Love, sex and lust
Uptown finally covers your three favourite things
Jen Zoratti

It began with a simple e-mail. “Check out this link,” wrote an anonymous Uptown staffer. “We should do something like this!”

We ended up reading a sex quiz in The Gateway, the student paper at the University of Alberta. Recognizing that all good ideas are made to be stolen, one thing led to another and here we are, presenting Uptown’s first Love, Sex and Lust issue.

Given that Valentine’s Day has just passed, it’s colder than a brass monkey’s ass and we don’t get a stat holiday until next year, we figured that people could use just a little heat in February.

Or at least a nudge and a wink.

That’s why we’re happy to offer you these four pages of adult-oriented content — from how to buy a dildo to where to go in Winnipeg if you want to try speed dating.

We even researched what our kids are being taught about sex at school. And at the end of it all, we consulted a couple of relationship counsellors who told us that once you’ve done the reverse cowgirl and the slap and tickle, the key to every relationship is still… trust and honesty.

Just keep that thought in mind as you peruse these stories.

P.S. Special thanks to the guys in Comeback Kid for agreeing to be cover models for this issue. The Winnipeg band has a smokin’ new album, called Broadcasting…, out on Feb. 20.

‘This turkey baster vibrates’
Forget buying kitchen supplies and try hosting a sex-toy party
Marlo Campbell

Move over Tupperware, Partylite and Pampered Chef — another type of home-shopping party is out there, and while the products might not help you in the kitchen, they’re sure to spice things up in the bedroom.

As sex toys have slowly gained mainstream acceptance — thank you, Sue Johansson and Sex and the City — so, too, have home sex-toy parties.

Mary Grant is the owner of Lady Godiva Boutique. Located at 832 Corydon Ave., the shop specializes in lingerie, toys and lotions and has been doing house parties since 1999.

For the uninitiated, all parties are somewhat similar. Consultants arrive with an assortment of products and set up while guests arrive. After playing a game to break the ice, a presentation is given.

Not only is product explained in detail —which lubes are better for sensitive skin, for example, or which toys are best suited for specific activities — but samples are brought out so people can test them.

“By passing it around, they actually get to smell it, they get to feel it, they get to taste it if it’s edible, and they have a much better idea of what the product is all about,” Grant says.

Like other home-shopping parties, there’s no cost to the host and a discount is offered on the product bought. How product is actually sold, however, depends on the party.

Lady Godiva’s consultants bring merchandise from the store and sell things to party guests right then and there. Other companies, such as Winnipeg-based Naughty Angel, take orders in a separate room — a setup that may appeal to those who are uncomfortable buying a dildo in front of a group of people.

Naughty Angel owner Jeff (last name omitted due to his conservative day job) got into the business a year-and-a-half ago, but he doesn’t work as a party consultant, joking that “it’s hard for guys to sell vibrators.”

Unlike Lady Godiva, Naughty Angel has no storefront, which means consultants take orders at parties and place them afterwards. Items are brought in, put in discreet paper bags and given to the host, who then distributes them. The whole process takes about 10 business days.

There’s no need for people to feel embarrassed about wanting to try new things, Grant says, and both she and Jeff say their consultants work hard to make party guests feel comfortable.

“Everybody in the whole world was put on the Earth to have sex,” Grant says matter-of-factly, adding that by the end of the night most party-goers are over their shyness.

“Once they’ve got a couple glasses of wine in them, the inhibitions tend to fall away,” she laughs.

Home sex-toy parties are a convenient way to learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about sex toys but were afraid to ask, and considering the array of items on the market (today’s hottest toys include the Elephant Pounder, the Senso-Vagina, the Eager Beaver and the Dolfinger), aren’t you just a little bit curious?

To host a Lady Godiva party, interested Winnipeggers are encouraged to come down to the store.

To host a Naughty Angel party, call 832-4211.