Author: Aunty

  • COMMENT | Vatican Department Sleeping Above Gay Sauna

    Whilst the cardinals are all gathered to deliberate and appoint the next Pope, you could ponder what they all do in the evenings for entertainment?

    Well one Vatican department it seems has been sharing a Rome palazzo with one of Italy’s top gay saunas, the EMC (Europa Multiclub). This may just be a coincidence and I’m sure the Vatican didn’t realise they were spending £17.5m on 20 apartments for the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples in the same building as a gay sauna.

    The sauna hosts many features such as whirlpools, Finnish saunas, Turkish baths and massages. Just what you need after a hard day’s work.

    How many days did it take to elect the last pope? Just saying.

    If you’re in Rome and looking for a place to relax then do check out www.europamulticlub.com

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • INTERVIEW | Bourgeois & Maurice

    Bourgeois & Maurice talk to TheGayUK about battling homophobia in Serbia, Sugartits and the temptation of forbidden family relations. Strap yourselves in guys, this pair hold no punches with their original music ranging from the dastardly sounding ‘Lizard Men’ to the druging of children with ‘Ritalin’!

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  • REVIEW | Supreme Rollerskates

    REVIEW | Supreme Rollerskates

    If you’re looking for a fun way to tone up this Summer then check out the Supreme Rollerskates. You too can live the Miami Beach life, just remember to keep your eyes on the road!

    ★★★★★

    Supreme Rollerskates

    I haven’t been this excited since my first pair of yellow plastic clip-on-shoe rollerskates. I think every child I knew had a pair or at least tried every conceivable way to get their “borrowing” hands onto a pair of the classic 80’s skates. Twenty years later not much has changed. The Supreme Skates arrived in the office and everyone wanted to play with them first. However like any cunning kid knows the first to have them on will be king for the day, and I already had my foot in one! It did feel a little odd though wearing them under the desk rolling my feet back and forth waiting for the end of day bell to sound.

    Finally the time came and I was off out the office and into our local park. There may have been a few Frank Spencer moments as I came to grips with my new toy, it had been a few years since my last skate after all. The sun was shining the ducks were lazily floating around the pond and I was flying around with the wind in my hair dreaming of a Miami beach front. Sadly our local park doesn’t seem to attract the well toned shirtless bronzed men but as I started to build up a sweat I though, yes, I could be the first, a few more sessions and I could be the king of this park.

    I’m told they ‘burn 480 calories an hour’, (which on calculation mean I can have 4 glasses of wine), and ‘gives the rider a full body workout which will tone the buttocks, thighs and hips’. What more could you ask for? A fun way to workout the body, get fit and still have enough banked up calories for at least 1 glass.

    Made from light weight playmaker plates with alloy trucks these skates are sturdy and offer great ankle support with a soft inner lining. They look great and made me feel very safe whilst skating. The only downside was the day after, when the muscles in the backs of my legs started to throb, though no pain, no gain. I look forward to becoming a regular skater down in the park, now where did I put my vest?

    If you’re looking to be King of your park this Spring and Summer then visit www.shinerskates.co.uk where you can pick up a pair of boots & wheels for £99. Just keep out of my park, I’ve already bagsied it!

  • COMMENT | The Noisy Silence Of A Political

    Last week we sent an open letter to our local MP David Burrows asking him to vote in favour of same-sex marriage. In return, we received… nothing.

    Not a peep. We can only assume our local MP has been far too busy to give much thought to the subject of same-sex marriage and instead focusing his attentions on other important local issues.

    Oh no wait, he’s been spending his time working the press trying to grab the headlines to push his name to some kind of political martyr status. That’s why he doesn’t have time to respond to his own constituents who are in favour of this bill. A few of David’s press outings Including comment such as;

    “There’s serious unrest in the grass roots. You cannot avoid the fact that the troops are unhappy. People are drifting away.” – The Times 02/02/13

    Actually, according to the YouGov poll the majority of people in the UK are actually in favour of same-sex marriage. Maybe it’s time to scarify the political lawn and remove the dead grass allowing a stronger and brighter future to grow through?

    ‘The Christian MP said his children have been bullied at school by classmates accusing him of being “homophobic” – Telegraph 03/02/13

    ‘David Burrowes, the main opponent of the Gay Marriage Bill said “I’ve had death threats, hostility and hate mail”. – the Independent 04/02/13

    However, in the same voice he’s also quoted in our local paper saying;

    ‘The issue was not something “people are hammering us on the doorstep to do something about” – Enfield Independent 20/02/12

    I’m sorry but you cannot say one minute that people aren’t bothered about same-sex marriage and then also say you’re getting death threats and your kids are being subjected to equal opportunity playground taunting.

    I never condone the stupidity of people who put pen to paper to write death threats and understand kids will always say it like they see it, however it all sounds to me like someone is quite happy to have their name splashed in the papers whatever the heading. A little like the Jordan and Peter saga, will they, won’t they, ‘No one’s hammered my doorstep about same-sex marriage’, ‘I’m getting death threats.’ It starts to become whiney, boring and again making it all about you. It’s not about you. It’s about the people of Enfield and Southgate and the rest of the UK want to have their voice heard. Not about your personal life and person interests.

    Of course, you don’t have to look far to see Mr Burrowes name on the web news pages like the BBC reporting on his parliamentary rule breaching in registering and declaring overseas trips paid for by foreign governments and then signing motions without declaring a personal interest in them. Similar is reported in the Enfield Independent that David accepts an office intern, who is sponsored by the Christian charity group CARE to the tune of £5,500, to work in his office every other year. CARE, which opposes gay marriage, also sponsored a London event in 2009 offering “healing” to gay people.

    Baffling. We would have loved to have shared David’s opinion but he chose not to reply to our letter. Obviously us gays are of no financial or political interest to Mr Burrowes.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • INTERVIEW | Chef Philip Dundas, About Food And Love

    INTERVIEW | Chef Philip Dundas, About Food And Love

    Cook and author Philip Dundas talks to TheGayUK about wine, skiing and Jesus (plus tells us off for calling him a chef.)

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  • Grooming Review | Bulldog Gets The Bullseye

    Grooming Review | Bulldog Gets The Bullseye

    Looking for a new brand to get you clean and refreshed in the morning? Look no further than Bulldog.

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  • COMMENT | Dry Out January

    Hello, everyone. My name is Graham. Today is January the 16th and I’ve been sober for 16 days now!

    Without the risk of sounding smug, It’s actually been quite easy to achieve. Every morning I have woken up a little later as I’ve been sleeping deeper and deeper. A little bit worried that by the end of the month I may not wake up at all! I seem to have a clearer head whilst working, and still find myself quite focused come 3 o’clock when I’m usually screaming for coffee. However, there was a fast approaching weekend ahead of me and all the party buzzers inside me were starting to tingle.

    I knew I’d have to find another focus other than going to the pub, clubbing with friends or raiding the wine rack at home! There had to be something that would take my mind off the thoughts of alcohol. I tried a few things. I went for a walk. This was hampered by the fact I had to walk past six bars full of happy drinkers all singing ‘Oom pah pah’ and clinking glasses joyously celebrating the weekend. lucky drunks!

    By now I was unsure who I had turned into as phoning the parents suddenly seemed a great idea. The repetitive conversations and stories about family ailments, all made for interesting listening when fuelled on gin, but sobriety has an ugly side! It keeps the mind clear so you remember every uneventful story told. I couldn’t rid the tales of how the paperboy had been dumping papers in their bin instead of delivering them. I was getting involved saying how outrageous it was and that they should call the paper shop. I was starting to feel angry that some young lad being paid £10 a week wasn’t doing a proper job. What was the world coming to?

    I needed a drink!

    I sat thinking of the good old days when I’d go to the fridge and crack open a cold bottle of beer and It was then it hit me. We had been sent some Non Alcoholic beer to try. Well, what’s the worst that could happen? I wanted a beer. I didn’t want alcohol. 1 plus 1 equals non alcoholic beer. Genius!

    The shape of a green glassed beer bottle winked at me from the fridge saying go on try me. I’ve never had a 0.00% alcohol beer before so this was going to be either the greatest invention ever or a major disappointment. Thankfully I can report it to be a happy experience. A little strange at first as it was more sweet than my usual beer. It reminded me of barley sugar which was quite nice. It was Friday night and I was gonna party away. Pizza ordered. DVD on home screen. First cold beer in hand. Perfect.

    I was also convinced I had fooled the brain into thinking I was drinking alcoholic beer and that all in the World would be great again. It was. I had a great Friday night and was up fresh eyed on Saturday ready to tackle the housework without the heavy head!

    Will keep you posted in part 3 at the end of the month if I survived a month off the drink.

    If you’re looking for an alternative to alcohol then the beer I tried was Equator beer flavour drink. It has 0.00% Alcohol, 0 Calories and 0 Sugar.

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • OPINION | Why I’m anti-anti Christmas

    Whether you like it or not folks Christmas is upon us once more and I seem to find two types of people at this time of year. Firstly there are the upbeat ‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la laaaa, la la la la’ type of folk and then there are the ‘If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with “Merry Christmas” on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.’

    It’s the latter I wish to speak of today.

    The people who go out their way to look particularly glum at this time of year. The folk who implode into their own sense of woe that life has treated them so badly by stringing up a few twinkling lights on the lamp posts outside their houses. How dare the children be running around with the excited anticipation of a visit from the jolly fat man in the green suit (As a traditionalist Santa will be referred to in his little green number from now on, and besides it’s a much nicer colour than red!) and whoever dreamt up the idea of turning much loved TV classics into hour long festive specials? 30 minutes of Del Boy selling tat from a van, brilliant, yet put him on for an hour where he travels to Spain to buy diamonds and sits at a sunny bar surrounded by tits and tinsel, pathetic! ‘May the Yuletide log slip from your fire and burn your house down’.

    Yes, these people are among us. Scary isn’t it.

    You see, I get so excited about Christmas. Always have done ever since I was young. My birthday is on the 4th December and as a kid all I ever wanted for my birthday was for my dad to go into the loft to get the decorations down. Of course, this never happened and usually resulted in floods of tears and a ‘fine, forget Christmas then’. (I didn’t have many tantrums!) I would feel this deep heart ache as to why we couldn’t have decorations up after all it was now December. Begrudgingly they would come out of the loft about a week before Christmas, then put up in an uncomfortable air of tension as if you’d asked for a Pyramid to be built in your name, and would be down and back up in the loft as soon as the sound of 12 drummer drumming could be heard on the horizon. Done. It came and very quickly went.

    It was a very emotional time for me. The mixture of excitement, disappointment and E-numbers, that made me hyperactive, all coming together to make one very Christmassy mess of a boy! Maybe it was this anti-Christmas childhood I had that made me so determined to grasp Christmas with both hands each year as an adult. It’s very hard being Pro-Christmas these days, especially as a lot of folk seem to be lost in the commercial nonsense of it all. I don’t have a lot of money to buy folk expensive gifts but that doesn’t matter for me, as Christmas is an atmosphere that should be carried with each of us, uplifting us and each other from the stresses of life. A little like how the Olympics created a London buzz, I feel Christmas can offer the same if people are willing to trust in it.

    So for all those anti-Christmas people out there, I have only one thing to say. I’m anti-anti-Christmas. So if you must spend the happiest time of year tutting, swearing and bad mouthing all things festive, then please do it from the comfort of your own homes and watch out for three visitations when the clock strikes 12!

    May you all have a Merry Christmas and spend some time with someone who cares about you. x

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

     

  • GROOMING REVIEW | Bluebeards Revenge

    You may have heard that Christmas is upon us once again and with a week to go before the big event I draw upon last years disappointments from the other half as he opened a natural sunrise alarm clock. In my head it was the perfect gift for someone who has problems with getting up in the mornings, in his eyes it was a symbol of old age and plastic sheets!

    Determined not to make the same mistake as last year I was very pleased to receive the wonderful Bluebeards Revenge shaving gift set in the post to try out. It has everything in it the real man requires for shaving, including the doubloon brush, shaving cream, post shave balm and aftershave. As a new connoisseur of wet shaving since my Movember expedition it was nice to find a product that not only smelt great and felt smooth on the skin but one that would look good on the bathroom shelf as well.

    The Bluebeards Revenge aftershave cologne is a wonderful daytime fragrance with very fresh and clean scents. Long lasting for your hard days work it’s bound to raise a few heads. A whole range of kits are available from £20 – £110 and make perfect gifts for the bearded one in your relationship. I’m very hopeful on this one being a hit this year, plus I get a smooth faced boyfriend for Christmas, so it’s really a gift for myself!

    Pick up your kits from www.bluebeards-revenge.co.uk

  • BOOK REVIEW: Tiny Food Party Recipe Book

    Just in time for the Xmas party season comes this book, which you can use again and again, all year round, to create miniature meals, starters, canapés, snacks, indoor and outdoor treats.

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