The Gay Recluse » Technology

On the Work of The Gay Recluse in an Era of Bloggable Reproduction

Matthew Gallaway — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 02:24:37 +0000

In which The Gay Recluse fears reactionary forms of propaganda.

This is a blog called ‘The Gay Recluse.’ Here you will find words designed to provoke or stimulate or anger or entertain or bore you to death. Moreover, ‘The Gay Recluse’ is a fictional character written by another fictional character named ‘Matthew Gallaway,’ who in turn is played by ‘an actor’ named Matthew Gallaway.

Just as this is a photograph of a bridge and not the real bridge, Matthew Gallaway — again, via The Gay Recluse — should not be confused with ‘the real person’ — i.e., the actor — much less his past or future, which is sometimes depicted here in ways that to the uncritical observer might appear to ‘resemble the truth.’

Rather, we ask readers to consider these words as you would lines in a movie, which while at times may appear very close to a ‘biopic’ should not be confused with ‘real life.’ Most of all, we beg you to resist the temptation to use these words to bludgeon or provoke those who — like children or the mentally infirm — are suspectible to confusing words with reality, or for whatever reason lack the acuity (or desire) to appreciate this construct.

Or to put it more plainly: whatever you do, please don’t feel compelled to tell our fifth-grade teacher Mr. W___ (if you happen to bump into him) that we made fun of the polyester pants he wore (not to mention his ‘macho perm’) so that all of sudden we have him yelling at us on FB! (Note: this is a metaphor, and in no way should be understood to be something that ‘actually happened.’)

This is a blog called ‘The Gay Recluse.’ It is filled with words and images. It is a story about life (i.e., it is not a Tumblr). It is a fabrication. It is meaningful/meaningless only as a work of art. Any insight you gain from it is into your own soul, not ours.

On The Chaos Detective: City of Dreams (Part 5)

Matthew Gallaway — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:41:16 +0000

In which The Chaos Detective concludes his European assignment in Paris.

Watch on Facebook.

THE CHAOS DETECTIVE is a teevee series for the internet. “City of Dreams” is a five-part episode set in Europe. Future episodes will be located in New York City.

City of Dreams (Part 1)

City of Dreams (Part 2)

City of Dreams (Part 3)

City of Dreams (Part 4)

It would be a fallacy to argue that my location here in the shadows of the riverbank

in the company of another man about whom I knew next to nothing

was anything less than conscious.

I couldn’t say if the vision I saw was of the past or the future but I no longer cared

I took a step forward and then another, ignoring the chorus of screams in my head.

I approached the Russian, who stood up as if he had been expecting me. “Do I know you?” he asked.

I shook my head ambiguously. “I’m not sure,” I replied.

“Follow me,” he said and together we walked up the stairs into the infinite fog of the Parisian night.

On The Chaos Detective: City of Dreams (Part 4)

Matthew Gallaway — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:05:31 +0000

In which The Chaos Detective goes to Munich.

Click through for “hi-quality” on YouTube or watch on Facebook.

Stay tuned for the fifth and final installment of “City of Dreams.”

THE CHAOS DETECTIVE

City of Dreams (Part 1)

City of Dreams (Part 2)

City of Dreams (Part 3)

On The Chaos Detective: City of Dreams (Part 3)

Matthew Gallaway — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:00:32 +0000

In which The Gay Recluse makes a teevee show for the internets.*

In Part 3, Chaos Detective Lasalle follows “the Russian” onto a train headed for Munich.

YouTube Clip below (click through to watch in high-res, or go to our FaceBook page!)

THE CHAOS DETECTIVE

Episode 1: City of Dreams (Part 1)

Episode 1: City of Dreams (Part 2)

*Sigh…if only the economy were better, our attempt at an improvised/ impressionistic/ plotless/ gay/ noir/ Proustian/ travelog/ detective teevee-series-for-the-internets would be making a lot more headway and drawing in big-budget production $$$$ from Holleewoods.

On an Administrative Note to Subscribers

Matthew Gallaway — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:39:35 +0000

In which Zephyr adjusts to the tides of the universe.

