Tag Archives: panda kindergarten

We’ll always have Paris…

Well, it is the first Fabulous Furry Friday of the year, but I feel like I need to take a moment for reflection on the essential nature of cartooning and satire, not to mention freedom of expression.

Yes, I am referring to the tragic events in Paris this week, when three radical extremists  thought it was a good idea to invade a newspaper office and gun down 10 (or is it 15?- there were conflicting reports) of the writers, editors, and oh yes, cartoonists that wrote for the paper.

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me all the time. But the nature of writing, making art, or making comics is essentially about telling one’s own truth. It’s about taking a hard and sometimes humorous look at things that make us uncomfortable.  Personally, I mostly try to stay away from making fun of religion, not that it couldn’t use a poke in the side from time to time. I’ve seen some pretty funny comics that have skewered some aspect of the trappings of religion. But maybe I have a more well developed sense of self preservation than some people.

You should feel free to disagree with me or stop reading these cartoons if I’ve offended you. We might even have a civilized discussion on our differing points of view. It’s been known to happen, and the people with whom I’ve had these conversations feel closer and more real to me.  I appreciate their willingness to discuss things rationally.

It sends a shiver of fear up my spine when I remember that there are those in the world who think that differing philosophies  dishonor their beliefs, and that that is punishable by death.

I thought about what cartoon would honor those who died this week for exercising their right to free speech and I couldn’t think of one that I had done that would fit that bill.

So I thought a better idea would be to do what I do best, and make you laugh.

pass the cookies, okay?

pass the cookies, okay?

well, if I can't carry it through security, can I eat it now?

well, if I can’t carry it through security, can I eat it now?

Who says real life can't be funny?

Who says real life can’t be funny?

Be kind, be true to yourself, but most importantly, be the bear. We’ll always have Paris.
Bob T. Panda

On the 10th, 11th, and 12th Day of Crisp-Moss:

Yes,  and technically speaking, 31 Days of Pandas is over, but as I ran out of month before I ran out of verses, (and certain, shall we say, impatient, members of our audience wanted us to just get on with it and post the whole darn thing) we bring you the last three days of Crisp-Moss all at once.

Huzzah!

And now, The Institute of Contemporary Panda Satire presents:
The 12 Days of Crisp-Moss!!!!!

On the twelfth day of Crisp-Moss, My Panda cam Did See....

On the twelfth day of Crisp-Moss, My Panda cam Did See….

MX: no, Pinky, you may NOT have a Bamboo-tini!

MX: no, Pinky, you may NOT have a Bamboo-tini!

I can't hear you....

I can’t hear you….

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

whew!

whew!

Once more with feeling….And a Pinky in a Hemlock Tree!

Everybody sing!

Everybody sing!

Okay, is everyone ready to sing? (and personally, I think that the NZ Panda-Nanny staff would love, love, love it if you serenaded them with this song, tomorrow when you go to visit Pinky and Mum and Dad at the zoo.)

On the Twelth day of Crispmoss, my panda cam did see:

Twelve Pinky Presents,
Eleven Bamboo-tinis,
Ten Pandas Leaping,
Nine Pandarinas,
Eight Santa’s sleigh bears,
Seven pandas chasing,
Six pandas driving,

FII-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE CUPPYCAAAAAAAAAAAKES!

Four pandas sneaking,
Three triplets napping,
Two Meihems plotting
and
A Pinky in a Hemlock Treeeeeeeeeeeee!

Huzzah! And because as I type this, it is New Year’s Eve (well, except in the places where it is already the New Year) I leave you with the panda kindergarten, celebrating New Year’s Eve in their own very special way.

new years eve party, panda kindergarten

Happy New Years, from The Institute of Contemporary Panda Satire!

I can’t tell you enough times or how much it means to me, that you have chosen to be the bears. Thank you all, and the happiest of New Years.

Bob T. Panda

 

On the 9th Day of Crisp-Moss…

On the 9th day of Crisp-Moss my panda cam did see…

OOOOO! Pinky is a star!

OOOOO! Pinky is a star!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

whew!

whew!

Alright, everyone, once more into the breach and I see you in the third row just moving your lips!

On the Ninth day of Crispmoss, my panda cam did see:

Nine Pandarinas,
Eight Santa’s sleigh bears,
Seven pandas chasing,
Six pandas driving,

FII-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE CUPPYCAAAAAAAAAAAKES!

Four pandas sneaking,
Three triplets napping,
Two Meihems plotting
and
A Pinky in a Hemlock Treeeeeeeeeeeee!

Only one more day pus a bonus day till the end of 31 days of pandas! Huzzah!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

On the 8th Day of Crisp-Moss…

On the 8th Day of Crisp-Moss my panda cam did see…

No WONDER I didn't get any presents!

No WONDER I didn’t get any presents!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

whew!

whew!

Okay, I want to hear everyone in the back row….

