Here we are, back again for the second episode of our panda tribute to our departed friend! I think that Six is gonna be in a lot of trouble when this is all over!
What WAS that stuff Six dumped in front of Sebben’s car?
Be the Bear!
Bob T #BidenHarris2020 Panda
It means it’s time to start celebrating Pinky’s birthday! (Bubba: an mine too! Ping: ping!)
The country said goodbye to John R Lewis on Friday.I am so sorry for John Lewis’ passing, but so grateful for his existence and all the work he did. I believe he has inspired a new generation of activists, which is a damn good thing, since Mittens has taken us back to the same kind of hate and bigotry that John Lewis fought in the 60’s. It’s worse in a way, because you think we would know better by now.
Pinky tests her powers….
oops.
Oh Princess Pinky, mom has a trick or two up her paw, I think…
Pinky is VERY powerful. Be afraid, be very afraid, Mr Wu.
Pinky answers difficult questions from the press in her own way.
Could Mama Mei Xiang really be contemplating letting Pinky loose on the pandy kindy?
I keep hearing the song “bears on the Run” going through my head…the ski run, that is!
Never say “No” to a Pinky!
That one just cracked me up!
Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda
Hey, check out the Buy Stuff With Pandas page! We have new felties!
We know so much, and yet so little about the people we encounter here. In the early days of online chat rooms, making connections with people had a somewhat sketchy, if not downright sleazy, implication. But as the world of social media developed and grew, it became a place to form relationships with people with similar interests.
I first dipped my feet into the social media stream when I started putting my panda ‘toons online. I wanted to see if there were panda fans out there (ha ha ha, right?) who might find my ‘toons about badly behaved panda kindergarteners and their beleaguered feline associate, humorous. It turns out that there was an appreciation for panda satire amongst the lovers of pandas that congregate on line. I mean the panda lovers congregate, not the actual pandas. But then again…
At some point I connected with the folks that organized an IRL Panda Convention in San Diego, home to the magnificent Bai Yun and her fuzzy stud muffin hubby, Gao Gao. It was not without a bit of trepidation that I made my foray for an extended meeting of real life panda fans. I had already met some of the DC panda clan. But that was just a meet up at the zoo and then lunch. This was a whole weekend of pandemonium. This would have been in early 2013, when the cute Wu Self made his public debut. If I remember correctly, he slept through most of it.
Later that fall, I returned to DC, after Princess Pinky was born, and once again met up with the DC pandaratti. The DC folks are a unique bunch, mostly because the zoo is in the middle of the city, and there is no admission fee, (although many of them are zoo supporters through FONZ: Friends of the National Zoo.) When a zoo is that accessible, it’s only natural that people go frequently and form close friendships with people they meet repeatedly.
Later in 2013, when the SOB GOP shut the government down, I turned to Twitter to join with other people expressing their outrage in general at such short sighted malfeasance. But I also found, there there was a whole community of panda fans there, that I like to call #PandaTwidder. Needless to say, bonds were formed over the injustice of The Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Panda Cam Shut Down of 2013.
Those who are familiar with my story of how I got into panda satire (and those that haven’t, should read this page of the Panda Chronicles that tells the story of my Pandapiphany…) know that pandas first invaded my brain in early 2008, and then by late 2008, when the economy had gone to hell in a hand basket, they proceeded to save my sanity. (That claim is somewhat open to question.)
And while I love those little fluffy black and white bears more than I can say, it is the people who love them and share my fascination obsession with them that have really saved me. We now find ourselves in even worse times than the financial meltdown of 2008. (2020: hold my beer) We have an incompetent, quite possibly criminal “president” careening toward 100’s of 1,000’s of deaths from an out of control pandemic (which he takes no responsibility for), we have unidentified military-like personnel beating and kidnapping people off the streets in Portland, OR, we have millions of people out of work who have lost their health insurance and if the GOP controlled Senate doesn’t take some action on disaster income relief, millions will be out on the street.
On Sunday, one of the guiding lights of Panda Twitter passed away from a heart attack. Who knows how you cross paths with anyone on Twitter. Some one you follow, follows someone else, before you know it, you are in a 12 way conversation about whether this panda or that panda is the best panda ever, and don’t you think mebbee Bubba needs to lay off the Binky Bars. However I met Jayelle, she was a fan and friend of Panda Satire from the time we met. She was a fierce defender of social justice and voting equality. She loved her wife and she loved her brother and his family more than life itself.
It’s impossible to know everything about those you think of as your friends on Twitter. But if I know nothing else, I know these things: First, that one of her last thoughts must have been, “Damn! I don’t get to vote for Joe Biden and see Trump leave the WH in disgrace.” Not necessarily in this order, I think she told her wife she loved her, that she apologized to her most beloved niece and nephew that while she wouldn’t be there in person to see them grow up, she would always live on in them; to her brother who has serious health problems, that she was so sorry that she wouldn’t be there to support him, like she had been doing for so long; that she was furious that she wouldn’t get to see Bubba Wallace win his next race.
Jayelle had a huge heart and shared it freely with people on Twitter she would never meet. Who knew it would let all of us down so very badly. Rest in Power, Jayelle. Your absence leave a hole that can’t be filled.
When you can’t make fun of politics via panda satire, the terrorists have won
Panda on
Rest in Power, Jayelle
Bob T Panda
We all have our first panda, and so they become our favorite panda for all time. Mine is Mr. Wu. I was already watching pandas when Yun Zi and Po were born, but I wasn’t really WATCHING them, if you know what I mean. Maybe they didn’t have the den cams yet, or I didn’t have the internet at my house, (or a MePhone) so my panda watching time was limited.
Watching Mr. Wu from birth, he inspired many ‘toons and had the stage to himself, before the Meihems and then Pinky came on the scene to steal his thunder.
Dis. Will. Not. Stand!
21) Rusty the scuppers, pirate crew…
An explorer’s work is never done.
“You are right and Wu is wrong…I’ll never do it again, mommy.”
Whatever could be in the box the panda kindergarten is delivering to Mr. Wu?
Will the panda kindergarten get it put together before Bai Yun gets home?
“Up in the Air, Junior Pandas…”
Nothing like a snappy graphic to um…solve a problem!
May Day! May Day!
Mr wu’s cousin, da Sooperpanna, appears courtesy of Bruce Sebring, creator of the Sooperpanna Chronicles
Bet ya didn’t see this coming…or maybe you did.
This week we lost another shining light in the fight against inequality. Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis passed away this week after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. Maybe it is the continuous assault on truth and fairness and vulnerable people that comes in a never ending stream from the WH. Maybe it is the pandemic and the weariness of the (necessary) restrictions, but news of his death hit me hard.
I have to believe that enough people learned from him, and are carrying on his work. I have to believe someone who fought so hard and paid for his activism with physical assaults would not leave us unprepared for the fight to regain the soul of this country. The impact he had on this country are immeasurable. Rest in Power, John Lewis. I hope from wherever you are, you will be able to watch and see that your sacrifices were not in vain.
March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Illustrator)
This powerful, three-book, graphic autobiography written by Lewis (and Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell) is Lewis’ first-hand account of his fight for civil and human rights and the American civil rights movement he was a part of. If you haven’t read this already, I highly recommend this series.
Let’s all get in some #GoodTrouble
Panda on
Bob T Panda
Consider this a placeholder till I am in the right place with the right ‘toon for today! In the meantime, it is the Meihem’s birthday! Yes! Today (even though it was already tomorrow in China where the real Meihems have had their cake, slugged down a few bootinis and told some scandalous jokes at Pinky’s expense.
There must be cake!
Bob T Panda
It is difficult, as I may have mentioned last week, to show a ‘toon starring the Meihems that doesn’t have Pinky somehow messed up in it. Since Pinky’s early years were sans at home siblings, the Meihems filled that valuable role, that of someone to fight with! (Not that I’d know anything about that, heh, heh!)
So, in celebration of the Meihems’ upcoming birthday season I present one of my favorite stories starring The Meihems (and PINKY!!!!)…
Princess Pinky Bao Bao…what have you done now?
Time to call in …Inspector panda!
Inspector Panda is on the job!
“Hello, Bai Yun? this is Lun Lun…about that detective you suggested…”
…of course Boo-mints are pretty good too.
Will the twins get a merit badge for their road trip? will Lun Lun fess up to where the girls are? will Inspector Panda get a clue, or at least more twitter followers. Stay tuned!
Oh, Pinky…what have you done?
Howdy, Mr Kitty, kindly tell us where a tired old cowpoke can get a boo beer and a cuppycake.
enquiring minds want to know….
Fast furry friends…for now
One of the little known wonders of the world.
I love a good art forgery, don’t you?
Oh dear, the Mei-hem twinkies have made Pinky mad. Uh oh.
Panda on!
Bob T Panda
As I ponder the political paradigm shift that is at our door, sometimes I am drawn to the dark visage that is on the other side of the door.
Hang on to your hats, kids, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!
I think that maybe I am not doing anything to help the current debacle we are facing. Then I remember:
So many people have told me, that these ‘toons help them face the day. Laughter in times of tyrannyis a political act. So let’s do all we can to laugh in the face of fascism.
Mr Wu speaks out!
The first appearance of the Meihems!
Huzzah! a guest appearance by little Po!
Sweet dreams, little bears!
Huzzah! It’s Bert and his brother Ernie!
…and their jammies! Huzzah!
Pinky is VERY powerful. Be afraid, be very afraid, Mr Wu.
downloadable paper panda upgrade
Ready for panda kindergarten!
You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find ‘toons with Bert and Ernie without Pinky in them! We’ll feature some of the ‘toons that Pinky has horned in on…I mean, when Pinky joins the Meihems, but now, let’s remind everyone how animals feel about fireworks on the 4th of July!
uh. oh.
Huzzah for Rumpy Dog!
Oh Panada, Oh Panada, how tasty are your maple leaves….
Panda on,
Bob T Panda
No…we can no longer have Nice Things. The problems of racism and economic inequality have long been with us. Now, HWMNBN has given very explicit permission to the people who behave badly towards others, and to exercise that bad behavior unapologetically.
I know that much of what we see in videos and opinion pieces, are designed and edited to elicit our outrage and horror. We may never go back to the way things were but I hope we can think about if they were the way we want things to be. I know this isn’t how I want things to be.
The new slogan of the GOP seems to be” “Keep us in power, so we don’t go to jail.” Who needs a 58 page policy platform?
Oh, Bob, you didn’t really say that, did you?
And look who Bob’s suspension replacement is! Huzzah!
Mehitabel did NOT approve this cartoon.
Archie, is that you?
We KNEW that was you!
I was really afraid this was going to happen.
Now where did that cat go?
Despite the fact that Bob is still wearing his vacation outfit, he’s back and ready to report!
But maybe you should be careful what you admit to, Pinky.
Mehitabel! Can you take a meeting?
Economics and privilege shouldn’t be a zero sum game, that in order for one person to do well, another person has to suffer; how can someone think that one couple’s marriage lessens the validity of another? Maybe we can all work toward making EVERYONE’S life better.
This was way too much fun. :o)
Keep panda-ing on, folks
Bob T Panda
How many of you remember the old SNL routine, with the flight attendants saying goodbye to the departing passengers? As the people filed off the plane, the flight crew got ruder and ruder, and the “buh bye now!” got more sarcastic with each passenger. I think of this often, because an acquaintance of mine, who works in a local shop, and I have had an ongoing “buh bye” routine going for years.
We try to sneak up on each other so that each of us can be the first to say it. I’m afraid I’ll never top her “drive-by buh bye” that she delivered out her car window, as she saw me walking down the street. I hope that which ever one of us survives longer, at the memorial service for our departed friend, has the presence of mind to whisper “buh bye!” Who says people who live in small towns don’t know how to have fun?
Buh BYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Of course the Meihems just ignore her!
Xing Er, lately of Copenhagen Zoo, decided that his enclosure was just way too boring, and he went walkabout in the zoo. He climbed a metal pole to make his escape (I spit on your tree guards!!!!). While there have been numerous red pandas that have managed at least a temporary scamper to freedom, this is the first time that I have heard of a giant panda making an escape. (Other than Pinky, but she had a secret tunnel!) You go, Xing Er!!!
We are all getting tired of staying at home!
Be the Bear
Bob T Panda
“When did you say you were sending the car for the girls????”
Life at Chez Mei is never dull! Even in a pandemic quarantine. Especially in a pandemic quarantine!
Pinky: six an’ sebben make even ME look good!
I’m starting some experimenting with some new pandas! Pictures to come soon, and also some fun swag with every order while supplies last. More on this later!
Panda ON!
Wands UP!
Bob T Panda