folks being paid to do that stuff

You mean he’s doing a better job than people like Colleen Graffy? That’s impressive. So what is he doing? Handing out free gum?

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