I thought after Wednesday’s encounter with the panda kindergarten, Bob needed to chill to a bit and embrace his inner panda.
Nothing like a bit of the great outdoors to straighten up the panda kindergarten.
Just how hard would it be…
…to embrace your inner panda?
No cats were harmed in the drawing of this cartoon.
Be the Bear. Embrace your inner panda!
Bob T. Panda
…but you can’t make them behave themselves.
You know the old saying, you can bring a bear to culture, but you can’t make them learn the ancient rites of the tea ceremony, but that doesn’t stop Bob from trying to bring culture and refinement to the panda kindergarten. I can hardly write that last sentence without snorting and giggling madly. Some how, “culture and refinement” used in the same sentence as “panda kindergarten” invokes the image of merriment and …um…Meihem.
You can lead a bear to culture, but….
Hmmm…Bob will have to call on his inner panda to recover from this learning experience with the panda kindergarten. As you may have noticed, Pinky and the Meihems are now full members in good (or is that bad?) standing in the panda kindergarten. Pinky was a first round draft pick.
I can’t let the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday go by, without mentioning that it marks my 27th year of creative self employment. While I have had to be even more creative in the last six years in the making a living part, it has been an excellent ride, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, had the economy not gone sideways, panda satire might never have come into existence! And isn’t that a thought that would keep you up at night?
Keep Being the bear. I couldn’t do it without you.
Bob T. Panda
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?
well, if I can’t carry it through security, can I eat it now?
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
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!
On the twelfth day of Crisp-Moss, My Panda cam Did See….
MX: no, Pinky, you may NOT have a Bamboo-tini!
I can’t hear you….
F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!
whew!
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,
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.
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
OOOOO! Pinky is a star!
F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!
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,
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
No WONDER I didn’t get any presents!
F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!
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,
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
Oh no! Not again!
F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!
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,
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
HOW many more days are there?
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!
FIIIIIVE cuppycakes!
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
..my panda cam did see…
four pandas sneaking…
…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