Category Archives: the essential pandaness of being

Pandas in the News

Those of you who have been following the exploits of Bob and the panda kindergarten for some time know that I am exceedingly fond of real news stories that either feature pandas or can be subverted to somehow be about pandas, even when they are not.

Are you following all that?

Anyway, our first story comes to us courtesy of alert readers Sarajane Eppley and Karen Willie, who both alerted me to this story about pandas’ relationship with themselves, or more accurately their reflections in mirrors. BBC Earth brings us this story about a peculiar panda particular!

This is a job for panda satire!

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who is that handsome panda I see before me?

Thanks again to Karen and Sarajane for alerting me to this story. Tune in on Wednesday for another story of pandas in the news!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Chinese New Year Preview

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It’s almost time for Chinese new Year, and once again the panda kindergarten will present their Salute to the New Year. That means it’s time for encore presentations of previous pandy kindy extravaganzas! Huzzah!

The year of the bunny…..

Oh that panda kindergarten!

And then there was The Year of the Dragon….

the year of the dragon, panda kindergarten

Huzzah! it’s the year of the Dragon!

Not to mention another of Bob’s literary attempts at greatness, inspired by the Year of the Dragon….

What do you mean by “was?”

And then we skipped the year of the Snake, because…um…snakes?

So then it was on to the Year of the Horse. Huzzah!

Huzzah! It’s The year of Pandas on Horsies!

I want to know when it will be the Year of the Panda? I mean, come on…pandas come from China, and yet we have no year of the PANDA!!!!!!!????

Mehitabel’s note: Pfft! Seems to me that around here it is ALWAYS the year of the panda. Get over it!

So stay tuned for this years salute to The Year of the Sheep! And (here comes the commercial!) remember that it can be the year of the panda everyday when you support The Panda Chronicles by buying our books! Huzzah! Thank you all who support us this way.

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Tea Time for Pandas

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In our never ending quest to bring culture to the panda kindergarten, Bob decides to introduce them to the quintessential English High Tea, complete with little cucumber sandwiches and…um…cuppycakes. It is tea time for pandas!

The long, dark tea time of the soul….

I think it is time for a little something! I feel rather 11 o’clock-ish.

Just a reminder to stay tuned to this station on your internet dial, as next week we bring you more from the Giant Panda Zoo Awards! Interviews with award winning pandas, as they walk on the red carpet and pass through the velvet ropes, keeping the riff-raff away (and of course, by riff-raff, we mean anyone who isn’t Pinky)

Get ready for a star studded evening as all the nominated pandas strut their stuff for their fans.

Till then, Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

Pinky’s Snow Day; Part ‘C’

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The liddle pandas have come in and hung up their coats, taken off their boots, and settled in for a little refreshment! What is a snow day without a steaming cup of cocoa?

Meanwhile, all seems to be quiet on the Northwestern front. Progress is being made on another pending project, The Panda Chronicles Cuppycake Cookbook: Favorite Recipes of the Panda Kindergarten. This is a project that has been in the works (between other projects) for a little over a year, with panda and panda satire aficionado Vicky Vladic, who hails from Australia. You can read more about her over at her blog, VSomethingSpeaks.

You might say that this collaboration is a child of the internet, since I have never been to Australia and I’m pretty sure she’s never been to the Pacific Northwest Washington State. We never would have met, let alone have an easy way to work on a project together, were it not for the world wide cyber living room, where you can find just about anything…even pandas! Stay tuned to this here site, if you like pandas and cuppycakes (and let’s face it, who doesn’t like frosting?)

But now, there are some pandas waiting!

Well, they did hang their coats up.

The way of the princess never runs smoothly.

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Pinky’s Snow Day, Part the Second

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After the events of last week in the rest of the world, is it any wonder that we sensitive types retreat to something a little kinder, a little gentler, and a little furrier? I am of course referring to Pinky’s first snow day. The joy of seeing this round, furry panda cub rolling down hills and romping with her mom is just what we needed to keep from crawling under the covers and never coming out. You can watch her on youtube here.

I hope that the violence and unrest that is happening in Paris settles down. The world seems to be going mad around us. We need more….

pandas.

Meihem, not Mayhem.

What could be cuter than pandas in snow suits? Yes, I know I need help.

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

We’ll always have Paris…

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Well, it is the first Fabulous Furry Friday of the year, but I feel like I need to take a moment for reflection on the essential nature of cartooning and satire, not to mention freedom of expression.

Yes, I am referring to the tragic events in Paris this week, when three radical extremists thought it was a good idea to invade a newspaper office and gun down 10 (or is it 15?- there were conflicting reports) of the writers, editors, and oh yes, cartoonists that wrote for the paper.

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me all the time. But the nature of writing, making art, or making comics is essentially about telling one’s own truth. It’s about taking a hard and sometimes humorous look at things that make us uncomfortable. Personally, I mostly try to stay away from making fun of religion, not that it couldn’t use a poke in the side from time to time. I’ve seen some pretty funny comics that have skewered some aspect of the trappings of religion. But maybe I have a more well developed sense of self preservation than some people.

You should feel free to disagree with me or stop reading these cartoons if I’ve offended you. We might even have a civilized discussion on our differing points of view. It’s been known to happen, and the people with whom I’ve had these conversations feel closer and more real to me. I appreciate their willingness to discuss things rationally.

It sends a shiver of fear up my spine when I remember that there are those in the world who think that differing philosophies dishonor their beliefs, and that that is punishable by death.

I thought about what cartoon would honor those who died this week for exercising their right to free speech and I couldn’t think of one that I had done that would fit that bill.

So I thought a better idea would be to do what I do best, and make you laugh.

pass the cookies, okay?

well, if I can’t carry it through security, can I eat it now?

Who says real life can’t be funny?

Be kind, be true to yourself, but most importantly, be the bear. We’ll always have Paris.
Bob T. Panda

Take the Plunge: Polar Bear, that is.

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I have several friends who actually do the polar bear plunge thing in the Puget Sound. This makes me cringe on so many levels. I’ve often thought it would be funny if you “plunged” with actual polar bears, although this is definitely NOT recommended. Back in 2009 this actually happened. The YouTube video was extremely popular as well. I thought the polar bears looked quite disappointed when the woman was fished out of the pool.

It was high time that The Institute of Contemporary Panda Satire examined this issue. Due to parentally imposed “limitations,” Princess Pinky, Mr. Wu, and the Meihems were forbidden to appear in this cartoon. Don’t worry, they’ll be back soon.

Bob still likes to get out in the field once in a while.

Coming soon: Pinky’s snow day, The panda Kindergarten’s Chinese new years presentation and much, much more panda fun! Huzzah!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Welcome to 2015 at The Panda Chronicles!

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It’s hard to imagine how I can top last year, especially after the end of 31 days of Pandas (which ended up being more like 47 days of pandas with all the Inspector Panda re-caps back in November) but now we are back to another year of panda hijinks.

Will there be new American cubs to push Pinky out of first place in the youngest panda in America standings?

Will Mr. Wu get to work on another case with Inspector Panda?

Will Pinky and the Meihems work out their differences in order to combat the impending menace of new cubby siblings? (And will Mr. Wu be able to stop gloating if this happens?)

What will this year’s “Panda Season of Love” bring? Can we possibly make any more fun of pandas than we already have?

And speaking of Inspector Panda, why is it that we have not seen Inspector Panda and Bob T. panda in the same cartoon frame?

These, and many more questions that you had no intention of asking, may very well be answered in the coming months. so in the meantime, sit back and enjoy the first NEW!!! cartoon of the year.

Huzzah!

Inspired by a conversation at the grocery store…

The idea for this ‘toon came about when I ran into a writer pal at the grocery store the other day. He suggested that perhaps I had a crew of pandas over in my studio, doing at least some of my work for me. Instantly, the light bulb went off in my head (either that, or I was having a stroke) and this cartoon formed itself in my head.

See? Even when I am supposedly off the clock, the Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire is working for you. Work, work, work, work.

Happy New Year! More to come! Huzzah!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

PS: Oh yeah...buy books, okay? Kitty need new shoes.

Recap # 9: Our story so far

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Oh we are getting close to the beginning of 31 days of Pandas and…um…I am hoping to have a spurt of energy in the next couple days…Hmmmm….we’ll see how I do.

Meanwhile, here is the next recap of our story so far.

Will Mr. Wu be safe with the panda kindergarten? And just what’s with that tape, anyway?

See you tomorrow!

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

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We could save you all the trouble of going out to the Black Friday Sales, but then you might miss this experience:

pass the beans!

We could be completely self serving and suggest you head over to our page of books and buy copies of The Panda Chronicles or Pandamorphosis for all your family and friends. We could do that, if we were a different sort of panda. Oh wait…we are that sort of panda.

Be the bear,
Bob T. Panda