I know I’m kind of poking the bear here. But the election is over and You Know Who Lost! Once again I’m up far to late so I will just post today’s ‘toon and call it a night!
It’s time to call it a day, Mittens!
Be the Bear
Bob T Panda
What do you think…A 2020 Felt Dumpster fire with burning marshmallows on sticks as an accessory package for Frank and Mikey?
Mikey’s marshmallow, is, of course, on fire.
2020 seems like it was million years long, didn’t it? As we get ready to enjoy the wonder that is 31 Days of Pandas I thought it would be good to look back at a ‘toon or two from each month this year, so that we can see the many splendored (????) year that 2020 has been.
You might have noticed I have not done any post election ‘toons. Call it superstition, but until I watch Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take the oath of office, I am somewhat apprehensive that Mittens will manage to yank the rug out from under us yet again. Suffice to say, Pinky is taking the results fairly well (for Pinky) but I’m not expecting that to hold necessarily. As she said to me, “it’s been kind of hard to be my normal, outrageous self, when mittens is so outrageous on his own in real life. dis is beary unfairs to pinky. ”
In addition to the twice weekly new ‘toons, 31 Days of Pandas will feature Holiday Encore Presentations from the Panda Chronicle Archives. And…maybe a commercial or two from the Buy Stuff With Pandas pages. On Tuesday I will reveal the latest addition to the Felty Panda Pantheon (which according to my laptop dictionary can mean: a group of particularly respected, famous, or important people: the pantheon of the all-time greats.) I assume that goes for pandas too!
A reminder that PDXWildlife Auction ends today (November 29th) and that felty pandas bought during the months of November and December will trigger a small donation to PDXWildlife!
January brings us one of the more reprehensible creatures that abide in the land of pandas…
This makes perfect sense to me!
In February, the Impeachment saga went on, while unbeknownst to (almost) everyone (everyone but Mittens and some Senators who coincidentally traded stocks that were about to tank) a global pandemic was brewing.
What did Mr. Bun Know and when did he know it?
March: Later in the year, we lost our beloved icon, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. But earlier in the year, she was still kicking butt and taking names, despite her battle with cancer. She lives on in our hearts.
Meet Ruth Panda Ginsbear
April: The pandemic took hold for real, and while Mittens and his evil spawn tried to figure out how they could ignore it while making a buck off of it, governors (mostly in states led by Democrats) enacted quarantines and mask requirements to try to buy some time for hospitals that were being overwhelmed by COVID19 patients.
You can’t get more socially distant than sending everyone to their room!
Well, bless her heart!
May: Speaking of trying to make a buck off of the pandemic…
Wait…we get paid?
June: The pandemic raged on. Closed and deserted National Parks made room for the native wildlife. The Democratic field had narrowed to Joe Biden, and Mittens was aiming his propaganda machine at Biden, while continuing to mismanage the pandemic. Thank goodness Frank and Mikey were on the job to report on happenings at Yosemite National Park!
Be a wild thing!
Wild thing, I think I love you!
July: The Democratic Party stages a virtual Convention that a was surprisingly moving, and despite a few technical glitches, was both watchable and inspiring. Shortly before the convention, Biden chose Kamala Harris as his running mate. HUZZAH!!! Mittens produced a cringeworthy convention, at least partially on the grounds of the WH, which as it is a government property, I’m pretty sure was illegal. One of his lesser crimes, I guess. I’ve lost count.
Well, it IS rather easy to understand…
Personally, I think the voice of Pinky is much more soothing than that of You Know Who!
August: We learned of the death of one of the guiding lights of the Twitter Panda Community. She loved pandas and NASCAR and was a force for connection within the panda community. It was not coronavirus, but who knows if her heart condition would have gotten more scrutiny if not for the overwhelming strain that coronavirus placed on hospitals.
Meanwhile, despite a slight dip in cases in May and June, the unwillingness of some states to institute mask requirements and event restrictions, the pandemic comes roaring back. Just when toilet paper supplies began to normalize.
But late in august (the 21st, to be exact) we had some GREAT news!
Who will win? Six and Sebben battle it out on the track!
Mommee Mei has an eagle eye!
A new cubby! The possibilities are endless!
September: Ping learns he can stay forever, and Frank and Mikey become Felties!
Mommee Mei always knows the right thing to do and say!
Is that a donut I see before me?
October: Frank applies for a new job!
Frank is off on a new adventure!
And now here we are! November! Mittens Removal Day!
Mittens Removal Day!
Be the very brave Bear!
Bob T Panda
This is one of those days when I don’t really have a theme for the Sunday ‘toon round up. Yesterday the power went out on the entire island, and I am rarely prepared for the first power outage of the season. For instance, I don’t have my little propane stove, which works without electricity all ready to go. Don’t ask. Also, the batteries in my smoke detectors picked that very moment to tell me they needed to be replace.
The smoke detectors are hardwired into the electrical system, but have battery back ups for when the power goes out. On this occasion, they started beeping incessantly. WHICH THEY DID UNTIL THE POWER CAME BACK ON AT 1;30-ISH IN THE MORNING…
So, here goes nothing. I’m just going to look up random dates and see what strikes me as funny today.
Uh oh! has there been Russian tampering with the selection of the Torch Bears?
Hey! watch where you put that torch!
Clear as mud!
Panda Cam Follies
Oh those red pandas! They are such characters!
You knew Mommee was going to get angry, didn’t you?
I have extra frosting!
This is very scary, don’t you think?
Aw, Pinky…Bubba loves you!
Do we HAVE to go?
Things are about as real as they can get.
Move over Ping! I’m coming in too!
*Speaking of funny….
Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda
The day is here. We have pulled democracy back from the brink of disaster. I keep thinking about how I felt on11/9/2016. I was stunned with disbelief. How could this have happened? And yet, from the moment Trump came down his golden escalator, I had an unquiet rumble sounding in my head and my heart.
But we should take a moment to savor the sudden release many of us are feeling. It’s the feeling you get when you see the car coming into your lane with just enough time to avoid a collision. It’s the feeling you get when you are the last car on the ferry, for the last boat of the night. It’s the feeling you get when a growling dog rushes the fence, and you realize that the fence will hold him, even as you feel the rush of wind and adrenaline.
We have narrowly escaped a future that writers of dystopian fiction foretell, and a past that historians write about 1930’s Germany and Europe. Meanwhile we still have a growing pandemic to deal with. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are not magicians. They can not wave a magical wand (sorry Pinky) and poof it away. They believe in science. They will lead with compassion and knowledge. They will listen to the scientists and encourage people to act in their own interest. Maybe without the threat of Trumps rage and instability hanging over them, even red state governors will start acting in the best interest of their constituents.
So be of good cheer! We have vanquished the evil overlord, who would wish to be king. There is still hope for leveling the Senate playing field by winning the two runoff elections in January (Deadline to register to vote is December 7th, in Georgia, so if you live there, please vote!)
This was then:
Remember the song “The Eve of Destruction”? That’s what today feels like.
This is how we fought the forces of darkness:
Whats a protest without pandas?
Hey, save some cuppycakes for me!
What a lovely day for the 3 pandas to relax at home!
The world swoons….
Guess who’s coming for cuppycakes!!!!
“We are NEVER going to get our security deposit back!!!”
Ruh Roh….
Look who’s here!
And now, for the earthshaking subject of HUGE great importance…COOKIE BALANCING!
And now…going for the gold!!!
Did I mention I broke the world record in cookie balancing?
There are rules here!
The roar of the crowd, the smell of a freshly baked cookie…
Actual balancing cookie!
be the Bear!
Bob T Panda
Oh…um there is something else happening today, isn’t there? Just kidding. Yes, it is Election Day in the US, or you could more accurately say it is the end of the voting period, which for some states, started more than a month ago. So far, in the early voting, the rate of voting is significantly higher than even the total number of votes cast in the 2016 presidential election.
Really, I have no idea.
I’ve pretty much said everything that can be said about You Know Who, so saying it one more time isn’t going to make a whole lot of difference. I am grateful for the voices of reason and hope, like Heather Cox Richardson, a historian who has been writing a daily newsletter about this election and the events surrounding it. I highly recommend reading her posts. I think they are probably collected in one place on her SubStack page, and you can book mark it and read it a few posts at a time if you need a little boost.
Just because voting ends today, the counting (and legal wrangling) could take much longer. Better to have some hopeful things to read instead of endless doom scrolling. (Okay, okay, I’m sure I’ll do some doom scrolling too)
First, thank you to all who have stuck with me through all this. An artists job is to make art about what touches us most deeply. Sometimes it is light, funny things; sometimes things get a little dark. I have learned to follow what my inner panda tells me to follow, to be true to what that inner panda is telling me is important. If you had to drop out for a while, I get it. Despite my wish to reread Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, there is no way in hell my nerves can take that right now. Same for 1984 or Animal Farm. Sorry, George.
I hope that after this is all over (and Joe Biden wins pleasepleasepleaseplease) that there is the will and power to get some important things done:
Voting is a right as well as an imperative. It should be easy to register and to vote for EVERYONE.
If the pandemic showed us anything, health care needs to be universal, affordable, and available for everyone, and not tied to employment.
While the Lincoln Project ads were devastating, clever, and brutal, everything they talked about are true things that tRUmp (and his minions) is doing. I know they won’t always be on our side. There needs to be room for conservatives, but not for them to lie or disadvantage voters who aren’t THEIR voters, as the current Republican Party has done. Promote what you believe are righteous policies and if they are what the majority of people want, well, then that is what will happen.
Gerrymandering needs to be put to rest. Voters should should choose their representatives. Representatives shouldn’t get to choose their voters. Corporate interests should not have the outsize influence that they have.
I sometimes wonder if maybe they way that I think is wrong. But I think the very fact that I can question my own beliefs, just might mean that I have an open mind. I see no such questioning from the people who support the terrible policies of Donald Trump. That elected officials can excuse and enable his terrible polices, tells me they are just as bad as he is. I hope they are voted out despite all the roadblocks they have thrown in front of their opposition.
Mittens Removal Day!
And for something funnier than I am today, check out Randy Rainbow’s latest video!
Panda on!
Bob T Panda
Fabulous Furry Friday KNOWS that this is one of your favorites!
I don’t know about you, but my anxiety is ratcheted up to about an 11. If you haven’t voted yet, the time is now. Unfortunately, with the perverting of Postal imperatives, the safest way to vote is either in person or hand delivering your mail-in ballot. I’m trying really hard to remain hopeful. Some states are reporting that their early voting totals are higher than their total votes in 2016. How many new voters that represents, we won’t know for a while. One thing is sure, there is going to be full employment for election law attorneys.
Since I didn’t have a plan for today’s ‘toons (other than the “Spring Forward, Fall Back” ‘toon) I’m just going to randomly go through ‘toons I published in November for all the years that this collection has been here!
2011: Pandas arrive in Scotland!!!
What could be more scottish than Pandas?
2012: Insider Twinkie Trading
Bob, Bob, Bob…when will you ever learn?
2013: Heh! Mommee plays a trick on Pinky!
Oh Princess Pinky, mom has a trick or two up her paw, I think…
2014: Cats and Pandas
No, I don’t think so. Bwahahaha!
2015: Election shenanigans have been going on for a while.
And how did Pinky manage to hack into my computer again?
2016: Seems like such a long time ago, and yet…here we are…
Can I have EXTRA extra whipped cream?
2017: A Halloween Classic!
Maybe Bubba is having a Halloween SEASON! Did you ever think of THAT, Pinky?
2018: The first appearance of Frank and Mikey!!!
Send in the bears!
Helloooooo bears!
I like bears.
I just had to post the whole story about Frank and Mikey ALLEGEDLY eating Justice Kravenklaw… For another most excellent take of the Kavanaugh hearings, I think this is the best!
And finally, 2019: The Bus is coming! Get ready for some serious underbussing!
Our favorite grizzlies are doing “The Bus”!
Panda on (as best you can)
Bob T Panda
I just added 3 layer fitted masks to my Redbubble store! Here’s the ;ink where you can search for your favorite designs and see if the masks are available in that design (The formatting did not work for all designs, because of the fitted nature of the masks.) Mask up everyone!
It’s the time of year when little ghosts and goblins go marauding around neighborhoods demanding treats. Alas, not this year, I don’t think. But oddly enough, candy sales are UP! mI have *no* idea why that might be the case.
Trick or Trick!!!!!!!
Darn those Meihems!!!!
“It was just a suggestion”
Okay. That was just WAY too scary.
Ha ha! That Pinky is so clever!
Will Pinky EVER quit tormenting her brother?
trouble…trouble…trouble…It starts with “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for Pinky!
Make sure Pinky doesn’t try to steal Bubba and Ping’s candy!
I can’t believe Bob’s costume didn’t fool anyone!
Panda On!
Bob T Panda
Pretty scary, huh?
Now where were we? Oh yes, Mr. Wu and a panda that looks an awful lot like his next oldest brother Yunior have just met Mr. Toasty, as they make their way to the Bamboo city (or the Cuppycake City, depending on which chapter you’re reading #PerilsOfPantsing)
So now, as we chew our fingernails past our second knuckles, grab your popcorn and sit back to watch the final episodes of…
That cat is pure evil!
Sorry, no photo bomb from princess Pinky. her mother thought todays cartoon was too scary for her
Who would have thought cuppycakes could be enchanted?
Stay tuned later this month for the outtakes and blooper reel!
Good witch Bee, the Bear, to the rescue!
Are you SURE you weren’t in an earlier scene?
But we’ve come such a long way already….Bwahahaha!
Ride you pandas! Ride!
Evilness is one thing, but there must be snacks!
Well,lookee here! isn’t that….?
Don’t mess with Princess Pinky!
All well that ends well. Now let’s have some cuppycakes!!!
Just over 2 weeks to go!
Be the Bear
Bob I have my ballot T Panda
Who among you have seen the original Vincent Price classic, The Fly? If you have, you may have heard a tiny voice when you watched the Vice Presidential debates the other night. What did the voice say?
Help Me! Hellllllllllppppppppp meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (said in your best Vincent Price as tiny fly voice.)
Help meeeeeee! Help meeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Be the Bear!
Or the FLY!)
Bob T Panda
It is time for our annual Encore Presentation of The Wizard of Wu!!!!
When I was growing up, The Wizard of Oz was always shown around Halloween. Other than having a wicked witch, okay, and the flying monkeys, it’s not particularly Halloweenie, but who am I to ignore a cultural tradition?
Come to think of it, Minch McTurtle and HWMNBN and all their minions are rather like flying monkeys, don’t ya think?
So, get your poppy corn, and beverage of choice and get comfy for the first half of…
The Wizard of Wu
We’re in for it now, Binky!
Hang on to your hats, kids, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!
I don’t think we’re in Pandiego any more, Binky….
What could be waiting outside? Where the heck ARE we, Binky?
Don’t I know you from somewhere?
Mehitabel would like to register her protest about given the least sympathetic role in this adventure.
Okay, now it’s getting exciting! Scary parts dead ahead!
I have a bad feeling about this….
Are you SURE there will be no flying monkeys?
A Reminder: Just a few more days (until Wednesday) to order a Ruth Panda Ginsbear and have a portion of the proceeds go to the Get Mitch or Die Trying Fund over at Vote Save America to help flip the Senate Blue!
The Notorious RPG
Be the Bear and VOTE!!!
Bob T Panda