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.

Inspector Panda immersed in Art

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Every once in a while I like to remind myself that I do know a bit about art, despite the fact that many (ok, most) of the art history slide lectures I sat through caused me to…um…doze off. What can I say? It was dark, the room was warm, and my art history prof had such a deep, soothing voice.

If you are just joining our story, you can read the rest of the episodes to date here!

I have this strange sense of deja vu…

Meanwhile, in the technical labs of The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire, we are working on several exciting developments, which we will alert you, our faithful readers in the next week or so. But we will FIRST alert those who have signed up for our mailing list (which you must admit, does not overtax your inbox!) So, if you want to be the first to know what there is to know, you best get over there and sign up to be on our newsletter list.

But wait, you cry! How do I do that? There is a sign-up link near the top of the right hand column, that says Get even More Pandas, and by signing up, you will get my email newsletter whenever I get around to send it. No News? No email. and you can banish pandas from your inbox any time you choose. Huzzah! Do it now as there will be some very cool news heading your way next week.

We would be remiss if we didn’t congratulate Princess Pinky on her exciting win over a whole bunch of kinda important icons in the Smithsonian Smackdown this week. If you thought she had a good opinion of herself before this, wait till you see her pinky-self now! Hooboy. Good luck Mei Xiang. Your little princess is going places!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Let’s have some more MEIHEM!

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Oh, yeah… the meihems are on the warpath, so Pinky better watch out!

Will the twins get a merit badge for their road trip? will Lun Lun fess up to where the girls are? will Inspector Panda get a clue, or at least more twitter followers. Stay tuned!

Oh, Pinky…what have you done?

Tune in tomorrow for another episode of Inspector Panda!

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

More of the Best of Pinky Panda

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I didn’t want to leave you hanging in the story of Pinky, the Meihems, and the great Highway Closure scandal…

…of course Boo-mints are pretty good too.

Tune in tomorrow for one more episode…

Be the Bear
Bob what did you buy me? T Panda

Don’t Get Mad, Get Panda

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So…

You may remember a little incident earlier this year, when Pinky used her computer skills to close all the highways leading to Zoo Atlanta, and re-route them to the National Zoo in Washington DC? And it really messed up the Meihem twins’ (Bert and Ernie) Panda Scout cookie sale? And then Inspector Panda showed up and made things worse?

Well! As they say, revenge is a dish best served cold.

If you think that maybe elephants never forget, they have nothing on pandas.

Pinky never should have messed with the Meihems! Tune in again tomorrow as we bring you more of the Best of Pinky to celebrate Princess Pinky Pandas birthday week!

And a note to my book buying fans, I just started work on organizing cartoons for the next Panda Chronicle book, Book 5: Pandapocalypse Now! which features Pinky and the Meihems! Huzzah! My cunning plan is to be done with all the work of formatting the book by mid September, which means it will be available for your holiday shopping. Huzzah!

I also plan to get back on the newsletter routine, at which I have been woefully inadequate these last few months, so if you are not already signed up, now is the time, because I will have some fun news to announce and I am going to do it there first! So if you want to be able to say “nyah, nyah, I already knew all about that,” get yourself up to the top of the right hand column and sign yourself up where it says, “Get Even More Pandas” ‘Kay?

Be the Bear
Buy Pinky presents!
Bob T. Panda

All Pinky, all the Time…

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Here’s another of Pinky’s greatest hits, in celebration of her first birthday!

Beware, the power of the paw!

Bear the bear!
Bob T. Panda

Princess Pinky Bao Bao has a birthday…

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Yes, we are heading into what we like to call “high birthday season” around here, which is the week of your actual birthday. While Pinky Bao Bao’s ACTUAL birthday is not till next Saturday, you can excuse her (and us) for getting a little excited about it, and getting an early start.

So, to get you in the mood, here are some of her feature presentation cartoons from her first year of life in The Panda Chronicles.

Such a little darling! How could her big brother resist spoiling her?

Pinky tests her powers….

National Zoo cub makes mom Mei Xiang disappear

oops.

Princess Pinky is fooled by Mei Xiang at the National Zoo

Oh Princess Pinky, mom has a trick or two up her paw, I think…

Princess Pinky helps with new years resolutions

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

Stay tuned for more Pinky next week (sort of a Pinky film festival, you know?)

Meanwhile back at the panda ranch, we were inspired by the upcoming Dot Day celebration on September 15th to create a new ‘Celebridot.” Don’t know what Dot Day is? International Dot Day is a celebration of creativity that was inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’ book “The Dot”. This site is filled with other authors, illustrators, and celebrities who share in the dream of a more creative world. (from the Celebridots website) You can learn more about Dot Day here.

There has been much on the news and in social media this week about depression, in the wake of Robin Williams’ death. Creative people are often prone to depression. While engaging in creative pursuits cannot stop or eliminate depression and despair, having a creative outlet can help to channel these feelings, and give a person a little breathing space till the blackness lifts. I am here today, partly because I had a creative outlet, and my creativity was encouraged to grow by some teachers and other adults in my life. Do check out the Dot Day website, and then see if there is something you can contribute. Even encouraging one child you know makes a difference in the world.

My dot for 2014. What a great tradition!

Be the bear!
Bob T. Panda

The Case of the Picturesque Panda: Our story so far…

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There has been great rejoicing in Panda-ville this week! Panda triplets have been born in China and three weeks later all are still surviving. Princess Pinky Bao Bao’s 1st birthday approaches, the Atlanta Meihem sisters have turned one year old, as has Bai Yun’s great granddaughter, Princess Dumpling, resident of Taipei. And let us not forget Mr. Wu who has just turned two!

Not only that, I am up to Episode 10 in Inspector Panda’s mystery! Huzzah! In honor of all the Panda happiness going around, I am going to post the ENTIRE SERIES SO FAR, so that you don’t have to go linking about, possibly missing an episode or three along the way.

So, without further ado, here’s Inspector Panda (start nourish music soundtrack here:)

If “trouble” ever had a proper name, that name is Babette de Panda…

When a panda has a problem, you know where to turn…Inspector Panda, I presume.

…and so the story begins…

…of a young panda’s arrival in France, and all that followed…

Why DOES Mr Wu have a piece of tape on his right ear?

Let’s see who stayed awake during art history classes!

Oh, that Mr Wu is a clever little bear! Is Madame du Panda trying to pull a fast one?

Is this plot thickening, or what?

I don’t know about you, but I think this document is VERY suspicious!

Mr Wu observes an interesting detail….

Mr Wu is still skeptical of Babette’s story…

“fuggedabout the bleeping tape!”

Oh that Babette!

Inspector Panda: the bear with the clues…

The search for clues begins…

…but Mr Wu still has a lot to learn when it comes to detecting.

Many thanks to panda fans who are enjoying and sharing panda satire around the inter-webs! Keep up the good work. Also a sincere pandy welcome to Anna and hubby Patrick, new Panda Chronicle fans that I met whilst at a family wedding on Whidbey Island last weekend. Yes! That’s you!

See you all on Friday (of the fabulous furry variety!) when we have a special tribute to Pinky, in celebration of her upcoming birthday! Huzzah!

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

The UnBEARable Snarkiness of Being

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Really, sometimes real life just makes it too easy to be snotty and make fun of something I hear about on the news. An actual radio station in Calgary, Alberta determined that because their listeners were getting much of their news from abbreviated social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, that maybe their listeners were thinking that the songs they listened to were way too long.

I am not making this up.

But I am going to make fun of it.

Aren’t you done yet?

There is some understandable and justifiable backlash coming from the recording artists whose songs are being butchered, and rightly so. What’s next? Is someone going to walk into my gallery and ask just to buy the “best” part of the painting? Maybe so.

Be the Bear
Bob T. P…(shortened due to waning attention span of readers)

What a Fabulous Furry Friday It Is…

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Today, Fabulous Furry Friday brings you more Great Moments in History! Today is the 40th anniversary of Richard M. Nixon’s resignation from the presidency, as a result of, well, some really bad stuff he did. But as much as we might like to think otherwise, we do have a few things for which to thank old Tricky Dick , the most important being….

Hello? Pandas?????

The first “official” pandas that came to live permanently in the USofA

And while we are talking pandas and politics, a faithful reader and supporter sent me a link to this story of a NY Congressional representative who is going trolling for pandas (and perhaps votes?) on the extremely long recess that Congress is now on. Feast your eyes on this editorial on the NYC-Panda question.

And then, of course, the first men walked on the moon during Nixon’s first (and only completed) term:

One step for a small bear….

But the Watergate burglars had nothing on the panda kindergarten!

“What did dey knows, and when did dey knows it?” Fuggedabout da %7^$## tape!

And who says panda satire isn’t educational?

Meanwhile, yet another alert reader told me that today is national Cat Day. frankly, it feels like every day is cat day around my house, but what do I know? Mehitabel is celebrating the day by relaxing with a good book:

What cats are reading at the beach this summer!

Meanwhile, if you haven’t already done so, don’t waste another second without checking out my latest books, Pandamorphosis and The Panda Chronicles Book 4: the Book of Wu! (Mebbe you might want a copy for your very own!)

Well, we’ll see you all next week. Um..is this conversation being taped?

Be the Bear,
Bob T. panda

Inspector Panda is Back!

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Oh yes, a week without Inspector Panda is a sad thing indeed. But he is back!

For those of you who are just joining this tale of mystery, intrigue, and cuppycakes, here are links to earlier episodes: Episode 1: here, Episode 2: here, and Episode 3: here. Episode 4 & 5; Episode 6; and Episode 7 & Episode 8.

Now! On to episode 9!

Oh that Babette!

Inspector Panda: the bear with the clues…

I can hardly wait! Tune in next week, same time, same place, for the next exciting episode! But don’t forget Fabulous Furry Friday, not to mention Some Panda-or-other Sunday! A person needs more than one dose of panda satire to get through the week, don’t you think?

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda