That’s why everyone likes December, am I right? Daylight losing time means by the 21st it will be getting dark by 3:30, and the depths of darkness by 4. Sigh… at least after the Solstice, the days will start increasing in length! Huzzah!
While we wait for the pandas to prepare, here’s another story taking place in the Panda House! (With a little panda who may be there or not!)
Here come’s trouble!
I bet you want to see the finished Pawrtrait
Time to start getting ready for 31 Days of Pandas!
I know it’s kind of a cliche to suddenly remember, once a year, that I am grateful for a bunch of stuff, but this being my Birthday Season, and several other minor holidays (ha ha!) that hype thankfulness and gratitude, I must admit that there are things I am grateful for, despite all the traumas of the last 5 years.
Of course 2020 was the worst.
I think I am still suffering from the extreme trauma of TFG’s final (we hope) year in office, with a global pandemic that said former guy used to try to punish his enemies and do a little extra grifting at the same time.
Sigh.
First, I am grateful that most of my friends and panda community have stayed safe through all of this. There were some casualties but in the scheme of things, compared to much of the country, my personal world was not destroyed. It was rocked though, (and not in a good way) and I miss seeing my far flung circle of friends in person.
I am grateful for the daily text check-ins with the Traveling Panda Sisterhood, without which I might have lost my mind. I mean more than usual.
I am grateful that I found needle felting. It was a small miracle that I got to repeatedly stab things without getting arrested. (Note the the FBI: I am referring to making wool animals from wool fiber, so please do not show up on my porch to question me.)
I am grateful to all of you who have decided they couldn’t live without little felt pandas and subsidized my wool purchase.
I am grateful to my writer friends who encourage me on this path and that my agents haven’t fired me.
I am grateful to the galleries and other venues that continue to show and sell my paintings, and keep a roof over my head, and remind me that my 7 years of art school and decades of continuing to put paint on paper and canvas were not wasted effort.
I am grateful to all of you who continue to read my ‘toons, buy my books, and tell me that I am, in fact, funny.
I am grateful for pandas, who provide inspiration every day. I would be REALLY grateful if I could hold a tiny baby panda someday, but I may have to be content with watching videos of panda nannies dandling tiny pandas on their laps, and know that they love their little, fluffy, chubby charges.
I am grateful for so many things
Please say it isn’t so!!!!!
Hey! it’s almost time to get ready for 31 Days of Pandas!!!
Didn’t you always hate it, when you’re watching a movie and the first little bit, there are almost no commercials, and then the longer you watch, the less time there is between commercials?
Well, I’m pretty sure we only have one sponsor, so there might be only one commercial. Mebbe. I was watching some YouTube videos the other day and they kept playing these ads for Keepsake Ornaments and I thought they would make a pretty good sponsor for The Bears of the Baskervilles!
Just call 1-800-Buy-Pinky to get yours!
Ping!
Hey, I almost forgot to tell you that PDXWildlife is having their annual auction again, and I donated another felty and some pins and other things that were floating around the studio! Check out the auction until November 28th! Pandas are standing by to take your calls!
I almost called this “Let’s talk About Ted” but who wants to give Ted that much air? Not me! Ted’s latest desperate grab for attention has him attacking that dastardly criminal mastermind…yes, THAT criminal mastermind! I am, of course, talking about Big Bird. I guess Ted is still trying to get people to forget that when Texas had an unprecedented winter storm and power crisis, he took his family to a fancy resort in Mexico, while some Texans froze to death. Or maybe this is to distract us from the work of the January 6th select committee and any testimony he might be compelled to give?
So let’s talk about Muppets instead!
Fun fact about me: When Sesame Street hit the TV airwaves, I was out of their intended age demographic, but I was totally enchanted. What a great way to encourage kids to learn: adorable fuzzy puppets, teaching both math and inclusion gently and cleverly. Heck, I wanted to count along with the Count!
I was so enchanted that it became a dream to go work at Henson’s Muppet studio,
I wanted to dream up and create these imaginative puppets (and definitely playing with them and making up their voices and personalities.)
I never got to do that. I wasn’t encouraged to chase after my impractical dreams. I was supposed to be sensible and marry a dentist. I avoided the dentist, and managed to shut out the can’ts and shoulds and become an artist. And if my felty pandas are at least slightly reminiscent of Muppets, well, that is just destiny fulfilling itself.
But meanwhile, back to Ted…
Ted thinks it’s a good idea to compare Big Bird’s excitement at getting his covid vaccine to communist indoctrination of children! In the usual way of GOP politicians trying to play gotcha and shame an imaginary character for promoting things that actually benefit people, the Twitter account for Big Bird for Senate @SenatorBigBird now is approaching 110K followers.(see also Devin Nunes’ Cow) Using gentle humor to point out Ted’s crimes and misdemeanors, he has shown the tiny hearted pettiness that Ted displays to his constituents. Gotcha!
Big Bird has assembled a formidable campaign team, including Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Bert, Elmo, and of course The Count! Is it only a matter of time before Kermit and Miss Piggy sign on? Real politicians are endorsing him, taking this opportunity to bring up real issues that affect Texas residents, in a way that pokes gentle fun at Ted. Somehow, I can’t imagine that Ted is amused. Does anyone think that his daughters have Big Bird for Senate posters in their rooms? Does anyone think they should send them one?
When will the GOP learn that you can’t defend Mr. Potato Head from emasculation on one hand, and then denounce Big Bird as a communist plant on the other? Are they trying to distract us from their actual crimes with their blatant buffoonery?
But meanwhile, we have a few ‘toons to share!
When you can’t make fun of politics via panda satire, the terrorists have won
I think we have a lot of “Underbussing” to look forward to in the coming months!
Our favorite grizzlies are doing “The Bus”!“crime” is not a verbSend in the bears!Helloooooo bears!I like bears.
I thought some people might like to be reminded of the introduction of Frank and Mikey!
Well, that wraps it up for this week! Let’s hope justice will be done!
Hmmm…this is turning more into a parody of The Sound of Music than Hounds of the Baskervilles, but hey! I really only know the title. Maybe if I have Inspector Panda show up, we can get the detective story/Sherlock Holmes vibe back. (did we ever have it?)
At least we haven’t slipped any story lines from Gilligan’s Island in here!
As promised, here is the second part of A Halloween Carol (Starring PINKY!!!) and a few random Halloween ‘toons, since it’s actually all Hallows Eve here in the states. (At least until the repugnant-cans declare that it is a pagan holiday, and as such, cannot be tolerated!)
On with the SHOW!
Hmmm… Pinky still does not seem impressed. Perhaps the ghost of Halloween present will have more influence over her.Uh oh, the ghost of halloween present just caught up with Pinky…Was that list in small type, single spaced?The Spirit of Halloweens yet to come is not a spirit to be messed with, right?Surely you didn’t think she would totally reform, did you?
And now, a few of my favorite Halloween ‘toons!
Trick or Trick!!!!!!!Maybe Bubba is having a Halloween SEASON! Did you ever think of THAT, Pinky?Make sure Pinky doesn’t try to steal Bubba and Ping’s candy!
Have a fun and safe Halloween! Don’t eat all the candy before I get there! And don’t forget to vote! Election Day is Tuesday! Local elections are important!
Our new character probably needs a little introduction. Last year I was messing around making felty pandas, and I made one that kind of looked like a nun (wearing pink!) I knew it couldn’t be Pinky, so I decided her name was Sister Mary Fluffy (calling her by her initials may get your mouth washed out with soap!) I also decided that she needed to go to a home that was more…um…fitting of her status than my home, so I sent her off to live in Virginia with the spiritual advisor to the Panda Chronicles.
I had hoped that she would lead a quiet contemplative life, but if you are a follower of either #TheBearchelorette or #BearchelorInParadise on the Twidders, you might have bumped into Sister M.F. (see? what did I tell you?) mixing drinks down at the bar. She has also been a regular player in a little behind the scenes Panda Improv!
But let’s introduce her, and find out more about the good Sister…
“Can I put a little something in my cocoa?”
Stay ‘tooned! More to come next week!
Don’t forget to ‘toon in on Sunday, when we have the concluding installment of A Halloween Carol, as well as some of our favorite Halloween ‘toons!
We are predicted to get a very wild windstorm later on Sunday night, as I write this, so I thought I would get this scheduled so certain people aren’t left hanging! (you know who you are!) Who could this mysterious visitor be?
Well, if you already knew, it wouldn’t be mysterious, would it?
mysteries upon mysteries!
Whoever could this be, and what connection do they have to someone at the Panda House? ‘Toon in again to find out!
