A new friend of mine showed this to me today. I never heard of Matt before today.
Apparently, over 24 million people already know who Matt is. Nice to meet you, Matt.
This is just too, too cool. And a wonderful moment of Zen.
Matt is a 32-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he’d saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.
A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea. They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, and his friend said "Hey, why don’t you stand over there and do that dance. I’ll record it." He was referring to a particular dance Matt does. It’s actually the only dance Matt does. He does it badly. Anyway, this turned out to be a very good idea.
A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as "That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I’ll send you the link. It’s funny."
The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he’d be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they’d be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.
UPDATE: A huge tip of the hat to PENGUINSIX for the lyrics to Praan, the "Stream of Life" song. First, a transliteration of the original, which is sung in Bengali, from the composer’s blog, followed by a translation:
Praan Lyrics – Transliteration
Some people have asked for this. So here you go.
Bhulbona ar shohojete
Shei praan e mon uthbe mete
Mrittu majhe dhaka ache
je ontohin praanBojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
(Repeat 3X)Shei jhor jeno shoi anonde
Chittobinar taare
Shotto-shundu dosh digonto
Nachao je jhonkare!Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo amiStream of Life
by Rabindranath TagoreThe same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.
Want to dance with Matt? Go here for more: http://wherethehellismatt.com/
Download the song Praan, by Garry Schyman, here
