Press Release - "Singer and Songwriters Freddy Freeman (founder of Bearapalooza, Out Musician of the Year nominee) and Kendall (website) (LOGO video artist and 100% Beef model) are hitting the road to promote Freddy's album 'Break the Silence' and Kendall's new CD 'Truth Changes'.

Kendall has put together a mini-musical, short performance piece of the album, and they will be joined by guests in different locations like Marc Peurye, Elijah Black, Jeff Altergott, Steve Reeder, Toshio Mana, Jesse Kerrison and Tommy Johns. Many of the dates are sponsored by local bear clubs. They will be appearing in Albany, NY - Syracuse, NY - Rochester, NY, Chicago, IL - Detroit, MI - Indianapolis, IN - Columbus, OH - and Louisville, KY. Come out and see them in your area! Get dates, times and venue locations on the Bearapalooza site".

The Bears are coming...!

There's a great new event being planned called Urban Bear Weekend which will be happening in New York City from May 7th thru the 10th. They have a ton of fun things planned, and by looking at their schedule, you can see they are going to a bunch of bars, pool parties, BBQs, 'Bears Take Manhattan'... and more. NYC in Spring... it just doesn't get better.

The event is being coordinated by the handsome Robert Valin (website - email). Robert is also the producer of New York Leather Weekend and he also runs a monthly party called Truck Stop which gathers 500+ men. Contact him for more info or if you're interested in sponsoring what is shaping up to be a great Bear event.

A founder of an Islamic TV station located in New York has been accused of beheading his wife, who happens to also be a founder of this TV network. The Bearish man is named Muzzammil Hassan (photo) and the TV network is called 'Bridges TV' which is the very first American Muslim television to be broadcasted in the English language. And just what is the goal of 'Bridges TV'...? From their website they state that it "aims to foster a greater understanding among many cultures and diverse populations". From this CNN article, one of the goals of Hassan was that he hoped his TV station "would balance negative portrayals of Muslims following the attacks of September 11, 2001". Of course, beheading your wife after she had filed for a divorce and she had cited previous incidents of domestic violence (Times Online article).

Lastly, check out this video, an NBC report that was done on 'Bridges TV' when it was first made available back in 2004. Also, watch this recent video just added on CNN.

Pinups (website - articles - profile), a magazine created by Christopher Schulz in New York, has released issue #8, bringing together "Juanjo and Tony in a pictorial inspired by the gladiatorial scene in Ken Russell's 'Women in Love'. Two friends bond through wrestling, conjuring feelings of playfulness, competitiveness, violence and sexuality". Click here to see all the issues and to order your own.

2ndly, there is a launch party celebrating this issue. As well they will be featuring the first ever Pinups video and all 8 issues will be pinned up in poster style. This will be taking place at John & Alessandro's Cruising on Saturday, January 31st, 2009 at Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette Street, NYC. Click here to learn more.

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.

[Members - click here] It had been so long since I had last seen David (galleries - profile) and Eric Z. (galleries - profile) together. It had been almost 2 years. Lots of changes for everyone since then. I had moved out of my house and fell in love with Roger (galleries - profile), Eric had sold his home as well and now lives in a flat in Ottawa. And David is working at a Big 'n Tall in Albany, NY and he's making plans on moving here to Canada, which will go thru soon for him.

So last weekend, Roger 'n I (Bob Forrest - profile) went on over to Ottawa for the day, and altho our visit was short and sweet, we did manage to snap over a hundred photos of this cute couple. You'll also see a few photos of Roger, however Roger took a lot of the shots while I filmed David and Eric.

I am right now working on that video. You'll be seeing a bit of sensuality, a bit of sex, a bit of bondage and a bit of tickling... actually quite a bit of tickling. I will have this clip done in a few days and will post it here in the Video section. Keep an eye out.

The following is from James of the Bear Albany (website - articles - profile) group. James has modeled for me in the past (galleries) and he was also in Dan Hunt's 'Bear Run' movie (website - articles - profile):

From James: "The 'other' fat guy in red. For the 3rd year in a row, I will be donning my Speedo to run down Lark Street in Albany, NY. Running from the police? No, the 3rd annual Santa Speedo Sprint (logo), part of the magic that is Winter WonderLark! Race begins at 2pm, courage begins at 12 noon. It is 800m of bone chilling good times. Once again we race for the Albany Damien Center, a Living Room for people with HIV/AIDS. If you can run, please do, but if you can't, I would love to have you sponsor me. I know it is a very difficult year for a lot of folks but every little bit helps, and remember, someone is always worse off than you. In the last 2 years we have raised $17,000 making fools of ourselves, help us continue our success in both accounts! PayPal the money to this email address. Jim".

A couple of years back, I was doing a lot of running around with Eric (galleries - profile), and whenever his buddy David (galleries - profile) from the States would cross the border, then the 3 of us would get together and take a lot of photos. Those days seem kinda long gone. Since then, I have sold my house and met the Bear of my dreams (that's right... Roger - galleries - profile). As for Eric, he too sold his house, he moved around a bit from place to place until he finally settled into a condo in Ottawa. As for David, he tried to get a Canadian citizenship awhile back and I think it's still in process, but for now he works at a Big & Tall store in Albany, NY.

Anyhow, they sent me some recent photos and I thought I would share them with you - check them out here. They are still a cute couple. As an aside, I do see Eric from time to time altho we haven't worked on anything in awhile. Here's hoping that we'll come up with some new material in the new year.

This is the 3rd year that they've organized a Santa Speedo Sprint (poster) and this is the 3rd time we've mentioned it in the news (articles). This is for a good cause - it will be taking place on Saturday, December 13th in Albany, NY. Some of the guys from Bear Albany club should be there and that's gotta be worth going - just to see a bunch of Bears in their Speedos. So you need a little convincing? Well then check this out (looks a little cold, but hey, they be cute).

A bunch of news from Bear Omnimedia (website), the guys who bring you the new BEAR magazine (website - articles - profile) and ButchBear (website - articles - profile).

To start things off there is a New York BEAR Magazine Release Party (poster) on September 19th at the Eagle NYC. They will also be celebrating the release of several popular classic Bear movies on DVD, such as 'Palm Springs Vacation', 'Leather Bears at Play' and 'Big Bear Trucking Co.'. Jack Radcliffe will make an appearance that evening too. Following that, BEAR mag party will be going on tour (with the continued appearances of Jack Radcliffe) to the following areas: September 20th - a signing at Rainbows and Triangles Bookstore (Albany Bears event); September 21st - Philadelphia Woof event; September 22nd - Woof event in NYC. It's also a model search for the magazine as well. Their promoter, Max Scott, is organizing the event.

And don't miss this: Steven Wolfe (Editor) and Teddy will be on Sirius Satellite Radio on their OutQ program with Larry Flick on September 19th. They will be interviewed on the rebirth of BEAR Magazine and its future.

The guys from Albany, NY - Bear Albany (website - profile - articles) are getting ready for their Big Bear Dance weekend from September 26th thru the 28th. "Bear Albany has an awesome weekend of music, dancing, games and all out partying planned for you! Things kick off with Bear-aoke on Friday night, followed by the 'Bears in the Woods' mini-golf outing, then, it's the 'Big Bear Dance Party' on Saturday night and things wrap up with Bear brunch on Sunday".

We don't post too many leather events here on PlanetBears, however when they contact us, we'll be more than glad to announce them... especially when there is nothing hotter than a cool looking daddy Bear all geared up in leather.

Circle your calendar for the upcoming NYLW - New York Leather Weekend which will be happening during the Columbus Day Weekend (October 10th thru the 12th) at the LGBT Community Center, located in the heart of NYC's historic West Village. This year's theme is 'Return to the Mineshaft' and some of their featured events are; a multimedia retrospective of the infamous bar and era that started it all; a BDSM art retrospective & gallery, the Mr./Ms NYC Leather Contest (winner moves on to IML).

His name is Mike Dreyden (photo) and he's one hot muscle Bear Cub from Brooklyn, New York. Tight 'n hairy in all the right places. Mike has a super fun blog page which he has been updating regularly, and he has a MySpace page as well. He states that his own website will be going live by the holidays so make sure to keep an eye out for that.

He is a dancer, performer, a go-go BearBoy for the band Nekked who perform, and he is also becoming an international porn star with roles in movies like House of Leather (by Bear Omnimedia - cover - articles) and All Out Assault (by Knight Stick Films). I just read on his blog that his reign as King Stink of the pits is coming to an end soon and that he'll be passing his crown to the next winner... that's gotta be something to see... I know a lot of guys really dig pits so try and make it to Uncle Ming's in NYC if you can.

[Members click here - become a member - previews here] If you've ever visited the bear-pics website I used to run before I closed it down, you just might recall of a shoot I had with Orlando aka Eito. Orlando was very popular and had a lot of online fans. He came up to my place from New York in September 2002 for a weekend and we had a great time, we took a lot of pics and I have a lot of fond memories of getting to know this handsome man. Once the weekend was over, we promised to keep in touch a lot and we even spoke about doing another shoot in the future. However... once he left, we really didn't keep in touch at all. I sent him the occasional email seeing how he was doing and how life was going, and his emails to me were just as scarce. The last email I got from him was March 2003 and he wrote "Hello Forrest, I never forget about you. Here for you" and with it he attached a set of photos he took so I could add to the site.

Exactly 3 years after that shoot we had, in September 2005, I get an email from a friend of his saying that Orlando is very sick and that he's in the hospital. I emailed this friend back asking if there was anyway to contact Orlando. I got a reply with a phone number. Unfortunately, I never called him, and 20 days after his friend initially emailed me, well he sent me another email, this time saying that Orlando had passed away. He was 42 years old.

At the time, I posted an article about Orlando on BearFoot (which at the time was a message board for guys into Bear feet), and holy smokes did I ever get a ton of email replies of guys sending in their condolences. It was really only then that I realized just how many people that Orlando had touched. He was truly a fantasy Bear for many many men.

Also at the time, I was torn - do I take his pics down out of respect or do I keep them up online...? I asked a few friends about this and they all said the same thing: Orlando is cute, he took great pics, he's turned on a lot of men so let him keep turning them on. What they said made sense, so I kept Orlando's pics alive.

However, I have a ton of pics Orlando sent me, and with his permission he told me to post these online. I kind of forgot about all of them (around 240 pics), but going through my archives I came across them and I decided to post these as well. So head on over to Orlando's gallery and check out the last 4 photo sets.

It's still sad to think that he's gone. Just like his pics, he was truly all what a Bear should be - nice on the outside and nice on the inside.

Click here to see some previews - there's some pics from the sets I added today plus there's a few pics that Orlando sent of when he was a younger Bear... and there's 3 quick pics of Orlando in handcuffs. Wish there was more but that's all that I got from him.

His name is Chris Knight Capone and at a very young age, he discovered something most of us would be too freaked out to even imagine. He found out that he is the grandson of the notorious gangster Al Capone, also known as Scarface.

Chris has written a book about all this called Son of Scarface: A Memoir by the Grandson of Al Capone. Check out the great website SonofScarface.com for more info about the book, a bio of the author and some scrapbook photos. You can get to know Chris a little better by checking out his blog, and here's a great article about Son of Scarface on Wikipedia. From Wiki: "Son of Scarface is the true story of a 13-year-old who discovers at his own elusive father’s funeral that his grandfather was none other than the infamous Chicago gangster, Al Capone (aka Scarface).

The autobiography by Chris W. Knight (Chris Knight Capone) chronicles the author's broken childhood as he tries to uncover family secrets that his abusive mother violently forbids him and his sister from pursuing. In this stranger-than-fiction story, Chris Knight Capone is not allowed to have any friends or to even to leave the family compound as a child.

Only as an adult is Chris Knight Capone able to uncover the dark secrets of his grandfather Al Capone and of his own father, William Knight, a man who had a fraudulent birth certificate and lived under an assumed identity.

After years of meticulous research, the help of private investigators, genealogical research, and a courage to face the truth of his own identity, Chris Knight Capone confirmed that he was in fact the offspring of the world’s most notorious gangster".

And... what's completely interesting about all this is that this very handsome and debonair Chris Knight is a Bear. He will be at Bear Trek this upcoming weekend (May 1st thru the 4th), an even held by the Bear Albany group of New York. Chris will be presenting a one hour Q&A session about his book and his life as the grandson of Al Capone and he will be selling autographed copies of his book at Bear Trek and donating the proceeds to the Bear Life Fund to benefit charity.

