Tag Archives: Ping Ping

Coming this week! 31 Days of Pandas!

2020 seems like it was million years long, didn’t it? As we get ready to enjoy the wonder that is 31 Days of Pandas I thought it would be good to look back at a ‘toon or two from each month this year, so that we can see the many splendored (????) year that 2020 has been.

You might have noticed I have not done any post election ‘toons. Call it superstition, but until I watch Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take the oath of office, I am somewhat apprehensive that Mittens will manage to yank the rug out from under us yet again. Suffice to say, Pinky is taking the results fairly well (for Pinky) but I’m not expecting that to hold necessarily. As she said to me, “it’s been kind of hard to be my normal, outrageous self, when mittens is so outrageous on his own in real life. dis is beary unfairs to pinky. ”

Wise words from a small panda.

In addition to the twice weekly new ‘toons, 31 Days of Pandas will feature Holiday Encore Presentations from the Panda Chronicle Archives. And…maybe a commercial or two from the Buy Stuff With Pandas pages. On Tuesday I will reveal the latest addition to the Felty Panda Pantheon (which according to my laptop dictionary can mean: a group of particularly respected, famous, or important people: the pantheon of the all-time greats.) I assume that goes for pandas too!

A reminder that PDXWildlife Auction ends today (November 29th) and that felty pandas bought during the months of November and December will trigger a small donation to PDXWildlife!

Now! On to 2020, the Year That Was…

January brings us one of the more reprehensible creatures that abide in the land of pandas…

This makes perfect sense to me!

In February, the Impeachment saga went on, while unbeknownst to (almost) everyone (everyone but Mittens and some Senators who coincidentally traded stocks that were about to tank) a global pandemic was brewing.

What did Mr. Bun Know and when did he know it?

March: Later in the year, we lost our beloved icon, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. But earlier in the year, she was still kicking butt and taking names, despite her battle with cancer. She lives on in our hearts.

Meet Ruth Panda Ginsbear

April: The pandemic took hold for real, and while Mittens and his evil spawn tried to figure out how they could ignore it while making a buck off of it, governors (mostly in states led by Democrats) enacted quarantines and mask requirements to try to buy some time for hospitals that were being overwhelmed by COVID19 patients.

You can’t get more socially distant than sending everyone to their room!

Well, bless her heart!

May: Speaking of trying to make a buck off of the pandemic…

Wait…we get paid?

June: The pandemic raged on. Closed and deserted National Parks made room for the native wildlife. The Democratic field had narrowed to Joe Biden, and Mittens was aiming his propaganda machine at Biden, while continuing to mismanage the pandemic. Thank goodness Frank and Mikey were on the job to report on happenings at Yosemite National Park!

Be a wild thing!

Wild thing, I think I love you!

July: The Democratic Party stages a virtual Convention that a was surprisingly moving, and despite a few technical glitches, was both watchable and inspiring. Shortly before the convention, Biden chose Kamala Harris as his running mate. HUZZAH!!! Mittens produced a cringeworthy convention, at least partially on the grounds of the WH, which as it is a government property, I’m pretty sure was illegal. One of his lesser crimes, I guess. I’ve lost count.

Well, it IS rather easy to understand…

Personally, I think the voice of Pinky is much more soothing than that of You Know Who!

August: We learned of the death of one of the guiding lights of the Twitter Panda Community. She loved pandas and NASCAR and was a force for connection within the panda community. It was not coronavirus, but who knows if her heart condition would have gotten more scrutiny if not for the overwhelming strain that coronavirus placed on hospitals.

Meanwhile, despite a slight dip in cases in May and June, the unwillingness of some states to institute mask requirements and event restrictions, the pandemic comes roaring back. Just when toilet paper supplies began to normalize.

But late in august (the 21st, to be exact) we had some GREAT news!

Who will win? Six and Sebben battle it out on the track!

Mommee Mei has an eagle eye!

A new cubby! The possibilities are endless!

September: Ping learns he can stay forever, and Frank and Mikey become Felties!

Mommee Mei always knows the right thing to do and say!

Is that a donut I see before me?

October: Frank applies for a new job!

Frank is off on a new adventure!

And now here we are! November! Mittens Removal Day!

Mittens Removal Day!

Be the very brave Bear!
Bob T Panda

Get ready for 31 Days of Pandas!!!!

A Day for Thanks, Another episode of Beary Poppins!

Today is a national holiday. I  hope you have resisted the siren song to gather with friends and family far and wide, because more than any time during this pandemic, it is not safe to do so. I just learned of another friend to pandas who has contracted COVID-19 and I really don’t want anyone else to get it.

It is just. not. safe.

But with all that, I am thankful for so many things. 

I am thankful that neither I, nor anyone in my closest circles have become ill.
Of those friends and acquaintances who have contracted COVID 19, I am thankful you are recovering, and my deepest hope is that you recover completely.
I am thankful for those of you who read my ‘toons.
I am thankful when you tell me something I have written has touched your heart.
I am thankful that so many of you have chosen to support my various Kickstarter projects, and especially my felty panda project! it continues to give me great joy and comfort through these hard and increasingly desperate times.
I am thankful that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be our leaders in the new year. With every announcement of  cabinet picks, I am reminded of how far we have fallen, and how gradual and yet all at once, what we once took for granted crumbled before our eyes.

I am thankful for the realization that even if I can’t gather with friends today, that I can skip the turkey and gravy and just eat an entire pie by myself, which follows a dinner of stuffing and cranberry relish.

I am thankful that we have a new baby cubby in DC and like the little miracle that he is, was named Xiao Qi Ji, as such.

And now, let us be thankful for large, soft bears, with stories to tell, and small bears to hear them.

Once upon a time…

Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

Last Supper, Cupcakes, DaVinci

Princess Pinky says, she is thankful for cuppycakes and da panda kindygarten and her magical wand!

Hey I just got word of a site wide 20% of sale over at Abundant Earth Fiber! Friday 11/27 ~ Monday 11/30

As you may know, this is where I get the majority of my wool fibers to make my felties, and it is beautiful stuff. They mill all of the fibers and yarn they sell, as well as do the dyeing in beautiful, rich, earthy colors. Not only do they make beautiful yarn, they are lovely, kind people. Since closing their retail location, they have been including US shipping at no additional cost to you. For the yarn lover in your life, this is a great opportunity to support a wonderful small business and get some great yarn at a great price!

Shop starting Friday 11/27 trough Monday 11/30 2020! 

Bikkie has a Name!!!

Yes, we are in the middle of Beary Poppins and I *MIGHT* have left him tied to a chair, thanks to a little bit of…um…high spirits from Six and Sebben, bless their hearts!

But!!!

The holiday shopping season is upon us, and while who on your list wouldn’t want felty pandas, I have a couple of suggestions of some wonderful things being made by some of my artist/artisan friends here on Whidbey Island.

These are things I have acquired for myself, so I can definitely attest to their general awesomeness.

The first are the products made by Silly Dog Studio in Langley. We all are thinking more about creating less waste in the products that we use, and there are a number of shampoo bars on the market now. Silly Dog also makes a hand lotion bar, as well as some other products, and are about to release a dish soap bar, which I am very eager to try. I’ve been using their shampoo bar for about 3 weeks, and they are lovely. They are scented with things like mint and rosemary, and mint and lavender, which they grow on their small, just out of downtown Langley lot.They dry the plants and then extract the essential oils, and then make the soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc. Sounds like a lot of work to this panda, and I’d much rather have them do it. You can find their products here.

And who doesn’t love their logo, for all you silly dog fans!

Silly name, wonderful products! Tell them the panda sent you!

I moved to Whidbey Island in 1989, following in the footsteps of one of my good friends from graduate school, sculptor Georgia Gerber. She and her husband Randy had a daughter, Laura, who eventually grew up and went to art school and became a painter and a printmaker.  After grad school, and meeting and marrying her sweetheart, Laura and Victor moved back to the island, had a couple kids of their own and moved down the road from mom and dad. In addition to her paintings, Laura also does some pretty cool prints on t-shirts, kitchen towels, table linens, kids clothes, etc.

She doesn’t have a website at the moment (it’s under construction) what with keeping up with her kids, her painting and production printing, and her husband Victor, but you can find her work on Instagram, and probably arrange to buy it there and maybe bug her a little bit about getting her website up and running. Ha ha. Don’t do that. At least don’;t tell her I told you to bug her.

An assortment of kitchen towels. She has all sorts of animals on her products. I happen to be fond of the chickens.

But enough with the shopping! What about today’s news about Biscuit’s official name and today’s ‘toon????

Wait no longer! Biscuit’s official Chinese name is Xiao Qi Ji, which means little miracle! 

Bikkie has a name!!!!

Panda on!
Bob T Panda

For today’s Sunday Funday: All Beary Poppins till now!

A member of the Panda Faithful said that she had missed several episodes of Beary Poppins, so I thought the Sunday archive presentation was a great time to get everyone caught up on the story so far. I really have absolutely no idea where this story is going, but at least we can see where it’s been!

Another alert member of the Panda Faithful reported on Saturday that Biscuit took his first steps! It’s just a matter of time before he is happily cubby trotting after Mommee, and then cubby trotting away from her as she tries to steal his apple treats! Also, Monday is his naming day, so we will see what his official name is!

Huzzah!

Now…on to Beary Poppins, the story so far…

Oh boy! Oh boy! A NEW story!!!!

I can hardly stand the suspense! Who will play Beary Poppins???

A spoonful of frosting makes the medicine go down, the medicine go down, medicine go down!

The ad is mailed, but Mittens is up to some dirty tricks….But wait! Look who found the mail box!!!

Bears are VERY curious!

This hat doesn’t make me look…um…too fluffy does it?

Frank is off on a new adventure!

Beary Poppins has arrived! Is there any cake? It’s been a long flight!

I wonder why no one else applied for the job!

I just love Mei’s little chats with her sister Lun Lun.

Why DIDN’T I eat all the cookies?

Don’t you just LOVE six and Sebben?

Gosh I really hate to leave you on this cliffhanger for the weekend, but…

Just a reminder that while I do post these to Fezbook and Twidder, they are both capricious and irregular in what they show there. So, the best way to be sure you won’t miss a single ‘toon is to check in here at least once a week, and click back through previous postings to make sure you haven’t missed anything!

Be the bear!
Bob T Panda

Look out Beary Poppins! Here comes TROUBLE!!!

I’m not sure this is what Beary Poppins signed up for!

But before we get to today’s feature, did you know the PDXwildlife is having an auction to support their important panda research projects? Why yes they are! And did you know that there is a Mommee and Cubby felty being offered as one of the items? Why, yes there is!

If you miss out on bidding on this item, never fear! You can get a felty from yours truly and STILL support PDXwildlife. For the Month Of December and remainder of November, I will donate $5 from the price of each felty sold.

There are some great things on offer over at the auction, including some beautiful black and white original ink drawings by Kathy Morton-Stanion.

And now…onto our next episode of Beary Poppins! Is trouble just around the corner? Let’s find out, shall we?

Don’t you just LOVE six and Sebben?

Oh, here is a photo of the felty for The PDXwildlife Auction!

Mommee Mei with a tiny Biscuit

Be the bear!
Bob T Panda

One of those days…

This is one of those days when I don’t really have a theme for the Sunday ‘toon round up. Yesterday the power went out on the entire island, and I am rarely prepared for the first power outage of the season. For instance, I don’t have my little propane stove, which works without electricity all ready to go. Don’t ask. Also, the batteries in my smoke detectors picked that very moment to tell me they needed to be replace.

The smoke detectors are hardwired into the electrical system, but have battery back ups for when the power goes out. On this occasion, they started beeping incessantly. WHICH THEY DID UNTIL THE POWER CAME BACK ON AT 1;30-ISH IN THE MORNING…

Sigh….

So, here goes nothing. I’m just going to look up random dates and see what strikes me as funny today.

Uh oh! has there been Russian tampering with the selection of the Torch Bears?

Hey! watch where you put that torch!

Lame Duck a’la Orange will not leave until he has shaken the Banky Pig dry…

Clear as mud!

Panda Cam Follies

Oh those red pandas! They are such characters!

You knew Mommee was going to get angry, didn’t you?

I have extra frosting!

This is very scary, don’t you think?

Aw, Pinky…Bubba loves you!

Buh Bye, Mittens!

reality

Do we HAVE to go?

Things are about as real as they can get.

Move over Ping! I’m coming in too!

Well, that’s today’s Sunday ‘toon round up! Pretty soon we’ll start with the December holiday classics. Now if we can just shoo that darn cat out of the White House…

*Speaking of funny….
Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

COMING SOON! 31 DAYS OF PANDAS!!!!

Well…Here we are…

The day is here. We have pulled democracy back from the brink of disaster. I keep thinking about how I felt on11/9/2016. I was stunned with disbelief. How could this have happened? And yet, from the moment Trump came down his golden escalator, I had an unquiet rumble sounding in my head and my heart.

There is still much work to be done.

But we should take a moment to savor the sudden release many of us are feeling. It’s the feeling you get when you see the car coming into your lane with just enough time to avoid a collision. It’s the feeling you get when you are the last car on the ferry, for the last boat of the night. It’s the feeling you get when a growling dog rushes the fence, and you realize that the fence will hold him, even as you feel the rush of wind and adrenaline.

We have narrowly escaped a future that  writers of dystopian fiction foretell, and a past that historians write about 1930’s Germany and Europe.  Meanwhile we still have a growing pandemic to deal with. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are not magicians. They can not wave a magical wand (sorry Pinky) and poof it away. They believe in science. They will lead with compassion and knowledge. They will listen to the scientists and encourage people to act in their own interest. Maybe without the threat of Trumps rage and instability hanging over them, even red state governors will start acting in the best interest of their constituents.

Is this a good time to plug masks with pandas on them available through Redbubble and Spoonflower?

So be of good cheer! We have vanquished the evil overlord, who would wish to be king. There is still hope for leveling the Senate playing field by winning the two runoff elections in January (Deadline to register to vote is December 7th, in Georgia, so if you live there, please vote!)

Now! Let’s have some PANDAS!!!!

This was then:

day after

Remember the song “The Eve of Destruction”? That’s what today feels like.

This is how we fought the forces of darkness:

March

Whats a protest without pandas?

inauguration

Hey, save some cuppycakes for me!

pandas

What a lovely day for the 3 pandas to relax at home!

The world swoons….

Guess who’s coming for cuppycakes!!!!

“We are NEVER going to get our security deposit back!!!”

Ruh Roh….

Look who’s here!

And now, for the earthshaking subject of HUGE great importance…COOKIE BALANCING! 

And now…going for the gold!!!

Did I mention I broke the world record in cookie balancing?

There are rules here!

The roar of the crowd, the smell of a freshly baked cookie…

I hereby submit my qualifications and claim the international…no InterGALACTIC Championship title for Cookie Balancing!

Actual balancing cookie!

be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

Rejoice-Rest- Then get back to work! (Wear a Mask!)

The Story continues: Beary Poppins part 9

Will Frank get the job? Oops! I mean Beary Poppins!

Bubba has the right idea! Hot cocoa!

I wonder why no one else applied for the job!

BTW! Spoonflower is having another sale on fat quarters, Today and tomorrow, 50% off! More sales will be coming through the month. I’ll keep you posted. 

Don’t give up hope!
Bob T Panda

You Know What Day it Is!

Spring Back! Fall Forward!!!

Fabulous Furry Friday KNOWS that this is one of your favorites!

It seems like there is something very important going on this week…now what was that?

I don’t know about you, but my anxiety is ratcheted up to about an 11. If you haven’t voted yet, the time is now. Unfortunately, with the perverting of Postal imperatives, the safest way to vote is either in person or hand delivering your mail-in ballot. I’m trying really hard to remain hopeful. Some states are reporting that their early voting totals are higher than their total votes in 2016. How many new voters that represents, we won’t know for a while. One thing is sure, there is going to be full employment for election law attorneys.

Since I didn’t have a plan for today’s ‘toons (other than the “Spring Forward, Fall Back” ‘toon) I’m just going to randomly go through ‘toons I published in November for all the years that this collection has been here!

Get ready, get set, GO!!!!

2011: Pandas arrive in Scotland!!!

What could be more scottish than Pandas?

2012: Insider Twinkie Trading

Bob, Bob, Bob…when will you ever learn?

2013: Heh! Mommee plays a trick on Pinky!

Princess Pinky is fooled by Mei Xiang at the National Zoo

Oh Princess Pinky, mom has a trick or two up her paw, I think…

2014: Cats and Pandas

No, I don’t think so. Bwahahaha!

2015: Election shenanigans have been going on for a while.

And how did Pinky manage to hack into my computer again?

2016: Seems like such a long time ago, and yet…here we are…

whipped cream

Can I have EXTRA extra whipped cream?

2017: A Halloween Classic!

comics history

Maybe Bubba is having a Halloween SEASON! Did you ever think of THAT, Pinky?

2018: The first appearance of Frank and Mikey!!!

Send in the bears!

Helloooooo bears!

I like bears.

I just had to post the whole story about Frank and Mikey ALLEGEDLY eating Justice Kravenklaw… For another most excellent take of the Kavanaugh hearings, I think this is the best!

And finally, 2019: The Bus is coming! Get ready for some serious underbussing!

Our favorite grizzlies are doing “The Bus”!

Remember to Vote!

Panda on (as best you can)
Bob T Panda