Tag Archives: Atlanta Zoo

Fabulous Furry Friday

It’s hard to believe that 2015 is almost halfway over. Where does the time go? Any day now, the panda progeny season may begin. We are hopeful that there might be two new panda cubbies in the US, although we are hoping for a trifecta, which has not happened yet. Ms Lun Lun of Atlanta has not revealed whether she is interested in completing the triple crown of panda-dom, but we are ever hopeful!

We had no new panda cubs in the US last year, but in 2013, we celebrated the birth of the Meihems and…ahem…Princess Pinky, America’s sweetheart (“and icon! don’t forget I am a icon!!!!!”).

I think this would be an excellent opportunity for Fabulous Furry Friday to look back on the birth of our about to be two year-old reigning panda princesses, don’t you?

Mr Wu speaks out!

A look-back at the birth of the meihem twinkies would not be complete without Mr. Wu’s commentary.

The first appearance of the twinkies on The Panda Chronicles

The first appearance of the twinkies on The Panda Chronicles

Atlanta Twins have a fight

Sweet dreams, little bears! This cartoon was written before…um…Pinky poofed the twins into girls.

And just how did the panda kindergarten get her address?

And just how did the panda kindergarten get her address?

Such a little darling!  How could her big brother resist spoiling her?

When Pinky got her first tutu…

Tune in again next week, for more from the childhood of the Meihems and Princess Pinky!
(Not to mention more from the Pinky for president campaign! Vote Pinky 2016!)

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

On the 2nd Day of Crisp-Moss…

On the 2nd Day of Crisp-moss my panda cam did see…

I can't hear anyone singing.....

I can’t hear anyone singing…..

Observant panda fan Frances A. alerted me to this news story about the perfect Christmas gift for…ahem…me. And I agree. For $8.5 million, you should get to keep a panda.

Fa-la-la-la-la la la la la!
Be the bear!
Bob T. Panda

31 Days of Pandas Returns!

Here we go with days 12, 13, and 14, delayed by the windstorm and power outage (which was finally over at about 1 AM this morning) that commenced Thursday evening, of December 11th. All is well here at headquarters of The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire. Well, now it is, anyway. The sun is shining and it was a lovely day to go out and move fallen branches from the yard and driveway to spots that are less inconvenient for them to exist in.

But enough about you and your problems, I hear coming from the cheap seats. Where are all these panda cartoons that you were allegedly working on by candle light while you had nothing better to do, since you couldn’t check your twitter feed ad infinitum?

OK, OK, already. Here’s the next episode of The Case of the Picturesque Panda:

Oh, Inspector Panda! What a surprise!

Oh, Inspector Panda! What a surprise!

And for those of you who follow the antics of Bob T. Panda and his Junior Panda Friends on Facebook, you may have seen a notice that Princess Pinky has something dastardly in mind, to perhaps skew the voting in the Giant Zoo Panda Awards.

Pinky, I thought we agreed you wouldn't do anything naughty.

Pinky, I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do anything naughty.

This will not stand!

This will not stand!

A big pandy thank you to all of you who have ordered books this month. Remember, I will make a donation to Pandas International for each copy of Pandamorphosis or any of the Panda Chronicles series books that you buy this month, so now’s the time to buy, buy buy!

We’ll be back sometime tomorrow with the next episode of Inspector Panda and then I have a special Holidays with Pandas surprise (that just popped into my head a few days ago!) Huzzah!

See you tomorrow!
Be the Bear<
Bob T. Panda

 

The Pandapocalypse has arrived!

…and just in time for Fabulous Furry Friday, no less! Actually, someone has already snuck into the Pandapocalypse Now! stronghold over at Amazon and procured the first copy! Fess up! Who did that????

What’s that, you say? Is there a new Panda Chronicles Compendium perhaps? Why, yes, as a matter of fact there is, and it stars Princess Pinky and the Meihem twins!!! and the cover looks something like (OK, exactly like) this:

It's Pink, but still kinda, um...dangerous!

It’s Pink, but still kinda, um…dangerous!

From the very beginning of Pinky’s reign of terror in our nation’s capitol, until her very first birthday party, this volume celebrates all things Pinky and Meihem in a three ring circus pandapalooza. Like for instance….

