Author Archives: Panda in Chief

About Panda in Chief

Anne Belov paints, writes, makes prints, and is the founder of The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire. You can find her paintings at the Rob Schouten Gallery and Fountainhead Gallery, her cartoons on The Panda Chronicles, and her new book here. She also writes regularly for The Whidbey Life Magazine, a free journal of art and culture on Whidbey Island. Her main regret in life is that there is no MacArthur Grant for Panda Satire.

Apologies for my Absence Yesterday

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The problem with being a generally responsible person is, that when you flake off, everyone thinks something terrible happened. Nothing terrible happened. I just was having a kind of flaky couple of days, having recently returned from 2 weeks away, and then going to a two day workshop (which was a 3 day excursion in order to get there on time.)

I will have a new ‘toon for tomorrow. I thought about staying up late Monday night to finish, but all things considered, what with my high stress level the closer we get to the final voting day, I decided it would be better to go to bed and just…miss a day.

DID I MENTION EVERYONE SHOULD VOTE FOR KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM WALZ AND CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOUR BALLOT WAS RECEIVED IF YOU VOTED BY MAIL OR DROP BOX????

I mean…TFG keeps blasting out more hatefulness and racism and misogyny and Elmo husk says things like “Donny is going to put me in charge of the economy” and Roadkill Man is going to be in charge of health and food safety.

I DO NOT FEEL SAFE!!!!

Sigh…and then at one of his Reichstaad moments, TFG says something like “Hey have you heard about this one cool trick with Congress to over throw the election that no one wants you to know about but I can’t tell you because IT’S A SECRET! HEE HEE HEE!”

FFS

Here’s one of my favorite Bikkie ‘toons to tide you over till tomorrow.

I’m really hoping I get my wish.
Stay strong everyone.

Be the Bear,
Bob T trying to keep my sanity Panda

My Ka’Bikkie wrote Me a Letter

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So…here’s the thing. I really wanted to keep Mei and Tian and all the kids in DC, even though they went back a year ago, and the kids even before that. and, had there been no new pandas in DC, I probably could have kept up the fantasy that all the pandas live together in the Panda House, with the occasional visit from Six and Sebben, not to mention Frank, Mikey, Pookie, Josie, and let’s not forget Ping. I mean…Mehitabel still rules ZooNooZ and she’s been dead for almost 8 years now.

But now Binky Li and his Qing Bao have arrived. If they are to find their stories and be the stars, along with Chuie and Xinger out in Pandiego of The Next Generation, well, it was getting a bit crowded in the Panda House, and who could surpass Pinky’s stardom. So, they have moved to China, just like their real life counterparts. I think there will be stories coming from there. They have been my constant companions for more than a dozen years.

Fortunately, there will be some continuity. Frank and Mikey and Pookie (and Josie) are staying at the Panda House. So is Ping. Somebody has to show them around town! Bob and Mehitabel will still be holding down the ZooNooZ desk.

When one of my favorite mystery writers killed off one of her most loved characters in a rather brutal fashion, she said, “if you don’t let your characters sometimes have bad things happen to them, if they all live happily ever after forever, you eventually hit a story dead end.” While I do like a bit of repetition in my stories (I find it funny that Six and Sebben are always bad guests, and that their mother is always finding excuses to send them off to her sister’s house) I think by expanding the pandas’ world, there will be more, not less stories to tell. So let’s tell some stories!

But first, a letter from Ka’Bikkie to his nephew…

Don’t be mad, ‘kay?

Be the Bear
Bob T you voted, didn’t you? Panda

THE PANDAS ARE HERE! THE PANDAS ARE HERE!

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We watched them land…but what was really going on inside the plane…???

The pandas have arrived in the nick of time, even if we can’t see them yet. But knowing they are here, well, I’m going to take that as a sign that life will continue.

And on that note, I REALLY hope all my peeps here have registered to vote and have already voted or have a plan to vote as soon as you can. It becomes more clear every day that TFG is in no condition to order a pizza, let alone be president. It becomes even more clear that the Heritage Foundation/Project 2025 folks are desperate to get him over the finish line so they can install tech bro fascist JD.

Democracy is a process. It is not perfect and it is full of imperfect people. But we can’t let “perfect” be the enemy of the good enough. It is kind of weird to be agreeing with Liz Cheney, but if uber conservative Liz and her dad think that electing Kamala Harris will get us to a place where democracy survives to disagree on policy another day, well, I’m agreeing with Liz.

Let’s support a democracy, where we can host pandas from China, who happen to be the descendants of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, and the Son of Pinky. I want to wake up on November 6th to a President Harris, who embraces joy and possibility.

Let’s do this. we have 2 weeks.

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Pandarella! The Final Chapters!

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I bet you thought I would never get around to finishing this Panda-Extravaganza of PandaPaloozahood. Well, to be honest, neither did I! But here we are in the final and-they-lived-happily-ever-after chapter!

Huzzah!

And so, we end, like all fairy tales end, (at least the sanitized happily ever after ones…the original Grimm’s tales are often quite a bit darker!) with the evil step sisters getting just what they deserve, and Bikkie going off to the palace with a rather familiar looking King and Queen to live a life of fun and luxury!

Now, if we could just banish Mittens to a dark dungeon somewheres. Remember to vote y’all!

To Friends of Bob in the Hurricane Helene ravaged country side, I think of you and hope you are safe and well. Climate change is kicking our butts.

Be the Bear!
Bob T wants to live happily ever after Panda

The Penultimate Pandarella! (part 5)

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This is the next to the last multi episode Pandarella presentation until we get to our dramatic conclusion!

Can you stand the suspense????

It’s not like there’s anything else going on, is there?

Oh man! What’s going to happen when Pandarella’s evil step mom and zizzies get home?????

Really…there’s not anything else going on right now that we need to be nervous amount, is there?

Be the Bear!
Bob T let’s go live in the forest Panda

Oh Boy! More from Pandarella! (Part 4)

Let’s see what happens next!

Let the Palooza begin!!!! ‘Toon in again next time!

Only 26 more days till Election Day! Don’t forget to vote!

Be the bear
Bob T how much more can we take? Panda

Pandarella (A Panda Chronicles Exclusive!) Part 3

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Oh man! Bikkie is in a tight spot! He has to cook and clean up after his terrible step sisters! His tuba is burnt! What could possible happen next?

Fairy Godmothers come in really handy sometimes! ‘Toon in next time as our story continues!

Be the Bear
Bob T the suspense is killing me Panda

Pandarella Altogether! (Part 2)

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We’re back with the next installment of Pandarella! We hope you have your poppy corn ready, and mebbee a cupcake or 2. Also a Hanky. And a blankie to hide under!

Here we go!

Oh man! Pandarella is in a terrible spot! I’m sure it will get better next week…um…or mebbee da week after?

Be the Bear
Bob T is counting on you to vote! Panda

Pandarella! (part, the first)

So here we go, with this Pandarella-Palooza, Part One!

Uh Oh! What could dis surprise be? ‘Toon in next time for the continuation of our story!

Be the Bear!
Bob T only 36 days until the election! Panda

NooZFlash! The GQP Continue to be Soulless A**holes

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Okay, that’s not really a NoozFlash. They are ALWAYS a**holes! I guess if you can do something well, you feel encouraged to do it all the time. I mean…if you’re good at lying and being a racist, I guess you might think it’s a good reason to continue doing it.

Meanwhile, charges have been filed against VD and Donny in Springfield Ohio for their ~~lies~~ comments against the Haitian community there. Fortunately, we have reports that Miss Sassy is alive and well.

Of course ZooNooZ has the interview.

We’ll be reminding you in each post that several of states that could be in play are continuing to purge voters from their rolls. Please check your voter registration ASAP and vote as soon as you are able! The GQP is counting on using dirty tricks to suppress the vote wherever they can, since they definitely can’t win on policy.

And for my friends in the path of Hurricane Helene, one of the things Project 2025 wants to do is disband or privatize NOAA. We all rely on up to date, accurate weather reports, but not having that information when a hurricane or tornado is heading your way, is a matter of life and death.

Don’t let TFG endanger the country on multiple fronts. VOTE!

Be the Bear,
Bob T voting blue all the way Panda