Tag Archives: panda kindergarten

But First, a Word From Reality

We all love pandas. And we all love panda satire. (okay, I’m stretching the point a little, but just be patient with me.) So if you are here, and reading this blog, I think we can agree that we have at least one thing in common. Pandas.

But now, let’s have a word from reality…

I’m guessing that we all have differing opinions on some things and that’s okay. Every once in a while, I make someone mad because I put words in my pandas’ mouths that disagree with what the reader believes and that’s okay too.

Today, the Supreme Court agreed that any two people in this country can get married and that their marriage will be recognized throughout the country. I think that’s marvelous. I myself have no intention of getting married, but that has been my right to get married or not for my whole life. I have friends and family who this has not been their good fortune, to have this as their decision to do or not. But now they have that right and I say huzzah!

The cynic in me says that as the years and decades go by, same sex couples will discover the rights of divorce, child custody and community property, but perhaps that’s as it should be. Why should heterosexual couples have all the fun?

The pandas have nothing to say about this, at least not yet. The general atmosphere in the pandy kindy is one of celebrations. After all, it’s really hard to tell what sex pandas are, let alone whether they are the same sex or not.

This political season promises to be an even more acrimonious one than those that preceded it. I will do my best to only make fun of the things that people actually say and do, and so far it seems like this is going to be a bonanza year for satire. If I make something up, I will try to make sure that it is rooted in reality, and not just me saying something nasty about someone whose politics I disagree with.

Okay. enough of this serious crap. Let’s have fun with pandas! Vote Pinky 2016!

Vote for Pinky. Do YOU want to explain why you didn’t?

Bring on the clown car!

BTW, you can show your support for Pinky by buying Vote Pinky merchandise at my pandyland store. Huzzah!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday

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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?

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

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?

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

Sorry, You Are Not on the List.

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Sometimes inspiration hits when you are least expecting it, and in today’s cartoon, I was inspired to give the 2013 born triplets (now heretofore in these pages to be known collectively as “the minions”) a very important job as part of Pinky’s campaign team.

If you’d like to see Pinky, you need to be on the list.

And Mommee, sorry, you are not on the list.

Minion security: you can’t be too careful.

I think maybe the little girl minion is still too star struck by Princess Pinky to really be taking her job seriously, but hey, who isn’t? Pinky Money, anyone?

Meanwhile, I am starting to think about the next book in the Panda Chronicle series….Huzzah! Stay tuned.

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday

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It has been Pinky Pinky Pinky all the time around here lately. I do like to give the other pandas a chance to shine, but Pinky is so persuasive! What is a panda satirist supposed to do?

But a news story making the rounds of the panda faithful caught my attention this week, involving not Pinky but her mother! It turns out, that Mei Xiang had a very successful film career, long before Pinky or even Tai Shan was a gleam in their father’s eye. Yes, according to some research done by Pandas International, Mei Xiang (otherwise known as Pinky’s Mommee) was the sneezing baby panda, with over 200,000,000 views on and off youtube.

There will be a response to this news, in the pages of the Panda Chronicles, but not just yet. In the meantime, enjoy these cartoons from the archives for Fabulous Furry Friday!

Boopie and the pandas…

a morality tale…

…in several parts…

…but Boopie and the pandas live happily ever after. Ben does not.

Have a happy weekend, ya’ll!

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

It’s Official! Pinky is More Popular Than…

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We now have absolute proof that Pinky is more popular than…

Any. Other. Animal. At. The. Smithsonian. Zoo. I bet you thought I was going to quote John Lennon.

At least any that have their own animal cam. The elephants were the closest contenders, with over 600,000 views. Pah! Chicken feed!!!! Do you want to guess how many views the panda cam had in 2014? Oh…you already looked. Well, if you were waiting for me to tell you, the panda cam had in excess of 38,000,000 views. Rumor has it, the panda cam takes more than 60% of the zoo’s bandwidth (whatever that is). Well… do you really want to watch anyone other than Pinky?

editors note: We just received a clarification from a reader who actually knows this for a fact (because she works for the Smithsonian) that the panda cam actually takes up 60% of the ENTIRE SMITHSONIAN bandwidth (19 museums and 9 research centers), not just the Zoo. Ahem. Pinky IS an icon. Just sayin’

I thought not.

Proof positive of Pinky’s persuasive popularity!

Which leads to me to my other “truth is weirder than fiction but provides great inspiration for panda satire” news story: Pinky Money! Okay, it’s really just a commemorative coin, but a small bear can dream, can’t she? (Note: this is NOT an endorsement for Pinky Money.)

BTW, we apologize for not adding any more of the WeREndangered mug series that we promised. We were “away” (no, not in prison!) for a few weeks and then got sick on our return, so the new mug program is set back a bit. I’m going to get right on it though! Bee the Bear and Mr. Wu are not waiting very patiently, and neither are the Meihems. Stay tuned to the Panda Channel and we will let you know when they are on the shelf.

Be the Bear and vote Pinky Pinky Pinky in 2016!
Bob T Panda

Money for Pinky!

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I know you want to just cut to the chase and go see what Pinky has up her paws to raise money for Pinky and her presidential campaign, but just bear with me a minute.

Oh. You can’t wait…read a few of my thoughts, it’s just but what is Pinky up to NOW, you want to know!

Oh, all right. Go ahead a look. I’ll be right here.

Are you back?
Good.
So I was listening the National Panda Radio the other day, and I heard a story about how paper is making a comeback. And it’s not just about books. There are recent studies that suggest that students retain more relevant information by writing, rather than typing on a laptop or tablet. Artist and writer Lynda Barry (now Dr. Lynda, thanks to a honorary doctorate from my alma mater The University of the Arts in Philadelphia) suggests that ideas and memories can be triggered and stimulated by the actual act of putting pencil to paper.

This is encouraging and validating for a luddite such as myself, who refuses to get a Waccom tablet to draw and paint digitally, and insists on drawing with pencil and india ink with a dip pen (a dip pen, for crying out loud!!!!) to bring you all the panda satire you can stand. Many is the day when I started a cartoon without an idea, but I would draw a nose, and then some ears, and before I knew it, pandas were doing stuff and it was funny!

Okay… Well, I thought it was funny.

Just in case you were wondering how Pinky came up with the idea to do this:

I really had no idea what she was up to.

I’m sure there will be some consequences both for Pinky and myself.
See you next time!

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

We are not done yet

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We are not done yet, talking about the power outage that happened some time back in Washington DC (Known around here as the “other” Washington). Princess Pinky has some ‘splainin’ to do, I think.

Zoonooz is on the job. Can you say “cover up”?

Bob has always turned a blind eye to anything Princess Pinky might be getting up to, but developments are developing that he may not be able to ignore!

Stay tuned to this here station!

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday Returns

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What would we do without Fridays? That gateway to the weekend and relaxation…or maybe you work weekends or have saved up all the chores you don’t have time for during the week, so really, wouldn’t it be better if you could just sneak back to the office so you could watch panda videos of Fezbook, when you think no one is looking?

Not of course that I am suggesting that you do that. I’m just saying….

From a true story!

The panda kindergarten is so very helpful.

You know we’re just kidding about this, right? And besides…you can never have too many cartoons about cats!

Aren’t you done yet?

Thanks for joining us for Fabulous Furry Friday!

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday: the classics….

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what to do, what to do….why don’t I present some of the ‘toons from the way-back machine, when panda satire was young….

Oh those polar bears! What jokers they are! This remains one of my favorites!

And then there is um….cake.

All salute the sacred cuppycake!

What do you mean, “Other guests?”

can’t I have just one more cuppycake?

And love of cake is not limited to pandas….

Thanks again to Henry Nicholls for alerting me to this story

Have a fabulous furry friday!

Huzzah!
Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday presents…Tales of Wu

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Oh heck…I don’t know! lets just do something random….maybe Wu related, since Princess Pinky has many of the new featured spots in the coming weeks…

Let’s have some Wu-wu-wu-weally good times for Fabulous Furry Friday!

Who can forget Mr Wu’s first adventure with the Panda Kindergarten?

And what about when he met Bee, the Bear, when he ran away to Join the circus?

And then there was his reaction when he learned about the birth of the Meihems!

(Thanks to one of my FB friends…was it you Debbi Z? who quoted Mr Wu’s line ” Dis. Is. A. Travesty!!!!! last week over on FB….if it wasn’t you, maybe someone will correct me. :o))

And, yes, it IS a Wu-nderful life!

We’re in for it now, Binky! Who could forget The Wizard of Wu?

If you wish you could read the whole of these tales of Wu, hop on over to my book page, where you can order the Book of Wu, with a handy link to Amazon. You know you want to.

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda