Bears On The Coast comes out of Hibernation

Bears On The Coast, the internet reality show starring Dustin Terry & Michael Varvel returns May 30th for its 3rd Season but this time it won't be simply the same old games and tricks. The show is getting a major face lift so to speak. We are continuing to use 720p HD (introduced in Season 2) as well as an original soundtrack from Void Of Axis, but whats new? For starters, BOTC is getting its own official website where information on the show can be found, and the main show will be hosted. Additional to the main show, commercials will appear in BOTC for other shows that will be streamed directly through the main site. The new programs include:

• Cooking With Bears
• Bearly Watchable
• VOAGamerCub's Video Game Reviews
• Chicken Chat

All of these will be independant shows of BOTC that will be uploaded as they are completed.
The theme song will be getting updated from last season by the talented singer songwriter Freddy Freeman.
We have filmed four episodes out of thirteen so far, we bought a tripod for the camera, and we are also talking about creating a donation page so we can raise money for additional equipment and costs for the show. We want to make this season unique, special and different then the rest. We will be going to new places this season, I travel to New York even in this season so theirs a lot that will be new and exciting to Season 3.

Gaming Has Changed

I consider myself a Gamer, I grew up with Nintendo, Sega and Sony systems surrounding me with tons of amazing games and experiences. Their was a time where I owned the best games and had the best systems, but eventually that ended. Its been almost 4 years since i've had a current generation system and the last one I owned was a Nintendo Wii. I spent most of that time in between still following gaming sites and seeing what was new. Last year I was given a Nintendo 3DS for my birthday and it intrigued me to attempt to at least continue doing what I once loved doing, I miss gaming but now I wonder if gaming is still how I remember or if i'm just a relic of a generation long past.

This Christmas I budgeted myself to get a Nintendo Wii U, the newest console from Nintendo, a company that i've enjoyed the company of since my first NES. I love to play Nintendo titles like Super Mario, The Legend Of Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, F-Zero, and Donkey Kong. I also enjoy titles from other companies such as Final Fantasy (Square-Enix), Doom (id Software), Perfect Dark (Rare), Metal Gear Solid (Konami), Turok: The Dinosaur Hunter (Acclaim), Tomb Raider (Eidos), and Resident Evil (Capcom) just to name a few. Since i've been away I thought gaming hasn't really changed much but the more I see some of my "gamer" friends it feels like i'm less and less of a "real" gamer in this day and age. The reason for this realization is for a few reasons:

Number One: Nintendo is not well liked or considered "cool" by most of my friends (ironically they will wear Nintendo related memorabilia still though). Nintendo is behind in the current generation market, they support a more family friendly atmosphere than Microsoft and Sony do and it seems nothing Nintendo can do will appease to some of these people. A lot of what i've heard is this harsh view comes from the idealization that Nintendo betrayed gamers when they released the Nintendo Wii which in gamers eyes is a giant "fuck you" to the hardcore gamer market. So most of these gamers have flocked to Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's XBOX 360.

Number Two: If you look at the game selection these days between a Nintendo system and any other system you will realize a disturbing inconvenient truth and that truth is that "modern" gamers play FPS games. If you look at the selection of killer IP's on the shelves for those systems you will notice most of those games are Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Activision), Halo 4 (343 Studios), Madden NFL 13 (Electronic Arts), Borderlands 2 (2K Games), and Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks). These are considered some of the titles that are popular now, so out of these titles I named the only one I have an interest in trying is Skyrim because its a fantasy RPG and I generally like those type of games. But the rest of these, you will notice and even Skyrim will fit in this genre are FPS games. I can enjoy FPS games BUT what I don't think people realize is that, thats not all I want to play on my game console, I was variety and if all i'm going to be doing is shooting things in the face in different scenarios then what is the point?

Number Three: I'm a Single Player Gamer, I rarely play multiplayer games (until Guild Wars 2 and EverQuest 2 recently) but since I don't have friends that will be coming over I usually depend on great single player experiences. These days, most games are all about multiplayer and single player is an after thought. It annoys me because it forces me to play with people I don't want to play with and usually my friends never have the game I can play multiplayer so it comes out that not only can't I play with my friends who I would play with but I have to play with complete strangers who are either socially awkward, or completely rude, homophobic, and enjoy sucking the fun out of the experience for me.

I guess the point i'm trying to make is that it seems a lot of games these days are more pointed towards realistic violence which sometimes is fun but its not for all gamers. It especially isn't for younger gamers which unfortunately are playing these games and now I have "gamers" attacking me for my personal tastes in gaming which is sad. I play games to get away and have fun and if the only way to have fun is to shoot people in the face then I guess gaming has changed. So now the question remains, do I still buy the Nintendo Wii U and go with quality I know i'll enjoy or should I give in to my peers and get a Playstation 3 and simply learn to accept that games for me are dark and bloody and violent and thats how I should game now.

Void Of Axis Live @ Bearapalooza's 10th Anniversary

I recently had an amazing experience I will never forget, it was a huge step in my life and for me as an artist. As you all know I worked on a documentary with Freddy Freeman, the creator of Bearapalooza, we both discussed the creation of a documentary showcasing the last 10 years of the traveling music festival as well as the many talents that have been a part of it. I completed the 90 minute documentary, though it still needs some work, I consider it as it is now to be a draft of possibilities for where we can take the documentary when we start work on it again. The film was set to premiere at the Bearapalooza 10th Anniversary which was a two day event set in New York City. I traveled up from Florida to participate in this event, we met for rehearsals Friday, November 9th & before the show Saturday, November 10th. This was my first time rehearsing my music in a live setting. My songs were primarily done with backing tracks for the show with the omission of guitar from the backing track in favor of a live guitar player to join me on stage. I also had the help of Freddy and his husband Jay Freeman as backing singers to add to the chorus and parts of the songs. If their was anyone who understood the songs better, it was Freddy since he is producing Kaleidoscope and worked on those tracks. Rehearsal went well but got me nervous when twice during rehearsing I forgot the lyrics to "Slave" and I even got them mixed up. It got me in a mood of panic from then till the moment of my performance. I repeated the lyrics in my head, and kept trying to remember the lyrics I forgot, and as the moment drew closer I got more nervous. The live rock show was to be held at Rock Bar NYC which is located in the West Village. Eventually came the moment where Candy Samples, our hostess of the evening and a talented singer songwriter Drag Queen announced me to take the stage. I remember that once the music started, my nervousness slowly began to disappear as I sang the lyrics. I became very comfortable on stage by the time we finished "Slave" and moved in to "Diary". I noticed that my voice was cracking a bit as I sang "Diary" and I should of brought up a water bottle to hydrate before doing that song but as my first performance it was an amazing experience and it went better than I even thought it could. After my performance I went outside to unwind, I had a rush the whole evening and tried to film most of the concert as I could. Everyone did a fantastic job, the coolest part of this performance is that everyone took their music and transformed it in to a live full band set up which was new for myself, Bone Intell, and Kendall and our MC Candy Samples. Then the next day, we all met up at the LGBT Center for the second part of the event which was the Documentary Premiere, the Wedding of Freddy & Jay Freeman, and some acoustic performances. It started with the film premiere which made me cry a bit, it was great to finally hear the reactions from the people who lived and experienced these moments first hand and as I created the movie I got to be a part of those experiences with them and get to know them. Even though the film was rough and still needs some work it went over very well and i'm glad I was given the chance to do the film. After that we had the wedding which had to be one of the most beautiful things i've had the chance to witness, Reverend Roger Anthony Yolanda Mapes performed the ceremony and Freddy & Jay sang their vows to each other. It was just so great and moving to be there and i'm glad to be a part of both their lives. After the ceremony and I dried my eyes, we had some acoustic performances from Yolanda, Freddy Freeman, Tommy Johns, and even Troy Rusnack who couldn't join us the night before joined us a performed. We ended the event by singing Freddy's biggest song titled "Echo". I will always look back on that event and remember fondly, even though Hurricane Sandy almost destroyed it, we worked together and we endured. To be part of this brotherhood of men who express themselves artistically is great and they are all talented and great people.