Armistead Maupin, author of Tales of the City, just announced on his Facebook page that his husband, Chris Turner, has a new(ish) social site for bears -- i.e., hairy and/or large homosexual men. Maupin boasts, "My hubby's brand new social site -- BearCentral.com -- already has over 4000 members. So proud of you, Chris!" BearCentral, however, isn't limited only to bears. Quoth the site itself, "BearCentral is a full-featured, easy-to-use platform for ALL men who identify as bears, cubs, chubs, muscle bears, polar bears, otters and admirers." What's more, the site also has a nifty blog featuring such gems as Kevin Smith Marries Bears. Have at it, hairy ones. more ›

A dead black bear, apparently shot, was dumped outside a taqueria at a strip mall in San Leandro on Sunday, and this all happened during business hours. ABC 7 has the story, and there are a number of unknowns. Authorities are trying to figure out who dumped the bear, but the only lead they have so far is that it might have been a dude in a pickup truck. It is black bear hunting season, but they don't really think a licensed hunter would discard a 300-pound trophy like this. See the news video below. more ›

Whether latching onto gay archetypes (e.g., Gypsy IS the Hamlet of the American musical, pnp party tonight, Diesel, etc.) or self-consciously avoiding them (e.g., I-don't-get-Liza-Minnelli-or-Lady-Gaga-so-take-my-gay-card-please rhetoric, on the DL, hipsterishly eschewing bathing, Dockers), all gay men can agree on one thing: finding themselves endlessly fascinating. So, it's no wonder that the bear community -- a lifestyle involving the indoctrination of plus-sized hairy men -- thrives here in San Francisco, a city endlessly fascinated with itself. more ›

EXTRA EXTRA! Calling all bears! Guerrilla Queer Bar is launching a surprise Guerrilla Bear Bar attack on the more preppy/twink-friendly Badlands on 18th Street in the Castro. 5-10PM tonight. more ›

Yesterday's Up Your Alley Fair is what the Folsom Street Fair used to be before all the tourists pushing baby strollers started showing up. More than 8,000 leather daddies -- and as many as perhaps a dozen biological women -- braved the cold fog wearing little more than a gimp mask and a smile to benefit PAWS, the AIDS Emergency Fund, and others. We tried to limit the amount of naked penis visible in these shots, but in that kind of environment there's only so much a photographer can do. The fully-lubed, unexpurgated photoset can be can be found at DJTennessee's flickr page, as well as a few over at Nature abhors a vacuum. more ›

All good things must come to an end, so until the first California gay divorce happens, here is your last same-sex wedding post. (Probably.) And it's only natural that the final post should involve Tila Tequila (nee Thien Thanh Thi Nguyen) and her tireless, tenacious crusade against human rights abuses. more ›

This has to be the most adorable image we've seen thus far during today's queer marriage melee. Really, how can you hate these people? more ›

FILM: Head over to the Castro to catch Jacob Cheung's A Battle of Wits (Muk gong), which is, according to IMDB, an action-drama-historical epic focusing on a "battle during China's Warring States period...which spanned from the 5th to the 3th centuries B.C. Based on a popular Japanese manga, which was in turn based a Japanese novel inspired by Warring States history in China." Part of the 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. more ›

Starting this Thursday (Feb. 14) and going until next Monday (Feb 18) will be the International Bear Rendezvous, a yearly party for bears and bear lovers, sponsored by the Bears of San Francisco. What are bears, you ask? Bears are above-averagely hairy and/or fat men of the homosexual persuasion. Although considered a subset of the overall queer community, they were, arguably, quite popular for a brief moment in time, or so sayeth the holy word of Marc Jacobs. more ›

Bay Area locals prove that some birds can chirp with their tails. more ›

Guess what time it is, kids? Smear tactics time! We came across this jarring and chortle-worthy footage, claiming that possible presidential candidate, Barack Obama, is on the down-low. The Harpo DL, if you will. We're being told he could have engaged in bear-ish homosexual activity, is what we're saying. more ›

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! more ›

So what happened over the weekend in sports? The Raiders looked impressive, the 49ers not so much. In baseball, the Giants played some of their best baseball of the season while the A's played some of their worst. We, however, missed it all as we got suckered into the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on TNT and spent most of the weekend online debating the question of who would win a fight between Dumbledore and Gandalf. For the record, Gandalf totally would--Dumbledore just helped defeat some wizard who looked like a snake. Gandalf helped defeat a giant, flaming eyeball. Now onto the sports more ›

We were surprised when we saw the documentary at the Castro on Saturday at the Frameline film fest. A pageant for big hairy gay men is basically like any conventional beauty contest, only with more harnesses and buttless chaps. more ›

Don't feel like taking advantage of free first Tuesdays at the MOMA, De Young, Yerba Buena, Legion of Honor, Conservatory of Flowers or Asian Art Museum? Try these on for size. more ›

Coming to you from da city of Da Bears, it's your American Football Spectacular shorthand 2007 NFL Draft overview for the 49ers and Raiders. The draft is here. What should each team want, and what should each team do-not-want? * For the 49ers, WANT: NT/DL DO-NOT-WANT: WR Shut up. Listen, picking a wide receiver high in the draft simply does not pay dividends by nature of the position. You've got the rare Larry Fitzgerald, and... more ›

Tuesday Night Trivia Roundup more ›

One of the biggest food blog stories fired up this weekend. SFist Jer's analysis is a must read. The Sourdough Monkey Wrangler has inspirational info on making ginger ale and quiche (pictured at right). Beware of hazards in the home kitchen. Read more funny and a little sad safety tips courtesy of Muffin Top. more ›

We gobble the various food sections up each Wednesday. These are our favorite tidbits from today's offerings. more ›

Here's todays wrap up of all the sports stories more ›

You know, the Bears might have gotten all the attention, but the 49ers were the team of the 80's. Maybe if they did their own video, they would have gotten more props. Oh wait, they did. And here it is. more ›

-It's official, Barry B. is now a Giant as he finally signed a contract. As for Barry's place in baseball, Monte Poole says baseball can go suck it. more ›

In all honesty, we didn't care who won or lost last night, but towards the end of the game, we found ourselves rooting for the Bears mainly because we started feeling bad for Rex Grossman. He was playing such an awful game that we took pity on him. You know how in all the sports movies, there's always that dorky, unathletic kid who that nobody wants on their team but they always wind up being the hero? That was Rex. He was like Lupus in the Bad News Bears. How could you not root for him? But sadly, he didn't wind up being the hero. more ›

-The Warriors lost to the Charlotte Bobcats last night, 98-90. You can't really get too upset about the game as the Warriors are on the longest road trip of the season and played a game in Philly the night before. Most teams in that situation would lose. Not so good is that they are 1-3 on this road trip. more ›

As goes the adage, defense wins championships. And in the National Football League's 2007 championship game, two masters of the "Cover 2" defensive zone coverage scheme meet: the Colts' Head Coach Tony Dungy, and Da Bearsss' Head Coach Lovie Smith. more ›

So, according to the LA Times, Barack Obama spent his early college years smoking dope, listening to new wave music, and taking classes in Marxist theory and gender issues. In other words, can we vote for him yet? Just the thought that he could be the first President to have ever squatted down at the "down...down...down..." part of "Rock Lobster" makes us want to vote for him. We still, however, await the first presidential candidate who could quote from Snoop and Dre. more ›

We told you, Colts vs. Bears in the Super Bowl. Man, we knew we should have gone to Vegas. Anyways, we're happy with the game, not necessarily because it'll be a good game, but because it's two of the original NFL teams with great traditions and great, traditional uniforms. How could you not love a game that harkens back to the 50's and 60's? more ›

You heard it hear first-- it'll be an old school, Colts/Bears Superbowl -The analysis of Mully's big trade is still going on but the new guys are ready to roll. We have to say one thing for this trade-- it's one of the few times the Warriors have ever made all the ESPN gabfests. more ›

-Sharks beat the Avalanche 3-1 after a stellar first period in which they scored two goals and had 21 shots on goal. more ›