NO POSTERS BUT IT WAS A GREAT PARTY

NEW York Observer scribe George Gurley, whose witty and weird musings on Manhattan society and his own nocturnal adventures have made him something of a legend, celebrated his 40th birthday in typically offbeat fashion at one of his favorite haunts, the Beatrice Inn. Gurley's girlfriend, Bulgari publicist Hilary Heard, co-star of the Observer's long-running "George and Hilly" column, commissioned four life-size posters of Gurley's "heroes" wearing party hats: Hunter S. Thompson, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter and Judy Garland. But the quirky creations somehow got thrown away by club staffers before Gurley was led into the back room to blow out his cake's candles. Among those cheering his arrival late Tuesday night were his mother, socialite Katherine Bryan, her ex-husband Shelby Bryan, "Saturday Night Live" writer Jim Downey, Vanity Fair's Frank DiGiacomo, Rolling Stone's Jason Gay, BlackBook's Steve Garbarino, Maxim's Chris Wilson, author Christopher Tennant, and ex-Siberia owner Tracy West-more land. [link]