Hey everyone, our Feedburner account is getting swallowed up by Google, so if you have any problems with the e-mail subscription or RSS feed, please let us know. We’re terrified of losing you! xoxo,

Zephyr/Technical Assistant/The Gay Recluse

On the George Washington Breathing Project: Good Steam Versus Bad Steam Edition (Includes Roundup!)

Matthew Gallaway — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:59:26 +0000

In which The Gay Recluse rather quickly dies of lung cancer.

Some winter mornings, we wake up and consider the rooftops of Washington Heights, where — thanks to the sumptuous pre-war architecture, the expansive breadth of the Hudson and the gentle rise of the Palisades — we are charmed by the wisps of steam that trail from the chimneys; there’s something surprisingly bucolic about the scene, as if we were watching a village in the Bavarian Alps and not the most densely populated neighborhood in the country.

And then we see this (from 38 Fort Washington Avenue, not that they’re the only offender) and remember that we live in a city that cares nothing about its poor.

There is, however, some solace to be found in the idea that nothing we can do will ever change this, and our only hope is to escape.

The oily black smoke of 100-year-old boilers disperses daily across the rooftops in Washington Heights, heedless of those who suffer from pneumonia, asthma and tuberculosis. Officials and politicians? Not even footnotes in this story, which is about the aggregation of capital and the relentless rise of the metropolis.

The Wahi Lung Cancer & Asthma Roundup!

April 11, 2008 (Special Investigative Report)

On the George Washington Bridge Project: Special Winter Night Edition

Matthew Gallaway — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:58:27 +0000

In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge.

In Europe, it often happens that we stand in front of an ornate building and think: “whoas, that would be a lot of work!” but we can still basically imagine how it was done, even if it took centuries. It’s like one of those houses made out of bottle caps.

But in a twentieth-century city like New York, many structures are simply beyond our comprehension. It almost seems as if some alien species came down and filled the landscape with these grand but improbable gestures.

Let’s say you were given the task of building a 100-story building, or a bridge across the Hudson. Would you even know where to begin? Where would you go shopping for the parts?

You might as well ask us to light the moon, which is why to see both — i.e., the bridge and the moon — in the middle of the quiet but brittle night delivers us for a second into a state of subdued reverence. Although we’re exhausted, we dread going back to sleep, knowing that the next time we wake up, it will be the sullen day.

On Les Vacances

Matthew Gallaway — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:15:51 +0000

In which The Gay Recluse goes abroad.

Dear readers, we are off to “the Europe” through New Year’s, and so will not be posting here until 2009. During this time, we encourage you to read (gay) novels, watch Visconti, take long walks in Washington Heights and send us as many smokin’ hot statues as you can find (we’re obv expecting great riches where we’re headed!). Oh and but for those seeking a more sustained connection, feel free to follow us on Twitter. (<3 u!)

In the meantime, we invite you to enjoy this short holiday-greeting v-card from the staff here. Although it’s just over a minute long, it collectively took us like 46 hours to figure out how to even begin to use Final Cut Express 4.0.1, so we’re very proud of everyone involved, and particularly those on the technical side!

Happy New Year! xoxo TGR

On Vlogging the Snowstorm (Housekeeping)

Matthew Gallaway — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 19:38:20 +0000

In which The Gay Recluse maybe becomes slightly more technically adept.

Yesterday we took some footage of the snowstorm — or actually the aftermath — and made two vidoes with commentary. We had some technical diffs, though, so wanted to post them again in case anyway tried to click through and was harshly rebuffed!

1) Our walk to Jumel Terrace, where we saw the geese flying south.

2) Our tour through the garden, to admire the snow and ice dripping from the trees.

On a Snowy Morning in Washington Heights

Matthew Gallaway — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:30:59 +0000

In which The Gay Recluse vlogs.

It’s been almost a year since we posted any video, but we decided to give it another shot: after all, we now have a Powerbook, which we were planning to use for all sorts of clever and witty entertainment. As you’ll see, we still have a long way to go! Still, after four hours with Final Cut Express, three temper tantrums, two breakdowns and a partridge in a pear tree, this is what we came up with — a snowy morning in Washington Heights!