I've been avoiding DM lately. Not for any particular reason...except that I just wanted/needed a break. I'd occasionally glance at the link in my bookmarks and think about clicking on it, but I never got around to it. Anyway, I was poking around on YouTube the other day, sifting through all the cats falling off things and people who think they can sing (and who think we want to watch them do it), when I came across a video of Matt. And it is because of Matt that I return to the 'Chan...to share him with all of you.

 

Now, you may be asking yourself, "who the hell is Matt?" Well, to answer that question I need your attention for the next four and half minutes. So minimize your Facebook screens and look this way and meet Matt. Dancing Matt, in the video below.

 

Matt's claim to fame is that he dances badly and he dances badly all around the world. In early travels he initially had someone video tape him doing a sort of "white-man-can't-dance" dance at every new destination. He posted the videos for the folks back home. They went viral. People from all over the world began to email Matt asking if they could join him in the dance when he came to their parts of the world. A sponsor got involved and the rest is history in the form of this "Where the Hell is Matt" video below.

 

You can read all the Pulitzer Prize-winning travel-based literature out there - but nothing, nothing conveys the joy of travel and discovering new geographies and meeting people from faraway places like this video. The first time I saw it last fall I weeped with joy like a big ol' baby. There is something absolutely magical about this video and its been burning up the blogosphere for sometime now. Dance is an innate, natural response to joy that everyone around the world shares - and this seemingly silly little video captures the rare beauty of our common humanity so perfectly.

 

I give you the very best of YouTube:

 

(be sure to watch it in HD!!)

Haha, that was awesome... :D The sound cut out part way through though. :-\