Category Archives: the essential pandaness of being

Join the Moooooovement!

Who doesn’t love a good bovine bon mot?

Moove over! You’re crowding me!

For those (panda) history buffs among you, you should know that this weeks marks the 47th anniversary of the Nixon Pandas arrival in Washington DC. I count myself among those who saw these labeled bears in person (bearson?) in the late ’80’s, a few years before the passing of Ling Ling.

As such, it is the custom here at the Panda Chronicles to replay the cartoon I wrote, commemorating the 40th anniversary of their arrival. Enjoy!

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

Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

PS: you still have time to visit the Bubba Pin Kickstarter project, Don’t Call Mee Boo Boo! Don’t be the only panda fan without Bubba, Pinky, and Ping Ping’s commemorative pins!

Huzzah Huzzah! Bubba is on the move!

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Allow me to pontificate a little schmoopilly here…

While there is a lot of work and planning in putting together a crowd funding campaign, there is also a LOT of fun involved too. I love designing little things from my drawings, but what I love most is interacting with you all!

When I see names that I know from Fezbook and Twidder, and even from real life, I get a little thrill. It’s almost like we are having a conversation: Hey! I like what you’re doing here! I wanna make sure you can keep doing it!…Chatting back and forth in the messages makes me feel a little less isolated in my studio. And to all the new people, whose names I don’t recognize, thank you for climbing aboard the panda bus!

Bubba’s pin! Funded in just over 3 hours!

So very Bubba, right?

And since we funded so quickly, I thought we should up the ante with a little stretch goal…visit us at Kickstarter today and climb aboard!

It’s not a party if you didn’t bring cuppycakes!

Because without Ping Ping, Bubba would only have his big zizzy Pinky to play with!

By the way, there were still a few Pinky pins available as of Tuesday afternoon!

Meanwhile, things are heating up in the other Washington…

Devin’s Cow goes to Washington

Panda on!
Bob T panda

Fight the Humor Deficit! Make fun of people on Twidder!

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I have to admit that I have come to like Twidder more than I do Fezbook. Maybe it’s because Fezbook has come to seem kind of unwieldy. I can’t easily find all the comments from people that are actually relevant to a discussion I am having with them, because Fezbook seems to want to give me hundreds of obscure notifications for every one that is part of an ongoing discussion with friends.

Meanwhile over on Twidder, I get a healthy (um…maybe not) dose of news, connection with other panda fans, and connections with other people in the kid lit and writing communities at large. And then there are the snarky parody accounts…

We must fight the humor deficit with every pun at our disposal!!!!

What’s that you say, Bob? He has responsibilities?

And meanwhile, we are about to launch the next phase of the Panda Pin Project over at Kickstarter! If you’ve been following along, you’ll see that it’s going to launch at noon (PDT) today!!! So get ready…get set…not yet…this link is just a preview until the project launches at noon!

Be the (Bubba) Bear
Bob T Panda

We R (still) Endangered! (Join the #Mooooovement!)

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While the Endangered Species Act is NOT a popularity contest, parody accounts on Twidder definitely are. If you are a Twidderer, do check out and follow Devin Nunes’ Cow! People are having a ball with bovine bon mots while Devin Nunes is having a..um…cow over this and has (allegedly) filed lawsuits against both Twitter AND his own cow! Devin’s Cow is gaining followers at a rate of about 20K per hour and ironically, more people follow Devin’s Cow than voted for him in the last election. Don’t you just love irony?

Update: Devin Nunes’ Cow has surpassed Devin Nunes’ in followers. Isn’t that mooooving? #JustSayMoo

Meanwhile, in the endangered species sector….

The endangered species act is not a popularity contest!

Be the Bovine!
Bob T Panda

My Checkered Past…

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Sometimes folks ask me where my ideas come from. They come from all over the place TBH. They come from the news, they come from actual pandas, and they are all at least tinged with my own past history. Today’s Sunday Funday takes a trip down memory lane….

Here’s how it works:

Panda satire explained for you!

The origins of Panda Satire…well, it started with cats!

Ever wondered where all these pandas came from?

But my years in the coffee mines of Starbucks have inspired more than one ‘toon over the years. I have mostly repressed the long ago memories from my days at the roasting plant. And before you ask, no I did not get rich on stock options: that happened after I left, after Howard “don’t call me a billionaire” Schultz bought it from the actual founders. (Want to read the low down on this man who would be president-or more likely help HWMNBN re-elected? Read This. I was able to supply some choice quotes.)

I hope Howard comes to think of me as the annoying splinter that gets stuck in your sock, that keeps poking your foot, and no matter how often you take off your sock, you can’t find it and it sends a sharp pain with every step you take. Don’t make Pinky mad!!!!!

This was way too much fun. :o)

Can I have EXTRA extra whipped cream?

But who knows what is floating around in my brain?

What’s that stuff getting all over my paws? Oh…it’s frosting!

Panda on
Bob T double binkacchino with extra whippy cream Panda

Welcome back US Congress!

A big pandy shout-out to all the brand new house members, particularly those who ran because they passionately wanted to make life better for those who have not had equitable representation before. Thank you for stepping up to the plate!

But enough about real life! Let’s get on with some pandas! (and cats!!!!)

Don’t forget Frank and Mikey!

Pandaing Ever Onward
Bob T Panda

PS: Just a reminder, there is no more Fabulous Furry Friday. (SAD!!!!) Encore presentations will now appear on Sundays. (Huzzah!!!!) And also a reminder that FB is becoming more and more capricious in what they show you in your news feed. If you don’t want to miss a single second of panda satire, sign up on the website via the FIRST sign up form on the top of the right hand sidebar, that says: Invite Pandas to your inbox. You’ll be glad you did!

New ‘toons will arrive on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Buckle up! Pandas are ready to prove that they are the most political animals out there!

Here We Are! 2019…Is it any better yet?

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Hmmm…not so that I can tell. There is a great essay by Anne Lamott, about not making pointless resolutions for the new year, like…um…losing weight. Pandas are gonna panda, am I right? And part of being pandy is…um…being pandy, so enough with that!

That said, I do like to make goals every year, primarily to focus myself on the work I want to accomplish during the year. I only occasionally look at my list once I’ve written it, but I find the act of writing things down, with a pen on paper, and sharing them with another artist friend of mine in our annual ritual, does help me keep on track. And when I do revisit the list, I find that I have done much of it.

Haven’t sat down to do my list yet, but here are some things that I want to put on it

Visit the San Diego Pandas. (plans are already in the making and execution)
Close down my Pandyland store on Cafe Press and get my one on RedBubble up and running
Compile and publish the next edition of the Panda Chronicles books. This will be Book 9!
Do a January “100 things” Kickstarter. I have an idea, & it involves panda stuff! More soon!
Paint and garden like a tornado
Get back to work on the manuscript/storyboards for books 3 & 4 of The Pandyland Mysteries, my graphic novel series, as yet unpublished, but when it is, I am going to be so ready to keep it moving.

I’m also going to tweak the schedule here a bit…

New cartoons will post on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at a little later in the morning than I have been posting them. Encore presentations will appear on Sundays instead of Fridays. Other than than, everything will be exactly the same. (Except with maybe some indictments and more resignations from the Mittens WH) Pinky will still torment her brother; Bubba will still strain the seems of his overalls. mei xiang will despair of ever getting Pinky to behave, and Mehitabel will still rule from her heavenly post. You’ll get used to it.

But now, I think Mei Xiang finally has Pinky’s New Year’s resolutions compiled!

Bubba: my resolution was just to chew my food more, an’ mebbee not eat so much frosting.
Ping: ping!

Panda on!
Bob T panda

31 Days of Pandas: Dating in the time of Mittens

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Boy, if finding true love was not hard enough, politics has done it’s bit to make stranger bedfellows than you might ever have imagined. New dating websites that specify political allegiance have been popping up (heh) all over the place. Lest you think I have been making all this up, I heard it first on NPR (I’m thinking Wait,Wait, Don’t Tell Me). Not that I wouldn’t make something this silly up, but this time (this time!!!!) I am innocent.

Even The Washington Post covered this story. I bet you could have an amusing time just googling Trump Dating Sites, but I would advise against setting up a fake account. At least one of these sites was hacked…um…pretty much immediately.

But what do pandas think about dating in the time of Mittens?

Love in the Time of Mittens (which, quite frankly, is a lot like the time of cholera)

Panda on!
Are we having fun yet? #31DaysofPandas

Bob T Panda

Will You Please Put That Phone Down?

Sigh…

Little did we know that not only does it annoy (some of) us, it pisses off your dog, too.

Cats, on the other hand, weren’t paying attention to you anyway.

Thanks to all who responded to my Shameless Self Promotion! I’ll be announcing a few more as the shopping season continues. Currently, there are still 2 lithographs of Yun Zi available! Just send me a message via the Contact Us page!

Yun Zi; 2 available, framed or unframed.

Panda on!
Bob T Panda

A special guest appearance…

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Every once in a while, I get a special request from a regular reader (may I say fan?) of The Panda Chronicles, for a special ‘toon. In this case, the D.C. mom of adorable doxies about town, Bella and her little sister Moneypenny, wanted them to appear in a ‘toon. She graciously allowed me to share it here. I hope you enjoy it.

Even pandas need pets!

And look! No politics whatsoebber!

Panda (and puppy) on!
Bob T Panda

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION ALERT!!!!

Looking for a really special holiday gift? I still have several hand printed/hand colored panda lithographs. Right now I have these available:

Three Views of Bai Yang; One framed available SOLD

The Gengda Pandy Kindy; One available, framed or unframed SOLD

Yun Zi; 3 available, framed or unframed. 2 STILL AVAILABLE

If you are interested, please contact me via the Contact Us page for prices and shipping particulars. I also have several of the images of the panda bases themselves. I’ll share them next time.