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.

I Am Not a Crook!

10 Replies

Oh the indignity of it all. To be accused in a note left in a panda’s playpen of all things, accused of unlawfully removing the adorable Canadian panda twins from their playpen and bringing them to MY house! I tell you, I am NOT a crook!

Hmmm…I think I’ve heard that phrase before but I can’t remember where.

Anyway, I know this is one of Pinky’s evil plans to discredit me, so that she can win the presidential race. No matter how badly she behaves, her numbers keep going up in the polls, while mine….um…don’t.

Really…I’m not!

I can bearly bear (ha ha) to listen to the real election coverage anymore. It keeps getting more and more absurd and my pandy sense tells me that we are in for a long hot summer. We are going to need pandas and panda satire more than ever, so when you get tired of reality, be sure to come on by and check in with all the pandas here at the Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire.You’ll be glad you did.

I recently added a new item to the store at Pandyland! By request of a fan, We now have the Panda Kindergarten Samurai flask. good to quench your thirst in whatever way you think is necessary. I know what I’ll be putting in MY flask to get through the election season, but you can put what ever you’d like in it. Check it out here!

Be the Bear

The End of the Crisis

32 Replies

Ha ha, not the end of THAT crisis! You know… The 2016 election season. Yup…that’s still happening, much to our dismay. No, the end of the crisis to which we refer, is the disappearance of the Canadian Twinkies. But they have headed for home, and Mom Er Shun is whipping up a large batch of bootine, that Canadian delicacy that is the favorite of Canadian pandas everywhere. Um…all four of them.

Are you SURE you wouldn’t like to vote for Bob?

A couple of faithful readers told me that they did not get friday’s post in their email this week. I don’t think I got it either, so I went into the behind the curtains scene, and pushed a few buttons randomly, reinstalled this and that, and just general flapped around seeing if I could figure out why it was doing this (or more like not doing this) So, I have no idea if I fixed anything or made it worse. So, if you are an email subscriber, feel free to make a comment and let me know if the post today shows up in your email inbox. It could be an evil plot by Pinky, to keep me from campaigning against her, or it could be a break in the space time continuum.

Work continues behind the scenes on The Case of the Picturesque Panda. I hope to be ready to send out to publishers by the end of the summer. I’ve started on the revisions I need to do before I can start on the final art, and am hoping to get all that approved by the beginning of June. Stay tuned!

Well, till then,
Be the Bear
Why Not Vote 4 Bob?
Bob T Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday the 13th

11 Replies

It is Fabulous Furry Friday AND Friday the 13th but I don’t think that we have any cartoons specifically dealing with Friday the 13th, (oddly enough…) so I will have to remedy that! So here is a post on the subject from our good friend over at VSomethingSpeaks.

I guess I will just have to look for some cartoons where our cast appears to be particularly unlucky in some fashion.

Pandanastics star, PO of Atlanta Zoo, practices for the Olympics, while the Torch Bears continue their around the world journey. Where will they turn up next?

This looks kind of dangerous, doesn’t it?

Never underestimate the power of a good “fart joke”

What makes a panda run? Cuppycakes, of course!!!!

I smell FROSTING!!!!!!!!

Love the hobby horse on a spring (inspired by a REAL photo of a REAL panda on one.

National Zoo cub makes mom Mei Xiang disappear

oops.

Have a great day, and remember, that you should be nice to all cats, unlike the panda kindergarten. Just saying. Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, and remember, if you enjoy reading a bunch of my ‘toons all at once, why not pick up copies of ALL the Panda Chronicles Books? You’ll be glad you did!

Till Next Time…Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

Refuge

20 Replies

Oh, Bubba. I know that the twins, if they had the power to do so, would offer you refuge from the wrath of Pinky. And Mr. Bun too. Mr. Bun is welcome in Canada anytime, I’m sure. Pinky…not so much.

Hey! Where did Bubba and Mr. Bun go?

I’m sure that Unka Justin would be happy to add another toddler panda to his herd (embarrassment?) of pandas. Bubba has such a sweet nature, and I’m sure he would like some other pandas his own age to play with. And things are getting very hot back at the home den.

Repressive regime, indeed!

But things may start heating up on the electoral home front, as we anticipate the return of Mittens the Cat to the Panda-litical stage. Yes, that’s right. I have heard rumors that Mittens has been released from the Home for Delusional Animals where he was confined after the last election cycle four years ago. There is speculation he has a new “fur-do” but the same old policies. Will Pinky and Bob have to join forces to combat this totally unsuitable candidate?

Stay tuned!

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Attention Must be Paid

25 Replies

If Pinky is to survive until the election, attention must be paid to Mommee, because I think her patience has come to an end. Actually, I think all patience went out the window, several episodes ago, but Pinky just does not know when to give it a rest. Meanwhile, Bubba is having way too much fun with some cubbies closer to his own age, and Pinky is rethinking having such young minions. These Canadian minions are not falling in to line like the triplets did. It must be a result of having such a panda permissive head of government, who has been known to bounce little panda cubbies on his knees. I bet he reads bedtime stories to the twins too. Do you suppose he babysits when Er Shun and Da Mao want to have date night?

Bubba is having so much fun with his new friends! These minions are not up to Pinky’s standards!

So, not that I’m complaining or anything, I have noticed, that when Pinky is behaving badly, there are far more views on the blog than when all the pandas are behaving themselves nicely. Just an observation, mind you, not a criticism or cause for concern. Perhaps people …er… pandas other than myself wish to unleash their inner cubby and join the bears behaving badly.

In honor of Mother’s day (and particularly Mei Xiang, long suffering mother of Pinky) I wanted to share with you Vicky Vladic’s post on panda moms (along with a very yummy sounding recipe) over at V Something Speaks. Enjoy!

There is more to come later this week on the ongoing international panda crisis. Stay tuned!

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Secret Meetings Were Held…

18 Replies

…at the campaign headquarters of one Princess Pinky Panda in Washington DC at the National Zoo. Why weren’t you alerted in advance? Well, it wouldn’t have been much of a secret meeting if I told you before it happened now, would it?

Pinky and I having a top secret meeting, to discuss the future of Bob T’s candidacy. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Friedline) (Now you know what I really look like!) (That’s me in the back, in case you were wondering)

When I started my journey into panda satire, I was a little unsure about what kind of people I would meet in cyberspace. After a while, I figured they weren’t all scary and most of them weren’t ax murderers, and so, a couple of years ago (I can’t even remember how many…maybe it was when the first Panda Chronicles books came out) I told one of my Facebook panda friends that yes, I was coming to DC and maybe it would be fun to meet a couple of people, but don’t make a big deal or anything.

Well, one fun lunch get together led to another and then to another and then I met Leslie Johnson who made the most amazing cuppycakes depicting Princess Pinky and now Bubba cookies. (Pinky cuppycakes came complete with tiara and magical wand!)

On this trip, not only did I get to visit with friends from past panda visits, but also met more people that I only know on FB and Twitter, including the people behind @houseofcubs and @pinkypanda0823 on Twitter. I have sworn not to reveal their identities, so don’t even TRY to worm it out of me!

Cuppycakes, anyone? (Photo courtesy of Karen Wille and cuppycakes courtesy of Leslie Johnson)

At the beginning of my trip, I was in Western PA where I met some other blogger friends. a great time was had by all, and was written about on Cordelia’s Mom Still, by one of the bloggers I got together with, while in PA.

Room service!

Do we know how to have fun, or what?

But I know you didn’t show up to see pictures of my trip! Bring on the panda satire, you say! In commemoration of the recent exodus from the clown car by several of the clowns, (I won’t say celebration, because there still is a very big, bad clown in the car) Let’s have a trip down memory lane from Bob’s last venture in presidential politics…..

Babette has ..um…toned her wardrobe down in honor of this important occasion.

In the words of Winnie ther Pooh, “I think it’s time for a little something.

Bob says it best! “What’s the point of being president if you can’t stop for cake?”

Cats….you just can’t trust em.

Does being endangered have NO privileges?

Keep cool, cat, and don't go blaming women for stuff. That is SO not the way to get votes...

Is this a little too close to what some candidates are actually saying? Um….yes. Yes it is.

Four years ago, I thought I had made a really absurd representation of political discourse. This year, um…not so much. what has been said by certain candidates is way beyond what is in this cartoon.

By the way…yesterday was National Cartoonists Day! Did anyone get me a present?

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

The Jig Is Up

30 Replies

I have just returned from a fact finding mission to Pinky’s Campaign Headquarters, where I took high level meetings with various panda dignitaries from around the country. Okay, from a short drive to Washington DC. Despite Pinky’s protestations that her yard is so big, she could get lost and wind up in Canada, I did not see any evidence that this could be possible. There may be some sort of secret passage way, but frankly, my dear, I think the jig is up. Now hand over those panda cubs or there will be trouble.

What do you mean you left a note saying they are at my house?

Several attendees at the gala panda lunch had gone on a fact finding mission to the actual home of the Toronto Twinkies and they said that they saw the twins there, but with the amount of time little panda cubbies sleep, they could easily have been strategically placed stuffed pandas. I’m talking to you, Cami and Frances! Did you actually see them move, or was one of the keepers just jiggling the panda stuffies with a stick, so that no one would know the real cubbies were gone?

Enquiring minds want to know!!!!!

Meanwhile, is Bubba going to have to pay for his increasing cheekiness to his big sister? He is walking on thin ice if you want my opinion. You really don’t want to make Pinky mad!

There will be more from my panda tourism experience on Friday! Till then…

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Pinky has some ‘splaining to do

14 Replies

Oh, Pinky…did you really think that you would not be found out when you brought underaged pandas across international borders? The wrath of Mommee may be the least of your problems! How does it look for a presidential candidate to appropriate pandas that do not belong to you, for your own evil purposes?

Do you think this is presidential behavior?????

Ahem….There may be another panda candidate running for office this year, if maybe you were thinking that Pinky was one of those extremist candidates. Hey! Why not vote for Bob?

Ooooh! Did Daddee actually yell at Pinky?

Ever the politician, did you notice how Pinky promises not to go to Canada again, but doesn’t promise not to leave the zoo? Very sneaky, Pinky, very sneaky! But I don’t think Unka Justin is going to let the twins get away quite this easily, since he is rather fond of them. Put those cubbies back right this minute, young lady!

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday

6 Replies

Today, Fabulous Furry Friday looks at one of our favorite subjects, Panda Cams!!!! Where would we be without panda cams? (Yes, I know, I know… I’d be getting a lot more work done, but you know, watching panda videos is very relaxing, or so I’ve heard somewhere)

Back in the early days, the panda cams were only in black and white, in fixed positions, and often were only available a few hours a day. Now, they are mostly in color, high definition, viewable 24 hours a day, and camera operators follow the pandas around, at least during the pandas wakeful times. (Don’t say it. They do NOT sleep all the time) So put your paws together and give a big huzzah to the panda cam operators, who are mostly unpaid volunteers who are dedicated to giving pandaholics such as myself our daily fix of pandaliscious goodness.

Some of the new high definition panda cams are sponsored by places like Animal Planet (Zoo Atlanta Panda cam) or the Ford Motor Company (National Zoo). For this, we pandaholics thank you!

In the early days of panda cams….

And then there are those dedicated folks who record hours and hours of panda cam footage, and then edit it, so we can watch 20 minutes of pandas playing instead of 14 hours of pandas sleeping. One of my favorite panda video creators, is my Facebook friend who has a YouTube channel called Doxiemom19 who I would credit with supplying me with the best bits of panda life, so that I can turn it into panda satire and illustrations and not have to be constantly watching the panda cams raw footage, and instead, bring you my take on pandas.

What pandas get up to when they are in front of a camera…

#6 is getting ready to make his move!

Huzzah!….ooops.

Speaking of being mauled by bears…

And even wild pandas are subject to invasion of privacy…

The secret lives of the wild panda!

Hope you have a fabulous furry weekend! Be the bear!

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

Daddee Knows Best

14 Replies

I am probably revealing just how ancient I am when I say that I remember the TV show, Father Knows Best. Although to be honest, I don’t really remember much about the show, just that it was a thing, way back when. It’s possible that the hapless father in question never really called the shots, but hey, maybe I’m just misremembering or something. But when it comes to Pinky, it’s more like Mommee Knows Best, not that she has any chance of controlling her presidential Pink self. At times like this, she just has to throw up her paws and let Dad take a turn. I don’t think Mei believes that Tian will have any better luck than she does, it’s just, you know, she needs a break from being the enforcer.

Um…I think Pinky has Daddee wrapped around her fuzzy little paw. Just saying.

Will Mei Xiang discover what’s under the bed? Will Bubba get Pinky’s dessert? Will Mr. Bun apply for political asylum in Canada? Stay tuned and find out in our next exciting episode!

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda