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The Ministry Of Pleasure

Since when my blog turned into a dating website? Well, Merle, the truck driver from Weatherford, Oklahoma has recently 'commented' a personal ad in one of my recent post, see HERE. Normally, I would have deleted it without thinking twice. But for sentimental reasons, I decided not to.

Yes, it may look like an obviously prank (you'll know what I mean if you Google his name) but then again, there's a very slight (and I mean VERY slight) chance that something else is making him do this and he's actually looking for gay travel buddies?! Whatever Merle's motive is, I wish you the best of luck in your search =]

Jump by Madonna

In fact, reading Merle's comment got me thinking. It seems everyone is somehow looking for someone or something, or desperately wanting to be found. While some of us have more patience to sit and wait, others will try anything to achieve their end goal. I used to belong to the first group until I reach a point where I'm sick and tired of waiting for things, things that I may have control of! Nowadays I'm more proactive and 'out' of my rut, and I truly think that's the way to go!

via www.myministryofpleasure.com

Barclaycard Freerun Championships hit London

On Wednesday 3rd September 2008, London will play host to the inaugural Barclaycard World Freerun Championships.  The event, taking place at Camden's Roundhouse, is the first ever international competition for the pioneering urban sport of freerunning and is expected to attract an audience of over 2,000.  For one night only, 24 freerunners from 17 countries will tackle a specially-designed course that will enable them to showcase the energy and complexity of the sport.

Amongst the challengers for the title Barclaycard World Freerun Champion are British hopes Pip Andersen of Somerset and Tim Shieff from Derby.  They will be up against freerunners from as far afield as Brazil, South Africa, the United States and New Zealand.  Each athlete will perform to his own individual soundtrack and be judged by fellow competitors on his athletic skill, creativity and technical ability.  The winner will be the athlete who, in the opinion of his peers, delivers the most innovative, fluid, flowing performance.  The night will inspire maximum originality and individuality, but the moves expected to be showcased on the imposing structure will include spectacular sequences of jumps, flips, spins, cat leaps and kong vaults.

Tickets for the Barclaycard World Freerun Championships are available from The Roundhouse, box office number 0844 482 8008, www.roundhouse.org.uk.  For more information check out www.worldfreerun.com and www.urbanfreeflow.com 

Royal College of Nursing re-elects gay man to Chair its Annual Congress

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) - the world’s largest trade union for nurses - have re-elected a gay man to one of its most influential posts.

Jason Warriner, a Matron for Sexual Health and HIV at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust will now serve as Chair of the RCN’s Annual Congress for a further two years. The RCN Congress is an important fixture within the world of nursing, where thousands of nurses from across the UK gather to debate healthcare policy and the future direction of the organisation.

Speaking about his re-election, Jason said: “I am delighted with my re-election and look forward to ensuring that all members have a representative voice within the RCN and the wider world.

“The last two years have been particularly pleasing as we’ve seen the College continue to modernise and it’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members now play a higher profile role in events such as Gay Pride and the first LGBT Annual Health Summit.

“I am hopeful that my election and re-election serves as an example to other LGBT workers and encourages them to play a more prominent role in their workplace; and to stand for positions of influence.”

“I am also pleased that in the last two years there has been a greater recognition of the contribution LGBT nurses make to the health of the nation and I’m hopeful that this will continue.”

In his first term as Chair, Jason presided over the 2006 and 2007 RCN Annual Congress events that took place in Harrogate and Bournemouth respectively. As well as Chairing the Congress, Jason, will also lead the committee responsible for setting each Congress’s agenda. 

Jason is a veteran campaigner working on projects to support LGBT staff in the workplace and is also a founder member of the College’s LGBT group, RCN OUT!  Since its founding in 2002, the group has been involved in a range of work which has helped to improve the working lives of members and the delivery of care for patients and clients who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

For more information visit www.rcn.org.uk

Pride in Brighton and Hove Really Needs You!!!

Help continue to make Brighton Pride one of the most popular Pride events in the UK by giving them some of your time!

The organisers of the forthcoming Brighton Pride are looking to recruit volunteers to help out with the Summer Parade and other events taking place.

They are looking to attract large and diverse range of volunteers from all sections of the community and this year especially they are keen to diversify their volunteer workforce.

They estimate that they need in the region of 100-150 volunteers. Most of whom will be on Preston Park and the Carnival Parade on Saturday 2nd August 2008.

They are looking for:

Volunteer Stewards for the Carnival Parade
Events Assistants working at Preston Park who will undertake a range of tasks to ensure the day runs smoothly
Parade Health and Safety Checkers

As well as these roles they also need volunteers who are able to commit on a longer term basis to help Pride meet its aims and objectives for the year.

No experience is necessary for the events roles and training will be given. This is a great chance to meet new people, gain some experience and see Pride from a different angle.

For more information please visit the Pride website at www.brightonpride.org, email the Pride office at office@brightonpride.org or ring us on 01273 775939 for information and an application form.

Nando's Hunks to visit Brighton Pride

If you are missing the sight of these hunks from Nando's Restaurants who provided some admirable eye candy at London Pride recently, then fret not. The hunks are heading for the coast, to work the crowds during next weekend's Brighton Pride.

Now if the heat wave lasts, we're betting it won't take long for them to lose their tops. Perhaps a 'chicken' stencil on their pecs might provide equally useful marketing for the home of the legendary Portuguese 'peri-peri' chicken!!!

For more information check out www.nandos.co.uk

Hike for hope

Action For Charity are now recruiting for the third Hike For Hope - a very special event that aims to raise funds to help find cures for prostate and gynaecological cancers.  Past hikers have raised nearly £1million to stop prostate and gynaecological cancers ruining lives with treks in Jordan and Kenya.  The third challenge is an amazing five-day trek across the magnificent Sinai Desert in Egypt – from Mount Sinai to the Red Sea.  Leading the way again will be top urologist Professor Roger Kirby, Chairman of Prostate UK, and leading obstetrician and gynaecologist Marcus Setchell, a trustee of Wellbeing of Women and gynaecologist to the Queen.

More than 200 people have taken part in previous Hike For Hope challenges.  They were tough treks but there was a huge amount of fun and friendship along the way.  Among the hikers were cancer sufferers, people who had family and friends with cancer and a large number of doctors, nurses and medical people from across the UK.  If you know anyone who has experienced gynaecological or prostate cancer or if you would like to stop these cancers ruining lives then please take up the Sinai Desert Challenge. 

The trek starts with a visit to the magnificent pyramids at Giza before travelling to the Sinai region of Egypt to start the challenge – hiking across the magnificent Sinai Desert with its wide open spaces, ever-changing scenery, narrow wadis (riverbeds) and spectacular coloured canyons.  We will sleep in Bedouin tents or under the stars along the way!  In order to take part in this challenge participants will be asked to pay a registration fee of £250 and raise minimum sponsorship funds of £2,500 - find out more about this life-saving endeavour. 

Return of the roller disco

This summer, Britain gets set for Nokia Skate Almighty, with top DJs lining up to launch the UK’s first outdoor rollerskating and music event.  Back with a totally new look and sound for the Noughties, the roller disco is part of Nokia’s Music Almighty campaign.  Launching in July, the exclusive Skate Almighty events will roll into London, Birmingham and Manchester, enabling up to 1000 people to enjoy summer’s coolest sport free of charge.

Each of the events will feature a DJ/band performance stage central to the roller disco, on which some of the world’s leading names will perform, including Hot Chip, Zero 7 and the legendary Norman Jay.  Skaters will weave between giant glitter-ball trees and statues paying homage to five different styles of music: pop, rock, hip hop, electronica and classic anthems.  The Nokia Skate Almighty rink will be open to children and families during the day, encouraging even the youngest Brits to have fun and stay fit through roller disco. 

Hosted in a spectacular rink created especially for the Nokia Skate Almighty roller disco, the London event will run across the 11th, 12th and 13th July, situated in the vibrant Thames-side South Bank area, before moving to Birmingham’s Centenary Square on the 18th, 19th and 20th July. The final Nokia Skate Almighty roller disco will visit Manchester’s Castlefield Arena on 25th, 26th and 27th July. 

To get skating, simply log on to Nokia from 30th June to secure a free ticket and one-hour skate time slot.  Tickets will then be sent to your mobile phone number prior to the event, so skaters simply needing to swipe their mobile handset to get onto the rink.  The roller skating extravaganza will be running for just three days in each city so you’ll need to move quickly if you don’t want to miss out.

Audrey Hepburn has another breakfast at Tiffany’s

Timeless film star Audrey Hepburn astonished patrons today by turning up for breakfast at Tiffany’s...  But rather than the jewellers of her most famous film, it was Tiffany’s Café in Brighton where regulars coming in for morning fry-ups and bacon butties were surprised to find themselves sharing a table with the chic new Madame Tussauds double. 

The new wax figure of iconic actress Hepburn, in a classic ‘little black dress’, wearing pearls and clutching cigarette holder, shared a ketchup-splattered plastic table in the Brighton café with everyone from burly builders to busy mums during the morning breakfast rush. 

"She’s such a classic beauty and one of the greatest film stars of all time, so we’re really pleased to finally unveil her – and no better, unique occasion than breakfast time at Tiffany’s café!  I think it’s certainly surprised a few of the regular diners," said Ben Lovett, PR Manager for Madame Tussauds in London. 

Madame Tussauds Studios London has been making wax figures for over 150 years.  Each masterpiece is created over four months by a team of twenty dedicated sculptors.  Over 500 precise body measurements are referenced, real head hairs are inserted one by one, and countless layers of paints and tints are applied to build up skin tones - all to achieve the kind of astonishing realism that has kept Madame Tussauds world renowned for more than two hundred years.  Audrey Hepburn joins the London attraction permanently from June 2008 - have a look online right here...  Tickets to Madame Tussauds start at £12.50 for grown-ups. 

Introducing the Speedo Lzr Racer Suit

To celebrate its 80th anniversary, Speedo, the world’s leading swimwear brand has launched SPEEDO LZR RACER® suit, which independent testing has shown to be the world’s fastest swimsuit.

Speedo has harnessed the expertise of the United States space agency NASA amongst a number of international research institutes to create a faster suit which has 10% less passive drag* than Speedo’s FASTSKIN FSII launched in 2004 and 5% less passive drag* than Speedo FS-PRO, which was launched in March 2007 and has seen swimmers break 21 World records as a result.

Made from an ultra lightweight, low drag, water repellent, fast drying fabric, unique to Speedo, called LZR PULSE, the LZR RACER is the world’s first fully bonded swimsuit that is ultrasonically welded and gives the effect of no seams at all. Ultra low drag LZR Panels are embedded into the base fabric to create a ‘Hydro Form Compression system’ helping to compress the entire swimmer’s body into a more streamlined shape and enabling them to cut through the water with more power and agility.

“When I hit the water, I feel like a rocket”, says Michael Phelps (pictured), holder of six World records, who has been involved in the development and will be sporting the LZR RACER suit as he sets out to achieve a world record breaking 8 gold medals later this year. “I can’t wait to race in it………..this is going to take the sport of swimming to a new level”.

The Speedo LZR RACER suit, which has been approved by FINA (Fédération International de Natation Amateur), will debut at national trials around the world from March 2008. A retail version of the suit will go on sale in May 2008.

Talk2Reg Flirt Survey reveals best and worst chat-up lines

With Valentines Day just round the corner, many of us will be hoping to flirt our way into someone’s affection. A survey carried out by Talk2Reg shows that we are not confined to flirting with work colleagues or people we meet in bars or clubs. According to the survey 61% of people have admitted to flirting with a stranger whilst in their car, whether it is a cheeky grin or smouldering look, UK flirters are shameless.

It’s not just a pretty face that appeals to us when flirting, 54% of respondents said the car had an influence on whether they flirted or not. On top with 39% was, surprise surprise, sports cars, and cool convertibles with 26% of the vote. While 3% love a lorry driver – who said us flirters are shallow! The Talk2Reg flirt survey also found out that the sexiest car on the road roaring into pole position is Audis and Mercs, leaving three-wheel wonders and Skodas in their dust.

The survey also unleashed some of the best and worst chat lines, so this Valentines Day choose carefully...

Six of the best chat up lines

* You are like a compass, without you I am lost.
* Are you a parking ticket coz you got fine written all over you?
* Do you have any raisins? No? How about a date?
* Do you believe in love at first sight or do I have to walk past you again.
* I may not be Fred Flintstone, but I can make your bed rock!
* Are those space pants your wearing coz your ass is out of this world?

Six of the worst….

* Here’s 20p, ring your Mum and tell her you won’t be home tonight.
* How do you like your eggs in the morning?
* I like your dress it would look great on my bedroom floor.
* Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?
* Your dad must have been a thief, coz he stole the stars and put them in your eyes!
* If you were a burger you’d be a McGorgeous.

Talk2Reg is the latest social network that allows you to communicate safely and securely with any vehicle driver in the UK simply by texting their number plate

Packed Panto raises roof and funds for Stonewall and the Drill Hall

Last Sunday at the central London theatre The Drill Hall, audiences at two packed-out performances booed, hissed and cheered along to A Christmas Carol – Gay and Ghostly Pantomime.

The afternoon show raised £1352.00 for gay rights charity Stonewall. When that performance quickly sold out, a second performance was schedule for the evening, with proceeds going to premiere arts venue The Drill Hall, whose appeal against a proposed end to their Arts Council funding will be considered soon.

London Frontrunners is London’s gay and lesbian running club. Through social events and the annual Pride Run, the club has raised in excess of £12,000 for charity in the last few years. A Christmas Carol was the club’s second pantomime but the first to be performed in a professional theatre venue.

Andrew Watson who played pantomime dame Helena Handcart said “I’ve done bits of amateur dramatics before but nothing like this. In the end I enjoyed playing to a big, paying audience much more than I thought I would – once you’re in character it’s fine and actually I loved it. I saw Clive Rowe as the dame in Hackney Empire’s show this year, and that inspired me a lot – I realised I could put a lot of power into the character.”

As well as the traditional cross-dressing, the show, directed by Gary Wright and written by Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper, featured favourites such as a pantomime dog, slapstick, original music and plenty of corny and adult jokes.

Pic Credit: David Cook

90% of Brits do not understand how HIV is transmitted

The National AIDS Trust has just announced findings from their Public Attitudes Towards HIV Survey, which shows more than 1 out of 5 people in the UK cannot identify each of the main ways in which HIV is transmitted.  And only six per cent surveyed were able to correctly identify all of the ways HIV was transmitted, without any false responses.

The survey, the third of its kind since 2000, was conducted by Ipsos MORI of a representative sample of the British population, to determine people’s attitudes to and understanding of HIV. 

Poor Knowledge of HIV

The survey also revealed fewer people in 2007 are able to identify each of the correct ways in which HIV is transmitted than did so in 2000.    Over a fifth (21 per cent) did not identify unprotected sex between a man and a woman as a way of contracting HIV. In 2000 just 9 per cent did not identify this route.   In 2007 over a quarter of British people (26 per cent) did not know that unprotected sex between two men is a way of contracting HIV (this was 12 per cent in the 2000 survey).

And 31 per cent of people did not state that sharing a syringe when injecting drugs carries a risk of HIV (this was 12 per cent in the 2000 survey).  Five per cent of people wrongly believe you can catch HIV through spitting.

A third (33 per cent) of the British public state that they do not know enough about the risks of HIV, indicating an openness to further information.

Mixed Messages on HIV Stigma

Stigma surrounding HIV continues to be an issue today with 71 per cent of people agreeing more needs to be done to tackle prejudice against people living with HIV.

Whilst there is support for people living with HIV (over two-thirds of people saying if a family member or neighbour was HIV positive it would not affect their relationship) a culture of blame is evident in attitudes towards people living with HIV.  Almost half (48 per cent) state people who become infected with HIV through unprotected sex only have themselves to blame. 

Condom Use

Encouragingly, the survey found a big increase in just two years in the percentage of people who would only stop using condoms in a relationship ‘once we’ve both been tested for sexually transmitted infections and HIV’, up from 12% in 2005 to 24% in 2007, suggesting recent sexual health campaigns have had some impact. However 24 per cent state they do not use a condom with a new sexual partner as a matter of course (only sometimes, rarely or never), suggesting we still have a long way to go in valuing our own sexual health.

Campaign to allow gay men to become blood donors

Even though it’s a well known fact that the UK is currently very low in its stocks of blood, which means the NHS is forced to spend taxpayers’ money on advertising and marketing in order to save lives, there are several million potential (and willing) donors currently being ignored.

If the NHS changed one simple rule, it could potentially have several million extra donors eligible to give blood - instantly and without any marketing costs, simply by allowing gay people to give blood.
This would allow several million more men to be eligible to give blood – and would further safeguard blood stock levels.

Most people are unaware that a gay man is not allowed to give blood even if he has only ever had protected sex with one other man - however, a straight man who has had unprotected sex with dozens of women, is accepted.

But now a new group has been set up to fight this double standard.  The BloodBan.co.uk campaign has been founded to protest against the ban on gay blood donors within the UK.  “We just don’t see the sense in this hypocrisy that is being perpetrated,” commented Russell Hirst, founder of the BloodBan.co.uk campaign.  “So we’re asking people to visit our website: www.bloodban.co.uk and sign our petition - we will be sending it to the NHS, National Blood Service chief executive and the Prime Minister later this year.

“The NHS National Blood Service has told us that its reasons
for banning gay people from becoming blood donors come down to cost. Their opinion is that blood from a gay person is more likely to be infected than blood from a straight person. Therefore, they say,
the costs of screening gay blood are too high.
”

“However, surely the costs will be lower than running a national advertising campaign? And why are the costs of screening a straight person’s blood acceptable when sexually transmitted diseases among heterosexuals rise every year? Further more, we believe that the opinions of the NHS regarding gay donors are out-dated and do not reflect current statistics” 


“We think there is one simple solution though, which will both reduce the level 
of discrimination against gay people and limit the extra costs on the NHS: 

Allow gay people to give blood, but ask the donor to have key tests performed
first - bringing the certificate of 'all clear' with them when giving blood. 

It's not ideal and still discriminates, but it goes some way to solving the problem of low blood stocks – and ultimately, could save lives.

“Obviously we'd much rather prefer that the ban was dropped completely - therefore dramatically increasing the number of potential donors, increasing blood stocks, stopping this discrimination and reducing the marketing spend too.”

Anyone wishing for more information, or to sign the petition, should visit www.bloodban.co.uk

Matthew is Cosmo Centrefold for October 2007

Emmerdale's Matthew Wolfenden strips off for the October edition of Cosmopolitan Magazine

Obviously a spot of Dales air does wonders for the physique. Or at least that is what we thought after grabbing a sneak peak at Matthew Wolfenden's centrefold shot for the October 2007 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Matthew plays Eric Pollard's son, David, in the popular soap on ITV1 and can currently be seen engaged in a battle of wills with Dales superbitch Nicola Blackstock, who has returned with a vengeance. We clocked Mr Wolfenden's entry to the soap a while ago and noted his 'dishy hunk' potential. We're pleased to see that our original opinion was not wrong!

Another top Centrefold from those clever girls at Cosmo! Anytime you fancy stripping off for us Matthew, we'd be pleased to have you!

Matthew posed for Cosmopolitan Centrefolds to raise awareness for the Everyman Campaign, the UK's leading male cancer campaign and to celebrate Emmerdale's 35th Birthday.

The October edition of Cosmopolitan Magazine is out now.

Gay Pride Amsterdam in Color

What happened at Amsterdam Pride? Click here for Images.