Joe Mannetti (aka Joe Falconi - articles - TubeBear ), who holds several Bear titles including Mr. International Daddy Bear 2009, was fired from his volunteer outreach speaking job with Gays and Lesbians Initiating Dialogue for Equality (GLIDE) after a fellow volunteer speaker complained that Mannetti was once a porn star. Mannetti stated that he had told GLIDE about his Bear porn and bondage pin-ups before he started speaking with them after performing in his last Bear porn in 2006. He also reported that the GLIDE Board member who called to give him the news admitted that he had been a 'stellar' public speaker with never a complaint from any teachers, students, or parents about inappropriateness or his image being a problem. Apparently, something changed in four years that prompted the GLIDE Board to reverse their original decision to allow him to be one of their volunteer public speakers despite the fact that they had been told about his porn prior to allowing him to speak with them and the fact that Mannetti had not performed in any since 2006. The story has created quite a bruhaha. GLIDE's Board later claimed that Mannetti was only 'restricted' to speaking to adult students at colleges and universities, and he was no longer allowed to speak with them to students at public elementary and high school environments (Photo By Christopher Leonhardt).

French artist Guy Thomas (website - articles - TubeBear) has a new exhibition going entitled 'Go West Bear' which is taking place at Le Petit Marais bar in Nantes, France. My apologies for not posting this news article before the vernissage, nevertheless the show is still up for another couple of months. Also make sure to visit his site and take a peek at this man's genius when it comes to drawing Bears.

BEAR Magazine (website - articles - cover - TubeBear) issue #70 has now been released and they have Frank Defeo as their Cover Bear this time. From their site: "Hairy, buff and Bear-curious, Frank is our pick for this issue's Mr. Bear Player. Unafraid of hard work, we caught Frank hosing down his SUV and then got him to show us the real meaning of the word hard. Check out his manly photos in Bear's exclusive photo spread and centerfold".

Over at TubeBear, we need a Flash guru.

We are working real hard on TubeBear Version 2.o which is a completely new site, however right now we really need a Flash expert on our team. If you're interested, simply send me (Bob - profile) an email and we will go from there, as in what we're looking for and compensation for your expertise.

I bet you some bubble gum that you probably don't recognize who's in that thumbnail photo, and maybe even the name 'Richard Bulger' might not even be familiar to you. Well Richard Bulger is the founder of BEAR Magazine (website - articles - TubeBear), along with Chris Nelson, back in 1987 as a photo-copied flyer which they published from their apartment (Wiki).

These photos of Richard and company that I stumbled upon were taken back in 1991 so I'm sure Richard looks a touch different today, 19 years later, however these are the only photos I've ever seen of the originator of BEAR mag and I thought I'd share the link with you.

ps - Richard Bulger is in no longer associated with BEAR Mag. BEAR is now owned and operated by Bear Omnimedia.

For all you fans of Bear Degeneration, there's good news since Italian artist Perdido (website - blog - TubeBear) has added a new episode #22. Right now it's only available in Italian and available here.

We are continuing to translate the cartoon over to English. So far, we have 16 episodes translated and I will soon have #17 available for you guys real soon.

Although I mentioned before the Xmas holidays that issue #45 (cover) of BEEF Mag (website - articles - TubeBear) is out and available, I just wanted to send out a thank you to their editor Scott McGillivray for doing an excellent job with this rag which has been around for 5-6 years now. Congrats and thanks a bunch for all the support you've given us (with ads like one and this one), and keep up the good work with Rusty Spot Design.

Have you been searching for interesting Bearish musicians to listen to? Well head on over to Woobie Bear Music (website - articles) - a site run by Greg Hudson (TubeBear) - and right now a bunch of the CDs are only $6, and if you buy Bear Tracks 1, 2, 3 and 4 all in a bundle, you'll get it for an easy $20 (here). This is a great way to support a fellow cute Bearish patriot.

The staff of BEAR Magazine (website - articles - TubeBear), was recently visited by Malcolm Ingram (photo - center), the documentarian responsible for the gritty 'Small Town Gay Bar', whose new film is called 'Bear Nation'.

He and his film crew flew into Las Vegas to interview Steven Wolfe, editor (photo - left), and Teddy Mark (photo - right), creative director and photographer, for the film. Produced by LOGO TV (website - articles), it will be announced officially during IBR hosted by the Bears of San Francisco (website - articles), followed by a national film release tour and TV broadcast.

Knock, knock... anyone out there...? This is just a quick update to let you guys know how things are going with newly designed TubeBear. It's coming along and it's going to be one frikkin' great site. We're hoping to go into the beta stage by the end of the month, and once we do, we'll be making a call for volunteers. Keep an eye out for the next update.

NB - we're looking for a Flash Guru. Please apply!

Is it ever too late to receive a New Year's greeting from French artist Christophe Jannin (blog - articles - TubeBear)...? Mais non! Of course not! Here's an excellent 2010 drawing that Christophe is sharing with us (greetings in English and in French - it's Harry Potter when he's 40 years older). Make sure to keep an eye out for Christophe's work as he is definitely one of the finest Bearish artists on this great planet of ours.

The other week, PlanetBears posted this article about Méxican photographer Juan José (website - TubeBear) who is making a call for models to participate in his Art Bear Project. We contacted Juan, asking if he could give us a bit more information. From Juan "there's no time limit for the project, since I'd like to develop it taking different paths (and travelling is not cheap), so it will take a while. I will have a solo show in my city - Monterrey, Mexico. For me, the Bear movement is a revolution in the sense of acceptance of diversity, where 'you don't need to' is part of the practice in the community. The idea for this series is to explore new ways of doing Bear photography". If you're interested in participating in this project, email Juan.

Happy New Year & Bonne Année from French artist Guy Thomas (website - articles - TubeBear) . Yes this HNY wish is a few days late, yet that is my fault, not the artist's. And this is also a friendly reminder that you can still catch Guy's exhibition of Bearish work entitled 'Les Anges Vagabonds' at restaurant-bar Le Vagabond (website) in Paris, France. His drawings are on display until January 10th.

"How did Bear become synonymous with any old chubby homosexual?"... that is the question editor-in-chief Steven Wolfe asks in his latest editorial in BEAR magazine (website - articles - TubeBear), issue #69. It brings up the age-old question of '...What is a Bear?...', and in this case, Wolfe is going about it the other way, asking '...What isn't a Bear?...'.

Wolfe goes on to say that "porn studios like BearFilms and CyberBears have spent years flooding the market with chub porn that seems to be allergic to Bears who are physically fit"... and Wolfe wants to see Bear media to be "prouder, more masculine, sexy, iconic, unapologetically unshaven - and non-sizeist".

Unfortunately for Wolfe, the response to his editorial has been less than favourable. If this LiveJournal entry is any indication as to how people are responding to Wolfe's words, then Wolfe's definition of Bear does not seem aligned with many others.

I decided to get in touch with BEAR Magazine and they are quite aware that this editorial was definitely going to stir something up, favourable or not. They also stated that in their upcoming February issue #70, they have a guest editorial who writes an opposing response to that of #69.

To read the actual editorial - click the link below and start from 'Jabba the Bear I am not'.

You know one of the things I really loved about the holidays...? It was receiving cute emails from friends like GianOrso (website - articles - TubeBear). Actually, he sends me a card for pretty much every holiday (like Halloween, Easter)... makes me remember about our mutual friend Jacques aka PandaMontreal (video - galleries) who past away last year... remembering in a good way.

If you haven't been to GianOrso's site in awhile, it's always a good idea to head back to see what truly incredibly good looking men he's been working with of late, and if you've never been to GianOrso's site before - oh brother, you're in for a real treat. Visiting GianOrso's site is like a course on Bear 101.

It's time to tune your internet dial over to The Robbie K Show. Robbie K is doing his thing right on YouTube, talking about this and that, smiles a bit, then does a bit of singing, smiles, lipsynchs, then smiles a bit more. Hey, he's Canadian, like me - we smile a lot (smile), and he's got a superb mug which looks best when smiling, anyhow. Robbie has been doing his own show for the past 6 months or so and has quite a few videos up. Subscription is a must (smile).

Seriously cute Méxican photographer Juan José out in Monterrey is working on a 'Special Art Bear Project' and is making a call for Bearish models. Head on over to his site - PicnicStudio - and from there you can see a short video of hunky Juan Bear speaking of this very très cool project. To contact, send Juan an email and/or message him via his TubeBear profile Juanjo (and maybe catch him livestreamin').

Don't be overwrought with bad news. We are living in truly vibrant and exciting times. Learn to celebrate your life - learn from all those generations before us - and now make your world a great place - now... right now... 2010! Hugz, happiness, health... and Heaven on Earth. Let's stop hurting each other trying to convince who has the better God, the better culture, the better whatever. Let's stop competing and finally... right now... become one planet... '10 - exciting times!

Again, my apologies for posting this a day late. It's been very hectic over here on the Planet of the Bears and I'm doing my best to catch up with my mail.

Nevertheless, Santa can come over to my house every day of the year if he looks anything like this drawing done by highly talented French artist Christophe Jannin (blog - articles - TubeBear). Joyeux Noël...!

Spanish artist Yotto Bano (articles - TubeBear) who runs the blogsite Ursulalala is wishing us all...

A Merry Christmas & Feliz Navidad...!