How to start a morning: find the slippers, get the coffee, open computer, read The Woofington Post. Do this every morning and you'll be a Bear in the know. It's a new blog and it's the "source for all things big & furry with special focus on the New York City scene". They are also seeking contributors for topical info for the NYC area including "nightlife, photography, restaurants, bear runs, politics, businesses and more". Thanks to Bearotic for pointing out this blog.

Blowoff is where you will find Bob Mould (website - blog) and Richard Morel (website - blog) in their new pop-rock duo. These guys have been pumping out a bunch of music and they put on big events in NYC, SF and Chicago, usually around the same time a major Bear event is going on. Some upcoming events are dated for July 4th in conjunction with Atlanta Bear Fest (website - article - profile) and then July 14th for Bear Week (website) in Provincetown.

Unfortunately the languages I know are limited to English and French, however I still enjoy visiting sites I cannot read just for the pretty pictures. And did I ever stumble a site which is perfect for me. His name his Guibo and I'm not 100% sure but I believe he's from Argentina. Anyhow he does these excellent big Daddy Bear drawings, really fun work. His first blog site is called Guibujos and it's exactly that: drawings without dialogue - simple yet very effective. However Guibo runs another blog with another set of drawings, yet these are cartoon strips with text. This blog page is called El Ósculo Hirsuto. And yes, I cannot read them (even though French is kinda close to Spanish), I can still enjoy Guibo's craftsmanship. And a PS - I found out about Guibo's work by via this article written by Perdido's blog (website - blog - profile) which is Italian. Long live the colourful world of languages.

The Columbus Ursine Brotherhood ~ CUB ~ are a busy bunch. First off it's high time to make plans for their Bear Camp '09 run which will be taking in Columbus, Ohio from July 30th thru August 2nd. The theme this year is Christmas in July. They have a ton of events scheduled including the Mr. All Ohio Bear Contest. Musician Bigg Nugg (website - articles - profile) will be performing.

2ndly, the Columbus Bears invite you to 'Show Stoppers'... a fundraiser for Camp Sunrise ... featuring Broadway memorabilia, silent auction, show tunes, 50/50 drawing and appetizers. This will be happening on May 23rd. Then on May 24th, they will be getting together at the Union Cafe for their Broadway Bears.

To keep up to date, check out CUB's blog page.

I asked the extremely cute Perdido (website - profile) to write me an article about his most excellent cartoon Bear Degeneration (Italian 19 episodes - English 13 episodes), so without further ado, the following is from our Italian cartoonist:

"I created the comic strip 'Bear Degeneration' a few years ago as a 'serial novel' to be published in the Italian fanzine 'WOOF!', a magazine that my partner and I printed and distributed around Italy for about 5 years. My intent was to put out a series of short episodes, 4 boards at a time, and present a Bear world full of fantasy. The story line starting point came from the 'Star Trek' universe with all of its particularities, such as the stellar fleet and the teleport. The alien enemies - the Bearg - are obviously inspired from the Borg. However, after creating a few episodes, the story started to change, and the comic started turning into a bizarre gay Bear saga which drew ideas freely from many science fiction sources (books, comics, film), including X-Men and Matrix.

Today WOOF! magazine is no longer in print and has found its home within the blogosphere. The same thing for 'Bear Degeneration' - it continues to be published online. Thanks to the initiative and the interest of my friend Forrest (TubeBear - PlanetBears - profile), my comic strip has been given a new life as it is now being translated into English, gaining new readers which in turn is renewing my enthusiasm.

As for 'Bear Degeneration', it's about the adventures of shameless Bears in space, in battles, meeting up with mysterious characters and having colossal orgies. The spicier situations in the strip arise from my personal erotic fantasies (some I've actually fulfilled, some which remain as dreams). And with imagination, we know, anything is possible.

'Bear Degeneration' is pervaded with a thin 'fetish' atmosphere; in some cases a soft S&M style. I could never maim my adored Bears the way Master Tagame (website) does to his characters in his comics, however it's always easier on paper to whip the Bears, put them in bondage and seduce them in the rudest of ways, yet the underlying theme in 'Bear Degeneration' is pleasure; the idea that joy can override everything, even during the most dangerous and conflicting of times. 'Bear Degeneration' is an erotic comics however one which is filled with optimism, joy and how to get the most pleasure out of life".

Russian artist and musician Alexei Biryukoff (website - articles - profile) is inviting us all to Barnaul, Russia for his solo art show that he is putting on (which started on May 5th). Ok, for those who cannot make it to Russia, then check out here to see some of his work. Alexei states that "It is a bunch of works inspired by the thousands of pictures I was taking during my trip on the both coasts of the USA". Also make sure to check out his music section and other artwork.

This isn't Bear related... however... has anyone been following the news concerning the Swedish website The Pirate Bay...? The Pirate Bay is a site that indexes and tracks torrent files - so - get yourself a program like BitTorrent, then start your quest to find and download music from your favourite bands while at the same time grab the latest blockbusting movies. Once you find these files, you now become part of the group that is 'sharing' that particular file. It's as simple as that, and because it's so simple, there's a whole bunch of people online who seed and leech torrent files. Getting back to The Pirate Bay, they've been having legal issues since 2006 specifically because certain people are saying that torrents are not about sharing but rather it's about stealing, and with a name like 'The Pirate Bay'... well... I'm sure the site has angered a ton of people who feel they are watching their dollars disappear with every 'shared' byte flying by.

There's 4 main guys who run the site and they are all up for a year in jail including having to pay a fine for $3.2 USD (news articles here). However, there's been a ton of backlash ever since this court case. First they stated that the judge is biased since he is a member of various copyright protection trade groups. And rather than scare and deter people from downloading torrents by putting these guys up on trial, this court case has increased the number of torrent users, by double if not more.

It will be interesting to see just which way this case is going to go. However I do know that you just cannot stop people from passing stuff back and forth online. Ever since I have been online, since 1994, I have heard about people passing games and files and what have you, first through the newsgroups then the BBS and IRC. Now you can movies, music, games, and files from other sites such as RapidShare, MegaUpload and from bloggers on BlogSpot. And for those who like movies, you don't even need to download them anymore, not with sites like Vidics. I just don't see how anyone is going to police what people want to share over the net.

Spanish artist Yotto Bano who runs one of the coolest names for a blog - UrsuLaLaLa (blog - articles - profile) has done something very cool with his artwork. He's put them on ties...! The idea for this comes from his friend Angelo Panteleo (blog). And good news, these ties are for sale, so contact Yotto, the king of 'Graffiti & Urban Bear Art', and also let him know that his work is truly unique, playful, colorful... all the right ingredients on making this a better world.

Tom Chef from Idaho is way more than simply Bearly Edible... to me he's a 5 star 7 course meal, but this is about Tom's site - Bearly Edible. I've mentioned his very cool blog in the news in the past (article), and I even featured Tom's TubeBear profile... this is just a reminder to check out his page. The recipes he posts are frikkin' delicious looking. I was showing the site to my partner Roger (who's the chef in our household), pointing out all the foods I wanna try.

In space no one can hear you scream... WOOF...!

Dr. Puzuk has travelled in time. He's in the future. The universe is completely different from how he used to remember it. There's new evils that rule the planets. Exactly what is he going to do...?

We've got another Bear Degeneration issue translated in English for you guys to enjoy. It's issue #13 and Dr. Puzuk is discovering that the universe is quite a different place ever since he and his Deep Dark Hole compatriots travelled time to escape the alien nation Bearg. Here's the issue: (page #1 - page #2 - page #3 - page #4).

Bear Degeneration is the creation of Italian artist Perdido (website - blog - profile). If you can read Italian then you can follow his cartoon here since he's at issue #18 in the series. Perdido and I have been translating the strip over to English, and we're slowly catching up. And for those who've never heard of Bear Degeneration, you should start from the beginning: episode #1 - episode #2 - episode #3 - episode #4 - episode #5 - episode #6 - episode #7 - episode #8 - episode #9 - episode #10 - episode #11 - episode #12, and today's episode - episode #13. 

His name is Tac, he's in Japan, and he draws some really funky big men stuff. He used to run a site called Megatonz (articles) however he has changed the name and he works on a site called Monster Tank with BlogSpot. Ah yes, it's all in Japanese, however you can flip through his drawings if Japanese is Greek to you (I know, I know, I know). Make sure to send Tac a message via his profile on TubeBear, and yes, he is affluent in English.

The other day I mentioned about the GayVN Awards (website - article) which is "the most respected and recognized awards in gay adult entertainment history". Well I did not know what kind of 'award' categories they have, but now I do, and one of them is the 'Best Cum Shot'. Guess who is up for nomination...? It's none other than the cute muscle Cub Mike Dreyden (blog - MySpace - articles - profile) and the porn in which this cum shot can be found is House of Leather.

There's really not all that much info about Unit-911, neither on his MySpace page nor on YouTube page, but his video Give it to Me is just so utterly muscle Bear campy, it's something you should watch, just to see the chorus woof at ya. Unit-911 reminds me a bit of a leather version of BearForce1 (website - articles)... kinda... Unit-911 is more machismo, BearForce1 is more... gay, I would say. Thanks to Perdido's Wooflog for the link to this guy. Woof...!

Welcome to the wonderful, colourful world of UrsuLaLaLa (blog - articles - profile), Bearish graffiti artwork done by Spanish artist Yotto Bano. I've mentioned this before yet I will mention it again - his work is so cute you just want to reach out and hug the walls he's worked on. Check out the latests drawings... and with each wall he paints, he makes this world just a little more huskier, cuter, Bearier...

Once again it's time to dwell where no Bear has gone before as we follow the members of the crew of the Deep Dark Hole. We now have the English episode #12 of the fantastic Bear Degeneration cartoon drawn by Italian cutey Perdido (website - blog - profile). If you can read Italian, then check out this page since Perdido has done 18 episodes so far, however Perdido and I have been translating them over to English, and we're slowly catching up as we added #12 today (page #1 - page #2 - page #3 - page #4). And for those who are new to Bear Degeneration, it's best you start from the beginning: episode #1 - episode #2 - episode #3 - episode #4 - episode #5 - episode #6 - episode #7 - episode #8 - episode #9 - episode #10 - episode #11 - and today's update episode #12.

The tightly packed New York muscle Cub Mike Dreyden (blog - MySpace - articles - profile) will be on the cover of Macho Magazine (Jan/Feb issue - cover). This mag is published by European distributor Bruno Gmunder. So pick up a copy and you'll see Mike as centerfold (and you will also see his buddy and future co-star Dominik Rider in this issue). Make sure to check out his blog as he posts a lot of goodness on his pages.

Here's a new video from Jonathan Robinson of FunFur.tv (website - YouTube - profile), yet this video is quite different from those we're used to from Jonathan; it's concerning a young man who was known as Ahmet Yildiz (1982 - 2008), a good looking Turkish who fell victim to Turkey's first gay 'honour killing'.

From this Independent article: "In a corner of Istanbul today, the man who might be described as Turkey's gay poster boy will be buried – a victim, his friends believe, of the country's deepening friction between an increasingly liberal society and its entrenched conservative traditions. Ahmet Yildiz, 26, a physics student who represented his country at an international gay gathering in San Francisco last year, was shot leaving a cafe near the Bosphorus strait this week. Fatally wounded, the student tried to flee the attackers in his car, but lost control, crashed at the side of the road and died shortly afterwards in hospital. His friends believe Mr. Yildiz was the victim of the country's first gay honour killing".

For a really nice tribute, take a look at this Beargi magazine ~ issue #31. Beargi is an online Turkish mag for Bears (website - articles) created by the Bears of Turkey. And click here to see a drawing done by Tagame (website)(this is the original picture - colour - b&w). Lastly, check out this blog dedicated to Ahmet. Jonathan is asking all to post this video on their blogs.

This is not Bear related. It does, however, have to deal with the 'Polar Bear plunge' which is "event held during the winter where participants enter a body of water despite the low temperature. Polar bear plunges are usually held to raise money for a charitable organization" (Wiki).

All that being said, take a look at Plungapalooza. This event has participants plunge into the Chesapeake Bay to raise funds for Special Olympics Maryland. It's going to take place on January 24th. For more, check out their blog. On a personal note, I've dived into incredibly cold water before. You really need to prepare yourself because the cold feels like it grips your heart. These are brave souls doing a good job for charity.

Now back to Bearish issues... whatever happened to the Chesapeake Bay Bears?

Spanish artist Yotto Bano of UrsuLaLaLa (blog - articles - profile) says he's a little late with his Christmas greetings (or as he says 'un poco tarde, lo se...'), but he wishes us a 'Feliz Navidad' and a 'Merry Beary Christmas!'... and a happy New Year to everyone ~ 'Feliz Año Nuevo!'. Click here for an extra large graffiti Santa Bear.

Some people take their tickling very seriously. Just ask the excellent artists who bring you Achilles Heel Art. Their site has grown considerably over the past year and they have a nice slew of previews for you to check out. Now this is far from a Bear site however they do post the occasional big guy getting tickled, as with their Santa pic they posted. And keep up to date by checking out their blog.