Not sure how I stumbled upon it (and it wasn't StmbledUpon.com, even though it does assist in that kind of thing) but I read an interesting article from the L.A. Times about a video called Matt Harding Dancing which has been airing on YouTube since June 20, 2008. Meghan Daum's jaundiced "It’s Dancing, Not the Key to World Peace" takes a barbed look at the Matt Harding phenomenonal self-promotion success here and brings along skewers. It's a fun read.The video has been viewed more than eight million times. In fact, since yesterday alone I think it must have jumped an additional one hundred thousand views.
Of course this was not his first effort. His April 3, 2006 submission has only been watched 303,080 times as of this moment, and much of that likely due to the success of this latter one. It may have been less successful due to the weak title. That first was titled Matt Harding Dancing. This one is called Where the Hell is Matt?
The vid is a four and a half minute montage of Matt in various settings around the globe, dancing. The Enya-esque soundtrack is evocative and definitely adds to the viewer experience. The experience feels like a hybrid of Where in the World is Carmen Santiago and Where's Waldo. The logo on his website is a knock-off of an Indiana Jones movie poster.
One of the things I liked was watching all the Video Responses to this video. Some are totally hilarious, with titles like Where the Hell is Jill?, Where the Hell is Pat?, Where the Heck is Netop?, and Where the Hell is Matt's Girlfriend?... Yes, there's a closet industry being cultivated here.
Let's dance!
In other news, Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies, the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. (see Traveller's Laptops May Be Detained at the Border, Washington Post, August 1, 2008.)
In case anyone has forgotten: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." ~ 4th Ammendment to the Bill of Rights
What part of this plain language do our modern governing officials not understand?
PHOTO CAPTION: Dancing near Jay Cook State Park, MN
