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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Below is a video that I made as a way of saying goodbye to a good friend of mine, Jacques Garon, better known as PandaMontreal online. You can see photos of Jacques here on PlanetBears as well as on his PictureTrail profile (password is panda - and I'm not sure how long those pictures will remain up since Jacques had to pay to keep his PictureTrail account), and Jacques also had a TubeBear profile where people are leaving their goodbye words to him.

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

We are planning on saying goodbye to Jacques Garon aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile) on Sunday May 31st. The details are all here. This will be taking place in Montreal, Quebec. First we will meet for a memorial service at St-Pierre Apôtre church for 10AM and then we will be heading over to the Woof Bistro Bar for 11AM for brunch with the UpBear guys. If you have any questions or comments, contact me (Forrest - email - profile) or Jean from UpBear (email - profile).

If you knew Jacques Panda in real life, or talked to him online, or just saw his pictures on the net, then please leave a few words on his TubeBear profile, in his guestbook section. I know Jacques touched a lot of lives online. Hugz.

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Sunday, May 17, 2009

I'm saddened to inform you that Jacques aka PandaMontreal has passed away. He was 63.

I am keeping his TubeBear profile online as a memorial to Jacques. Please visit his page and leave some parting words in his guestbook.

The last time I saw Jacques, it was right after UpBear had their 'Sugaring Off' weekend (March 29th). Jacques was in the process of moving so he asked to borrow my camera because he wanted to film his teddy bear collection before he took them down (he had over 1300 of them, all in his bedroom) so as to have them in memory. Since he had to move, he was planning on just getting rid of most of them.

When I went by to pick up my camera, he seemed fine. We spoke for a bit and then we made a few plans on getting together soon however nothing official. We then chatted on the phone a couple of times after that - just to say hello and see how the other was doing. All was normal.

Then around the 15th of April, I called, left a message. A week later, I called again, left a message. It wasn't like Jacques not to call back, even to say he's too busy to call, however I have known Jacques for 5 years and there were times when we didn't talk for months. Not that there was anything wrong, just time has a way of flying by.

But what I didn't find normal was that he hadn't visited his profile page. If you ever got to meet Jacques, you know how important his online profile pages were, and how important all his pictures were to him. Also, if you knew Jacques, then he was the first one to wish you a happy birthday. Birthdays were extremely important to him, so when I saw that he hadn't logged onto his TubeBear profile, even if it was just to send out his birthday greetings, I began suspecting something.

But don't forget, he was moving (from one apartment to the other), and when Roger sent him an email and it bounced, I figured - well, he doesn't have his internet connection right now and he'll be back online once he's settled into his new place.

So I called again, and once again, I get his answering machine. In my mind, I figured he was getting his messages since his box wasn't full... so I guess I was a little hurt or disappointed because I thought he was just not returning my calls.

Now I also know that Jacques had some health issues, and so I thought, maybe something happened to him. So a couple of days ago (May 14th), I went by to his apartment. Well the landlady was there and she told me the news - Jacques passed away. They found him in his old apartment. She didn't tell me how he passed away but she believes it was a heart attack.

The sad thing is that, at the end, Jacques wasn't happy. He had mounting health problems as well as many money issues. He was moving because he lost his job as the janitor of the apartment that he lived in and had to move out of the 'janitor's flat', a place that he really loved. It just seemed that Jacques just wasn't able to overcome his issues, and all I can think is that his heart wasn't able to handle the stress anymore.

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Jacques was very popular online. He had a lot of fans because he was this really cute Daddy Bear with a great smile and twinkling blue eyes. He was also a very proud man and he loved knowing that guys liked looking at his photos, and that is something Jacques loved to do, and that was to take photos. He was also proud of the fact that he had one of the most visited profile sites on many Bear sites, including TubeBear (he has been added to people's buddies list on TubeBear more than anyone else).

Jacques also gave a lot of his time to many gay and Bear events. He partook in the earliest AIDS awareness programs back in the 80s, and more recently he helped out as much as he could whenever there was a Bear event here in Montreal. He always gave his best, and I should know because I photographed him a lot, and he was very easy to work with, and always eager and cooperative.

Truth be known, Jacques was not the easiest man. He sometimes would say the wrong thing and he sometimes demanded a lot, but everyone has their shortcomings, and Jacques truly brought life with him wherever he went.

He is going to be missed.

We (UpBear and I) are organizing a kind of memorial for him. It will be on May 31st at 10AM at the St-Pierre Apôtre church on 1201 rue De La Visitation in Montreal. We will then get together for brunch. I will post more when I know more.

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Thursday, May 7, 2009

[Members - click here] A little while back, I was lucky enough to round up 3 great guys that I have worked with in the past, and that would be Eric (galleries - profile), Frank (galleries - profile) and Jacques PandaMontreal (galleries - profile). There were several events happening in Montreal that weekend and Frank showed up without notice from the States. So we all got together however we didn't have all that much time to work. Actually, we only had 20 minutes because Frank had to grab a plane back (we were supposed to have an hour however we got caught in traffic). Still, it was fun to see them together, and it's a video of mostly Eric and Frank getting it on with a little bit of help from Panda. This video is just shy 7 minutes and you can check it out in the Videos section.

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Monday, April 6, 2009

[Members - click here] There were a bunch of events that took place in my hometown of Montreal last weekend which brought a lot of good looking guys my way. The events also brought in some of my friends and former models, cuteys like Frank aka aBearLover (galleries - profile) who I hadn't seen in 6 years. Eric Z. (galleries - profile) also showed up and so did Jacques aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile), so we all thought it would be 'neat' to snap a few shots.

Once we decided on the place and the time, well the traffic was against us. We lost 40 minutes stuck in traffic, and Frank had a plane to catch, so rather than having an hour to work, we only had like 20 minutes. I got in as many shots and the result was this quick photoshoot. It was still fun seeing these guys together. Also Jacques had to attend to things so most of the pics consists of Eric and Frank.

I placed these set of photos here. I was also able to get in a bit of video which I will have up on the site soon. Frank said he will be back in Montreal in the summer and this time I'll make sure to plan more time with him.

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Friday, April 3, 2009

Last weekend, the Montreal based 'Woof Bar & Bistro' (website - articles) had their very first 'Party Bearotica', and TubeBear was there to capture the whole thing on digital celluloid.

The place was packed with some truly incredible good looking men, and since Woof bar is catering to the Bear community, there were some really really hot guys there that night. Alongside all the goodness, there were some pretty neat shows. They had an underwear modeling show and an S&M show. There was also a vernissage and there was a booth in which people could get free tattoos.

I (Bob Forrest - profile) had a corner by the DJ booth and my partner Roger (galleries - profile) was there to help me for the evening. The biggest surprise for me was seeing Frank aka aBearLover2 (galleries - profile) who came up from New Jersey (Frank was one of the first guys I photographed). Frank whooped it up like it was the end of ages, dancing away in his red jockstrap. I was livestreaming the event for TubeBear so all those who were logged in got to see Frank's super freaky disco moves.

There was also Jacques aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile) who got himself a tattoo, and altho I didn't see them for very long, I saw Eric Z. (galleries - profile) and his buddy Dave aka Cumalotts (galleries - profile). However, I didn't get to talk to anyone for too long as I was also filming the event alongside the livestreaming. I still have to sort thru the video yet I should hopefully have some footage online soon.

Click here to see some pictures from the event. I didn't have the time to take pictures myself, so some of the credit goes to Jacques and some to Eric for sending in these photos. However, if you would like to see more photos from this event, check out photographer Ryan Lee's website for plenty of photos from Party Bearotica.

Owner of the bar Paul Blouin (profile) is informing us that he plans on hosting 'Party Bearotica' twice a month - every other Saturday. One of the Saturdays will be opened to the public while the other will be a private party (to get coupons, email Paul or pick them up at the bar).

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Monday, February 16, 2009

When I checked out the link to watch this video, I couldn't help but get choked up. It's from Courage Campaign and it's concerning all those that got married in California before Proposition 8 (articles). There were approx. 18,000 same-sex marriages and now they are trying to have those nullified and a guy named Ken Starr was chosen to represent the Prop 8 supporters once this goes to the supreme court.

Well the Courage Campaign created this video called 'Fidelity' and the music is just way too catchy - a song from Regina Spektor. The video just might break your heart. And after you watch the video, consider signing their letter that they plan on handing over to the Supreme Court.

Thanks to Jacques aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile) for sending me the link.

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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

[Members - click here] I went thru some of my pics and came across a set that I just realized that I hadn't put up yet. They are pics of Jacques, aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile) that were taken in our backyard (ours being Roger's and mine).

These photos were taken at a small pool party we had and the cute photographer who took them was Eric Z (galleries - profile), and he did a really excellent job; Panda looks absolutely handsome in the warm autumn sun in our pool and hot tub.

To see some previews, click here (the previews are in 800x600 however the originals are 1600x1200, as are most photos on PlanetBears).

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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Yes we are already one full week into the new year, so I am a tad late at posting these pics. Actually, these pics are a year old. They were taken for the beginning of '08. These pics consist of Jacques aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile) in different new year's attire. I did not take these photos nor did I put him up to dressing like a baby.

Jacques is almost fanatic when it comes to the holidays and always does his outmost to celebrate each holiday with vigour and fun. He's always a good sport and is up to pretty much anything. Anyhow since I didn't have these photos last year (they were given to me only a few months ago), I decided to post them anyhow, as a 'bye bye' to '08. It was a great year... gonna miss ya... yet it's time to move onto '09. Time sure is flying.

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Thursday, January 1, 2009

There was this great site called Bear-Buddies (articles) and it consisted of adding fun drawings to photos that guys would send him. The artist's name is Dido (profile - photo) and he had sent me some really excellent work with some pics of my partner Roger (galleries - profile) and my good friend (and my godpop) PandaMontreal (galleries - profile). I wrote to Dido and he said that he's not sure of the fate of Bear-Buddies yet he's hoping to bring it back. We hope so too.

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Thursday, December 25, 2008

I'm not 100% sure about this (and I won't know until I talk to the guys who ran the site) but it looks as if Bear-Buddies is no more. What Bear-Buddies offered was great personalized drawings. They did several for me using some great images of my partner Roger and my friend and well known model Jacques Panda. I will email them to make sure, however just to see what kind of work they used to do, check out these past articles that were written about them.

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Saturday, December 20, 2008

[Members - click here - previews here] If you're lucky to ever meet up with Jacques aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile) you will be graced with a man who has the incredible appreciation for holidays. He loves Xmas, Halloween, Valentine, et. al., and he always goes to great lengths in decorating and getting into the spirit of the occasion. Every year he takes new pictures for these events, and each year he comes up with something novel.

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Monday, December 8, 2008

This cute link to a flash video of Santa stripping was sent in by Jacques aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile). Seems that Jacques likes to frequent websites that celebrates muscular strippers, however this  video has nothing to do with them Adonis-like-all-muscle-no-fat-too-gorgeous-to-be-true type of men and it all has to do with good 'ol Saint Nick who gets onto the stage and strips down to his boots. It's simply cute, cute, cute...! Thanks Jacques.

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Wednesday, November 5, 2008

UpBear will be getting together for a spaghetti supper over at the Woof Bar & Bistro which is located at 1661 Ste Catherine street in the center of the Gay Village in Montreal. This is going to be their 2nd time doing this and from what I heard, the 1st time they did this there was a good turnout and the food was excellent. My partner Roger (gallery - profile) and I (Forrest - profile) are planning on being there so if you want to drop by and say hello, do not be shy.

UpBear is a group created by Jean (JBearWoof - profile) with assistance from Jacques (PandaMontreal - gallery - profile) and Woof is owned by Paul (Quebecois - profile).

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Monday, September 29, 2008

Jacques, aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile) sent in this portrait of him that the cartoonist Bruin drew. I think this is the first portrait done by Bruin (altho I could be mistaken). The resemblance is uncanny, don't you think...? Actually, I think it's the cutest thing since sticky honey on a chest full of fur.

This gives me the opportunity to remind everyone that today being Monday is also the day that Bruin (profile - articles) updates his Bear With Me series. Andy's mom and son relationship is looking seriously rocky. Make sure to tune in.

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Saturday, September 6, 2008

[PlanetBears members - click here] It's funny how life is... I hadn't seen Jacques aka PandaMontreal (galleries - profile) for over a year and a half, and in the past month I've seen him 3 times. It's mostly my fault for not getting together... I've been doing that whole 'love' thing with Roger (galleries - profile).

Anyhow, the last time I saw Jacques he handed me a bunch of CDs with photos of himself, some I posted in my last update (here) and some I'm posting today. This set Panda calls it his Sexcapades... it's all about him surrounded by his myriad of teddybears, him checking out guys in Uniform magazine and in a 'jerk off' session.

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Saturday, August 30, 2008

[Members ~ click here and here] Jacques aka PandaMontreal has been kind enough to share with a bunch of pics that were never posted here on PlanetBears. He sent in so many that I'm going to divide these updates, this being the 1st one (click here to see all of his photo sets in the PlanetBears' Galleries section - click here to see his TubeBear profile).

In this update, there's 2 sets. The 1st set Jacques calls it his 'Black & White' set; pics of him on a black chair in a white setting. At the end, I added some photos from his 'Dreamland' series; photos of him in bed surrounded by his collection of teddybears.

In the 2nd set, you get to marvel at the magical work of GianOrso (gallery - profile). the Italian GianOrso is truly a master photographer, and in my opinion he has taken some of the best photos ever of Bearish men found anywhere in this universe. Well GianOrso came to visit Canada a few years back and Jacques was fortunate enough to have a photo session with him. As a bonus, there's a bunch of 'behind the scenes' photos in which you get to see GianOrso photographing Panda.

In the next update, which will be in a couple of days, we will be posting Jacques' 'Sex-capade' set - a hot little jerk-off solo session. 

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Friday, August 29, 2008
The ever so cute and cuddly Jacques aka PandaMontreal (website - gallery - profile) was at the pride parade in Montreal which took place a week ago or so, and he sent in a slew of pics. Click here to view them, and make sure to send him a big thank you. Panda is one of the coolest guy's in the universe, hands down. I just visited his house, and he has 1316 teddy bears lined up all over his bedroom wall. It's one of those 'you have to see it to believe it'.

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

There is a lot to do this Labour Day weekend in Montréal. Even tho all of these events are unrelated (meaning: none of them are endorsing the other), if you plan on coming into town this weekend, there's a lot of great Bear events to attend.

First there is 'Monsieur Bear Montréal' which will be taking place at the Woof Bar that is run by Paul (website - articles - profile). This is happening on Saturday night - August 30th, and I (Forrest) will be there livestreaming for TubeBear. Also ~ Roger (galleries - profile) has decided to become a contestant, so make sure to come and root for him huge.

Then on Sunday, August 31st, join up with the UpBear bunch (website - articles) for their morning brunch. They will be meeting up at the Restaurant Palais Montcalm. UpBear is maintained by JF (JBearWoof) and Jacques (PandaMontreal).

Later on, check out Bear Crusader (website - articles) as they are playing at the bar 'La Place à Côté'. Check out their YouTube page and MySpace page. Bear Crusader consists of Steve (MTLScream) and Sylvain (MusiBear).

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Sunday, July 13, 2008

Here's someone who's got all the right ingredients to being a Daddy Bear; he's good looking, debonair, he's thoughtful, has a nice sense of humour about him, witty while intelligent, modern while paying attention to traditional ways. His name is Richard and he's a husky Bear from Montreal. Check out his gallery here.

These pictures were taken back in January '07. Now there's the long version as to why I never added these pics and there's also the short version. So here's the mid-length version: I met Roger (website - gallery - profile) just shortly after taking these photos, and when you meet the man of your dreams, everything else is placed on the shelf. I was also working on a Valentine's themed movie (it was January and I had a couple of weeks to work on it), and Richard's in it as well as Jacques aka PandaMontreal (website - gallery - profile) and Friedrich (gallery)... I have all the film for it, it's just a question of editing it... anyhow, that got shelved as well.

Fast forward to today and I'm re-discovering all this material I have, so I'm trying to add as much of it as possible, all the while working on some newer material.

Anyway, there you have it. Richard is truly a nice guy, make sure to send him a message via his profile. Click here to see some previews.

Read more here.