Comments on: www.Wherethehellismatt.com

www.Wherethehellismatt.com

dash_slot- — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 14:56:44 -0800

www.Wherethehellismatt.com Mostly, he's dancing :)

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 14:57:38 -0800

Views: 4,399,787 Comments: 10440 Favorited: 30435 times It's worth it for the simple joy of it all.

By: ktoad

ktoad — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 14:58:54 -0800

previously. Still, a fun idea!

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:01:54 -0800

I saw this the first time it was posted, but I don't know if I commented at the time that it's the greatest thing in the history of the interwebs, so I'll say it now. (Also, excellent tags.)

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:06:49 -0800

It's an update! It's an update!! Mercy me, administrators!

By: goo

goo — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:15:15 -0800

Awww, that's lovely.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:18:14 -0800

hah, The first time I saw this, I thought of posting it to metafilter too.

By: Meredith

Meredith — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:20:47 -0800

I'd not seen it before- but now I'm bound and determined everyone I know will see it by tomorrow. That is fantastic. Except the lodged rock in the chasm in Norway, which made me extremely nervous.

By: vronsky

vronsky — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:23:24 -0800

Impossibe to watch that and not smile. The Deep Forest soundtrack is a nice touch.

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:25:36 -0800

"We are not afraid of Matt. He is stupid and condemned. Matt thinks we are retarded – but he is retarded!" - Former Iraqi Information Minister Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf

By: vronsky

vronsky — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:25:41 -0800

Actually it is impossible to watch that and not want to get your ass on the road.

By: elpapacito

elpapacito — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:26:07 -0800

yay the dp sountrack seems made for that video !

By: hal9k

hal9k — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:28:44 -0800

I want my ass at home in a nice bed. But does anybody film my special little jig? No.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:29:06 -0800

I loved this two years ago and I love it now; in fact, hardassed as I normally am about double posts, I can't bring myself to flag it. It's just so damn joyous, and those kids dancing along crank up the joy a few dozen notches... and that transition from New York to Ephesus, the NYC of the ancient world, still gives me a little shiver (especially since I've been on the Brooklyn Bridge and in front of the Library of Hadrian myself).

By: vronsky

vronsky — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:34:59 -0800

One suggestion, he ought to go to Central Africa and dance with the Baka pygmies singing on the soundtrack.

By: bob sarabia

bob sarabia — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:38:34 -0800

Oh man, I never get tired of that. I remember reading about him getting arrested for dancing in front of the Parthenon some time ago.

By: petsounds

petsounds — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:45:04 -0800

i hate this video. wow an overweight yuppie guy bragging about all the places hes been by doing his little smug self-concious white-persons-idea-of-dancing. i hate him. i might just be jealous tho

By: Malor

Malor — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 15:55:33 -0800

What a neat video. I particularly liked the Rwanda bit. And that has to be the best use of Deepforest ever.

By: birdhaus

birdhaus — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:06:58 -0800

It made me laff---and that's a damn great thing!

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:08:18 -0800

petsounds: "i hate this video. wow an overweight yuppie guy bragging about all the places hes been by doing his little smug self-concious white-persons-idea-of-dancing. i hate him. i might just be jealous tho" Heh. That was my response as well. Who is this fucker? Why isn't he at work? How does he have enough money to go to all those places. Bastard must be a TRUSTAFARIAN!

By: RGarraud

RGarraud — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:17:23 -0800

He could have gotten killed by those elephants. Lucky bastard.

By: peacay

peacay — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:23:18 -0800

That's the newest vid. The old one is at his site. The FAQ are suitably amusing at times. But yeah, I couldn't help but smile watching it either. Thanks dash_slot-.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:30:41 -0800

Actually, besides being a lucky guy & a mediocre dancer, he's a brilliant opportunist. After seeing his video the first time, I checked his journal and he kept going on about a "secret travel project"... Stride Gum (never heard of them) sponsored his second video after seeing the first one. So he didn't have to pay for much of anything. Damn him.

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:31:57 -0800

The blog is worth reading too: "This is it. All but done. My laptop is crammed full of dancing footage. I have but to dust it off and assemble it into something presentable. I'm right at this moment transitioning from unwashed, penny-scraping backpacker to pampered media anomaly. A flight attendant just gave me a relaxation kit with a sleeping mask, toothbrush, and socks. 19 days ago I was being kicked awake by a port officer on the floor of a Greek ferryboat. My seat has a built-in inflatable back cushion and folds into a bed. 27 days ago I was watching Iraqis fire Kalashnikovs in a secured training facility. I just ordered a spring herb salad with Scottish loch fyne salmon, smoke roasted in a hot kiln and then lightly chilled to give an oak-smoked flavor. 39 days ago I was stranded in the Namib desert with a broken down Isuzu, a spare tire, and a family of nine....."

By: aparrish

aparrish — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:48:36 -0800

Oh, Matt. You haven't just danced your way around the world. You've danced your way into my heart.

By: Space Kitty

Space Kitty — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:58:56 -0800

I think the whole damn thing is charming, and my only complaint is that I didn't think of it first.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:00:37 -0800

The 2003 original is neat too. It became a viral phenomenon long before there was a YouTube. On his YT channel, he has a three-part "lecture" he did at a college about the whole thing. Parts are interesting, other parts are him playing bits of his videos without the music, but it changed my opinion of him a lot. He does all his travel on a shoestring in between freelance coding gigs. Stride sponsored him for travel costs for a year, but not all expenses. The bit in Rwanda was deliberate -- it's the best story, really -- because he wanted people to have an apposite image of the country. The song by Deepforest is in a dying Solomon Islands language; the original recording sampled was over 20 years ago, by one of the last fluent speakers of the dialect.

By: zennie

zennie — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:10:35 -0800

Every kind of awesome.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:18:33 -0800

It's funny -- I love this guy, and I used to have goofy rituals and celebrations including my own little Arrival Dance of Joy when I did my decade of backpacking around the planet, back (mostly) in the days before the internet. I wonder still, if my life (or at least my job) would be different today if I'd been able to upload fun stuff into the cloud rather than downloading it by writing in journals and letters, most of which eventually got lost. Anway, good on 'im, again.

By: localhuman

localhuman — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:32:29 -0800

sorry to negatize this thread, but I honestly found this video lame. mostly, i'm just jealous that i haven't travelled as well as he has, but he also really can't dance.

By: localhuman

localhuman — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:33:22 -0800

i'd rather see video footage of all those places minus the dancing white man.

By: Zinger

Zinger — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:37:08 -0800

Goofy dancing but oddly sweet nonetheless. Plus it reminded me of that stay-in-your-head-for-weeks tune that is Deep Forests Sweet Lullaby. My son the music nut will love that one.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:38:14 -0800

I first learned about this site when visiting AMERICAblog this afternoon. I considered making a post of it on MeFi, but found the earlier one. Nonetheless, IMHO, this post is worthy of being a double that stays.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:38:32 -0800

I had never heard of this before, and I have to say that the production and execution is nothing short of fucking admirable. The choice of backgrounds and scenery, the excellent soundtrack (what is this piece of music again? I had never heard a rock version, and it's good). At the risk of sounding schmaltzy, watching this video makes me laugh and at the same time love this crazy little planet; and for all the snark in the world that can't be a bad thing. Dance on, Matt! Dance on!

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:38:46 -0800

That song always kills me. What a dancin' fool. /snif

By: Addlepated

Addlepated — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:40:59 -0800

That's the most scenic part of Guam, is it?

By: Serial Killer Slumber Party

Serial Killer Slumber Party — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:42:28 -0800

I thought this video response was cute, if just a bit lame. Hey the world needs more cute 'n' lame. Loved the original though.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:43:25 -0800

I hate fuckers who have fun in exotic places while I have to work week after week ....