I love a good art forgery, don't you?

Oh, those little scamps! “How does you spell ‘hostage’?”

Or how about the first appearance of the Meihems when they were teeny tiny little pandas?

The first appearance of the twinkies on The Panda Chronicles

The first appearance of the twinkies on The Panda Chronicles

I’m sure you will want your very own copy (hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge) so hop on over to the Pandapocalypse Now! page and scurry on over to Amazon  and get your own copy of The Panda Chronicles Book 5: Pandapocalypse Now!

Not since The Book of Wu have so many pandas behaved so badly. Huzzah!

Pandas are standing by to take your order. (And if you would like to support Pandas International with your purchase, I’ve been told that there is a program called Amazon Smile: just type “Amazon smile” in the search box and then you get to pick your non-profit, if I remember correctly. Once you’ve made that choice, Amazon remembers for future purchases.)

 

Wait…isn’t Inspector Panda Supposed to be Here?

I’m sure that Inspector Panda will forgive us for bumping him out of his usual day, I hope to make up for it on Sunday with the next exciting episode. I mean, how could I leave you hanging with Mr. Wu roaring off with the panda kindergarten, just after Babette (was THAT Babette????) stole his tape?

Because I’m an evil person…um…panda deep down.

But, today’s ‘toon brings a recent kerfuffle between Pinky and the Meihems to a close, and was inspired by this news story which was just.  too.  enticing.  to ignore. Here’s another account of the incident which was extremely inspirational in creating todays’s offering. You may recognize Pinky’s parting remarks as a quote from the news story.

And in case you are just joining us this week, here are the previous cartoons (which will all appear in the soon to be released Book 5 of the Panda Chronicles!)

If you think that maybe elephants never forget, they have nothing on pandas.

If you think that maybe elephants never forget, they have nothing on pandas.

Is this any way to treat our Nation's most adorable icon?

Is this any way to treat our Nation’s most adorable icon?

The forces of Meihem are only barely in check.

The forces of Meihem are only barely in check.

And now, for today’s feature presentation!

"Do you know who I am????" Yeah, we do.

“Do you know who I am????” Yeah, we do.

Be the bear,
Bob T. Panda

If A Cuppycake Falls in the Forest…

…and there is no one there to hear it, who gets to eat the cuppycake?

Well, this may be a first for the Panda Chronicles, a cartoon with no pandas! However, this panda-less tale comes to us from none other than panda chronicler par excellence`, Henry Nicholls, Author of The Way of the Panda. Henry was kind enough to alert me to the story of a bear in Alaska, who followed his nose to a cuppycake birthday party.

I am not making (some of) this up.

Cuppycakes are to bears as toast is to otters.

Cuppycakes are to bears as toast is to otters.

And although there are no pandas in this particular episode, Mr B. Bear has agreed to appear on the Mehitabel Tonite! Show next week, to talk about his traumatic ordeal. Won’t that be fun?

And while you are thinking about cuppycakes, I think you should hop (or galumph, depending on how many cuppycakes you have eaten today) on over to V Something Speaks and read  the first recipe of The Panda Chronicles Cuppycake Cookbook! It celebrates Princess Pinky, who as everyone knows, is having her first birthday next month.

And, um…Mr Wu has his birthday next week.  We haven’t forgotten you, Mr Wu.  You will always be number one with me!

mr wu speaks out.

Woe is Wu…upstaged by a bunch of gurls!

You might want to watch the San Diego Zoo pandacam on Tuesday morning, for Mr Wu’s birthday party.  Last year his girlfriends at the zoo made him an absolutely spectacular cake for his first birthday, and I’m sure they will attempt to out-do themselves this year.

I hope you are off to a panda-ful week!

Be the Bear (any kind of bear, really!)
Bob T. Panda

Huzzah! The Meihem Twins Turn One Year Old!

Welcome to this special panda birthday season edition of The Panda Chronicles! In honor of Zoo Atlanta’s pride and joy, Mei Lun and Mei Huan turning one year old today, we have an extra ‘toon to celebrate!

Huzzah!

There must be cake!

There must be cake!

I bet the Meihem twins will be out of detention in time to go to Princess Pinky’s pawty in August!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Selfies at the Tour de France

Oh my, just when I thought that the practice of taking selfies couldn’t get any more absurd, (see this post) an observant reader told me that people were taking selfies at the Tour de France.  Not only were they taking selfies, they were stepping out into the flow of (really, really, really,) fast bicycle racers in order to do so.

We are talking about bicycle racers with only three fat cells in their entire bodies, who are probably already a little cranky because
A) Someone just compared them to Lance Armstrong,
B) It’s July,
C)There are not actually french fries every where in France,
and
D) Some moron with an iphone – who hasn’t been on a bike since 4th grade –  just stepped out in front of them and they crashed and cannot finish the race because their $12,000 Italian racing bike now looks like a leftover pretzel from the Bumpkin County Fair.

Of course, here at The Institute of Contemporary Panda Satire felt we had to address this issue, in the mature and respectful way that you have come to expect from us. (Insert fart joke here.)

Sometimes real life news stories make it Just.  Too.    Easy

Sometimes real life news stories make it Just. Too. Easy

Meanwhile back at the Zoo, panda birthday season has begun.  I hesitate to admit that I don’t know the birthdays of every U.S. born panda, let alone those born abroad, but Washington DC’s favorite #1 son, Tai Shan, celebrated his 9th birthday on July 9th, and the Meihem twins of Zoo Atlanta have their first birthday coming up this Tuesday! (Ya’ll come back for a special birthday ‘toon on Tuesday, OK?)

Meanwhile, in honor of the publication of my book Pandamorphosis, we are inviting you to post pictures of YOUR copy of Pandamorphosis on The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire page on Facebook.

Huzzah!

Be the Bear
Bob T. Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday Celebrates Panda Birthday Season

It is that most blessed time of year, panda birthday season!!!!! For the American born pandas, the season kicked off this week with America’s darling, Tai Shan, who has moved to his ancestral homeland a few years back.  He turned 9 on the 9th.  I’m sure that must be significant in some way, not that I know what. This week also marked the first birthday of Yuan Zai, better known as “Dumpling”, the great granddaughter of Bai Yun of Pandiego.

Coming up next week on the 15th, the Meihem twinkies, Mei Lun and Mai Huan (known here as their fictional counterparts Bert and Ernie) celebrate their first birthday.  I thought I would revisit some of their early feature cartoons to celebrate the occasion.

The first appearance of the twinkies on The Panda Chronicles

The first appearance of the twinkies on The Panda Chronicles

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

Huzzah! a guest appearance by little Po!

Of course this last episode took place before we knew that not only the twins, but big brother…um…sister, Po had been misidentified, gender wise! It is kind of hard to tell with pandas.

Bao bao changes panda cub gender

Of course, Princess Pinky took the credit for that one.

Atlanta Twins have a fight

Sweet dreams, little bears!

And lest we forget Mr Wu’s reaction to the announcement of twins:

Mr Wu speaks out!

Mr Wu speaks out!

Let there be cake!

Anticipation!

Huzzah for Panda Birthday season!

I hope you’ll hop over to read VSomethingSpeaks as Vicky relates her journey into the world of panda…um…obsession. So many people find pandas in answer to difficult times in their lives, and Vicky is no exception.

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to have some cake!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Where in the World…

…are Princess Pinky and the Mei-hem Twins?  Thats what enquiring minds keep asking me. I’m afraid I have been just the teensiest bit irresponsible (do ya think???) to let the girls go off across the country in the Cublanta Twins’ little yellow cubvertible without any supervision.

What was I thinking?

But we have addressed the manner in the most responsible and expedient way possible by devoting the latest edition of ZooNooZ to an in depth look at this crisis.

Uh oh...mad mom alert....

Uh oh…mad mom alert….

So where in the world are they?…um…your guess is as good as mine! (See helpful map!)

A heads up for Wednesday: I have a special guest blogger who will be virtually visiting me here at The Panda Chronicles!  Writer C. Hope Clark, author of The Carolina Slade mystery series and grand poobah of the extremely popular and useful Funds for Writers website. She offered to share a guest post here as I celebrate the launch of Pandamorphosis into the world. I’m thrilled to have her here, as she talks about finding and following our childhood wishes and dreams.

Till then,
Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda