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.

Celebrate Wu

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I love Mr. Wu, San Diego’s junior panda in residence. Because Mr. Wu turns four years old this summer, he will most likely be moving to China sometime this fall or winter, I thought we should celebrate Wu and all things relating to the Wu self today.

I know, I know! I hate the idea of his leaving us too, but it is part of the deal we make with China in order to have pandas come and live here. And because Mr. Wu’s dad, Gao Gao, was born in the wild, Wu is of particular value as the future father of more little pandas. So we must shower him with love and affection while he is here, and try not to cry too much until then.

So let’s have a Fabulous Furry Friday salute to Mr. Wu!!!!

Mr. Wu’s first appearance on The Panda Chronicles

Thank you all for coming! Buy my book here!

Yo ho ho and a bottle of BooBeer!

While Mr. Wu was the only cub in the U.S. we had Mr. Wu Wednesday!

“You are right and Wu is wrong…I’ll never do it again, mommy.”

where happy pandas eat bamboo, oh why, oh why, can’t…Wu?

And who could forget the exciting story of The Wizard of Wu? And remember, you can read all of the Mr. Wu stories in Book 4 of the Panda Chronicles: The Book of Wu! Get it here!

Have a great weekend, everyone! More pandas coming your way on Sunday!

Be the Bear
Bob T. Panda

It’s International Panda Day!

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No, really…it really is International Panda Day! Who knew? Um…well, someone told me it was and while I have been trying to find some corroborating evidence that it IS in fact, International Panda Day, how about we just say that it is and have a panda party to celebrate!

Huzzah! it’s International Panda Day! Let’s have some cake!!!!!

Um...what cho doing wif dat hammer, pinky?

Um…what choo doing wif dat hammer, pinky?

And if you are done celebrating, why not head over to the nice folks at Pandas International and check out goodies in their store. All the purchases there help provide support for pandas. I mean real pandas. Because, without pandas, there could be no panda satire!

Meanwhile back at The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire, things are heating up on the election front, Bubba gets cuter day by day, and the Meihem twins are hanging out and being about as adorable as two teenage pandas can be.

I hope everyone whose clocks changed for Daylight Savings time has adjusted. It’s only an hour, but it throws me off for weeks, it seems.

And if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter mailing list, you might want to think about doing that. There is a sign up form on the top of the righthand column. I know I have not sent out very many newsletters, in fact it’s probably been 6 months since the last one. Oopsie. My bad. But I just discovered how to make a secret password protected page here, and I am only going to send the password to people on my mailing list. How do you like them apples? I plan to put fun stuff on there, and maybe only leave each page up for a couple of months. We’ll see how it goes. I hope to get a newsletter out sometime next week, so you have a little time to put your email address in the little box that says: Get even MORE Pandas and Powered by Mailchimp at the bottom of the box. At the rate I send out newsletters, I’ll hardly be a nuisance at all, and I swear on the deluxe size box of cuppycakes that I will never share your email address with anyone else.

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

Su Lin the first. From a a personal photograph that found it’s way to me.

Pinky Sez…

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Being the ever attentive big sister, Pinky has offered to teach baby Bei Bei Bubba Brother, a new game…called…Pinky Sez…

Don’t you wish you had such a caring older sibling?

Yeah, me neither.

How IS this different from Pinky’s normal bossiness?

It is a wonder that Mei Xiang’s fur is not turning gray! But I think Bubba is beginning to catch on to his big sister’s manipulations. He can’t quite resist the temptation of frosting, though. For now, Pinky has the upper paw.

And if you haven’t read this story by New Yorker writer Robin Wright already, take a few minutes to read it now. It might help you understand why we’re all so crazy for Washington DC’s newest superstar (panda). (Not to mention help you distract yourself from other DC shenanigans.) It is a lovely look at pandas, from the viewpoint of a lifelong panda fan.

Bubba would also like to point out that according to this article, twice as many people have viewed Bubba on the panda cam in his first four months, than they did Pinky during a similar time period. Watch out Robyn. Pinky might be able to find your address. #Don’tMakePinkyMad

Be the bear,
Bob T. Panda

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

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With news of a state dinner for the folks from Canada at the White House, following quickly on the heels of the photograph of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with two adorable panda cubs on his lap, It’s anyone’s guess who’s coming for dinner!

Are Pinky and Bubba invited as well? I mean, now that the PM and the Toronto Twinkies are such good buds, I can’t believe he’d leave them at home! and will Mei Xiang and Tian Tian be invited as well? Seems like the PM might be the sort who has permissive attitudes towards pandas and would let them get up to any number of hijinks, and where Pinky is concerned, well, you just can’t be too careful!

The long, dark tea time of the soul….

You can lead a bear to culture, but….

And this would not be the first time that pandas attended state dinners at the White House…

I am only making some of this up. copyright 2012 -A. Belov

And if you are not aware, this weekend we leave Daylight losing time behind, and get up one or earlier…or is it we go to bed later…Fall forward…spring back…heck…I don’t know. Let’s just have a pajama day and sleep in!

Bob explains daylight savings time to the panda kindergarten

spring back, fall forward?

And if you haven’t bought any stuff with pandas on it lately, now is a good as time as any!

Be the Bear!
Bob T Hey Why Not Vote 4 Bob Panda

Pandas are not Solitary

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Contrary to the conventional wisdom, pandas are not solitary animals, as scientists would have us believe. In fact many of them are on social media, with a veritable flood of them on Twitter! Princess Pinky has her own page, and Bubba has several. Recently Pinky and Bubba’s parents have gotten into the act, probably to make sure Pinky was not up to anything she shouldn’t be. I…ahem…heard that Inspector Panda has an account, but he forgot his password and hasn’t been able to find it.

Just a couple of days ago, a photograph of Canada’s new Prime Minister has hit the inter webs, …wait for it…with the extremely adorable Toronto panda twins on his lap. New Yorker writer Andy Borowitz has pointed out the dangers of allowing this photo to be publicized. Will Americans who chose to flee a potentially repressive regime come the November elections, be given a false sense of what Canada has to offer? (Free pandas for everyone!!!!!) And will we all have to take up the sport of curling?

Could all these Twitter accounts be real, with pandas pounding the keys of their laptops as they while away the hours behind the scenes? Or is something more sinister going on?

But they’re so cute!

To tell the truth, I did not know what a “sock puppet” account was, until recently. But wouldn’t it be fun, if they really did have to make puppets to use them?

Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

The Toronto Panda Twins Endorse…

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Rumors are flying around the headquarters of The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire! Will Bob T concede the election? Does Princess Pinky have something up her sleeve? Will Bubba ever get Pinky to quit calling him “Boo Boo”? But the big news is that the Toronto Panda Twins are making their public debut on March 12! And they have made their decision as to whom to support in their neighbor nation to the south’s race to the top…

Be the bear, eh?

I don’t know why they don’t want to support a mature panda with lots of experience…um…doing stuff, but there you have it. If you planning on visiting the Toronto Twinkies, please send pictures to us here. and maybe you could give them a Why Not Vote 4 Bob flag. Just saying.

Be the Bear

Fabulous Furry Friday

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This week, Fabulous Furry Friday looks at…(you know we had to do this, didn’t you?) The 2016 Election Season. Well, actually, it’s more like the 2012 election season that we are looking back on, since a certain candidate, who we will refer to as He Who Must Not Be Named, (or HWMNBN) was throwing verbal rocks at the previous failed Republican presidential candidate, calling him a loser and disgrace.

Now, I am no fan of the former Republican candidate, but he deserves respect, particularly from someone who wants to hold the office under consideration. (So does our current President, if you want my opinion.) Can’t we play nice, please? Pretty panda please?

Is it really all black and white?

Cats….you just can’t trust em. Remember Mittens?

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

And if debating with Mittens wasn’t bad enough, now Bob is facing Pinky in the primary fight of his life. The soul of the Panda Party is at stake!

What could Pinky be up to…?

Don’t mess with Pinky.

…and I real have to talk with my media team, because I don’t have a video yet, and Pinky’s has been shown all over the world!

Be the Bear and have a fabulous weekend!
Bob T Panda

News Flash: Panda Climbs a Tree

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Ha ha! that was a gratuitous headline if there ever was one. Of course a panda climbs a tree! Bubba has been climbing up a storm, ever since they let him explore the great outdoors. So, this cartoon is kind of old news, but it wasn’t when I drew it. Mommee Mei is now confident enough in his abilities that she can take a nap or chow down some boo while he is wowing the crowds with his feats of daring.

But when Bubba first started exploring the dreaded hemlock and the gingko of terror, Mei thought he might need just a little help to get started.

You can’t just DO stuff. You need instruction from an expert!

Moms…gotta love ’em.

Meanwhile, we have been having weather not very conducive to pandas, with horizontal buckets of rain today. Blergg. The good news is that it is perfect weather to work on my latest project, which will be available sometime this millennium. I don’t mean to be snarky, but it turns out a graphic novel is a whole heck of a lot of work. Sometime next month I will start sharing some sketches in progress, but for now, can I just say it is either going to be awesomely cool, or a complete pile of crap.

Sigh…We creative types are subject to mood swings and insecurity, if you haven’t figured this out yet. But never fear, Pandas are on the move, and we will bring you all the pandas that fit!

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

Kung Fu Panda revisited

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Oh me, oh my, Friday night I went to see Kung Fu Panda 3 and the bears did not disappoint! If you haven’t seen the movie yet, (and I strongly urge you to go right this minute) and you don’t want to read any spoilers, I suggest you skip this section and head on down to today’s ‘toon, so I don’t ruin the experience for you.

I have to admit, I was a fledgling Pandaholic when the first Kung Fu Panda movie came out, and to put it mildly, I was skeptical, if not downright dismissive of the idea. Then I went to see it and all I can say is WOW! Goofy, but lovable Panda Po aside, the movie is a visual treat and movie 3 was no exception.

The film team even visited the panda kindergarten and went to the Chimelong Panda reserve to meet the worlds first surviving panda triplets, Mengmeng, Shuaishuai and Kuku (also known as Pinky’s minions) and gave them a cameo role in the movie.

Po travels to his long lost, unremembered home with his real panda dad to gain the vital panda knowledge needed to fight this movies’ supremely evil villain, and in the process discovers his roots and a whole lot of (wait for it) adorable baby pandas, not to mention a female panda that appears to have studied at Babette de Panda’s charm academy for young pandas ladies.

I laughed, I cried, I gasped with amazement. I can’t end this review without mentioning the incredible lushness and visual excitement of this movie. As a fine artist (besides being a panda satirist) I love movies that capitalize on relevant art styles and references. Nods to traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy, not to mention amazing color combinations and dynamic compositions make this movie an aesthetic, as well as a pandarific experience. If you can see it on a big screen, do it. Do it now.

And now, on with our Sunday feature ‘toon…

Huzzah! Pandas save the day!

Hope you enjoyed today’s cartoon, and do go see Kung Fu Panda 3. Heck. see all of them again! I know that I will! and I bet Po will get an Oscar tonight for best panda in a dramatic role, don’t you think?

Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

Be the Bear

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I just listened to an interview with the guy who played the grizzly in the movie The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and ahem…THE BEAR!!!!! Let me say right here that no matter how many well deserved Academy Awards this movie wins this weekend, I have no intention whatsoever of seeing this movie. This guy studied a lot of bear attacks, so he could…um…be the bear.

It was really interesting to hear about all of the preparation and mechanics/ technological magic that went in to making the scenes with the bear attack so realistic. If you’re interested, you might be able to catch the podcast on CBC’s Day Six.

However, I would never dream of boycotting movies containing …pandas. Um…KUNG FU PANDA 3!!! (which I have plans to see tonight!)

So, in honor of both the bear (yay!!!!!) from The Revenant and the Kung Fu Pandas, here are some being the bear related cartoons for your Fabulous Furry Friday Fun!

“Is it a documentary?”

Being the bears!

Huzzah! Bring pandas to Washington State!

Speaking of being mauled by bears…

Thanks again to Henry Nicholls for alerting me to this story

And I’ll be sure to let you know what I thought of Kung Fu Panda 3 after I see it tonight. I bet is going to get an Oscar for best panda in a dramatic role!

Be the BEAR,
Bob T Panda