“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.”

So said the Rolling Stones, and so Matt chose in his senior year yearbook quote. Matt was born in Portland, Oregon to loving parents, his father a recovering hippy and hot Disc Jockey at KINK in Portland (really, that’s it’s name, and no, their logo is not a whip and a mask) and his mother, a hairdresser who made a harrowing trek from Wisconsin to the other end of the world, so it seemed. Things were soon to go bad as they have a tendency to, and the fates that be gave his mother a brain tumor. By the time Matt was three, she died. Father and son moved to South Pasadena, California, and lived out their life in relative obscurity. Matt’s childhood and teenage life were unremarkable, despite the fact that he had a tendency to be shy, make a fool out of himself and fall heavily for girls. Sometimes he was proud enough to achieve all three tasks at once!

Currently single, and for that matter he always has been single, Matt now attends college at Pasadena City College. It may be a community college, but remember, the word COLLEGE is still in there! He is double majoring in sociology and psychology, skills which he feels will be invaluable when coming to the game of Survivor. He hasn’t had many jobs, actually only two. For a semester he worked in his high school’s library and enjoyed the solitude immensely. The day he turned sixteen his dad forced him to get a real job, so Matt went to Universal Studios and applied, working for two years selling ice cream to the ungrateful masses, something which he found oddly entertaining, yet decided to quit so that he could focus on his education.

Matt is a great fan of classic rock music and movies, and he maintains a working knowledge of many of them, finding them to be the great literature of our times. Although he favors a lot of the great hard rock of the sixties, he does have a soft spot for a good love song. Put out “Layla” (Derek and the Dominoes) or “I Want You To Want Me” (Cheap Trick) and he’ll melt all over. As for movies, his tastes are broader, with favorites spanning from the late thirties up through modern days. His current top five films are: The Godfather, L.A. Confidential, Dr. Strangelove, Almost Famous and The Graduate. Although he loves the “great” films, he has a definite love for horror films, even going to the point of doing his high school senior thesis on how horror reflected the changing times. Two of his personal heroes are the great Jason Voorhees and Ash Williams (look ‘em up).

His real personal hero is his dad, who made him what he is today and is more or less his best friend. His proudest accomplishment is the moment he broke out of his shell, dancing in front of 500 people at a high school dance recital in socks, underwear and a white shirt, mimicking Tom Cruise’s number from “Risky Business”. Why was he in dance class? Two reasons. One, they said it would be easier than P.E. (a boldfaced lie). Two, there’s a ratio of 20:1 of scantily clad females to straight males. Do the math.

If he wins the money, Matt will have his face carved into a mountain in some obscure Latin American country with a dictator who can be easily bought.

Matt currently lives at home with his dad and their pond with 12 koi fish in South Pasadena, CA. His birthday is July 3rd, 1985.

Application Essay

(This’d be more effective if you were listening to the theme of Shaft while reading this)

Chorus:
Matt!

Isaac Hayes:
Who’s the white gawky guy,
Who’s really tall and ‘s head scrapes the sky?

Chorus:
Matt!

Isaac:
You’re damn right.

Who’s the guy who,
Burns like mad when he steps out into the sun?

Chorus:
Matt!

Isaac:
Can ya dig it?

Who’s the guy who ain’t so fly,
But makes all those around him laugh?

Chorus:
Matt!

Isaac:
Oh yeah.

They say this cat Matt has never touched a-

Chorus:
Shut yo mouth!

Isaac:
But I’m talking about Matt.

Chorus:
It still ain’t right!

Isaac:
He’s an interesting man,
Who dances like a fool when he’s on stage!

Chorus:
Matt C!

------------


Okay, that was a bit shameless, I just wanted to try something a little different than all the rest of the applicants, though with my luck as it is, they’re all writing a self-deprecating song to the theme of Shaft. Anywho, I’m Matt, sometimes called Big Red, mainly because I’m a big guy and I’m red, but if you’ve already read my application, you already know that. I’m not going to go in cocky and say, hey, I’m going to win this thing, as doing that’ll get you not only kicked out early, but that’ll get you kicked out without ever being a part of the game. I’m a humble guy; I’ve earned humility after one too many bad experiences, but that’s not going to get me anywhere. What I will say, that is, if chosen, I will guarantee that I will make my time on the show as unboring (if that’s even a word, though spellcheck says it isn’t), as it gets. I like to have a good time and I like to make sure everyone else around me is doing the same, but even moreso I make sure everything works. People

underestimate me, they ignore me, mainly because I’m not the guy out there doing all the big things, but because I’m the guy who makes sure everything works for the people who are out there doing the things. I work behind the scenes, and in front of the scenes at the same time. If that all makes any sense. I am not a camera whore, I’ll say that straight up, and if you’re going to hear me say anything, it’s going to be something worth saying and worth being heard. I can more than pull my weight under any circumstances, even if it involves pulling the weight of others. I am honest, but I can still play the game. We all watch the show, we know how it goes, honesty and fortitude can only get you so far. Backs need to be stabbed from time to time, no strategy must be rigid. Adaptability is the key, and adapt I can.

All corniness aside, the best I can say really at this point I guess is, if I am chosen, you will not regret your decision, and if it’s any comfort, I won’t be some bitter/psycho stalker if you don’t accept me.

Finalist Essay

(OK guys, this'll take some time, but bear with me)

Well, seeing as how Survivor has had an extremely poor showing among the redheaded population of the world (Shawna, come on), I'd like to come and represent. It's not like I'm going to be calling the hair card every few minutes, "You're just hassling me 'cause I'm a redhead!", that's not my style. I'd still like to provide a positive redhead example, even if I do have a fat ass. Ah, the great Survivor diet.

Hmmm, let's see. The one disadvantage I could see is the whole virgin factor, they probably have a special island to keep us isolated on in our own separate game. Oh wait, they do, The Virgin Islands! Kind of a hike from Okinawa, but work with me here. I'm trying to rationalize. A rationalization is a rationalization, and I rely on them.

Rationalizations make the world go round, simple as that. People will tell you that money or maybe sex makes the world go round, but if you look at it, rationalizations make everything work. How you might ask, can I preach the virtues of a concept when the other two things listed have great importance of their own right? Easy. You ever go 24 hours without making a rationalization?

All right, I tend to ramble a bit if you haven't already noticed that, but I like to try and keep content to my ramblings. The following rambling, of which there are likely many, is basically a life story of me and how I got to be.

Long story short, Portland, Oregon hot shot DJ/ex-marine going through Vietnam meets demure yet feisty Wisconsin farm girl who broke the mold and moved to the big city. As things tend to go, I came into being. Their love was great, but circumstances thought otherwise and decided as a great cosmic joke to give the farm girl (my mother) brain cancer. 1 year later, it was just dad and me.

We moved from Oregon, where you can't see the sun nine months out of the year, to Southern California, where it's pretty much the same, though with hot smog instead of icy cold rain clouds. It was here of course where I found out that being a redhead and the sun don't mix, as I found out one delightful time at a pool party where I found myself with 2nd degree burns over 60% of my body. I seriously wouldn't recommend it.

Anywho, I grew up, but without a stable female influence in my life things were slightly amiss. Dad did the best he could, even though he admits he was winging it most of the time, but finding friends became difficult and I more or less grew a shell that would rival that of any cephalopod. It didn't help that I was more or less forced to the outside of the social structure, but as the saying goes, it's not what you know, it's who you know. Not knowing anyone, I was invisible.

I was content with it for some time, but as things go, they changed. I wanted to be seen, I wanted to be heard, I wanted to be noticed. I didn't want to be seen as that creepy looking guy sitting in a corner reading Michael Crichton novels and who would look up every so often.

My being noticed was completely by happenstance. Being not the most physical kid in high school, I disliked my PE class (except for the moments of competitive games where I would be a force to be reckoned with, get me competitive and heads will roll), and when there was a way out I jumped on it. That way out was dance class, I figured it to be an easy out. I was wrong. It's as physically demanding as it got, evidenced by the fact that between two semesters of dance I lost a total of 40 pounds. That part I loved all by itself, as being in better shape still feels great. The fact that there was a 20:1 ratio of scantily clad females to straight males in dance class didn't hurt.

Then came to performing. I was shy before. I suffered from massive stage fright before. Post-dance, I stopped caring about what people thought of me and just decided to have fun with myself. What need was there in feeling bad about myself and caring what others thought when I could just kick back and have fun? So, I did my thing, I got the only solo in the dance recital and did Tom Cruise's dance number from Risky Business. It brought the house down and people got a new respect for me. It was my one great moment of narcissism, and I loved every minute of it. Next semester, I did a repeat performance, this time being the only solo and shaking my groove thang to "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)". Again it brought down the house. Again I had notoriety, and again I was just having fun.

So, in the big scheme of things what am I and what do I have to offer the game? I'm a 210 pound, 6' tall redhead with lots of freckles, pasty skin, and glasses. I'm good at card tricks, juggling, can speak decent Spanish and some Norwegian, and can quote movies at the drop of the hat. I like classic rock and a good horror movie, including the best of the infamous 80's slashers. Jason Voorhees is a hero, as in pretty much every movie he is the hero if you look hard enough, and I put the hockey mask at the top of my list of luxury items as an homage to the great man/hydrocephalic kid/pseudo-zombie.

What do I bring to the game? I believe in honesty above all else, but know enough about the game to see that honesty has its limits. I'm coming to have a good time with some good people, but I'm also out here to do what it takes to win. I'm not a leader (as one person has noted that giving me authority is akin to giving a baby a loaded gun; I'd contest that but it may not be too far from the truth) but I do guide. I tell it like it is, but I like to have fun with it. I like to make people laugh as much as I like to get the job done and get the job done right. I'm a living contradiction in the best of ways, at least that's what one of my friends has said.

I'm not a drama queen or an instigator and I'm not a volatile personality under most circumstances, and I know that might hurt my chances. Conflict and drama make Survivor what it is, and if I can't provide either, than what use am I? That's up for you to decide really.

I don't make many promises in life, as I'm never sure enough in advance that the promise will work, but I'm giving you guys two promises, as I know I can keep both. I promise that if chosen, you will not regret your decision. As well, should you not get accepted into the game I may lose my chance at getting into it, but I'll never, ever lose my name! It's on all my stationary.

Post-Game Links (spoilers)

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