Archive for September, 2008
On the Corsican Mint Project
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with Corsican mint. This was just a few days ago: politics aside, it’s been another good season for Corsican mint! Of all the groundcovers we introduced into the garden, Corsican mint (Mentha requienii) has attained a particular affection for us. Although it has thrived in several places […]
Filed under: Pleasure, The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse | 3 Comments
Tags: Bricks, Corsican Mint, Gardens, Moss
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge. An amber light descended on the rooftops of Washington Heights. Dark clouds loomed ominously overhead. Inside we read the news reports and — like everyone else we know — wondered what it means. Are we fucked? Or are we not fucked? Odd […]
Filed under: Architecture, Dissonance, Government, GWB Project, Longing, Obsession, Politicians | Leave a Comment
Tags: Financial Disasters, The Bailout, The George Washington Bridge, Wall Street
On the Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
In which The Gay Recluse loves Carson McCullers. Not long ago we finished reading The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers. Published in 1940, the book — as the jacket tells us — made McCullers (only 23 at the time!) a literary star. In the book, which is set in a small town […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Communism, Conspiracy, Dissonance, Literature, The Gay Recluse, Writers-American | 2 Comments
Tags: Carson McCullers, Gay Voice, John Huston, Marlon Brando, Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
On Au Hasard Balthazar
In which The Gay Recluse is disturbed, but not unpleasantly so. A few nights ago we saw Au hasard Balthazar, the 1966 film by Robert Bresson.* It’s about a donkey born on a farm in a small village in France, and a young girl who — at least for a little while — loves the […]
Filed under: Film, Gay | 3 Comments
Tags: Au Hasard Balthazar, Donkeys, Robert Bresson
On a Story of Floating Weeds
In which The Gay Recluse is entranced. Tonight we watched A Story of Floating Weeds, the 1934 film by Yasujiro Ozu. It’s a silent movie, which takes some getting used to (and we say this with regret, not about the movie, but the state of our frenzied existence). Like the other Ozu films we’ve seen […]
Filed under: Drag Queens, Dream, Film, Gay, Language, Longing, Pleasure | 2 Comments
Tags: A Story of Floating Weeds, Gay Directors, Japan, Silent Movies, Yasujiro Ozu
In which The Gay Recluse remembers tenth grade. Like a million other kids in 1984 we were obsessed with Murmur, by R.E.M. Our friend Tom owned the LP and we used to go down to his room to listen to it — this was at boarding school — and then we made a tape. (That […]
Filed under: Bad Rock, Death Culture at Sea, Good Rock, Language, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia, Obsession, The Gay Recluse | 2 Comments
Tags: Boarding School, Michael Stipe, Murmur, Perfect Circle, R.E.M., Tenth Grade
On My Bloody Valentine
In which The Gay Recluse passes up the chance of a lifetime. Did you hear? Tonight My Bloody Valentine is playing at Roseland. They’ve always been one of our favorite bands. Loveless is a masterpiece; dissonant, propulsive and melodic, it changed rock, or least provided an important delineation. The way great pieces of art will […]
Filed under: Decay, Dissonance, Dream, Faith, Good Rock, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia | 1 Comment
Tags: Irving Plaza, Loveless, Mission of Burma, My Bloody Valentine, Reunions, Roseland
On a Remarkably Dumb Quote in The Times (Tens of Thousands of White Guys Soon To Be Executed)
In which The Gay Recluse spots a remarkably dumb quote and posts it for your entertainment. Ok, so this is from a fairly innocuous Times story about how the post-war “white flight” trend is officially over in New York City, which is obvious enough to anyone who’s lived here for the past decade or so. But whatevs, […]
Filed under: Drivel, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bailouts, Demographics, Executions, The New York Times
In which The Gay Recluse is momentarily exasperated. Heigh everyone! Check out these side-by-side ledes as they appeared on the New York Times home page this morning: John McCain A Scrappy Style By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE Senator McCain honed his debate skills both in and out of politics. versus Barack Obama An Uneven Record By […]
Filed under: Drivel, Government, Politicians, The Gay Recluse, The Times | 2 Comments
Tags: Bias, McCain, Obama, Objectivity, Stereotypes
On Death Culture at Sea
In which The Gay Recluse starts a new band. So we decided to start a new band: Death Culture at Sea. We googled it and nothing came up, so we’re assuming it’s fair game. We’ve always loved Echo and the Bunnymen, so we decided to start things off by covering one of their best songs. […]
Filed under: Bad Rock, Death Culture at Sea, Good Rock, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia | Leave a Comment
Tags: 1980s, Bands, Death Culture at Sea, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Killing Moon
In which The Gay Recluse walks through the mist of a Sunday morning. Saturday nights can be particularly trying in Washington Heights. Especially now that it’s getting cool out, and you want to keep the windows open. But somehow a cool breeze at one in the morning just isn’t the same when it brings with […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Conspiracy, Decay, Dissonance, History, Landscape, Pessimism, Resignation, Ruins, Search, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 1 Comment
Tags: Cars, Columnar Pin Oaks, Day, Facades, Night, Noise, Stereos, Streets, Townhouses
In which The Gay Recluse is officially one year old. So guess what! We made it through an entire year. For us, that meant 696 posts, 549 comments, 95 categories, 2,617 tags and 96,339 total views. It’s true that we were a traffic whore at times. Which we don’t regret, but lately we haven’t had […]
Filed under: Architecture, Dissonance, Health, History, Longing, Memory, Ruins, Search, The Gay Recluse | 6 Comments
Tags: Birthdays, Cities, Orchids, Solitude
In which The Gay Recluse records and tumbles. Hey fans of the British Invasion (by which we mean the one with Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine)! Why not tumble on over to the latest in Saturnine Death Culture at Sea — recorded by us like five seconds ago on this very laptop — where […]
Filed under: Bad Rock, Capitalism, Communism, Death Culture at Sea, Dissonance, Dream, Good Rock, Photography, Pleasure, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Evergreens, New Songs, Saturnine
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with birds. For a while after college, we worked watering plants in corporate office buildings in downtown Manhattan. We worked in law firms, investment banks and other companies who generally could be said to rule the world. It was poisonous work to the extent that we were […]
Filed under: Animals, Capitalism, Communism, Government, GWB Project, Infrastructure, Memory, New York City | 2 Comments
Tags: $85 Billion, AIG, Bailouts, Corporate Welfare, Greed, Plant Watering, Rich Assholes
In which The Gay Recluse ponders the Hills and the empty rooms of his past. So tonight we watched the most recent episode of the Hills. The first part was about Audrina. She had to help promote some horrible band for her job. She invited Lauren, who — now that they are on better terms […]
Filed under: Dissonance, Dream, History, Longing, Memory, Television | 2 Comments
Tags: Audrina, Couches, Empty Rooms, Fans, Heidi, Lauren, Lo, Spencer, The Hills
In which The Gay Recluse considers a Palin administration and shudders. One difference between George W. Bush (and McCain) and Sarah Palin is that Palin is genuine to a degree Bush or McCain is/was not. Watching Bush (as much as we prefer not to) we get the sense that he — a Connecticut blue blood […]
Filed under: Addiction, Capitalism, City Pattern Project, Government, History, Memory, Pessimism, Politicians, Ruins, Washington Heights | 5 Comments
Tags: Demagogues, Sarah Palin, Thugs
The Gay Recluse 