More about the man behind the snark

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Full Name: Sir Matthew "Matt" Thomas Click, Esquire

Aliases: Matt, Thew, Rocket, Mattie, Mathias, Matt-Attack, Click, Our Friend Clicka, Mattymattyboombalatty, Rock

Appearance: Tall, lanky, with ape-like limbs and a doughy physique. Hair often sticks out in all directions, particularly in the morning. Pleasant blue-gray eyes and long, dexterous fingers. Legs take up approximately three-fourths of total height. Tends to scare children and the elderly. Rarely shows teeth when smiling, for fear of angering nearby orangutans.

Personality: Funny, level-headed, and somewhat guarded. Has a knack for the creative and a love of the nerdy. Fancies himself a writer. Few close friends, many acquaintances. Very easy to get along with. Quiet and reserved, for the most part, though manic bouts of craziness tend to surface when riled. Sense of humor is dry and sarcastic — bordering on cynical. An optimist at heart. Loyal and forgiving to a fault. Totally metal.

The Long Version:

My name is Matt. I am also known as Thew or Rocket. You might know me from the internet. I'm a devoted 22-year-old writer and cinephile, recently graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington with a degree in English and metric ton of student loan debt. I am a commentator on geek and entertainment culture, and have been writing film reviews and columns for more than 10 years. You can find my published work in the student newsmagazine JagWire, PLU's weekly newspaper The Mast, and Saxifrage, a literary arts journal. In 2006, I was a featured essayist with the River and Sound Review podcast series.

I suppose my love of cinema can be traced back to my early childhood, when I was introduced to films like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Back to the Future by my dad (who also got me hooked on writing, coincidentally). Enamored with the art of cinema, I took to sneaking out of my room at night to watch R-rated movies over my unsuspecting parents’ shoulders.

After briefly entertaining the idea of becoming a director (a dream that resulted in several strained friendships and a broken camcorder), I found that I was considerably more capable of writing critically about film than I was making movies. The idea of being a film critic was further spurred by the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000, which I still consider today to be one of the single greatest things to have ever happened to the human race.

Nowadays, film criticism is more of a passion of mine than anything else. While I do still safeguard a dream of doing this professionally, I'm realistic about my goals, and would be happy doing writing or editing of any kind, really.

Aside from my film reviews, I also harbor a love for fiction and essay writing. I have always been into words. Short stories are my forte, but nonfiction and screenwriting capture my attention as well from time to time.

I am a flagrant nerd, a connoisseur of heavy metal, a collector of comic books, and an appreciator of action figures. I am also an avid musician — I've been playing bass guitar for six years, and have dabbled in guitar, ukulele, drums, and Stylophone. Video games also peak my interest quite often, some of my favorites being Rock Band, Soul Calibur, Mass Effect, Minecraft, and Neverwinter Nights. I like to read and eat and hang out with old friends.

Steampunk, well-made burgers, Tom Waits, and brownies are weaknesses of mine.

On the Blog:

Rocket Number 09 was founded in late 2006 and has grown considerably in both readership and content. But my little acre-or-so of cyberspace is still a fledgling effort, and is subject to constant tinkering.

And if you were wondering what the title of my blog means, it's not, in fact, a reference to Sun Ra. It's actually an obscure homage to Mystery Science Theater 3000, which in and of itself was a nod to the Sun Ra song. Courtesy of Wikipedia:

Sometimes Joel/Mike and the Bots would become aware of something happening outside the ship, and would instruct Cambot to "give [them] Rocket Number Nine." Once they did this, they were provided with an external view of the ship and whatever was nearby. This is an oblique reference to a tune by Sun Ra. This became a running gag; every external shot of the ship, no matter what angle or element of the ship was shown, was of "Rocket Number Nine."

You see, Rocket Number Nine was the location of the external camera of the ship, shedding light on every situation, and showing Mike/Joel and the Bots the root of every problem. And that, my friends, is what my lovely blog, Rocket Number 09, aims to do. Shed light.

I am always open to questions, comments, suggestions, or constructive criticism. You can reach me by e-mail at rocketnumber09@gmail.com. For more information, please check out the (in)frequently asked questions.