Don’t ask me why, but I started to think that my panda friends were leading a drab, black and white existence. Not that there is anything wrong with glorious Black and White, but you know, a bear gets bored sometimes. So I started playing around with some colored backgrounds. I’ll be introducing them on the Pandyland Cafe Press store soon. Let me know what you think about the technicolor backgrounds!
Be the (princess) Bear!
Bob “I’m not just Black and White” T. Panda
Don’t ask me why, but I started to think that my panda friends were leading a drab, black and white existence. Not that there is anything wrong with glorious Black and White, but you know, a bear gets bored sometimes. So I started playing around with some colored backgrounds. I’ll be introducing them on the Pandyland Cafe Press store soon. Let me know what you think about the technicolor backgrounds!
Be the (princess) Bear!
Bob “I’m not just Black and White” T. Panda
Of course we know that Tian Tian and Yang Guang are not actually Scottish, I mean, it’s not like they are some exotic variation on Scottish Terriers, after all. But still, our heart starts to go pitter patter just a bit when we think of pandas gracing the British Isles once again. As you know, pandas have trod these paths before, and not so very long ago at that. Am I speaking of Chi Chi, who lived at the London Zoo from 1958 until her death in 1972? Why no! I’m speaking of the Torch Bears recent visit to Westminster Cathedral to start their round the world journey back to London for the 2012 (Panda) Olympic Games!
Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda
Before we get started here, I’d like to welcome my most recent subscribers! Hope you enjy the fun!
Be the Bear!
Okay, maybe I should ask people whether they want to be singled out for the Roll…of…Honor…but…NAH! It’s the old saying, it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission. Today’s Roll of Honor honoree is none other than Henry Nicholls, who wrote The Way of the Panda. This is a real book about panda history and panda science, and as someone who is often accused of “only looking at the pictures in art books and reading the cartoons in The New Yorker,” I actually read and enjoyed Henry’s book. So what did Henry do that landed him on the Roll of Honor? Well, he stumbled across this very blog while he was writing his book, and contacted me asking both how I got into panda satire and whether I knew any other examples of it. I never even knew there was such a thing as panda satire! And then, I “offered” to let him use one of my cartoons in his book, and he fell for it….I mean he graciously accepted. Not only that, he listed my blog address and gave me a photo credit. So, The Way of the Panda contains the first internationally print published version of one of my cartoons. And, he put a link on his blog, also named The Way of the Panda, to The Panda Chronicles! Is that cool, or what? Definitely Roll of Honor material. So thanks Henry.
Here’s the cartoon that appeared in his book:
And remember,
Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda
I don’t know what most people think I do all day, but it is definitely NOT sitting around on my fuzzy butt drinking margaritas and eating bon-bons. Wouldn’t it be nice, though, if some magical fairy godperson (I’m not picky) would swoop down and drop a big bag of money so I could sit around drawing PANDA CARTOONS for days on end? I have fans now! (Well at least 28 of you are subscribing and some of those AREN’T because I personally threatened you with bodily harm and excessive whining if you didn’t.) People are depending on me for frequent applications of panda satire!
Around the beginning of October, someone on NPR always announces that the annual MacArthur Fellowships have been awarded and gosh darn it I didn’t get one again this year. Sigh… So there I was, lamenting my failure to receive large bags of money once again, and darned if I didn’t think of a cartoon to celebrate the season. So, I hope someone on the committee that selects people for the grant is reading this, because this category has long been neglected among MacArthur recipients.
Be the Bear (who was feeling better enough to draw a new cartoon!)
Bob T. Panda
Well, we’re not entirely sure, but we think the Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire has officially launched our new Panda Commerce Division: PANDYLAND on Cafe Press. You can follow the link in the sidebar under the heading Panda Commerce Division. ( http://www.cafepress.com/pandyland) I am still working out some of the bugs as I am not the most techno sort of panda and I will be adding more designs and cartoons of Bob and his friends to the page. I hope you will feel inclined to invite some pandas to come and live with you! Black and white goes with everything, don’t you think? We really thought it was time that the pandas got off their furry little butts and helped buy all the ink and paper that we use here to make cartoons. The fast food thing was really not working out.
Let me know what you think, and if there is something you would like to be on a t-shirt or anything else, really!
Be the (well dressed) Bear!
Bob T. Panda
You can believe us when we say that some things are just too absurd to make up, and this is one of them! It’s almost as good as a Tea Party press conference! We now join Bob T Panda and Mehitabel in their ZooNooZ interview with Mei Lan, at the Panda Channel Studios (in an undisclosed location!) This will definitely go down in Panda History.
We’d like to report, in other exciting panda news (is there any other kind?) that the Australian pandas are “dating” Stay tuned for further updates.
Be the Bear! (of one gender or another!)
Bob T. Panda
Well knock me down and put feathers up my nose, I couldn’t have been more surprised at the news coming from the Panda Ranch and Day Spa in Chengdu. Yup, Mei Lan, Atlanta’s Beauty turns out to be a boy! I suppose Lun Lun knew, but for some reason she didn’t say anything. Panda watchers are all scratching their heads in wonder and embarrassment, no doubt.
Here’s the first of 2 cartoons on the subject, so hot off the press our pen is still smoking!
Stay tuned for the 2nd installment (Yes there really is one, it’s just not done yet)!
Till then, here is a little seasonal cheer from the Institute of Contemporary Panda Satire!
Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda
In a recent post by Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of the Panda, he talked about the upcoming panda census. The various methods for counting wild pandas are fairly, well, quite frankly, some of them are just gross. We at the Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire feel we have a better idea. Just mail out the forms to the pandas and let them fill them out. Don’t have their addresses? Just leave them where pandas are sure to find them.
Ok, well, maybe not.
We thought it would be a good idea to re-run a quiz we gave last year in honor of the panda census. Find out right now how far your panda obsession has gone!
Please answer the questions as honestly as possible as this will go on your permanent record.
1. How many stuffed pandas do you now own?
a) Oh, just a couple.
b) You can still see parts of my bed
c) None of your business
2. What percentage of your friends are now sending you pictures of pandas, panda cards or emails with pictures of the earthquake pandas?
a) 10%
b) 25%
c)I have no friends anymore, except for pandas, which all love me.
3. What portion of your time do you spend thinking about pandas?
a) Just when I have my coffee in the morning.
b) Only when I’m awake.
c) What else could I possibly want to think about?
3. Do you feel that your obssession with pandas is interfering with your daily life and ability to earn a living?
a) No, no, it’s no problem. Just talk amongst yourselves, while I look at pictures of earthquake pandas.
b) None of your business.
c) No, the cardboard box that I now live in is quite comfortable and I’ve drawn pictures of pandas all over the inside.
Hope this little quiz has been instructive!
Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda
I have always had a difficult relationship with technology. (And yet, here I am, on a blog! Go figure). Anyway, I was one of the last people I know to join the computer generation. I think I know at least two other hold-outs, but they are bigger old farts than me. I can say that because they will never read this, and besides, they have admitted to this old fartiness already.
I think pandas should have their own radio station. you could call it…hmmm. how about the initials N.P.R.?
Think of all the shows that could be hosted by pandas…
Till next time…
Be the Bear!