On Saturday, the Teddy Bears Had Their Furball (Woof!)
By BRUCE-MICHAEL GELBERT with JOSEPH R. SAPORITO
photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Go-go bear Kenn & the Spit Lounge crowd
"For ev'ry bear that ever there was/Will gather there for certain, because/Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their Furball!" (with apologies to Jimmy Kennedy and John Bratton's "Teddy Bear's Picnic"). At Joe Fiore Productions' Furball, at the LGBT Community Center on November 8, we saw bears we've worked with, bears we've played with, bears we've sung with, bears we know from Fire Island, bears we know from the bars, Caucasian bears, African-American bears, Latino bears, Asian bears, go-go bears, muscle bears, titled bears, party-giving bears, in short, just about every metropolitan area bear we've ever met!
photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Torez
There were sweaty fur and flesh and leather aplenty. There were bears dancing to the music of DJ Quentin Harris on the first floor and go-go bears like Torez dancing, wearing very little, to the music of DJ Mike Grimes, in Paul Short's 'Spit Lounge,' on the third floor, where there was also, we hear, a hot hairy ass contest, won by young Anthony. There were bears in the hallways, bears on the stairs, and pinups of bare bears, courtesy of Pinups magazine, on the walls at this benefit for the Center.
HX magazine, NY Metrobears, Bear Café, A Bear's Life, Bear 411, bearwww.com, Pinups, the Complete Bear, the ultimate Bear Links, BearParty.com, Will Clark World, Beartopia, Truckstop, Rainbows & Triangles, Mark Nelson Productions and Max Scott Events joined in hosting the Furball. There will be another Furball in May 2009.
The next Dance 208 at the Center, 208 West 13th Street, will be Garage Classics, with DJ Billy Carroll, on November 22 from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.
