watch the latest john waters movie when it comes out on DVD...you'll get a full education.

It's big gay hairy old men. Why was he talking about gay bears?

Tom said:

They had some guys who were competing for the MrGay.com Universe award... Howard started to ask if any of the guys found Benji, Artie, Fred or Howard attractive. I think the guy from Germany mentioned that Artie would fit in well with the gay bear scene in Germany!

It basically refers to a body type. That being a hairy husky guy....and not to offend but Big Hairy Guys, I suppose would be a better definition. There are also Cubs...those are younger shorter "bears"...and then Otters....which I guess are skinny hairy guys...not sure if they need to be hairy though...but they are more classified as being Bear Lovers.

superspaceboy said:

I can see the "bear" thing - big, hairy, etc....but the "otter" thing? I definitely don't get that one at all....

ReturnOfDOOK said:

It's less used and I have only heard it a few times. Sometimes "nicknames" don't stick to groups. I think it probably came about with the question of "Well I am hairy, but I'm not a bear...what am I?"

Bears, cubs, otters....does the platypus get no love?!

i think i would be categorized as a chimp.

Anxiety said:

So does a chimp spank the monkey?

And I saw strange blue eyes looking out at me earlier...and then they were gone...what was that about?
[Edited 12/10/04 12:36pm]

Anxiety said:

Well call me a monkey's uncle!!! Hahahahahahah!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

(ummmm....yeah, I have no idea what I'm talking about either....)

ReturnOfDOOK said:

Ask Star Jones' current hubbie b/c he can feel you in about it in detail.

Was Howard Stern discussing a move called Bear Cub? Review from Chonicle below...by Ruthe Stein

Bear Cub

Some children have an innate resilience that shields them from an unstable home life. Their ability to bounce back is rich subject matter not just for social scientists but for filmmakers as well. Francois Truffaut mined it in "The 400 Blows'' and so did Robert Benton in "Kramer vs. Kramer.''
Spanish director Miguel Albaladejo creates another memorable comeback kid in "Bear Cub,'' which is finally getting an American release after a long run on the film festival circuit, where it was warmly received. Although not in the rarefied league of classics of the genre, the movie gets to you largely because of David Castillo's touching and at times heartbreaking performance as Bernardo, a fatherless 9-year-old being raised in the country by a hippie mother. The free-spirited Violeta (Elvira Lindo) seems oblivious to the fact that hippies are so over.

Off on a jaunt to India with a new boyfriend -- surely one in a string of them -- Violeta brings her son, wise beyond his years, to Madrid to stay with her brother Pedro (Jose Luis Garcia-Perez). Sweet-natured, caring and responsible in a way his sister never will be -- he's a dentist, for goodness sake -- Pedro is the sort of uncle any child would be lucky to have. Garcia-Perez inhabits the role with such joie de vivre, it makes you wish he was your relative -- he'd sure liven up those holiday dinners. As Pedro introduces Bernardo to the delights of the big city, the camera captures its wide avenues and old-world charm.

Albaladejo and co-screenwriter Salvador Garcia Ruiz take their film where few family dramas have dared to go. Pedro happens to be gay, HIV-positive and part of a subculture of gay men who call themselves bears because they let their body hair grow au natural and aren't obsessed with dieting or keeping toned. When they party together, it looks like a convention of Smokey Bears.

Is this an appropriate crowd for an impressionable 9-year-old to be hanging out with? Pedro himself has doubts and drops his friends during the two weeks Violeta is supposed to be away. But then she gets into legal trouble in India, and it appears she may not be able to claim her son for a very long time.

"Bear Cub'' raises complex issues about who is suited to be a substitute parent, further complicated by the sudden appearance of Bernardo's paternal grandmother, Teresa (the fiery Empar Ferrer, a sort of Spanish Olympia Dukakis). Although the boy hates her because of the terrible things she's said about his mother, Teresa insists he would be better off with her and resorts to blackmail to gain custody.

Hollywood tackled a similar subject in the Kate Hudson vehicle "Raising Helen.'' Its shallowness makes you appreciate even more what "Bear Cub'' attempts to do. It doesn't always succeed. Matters get resolved too easily, and the ending feels tacked on. Still, the film's ambitions are laudable, and it manages to be touching, funny and true to life. It seems ungrateful to ask for anything more.

-- Advisory: This film contains sexual situations.

E-mail Ruthe Stein at rstein@sfchronicle.com.

Do people really get turned on by bears? That surprises me.

ReturnOfDOOK said:

Why do you think I know so much about them?

No, actually, my best friend who is a rail of a guy...has always liked them er"daddier" types. Shoo...when he was 20...he was dating Sam the leather man who was 50. As he and I came out together and pretty much have been close since 1990, I have been schooled in the whole bear thing. They like to smoke cigars too UGH.

So are people attracted to them...YES. They have whole BARS dedicated to the Bear here. And then there's LazyBear Weekend...the Bear Hug...etc etc. Besides, someone has to love the BIG and HAIRY.
[Edited 12/10/04 14:15pm]

well, most of us can look at our parents...if our moms can love the big fat hairy things that are our fathers, then there's truly love for everyone. of course, most of our dads don't know that there's a whole gay subculture that would worship them.

Anxiety said:

the bears were great!

MrJoker said:

Oh hell nah. Don't drag the fridge in our gay debate.

Hotlegs said:

Well, he looks happy, and he's a (former) Bear....

Anxiety said:

U defy such labels.