Here are some pics of Chris. I repeat... very handsome. He definitely inherited Al Capone's looks.

His name is Chris W. Knight and he is the author of 'Son of Scarface'. Actually, Chris is the grandson of Al Capone, and he has definitely inherited his grandfather's Bearish bulk and good looks. However Chris didn't have it easy while growing up, and he has written a book all about it.

Here's from his site SonOfScarface.com: "A provocative story, 'Son of Scarface' is a young man's search for his father's mysterious past. The simple, loving and honest parent had a double life and secret history that placed his unsuspecting family in a troubling legacy. In his autobiography, Chris Knight details how he uncovered the truth behind a family secret he heard as a young boy at his father's funeral. An unbelievable story, his father life his entire life with deep secrets rivaling fiction. Growing up in a broken home, Chris and his sister were physically abused by their mother, whose actions were perhaps an attempt to safeguard her children from the truth that their grandfather was American's most infamous gangster Al Capone - Scarface".

Check out his blog so as to get know Chris a little better, and if you want to meet him, he will be at the upcoming Bear Trek (May 1st thru the 4th) that is being held by the Bear Albany group of New York (TubeBear profile - article). He will be presenting a one hour Q&A session about his book and his life as the grandson of Al Capone. Chris will be selling autographed copies of his book at Bear Trek and donating the proceeds to the Bear Life Fund to benefit this year's charities (from AmericanBadBear - TubeBear profile).

The Bear Albany group (TubeBear profile) are getting ready for their upcoming Bear Trek which is going to take place from May 1st thru the 4th in Rye, NY which is just 20 minutes away from New York City. Tons of events are planned, just check out their site for all the info.

From Bear Trek: "Due to the enormous amount of emails and requests, we are going to offer a special package due to the tough financial times in the US. We realize that these are tough times for all, but we don't want you to miss a great event, so we offer you the 'Scout Master Goes Bust' package". And while you are checking out their site, take a look at their gallery from last year.

Join the Bear Albany gang (website - TubeBear profile) for their upcoming 'Black Out Weekend' which will be taking place in Albany, NY from May 16th thru the 18th. As they state, things are "heating up with another hot Bear Albany weekend! Be among the hundreds of men who converge on New York’s Capital City for a weekend full of hot, hairy, masculine mayhem". There's Bear-aoke at Rocks, Big Bear Happy Hour at Oh! Bar and much more.

Robert Harmon of Bound in Ink has been pretty busy since the last time we spoke about him (article here - TubeBear personal profile ~ PRO profile). Recently he did a show in Albany, NY for the Albany Bears and currently he is working on a 20-25 new piece for the upcoming art show in Philadelphia with the Liberty Bears and his exhibit will be taking place from April 17th thru the 19th. It's his 3rd year participating in this fundraiser.

Now  ~ head on over to The Complete Bear where they recently held an interview with Rob. Also, head on back to his site and on the main page you will see a time lapse video of Rob 'behind the scenes' of him inking a piece. And there is a new section which he added - it's called Goodies and you can download some fantastic desktop wallpapers, from 800x600 to 1600x1200 and you can even get iPhone wallpapers.

What is up with the husky and extremely cute Canadian stand-up comic Richard Ryder (website - Myspace page - YouTube page - TubeBear profile)...? After his exposure on Last Comic Standing, he won a contest at a classic rock station Q107 as 'Funniest Person with a Day Job' and as one of the prizes he received a spot in the legendary Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. While in NYC, he worked at another few clubs like Stand Up New York and HA! Richard was also invited to be a part of Accent On Toronto, an annual comedy showcase put on by CBC Radio. He was asked to perform at his 1st Bear run in Buffalo with the Buffalo Bears. He stated that 'it was a lot of fun and they completely wore me out'.

This year, he plans to audition for Last Comic Standing again and he will be at the Michigan Gay & Lesbian Comedy Festival on March 8th.

Keep an eye out for more details and updates on his site - he also plans on giving a page a new look for 2008. As he states - he's a 'Stand-up Comedian... Supermodel... Bear'.