…for 31 days of Pandas, and we thought that we would start the daily panda-ing a little early, so you would be up to date with the story so far….
So, let’s start at the very beginning of…
If “trouble” ever had a proper name, that name is Babette de Panda…
When a panda has a problem, you know where to turn…Inspector Panda, I presume.
Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda
This is a very brief installment of Inspector Panda’s mystery, which I hope you will forgive. I write in fits and starts, but his morning I had a breakthrough in the story line, which will be coming along…um…shortly. Princess Pinky and the Meihems have finally figured out how to get into the story, and we anxiously await the reappearance of Babette de Panda.
Meanwhile, Friend to Bears Vicky Vladic sent me a link to a very funny story, which Bob and Mehitabel have chosen to comment on, in sunday’s cartoon. (OK, it was all Mehitabel’s idea…she thought it was really funny, Bob, not so much.)
Meanwhile, here is a little snippet of the Inspector Panda saga….
Inspector Panda is hot on Babette’s trail….
And if you don’t already know, Book 5 of The Panda Chronicles has hit the stands! Check out Pandapocalypse NOW!…um…now. ok?
Be the Bear
Bob T. panda
Well, actually, we haven’t actually seen Inspector Panda, his very own self, since Mr. Wu went roaring off with the panda kindergarten. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere…he’s probably hot on Babette’s trail, with the purloined tape in his sights…yeah…that’s it!
Meanwhile, Mr Wu is learning more about the scholarly activities of the panda kindergarten. Art Historians! Who knew????
I didn’t get a decoder watch when I graduated from art school!
Why that Babette is nothing but a scoundrel!
And, not to belabor the point, but this Friday marks the release of Book 5 of the Panda Chronicles: Pandapocalypse Now! Huzzah! Inspector Panda would like to point out that he has a cameo appearance or two in Book 5, just in case you were interested!
Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda
I would hate to think that all those years of sleeping through paying rapt attention in Art History classes had gone to waste. Inspector Panda’s current case has therefore taken an extremely art historical turn, as if it hadn’t been traveling those roads already.
The panda kindergarten has more facets than a dodecahedron, and it turns out that they all have degrees in panda art history. Who knew? And if you are just tuning in, don’t forget to check out all the previous episodes here:
What you don’t know about your favorite art museum….
And look at those stacks of paintings! Did you realize there were so many fine art pandas in existence?
Next time you are at the National Gallery, go and ask at the information desk if you can be taken to see the secret stash of paintings of pandas by all the greats of the 16th through 20th centuries. The National Gallery has a lovely Mary Cassatt that Minette modeled for. And the “Little Panda Dancer” by Edgar Degas is exquisite! Just ask at the front desk, and don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. They’re just being modest.
Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda
…has an omniscient narrator! If you are just tuning in to our story, you can see links to all the earlier episodes here. Of course certain pandas who shall not be named here were a little bit (just the tiniest bit, you understand) miffed that they had not been included in the story, so we had to make someone the omniscient narrator.
And who gave Pinky her wand back?
Does Pinky know too much?
As you can well imagine, we are pretty excited over here at the International Headquarters for The Institute of Contemporary Panda Satire, as we anticipate publication of The Panda Chronicles Book 5: Pandapocalypse NOW! starring none other than Princess Pinky and the Meihem twins! We are awaiting our proof copies, to make sure that the pictures aren’t put in sideways or anything like that. And because enquiring minds want to know, we will reveal the cover FIRST to my long suffering newsletter subscribers, so if you want to be the first on your block to know what the cover will look like, do sign up for the newsletter!
Read on, MacDuff, and Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda
…But before we let the panda kindergarten loose in Inspector panda’s saga of mystery and intrigue, I thought it was time for a recap, especially for those of you who are just joining the story. Here’s a link to the last recap, with episodes 1 through 10 . Here are episode 11, episode 12, episode 13, and episode 14, before moving on to today’s exciting episode!
Could that be the mysterious Babette de Panda? What does she want with Wu’s tape?
Will Mr. Wu be safe with the panda kindergarten? And just what’s with that tape, anyway?
How can we wait till the next exciting episode?
It may be some consolation that this Friday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day AND Saturday is International Red Panda Day! The panda are participating in ITLPD by featuring the Mr. Wu Pirate adventure in its entirety!!!!! Is that exciting, or what? And head over to V Something Speaks to see the special cartoon we did for Int. Red Panda Day, and learn more about red pandas! Huzzah!
See you Friday!
Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda
Oh, Inspector Panda! To where is Mr. Wu running off? How has this happened?
I must digress, for a moment.
I have to blame it on a Payless Moment. Payless is one of our neighborhood grocery stores, and because we Islanders tend to hide out in the woods, sometimes we only run into each other at the grocery store, where we clog up the aisles, catching up with our friends whom we have not seen all summer. (That’s what we call a Payless moment. Mr. Badger hates them.)
So, there I am in Payless, when I catch sight of my good friend, Deb Lund, who is the very talented author of a pile of books (my favorites being the DinoSailors, All Aboard the Dino Train, and Dino Soaring…dinosaurs that could give the panda kindergarten a run for their cuppycakes) and she is the person most responsible for my launch into kiddie-lit and without her, Pandamorphosis most likely would not exist.
In addition to being a writer, Deb is also a teacher and creativity coach. Some years back she developed these cards, which she used in her teaching, and over the years refined them and developed them as a tool for writers. They aren’t exactly writing prompts, more like things that you can use to shake up the status quo, in your life, in your story, in your painting. She finally developed them to a point where her students and writer friends were clamoring for a set of their own, and so with the help of an extremely successful Kickstarter project, she raised enough money to publish them.
Here’s how Deb describes what her cards are all about: Fiction writers are troublemakers. We create characters and get them in trouble. We’re also magicians. We pull rabbits out of hats, heroes from certain death, and stories out of thin air. We make magic by making trouble. Fiction Magic.
As one of her happy supporters, I’ve been waiting for my very own set of Fiction Magic Cards and guidebook. So, when I ran into her at the grocery store, she told me that she had just gotten a few advance sets to send out for reviews, and did I want my set now?
As luck would have it, I was stuck in a bit of a blind alley as to what was going to happen next in The Inspector Panda Case of the Picturesque Panda. I mean, I could only throw in so many Edward Hopper references, before something else would actually have to happen in my story. Thankfully, I now have my very own supply of fiction magic. Watch out Mr. Wu! The card I pulled was Lose the Prized Possession.
Uh oh.
The panda kindergarten arrives on the scene, and…
Not the tape!!!!!!
Uh oh, indeed. The cards made me do it.
Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda
Inspector Panda is back with the next episode as he moves towards the scene of the crime. He will get to the bottom of this, mark my words. I’m sure The sultry Babette de Panda is up to no good, but the clever young Mr Wu is sure to solve the mystery! (It’s in his contract…His mother made me put it there, and who would argue with a mother panda?)
Meanwhile I got a mention for a post I wrote on my Nothing Overlooked blog on Jane Steen’s blog, Keep Going You Fool in a discussion on ethics in independent publishing.
Ahem…Inspector Panda is waiting!
More art historical references, of course!
Progress continues on Book 5 of the Panda Chronicles: Pandapocalypse Now! as well as The Panda Chronicles Cuppycake cookbook. What do you say we invite Chef Vicky V. over to share a cupcake recipe so you can do a little taste testing? Huzzah!
Keep Being the back-to-school Bear!
Bob T. Panda
…wait, haven’t we been here before? or did we never leave? What with all the cake and partying amongst the younger set of pandas, we can hardly keep our hero’s whereabouts in our minds. Mr. Wu traveled undercover to the National Zoo and the National Gallery to see if Babette’s (alleged) painting was there, but it was not to be found.
Hey! Are we being followed?
Art historicallizing makes me hungry too, not to mention sleepy. And who is that mysterious figure on the right? Is there some duplicity at work here? How will Inspector Panda and Mr Wu find the right museum with Babette’s (alleged) painting? How will they get there? Tune in next week for our next exciting episode of Inspector Panda and the Case of the Picturesque Panda!
Meanwhile, on the Pandamorphosis front, it is now available on the Kindle as well as through iBooks. I’m a lover of print books, but I know that you more modern types like to have books on those little machines. If you bought Pandmorphosis via Amazon as a print book, you can get it for your Kindle for only 99 cents. And if you want to access the books all in one spot, you can head over to my book page here! OK, enough with the commercials!
I hope you have all recovered from the cuteness overload that was Princess Pinky’s Birthday party. Many thanks to my on the scene panda friends in Washington DC, who shared their fabulous pictures of the fuzzy birthday girl. Huzzah!
Be the (slightly sticky) Bear!
Bob T. Panda
Every once in a while I like to remind myself that I do know a bit about art, despite the fact that many (ok, most) of the art history slide lectures I sat through caused me to…um…doze off. What can I say? It was dark, the room was warm, and my art history prof had such a deep, soothing voice.
If you are just joining our story, you can read the rest of the episodes to date here!
I have this strange sense of deja vu…
Meanwhile, in the technical labs of The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire, we are working on several exciting developments, which we will alert you, our faithful readers in the next week or so. But we will FIRST alert those who have signed up for our mailing list (which you must admit, does not overtax your inbox!) So, if you want to be the first to know what there is to know, you best get over there and sign up to be on our newsletter list.
But wait, you cry! How do I do that? There is a sign-up link near the top of the right hand column, that says Get even More Pandas, and by signing up, you will get my email newsletter whenever I get around to send it. No News? No email. and you can banish pandas from your inbox any time you choose. Huzzah! Do it now as there will be some very cool news heading your way next week.
We would be remiss if we didn’t congratulate Princess Pinky on her exciting win over a whole bunch of kinda important icons in the Smithsonian Smackdown this week. If you thought she had a good opinion of herself before this, wait till you see her pinky-self now! Hooboy. Good luck Mei Xiang. Your little princess is going places!
Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda