by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Matt McLauchlin

Age: 21

Occupation: Webmaster/activist/student/politician

Bio: This hardbodied St-Henri heartbreaker has been "infatuated with the metro system" ever since first moving here from Winnipeg in 1995. Frustrated by the lack of literary material available regarding the history, architecture and art that exists within the Montreal metro, the teenage Matt went about compiling his own research, and, after a lot of serious hard work, eventually launched www.metrodemontreal.com, a Web site celebrating the metro that contains more information on the subject than 99.9 per cent of the population could possibly ever care about. A McGill student, pagan and former federal NDP candidate, Matt is also the owner of a mighty and no doubt highly valuable collection of metro transfers he has culled from every station in the system.

Does it frustrate him that the majority of Montrealers are oblivious to the splendour of the metro? "I've kind of become numb to it and I suppose it's natural that people don't pay attention. But it's very important. The metro is really significant in the history of architecture and art history in Quebec."

Something that drives him batty: The way the metro is neglected by the STM. "Things get so bogged down that they can't even replace a stupid light behind an artwork so that it's properly lit, or brush the cobwebs off some sculptures so they look more impressive. Very simple things that don't get organized because of conflicts over who is supposed to do what."

Something that drives him even battier: Graffiti vandals, and the virtual destruction of a commissioned graffiti-esque artwork within the Snowdon metro. "It's unbelievably arrogant for these taggers to think their artistic expression is so important that they can cavalierly destroy the artwork of someone else who has put great thought, time and energy into their work and which the collective has purchased at great expense. All for a bloody tag that takes three seconds to do."

How many hits his site has had to date: 64,827 since Oct. '01.

One "very active" section of his site: The message board, where like-minded enthusiasts argue incessantly over important metro-related subjects like the renaming of the Longueuil metro station to Longueuil/Université de Sherbrooke.

One way his "labour of love" has kind of paid off: By being "awarded" a temporary employment internship at the STM after ultra-impressed employees caught wind of his Web site. "It was extremely exciting to work there."

His favourite place to study: Riding on a metro train.

Has anybody ever suggested to him that he might be crazy? "Yes."

A geek? "Yes, and I'm guilty as charged. But to me a geek is somebody who gets pleasure out of things that others don't understand."

Like a pedophile or serial killer perhaps? "Not exactly."

Two other things he is very interested in: Star Trek and anime.

Where he hangs: In the Village, preferably at Cabaret Mado.

Last book read: Stations de métro, by Gérard Roland.

Musical preferences: Pet Shop Boys, Mylène Farmer, Tori Amos.

Words of wisdom: "The most dangerous words in the English language are, ‘We've always done it this way.'"

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca