PlanetBears members (and those who signed up with bear-pics and still have their membership), you need to either email me (Forrest) or use the contact form as soon as possible. Why? It's because I have been working hard on BearFoot.com and I want you guys to preview it. Right now there are only photos galleries but there's 845 pictures... and I will be adding more this weekend.

So... all you have to do is email me - if you know your PlanetBears (or bear-pics) username and password, that'll be great... if not, just give me your email that you signed up with when you bought your PlanetBears membership. Once you email me that info, I will email you back a membership pass to the BearFoot galleries.

Now please note: this is just a preview for PlanetBears members. This 'BearFoot' membership password will work for awhile, but it won't last forever. Also, please do not email me if you only have a TubeBear username. TubeBear is a free site; PlanetBears is the one with the pay section.

I've been mentioning BearFoot for quite some time now (from what I can see from the archived articles, I have been mentioning the site since September '07). Now a lot has happened in both Roger's and my life since then, and I've also been working on a lot of projects (PlanetBears site, TubeBear site, a movie which is in the works, a book which is like 75% done)... all that while moonlighting on BearFoot. It might seem that I'm spreading myself a little thinly but for some reason I have many projects, so hopefully you can understand why it takes me awhile to get something done.

Anyhow - hope you guys enjoy the BearFoot preview.

Also - please note - very important - BearFoot will be a paysite, but we are still working on the pay section. It's not available yet so you cannot buy a BearFoot membership. Right now all you can do is buy a PlanetBears membership which will give you access to the PlanetBears galleries and videos, and for a short while the BearFoot galleries - but only for a short while. Once we have the BearFoot pay section up and available, I will be giving super rebates to prior bear-pics and PlanetBears members.

PS - The site is called 'BearFoot - Roger's Adventures' and Roger and I have been trying to write a little about our lives since we met, something so as to accompany the photos. Our adventures are nothing like Indiana Jones, but they are ours and we're sharing. And if this is your 1st time here, check out Roger's TubeBear profile as well as my profile (Bob Forrest).

Here at TubeBear, we're doing our best to figuring out on how to maximize your Bearish video experience while you are on the net. We are now offering Video on Demand (VOD). The company we are working with is the well known PPVNetwork who have been around for a very long time, however we are one of the very 1st websites they created a customized webspace for, so our VOD page is looking super snazzy.

The VOD is a pay section - part of it goes to PPVNetwork and part of it goes to TubeBear. The selection of videos is excellent and expansive, with movies from BearFilms (articles), ButchBear (articles), CyberBears (articles), XXXL Productions, to name a few.

They are offering 'superior streaming' - probably the best Flash player available. They have spent over a year in developing it. It's intelligent, in that it chooses the correct bit rate to send (out of 5 possible speeds), and it also has DRM/copy-protection.

And lastly, here on TubeBear we will be offering a ton of previews for you, so you can always take a look at the good before buying.

Check out the new customized TubeBear Video on Demand section at vod.tubebear.com. It's filled with tons of great looking Bearish and Chubby guys.

There's a new magazine coming out... but it's name is one we all know and love. It's called BEAR magazine and PlanetBears was lucky enough to conduct an interview with the guys who are behind this hot new rag.

Check out the interview here.

Now way back in August 2007, PlanetBears mentioned about the resurgence of 'BEAR Magazine' (article here). At the time of that posting, there was very little known about the mag aside that it was being published by the same guys who give you 'Muscle + Fur = Butch Bear'.

Now for those of you who don't know ~ BEAR Magazine has been considered an important chapter within the history of Bear culture as it was the 1st magazine to truly celebrate the Bearish man. Its roots stem from 1984 as it was initially a flyer created by Richard Bulger in San Francisco who, over time, turned the mag into an internationally known symbol that became one of the staples to recognizing Bear culture, the community and what a Bear man looks like as well as what a Bear man represents. Richard then sold the company 'Brush Creek Media' to Bear-Dog Hoffman who, to make a long story short, ran the business into the ground. Brush Creek went out of business and the last issue of BEAR Mag was sent around the summer of 2001 (more about BEAR Magazine here on Wikipedia).

Ok, so what happened... near the end of BEAR Mag's reign, a lot of people were taken for a ride; models and photographers were not paid; advertisers who bought prepaid spots in their magazine lost their money, and of course; all those who had a subscription... nobody was refunded. Kicker to all this? The Brush Creek website still exists to this day and is still selling stuff. Now I am not going to link it here simply because I don't want someone who is not reading this article and is simply clicking the pretty links to go to that webpage and then decides to buy something since they will be spending their money on things that do not exist.

Once BEAR mag went belly up, there was a lot of online talk about it, especially in the now defunct 'Bear's Mailing List'. However, like all things, the 'BEAR mag buzz' simply buzzed out and nobody cared about the issue any more.

Now fast forward to 2007 and there's a few leaks about BEAR coming back. Since then, the buzz has started all over again - both off and online - however it's mostly been gossip since nobody really knows anything about the new BEAR.

Well I was fortunate enough to get a hold of the guys who are manufacturing the new BEAR mag and they were more than cool to conduct an interview with me. Read the interview here ~ it'll definitely clarify any misconceptions you might have had and it will also enlighten you to this new BEAR mag era which is just upon us.

So... does this new mag interest you? Guess what... they are giving the 1st issue to you free. How? Head on over to bear-magazine.com (you simply pay the postage).

Is the world ready for a new BEAR Mag? I'm more than positive it is. Will it live it up to its name? Time will only tell however the Butch Bear material has always been A level material so I'm also positive that the new BEAR mag experience will simply be better.

Guess who is coming back to Montreal? It's the super cute Frank from New Jersey - the one that looks like he should belong on the Sopranos set however once you get to know him, he's the biggest teddy bear kind of guy around.

Frank came to Montreal back in April of 2003 so it's gonna be 5 years since I've seen him. However, we have been talking on the phone and now online using TubeBear's webcam chat room. Actually, Frank has started to stream live so make sure to check out the LiveStreaming page and you just might catch him on cam.

We plan on doing a photo and video shoot so it's going to be great to have some new material of Frank. He was very popular back in the day and he's done nothing more than gotten cuter over the years. He's aging very well.

Make sure to check out his PlanetBears' gallery as well as his TubeBear profile. And check out the PlanetBears Video page (click here for more descriptions about the 'Lost Video Files'). And lastly, click here to see some previews from the set of pics we worked on back in '03 - and click here for some more previews.

Nard (TubeBear profile) along with his superhero sidekick Ray (TubeBear profile) broadcasted their show BearPodCast (articles) live at BearWatch (website - TubeBear 'PRO' profile - articles) in Galveston, TX.

BearPodCast was using TubeBear's livestreaming connection in order to broadcast. If you're interested in going live, contact us (email - form). It's very simple to setup and we'll broadcast you from our site as well as on your site.

There's a lot of news and updates to mention concerning the excellent FunFur.tv (articles). FunFur is a British-based website that posts some of the best Bear videos on the net. They have erotica as well as comedy... watch them for free or download the hi-res versions for only a dollar (that's a half a pound... I think).

1st off, they have a video of some Bears and Cubs wrestling in the nude after oiling themselves up. All this in front of a huge crowd. 2ndly, they have added pics from the Great British Bear Bash... check out their Forum section. Also in the Forum section, there's new stories for you to peruse. And every original story posted in the Forum over 300 words gets you $5 of free video clips.

3rd - new content. There's 'Bear Inspectors' - "hairy fellas in the streets get probed!". Also, there's a new music video 'Fever' starring Doctor Woof. Make sure to check out Jonathan Robinson's YouTube page (Jonathan is the director and master mind behind FunFur - check out his professional site). Soon you will see BSI #3 (Bear Scene Investigation) and Jonathan has just finished filming the Bear Bash 11 so expect to see some clips online as well as a DVD available for that as well.

His name is Mitch, he runs Come to Daddy which is involved in some of the wildest Bear events in the UK. I should also mention that Mitch has got to be one of the cutest British Bears around. Check out his TubeBear profile (and here are some older pics of him that I found... cute - cute - cute).

Well in a few weeks from now, Mitch and Come to Daddy will be involved in the Bristol Bear Fiesta (this is #5) which will be taking place from June 6th thru the 8th. Click here to see the poster and you can email Mitch for more info if you're interested in participating.

There's a couple of Bear-Toon updates here. 1st - over at Becoming Blizzard... finally Blizzard has decided to come out to his new friend Bob. Bob just happened to be gay, cute, and has his eye on Blizzard. Things are looking up for Blizzard. And who's the cartoonist who draws Becoming Blizzard? It's Rondall (TubeBear profile).

Ok so things are looking great on Becoming Blizzard's end, however things are definitely not looking good over at Bear With Me. Andy is in the hospital, his boyfriend Paul has left town and has thrown his cell out the window. To backtrack a touch - Andy's mom had a little conference with Paul, and what she said traumatized Paul... meanwhile something happened to Andy at the exact same time that Constance was ripping into Paul. Hey, it's a cartoon... anything can happen, however cartoonist Bruin (TubeBear profile) has informed me that he has never gotten so much email than he has now about what's going on in the Bear With Me world. He has definitely struck a nerve with his readers.

And lastly, Bruin has sent in this drawing - he said to pass it on so that's what I'm doing. I think it would make a great desktop image.

I really know nothing about art. I don't know why one painting is sold for millions while another painting is sold for nothing. There's way too much politics within the art world that I know nothing about, however some artist make it, some don't (how insightful of me, huh...).

However, what's interesting here - altho this is a painting of a woman - it's a painting of an obese woman... and while many people will find that disgusting, I know that a lot of people get equally turned by that. I know a lot of guys who get turned on by men who look like that or else there would be no need for sites like SuperChubs.

What's even more interesting - this painting went for $33.6M at an auction. The painter is Lucian Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, and this painting which is entitled 'Benefits Supervisor Sleeping' (Google) sets a price record for a work by a living artist.

Anyhow, what's interesting here is - the model is an overweight woman and not some gorgeous skinny young lass, and the amount of money it received is just phenomenal. So can someone explain to me... just what it beauty?

Anyhow... 'Big Sue' is the model... and what did she have to say: "I think he probably picked me because he got value for money. He got a lot of flesh".

Bob aka BearBob1952 (TubeBear profile) of Project Big (articles) is letting us that he and Nard (TubeBear profile) of BearPodCast are running a 'Project Big Contest'. They talk about it in their podcast #204. They sent them some clothes and they plan on doing a 'best top' and 'best bottom' contest. More info can be found here, but essentially send them a photo and a 200 word or less essay as to why you are the perfect top or bottom. Deadline is June 15th. From their site: "We will choose a winner from the Top and Bottom category. Winners will be on a future episode and will be introduced during the show. Hopefully we will have a Project Big match and we will check up on the two winners from time to time to see if anything happens between the two of them. Top winner will receive 1- XXL shirt and Bottom winner will receive 1 pair of XXL shorts from our sponsor Project Big".