Just the other day (article) I mentioned that the Ottawa Bears are having their Mr. Ottawa Bear (MOB) contest which will be taking place in the capital of Canada... that is Ottawa... at the Swizzles bar on January 17th, which is tomorrow (Saturday). I also mentioned that Shawn (profile) will be stepping down as MOB '08, the same Shawn whom I took pictures of with his partner Warren (galleries here).

Well it looks like Roger (galleries - profile) and I (Bob - profile) are going to be at the event to take some pictures and possibly film some of it, and we will be going with Eric Z (galleries - profile). So if you're going to be there, come on over and say hi. Should be a good time.

Time to hit the capital of Canada as Mr. Ottawa Bears (MOB) is almost upon us. The Ottawa Bears have a whole weekend planned with Bears at the Bath, Beareoke, Brunch, and the main event, the Mr. Ottawa Bear contest with Shawn (profile) stepping down as Mr. Ottawa Bear 2008. Looks like a great time with a bunch of fine good looking Canadian Bears, eh? (I'm Canadian, I can make fun of myself).

Well it's down to the final 3 in Britain's Next Bear Model. Here at PlanetBears we've been following this show diligently (articles). Our conclusion so far...? British men are very very hot and extremely sexy, and this show has been produced with utter excellence. It's been tons fun to watch, the contestants have been greats sports, yet all good things must come to an end, and this show is nearly done.

We now know who the 3 finalist, and that would be Alan (pic #1 ~ pic #2), Raff (pic #1 ~ pic #2) and Sean (pic #1 ~ pic #2). What they are doing now is that they have broken up the final episodes into 2 parts, and today you get to see Part A on YouTube. We don't get to find out who the winner is until Part B, so you have to stay tuned.

Lastly - click here to see the photos they were distributing during this latest episode (and if you missed the article we posted with the contestants in their underwear, then click here). And, in this latest episode, You'll also notice that the finalists were working on a photo shoot in an office setting - we'll be getting to see those photos in an upcoming update.

If you haven't been following 'Britain's Next Bear Model', then it's about you did because they have now chosen the final 3. They started off with 8 contestants and over the past few weeks it was online votes that chose the finalists. Check out Episode #6 and you just might be surprised to find out exactly who made it (note - don't read the comments until after or else feel the spoil).

Jonathan Robinson of FunFur.tv (profile) has mentioned to keep an eye out all this week on his YouTube channel as he will be posting more on this series. And you have up until November 8th to vote for Britain's Next Bear model and the way to do that is either go to EuroWoof or on the FunFur forum.

I gotta tell you that I was surprised with the results. I only picked 1 of the guys right, the other 2 were a complete surprise... looks like a hot and heavy race to the end... (ps - in episode #5 they had to do a photo shoot in their briefs - click here to see some great photos from that shoot).

1 word... underwear...

ok... 3 words... Bears in Underwear.

PlanetBears has been following the Britain's Next Bear Model series very closely (articles). The show is brought to you by ManBears and Funfur.tv. We have arrived at Episode #5 (see all the episodes here) and it's time to see the 8 contestants strut their stuff in their undies. The men were not told about an impromptu photo shoot having them strip down to their Skivvies.

There's not much time left to vote for your favourite Bear. You get to choose which make the final 3 by visiting the FunFur.tv forum. Need a little help deciding who you like? Well here are some excellent shots from this shoot sent in by Jonathan Robinson (articles - profile). It's time to meet the contestants a little better (in alphabetical order - photos by Trooper):

Alan ~ Photo #1 - Photo #2

Des ~ Photo #1 - Photo #2

Kris ~ Photo #1 - Photo #2

Leopold ~ Photo #1 - Photo #2

Raff ~ Photo #1 - Photo #2

Roger ~ Photo #1 - Photo #2

Sean ~ Photo #1 - Photo #2

Steve ~ Photo #1 - Photo #2

Click here to see episode #4 of 'Britain's Next Bear Model' (articles). ManBears and Funfur.tv have joined forces in order to bring you this 'first of its kind' for Bears and those that admire them. 8 contestants living in a flat, all of them competing to be the very 1st UK Bear model. In this episode, things heat up in the washroom as shaving cream starts spewing all over the place. Also, they seem to be getting reprimanded a lot in this one.

It's up to you to choose who goes and who stays, so cast your votes on the FunFur.tv forum.

My bad for not posting this yesterday - I've been catching up with my emails and this article should have been posted yesterday...

The UpBear (website - articles - profile) bunch in Montreal who usually only get together once a month for Brunch are now working another meeting - this time it's for 'Spaghetti Supper' at the Woof Bar & Bistro (website - profile) which is located on 1661 Sainte-Catherine in the heart of the Gay village in Montreal (and some of you might remember that the Woof bar held the 1st Bear contest awhile back - check out all the articles surrounding that event here and check out the video I made here on YouTube).

Ok so the reason why I should have posted this yesterday is that they got together for their 1st supper last night, however their next one will be on Wednesday, November 5th. And as for the UpBear brunch, they will be getting together on Sunday, October 26th at the Restaurant Palais Montcalm which is at 1314 Ontario Street.

Here at PlanetBears, we've been following the news on what's been going on with the new series 'Britain's Next Bear Model' - just check out these articles, however the following is a press release from the makers of the show:

"Standby for Action! ManBears and Funfur.tv have launched 'Britain's Next Bear Model'. Anything can happen in the next six weeks, as you decide who's a top in the grizzliest competition ever. See the 8 hairy finalists (photo) as they get to know each other, living, sleeping and playing together in the world’s first Bear reality TV series, facing some hair-raising challenges, some close shaves and… Netty!

To view the first episode please visit Jonathan Robinson's YouTube page. Nothing will go unnoticed nor unpunished as our cameras track their every movement, growl, grope, slurp and snog 24/7. From modeling to pasty eating, from banoffee pie to leather, our Bears will have to play hard in this Grrrrruelling contest, in order to win your votes.

Broadcasting on YouTube, Funfur.tv and EuroWoof, voting commences on October 5th, with an accumulating score for each of our eight finalists. The winner will be announced on November 9th and will receive a big cash prize, with their hairy chest splashed across a magazine cover. Only one will be crowned Britain's Next Bear Model. Let the battle commence!

Gerard Gudgion of ManBears said: 'As far as I know this is a world first for a group like ours to produce and promote a reality series. For the first time I think people are going to be able to see beyond the body shape of Bears and get a real understanding of Bear culture'.

Jonathan Robinson of Funfur.tv said: 'I've worked on big reality TV before such as 'I'm A Celebrity…', but nothing beats this competition for excitement and generating opinion. Seeing the first comments on Youtube shows what diversity the 8 contestants offer!'.

For more information or interviews with any of the contestants please  call 0161 432 4947".

It's episode #3 in 'Britain's Next Bear Model'. This great show is headed by Jonathan Robinson (articles - profile) who has made a ton of Bearish videos in the past few years which you can check out from his YouTube page as well as his site FunFur.tv. In conjunction is EuroWoof and the Manchester Bears ManBears who have also been contributing to this fun show.

Right now we're still getting to know the 8 contestants as they all bunk up in a flat together. There's little romances forming here and there, all the while we're hearing touches of gossip. Remember - these men are there to win and to be the very first Bear Model.

How this works is that you watch the shows and you vote for your favourite contestant. In a few weeks, 3 will be chosen to move on to the finals. It's great fun as these cute Bearish men rival, and some of these guys are superbly cute. Stay tuned (and if you haven't been following, here's an article about episode #1 and an article on episode #2).

Last week we told you about a new show called 'Britain's Next Bear Model' (article) which consists of 8 guys living in the same room as they compete to be UK's newest Bear model.

In episode #1, we got to meet 5 of the 8 contestants, and even though I try to remain as biased as possible, I did slip in that I thought Steve was cute (well, so is Alan... and so is Kris... however Steve definitely wins the Daddy Bear vote). Well in the newest episode (#2), the final 3 competitors have entered, and say hello to Raff (woof) Leopold (double woof) Sean (triple woof). Yes, Sean is now a new favourite of mine... however it's not up to me who is going to win this thing, it's up to you.

You need to head on over to either EuroWoof (you need to register) or even better, just head on over to the FunFur.tv forum (no registration needed) and cast your vote on who you think should first make it to the top 3 to finally down to #1. This is episode 2 out of 7, so keep watching as things begin to heat up now that all the cuteys are together.

We are giving away another DVD and this time the winner is SasBear (profile - photo). The DVD he won is from ButchBear entitled 'Tool Chest'. And what did SasBear do in order to win this DVD...? He simply created a profile with TubeBear.

This is our 2nd giveaway (the first winner was JovenBear - profile - article), and we are planning on giving out more (starting in October, we'll be giving out 2 a month up until Xmas). And all you have to do in order to possibly win one is to sign up with TubeBear.

By the way, there's over 8700 profiles so far on TubeBear, and we chose the winner (SasBear) randomly... however before his name came up, mine came up (Forrest - CAM). It was like... I won my own prize. I feel like I should buy a lottery ticket or hit the casino.

There are 8 contestants running to be Britain's Next Bear Model. This is an excellent new show by the collaborative works of Jonathan Robinson of FunFur.tv (website - articles - profile), EuroWoof and Manchester Bears ManBears (website).

8 men are going to be living together to compete for this title. And you can vote online at EuroWoof from the beginning of October up until the beginning of November at which point they will announce the final 3. Just make sure to tune in Jonathan's YouTube channel to keep updated on this one. I already have a favourite, which I'm not going to mention (Steve), altho we only do get to meet 4 and we'll be meeting the next 3 in the upcoming episode so I just might change my mind when I see them all together. In any account, this looks it's going to be one excellent show to watch.

On August 30th, Paul Blouin, owner of the Woof Bar & Bistro (website - articles - profile) held the 'Monsieur Bear Montréal' contest (articles - photos). This was the very 1st Bear contest that this great French Canadian city had ever seen. I (Forrest - profile) was there and I filmed the event as well as livestreamed it - both here on PlanetBears as well as on TubeBear. The livestreaming had a bunch of kinks of it (disconnection, sound issues) so I was glad that I filmed it.

I also kind of convinced my partner and hubby, Roger (galleries - profile) to be a contestant. He was reluctant at first, thought it over, then agreed to do it. He was nervous and anxious the whole week prior to the contest, yet once he got up there, he was a natural.

The video is just under 10 minutes long. Originally it was 16 yet I decided to edit it down, and this way I was able to place it here as well, on my YouTube page - BearGhetti. Hope you enjoy it.

Last Saturday night the Woof Bar (website) held the very first Monsieur Bear Montréal contest. 5 guys competed and it was Robert Pettigrew who took the title. Check out the pics from the event here. On a personal note, my partner Roger (galleries - profile) was one of the contestants and he was runner-up, and from what I understand, he was very close to winning. Nevertheless he had fun and he looked great in his business suit and leather gear.

As I mentioned, we were there broadcasting the show live thru TubeBear - however we did have issues, mostly wi-fi issues. The connection would fade out, and each time it did we lost the broadcast, so there was a lot of reconnecting going on. The good news is that we taped the whole show, which means you'll be able to see it soon.

Once again, check out the pics here from the contest, and below is a RIM (Recorded Instant Message) Roger and I (Forrest) made the day after the contest.

TubeBear is going to be livecasting the 'Monsieur Bear Montréal' contest tonight - Saturday, August 30th - 10PM EST - at the 'Woof Bistro & Bar' (website - articles - profile) which is at 1661 Ste Catherine street in the Gay Village of Montreal.

This is going to be the 1st Bear contest ever that this city is going to see, so it's not only going to be fun but a bit monumental. Woof bar is also new and it's the 1st bar that is catering to Bears and their admirers. The owner is real cool and sympathetic, so we're all hoping this is going to be the start of a really good thing.

I (Forrest) will be broadcasting live from the bar, so if you cannot make it in person, then come by and watch it online, either on PlanetBears or on TubeBear. Make sure to send in some messages during the show.

ps - my hubby Roger (galleries - profiles) is going to be one of the contestants for Monsieur Bear. This is the first time he's ever done anything like this so he's a bit nervous but he's also excited and he's out to have fun. Make sure to come by and root for him, in person on online.