What the Bear bought…

The hairspray is for his big fat uncut beard. And the jockstrap’s for his big fat uncut dick.

Scruffy Hippie Boys at the Berry Fest

I heart Covelo. Seeing them seeing us seeing them at the annual blackberry festival. In the remote hills of Northern California’s Emerald Triangle. Three decades of music, mischief, munchies…et cetera, et whatever else grows there…

Stop for Zoltron!

Eric Robinson’s “Leathermen” at QIY: Queer It Yourself – Big Gay Art Show

Eric Robinson and "Leathermen" at Las Manos Gallery in Chicago

Eric Robinson’s wet-plate ambrotypes will be showing as part of QIY: Queer It Yourself, which opens Saturday at SOMArts. The exhibit presents alternative, queer, do-it-yourself processes and projects, collaborations, zines, posters, green architecture, activist interventions and recuperations of low-tech media. Robinson took his 19th century kit (big awkard camera, portable darkroom, an array of chemicals, beakers and trays…) to the Dore “Up Your Alley” Fair in 2010, supplementing a series of portraits of Leathermen that he began the previous year. Images from that series will be on exhibit. More on Robinson here, here, here and here.

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Robinson at work making wet-plate ambrotypes. These one-of-a-kind photographs on glass were common during the mid 19th century. As it disappears into the digital realm, this work reminds us of the physical, chemical and optical origins of photography. At the same time, generic conventions suggest that “fetish” photography should be slick and polished, suitable for publication in magazines, and “straight” in the photographic sense. These images kick that cliche, their hand-hewn aesthetic underscoring the sense that we are looking into not only the history of photography, but that of Leather. Old Guard all around…

QIY is part of the National Queer Arts Festival. This year’s theme is A Sustainable Queer Planet. More on the festival here and more soon. QIY opens Saturday, June 4th with a reception from 1pm until 4pm. SOMArts is located at 934 Brannan at 8th St. in San Francisco. The gallery is tucked under the freeway, just to the east of the Trader Joe’s complex.

Other Blogs: Accidental Bear and his Daily Hair Ball

This Ready to Bare site’s promo describes itself as a site dedicated to Queer Culture , Art, Community, Discussion & Celebrity Interviews. Regularly entertaining, Accidental Bear features the Hair Ball of the Day. Big fun for fur fans!

Men Kissing for I.D.A.H.O. – Sexy Slide Show!

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Happy International Day Against HOmophobia! More on I.D.A.H.O. here, and more gay kisses here. Our love is stronger than anyone’s hate.

Tickle your Fancy at the World Beard and Mustache Championships

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via Accidental Bear, who writes: “Just imagine the upkeep and maintenance on these beards. I want to give them a two-snaps-in-circle, via In Living Color days for the commitment. How many pretzels or peanut M&M’s have they lost in these beards, only for them to drop out at the most awkward of times. The back stage area must be busier that a toddler beauty pageant. I am all about a fuzzy man with a beard, but my next question I want to ask one of these ‘mountain man’ is, “During sex, do you tie it back or like a drag queen tucking the naughty bits, do you tuck it somewhere?” For more on the World Beard and Mustache Championships, click here.

Jewish Moscow: staircase at Chabad shul

Staircase, spiraling across the 4-floor complex that serves as a community center for ultra-orthodox Jews in Moscow. Lots of men with great beards here, though it would be rude to snap a picture…

Teacher shaves for first time since Sept. 11, 2001

Interesting article in SF Chronicle today: a schoolteacher from Washington State shaved his beard for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He made a vow not to shave until Osama bin Laden was caught. This is what 3,454 days of beard growth looks like.

-AidanAbroad

Photo: Dan Wheat / AP