Selfies With Pandas

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I gave up watching TV more than 15 years ago, and quit reading newspapers some years earlier. (After Bill Watterson retired, what was the point?) But here at The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire, we are not totally uninformed. We listen to NPR (National Panda Radio), read The New Yorker* and the Atlantic Magazine. But our favorite source for Nooz Pandas Can Use is the NPR show, Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.

* sometimes we even read the articles.

Yesterday, as I was driving around in the cubvertable, one Wait, Wait… segment related a story about how the state of New York was considering (or had already) outlawed the practice of taking selfies with tigers. Now, this story raised many questions, that we felt were not adequately addressed on the show. (We thought about going back and listening to the podcast to see if we had our facts straight, but then we thought, hey! We’re pandas! Since when have we concerned ourself with the facts?)

First, are tiger selfies really such a big problem? and what about enforcement of the new statute? Are they going to staff zoos and other places that tigers congregate to make sure no one takes a selfie with the tigers. Do the tigers get any say in this?

Needless to say, The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire has not shirked their responsibility to fully explore this issue.

Much better to take a selfie with pandas!

Don’t forget to check out pandas around the web!
Kirby Larson’s Kirby’s Lane: Friday June 13, 2014
June 9th on Cordelia Calls it Quits, and
June 11th on Cordelia’s Mom, Still
Pandamorphosis was reviewed by Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of the Panda, on his Animal Magic blog at The Guardian.

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

Reflections of My Kickstarter….

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Yes, it’s Fabulous Furry Friday, here at The Panda Chronicles, The offices of The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire, here in our high rise office tower, are shutting down for the weekend, as we prepare for…

How about a nap? Wait, you say. Pandas do not hibernate. Yes, but what about a really, really, really long nap?

…if I were a panda, yadda dah dah da- da- da- AAARGH! I can’t stop!!!!!

I just finished packing and sending out all of my Kickstarter rewards, and now I am going to pause (or is that paws?) and pat myself on the back, and attempt to take most of the weekend off.

But besides all the work involved in putting together and executing a crowdfunding campaign, there is something very special about the process in addition to getting help funding your project.

That special something (Oh crikey! she’s going into schmoopy mode! get out your handkerchiefs!) is all of you, who donated to my campaign and cheered me on, and shared my project with your panda and art loving friends. As people have been posting pictures of Pandamorphosis and the prints of artwork from the book, not only do I think, hey! there’s my book, there’s my art, out in the world, I think, hey, I’ve made a connection…I have a friend. It may be a friend I will never meet IRL, but they are friends all the same.

All I really need are my friends…and maybe some cuppycakes!!!

Some of the connections that were made while bringing Pandamorphosis into the world will be fleeting ones, but some will result in projects still to come. Some, I hope will be lifetime friendships, and every once in a while we will meet in the company of pandas. Huzzah! Cuppycakes and bootinis all around!

Stay tuned to this station (National Panda Radio) to keep up with the latest panda nooz. Sign up for my newsletter (which I really plan to write another one one of these days) up in the upper right hand column of this very blog.

And of course, your panda satire library won’t be complete without a copy of Pandamorphosis (hint, hint) (Amazon, hint, hint)

Huzzah!

Thanks again to those kind folks who invited the pandas over for a visit. I hope we can come back again!

Kirby Larson’s Kirby’s Lane: Friday June 13, 2014
June 9th on Cordelia Calls it Quits, and
June 11th on Cordelia’s Mom, Still
Pandamorphosis was reviewed by Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of the Panda, on his Animal Magic blog at The Guardian.

BTW, Henry and I connected early on in The Panda Chronicles’ journey into panda satire. I think he even coined the phrase panda satire, if I remember correctly. I am grateful that he has been a supporter and cheerleader for The Panda Chronicles, and I am grateful for all my readers, and pandas…well now I’m just getting schmoopy again.

Have a great weekend, watch some panda videos, and have a (couple or three) cuppycakes! See ya next week.
Be the Bear
Bob T. Panda

Episode 4: The Case of the Picturesque Panda

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Yes, we are back with episode 4 of The Case of the Picturesque Panda. If you’ve missed the first three episodes, you can see Episode 1: here, Episode 2: here, and Episode 3: here. And for a little bit of Art Historical (or is that art hysterical?) background on pandas that modeled for the impressionists, see last Friday’s post.

And now for today’s feature presentation:

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

By the way, pandas are still rampaging around the interwebs, most recently Pandamorphosis was reviewed by Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of the Panda, on his Animal Magic blog at The Guardian.

More pandas around the block:
Kirby Larson’s Kirby’s Lane: Friday June 13, 2014
June 9th on Cordelia Calls it Quits, and
June 11th on Cordelia’s Mom, Still

Stay tuned for more from Inspector Panda next week as he asks searching questions, such as, “Why do you have a piece of tape on your ear?” Also coming up, more from princess Pinky in her new role as leader of the panda kindergarten!

The Panda Kindergarten Gets Some New Books.

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Well, if I am going to live in my imagination, why shouldn’t I imagine that Bill Watterson had read of the panda kindergarten’s dastardly kidnapping deed, and took the appropriate measures for revenge. Of course, I would expect no less than that the revenge would be perpetrated on the “grown-ups” (such as they are.)

He who laughs last, laughs…um…last.

Huzzah for the panda kindergarten. (What…surely you don’t think that I am a grown-up…get real.)

Keep being the bear!

Panda On
Bob T. Panda

An Art Historical Interlude

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Inspector Panda’s mysterious client, Babette de Panda, is weaving a tale about an alleged inheritance from her great-great-great-great-great-great grandmama. The Art Historical Division at The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire has recently uncovered documents that support her claim that pandas emigrated to France in the late 1880’s, and posed for many of the artists of that period.

Portait of the mysterious “Madame ‘P’ “

Portrait of Madame ‘P’

By John Singer Sargent

In the late 19^th century, Japanese prints were not the only novelty from the Far East to create a stir in the London and Paris Art scenes. The recent discovery of pandas by westerners had artists scrambling to find pandas to model for paintings.

James McNeill Whistler employed one very popular model for his painting, Arrangement in Black, White, and Gray, as did several other artists, including John Singer Sargent.

Sargent did a number of preliminary studies for his famous portrait of Madame Pierre Gautreau, also known as Madame X. One of these less well-known minor studies portrayed one of Sargent’s favorite models, known only as Madame ‘P’.

November 8^th, 1883:
Madame Gautreau has taken leave of Paris for a month, so I am not able to continue working on her portrait. I have completed several studies, but I need her presence in order to work on the final commission. I am most vexed.

November 10^th, 1883:
Great fortune! One of my favorite models has just finished sitting for that horse’s ass, Jimmy W. I am exceedingly fond of Madame ‘P’, as she likes to be known. She has only recently come to Paris and I have done my best to make her “most welcome.”

November 12^th, 1883:
My study of Madame ‘P’ is going well. I hope to be able to complete a life size portrait of her for the next Salon Exhibition. There is a slight problem, in that she requires many naps throughout the day and has a prodigious appetite. She is the most amazing woman, able to crack large stalks of bamboo with only her teeth!

November 26^th, 1883:
That rascal Jimmy W. has unveiled his portrait of Madame ‘P’, calling it Arrangement in Black, White, and Gray, and has done so before I have been able to finish my portrait. I am most vexed. Madame ‘P’ came round the studio and was extremely apologetic, so what could I do but forgive her?

“Arrangement in Black, White, and Gray” by James A. McNeil Whistler

December 18^th, 1883:
Madame Gautreau has returned at last, but we had a terrible row over the state of her dress, which I had allowed Madame ‘P’ to wear during her sittings. I thought she looked quite the Parisian sophisticate in it. I had no idea Madame ‘P’s “personal habits” left so much to be desired.

The fragment of the diary ends here, but I believe that this does lend some credence to Babette’s claim that her great-great…um, whatever, grandmama did model for a number of the impressionists.

Hope you have a Fabulous Furry Friday, and the rest of the weekend as well.

Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda

Episode 3:The Case of the Picturesque Panda

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Yes, yes, I have been promising the next installment of The Inspector Panda mystery, The Case of the Picturesque Panda, and so here it is! Yes, yes.

This is, perhaps, the bones of a story I have been wanting to write, that has been canoodling around in my head for a while, that of a young panda that emigrates to France in the late 1800’s, and becomes a favorite model of the Impressionist painters. I’m hoping that her story will shape itself within the Inspector Panda story, so that I can write it, and illustrate it with paintings done in the style of various late 19th century painters.

Meanwhile, Inspector Panda has a mystery to solve…

…and so the story begins…

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

And just to pique your curiosity, here is the painting that Babette is searching for:

Portait of the mysterious “Madame ‘P’ “

Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter!

Meanwhile, pandas are playing around the interwebs, in celebration of Pandamorphosis!
Kirby’s Lane
Cordelia Calls it Quits
Cordelia’s Mom Still
and more to come (um…as soon as I write them!)

So keep being the Bear, and Panda ON!
Bob T. Panda

It All Falls Apart…

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…especially when you have three girls, and two of them are twin sisters. What? You thought they were all going to get along happily forever? You have obviously never been a pre-adolescent girl, if you thought that. Ah, the shifting loyalties, the tattling on each other…those were the days…

Oh dear, the Mei-hem twinkies have made Pinky mad. Uh oh.

Sigh…I suppose after the cookie incident, they were waiting to get even.

Meanwhile, pandas are appearing around the interweb in celebration of Pandamorphosis. They have recently made a appearance on Kirby Larson’s blog, Kirby’s Lane. Huzzah!

On Wednesday, Inspector Panda will return to continue his tale of mystery and intrigue. ( Well, we hope so, anyway.)

Be the bear!
Bob T. Panda

Fabulous Furry Friday Salutes…

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…the panda kindergarten!

What could be better for this Friday the 13th than a look at the panda kindergarten, those rascally, recalcitrant, ruffians? They are the inspiration (well one of the inspirations, anyway,) for my newest book, Pandamorphosis!

The first appearance of the panda kindergarten, in much (MUCH) more innocent times…

And BTW, we’ve been making some guest appearances around the interwebs: hear just where all these pandas came from on Cordelia’s Mom, Still, and how Pandamorphosis finally got published on Cordelia Calls it Quits. There will be some more guest appearances over the next couple weeks, which I will be sure to alert you to!

Meanwhile, back to the pandy kindy:

panda on rocking horse

The panda kindergarten’s hit game show, wheel…of…pandas!!!!!!

And of course, who could forget the panda kindergarten in their first appearance in the Panda Olympic Games?

Huzzah!

Going for the …um…chocolate chip.

But the panda kindergarten may be best known for leading some of the newer and younger pandas astray…Sigh….I’m sure they are trying to be good…

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

And while we are thinking about Friday the 13th, (We were? Isn’t that kind of scary?) be sure to stop over to VSomethingSpeaks for this interesting look at the myths and mystery of Friday the 13th, which this very day is paired up with the full moon!

See you on Sunday for the exciting conclusion of “Pinky and the Meihems take a Hostage” (there is a panda scout merit badge for hostage taking, isn’t there?) and the return next Wednesday of Inspector Panda and the Case of the Picturesque Panda!

Keep Being the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

and yes, it’s now available on Amazon!

Resistance is Futile!

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I can never resist a good joke…especially when it’s me making it! Inspector Panda is taking the day off while we continue the sordid tale of Hobbes’ kidnapping by the panda kindergarten.

Meanwhile, around the web, I am on a bit of a blog tour, in honor of the publication of Pandamorphosis, my wordless picture book about…um…pandas. This week I wrote about the journey to publication on Cordelia Calls it Quits, and then I headed over (virtually speaking, of course) to Cordelia’s Mom, Still to tell the tale of where all these pandas came from! I have a few more stops on the tour coming up in the next couple of weeks. If you would like to have the pandas come by for a visit, drop me a comment and we can set something up!

Meanwhile, here is the continuation of our story:

I love a good art forgery, don’t you?

As I mentioned on Sunday, this cartoon and the previous one were inspired by Pearls Before Swine’s creator, Stephan Pastis and his recent series in which he collaborated with Bill Watterson. I see your “set my hair on fire,” and raise you, “I would rip my own liver out with my teeth.” Is that enough name dropping for one day?

OK, Mr. Watterson, I have your tiger. Come and get him.

A Salute to the Masters of the Medium

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Every once in a while I mention how I’ve learned from artists of the past, whether we are talking about fine art ,or illustration, or comics. One of my major inspirations in drawing comics is Bill Watterson, creator of the brilliantly unsurpassable Calvin and Hobbes.

So imagine my delight and envy when I read the post by Stephan Pastis (of Pearls Before Swine fame) where he relates the story of a project he recently did with Bill Watterson, which was brought to my attention on Twitter from Liam F. Walsh, cartoonist for The New Yorker. (And yes, I realize I am name-dropping like hell. Get over it.)

Of course, I had to let the pandas have their way with this story.

Excuse me, Mr. Watterson, but….

I’m sure that the panda kindergarten will..um…take very good care of Hobbes.

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda