Category Archives: panda commerce

May the Fourth Be With You…

…for all who celebrate!

Surrender your pandas!

Sadly, we are destined to be a country without pandas in the next year or two. San Diego’s pandas were sent to China in 2019, and the pandemic, not to mention TFG’s crappy stances on China meant we weren’t going to get a new panda loan agreement any time soon. Noted panda writer Henry Nicholls wrote an opinion piece for CNN about our addiction to domesticated pandas. That might not be quite how he put it, but he does have a point.

Pandas in the wild are different animals, and now it appears there may be some genetic difference between pandas that live in the wild and pandas that grew up on the all you can eat cruise ship model. “Pandas are solitary? Who knew?!!!!” said a group of pandas sitting around the table chowing down on boo shoots while playing Mah Jong.

Any way, now Ya Ya is on her way back to Beijing, alas without Le Le who succumbed to a previously undiagnosed heart ailment.

Could story lines collide soon? I guess we’ll find out.

Stay tuned for further developments!

Be the Bear!
Bob T pass the endless boo buffet Panda

If you haven’t read Henry Nicholls’ The Way of the Panda, you should fix that immediately. It’s a great book about all things pandas, the politics of pandas, and there is a cameo appearance of a ‘toon that was perhaps done by your favorite practitioner of panda satire! My literary claim to fame!

Solidarity Forever!

I always like to say, there is no grudge like an old grudge, and this grudge is not only old enough to vote, it’s old enough to have grandchildren! Those who know me well, know that I worked at Starbucks, back in the mid 1980’s. Those who know me really well had to listen to me engage in hair on fire rants after Howard Schultz bought the company and immediately started to push to decertify the union we had formed in the year or so before he bought the company.

He’s learned a few things since that effort for better worker compensation and working conditions. (None of the things he’s learned are good BTW)

Let’s see what he’s learned…

A scene that has been re-created in PandaBucks Coffee cafes across the country!

Be the Bear
Bob T hey Howard, remember me?Panda

And Now, a Word From Our Sponsor!

Didn’t you always hate it, when you’re watching a movie and the first little bit, there are almost no commercials, and then the longer you watch, the less time there is between commercials?

Well, I’m pretty sure we only have one sponsor, so there might be only one commercial. Mebbe. I was watching some YouTube videos the other day and they kept playing these ads for Keepsake Ornaments and I thought they would make a pretty good sponsor for The Bears of the Baskervilles!

Just call 1-800-Buy-Pinky to get yours!

Ping!

Hey, I almost forgot to tell you that PDXWildlife is having their annual auction again, and I donated another felty and some pins and other things that were floating around the studio! Check out the auction until November 28th! Pandas are standing by to take your calls!

Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

GO GO GO!!!!!!!

How NOT to start a Kickstarter campaign:

  1. Wait till the absolute last minute to start actually setting up your project
    2. Figure “I’ve done this so many times before. I have the items designed, what could possibly go wrong?”
    3. Hit a technical glitch within the Kickstarter site.
    4. Go to sleep and hope it will be fixed by morning
    5. Glitch has not self corrected. Send request for help to Kickstarter support.
    6. Get no response from Kickstarter.
    7. Send another request to the help line.
    8. Get no response.
    9. Troll Kickstarter on Twidder (heh) but (mostly nicely. (mostly)
    10. Send another desperate email to help line.
    11. Kickstarter fixes glitch.
    12. Launch project from phone, without sending out sufficient notice, late on Friday afternoon.
    13. Send out the same ‘toon you sent out yesterday, announcing the ACTUAL launch of the project, as opposed to the one announcing it yesterday, when I was not actually able to launch.

My Bad! But Hey! We’re LIVE!!!!!

Mr. Wu IS a pivotal panda in the rise of panda satire! Better late than nebber!

The Wu the Pirate patch! approx size 3.5″ tall

Panda on!
Here’s the link!
Bob T Panda

Put a Panda on it 3.0!!!!!

Get Your Crayons Ready!

Why not buy that set of 128 colored pencils you’ve always wanted? The box of crayons with the built in sharpener. …the 164 color marker set with 35 different shades of…pink.

You know you want it.

And of course by “it” I am talking about the FINALLY  released The Panda Chronicles  Coloring Book!!!! Because, as we have recently learned, coloring books for grown-ups has become a “thing.” I hear it is almost as relaxing as watching panda videos.

Nooooo! Not the PINK crayon!

Nooooo! Not the PINK crayon! It’s here! Huzzah!

Get your crayons ready, because The Panda Chronicles Coloring Book is NOW READY for ordering! And during the rest of November, in honor of my birthday season, there is a 15% discount if you buy it from my Createspace store (just click the Createspace button on the book page) and insert this discount code in the appropriate box:

E6DRL2FQ

Please note, this will save you money if you are buying multiple copies for presents, so if you are just getting your own (but what about cousin Sally? she loves to color!) and you have free Amazon shipping, you will spend about the same amount of money, so just ignore this and go to Amazon.

Huzzah!

Get your crayons ready!!!!

Get your crayons ready!!!!

Meanwhile, Pinky seems to have hacked into my computer again. Now where did I put her mother’s  Me-phone number? I noticed that a large number of viewers came by on Sunday. Is it because you love Bubba, or is it that you like to see Pinky behaving badly. I’m waiting.

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday

Fabulous Furry Friday wants to enlighten all those enquiring minds…

The Panda Season of Love is in full swing, but soon we will all be waiting to hear the pitter patter of little paws. Will they or won’t they? The thing with pandas, is, that you never know for sure until a cub drops out onto the floor, and sometimes even then you don’t know whether it will be one or two cubs.

Pretty cool, huh?

Meanwhile, we have no idea if Lun Lun is interested in staging a repeat performance, or if Mei Xiang, mom to Princess Pinky will want to do it all again.

we are still hoping for a panda cub trifecta

we are still hoping for a panda cub trifecta

And then there was that whole scandal about pandas pretending to be pregnant in order to get “special treatment”…

Prevaricating pandas perceived in pregnancy pastry ploy

Prevaricating pandas perceived in pregnancy pastry ploy

It was dark...there were men in masks....

It was dark…there were men in masks….AND NOW IT’S HAPPENED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!

And then there is that whole business of what sort of cub you are going to end up with. If Mei Xiang had know what her little princess would be like, would she have continued the project?

Bao Bao is unhappy

I can hardly wait to see what Mei Xiang thinks of her daughter’s latest aspirations….

By the way, thanks to all of you who have ordered #WeREndangered coffee mugs from our Pandyland store on Cafe Press! I’ve added two new designs in the #WeREndangered series, one starring Mehitabel (she does have a lot of fans, you know!) and one for Princess Pinky. During the entire month of April (that’s right now) I’ll be donating a percentage of the profits from the sale of these three mugs to Pandas International! Huzzah! Remember, without pandas, there can be no panda satire!

You are really going to be endangered if I don't get my coffee soon!

You are really going to be endangered if I don’t get my coffee soon!

I can't be responsible for the consequences if you don't vote for Pinky!

I can’t be responsible for the consequences if you don’t vote for Pinky!

Be the bear and have a Fabulous Furry Friday!
Bob T. Panda

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

We could save you all the trouble of going out to the Black Friday Sales, but then you might miss this experience:

pass the beans!

pass the beans!

We could be completely self serving and suggest you head over to our page of books and buy copies of The Panda Chronicles or Pandamorphosis for all your family and friends. We could do that, if we were a different sort of panda. Oh wait…we are that sort of panda.

Be the bear,
Bob T. Panda

Huzzah for Pandas International!

Because Mr. Wu got soooooo much screen time in December, he has graciously allowed us to pre-empt his weekly forum today.   (XLW: what dat mean grasshusly? is dat ’bout bamboo?)

We are big fans of Pandas International for many reasons.  First, they do stuff for pandas (and as we have said before, without pandas, there could be no panda satire!) But also, for some strange reason, they think we’re pretty funny! So of course we can’t help but jump up and down and say, “They like me! They really like me!”

They have asked us to share some of our cartoons with them, for Christmas cards and for their annual auction program. When given the challenge of coming up with a cartoon for a fairly straight/serious subject, it is fun to see where my mind takes me.  Last year’s funding focus was for enrichment items to keep the pandas entertained.  Of course I had to have my own point of view:

I am such a dork.

I am such a dork.

This year, they would like to help fund laboratory equipment and so I came up with this idea for a cartoon for their program.

pandas in the laboratory

Can you calibrate the cuppycake?

But this was not quite enough help to lend to pandas, and so I thought I’d have a special promotion.  To help support the work that Pandas International does, I have decided (because, you know, I’m the decider around here) that for each and every Panda Chronicles book sold through either Amazon or my Createspace stores during the month of February 2014, I will donate $1 to Pandas International.  Really!

 

The panda Chronicles supports Pandas International

It’s just like the panda says! Buy my book and real pandas benefit!

So, if you were thinking about adding to your collection of Panda Chronicles books, February would be a great time to do it.  There are now 3 books in the series, starting with The Panda Chronicles Book 1: Your Brain on Pandas, moving on to The Panda Chronicles Book 2: Wheel…of….Pandas! and my most recent release, The Panda Chronicles Book 3: Nobody Expects the Panda Kindergarten!  and soon, very soon, maybe even before the end of February (no pressure, of course) The Panda Chronicles Book 4: The Book of Wu, which contains all the cartoons to date starring Mr. Wu!  It will start with his early days in the den and continue with all five of his extended play adventure stories! Huzzah!

I know I always say this, but this really is my best book yet.

So…support pandas, buy my books and be there bear!
Bob T. Panda

Once again, we predict reality on Fabulous Furry Friday.

It was bound to happen, sooner or later! As you may recall, we launched the idea of a panda clan tartan a full two weeks before the Edinburgh Zoo announced that they had commissioned one.

And now, British Airways has painted one of their jets just like the one that I drew more than 4 years ago, for PandAir Airlines, the only airline run by and for pandas. How do you like them cuppycakes?

bears in the air...

bears in the air…

Beware.....

Beware…..

Pandas have a better idea...

Pandas have a better idea…

notice the stylish design....

notice the stylish design….

please have your tray table in their upright position for take-off...

please have your tray table in their upright position for take-off…

...and most of all, don't panic.

…and most of all, don’t panic.

 

see, doesn't this look just like British Airways' new paint job?

see, doesn’t this look just like British Airways’ new paint job?

I rest my case.

I rest my case.

You’ll notice the older, less polished style (and very poor image clean-up skills, I might add) of the cartoon, which makes my point, I said it first.  Really, all these corporate entities should check with me before they launch these things!

Well, till next week, when we predict the next trend in panda themed promotions,

Be the Bear!

Bob T. Panda

 

 

 

 

 

Get ready for the Scottish Pandas! The saga continues!

I know, that in reality the pandas “Sweetie” and “Sunshine” have already arrived in Britain, but as usual, I’m a tardy bear.  So here is the first episode of the Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire’s version of the events that are unfolding in Scotland.

Also, Babette has been posing for photos everywhere!  Stay tuned for new outfits and photos of our favorite bears about town.

pandair flight of the scottish pandas

Also, a brush with fame to report.  The image of the 30 days of Pandas poster (available from Pandyland at Cafepress) appeared in an ad for Cafe Press on The Daily What’s page with a video of ….ooo get ready…MISERY BEAR!!!!!!!!!!  Our hero!  Check out our Pandyland link on the right.  But really, Misery Bear is our personal hero. Check out M.B. too.

Be the Bear!

Bob T. Panda