On the Eighth day of Crispmoss, my panda cam did see:

Eight Santa’s sleigh bears,
Seven pandas chasing,
Six pandas driving,

FII-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE CUPPYCAAAAAAAAAAAKES!

Four pandas sneaking,
Three triplets napping,
Two Meihems plotting
and
A Pinky in a Hemlock Treeeeeeeeeeeee!

Yay! just four more days!

Be the Bear
Bob T. Panda

On the 7th day of Crisp-Moss…

On the 7th day of Crisp-Moss, My panda cam did see…

Oh no! Not again!

Oh no! Not again!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

whew!

whew!

Is everyone ready to sing along? Okay, here we go:

On the 7th day of crisp-Moss, my panda cam did see,
Seven pandas chasing,
Six pandas driving,

FII-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE CUPPYCAAAAAAAAAAAKES!

Four pandas sneaking,
Three triplets napping,
Two Meihems plotting
and
A Pinky in a Hemlock Treeeeeeeeeeeee!

Doesn’t that feel good?

I’m starting to look at what the New Year will bring, and I have plans and resolutions as regards The Institute of Contemporary Panda Satire. One thing I really must do is to get better about sending out a monthly newsletter. So many people have signed up to receive news of panda satire, and I have been really falling down on the job. It means that I have to reassess how much time I spend on various social media. I’ll still be there but maybe not quite as much, and it will be when I’ve gotten all my other work done. Once upon a time, I didn’t even have internet access at home, and still maintained The Panda Chronicles.

How did I do it? heck if I can remember, but do it, I did, and now I must take myself in paw, because I have big plans for next year, which I will start letting you in on in my newsletters, which i swear I will start writing any day now.

The 12 Days of Crisp-moss will be wrapping up on New Year’s Day, which means you will get three days worth of panda fun in one day. After that, I will take a short break and return on Sunday, January 4th with a brand new cartoon, and then return to my pre-31 days of pandas schedule  of new ‘toons on Sundays and Wednesdays, with a encore presentation on Fridays.

Do continue to alert me to panda news or any other news story of the absurd that you think might have an application in panda satire. Use the form on the contact us page to be sure the comment gets to me. Or just use it to say “hello” or “I think you are the most brilliant cartoonist to walk the face of the earth since Bill Watterson retired.” Or something like that.

Once again, I wish you peace, happiness, health, and pandas in the new year. Thank you all for being the bears. May your inner pandas rejoice in the wonders of life, and may you always have enough cuppycakes to share.

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

 

On the 6th Day of Crisp-Moss…

On the 6th Day of Crisp-Moss, my panda cam did see…

HOW many more days are there?

HOW many more days are there?

whew!

whew!

On the sixth day of Crisp-Moss, my panda cam did see:

Six pandas driving,
F-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-IVE Cuppy-Cakes!
Four pandas sneaking,
three triplets napping,
two Meihems plotting

and

A Pinky in a Hemlock tree.

Is everybody singing? Has your spouse/significant other/roommate/threatened you yet, if you don’t stop singing that silly song?

Just checking.

Be the (singing) Bear,
Bob T. Panda

PS: just a reminder that there are only 3 more days to have your Panda Chronicles Books purchases (and Pandamorphosis) result in a donation for Pandas International! We love all the work that PI does for pandas! Remember, without real pandas, panda satire wouldn’t be funny!

On the 5th Day of Crisp-Moss…

On the 5th Day of Crisp-Moss, my panda cam did see…

FIIIIIVE cuppycakes!

FIIIIIVE cuppycakes!

whew!

whew!

On the fifth day of Crisp-moss, my panda cam did see:

F-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VVVVVE Cuppy-Cakes!
four pandas sneaking,
three triplets napping,
two Meihems plotting

and

a Pinky in a Hemlock Tree!

:o)
Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

On the 4th Day of Crisp-Moss…

..my panda cam did see…

The 12 Days of Crisp-Moss presents: On the 4th Day of Crisp-Moss!

four pandas sneaking...

four pandas sneaking…

...and a Pinky in a Hemlock tree!

…and a Pinky in a Hemlock tree! ( In case you enjoyed #OccupyHemlock)

Okay, everybody sing with me…
On the fourth day of Crisp-Moss, my panda cam did see:

Four Pandas sneaking,
Three Triplets napping,
Two Meihems plotting,
and
A Pinky in a hemlock tree!

Isn’t this fun?

Be the holiday bear and don’t drink too much eggnog!
Bob T. Panda

31 Days of Pandas: Day 21 and my Annual Review

Wow, we are two thirds of the way through 31 Days of Pandas! It is also the night of the solstice, which is the longest night of the year, unless of course, you live in the southern hemisphere, in which case it is the longest day of the year. Go figure. It’s all a little yin and yang to me, which reminds me of pandas, of course. (Okay, quiet in the cheap seats. I know everything reminds me of pandas! Do you have a problem with that?)

And speaking of pandas, here we go with the next episode of The Case of the Picturesque Panda! Huzzah!

Hmmm...what possibly could be in those large, painting sized crates that Babette has had loaded onto the S.S. Tipandic ocean liner?

Hmmm…what possibly could be in those large, painting sized crates that Babette has had loaded onto the S.S. Tipandic ocean liner? And should we be worried that the captain is a polar bear?

I just wanted to add a little reminder that you have a mere 10 more days to order any of the Panda Chronicle Books or Pandamorphosis and have a portion of the profits go to Pandas International. You know you want them, so don’t wait, okay?

Additionally, the National Zoo in Washington DC is inviting people to print, photograph, and post on twitter, the National Zoo’s version of the flat panda. I propose printing, photographing and posting pandas from my paper panda page (especially Princess Pinky) and tweeting them to the NZ at   and use the hashtag #FlatPanda. Feel free to tweet them to me as well @PandaChronicle or @NoirPandas  Here are a few examples of the travels of Babette:

Babette visiting her good friend Po, before Po's trip to China

Babette visiting her good friend Po, before Po’s trip to China

Babette at the ice skating rink in Rockefeller center a few years ago with her good friend Frances A.

Babette at the ice skating rink in Rockefeller center a few years ago with her good friend Frances A.

And now….

The Year in Review…

If you are just here for the pandas, you can stop reading here, and go look at pictures of pandas on Facebook or wherever pandas congregate on the internet. But this has been a year of challenges and changes for me and I felt the need, on this long night of the solstice, to take a look back and reflect on the accomplishments as well as the sorrows.

I wrote a rough draft of my year in review, by way of a challenge from Chris Guillebeau over at The Art of Non-Conformity.  The idea of writing an annual review is something I’ve wanted to add to my decade long Annual Pre-view, which I do along with another artist friend of mine. We write down our plans and goals, personal and work, for the year. It’s been a very useful tool to organize the chaos and actually accomplish work throughout the year.

But the review that I wrote in that draft seemed kind of cold, with no heart to it. So, while it is useful to me to see where I achieved and where I failed in my professional life, it didn’t have enough of my heart and soul in it, if you know what I mean. If I have learned nothing else from pandas, I’ve learned that even when you are an endangered species, heart is everything. That you pick yourself up from what seems like the worst thing ever, and get up, have lunch, and maybe climb a tree.

So this is a bit more and a bit less than that other review. Bear with me.

This is hard to write about, but it was the event that shaped much of how the year felt. I lost a dear friend to cancer this year. I met her 22 years ago when she and her husband moved to our island community, and I took an instant liking to them both. As coincidence would have it, we had all lived in Philadelphia, PA at some point in our lives, so maybe that was part of why we connected. She encouraged and supported all my creative paths, including pandas. Like all friendships, it ebbed and flowed over the 22 years we knew each other, but she was always there when I needed her. Spending time with her in the last weeks of her life was one of the best things I’ve done. I will miss her forever.

This one's for you, Jude.

This one’s for you, Jude.

I published three books, including my pandam-opus, Pandamorphosis, a wordless picture book, which took me more than 3 years to complete. That process had it’s ups and downs, but I can honestly say that I am proud of it. (also The Book of Wu and Pandapocalypse Now!)

I visited three sets of pandas, in two countries, and met more fans of my cartoon panda creations. I can honestly say, that I never really expected to form so many real life connections with people who read my books and blog. It is a wonder and a gift that I am grateful for every day. The other surprise has been the people who have written to me and told me how much my panda-toons have helped them cope with the challenges in their life. Here, I thought I was just amusing myself. The Panda Chronicles was born out of my need for light and humor, when my art career took a dive during the financial meltdown of 2009. I am gratified (not to mention amazed) that it has helped others as well.

I am still trying to cope with rebuilding my fine art career. It is not easy, but as long as I have pandas, I think it will work out okay. The challenge is to to see with clear vision, to see what is possible moving forward, as opposed to trying to retrieve what was. Easy peasy, right?

In the next week, I will start working on my goals for 2015. I’ll let you know how it all works out. In the meantime, keep being the bear, OK?

Bob T. Panda

31 Days of Pandas: Day 20!

Oh, this is getting so exciting! Here we are at day 20 of 31 Days of Pandas and only three more episodes of Inspector Panda’s mystery, The Case of the Picturesque Panda to come! I am on the edge of my seat!

Tomorrow’s post will include my Year in Review post, as well as the next episode of Inspector Panda, but now, let’s just sit on the edge of our seat, have a cuppycake, and get on with the show!

All right all you unruly little pandas! Be quiet for a minute!

All right all you unruly little pandas! Be quiet for a minute!

Hey…where DID Babette go?

I guess you’ll find out tomorrow.

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda