Tag Archives: Panda

Selfies at the Tour de France

Oh my, just when I thought that the practice of taking selfies couldn’t get any more absurd, (see this post) an observant reader told me that people were taking selfies at the Tour de France. Not only were they taking selfies, they were stepping out into the flow of (really, really, really,) fast bicycle racers in order to do so.

We are talking about bicycle racers with only three fat cells in their entire bodies, who are probably already a little cranky because
A) Someone just compared them to Lance Armstrong,
B) It’s July,
C)There are not actually french fries every where in France,
and
D) Some moron with an iphone – who hasn’t been on a bike since 4th grade – just stepped out in front of them and they crashed and cannot finish the race because their $12,000 Italian racing bike now looks like a leftover pretzel from the Bumpkin County Fair.

Of course, here at The Institute of Contemporary Panda Satire felt we had to address this issue, in the mature and respectful way that you have come to expect from us. (Insert fart joke here.)

Sometimes real life news stories make it Just. Too. Easy

Meanwhile back at the Zoo, panda birthday season has begun. I hesitate to admit that I don’t know the birthdays of every U.S. born panda, let alone those born abroad, but Washington DC’s favorite #1 son, Tai Shan, celebrated his 9th birthday on July 9th, and the Meihem twins of Zoo Atlanta have their first birthday coming up this Tuesday! (Ya’ll come back for a special birthday ‘toon on Tuesday, OK?)

Meanwhile, in honor of the publication of my book Pandamorphosis, we are inviting you to post pictures of YOUR copy of Pandamorphosis on The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire page on Facebook.

Huzzah!

Be the Bear
Bob T. Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday Celebrates Panda Birthday Season

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It is that most blessed time of year, panda birthday season!!!!! For the American born pandas, the season kicked off this week with America’s darling, Tai Shan, who has moved to his ancestral homeland a few years back. He turned 9 on the 9th. I’m sure that must be significant in some way, not that I know what. This week also marked the first birthday of Yuan Zai, better known as “Dumpling”, the great granddaughter of Bai Yun of Pandiego.

Coming up next week on the 15th, the Meihem twinkies, Mei Lun and Mai Huan (known here as their fictional counterparts Bert and Ernie) celebrate their first birthday. I thought I would revisit some of their early feature cartoons to celebrate the occasion.

The first appearance of the twinkies on The Panda Chronicles

Atlanta twin panda cubs Mei Lun and Mei Huan and older prother Po

Huzzah! a guest appearance by little Po!

Of course this last episode took place before we knew that not only the twins, but big brother…um…sister, Po had been misidentified, gender wise! It is kind of hard to tell with pandas.

Of course, Princess Pinky took the credit for that one.

Sweet dreams, little bears!

And lest we forget Mr Wu’s reaction to the announcement of twins:

Mr Wu speaks out!

Let there be cake!

Huzzah for Panda Birthday season!

I hope you’ll hop over to read VSomethingSpeaks as Vicky relates her journey into the world of panda…um…obsession. So many people find pandas in answer to difficult times in their lives, and Vicky is no exception.

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to have some cake!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Inspector Panda is Back and On the Job

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Oh yes, Inspector Panda is back for the next episode of The Case of the Picturesque Panda, starring Robert Thelonious Panda as Inspector Panda, Babette du Panda as the mysterious Babette du Panda, Mr Wu as Inspector Panda’s clever assistant, and who knows who else will show up in this Noir et Blanc mystery!

Meanwhile a little technological aside, I just discovered that I could schedule when my new posts would post, instead of having to do it manually!!!! Wow! Dang, I wish I had figured this out …oh, say five years ago when I started! Huzzah! ( Of course, this does not deal with my…um…tendency to finish the new ‘toon right before I post it…oh well, one thing at a time!)

Well, so much for my technological incompetence! On with today’s show!

Oh, that Mr Wu is a clever little bear! Is Madame du Panda trying to pull a fast one?

Keep panda-ing on, being the bear, and did you buy presents and cake for the Meihem twins yet? It’s their birthday next week, so on Fabulous Furry Friday we are going to re-visit some of our Meihem cartoons!

Bob T. Panda

Tiny Bubbles….

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…in the boo(tini)…

The other day, one of Princess Pinky’s official photo-chroniclers photographed some children blowing giant soap bubbles somewhere in the area, and this gave me an idea….Pinky as bubble girl….

Oh dear….are you going to leave her there?

I wonder where she’ll land?

Meanwhile, thanks to all who delved into their art history knowledge (or Google) to identify correctly, the painters who immortalized Minette (the panda formerly known as Mei Mei) in Paris in the late 1800’s. Our winners are Cyndi A., Laura S., Sandra P., Sue D., and DoxieDad. An only partially eaten cuppycake goes to Barb B. for making a valiant attempt at the correct answers. Welcome to the Roll of Honor!

Huzzah!

Stay tuned when we return next Wednesday for the newest Inspector Panda Episode.

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

It’s Fabulous Furry Fourth of July Friday

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I love watching movies where things blow up (OK, now you know my dirty little secret) but I really wish that fireworks displays were limited to professionals that (mostly) know what they are doing, and hardly ever burn down stuff (like my house) that isn’t supposed to burn down.

Did I mention it’s hardly rained in the last month? And Mehitabel doesn’t like them either. At least Guy Fawkes Night is in November when everything is nice and soggy. And now, The Panda Chronicles tribute to the Fourth of July!

Just saying.

uh. oh.

Huzzah for Rumpy Dog!

Thanks to Rumpy T. Drummond for making a guest appearance at The Panda Chronicles!

And lest I forget, the answers to the art history quiz! #1 is, of course, John Singer Sargent’s Madame ‘P’, #2 is Edgar Degas, That pesky number 3 is Mary Cassatt (and yes, in the Boston Museum’s version of A Cup of Tea, there are two women, but there was not another panda to model available to Ms. Cassatt .) #4 is Claude Monet’s Panda with a Parasol, and of course, everyone’s favorite in #5, James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s Arrangement in Black, White, and Gray.

I will be contacting the winners forthwith.

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

More from Inspector Panda…

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…and his latest mystery. Or maybe more accurately, a little more on Babette’s story of her great-great-great-great-gasp-great-great grandmama. There will be an art history quiz at the end.

For those of you who have missed the first 4 episodes, you can see Episode 1: here, Episode 2: here, and Episode 3: here. And just because I’m that kind of bear, I am reposting episode four, along with today’s episode:

Why DOES Mr Wu have a piece of tape on his right ear?

Episode four of The case of the Picturesque Panda…

And now, for today’s episode….

Let’s see who stayed awake during art history classes!

I told you there would be a quiz, didn’t I? The first 5 people to CORRECTLY identify all five of the painting references (by artist, extra credit for titles) will receive a small envelope full of panda swag. You can leave your answers in the comments. I will contact the winners for their addresses. (US addresses only, sorry, Vicky, but you should be getting a whole BOX of panda swag any day now!)

And I would be remiss, if I did not mention that yesterday was Canada Day, better known around here as Panada Day! Thanks again to Liam Francis Walsh who suggested this drawing:

Oh Panada, Oh Panada, how tasty are your maple leaves….

And would someone please tell the morons who are setting off fireworks NOW, that the 4th of July is FRIDAY?????

Sigh…being the bear….
Bob T. Panda

Selfies With Pandas

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I gave up watching TV more than 15 years ago, and quit reading newspapers some years earlier. (After Bill Watterson retired, what was the point?) But here at The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire, we are not totally uninformed. We listen to NPR (National Panda Radio), read The New Yorker* and the Atlantic Magazine. But our favorite source for Nooz Pandas Can Use is the NPR show, Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.

* sometimes we even read the articles.

Yesterday, as I was driving around in the cubvertable, one Wait, Wait… segment related a story about how the state of New York was considering (or had already) outlawed the practice of taking selfies with tigers. Now, this story raised many questions, that we felt were not adequately addressed on the show. (We thought about going back and listening to the podcast to see if we had our facts straight, but then we thought, hey! We’re pandas! Since when have we concerned ourself with the facts?)

First, are tiger selfies really such a big problem? and what about enforcement of the new statute? Are they going to staff zoos and other places that tigers congregate to make sure no one takes a selfie with the tigers. Do the tigers get any say in this?

Needless to say, The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire has not shirked their responsibility to fully explore this issue.

Much better to take a selfie with pandas!

Don’t forget to check out pandas around the web!
Kirby Larson’s Kirby’s Lane: Friday June 13, 2014
June 9th on Cordelia Calls it Quits, and
June 11th on Cordelia’s Mom, Still
Pandamorphosis was reviewed by Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of the Panda, on his Animal Magic blog at The Guardian.

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

Reflections of My Kickstarter….

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Yes, it’s Fabulous Furry Friday, here at The Panda Chronicles, The offices of The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire, here in our high rise office tower, are shutting down for the weekend, as we prepare for…

How about a nap? Wait, you say. Pandas do not hibernate. Yes, but what about a really, really, really long nap?

…if I were a panda, yadda dah dah da- da- da- AAARGH! I can’t stop!!!!!

I just finished packing and sending out all of my Kickstarter rewards, and now I am going to pause (or is that paws?) and pat myself on the back, and attempt to take most of the weekend off.

But besides all the work involved in putting together and executing a crowdfunding campaign, there is something very special about the process in addition to getting help funding your project.

That special something (Oh crikey! she’s going into schmoopy mode! get out your handkerchiefs!) is all of you, who donated to my campaign and cheered me on, and shared my project with your panda and art loving friends. As people have been posting pictures of Pandamorphosis and the prints of artwork from the book, not only do I think, hey! there’s my book, there’s my art, out in the world, I think, hey, I’ve made a connection…I have a friend. It may be a friend I will never meet IRL, but they are friends all the same.

All I really need are my friends…and maybe some cuppycakes!!!

Some of the connections that were made while bringing Pandamorphosis into the world will be fleeting ones, but some will result in projects still to come. Some, I hope will be lifetime friendships, and every once in a while we will meet in the company of pandas. Huzzah! Cuppycakes and bootinis all around!

Stay tuned to this station (National Panda Radio) to keep up with the latest panda nooz. Sign up for my newsletter (which I really plan to write another one one of these days) up in the upper right hand column of this very blog.

And of course, your panda satire library won’t be complete without a copy of Pandamorphosis (hint, hint) (Amazon, hint, hint)

Huzzah!

Thanks again to those kind folks who invited the pandas over for a visit. I hope we can come back again!

Kirby Larson’s Kirby’s Lane: Friday June 13, 2014
June 9th on Cordelia Calls it Quits, and
June 11th on Cordelia’s Mom, Still
Pandamorphosis was reviewed by Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of the Panda, on his Animal Magic blog at The Guardian.

BTW, Henry and I connected early on in The Panda Chronicles’ journey into panda satire. I think he even coined the phrase panda satire, if I remember correctly. I am grateful that he has been a supporter and cheerleader for The Panda Chronicles, and I am grateful for all my readers, and pandas…well now I’m just getting schmoopy again.

Have a great weekend, watch some panda videos, and have a (couple or three) cuppycakes! See ya next week.
Be the Bear
Bob T. Panda

Episode 4: The Case of the Picturesque Panda

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Yes, we are back with episode 4 of The Case of the Picturesque Panda. If you’ve missed the first three episodes, you can see Episode 1: here, Episode 2: here, and Episode 3: here. And for a little bit of Art Historical (or is that art hysterical?) background on pandas that modeled for the impressionists, see last Friday’s post.

And now for today’s feature presentation:

Why DOES Mr Wu have a piece of tape on his right ear?

By the way, pandas are still rampaging around the interwebs, most recently Pandamorphosis was reviewed by Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of the Panda, on his Animal Magic blog at The Guardian.

More pandas around the block:
Kirby Larson’s Kirby’s Lane: Friday June 13, 2014
June 9th on Cordelia Calls it Quits, and
June 11th on Cordelia’s Mom, Still

Stay tuned for more from Inspector Panda next week as he asks searching questions, such as, “Why do you have a piece of tape on your ear?” Also coming up, more from princess Pinky in her new role as leader of the panda kindergarten!

The Panda Kindergarten Gets Some New Books.

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Well, if I am going to live in my imagination, why shouldn’t I imagine that Bill Watterson had read of the panda kindergarten’s dastardly kidnapping deed, and took the appropriate measures for revenge. Of course, I would expect no less than that the revenge would be perpetrated on the “grown-ups” (such as they are.)

He who laughs last, laughs…um…last.

Huzzah for the panda kindergarten. (What…surely you don’t think that I am a grown-up…get real.)

Keep being the bear!

Panda On
Bob T. Panda