Author Archives: Panda in Chief

About Panda in Chief

Anne Belov paints, writes, makes prints, and is the founder of The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire. You can find her paintings at the Rob Schouten Gallery and Fountainhead Gallery, her cartoons on The Panda Chronicles, and her new book here. She also writes regularly for The Whidbey Life Magazine, a free journal of art and culture on Whidbey Island. Her main regret in life is that there is no MacArthur Grant for Panda Satire.

Summit Talks

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The talks between world (cough cough) leaders are not the only summit talks that are now happening around the world. The question is one that has puzzled philosophers for centuries: What do pandas talk about, when they talk about ‘boo? And more importantly, are panda moms the true power behind the curtain?

Give me a cuppycake and a bamboo lever and I will move the world!

“Why can’t my children be as well behaved as Lun Lun’s,” mused Mei Xiang

Meanwhile, my project to raise funds for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU is going very well. The offer is in effect through February and the details are here:

Donate $50 to either the ACLU or Planned Parenthood and get a signed copy of a cartoon, with a hand drawn sketch on it.
Donate $100 to either the ACLU or Planned Parenthood and get 2 signed cartoons with a hand drawn sketch on them.
Donate $500 to either the ACLU or Planned Parenthood and get an original hand drawn cartoon of my* choice (unframed) (* you can tell me who your favorite panda characters are and I will make a selection based on that info)

Just send me a screenshot of your donation receipt dated between January 31st and February 28th, along with your mailing address, and I will send them out as I receive them. US addresses only, please. Send info/receipt to yourbrainonpandas@gmail.com. Let’s see if we can raise some $$ for these organizations! Pandas are standing by!

Thanks to all who have donated so far!

Panda On!
Bob T Panda

Death and Taxes

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Accountability is always the question, isn’t it? Especially when it comes to paying taxes and Bubba is right to distrust the tax collector. Should Pinky required to hand over her tax returns? Certainly there are one or two other people around DC who might need to do that.

Meanwhile, I have been so heartened both by the contributions that are being made in honor of The Panda Chronicles (“And Mehitabel! Don’t forget Mehitabel!” said…um…Mehitabel.) and also by the nice notes people have sent me. It means A WHOLE LOT to me that these ‘toons mean a lot to you. I am honored that you spend part of your busy days reading what I do. Those comments really brightened my day, and that is no small thing in these perilous times. You can read about my project here.

Meanwhile, Pinky is up to her old tricks…

Uh oh…it’s the Pinky Revenue Service!

I’m trying not to think about the real Bao Bao leaving DC for China later this month. They haven’t announced the date, and I don’t think they will. She has one last party on February 11th, and sometime after that, a luxury limo will pull up to the panda house, she’ll gather her trunks and suitcases, kiss her mom and dad goodbye, poke her little brother, and head for the airport. But her alter ego is not going anywhere. I hope that will make the sadness of her departure be somewhat less. I know her real life friends Charlene, Maria, and Karen will visit her often.

Panda On and Keep Marching!
Bob T Panda

Keep ’em laughing, Friday

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First of all, a big panda thank you to everyone who made a donation to the ACLU or Planned Parenthood so far. You have all of February to do so and get some very cool, not-available-in-any-store panda swag stuff. I’ll do my best to get stuff to you in a timely manner. See yesterday’s post for details! and per my campaign promise to provide a little lighter fare every Friday, so that everyone keeps laughing, (or fiddling while Rome burns?) here are some ‘toons from the past to keep the country’s humor deficit from reaching an apocalyptic level!

And a heads up, I am starting to compile the next collection of Panda Chronicles ‘toons in book form! It’s been a long time coming!

Now! On with the show! Start your engines!

Trick or Trick!!!!!!!

I'm not a doctor but I play one on television

The original panda kindergarten ‘toon!

Entertainer extraordinaire!

Hey! You didn’t use your buzzer!

Panda On!
Bob T Panda

One of these years I need to do a groundhog day cartoon!

There has been a disturbance in the force

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It was bad enough that we lost David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and so many other great talents last year, including Carrie Fisher (and her mom, Debbie Reynolds!) but the final insult to injury was the loss of my beloved cat, Mehitabel. She has been a part of my life and a part of my art since before I can remember, well…at least for the last 20 years. The force was strong in that cat, and she pretty much had me wrapped around her dainty little paws.

Because she was such a part of my life and such an important member of my cast of characters here at the Panda Chronicles, I decided that she would remain here. After all, I am not letting go of Pinky or the Meihems, despite their recent (Meihems) and impending (Pinky) departure to China. So Mehitabel will remain, in a somewhat metaphysical state. After all, SOMEONE has to keep all those pandas in line!

Hey, it’s my cartoon, I can have anyone I want in it, okay???

Sorry I’m “late”

Panda On
Bob T Panda

I just read of a cartoonist who has found a way to use her talent to contribute to some of her favorite non profits. It really is pretty brilliant, and so I am going to say a big, pandy thank you to her, and then STEAL HER IDEA!!!!! I have been feeling the pain of not having the resources to donate meaningfully to these organizations, and this is a way to see if I can make a difference.

So here’s the deal:
Donate $50 to either the ACLU or Planned Parenthood and get a signed copy of a cartoon, with a hand drawn sketch on it.
Donate $100 to either the ACLU or Planned Parenthood and get 2 signed cartoons with a hand drawn sketch on them.
Donate $500 to either the ACLU or Planned Parenthood and get an original hand drawn cartoon of my* choice (unframed) (* you can tell me who your favorite panda characters are and I will make a selection based on that info)

The Year of the Rooster Really

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I jumped the gun on Friday. Not really, because Saturday was the actual start of Chinese New Year, and this is the year of the Red Fire Rooster, or as one of the special friends to pandas, Lucilla T. has dubbed it, the Year of the WUster!!!!!! (Referring, of course, to everybody’s favorite panda, Mr. Wu of the San Diego panda clan.) (Okay, I know I am about to get a lot of heat here about who is the best panda ebber. Let’s just say I have a thing for the Wu Self and leave it at that.)

And if you are looking for a special recipe for your celebrations, hop on over to Vicky Vladic’s blog VSomethingSpeaks for a yummy chicken recipe. That’s if you’d rather eat your rooster, rather than party with it.

Meanwhile, here is my actual new ‘toon commemorating the Year of the Rooster!

It’s the year of the WUster!!!!

Panda On!
Bob T Panda

BTW, you’ll notice I did not lead with political outrage, although, trust me, it’s still there and getting worse every day. I just read a recent article on Medium about how to remain outraged without losing your mind. I highly recommend it! I already knew I was going to intersperse snarky political ‘toons with lighter panda fare, and this article confirmed we need to do both, in order to keep our sanity, not burn out, but also not let important crimes against humanity go unremarked. It’s getting very interesting out there. As in train wreck interesting, not fluffy kittens interesting.

The Year of the Rooster

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Yes, Chinese New Year, otherwise known as the Lunar New Year, starts tomorrow (January 28th, 2017) and continues until February 15th! This is the year of the Rooster. That sounds harmless, right? How much trouble can the panda kindergarten get into dressed up like chickens?

It was interesting to read this article, because I was unaware of some of the traditions associated with this event. Like, you’re not supposed to do any cleaning the first three days of the New Year, because you could wash away good fortune. Well, I can live with that. Um…I hardly ever clean anything. Was that too much information?

Anyway, we’ll have a brand new ‘toon for you on Sunday, but for today’s encore presentation, I thought I would post some of my favorite Chinese new year ‘toons from years past.

Huzzah!

The year of the bunny…..

Oh that panda kindergarten!

Huzzah! It’s The year of Pandas on Horsies!

Look out!!!! Oh, those triplets!

Well, the FIRE part had Mehitabel a little worried, but…

And, of course, my personal favorite…

the year of the dragon, panda kindergarten

Huzzah! it’s the year of the Dragon!

Panda On!
Bob T Panda

Have a fabulous furry Friday!

There’s Something Happening Here…

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...what it is ain’t exactly clear.…Things are happening very fast and I don’t think it is a good thing. When you are steering a ship of state, which is much bigger, than say, the Titanic, it seems like you would want to chart your course carefully, lest you, ya know, run into an iceberg. Not just barrel on ahead, because you like the sound of your own voice that much.

Heh.

Meanwhile, there is no such thing as an alternative fact, unless you are talking about speculative science fiction. Are we still allowed to use the word “science”? It’s good to remember that not everything is as it exactly appears in any particular snapshot (or screenshot!) But that doesn’t mean we should not pay attention. Or talk about what we’ve read or heard. Question everything, and let your representatives know how you feel, good and bad.

Our Future is at stake. Let’s treat it like it means something. Keep the conversation going.

Are all these paper clips mine?

Panda On!
Bob T Panda

The Million Panda March

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Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a million pandas available to march? I know they would all be ready to go! Because pandas are not strangers to protests! I attended our small, (comparatively speaking) local march, because I did not feel comfortable going into Seattle, where they were expecting 10’s of thousands of people. At 4 PM on Saturday, the day of the march, estimates of attendance was at about 200,000. That’s people, not pandas. We don’t have any pandas here.

At our own event in Langley, I was expecting maybe 50 old hippies wearing tie-dye t-shirts, but lo and behold, when I arrived at the starting point, I could see maybe a couple hundred people milling around. I was waiting with one friend, who was waiting for her daughter, and after chatting with her for about 15 minutes as people filed past, I decided to hop in when I saw some other friends who had joined the march. As we turned onto the route, you could see that the entire street was full, with 10-12 people across, going all the way down to the corner, and already turning the corner, with almost as many people behind us. Unofficial estimates of attendance are at around 2,000. There aren’t that many people that live in town!

But pandas are no strangers to protest!

Pandas aren’t dopes!

The early days of panda rights groups….

“I felt so violated!”

And here is a photo of our gathering in Langley. Huzzah! It didn’t rain, and I marched, picked up my mail, and was home in under 2 hours. You can’t beat that!

Women’s March, Langley edition!

Panda On!
Never give up working for peace and human …um…I mean panda rights!
Bob T Panda

What if You Gave an Inauguration & Nobody Came?

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Hoo boy! We are right here, at ~~Apocalypse~~ Inauguration Eve, and I gotta tell you, my tummy is doing flip flops. I don’t even know if I can get all these cuppycakes down that I have lined up on the counter in front of me. Despite a certain party’s claims to the contrary, you can find a ball gown in DC, and apparently hotel rooms are available too. On the one hand, you hate to rile up a person with so thin a skin and such a penchant for vindictiveness.

On the other hand, there is this:

Hey, save some cuppycakes for me!

Panda On, and let’s be safe out there!
Bob T Panda

And did anyone get my nod to the old Bob and Ray “Wally Ballou” routines, where they joined the roving reporter midway through his introduction? We need anything we can find to cheer ourselves up! Enjoy!

Join the Panda March this Saturday!

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If you want to be where the action is the day after THE DAY AFTER, be sure to join one of the Women’s Marches that will taking place around the country. And yes, I put the phrase The Day After in scary SHOUTYCAPS/ all bold typing in reference to one of those post apocalyptic movies about the end of the world. The pandas are planning to march and I hope you will too. We are having a local march in Langley and I plan to attend. Maybe we’ll all go out for coffee and cuppycakes after. It’s shaping up to be that kind of week.

Join the #WePreferPinky Movement today!

Whats a protest without pandas?

Panda On!
Bob T Panda

I’d like to thank writer Deborah Underwood for coming up with the term “SHOUTYCAPS” to describe the feeling you get when someone writes in all capital letters. That’s why they pay her the big bucks. (Actually, hardly any writers for children make big bucks, so if you are looking for some really fun books for kids in your life, do check out her books at your local bookstore or on her website! She and her cat will thank you!)