Aye Be Arrrrrrr!!

[patrock]

So International Bear Rendezvous in San Francisco has come to an end. It's a real drag to see IBR end because it's goddamn fun, but also because it was a nice "Fuck You" from a group of men who were mostly marginalized from society at large, and then displaced to a culture that patronized their relevance

Comments

[goodolmike]

Nailed the guitar solo. Rad.

Man, I wish I could have gone to that.

[bigbeard61]

I am REALLY upset that I couldn't be there.

[holy13nation]

Never got to one but, sat here on a cold and grey day in London town, was moved by your post, saddened by its demise and smiling because of the FBG.
Ta.

[fogbear]

"I wonder if calling it "International" Bear Rendezvous was initially kind of meant to be sarcastic."

Not really. It took the place of the for-profit International Bear Expo and included the contest for International Mr. Bear. Now the fact that the latter was itself a spoof of IML and as such was a product of the mind of David Dysart makes sarcasm at least partly a factor.

But, particularly in the middle years, it was truly international. In 2000, we had attendees from every continent except Antarctica. South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Chile, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Holland, UK, Ireland.... It was really gratifying.

As I wrote several months ago, the perceived value of events like this has diminished greatly. I think that it's only starting to sink in that there are some people one never sees except at IBR. Chat and even phone calls can't replace that. Oh well!

Thanks for the appreciation.

[ext_524092]

Nice one. BTW I'm the only one here without a beard.