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.

Fabulous Furry Friday

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It has been Pinky Pinky Pinky all the time around here lately. I do like to give the other pandas a chance to shine, but Pinky is so persuasive! What is a panda satirist supposed to do?

But a news story making the rounds of the panda faithful caught my attention this week, involving not Pinky but her mother! It turns out, that Mei Xiang had a very successful film career, long before Pinky or even Tai Shan was a gleam in their father’s eye. Yes, according to some research done by Pandas International, Mei Xiang (otherwise known as Pinky’s Mommee) was the sneezing baby panda, with over 200,000,000 views on and off youtube.

There will be a response to this news, in the pages of the Panda Chronicles, but not just yet. In the meantime, enjoy these cartoons from the archives for Fabulous Furry Friday!

Boopie and the pandas…

a morality tale…

…in several parts…

…but Boopie and the pandas live happily ever after. Ben does not.

Have a happy weekend, ya’ll!

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

It’s Official! Pinky is More Popular Than…

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We now have absolute proof that Pinky is more popular than…

Any. Other. Animal. At. The. Smithsonian. Zoo. I bet you thought I was going to quote John Lennon.

At least any that have their own animal cam. The elephants were the closest contenders, with over 600,000 views. Pah! Chicken feed!!!! Do you want to guess how many views the panda cam had in 2014? Oh…you already looked. Well, if you were waiting for me to tell you, the panda cam had in excess of 38,000,000 views. Rumor has it, the panda cam takes more than 60% of the zoo’s bandwidth (whatever that is). Well… do you really want to watch anyone other than Pinky?

editors note: We just received a clarification from a reader who actually knows this for a fact (because she works for the Smithsonian) that the panda cam actually takes up 60% of the ENTIRE SMITHSONIAN bandwidth (19 museums and 9 research centers), not just the Zoo. Ahem. Pinky IS an icon. Just sayin’

I thought not.

Proof positive of Pinky’s persuasive popularity!

Which leads to me to my other “truth is weirder than fiction but provides great inspiration for panda satire” news story: Pinky Money! Okay, it’s really just a commemorative coin, but a small bear can dream, can’t she? (Note: this is NOT an endorsement for Pinky Money.)

BTW, we apologize for not adding any more of the WeREndangered mug series that we promised. We were “away” (no, not in prison!) for a few weeks and then got sick on our return, so the new mug program is set back a bit. I’m going to get right on it though! Bee the Bear and Mr. Wu are not waiting very patiently, and neither are the Meihems. Stay tuned to the Panda Channel and we will let you know when they are on the shelf.

Be the Bear and vote Pinky Pinky Pinky in 2016!
Bob T Panda

I’m Just Drawn That Way

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Poor, poor, adorable little Pinky. She is so misunderstood. What is a small panda with visions of grandeur to do, but to run for president? And what can that poor panda do when her mommee thwarts her at every turn?

As Pinky likes to remind me, I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.

Mei Xiang and the Zoo Director have gotten their panties in a knot, it seems.

Ha ha! Sorree, mommee.

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

A Walk in the Woods

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I just saw notice today of something that makes me very happy! Bill Bryson’s book, A Walk in the Woods has been made into a movie which will be released this September! For those of you who have not yet read Bryson’s hilarious account of walking the Appalachian trail, I suggest you get your furry behinds to your nearest library or bookstore and acquire a copy. Like all of Bryson’s books, AWITW contains humor, interesting facts and history, as well as a few things that can kill you.

Huzzah!

To celebrate, I share a few cartoons of bears being bears.

another cartoon inspired by real news!

Thanks again to Henry Nicholls for alerting me to this story

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

Oh those polar bears! What jokers they are!

Be the Bear! And have a Fabulous Furry Friday!
Bob T. Panda

Money for Pinky!

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I know you want to just cut to the chase and go see what Pinky has up her paws to raise money for Pinky and her presidential campaign, but just bear with me a minute.

Oh. You can’t wait…read a few of my thoughts, it’s just but what is Pinky up to NOW, you want to know!

Oh, all right. Go ahead a look. I’ll be right here.

Are you back?
Good.
So I was listening the National Panda Radio the other day, and I heard a story about how paper is making a comeback. And it’s not just about books. There are recent studies that suggest that students retain more relevant information by writing, rather than typing on a laptop or tablet. Artist and writer Lynda Barry (now Dr. Lynda, thanks to a honorary doctorate from my alma mater The University of the Arts in Philadelphia) suggests that ideas and memories can be triggered and stimulated by the actual act of putting pencil to paper.

This is encouraging and validating for a luddite such as myself, who refuses to get a Waccom tablet to draw and paint digitally, and insists on drawing with pencil and india ink with a dip pen (a dip pen, for crying out loud!!!!) to bring you all the panda satire you can stand. Many is the day when I started a cartoon without an idea, but I would draw a nose, and then some ears, and before I knew it, pandas were doing stuff and it was funny!

Okay… Well, I thought it was funny.

Just in case you were wondering how Pinky came up with the idea to do this:

I really had no idea what she was up to.

I’m sure there will be some consequences both for Pinky and myself.
See you next time!

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

Sneaky Bob

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Well, that was a dramatic announcement last week, wasn’t it? Pinky has informed her mother that she will be running for president! But….I got three whole (very sincere) votes in the last election! Doesn’t that count for anything?

Bob wouldn’t try anything sneaky, would he? Would he???????

Fabulous Furry Friday

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With all this talk about Pinky running for President, I thought a look back at Bob T. Panda’s run for the White House back in 2012 was called for, don’t you? Who could forget those dramatic days….First Girlfriend candidate Babette de Panda, Bob’s vile opponent, Mittens the Cat? It was a non stop political pandarama!

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.”

Huzzah!

Does being endangered have NO privileges?

Cats….you just can’t trust em.

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

Wasn’t that trip down memory lane fun? I can’t hardly wait to see what Pinky has up her paws to help her win this election. And we know Pinky can’t help but win, what with being an icon and all …. and the Winner of the Smithsonian icon Smackdown is…

A special thanks to all of you who have supported panda satire through purchases of my books and stuff with panda satire on them from PandyLand on Cafe Press. Some new designs will be coming out in the next couple of months. In the works are designs for Bee, the Bear, the Meihems, Inspector Panda, the Wu Self, Babette de Panda, and who knows what other panda characters will be commemorated this way? If you have a special request, please feel free to share it in a comment, or on the contact us page. 10 % of revenue from Pandyland sales will go to one of several Panda Support organizations. In April, we supported (or will, as soon as we get our proceeds from Cafe Press!) will go to Pandas International, to help assist them in all that they do for pandas. Huzzah!

Be the Bear, and have a fabulous furry, FRIDAY!
Bob T. Panda

We Need to Talk

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Has there ever been a phrase that strikes terror into a …um…panda’s heart like we need to talk?Just when mama Mei Xiang thought that things would be calming down, and she could think about whether it was time to start knitting some panda booties…..

Pinky for what??????

Pinky has a surprise up her sleeve for mommee and daddee, I think. Well, at least it will distract her from the prospect of having a sibling (or two!) to contend with. Oh my…the fur may fly this summer.

Be the bear!
Bob T. Panda

We are not done yet

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We are not done yet, talking about the power outage that happened some time back in Washington DC (Known around here as the “other” Washington). Princess Pinky has some ‘splainin’ to do, I think.

Zoonooz is on the job. Can you say “cover up”?

Bob has always turned a blind eye to anything Princess Pinky might be getting up to, but developments are developing that he may not be able to ignore!

Stay tuned to this here station!

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday Returns

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What would we do without Fridays? That gateway to the weekend and relaxation…or maybe you work weekends or have saved up all the chores you don’t have time for during the week, so really, wouldn’t it be better if you could just sneak back to the office so you could watch panda videos of Fezbook, when you think no one is looking?

Not of course that I am suggesting that you do that. I’m just saying….

From a true story!

The panda kindergarten is so very helpful.

You know we’re just kidding about this, right? And besides…you can never have too many cartoons about cats!

Aren’t you done yet?

Thanks for joining us for Fabulous Furry Friday!

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda