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.

Our Newest Baby Panda is 3 Weeks Old!

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The West is on fire, the pandemic is still raging, and our so-called “president” is raving. The only bright spot in the world at large is baby panda season! Our own Baby P (aka XT4, aka Four, aka Sweet Pea), born to the REAL power couple in DC, is now 3 weeks old. No news about prince or princess designation, Mommee Mei only relinquishes her cubby at night when she feels certain her treasure will not be plundered.

To celebrate (and to forget, at least for a few minutes, all that is wrong in the world) I’d like to share some baby panda ‘toons from the archives.

Enjoy the ‘toons! Reality will still be there when you’re done. (darn!!)

“Howdy do! I’m Mr. Wu! Who are you?”

Did we also mention that next Saturday is “Talk Like a Pirate Day”?

Yo ho ho and a bottle of BooBeer!

Mr wu is up the creek without a paddle…

An explorer’s work is never done.

Pinky tests her powers….

National Zoo cub makes mom Mei Xiang disappear

oops.

Princess Pinky is fooled by Mei Xiang at the National Zoo

Oh Princess Pinky, mom has a trick or two up her paw, I think…

Atlanta twin panda cubs Mei Lun and Mei Huan and older prother Po

Huzzah! a guest appearance by little Po!

Just a reminder what Mei Xiang could be in for…

Never say “No” to a Pinky!

PP: um, dis is not going to interrupt my presidential campaign, is it?

He’s small for now, but Bubba Bei Bei is shaping up to be a whole lot of panda!

I didn’t THINK that Pinky knew the “share” word.

 

Panda on!
Bob T Panda

De-liver De Letter!

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Uh oh! It’s another one of those angry, political posts! But what is a bear to do? Make felty pandas, I guess! And write angry ‘toons!

DIS! WILL! NOT! STAND!!!!

Is it any wonder why Bob is going postal?

sigh.. be the bear

stay safe everyone as fires rage in the west, hurricanes in the south and east, and the maniac in the WH
Bob T Panda

PS: if you are looking for a good, fun read, I just started Christopher Buckley’s Make Russia Great Again. Yes, you read that right. Satire about our current dilemma makes the world go round!

More Crimes Against Bears!

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Frank and Mikey are mad as heck and they’re not going to take it anymore. I actually saw an ad for a *cringe* *gasp* TRUMPY Bear (I kind of threw up a little bit as I wrote that!) which was much as you would imagine it. I poor little teddy bear in a ridiculous suit with bad hair. Maybe it didn’t have a suit, but it definitely had a ludicrously long red tie and bad hair.

There ought to be a law against desecrating bears! Ha ha! I suppose some people might think I desecrate bears too.

Read on after today’s toon for news of some special edition holiday pandas!

This is an even worse assault on bears than that bumper sticker was!

Halloween pandas have arrived!

Don’t wait to order these mysterious cuties! They’ll only be available through October. I’ll do my best to get them to you in time for the holiday, but to be sure to get them before the witching hour, order by September 15th. I’ll do them in order that I receive YOUR order, so please order through the form on the Buy Stuff With Pandas page.

Pretty scary, huh?

Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

In Honor of Six and Sebben!

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It was Six and Sebben’s birthday this week! Hard to believe they turned FOUR!!! As is traditional at The Panda Chronicles, I like to feature the birthday bears on a Sunday Funday dive into the archives. Is it my fault if Pinky took three weeks to celebrate her birthday? She *might* make an appearance here too!

I’m working on some new felties which I really swear I will get photographed and up on the Buy Stuff with Pandas page…really soon! I went for a last visit to my felty supplier, Abundant Earth Fiber. The coronavirus restrictions meant they had to be closed for more than 4 months. Although they do have a vibrant online store, as a new member of the fiber arts community, their store was like a trip to Wonderland. There were always someone there, either knitting or spinning or just hanging out and ready to talk about wool. They recently made the difficult decision to close their retail space.

The mill lives on and they’ve made arrangements with another local store to carry some of their best selling yarns and fibers, and also to serve as a pick up location for online orders for us locals. As part of their closing, they had a sale on everything in the shop, so I am well stocked up on fiber for now. They are currently offering free shipping on everything ordered online for US addresses, so if you are a knitter, (or felter!) and want to order some stunningly beautiful yarn, I hope you’ll check them out. I don’t get anything for promoting them (other than their continued existence). Their philosophy of small, high quality batch yarn and fibers really resonates with me.

But enough about the real world! Let’s take a look back in the archives for the Life and Times of Six and Sebben!

pandas

It’s a girl! It’s another girl!

girl power

Will there be cuppycakes?

hope

Panda Trek 2: The Next Generation

little gift

The little gift that keeps on giving!

wished

Would it be such a bad thing?

brave

Oh, brave new world, with such pandas in it!

Twinkies 2.0

Twinkies 2.0 put on a show!

Will these two ever get along?

Pinky’s previous minions are all grown up now, and know better than to listen to her, but…

Pinky and her new minions get down to serious business

I don’t think this crew of minions is going to be quite as devoted as her last ones.

“If there is dirt, we’ll find it!”
Motto of Six and Sebben Political consultants INC.

I just thought we all needed a good laugh, so….

Did I just see what I thought I saw?

Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

Do NOT Disrespect the Bears!!!!

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Bears do NOT have things easy. For one thing there are not nearly the number of unattended picnic baskets left in easy reach of bears that there should be, and the dearth of unlocked cars with boxes of donuts left enticingly in plain view is just shocking. (Bears have an excellent sense of smell, you know.)

But the person who put a tRUmp sticker on the tracking collar of a black bear in Asheville, North Carolina has gone several steps too far. AS a spokes bear for the organization from Help Asheville Bears (HAB) said, that the person responsible for the sticker placement had “apologized for their actions and promised not to have any contact with any bears in the future.”

One does wonder about the promise to “not have any contact with bears in the future”…

Surely they didn’t mean Frank and Mikey! Who could resist them?

Nobody could resist Frank or Mikey! Dis definitely will not stand!

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Hey! it’s Six and Sebben’s Birthday today! Tune in on Sunday for all Six and Sebben, all the time! (Pinky MIGHT have hogged an extra Sunday ‘toon round up!)

While we wait, here is a conversation that was overheard outside the playroom of Six and Sebben…

Sebben: it’s our birfday today! will we get cakes?
Six: well, it is my birfday an’ not yoors.
Sebben: what you mean it’s not my birfday? wee is twins
Six: dat’s just what mommee and daddee told yoo.
Sebben: well I get cake an’ pressies.
Six: no yoo don’t.
Sebben: I am gonna ask mommee.
Six: go ‘head. shee’ll tell yoo. she din’t want to tell yoo before, but no yoo are old enough to know
Sebben: know what?
Six: I can say no more
Sebben: MOMMEEEEEEE!!!! six is being meanie again!!!
Lun Lun: sigh…now what?

A One Week Bearday Present For XT4

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XT4 had their first one week Bearday on Friday, and is growing by leaps and bounds!  Mommee Mei has not left the baby long enough for the nannies to swoop in and do a quick well cubby check, and take a little (very little) cheek swab so they can do a DNA test and we can find out what sort of royalty we are dealing with.

In honor of this auspicious occasion, we have not ONE but TWO brand new ‘toons. There is a lot of scary stuff happening out there. We need to take a deep breath, remember that Mittens is a scared, cornered animal, and we need to plan to be brave and vote him out. We need to talk whoever needs, off the ledge. Remind them we are not (yet) powerless, and to VOTE. (Preferably for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.) There are no “safe” states this year, where we can make a protest vote or worse, stay home. besides, there are state and local races and they are important too. It doesn’t take much time or effort to look them up on the inter webs. see what they say, and better yet, see who supports them and what THEY have to say.

But somewhere at the beginning of this long diatribe, I promised you BOTH a new ‘toon…the first ‘toon about our newest cubby, along with the conclusion of Bubba’s story of stocking up on “essentials”.

So here we go!!!!!!!!

A new cubby! The possibilities are endless!

And Bubba learns what goes around, comes around!

Just how much toilet paper does an ELEPHANT use????

Panda on!
Bob T Panda is watching the Panda Cam

CubbieTBD is One Week Old!

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Yes, we have passed the first week of our new cubbies life. We are relieved, but not complacent! No. A new panda cub is a fragile thing, but so far all appears to be going well. XT4 is getting round, loud, and well loved by Mommee Mei.

I am going to hold on to this good news as hard as I can. I managed not to watch or listen to the RNC #FascistFest, but it was almost impossible not to hear some of the clips or analysis around the inter webs. If people vote early, and are not prevented from voting, we can wrest our country back from the grasping claws of tyranny. We must vote, we must remind our friends to vote, we must correct the vision that the forces of evil want to convince us is real.

And if we are inspired to use bad language, who can blame us?

(This toon appears by popular request:)

Well *bleep* and take your *bleep* and stick it *bleep*!!!!

September might be just around the corner, but it’s still August today, and that means it’s still Pinky’s (Bubba: an’ bubba’s!) Birthday Season!

March

Whats a protest without pandas?

inauguration

Hey, save some cuppycakes for me!

Taxes

Uh oh…it’s the Pinky Revenue Service!

summer

What could be in a letter to Pinky?

summer vacation

Mei is certainly ready for summer vacation, but maybe Bubba needs some summer duds!

Banky Pig

Unhand my Banky Pig!

Pandward bound

What a wonderful surprise! Um…NOT!!!!

pandas return

But some pandas go both ways!

The arrival of Ping!

panda house

Be careful Ping Ping! The Panda House might not be…um…completely safe.

Ha ha! Oh that Pinky!

defense

“It was just a suggestion”

all pandas eve

Okay. That was just WAY too scary.

scary

Ha ha! That Pinky is so clever!

all pandas eve

Will Pinky EVER quit tormenting her brother?

trouble…trouble…trouble…It starts with “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for Pinky!

new year

I couldn’t resist.

I guess Pinky and the GOP have something in common, as much as it pains me to say…

resolutions

Pinky: “rules are for other pandas.”

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane!  Buckle up panda fans. The next two months are going to be a bumpy ride! If you need the voting information for your state, you can find all you need HERE! You can also go directly to your state’s voter information to check your registration!

Panda On!
Bob T Panda

A Panda Scout is always prepared!

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What a week! I have successfully avoided watching any of the Mittens Reign of Terror All Lies All the Time Fascist Fest. Huzzah! The snippets I have seen were so horrifying I could not bear to watch another second.

FORTUNATELY, there is an excellent alternative! At the risk of overloading the Panda Cam viewership even further, the SNZ Panda Cam (All baby panda! All the time!!!) is the best antidote to whatever is troubling you. I realize that watching the panda cam is not going to fix all the problems we have right now, but it just might give you the strength to go back out and do what needs to be done. Also, today is Papa Bear’s birthday, and they are giving him a party!

Mei has given us several excellent views of the bebe panda (who already has their own Twidder account) now that XT4 is FIVE whole days old and growing round as we speak!

But now, let’s get back to our story about Bubba, who just wants to be…um…prepared!

Pinky: who is in trouble? NOT pinky!!!

Panda on!
Bob I’m-not-watching-tonite-either T Panda

 

While we wait…

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While we wait for me to do a new ‘toon celebrating the birth of our latest cubby, heart of our hearts, the miracle panda, born in the midst of a pandemic and in the perils we face as a nation, an event that signifies hope.

In one of her fabulous stories (in which all the panda cubbies are much better behaved and respectful to their elders than the cubbies in these pages) Aunty Lucilla points out that our newest cub shares his/her birthday with Hua Mei, born in San Diego to Bai Yun and Shi Shi. Hua Mei was the first surviving cub born in the US and has become quite the hero mom herself. But this newest miracle cub, will be the last born to the current group of pandas who reside in the US. There were questions as to whether Mei Xiang was too old to have another cub. (Mei Xiang: I knew I could do it. Have a little faith)

It is the end of an era, although I hope not the end of having panda families in the US. They bring so much joy to us all. Because this is my world, and I get to make the rules of this world, I get to keep Pinky, Bubba, the Meihems and Mr. Wu all here to inhabit my stories.

Welcome to the world, little XT-4 (aka Four, aka Qi Ji) Start your engines! 

And now, back to the Panda-demic…

Mommee Mei has an eagle eye!

Panda On!
Bob T Panda

I promise this week I’ll get the new felties photographed and posted!