Archive for January, 2009
On DeathCulture@Sea: Anodyne
In which The Gay Recluse sings a song. Here’s the latest from DeathCulture@Sea — aka the staff here, some papers towels, an acoustic guitar and a book (oh and chopsticks and a silver plate) — a song inspired by our recent remembrance of shoegazing past (even though this is more an attempt at lo-fi Spacemen […]
Filed under: Bad Rock, Conspiracy, Death Culture at Sea, Dream, Good Rock | 1 Comment
Tags: DeathCulture@Sea, Lofi, Shoegazing, Singing, Songs
In which The Gay Recluse reads Roberto Bolaño in stages. In our experience, one test of a great novel is whether you find yourself altered as you ingest the text, so that your mental dialog seems to be narrated by the writer in question. This is one of the strengths of the form, to the […]
Filed under: Dream, Faith, Literature, Search | 1 Comment
Tags: 2666, Novels, Roberto Bolaño, The Part About the Critics, Windbags
On Nowhere
In which The Gay Recluse remembers Ride. The opening chords of “Vapour Trail” are high and open, yet filled with same (phase-shifted) melancholy we associate with ringing church bells. To hear this the other day, as we plodded through our thirty minutes on the elliptical at the gym, was to be swept away with a sense of forgotten potential — […]
Filed under: Bad Rock, Capitalism, Conspiracy, Decay, Good Rock, Longing, Memory, New York City, Obsession, Resignation | 3 Comments
Tags: Beth, CBGBs, Kiss, My Bloody Valentine, Nowhere, Ride, Shoegazer Rock, Vapour Trail
In which The Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of. Today we heard from Mike, who’s taking a break from Rottin’ in Denmark to travel our great country in search of hot gay statues (among other things). He writes: I was shocked when I found this in SF this week. Does it count? It’s about […]
Filed under: Architecture, Athletes, Competitions, Gay, Hot Gay Statues, Search, Traffic, Travel | 1 Comment
Tags: Brosephine, NSFW, San Francisco
In which The Gay Recluse ponders Junot Diaz and the purpose of novels. Today we finished The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. For obv reasons — namely, the book won every award last year — our expectations were high, and but for the most part were met. In case we’re only the second-to-last […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Decay, Dream, Literature, Pessimism, Washington Heights, Writers-American | 3 Comments
Tags: Dictators, Entertainment, Junot Diaz, Novels, Oscar Wao, Rafael Trujillo, Truth
In which The Gay Recluse drinks virtual wine. Photographer Dino Dinco sent us an announcement for his art opening on Wednesday night, and — hey! — if we were in San Francisco, we’d totally go. Dinco’s show (click here for gallery info) includes shots of the desolate “cruising trails” in L.A. (somewhat ironically located near […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Communism, Landscape, Photography, Travel | 2 Comments
Tags: Art Openings, Dino Dinko, Gay Cruising, Los Angeles, Photography
On Sunday Afternoon
In which The Gay Recluse dreams of spring. With the afternoon light streaming through the windows, it was easy to believe.
Filed under: Architecture, Dream, Faith, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: Shoes, Spring, Sunlight, Winter
In which The Gay Recluse looks out windows. Eventually we reached an age when we could no longer think about the larger world except with terror; it was too complicated and cruel, and every time we tried to engage it we returned defeated and misunderstood. Our own trajectory, combined with an examination of world history […]
Filed under: Faith, History, Literature, Longing, Memory, Philosophers | Leave a Comment
Tags: Candle Holders, Schopenhauer, Sky
On Your Face in Crystal in 2k9
In which The Gay Recluse goes to Munich. In a glass case in the lobby of our hotel in Munich, they had an advertisement for a product that definitely caught our attention. “Your Face in Crystal in ’09” (Sorry we didn’t get a clearer shot!) Do they make these in the United States, too? Each […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Dissonance, Ruins, Search, Travel | 2 Comments
Tags: Bizarre Souvenirs, Cyrstal, Munich
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 […]
Filed under: Architecture, Conspiracy, Dream, Gay, Longing, Memory, Search, Technology, The Chaos Detective, Travel | 1 Comment
Tags: Detective, Munich, Mysteries, Noir, Trains, Travelogs, Vienna
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
Filed under: Capitalism, Conspiracy, Technology, The Russian Blue, Traffic | 2 Comments
Tags: Feedburner, Google, Lost in the Mail, RSS, Zephyr
On Netherland
In which The Gay Recluse recommends a book about loss. In Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland, we meet a narrator “Hans” — a Dutch expat originally from The Hague — who both at the beginning and the end of the story (this is not a spoiler, because we learn this in the first few pages) appears to”have […]
Filed under: Brooklyn, Decay, Literature, Pessimism, Ruins, Search, Writers-Irish | 1 Comment
On the George Washington Breathing Project: Good Steam Versus Bad Steam Edition (Includes Roundup!)
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 […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, GWB Project, Health, Pessimism, Politicians, Science, Technology, Washington Heights | 1 Comment
Tags: Asthma, Boilers, Ghettos, Lung Cancer, Slumlords, Smoke
On The Rest Is Noise
In which The Gay Recluse recommends a book about music. When we finished The Rest Is Noise, Alex Ross’ survey of twentieth-century (classical-ish) music, our feelings were mixed; not about the book, which — as we are hardly the first to point out (Google it!) — works brilliantly on many levels. It’s really beyond our […]
Filed under: Bad Rock, Gay, Good Rock, History, Landscape, Literature, Writers-American | 5 Comments
Tags: Aerosmith, Alex Ross, Classical, Free Jazz, La Monte Young, Led Zeppelin, Pierre Boulez, Pittsburgh, The Rest Is Noise, The Who, Walter Benjamin, WDVE
In which The Gay Recluse orders Sachertorte. In the United States — except for the rare exception — there is a well-documented dearth of hot gay statues. Occasionally you’ll see a statue and think, “hmm, he’s a lil gay.” (Or she, obv.) Or: “Why is that guy’s head between that other guy’s legs? It’s not […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Communism, Competitions, Conspiracy, History, Hot Gay Statues, Infrastructure, Landscape, Search, Sickness, Stereotypes, Travel | 5 Comments
Tags: Audubon Terrace, Bravo, David Beckham, Franz Liszt, Gonzagagasse, Johann Strauss, Models, NSFW, Pablo Picasso, Parliament, The L-Word, Vienna
In which The Gay Recluse goes to Paris. One thing that never seems to change in Paris: the booksellers — les bouquinistes — that line the banks of the Seine. These are the ones who operate out of those green metal boxes that sit atop the balustrade. Obviously this could never exist in the United States; […]
Filed under: Capitalism, City Pattern Project, Communism, Decay, Dream, Flatware, Infrastructure, Landscape, Search, Travel | 5 Comments
Tags: Booksellers, Bouquinistes, Comics, Paris, Seine
In which The Gay Recluse considers a subterranean masterpiece. Our friend Paul just sent us this from his phone: “So what if I voted for McCain?” OMGLMFAO! We’re not sure exactly where this was taken, but Paul lives in Harlem, so we’ll give our downtown neighbors credit for this piece of brilliance. (But Paul would […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Food, Graffiti, New York City, Subway | 1 Comment
Tags: Harlem, John McCain, MTA, Subway Fast Food, Subway Transport
In which The Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of. Recently we heard from Mike, an American expat (and blogger!) living in Denmark who writes: I didn’t know about your blog this summer when I went to Florence, but now that blog-whoring’s brought us together, here’s a humble contribution: Though we’ve already covered Florence — […]
Filed under: Architecture, Hot Gay Statues, Infrastructure, Landscape, Photography, Pleasure | 4 Comments
Tags: Denmark, Expats, Florence, Hercules and Caucus, Photographic Eye
The Gay Recluse 