VD makes its Brighton debut

A popular networking night for professionals is holding its first event outside London later this month.

Village Drinks Brighton & South Coast will hold its first bash at the Hanbury Club in Brighton on Thursday 25th Oct at 7pm.

Organisers assure us that complimentary cocktails will be served on arrival and there will be a LIVE PIANIST on hand. Yes, we misread that the first time as well.

It is a guest list only kind of affair. If you want to go along, click here.

Ladyboys to compete for shoes

PRs are not known for their subtlety at the best of times, but you would have thought even they would have shied away from publicising a Ladyboy beauty contest with the slogan “Are You Tarzan Or Are You Jane?”

Worthy of The Sun. There is a jungle theme, but still.

For a mere £27, you can attend this carnival of Ladyboy glamour, and savour the swimsuit, evening wear and creative costumes rounds to find out who will be crowned Madame Mango Tree 2007.

It is the fifth year this competition has taken place at Mango Tree restaurant which, we are told,

“Like its parent restaurant back in Bangkok, offers exquisite Thai cuisine in a modern, stylish venue, an offering so authentic even Ladyboys are being embraced by Belgravia.”

Yes, EVEN Ladyboys.

The winner gets a return ticket to Thailand and a pair of shoes by Jimmy Choo. 

The event is on Sunday 9th September at Mango Tree.

Are you one of the Village People?

Village Drinks, the popular social networking group for professional gay and lesbian Londoners, has spruced up its website.

Now, as well as meeting interesting and attractive people at their drinks events, Village Drinks officianados can stay in touch with people they meet through the website and  upload a free personal profile and picture - clean ones!

There are currently more than 4,000 gay and lesbian professionals in London on their books.

Neil Spring, the smartly-dressed young man behind Village Drinks, told us how excited he is about the new site:

"People are sick and tired of stuffy, pretentious networking events.  It was time for a change.  People want to meet new people and they want fun. 

"We also believe that communication with our peers should be a right; not a privilege; so we aren’t charging people to access the site and network online. 

"It may not be the most sophisticated site in the world; but it reflects our ideals; to meet new people and to have fun."

Neil also revealed that VD are launching regular events in Manchester and Brighton later this year.

In the meantime, the London summer party is on 26th July at the CC Club. Details on the website.

I Can't Believe It's Not Lubricant

A cheeky advert modelled on one of the most memorable campaigns of the 1990s has been approved for broadcast in two American cities.

Boybutter uses the iconic I Can't Believe It's Not ..... format to market itself. It will be the first time a gay sex lubricant will be advertised on TV.

Broadcasters in LA and New York have OKed the commercial, but San Francisco gays will be condemned to continued chafing.

“The agents from Comcast in San Francisco declined to air our “You Won’t Believe It’s Not Boy Butter” spot because it was deemed to controversial,” says Boy Butter creator Eyal Feldman, according to Rainbow Network.

Want to see the advert? click here 

Awrite? Pub's Barrymore faggot pie

A pub owner has defended his lack of taste in deciding to name a pie on sale at his establishment after shamed TV star Michael Barrymore.

Peter Towler, who for his sins owns the  "Mad O'Rourke's Pie Factory" emporium in the cheery, sunny town of Tipton, West Midlands, claims that the Barrymore offering, featuring faggots swimming in gravy, is just another of his hilarious little jokes.

"The thing with the Pie Factory is it's very unusual - we have sawdust on the floor - and the products have all got funny names.

"Under no circumstances are we trying to be offensive to anyone - it's all about having a laugh," he told the Birmingham Mail.

Yes. He did say they have sawdust on the floor. I know. Really.

Perhaps to soak up the vomit, who can say.

Other HILARIOUS pie names at the emporium include: Wham, Bam, Thank You Lamb and Desperate Dan's Cow Pie.

Mr Towler said that in the past six years they Mad Pie Factory had only had one complaint about the name of the faggots pie, out of three million visitors.

I know. Three million. That's what he said. Well now he has two complaints -  the gay community's shining knight Peter Tatchell was suitably OutRage!d.

Not that he eats there or anything - he was told all about it by the Mail.

"Any slur against a minority community is objectionable - faggot is the equivalent of the word n****r and P**i when used to deride black and Asian people.

"Homophobic and racial slurs have got no place in a civilised society," he told the Mail.

Faggots are of course balls of pork meat.

Mr Tatchell said the faggots "swimming" is a reference to the tragic death of Stuart Lubbock, found dead and with serious internal injuries in Mr Barrymore's pool in 2001.

"The death of a young man in a swimming pool is not an appropriate subject for this kind of joke," said Peter.

So for all of you planning your civil partnership reception in depressed post-industrial Tipton, and keen to have a meat pie theme, remember to avoid "Mad O'Rourke's Pie Factory."

However, they do also offer five "deluxe nearly-ensuite rooms with a few mod-cons for £20 per person per night."

Funny how Peter T missed the obvious point that the entire place is a slur on another minority community - the mentally ill.