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.

Happy New Year …

Happy New Year from The Institute of Contemporary Panda Satire!

Princess Pinky helps with new years resolutions

You say you want a resolution, well, you know, it is hard to change a bear….

Are you one of the resolution people?

Bob still likes to get out in the field once in a while.

Bob still likes to get out in the field once in a while.

…Or are you more the polar bear plunge type?

Be the Bear
Bob T. Panda

See you on Sunday with a brand new ‘toon, when Pinky takes on the new zoo opening times!!!!!!!!

Day 31: The Ultimate 31 Days of Pandas Post

It has finally arrived! Day 31 of 31 Days of Pandas. As ever, I am grateful to all who have stuck it out, all who have commented, all who have embraced these pandas and welcomed them onto your screen. I am especially grateful to those of you who have bought my books and goodies from my Pandyland Cafe Press store! But mostly, I am grateful that you enjoy what I do here, and have chosen to return.

The life of a creative professional ( a term I am not entirely comfortable with, but it is the closest I can come to what it is I do) is a very uncertain one. Will anyone respond to my work? Will I make enough money to live? Should I have married a dentist, like my parents wanted? Will I have to endure one more family dinner with great Aunt Mildred telling me how successful her daughter is, and how she just bought a vacation home in Hawaii? And what was it you do, again?

I was reminded recently of Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech that he gave at MY alma mater, The University of the Arts,  in 2012.  It’s referred to as “the make good art” speech, and that sums it up. All I want to do is make good art, and maybe tell some good stories along with it. The video is about 20 minutes long, but well worth it. It’s inspiring as all get out! Go watch it. We’ll wait right here…

Meanwhile, it’s New Year’s eve at the panda kindergarten…

new years eve party, panda kindergarten

The panda kindergarten at their best…or is that worst?

And we still have to finish the 12 Days of Crispmoss…

On the twelfth day of Crisp-Moss, My Panda cam Did See....

On the twelfth day of Crisp-Moss, My Panda cam Did See….

MX: no, Pinky, you may NOT have a Bamboo-tini!

MX: no, Pinky, you may NOT have a Bamboo-tini!

I can't hear you....

I can’t hear you….

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

whew!

whew!

Everybody sing!

Everybody sing!

Be the Bear everyone, and let’s be careful out there!
Bob T. Panda

 

 

Day 30: Oh My Gosh We are Almost …

We are almost at the end of 31 Days of Pandas! I hope you had as much fun as I did traveling down memory lane and are looking forward to our regular schedule of new ‘toons every Sunday and Wednesday, and an encore presentation on Fabulous Furry Fridays! I can hardly wait!

OOOOO! Pinky is a star!

OOOOO! Pinky is a star!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

whew!

Almost done!

I, for one, am looking forward to a…um…backbreaking schedule of pandas, pandas, pandas in 2016, and I hope it is enough to save me from the debacle that the 2016 presidential election is sure to be. Whatever happens on the political front, you can be sure that princess Pinky, the Meihems, little Bubba, and all the other pandas will up the ante. Of course with the level of absurdity, (or as brilliant writer Jasper Fforde refers to it: The Stupidity Surplus) reality will be difficult to top.

well, until tomorrow,
Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

 

Day 29: We Are So Ready for 2015 to be Over

I don’t know about you, but I am so ready for 2015 to be over. Actually, with the upcoming election season swinging into full speed ahead mode, I might be ready for 2016 to be over too.

Apropos of nothing, I would like to announce my Lifetime Achievement Award I just received for…going to Pittsburgh! Twice! In one year! Friends who I originally met while living in western MA, now live in Pittsburgh, which are my childhood stomping grounds. As writers of one of the only amusing holiday letters I have ever read, they started a Roll of Honor some years back, which they award to people who have come to visit them in the various cities where they have lived over the last 30 years. Various achievement levels are obtained depending whether you just drop by for dinner, or stay over at their house, or meet up with them in their travels. Because I had to make two trips to Pittsburgh (and maybe because I hounded John incessantly about making this years Roll of Honor, I got the aforementioned Lifetime Achievement Award.

Huzzah!

I really am easily amused. and now…..

No WONDER I didn't get any presents!

No WONDER I didn’t get any presents!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!

whew!

Are you still singing?

As we get ready to say buh bye to 2015, let me tell you a little of what will be in store for next year…
Pinky will comment on the kerfuffle at the National Zoo, caused by Zoo Director Dennis Kelly’s decision to change the opening and closing hours at the zoo.
Bob and Mehitabel will discuss the plans to try to bring pandas to the other Washington.
Pinky will outshine Bob in her campaigning efforts, and Bob will try to gain an advantage.
Plans to revise “The Case of the Picturesque Panda” into a graphic novel will continue.
Bob will continue to lament the lack of a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant in the field of Panda Satire.

It’s going to be a panda-ful year, and I hope you will continue to visit all of us at The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire!

Day 28: Will These Pandas Ever Go Away?

Gosh, we hope not! In fact, we are hoping for even more pandas to grace our fair shores.  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, there are high level panda procurement talks happening between China and Washington state. All pseudo thumbs crossed for a panda invasion to my home sweet home state!

Meanwhile, pandas are waiting to sing the next verse of…

The Twelve Days of Crispmoss!

Oh no! Not again!

Oh no! Not again!

FIIIIIVE cuppycakes!

FIIIIIVE cuppycakes!

whew!

whew!

Keep Being the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

Day 27: Countdown to the New Year Begins

Could it really be true? Could we be starting the countdown to the new year already?

Well, yes we could. In some ways the year flew by, and in other ways it was excruciatingly long. We have a new panda cub in Washington DC, twins in Toronto, and now the faintest glimmer of the possibility of pandas in the Pandacific Northwest. Huzzah!

And now, for the last new cartoon of the new year, I offer this, as my wish for the new year, probably guaranteed to delight and annoy, in equal measure. Feel free to tell me what you think in the comments, but I won’t post anything really mean or abusive. Other than  that, have at it!

Consider this my Werld Peez Pandifesto

Consider this my Werld Peez Pandifesto

No fairs unka bob, indeed!

Well, why the heck not?

Well, why the heck not?

Isn't that just the cutest thing?

Isn’t that just the cutest thing?

Vote for Pinky. Do YOU want to explain why you didn't?

Vote for Pinky. Do YOU want to explain why you didn’t?

Hey! Why NOT vote for Bob? Peace, prosperity, and buy stuff with pandas!
Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Day 26: 31 Days of Pandas Continues

So did Santa bring you everything you wanted?

No, me neither. But right around the corner is a brand new year, all shiny and untouched by tragedy and meanness. A new year full of hope and possibility.

I had hoped to have some early sketches of my new work in progress, but I am not that far along yet. You can be sure that when I get there, I will be sharing it right here!

On January 3rd, I will go back to my regular schedule, so no more pandas every day, (boo! hiss!) BUT, two new ‘toons per week, plus encore presentations for Fabulous Furry Fridays (yay! Huzzah!) There’s something to be said for that, right?

So sit back and have some leftover fruitcake and get ready to sing along as 31 Days of Pandas brings you day 6 of the 12 Days of Crispmoss!

Oh…could you not sing while eating leftover fruitcake? Especially not with your computer’s webcam turned on… Ick!

HOW many more days are there?

HOW many more days are there?

whew!

Are you singing?

Don’t forget to tune in tomorrow for a brand new cartoon, starring all of your favorite pandas!  While this will be the last NEW ‘toon of the year,  I am already hard at work writing and drawing new cartoons starring all of you favorite pandas!  I hope I will see you all then!

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

Day 25: Merry Christmas to you all!

Have yourself a pandy little Christmas....

Have yourself a pandy little Christmas….

Babette at the ice skating rink in Rockefeller center a few years ago with her good friend Frances A.

Babette at the ice skating rink in Rockefeller center a few years ago with her good friend Frances A.

A Merry Christmas to you all! Thank you for stopping by and being the bears, thank you for buying my books and stuff with pandas on it, thank you for thinking I’m funny, and telling me when you think I’m not. (Not that I pay any attention to that, but I still appreciate hearing that I’ve seriously annoyed you!)

The world has gotten smaller and farther apart all at the same time. It turns out that our friends we make here in cyberland, are just as important to us as our friends in the real world. Sometimes we only find that out when we lose one, and then it is too late. My holiday wish is that more people choose hope, peace, and black and white bears over hating and killing. Oh, and that there should be more cuppycakes that don’t make us..um..more pandaesque, but still taste really good.

Which reminds me…

FIIIIIVE cuppycakes!

FIIIIIVE cuppycakes! ( Sing this one REALLY LOUD!!!!!!)

whew!

whew!

And because I’ve been very very very (mostly) good, can we please have pandas move to Washington State?

I hope you get to spend today (and every day, actually) with people you love, eating cake. Hey! bears do not live by bamboo alone!

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

Day 24: T’was the night before Crispmoss

T’was the night before Crispmoss
and all through the den,
not a panda was eating
one cupcake or ten,

When up in the Hemlock
there rose such a yell,
“if that was a joke,
you can all go to…”

“Now Pinky come down here,
and watch that bad talk!
That ouchie wire’s there
’cause you’re not ‘spposed to walk

So close to the fence,
now come down from that tree!
I am your mother,  you
must listen to me!”

But Pinky stayed up in
her favorite tree.
Her mother, she pleaded,
“It’s a quarter past three.

The keepers should all be
home snug in their beds,
and me with a fruitie,
now mind what I said!”

But little miss Pinky
She took her sweet time,
And that is the end
of my little rhyme.

In memory of last year’s Occupy Hemlock, Christmas Eve sit in by the real life Princess Pinky. Dedicated to all panda keepers, all around the world.

And now, On the Fourth Day of Crispmoss…

four pandas sneaking...

four pandas sneaking…

...and a Pinky in a Hemlock tree!

…and a Pinky in a Hemlock tree!

Be the Bear. You’ve been very, very good, haven’t you? Then maybe Pandy Claws will bring you something wonderful, Like pandas to Seattle!

Bob T. Panda

 

 

 

 

Day 23: All I Want for Christmas is…

Yes, it is the third day of Crispmoss, but I have to digress for a moment, because yesterday, news crossed my screen, thanks to alert panda fan Kalpana Kanal, who notified me that serious discussions were happening between people who can do things in Washington State, and the people who own all the pandas in China. (Editors note: I rejected the article from the Seattle Times, as it was headlined: High Maintenance Pricey Pandas sought for Washington State. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the least little bit biased against pandas? I must protest!)

Yes! People other than me want to bring pandas to Washington State!!!!!

Which of course brings to mind my cartoon of at least six years ago, about bringing pandas to Seattle:

Woozppah!

Woozppah!

yes!

yes! It’s all I want for christmas

The time is NOW to join with me and all of us here at The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire, and say WOOZPPAH! NOW* (*also spelled WOOZPAH: WOOdlandparkZooProjectPanda) Let’s see if we can get #WOOZPPAH to trend on Twitter! The initials PNW will no longer stand for Pacific NorthWest, but will now be known as Pandas NorthWest! Huzzah!

So who is the crazy person NOW???

And now, on with the Third Day of Crispmoss…

I swear, I had nothing to do with Pinky's let night sit in.

I swear, I had nothing to do with Pinky’s late night sit in.

Remember, it’s Christmas eve EVE tonight. Tell Santa, all we want for Christmas are a couple of Pandas for Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. I don’t want anything else and I’ve been very, very good!

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda