What do I like about Bears... let's see... hmm... ah, of course, I like Bears because they are relaxed, mature, down to earth, cool, chilled, Bears on Ice... wh...?

Yes, it's Bears on Ice. The Bears of Iceland (Facebook) are inviting you to their event which will be taking place in the northernmost capital that any Bear event ever took place - Reykjavik (Wiki). Just how incredibly cool would it be to visit Iceland, and all the while be among some great looking IceBears. Check out their program as they have a bunch of stuff lined up, like a trip the world famous Geothermal Blue Lagoon. Hook up with these Bears as its taking place from September 10th thru the 13th.

Tag... you're it!

It's pretty incredible the amount of tags (Wiki) I've used. I started working on PlanetBears in October 2006 however I didn't start tagging articles until the spring of 2007. Could you imagine the amount of tags I would have used had this technology existed when I first started working on the net, back in 1999? Back then it was html and keywords placed into metatags. Tagging is simpler and supposedly more effective (altho I'm not sure how search engines work with tags, and even my sysadmin who is a Google expert says that Google is not even sure how tags work), and tagging is a Web 2.0 (Wiki) technology which is the latest... and it's better to be up with the latest than be last with the greatest... ok that last part didn't make an ounce of sense.

I think that we're going to learn something about the net, and that when we make a so-called discovery, it might take years before it gets to you... like stars take millions of years before you can see one shine... ok I drabble... meet TronGuy (website - photo) who back in 2004 wowed the world with his Tron outfit, so much so he got on talk shows. He's this cute little intelligent geek who came up with the idea to put batteries into his outfit, light it up and go to some convention. Well he is known as the TronGuy, and I only found out about him now... he is now with Madonna and Brad Pitt in my books - go TronGuy (I think there should be some kind of TronGuy revival - maybe update the outfit...? Get more batteries...? Do something... because aren't they making TR2N?). Last words - great outfit, cute idea.

Yesterday was St. Patrick's day, and the Taoiseach met with the President, sharing the 'photo op' as well as stories. Many of you might not even know what a Taoiseach is (I didn't until recently)... it's the title given to the head of government in Ireland (Wiki), and the guy filling those shoes is Brian Cowen (whom I've mentioned before in an article, stating he'd look tons cuter with a beard - Google images).

Also, it seems that President Barack Obama has a bit of that Irish pride and luck going for him as he stated that his "great-great-great-grandfather on my mother's side" came to America from the same county as Cowen (CNN article). They checked, however, and unfortunately they aren't kissing cousins.

The following is not Bear related... it's about Earth Hour, a yearly event that began in 2007 while achieving worldwide participation in 2008 (Wiki). On Saturday, March 28th at 8:30PM - turn off your lights for an hour. This year it's about 'voting for Earth' (video) and they wish to have 1 billion people switch off their lights.

From Earth Hour: "We need your help to get as many people signed up to Earth Hour as possible! Our goal this year is to have 1 billion people turn out their lights for Earth Hour. Why? Because the more lights we turn off, the stronger our message will be that the world needs action on climate change now! Let governments around the globe know that we are ready to take action for our planet and we expect them to take action too".

A pastor named Ted Haggard (Google images) who has been actively professing that homosexuality is a sin, has been under a lot of scrutiny later ever since 2 accusers have come forward, both of them stating that Haggard approached asking for drugs and sex.

The 1st was a male escort who stated that Haggard bought some methamphetamine (aka crystal meth). Now a 2nd accuser has come forward, Grant Haas (pictured), a 20 year volunteer at Haggard's church, stated that the pastor asked him for drugs as well and that he masturbated next to him in a hotel room. See the videos and articles on CNN here.

Since the scandal, Haggard has been defrocked (not sure if pastors are frocked or not, but he's no longer a pastor), and from his Wiki page, "He also agreed to appear in a documentary about his sex scandal titled 'The Trials of Ted Haggard', that premiered on HBO in January 2009. According to the documentary, Haggard has begun a new career selling insurance".

So I said to myself... no more video games. Ever since my first computer (IBM PC junior (Wiki) in 1983... what was your first computer...?), I've played computer video games. However the game that hooked me and helped me fuck up my Masters in Anthro was Quake (Wiki).

I got that game in 1996 and am a little ashamed to say I was still playing it in 2008. I don't know how many hours I played that game but if someone in the universe is keeping track of all our doings, I'll probably cry when I see the amount of time I spent on that one simple game alone.

What hooked me was that it was the first true 3D game that you could play against others. And I've always loved mazes, and these maps were all mazy (I must have be a mouse at heart), however once I found out that you can actually make your own maps, well that took a chunk of my soul. I must have made around 30 maps over the years, and some of those maps took me months to make.

I played Quake 2 then Quake 3 (never Quake 4) but I always went back to the original game. However, I came to the conclusion that I will never be good at the game, and I actually don't like the maps they play (since I made my own maps, of course I wanted to play on the ones I made), and there's only a handful of players left and most of them are god-like... and truly, it's a timesuck and I've got way too much work to do.

Well... I kinda forgot that awhile back I had put my name down for this new game that was coming out. It's called QuakeLive, and it's a free online game. Well, stupid me, I tried it, and I might be hooked. Someone please save me. The game is a ton of fun yet... well... I suck at it. I really don't know what it is ~ it's like I have some mental block when it comes to this game. I see others play and how they glide and shoot with ease, and when I play, it's like my brain cells take a vacation.

Anyhow, I'm hoping I'll be mature (41 years old... playing video games... how mature is that), and will limit my amount of play time. I'm also avoiding editing maps because I know that it will take me 3 months full time to come out with something, and nobody plays custom maps anyhow so...

Lastly, check out this very cool wallpaper I found. It's Biker from this new QuakeLive. Hawt!

I (unfortunately) never heard of him before, but his name is John Martyn (website - Wiki (photo) - Google images), a Scottish/British artist who has been making music since 1967 with over 20 studio albums under his belt. He's definitely got that big Daddy Bear appeal to him, and from what I heard, he carries his emotions on his sleeve and plays them all out in his music, something I'd like to hear. He's straight, so he's not perfect, but cute (thanks to Chubarama - article).

This is Reverend Gene Robinson and he's an Episcopal bishop in New Hampshire. He is also gay, and from this CNN article, he is "The first openly gay priest ordained by a major Christian denomination (who) will deliver the invocation at the kickoff inauguration event Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial". I say 'hurray!' for that... yet don't all bishops have beards...? Isn't that by law... "God said: you are a bishop, haveth beard". Honestly, he'd look way better with one.

It's nice to see a bit of beard in the news lately. If you've been checking in the past little while, I've been posting a lot of 'this guy would look a lot better with a beard', finding Bearish guys who are in the news and knowing that if they were sporting a beard, well they would shine that much more. It's not that I have a 'thing' for guys with facial hair, it's just 9 out of 10 times Bearish guys just look better with beards, a mustache, a goatee, even just stubble.

As for this guy: his name is Robert Boucher (photo) and he's the 'Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs', or so says his Wiki page. His recent job is to keep the peace between India and Pakistan (BBC article) since the Mumbai attacks (with most remembering the scenes from the Taj Mahal hotel - Wiki page)

The Cuban Revolution turned 50 years old yesterday (CNN Video #1 - Video #2). It was "a revolution that led to the overthrow of the dictatorial government of Cuban President General Fulgencio Batista on January 1st, 1959" (Wiki).

Raul Castro is the president today, however the face everyone knows when they think of Cuba is that of Fidel Castro, the cigar smoking bearded guerilla who's promised hope to Cubans while placing fear in his neighbours throughout the decades. Fidel is 83 and there are a lot of rumours of his poor health.

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?

This looks like it's going to be a fun movie. It's called 'The Boat That Rocked' (trailer - poster - Wiki) and it stars Philip Seymour Hoffman (Google images) and Nick Frost (Google images)... indeed quite a Bearish cast. The movie "is set in 1966 and tells of the United Kingdom pirate radio movement, which used a legal loophole to broadcast to audiences of up to 25 million from ships anchored off the coast of the UK".

I feel like I should start a new section: 'Men Who Should Be Bearded'. I see so many guys who should have some kind of facial hair. Why? Because they would look 10 times better. Take for instance Emil Boc (Google photos). Boc is in the news lately because (from Wiki) "The Democratic Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party form a coalition government in Romania, with Emil Boc as the new Prime Minister". Truly he'd look better with a beard.

Unrelated, did you ever see the video in which Boc fell off a platform? Kinda scary.

Before Proposition 8 (Wiki - articles) came into effect, there were thousands of same-sex couples who got 'legally' married in California between May '08 up until November '08, once Prop 8 came into effect.

Well from this CNN article, it looks like they are trying to nullify those marriages that took place during those 6-7 months. From CNN "Sponsors of the California ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage are seeking to nullify thousands of marriages between gay and lesbian couples performed after the state Supreme Court ruled them constitutional".

I know of some friends who got married, some of them travelling across the country just to say their vows in California. A lot of people put a lot of money into their marriages, and to nullify them is a really low blow.

Besides, has nobody seen Prop 8 - The Musical yet...? Think of how many pink dollars will be put into the economy if same-sex marriages were permitted.

This is non-Bear related but it's somewhat important enough to mention here. In today's featured article on Wikipedia (here), it's on a movie called Latter Days (website). The quick synopsis from Wiki: "Latter Days is a gay romantic drama film released in 2003. Set in Los Angeles, California, it portrays the seduction of Aaron Davis, a Mormon missionary, by Christian Markelli, a party animal who falls in love with him".

On a personal note ~ the actors in this movie aren't what I call attractive but I know my partner Roger finds these type of men good looking, so I picked it for him. He watched it on his computer while I had one eye on my computer and the other on the movie. It's a cute movie, worth watching, and if you cry easy well break out the tissue.

The other day I pointed out that Bush went on a surprise 'farewell' visit to Baghdad and met up with the GrandDaddy Bearish Jalal Talabani (article - video). However, during a conference, someone threw his shoes at the soon-to-be ex-president, both of them zipping by Bush's head.

Well the shoe thrower's name is Muntadhar al Zaidi and he is broadcast journalist for Baghdadia TV, and I'm sure many of you guys who are looking at that thumbnail photo of him are saying to yourselves "what a good looking young man he is...". He is 29 and unmarried, and his mission that day was clear. While whipping the shoes at the president, he yelled: "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog", then yelled: "this is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq" (Wiki).

Afterwards, Zaidi was detained and 'severely beaten' for his deed. However his actions have definitely not gone unnoticed. He's becoming somewhat of a superstar. From this BBC article: "the previously little-known journalist has become a hero to many, not just in Iraq but across the Arab world, for what many saw as a fitting send-off for a deeply unpopular US president".

Lastly, someone has offered $10 million dollars for those shoes. Can you say fetish...?

Anyone remember when songs like Dream Police and I Want You To Want Me were playing on the radio all the time?

Ahh... the good old '70s. I was but a mere lad yet I can still remember how much the drummer to Cheap Trick would turn me on. What's incredible, when I think about it, is that Bun E. Carlos ~ the drummer ~ was only in his mid to late 20s. I thought (back then) that he was so much older, so mature. He also had this 'Bearish' look about him that I found attractive. I remember owning a copy of Dream Police (image #1 - image #1) back when I was 12 and I think I can blame Bun E. Carlos for being the promoter of my cop and uniform fantasy.

Anyhow, I mention all this simply because I saw a recent photo of him (the one you see in the thumbnail from his Wiki page), and I said to myself... damn he's aged well after all of these years. And Cheap Trick are still playing, incredibly, having come out with an album in '06.

I couldn't find a better version but check out their Dream Police video.

His name is Brian Cowen and he is the current Taoiseach for Ireland. Now I'm not even sure how to pronounce it but a Taoiseach is the guy who is the head of government under the President.

To be honest, I know very little about Irish politics, and to even prove you more of my shallowness, the only real reason why I'm mentioning Brian Cowen is that I truly believe he'd look way better with a beard. There are some men on this planet that should wear a beard at all times, and Brian is one such man. To see more photos of him, do a Google Image search.

The following is from his Wiki page: "Cowen is often referred to in the Irish satirical and tabloid media as BIFFO, a pejorative nickname sometimes applied to people from the midlands county of Offaly. BIFFO is widely understood as an acronym for 'Big Ignorant Fecker / Fucker / Fellow From Offaly'. Cowen has said that 'BIFFO' stands for 'Beautiful Intelligent Fellow From Offaly'. The Irish Independent has provided him with a further acronym GRUFFALO (Grumpy Rude Uncensored Fecker / Fucker / Fellow From Around Laois Offaly). Cowen was accused of 'conduct unbecoming' in the Dáil, over comments that he made in the Dáil, when at the end of a heated exchange Cowen sat down, and turned to Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Dáil microphones then picked up the Taoiseach using the word 'fuckers'. He subsequently apologized for this remark. Cowen's reputation as an effective politician has suffered since he became Taoiseach".

I have heard of Staind (site - Wiki) back in the late 90s and their singer Aaron Lewis (Google) has one of those recognizable voices. Aside from their song 'Outside', I don't know their music all that much, and in my mind, Aaron was this skinny skinhead. Well I saw a recent video of him doing some acoustic song, and wow has he ever beefed up since. He's definitely moved into the Bearish ranks. Here's a few pics of him - here, here and here.