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Bears meet the 21st Century. Get all the latest and greatest delivered to you iPod. Whether its Chunky House beats or just 5 bears chewin' the fat - it's all available via podcasts. The Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has produced an online tutorial exposing some of the technological tricks the media uses to retouch fashion photos. The MHSA says it hopes to point out the prevalence of the practice and to raise awareness of "how easy it is to alter someone's appearance" to fit idealized beauty standards.
Still want to have Abs of Steel? Photoshop is available online - with a little cutting and pasting, airbrushing, cropping, highlighting and such - you too can be a fashion victim.
Once you’ve gotten that out of your system, remember we come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Don’t let a magazine tell you how to look. Appreciate the stud muffin you are.
Three actually!
BF and I ventured up to Tahoe for a weekend get-away. As always, we brought the dogs – two full size labs. The weather was perfect. Warm during the day and brisk at night. The dogs swam in the lake; we shopped at Christmas Tree Village for ornaments and other chochkis and ate at our favorite pub- Crosby’s, which provides outdoor seating as to accommodate the dogs.
After a long day, we snuggled into our cabin and drifted off to sleep. Suddenly, we were awoken by the growling and barking at the sliding door. Through the curtains, I made out the outline of some sort of animal head. Hmmm . . .
We called off the dogs, and I got up to investigate. Much to my surprise, and fortunately on the other side of the sliding glass door, we two bear cubs and one really, big mother bear. The cubs had climbed up on the deck and were making their way up an apple tree at the edge of deck. Mom stood patiently by as the cubs climbed and played. I thought of grabbing my camera, but didn’t want to miss the show nor cause Mom any alarm.
After a few minutes and apparently filled of apples, they moseyed on. I am guessing the cubs weighed in about 200 lbs or so – at least twice the size of the dogs. According to the locals, the bears have been pretty active this year suggesting it is going to be a long, cold winter.
I’ve met a lot of bears in my day, but these two may have been the cutest, yet!! Well, there was Brian in Chicago, but that’s another story.
Few things define a man more than his style.
This rugged bear claw pendant looks good when dressed up or dressed down.
This fine crafted pewter pendant necklace is made from the highest quality 100% pewter inside and out. Nickle-free.
Comes ready to wear with a jewelry black rope necklace or you could put it on your favorite chain.
Pawing it's way to a film festival near you.
BEARS is a documentary directed by Marc Klasfeld that takes you into the wild world of International Mr. Bear. Testosterone and fur fly in this fascinating and heartfelt tour into the bear scene.
| Festivals | San Francisco Frameline, Toronto Inside-Out, NYC Newfest LGBT Festival |
Recently, I was strolling along the beach with the dog, somewhat oblivious to my surroundings – either deep in thought with regard to the meaning of life, or perhaps it was that my morning coffee hadn’t quite kicked in, yet! When all of a sudden he appeared – A NAKED BABY!
Ok, I am not really a prude, but I still somewhat taken back by nakedness. One rarely encounters nakedness accidentally. But, lo and behold this little chap (I’d say about 3 years old or so) was definitely naked! And, he couldn’t have been happier.
My new little friend was with his dad and the family dog. The dog and Jr. were frolicking at the water’s edge. Occasionally, a wave would rise up and dampen the little guy only to be met with peels of laughter. He truly didn’t have a care in the world, nor did he have any inhibitions about his nakedness. All was right with the world!
So naturally, I had to over analyze this. At what point do we become self conscious? Does it happen naturally or is it imposed upon us by society’s norms? So, I did a little research. It seems preschool age is about when children begin forming opinions about themselves and when they are influenced by the comments of parents, other significant adults (teachers) and their peers. Other studies suggest a slightly earlier age of around 3.
My guess is my little friend’s naked jaunts on the beach have a pretty short remaining shelf life. In a year or so, his own sense of self will prevent such carefree abandon. And, thus begins a path of self consciousness that will remain into his golden years. For many, this begins the path of body awareness - we will spend the rest of our lives analyzing, critiquing and fretting over our bodies.
Am I jealous of my little buddy? Absolutely! Imagine a day at the beach with out sucking in my gut or worrying about what was jiggling. A day without worry what others were thinking. A day without counting carbs. A day to shed off age-old inhibitions and just live.
Imagine for a minute, if we could just recapture that carefree abandon of running naked in the surf. When we didn’t judge our bodies, when we didn’t compare ourselves to beauty standards imposed by an industry trying to sell us perfection – if we only took this pill, wore these clothes, but this product, etc . . . Imagine how happy we could be. How we could focus on life’s important lessons. How we could learn to love one another for the beautifully unique creatures that we are.
Just imagine!
Maskwa is the Cree word for bear. In the Cree tradition the bear, the most intelligent and powerful of land animals, is also a symbol of healing. Shop Today
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Well, it's been year since we launched theThe Ultimate Bear Resource (see below). Since then we've launched a store, a MySpace blog, numerous Yahoo! Groups and man are we tired. LOL!!
Actually, we love it and all the wonderful folks we've met along the way. Thank you for all your support, tell your friends and visit often. Seriously, thank you.
In the next year, we hope to be bigger, badder, furrier and so much more. WOOF!!
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We are building a wiki (an easy-to-use Web page that lets you collaborate with other people) to create The Ultimate Bear Resource - check out the related link below . . .
The content of this project is created by you. This site is written collaboratively by people from all around the world. This website is a wiki, which means that anyone with access to an Internet-connected computer can edit, correct, or improve information throughout the wiki.
Want to add some info - either create a new page or update an existing one. See something that is wrong? Put away your red pen; just make the correction - no drama!
You are welcome to add links to associated articles and sites.
You heard it here first . . .
We received a post card from Pinky Buckarro complete with Judy Garland commemorative postage. How fabulous! OMG - could we be more gay?
Presenting this year's must have in picnic accessories, Pinky Buckarro offers 4 gay themes for your summer outing. No leather run would be complete without them . . .
Now, I'm not one to complain - but - no bear line for our picnic baskets?
Hey Yogi, the Ranger's not going to like that . . .
Tell them you saw it at The Complete Bear.
"After a truly good meal, an outstanding cigar is still the most satisfying after-dinner activity that doesn't involve two human beings."-- Brad Shaw, Radio Announcer 
We have amazing buying power. We can throw it away, or we can harness it and effect change.
Do the companies you buy from support diversity in the workplace? Do they make political contributions to candidates that oppose marriage equality? Do they extend partner benefits to all their employees? If these issues are important to you, then spend wisely.
LGBT owned independent businesses return a percentage of each dollar you spend back to our community. For example, bear businesses put that dollar back into the community through bear runs, bear media, and contributions to local non-profit organizations and political organizations.
By supporting these businesses, you insure that they - along with the diversity they provide - don’t disappear.
But I can get it cheaper somewhere else - It's time to consider the real costs to our community when we lose our LGBT business base. Independent LGBT businesses employ members of the community, who in turn shop in our community.
They also retain the services of LGBT service providers. They hire gay architects, lesbian graphic designers, and bear-owned contractors for construction. The multiplier effect creates opportunities for LGBT accountants, insurance brokers, computer consultants, attorneys, and advertising agencies.
Ensuring Choice and Diversity - A local LGBT shop may have a smaller selection than a big chain outlet. But remember, it sources products for its target audience, thus creating a demand for specialized merchandise. This makes accessible controversial products or services from new vendors with the expectation that there will be a market somewhere within a variety of stores.
Our freedom of choice is imperiled when we grant a limited amount of corporate buyers the power to choose what reaches consumers. This may be only mildly disturbing for most consumer goods, but truly frightening when you consider the impact on our choice of news sources, books, music and other modes of expression for the LGBT community.Investing in Our Community – LGBT business owners invest much of their life savings in their businesses. They have a natural interest in the long-term health of the community. Community-based businesses are essential to charitable endeavors, frequently serving on local boards, and supporting a variety of causes important to our community.
LGBT business leaders understand the challenges faced by community members. They have walked in their shoes. With a passionate commitment to diversity, they advocate to ensure all of their customers get treated with respect and dignity.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH A FEW SIMPLE STEPSMake a decision to find and patronize LGBT-owned business, whenever possible. Dine at a local, independent LGBT-owned restaurant and treat yourself to a unique and personal dining experience. When you shop online, look for LGBT businesses. Use the Member Directory or Search Box of your local LGBT Chamber of Commerce to find businesses offering goods or services to our community. Tell your associates, family, and friends to support these businesses, as well.
Lorretta Lynn, Furry Mens and Leather Briefs - Now, I know what to give thanks for!!
Stand by Your Man
Mystery Date for Bears
Brady Bears
It's raining 300 men
Yes, apparently I've become addicted to YouTube . . . Woof
Nothing defines a man more than his sense of style. We think these handsome cufflinks compliment any woofy style. Our goal is to provide you all the Bear Resources you need. We've been working hard to update our sources, verfiying links and checking the calendar.
And we realize you may even want to attend some non-furry events, so worked on those too!!
Any way you plan it, there shouldn't be any shortage of warm, furry men to welcome you!
"No community that exists for its own sake can survive. It would be a sect, something cut off. It would lose the way by becoming isolated, no matter how much it practiced community." - Eberhard Arnold
When I came across the above quote, it challenged my concept of community. I tend to think of communities as a coming together of like minded folks for some common gain – whether it be social, supportive or whatever. The author of the above quote raises a very important concern - when we self-select our communities, we are by design de-selecting others. Whether it is those who are different from us or oppose our views - either way, we are eliminating new viewpoints and exchange of ideas. The resulting isolation can be very dangerous. We become myopic, we no longer learn from opposing ideas, we become stunted.
Human nature seeks out community – it is where we are comfortable. However, equally important is continuing to expand into a larger world. If we want others to respect our opinions and ideals, we must engage them. We must recognize our commonalities and learn from our differences. We are big, we are small, we are black, we are white, and each one of us has a unique beauty.
Very often we are asked to define “bear.” The danger here is whatever we define, somehow excludes those that don’t match that description – which never was the intent. The strongest attribute of the bear community is inclusion - freedom to be who you are, to look how you look, and acceptance from your bear brothers.
Our bear community has become large and diverse. This is a good thing. But with any growth there is often a growing apart. It is easy to forget that we are part of a marginalized group. It is easy to forget that an injury to one is an injury to all. We need to remember we are all one big family--some in big cities, some in small towns, and some in rural area.
We are bears.