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:44:31 -0800

Oh, and totally eponysteronical. Yes, eponysteronical.

By: vronsky

vronsky — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:47:07 -0800

"Bastard must be a TRUSTAFARIAN!" Not really, you used to be able to get amazingly cheap bucket tickets for around the world travel that were good for a year. And third world countries are ridiculously cheap compared to us. Probably could have done it all for under 2 grand depending.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:48:29 -0800

Oh yes and the song is "Sweet Lullaby Dancing Remix" by Deep Forest, as per the FAQ.

By: washburn

washburn — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:52:32 -0800

Well, wherever he goes, there he is. But what if he fell of that rock in Norway.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:58:19 -0800

"...but he also really can't dance." Haha, yes, you insightful bastard, you realised the video was really about the dancing, and not the travel. A gold star for you.

By: horsewithnoname

horsewithnoname — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:03:17 -0800

But what if he fell of that rock in Norway. Then we would have a video of Matt hanging in traction at various landmarks of the world.

By: BillyElmore

BillyElmore — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:15:59 -0800

Fun, It would be great if the crowd kept growing in each shot--I'd like to teach the world to sing (dance) sort of thing.

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:24:47 -0800

I just had my stomach kicked in watching Children of Men. This was just the lift I needed, thanks.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:26:56 -0800

Big deal, Phil Collins beat him by 20 years. (I keed, I love that crazy dancin' guy!) (20 years? Good god, I am so old!)

By: dhammond

dhammond — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:34:24 -0800

One of my all-time favorite internet things. I had the pleasure of meeting Matt a few years ago and he's truly a wonderful person. I know it sounds a little silly, but I actually consider him to be one of my personal heroes.

By: maryh

maryh — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:39:24 -0800

Really lovely. I loved that jellyfish shot in Palau, and the double-take he got from the German dog.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:41:17 -0800

Beautiful!

By: CaptMcalister

CaptMcalister — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 19:15:44 -0800

How could anyone like this more that Children of Men.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 20:26:01 -0800

I thought that both videos were so sweet and moving, and I couldn't believe that I had never heard of the guy before, so I called my wife down to show them to her. Literally as soon as the dancing starts, she says, "Oh yeah, the guy who dances all over the world - I saw him on Ellen about a year ago. I think his name's "Matt". You internet people are really behind the times on this one".

By: gomichild

gomichild — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 20:26:13 -0800

That just rocks on so many levels.

By: phrontist

phrontist — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 20:42:10 -0800

"There are these communities where groups of nerds on the internet post crap and laugh at it... somethingawful, boingboing, metafilter" - Matt

By: event

event — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 20:51:38 -0800

The girl you hear singing is named Afunakwa. She comes from a place named Fataleka in the Solomon Islands. The song she is singing is a traditional lullaby named "Rorogwela." The recording was made in 1970 by a UNESCO ethnomusicologist named Hugo Zemp.

By: davebushe

davebushe — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:01:16 -0800

Old but so gold.

By: imposster

imposster — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:14:58 -0800

Full, sordid story behind the song: "Sweet Lullaby for World Music" (Steven Feld, Public Culture Bulletin 12, 2000). The music group (Deep Forest), who profited greatly off of the improperly credited music of others, now offers a copy of Feld's damning article on their website in another probable copyright violation. (BTW, they have since fixed the credit to Afunakwa - at least on their website.)

By: dhartung

dhartung — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:15:29 -0800

mostly, i'm just jealous that i haven't travelled as well as he has, but he also really can't dance. Part of the reason he keeps doing it is that he thinks everyone should travel more. It broadens the mind, as they say. As for the dancing, before he ever did a video it used to be the way he annoyed his co-workers into going to lunch. But what if he fell of that rock in Norway. It's easier to get onto than it looks -- there's a path around back. But he says it's the most subdued dancing he's ever done .... Why isn't he at work? How does he have enough money to go to all those places. Bastard must be a TRUSTAFARIAN! Well, the first one he did while he was blowing off steam after quitting his job in the computer game industry. He was already in Brisbane, and from there Vietnam and such are easy to get to -- he just sort of took the long way home to the US. And he really does manage the whole thing on just pennies a day somehow. You can tell from the videos that much of what he does is just get out there and poke around, rather than go on the standard (expensive) tourist-track activities, Rick Steves style. And again, he thinks everyone can and should do this. And that if we did, the world would be a better place. I think he might be right.

By: bicyclefish

bicyclefish — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:25:59 -0800

Unexpectedly awesome. Thank-you.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:27:05 -0800

I only looked 'cuz y'all said it was so good, and it was Deep Forrest. Sorry, you're all wrong. It's better than that.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:28:25 -0800

And yes, the group dancing with him should grow at each new location, like BillyEllmore said.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:44:06 -0800

I agree with him. It SHOCKS me that only 21% of Americans own passports. If it was mandatory for every American to live overseas for at least two months before they turned 25, I think this would be a far kinder & more peaceful world. Case in point: if I recall, before he was elected President, George Bush had never stepped foot overseas...

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:50:42 -0800

How could anyone like this more that Children of Men. Most amazing movie I've ever seen. Just doesn't leave you with a lot of, you know, faith. A silly dancing guy kind of made me forget about the bleakness of human existance for a three and half minutes.

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 22:27:08 -0800

As I recall, I checked this out the first time because I thought wherethehellismatt referred to, you know, Matt. And I loved it; it's a terrific idea, simple in execution, and the people on the sidelines seem happy that he's there. I can't believe anyone would gripe that (this other) Matt had such a good time dancing (if that's the right word) his way around the world. As for the expense, travel is expensive if you have to hurry up and do it on a schedule, say a two-week vacation. If you can take your time, grab your opportunities, and especially if you get into the great networks of the Ask Culture), it can be pretty cheap. And enjoyable, particularly if you can be a gracious guest, and contribute something by being there. I traveled hundreds of thousands of miles in the 1980s and earned less than $20,000 for the entire decade; had a great time. Now that I'm not on the move anymore I've got water bills, sewer bills, electric bills, gas bills, phone bills, mortgage, property tax — it was a lot cheaper to be out in the world.

By: wumpus

wumpus — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 22:29:52 -0800

Miss lynnster, it's probably because many americans can't affort to travel internationally within the expiry time of a passport. But it's true, most Americans seem to be of the impression that there's little the world outside of America can offer them, mainly because america takes the most obvious parts of all worldly cultures, sprinkles them into their melting pot, and serve it packaged in shrink wrap available at walmart. In defense, it's also true that chinese food tastes way better downtown than it does in china, believe me [but then i'm canadian].

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 22:30:58 -0800

A silly dancing guy kind of made me forget about the bleakness of human existance for a three and half minutes. You shouldn't have needed to explain that, Slarty, but it was remarkably patient of you to have done so. it was a lot cheaper to be out in the world. Indeed.

By: TimTypeZed

TimTypeZed — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 22:54:19 -0800

First time I watched it I thought it was somehow fake. In Peru he looked to be in an impossible spot, and then in the next scene on the bridge in Venice he looked larger than all the passerby, so I watched the rest of it reading it all as another YouTube stunt cooked up in some guy's basement without thinking much about how they would have dropped him into all those scenes. Only after reading the comments here did I watch it again seeing him actually dancing across all those places. And now I've watched the whole hour of his lecture to a group of students. He comes off as such a decent, open, easygoing person, mixing a genuine fascination with the world with the knowledge that the attention he's received is the result of simple goofiness. I loved his story about printing off photos of African children and distributing them through the village, and I like how he gathers all the students together after the lecture to go out and dance with him.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 23:20:32 -0800

I always wondered, what makes Brunei so special? They've got the world's wealthiest man, even. It seems like a pretty small place.

By: rfbjames

rfbjames — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:20:37 -0800

These videos never fail to leave me with a feeling of hope for humanity. *dances*

By: vbfg

vbfg — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:21:14 -0800

How could anyone like this more that Children of Men. It dosn't matter how you dress up Bexhill-on-Sea, these places are still far more interesting.

By: MrMustard

MrMustard — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:22:23 -0800

One of the better chewing gum ads. /jealousy

By: BlackLeotardFront

BlackLeotardFront — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:26:19 -0800

Hmmmmm....no sir, I don't like it.

By: Optamystic

Optamystic — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:43:58 -0800

Thanks, little dancing man, for reminding me that I've wasted my life.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 05:20:20 -0800

it's also true that chinese food tastes way better downtown than it does in china That may be the silliest comment I've ever read on MeFi, but what the hell, this is a thread about the supreme wonderfulness of silliness, so carry on! I'll bet the Mexican food "downtown" is better than it is in Mexico, too! I must say, it saddens me that a few people are too grumpy to enjoy Matt's compilation of joyous moments, but it gladdens me that there are so few. And event, thanks for linking to the original of Rorogwela—it was great to hear it by itself.

By: teleskiving

teleskiving — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 05:58:45 -0800

Made me smile, just like the last one. Hard to believe it's been two years already.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 08:53:26 -0800

This warmed the cynical cockels of my heart. Now I just need the number of his choreographer. Dude's got moves.

By: jb

jb — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 09:33:36 -0800

It's a good update.

By: ghastlyfop

ghastlyfop — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:28:56 -0800

I feel like such an asshole for being annoyed by this. Yes, it's exceptionally cool that he's been so many places, and on a shoestring. But homes can't dance! I'd have filmed myself engaging in various acts of self-pleasure at these locales. I'm good at that. Argh, whatever, ok, it's cool.

By: everichon

everichon — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:30:02 -0800

Very cool, made me forget my deeply ingrained misanthropy for a bit. Ahhhhhhhh...

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:04:47 -0800

Views: 4,436,049 Comments: 10500 Favorited: 30769 times Viewed 36,262 times since yesterday...shit, YouTube's got some hefty pipes.

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:04:48 -0800

I always wondered, what makes Brunei so special? Read Kalimantaan.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:58:59 -0800

"He does all his travel on a shoestring in between freelance coding gigs." He also writes (story, script) for video games. He used to work here at my employer for a while in 2005-2006; I liked him, he's a cool guy. You could kinda tell that he'd rather have been out traveling. Hope you're having a blast, Matt! :)

By: Durhey

Durhey — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 15:11:21 -0800

Zoogleplex, you've probably got the real lowdown on this, but in the version I heard he was the original proposer of Destroy All Humans as a joke about the misanthropic, violent nature of the current games industry, and when the proposal was accepted he quit, cashed in his 401k and went dancing around the world. Probably a myth, but it resonates for me.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 15:46:00 -0800

If I got to travel to all those places in the world, and I got someone else to pay for it, I'd be dancing my ass off, too.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 16:10:46 -0800

I don't have that particular lowdown at this time, but I know a bunch o' folks at the developer of Destroy All Humans, so I'll see what I can find out. I'm at a different company at which he worked on a different game. I do know he had some success in the game biz previous to working with us, but not a lot of details.

By: peacay

peacay — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:31:03 -0800

Durhey, Matt tells at least part of that story in one of the films from his class talk that I think dhartung linked back up the page. The part about him coming up with (he was a bit amazed by it at the time) a completely outrageous 'kill all humans' game theme and it being essentially green lighted to move ahead was explained. He said it freaked him out and would have taken up 2 and 1/2 years of his life and that....I forget the rest of that bit of the story. It may have been the impetus to move to Brisbane or was it to take off on the trip? - sorry, can't quite remember - you'll have to watch it.