It’s a heck of a day in the nooz, so I’m going to dig into the archives to give us all a little psychic relief so we can BEAR what is happening in our country.
There are a lot of bad people to eat.
Be the Bear
Bob T you can’t say we didn’t warn you Panda
While we should not forget the violence and criminal behavior on the part of Mittens supporters of January 6th 5 years ago, we do need to reward ourselves for surviving through it with the ongoing antics of Frank and Mikey, our favorite bears!
Of course, there is always the possibility that we won’t survive the present clusterfuck, but at least we’ll go down laughing and thinking of Stephen Miller being chased by bears! Wouldn’t that be special?
and because it is the 5th anniversary of January 6th…
Thank you for bearing with me (get it? bearing?hee hee)
Be the BEAR!
Bob T I’m a laugh a minute Panda
I’m working on some new ‘toons, but in the meantime, I did some freehand (no pre-drawing) pandas with this ink brush that I’ve been playing with and want to get better at, so I drew some pandas. I also thought it would be fun to post my favorite New Year’s Eve ‘toon!
And of course, the classic, New Year’s Eve with The Panda Kindergarten!
I’d like to think that next year will be better, but I have no evidence that will be the case. Even if I fail on timely productions of new ‘toons this week, I’ll still be posting stuff from the archives, of which there are about 15 years worth. Wow! How did that happen?
Anyway, I hope we continue to survive!
Be the Bear
Bob T will not be staying up till midnight Panda
Back by popular demand (okay, one person) we return with this holiday classic!!! You know you wanted this!
feel free to sing along.
I can’t hear anyone singing…..
I swear, I had nothing to do with Pinky’s let night sit in.
four pandas sneaking…
…and a Pinky in a Hemlock tree!
FIIIIIVE cuppycakes!
whew!
HOW many more days are there?
whew!
Oh no! Not again!
F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!
whew!
No WONDER I didn’t get any presents!
F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!
whew!
OOOOO! Pinky is a star!
F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!
whew!
On the twelfth day of Crisp-Moss, My Panda cam Did See….
MX: no, Pinky, you may NOT have a Bamboo-tini!
I can’t hear you….
F-F-F-FI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VE Cuppycaaaaaaakes!
whew!
Everybody sing!
Be the Bear
Bob T I’m writing my resolutions Panda
Maybe we’ll have an encore presentation of Beary Poppins later this week!
Cuppycakes? Check!
Poppycorn? Check!
Hot cocoa with whippy cream and liddle marshymallows? Check!
Uh oh…The Mayhems and Six and Sebben are about to enter the chat. What could possibly go wrong? I guess we’ll fine out tomorrow!
Be the Bear!
Bob T I wonder what happens next Panda
…much faster than I expected. As such, I think it’s time to run a couple of my holiday classics this week and next, in the hopes I’ll have a little time and space to write a NEW Christmas Classic™️ before the actual week of Christmas. The idea just popped into my head, as all the best ideas do. Well, I guess we’ll see, won’t we?
Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this encore presentation of…
I had so much fun re-reading this story and I hope you did too! This was one of my favorite stories to make a Panda Parody. Maybe because I’ve seen the original so many times…
and remember…
Be the Bear
Bob T it’s beginning to look a lot like Crispness…Panda
PostScript: in case you were wondering, despite the fact that much of Western Washington State is currently suffering severe flooding, Whidbey Island is high and..well, damp, but not under water. We do have the possibility of power outages with the softened ground from all the rain, not to mention some of the bluff areas are probably going to slide. But we are not under evacuation orders and suffering the destruction of the raging rivers over on the mainland. So far we are okay on the island. I hope my western WA readers are safe. check in, okay?
Whether they head to China or take the long walk over the Rainbow Bridge, we never forget the pandas that have meant so much to us, and given us so many hours of joy. It seems only natural that the departed Mehitabel should interview the departed Gao Gao, and then of course, other ghosts of the Panda Chronicles should show up.
That Nixon’s Ghost is such a joker, right?
Be the Bear
Bob T here to keep our spirits up Panda
I can always count on my faithful panda community to alert me to important stories (especially about bears behaving badly!) but sometimes the NooZ comes via other sources like Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, or The Stephen Colbert show.
This little NooZ story came from both of them and so the booking team at ZooNooZ arranged for an interview with this newfound celebrity!
WE love the cheesiest jokes!
Be the Bear,
Bob T it wasn’t me Panda
How was that for weaseling out of finishing this ‘toon by last Thursday, the National Day for Americans to eat enough calories to feed a small nation? (Each of us) I managed not to explode (or finish this ‘toon till yesterday!)
Anyway, the pandas and brown bears wanted to wish you all a happy season of thankfulness, despite the continuing cluster**ck that is happening in the Capitol and various points around the globe. It’s clear (to anyone who isn’t hiding their head in the sand) that F45 is on the brink of total dissolution, despite the evil Nosferatu Miller and assorted slimy oligarchs slavering around the treasury.
I mean…I really hope there is something left when we get around to picking up the pieces.
I am immensely thankful to all of you who come around to read what I write and draw here. We need to have a little fun during this re-creation of The Hunger Games and The Handmaids Tale, right? How many times can we say THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FICTION?!?!?!?!?!
I suspect we are going to hear from the younger pandas who didn’t make it into this ‘toon. Sheesh. This job is hard enough without pandas yelling at me!
And if you are looking for gifts for your friends and family (or yourself…just saying) Redbubble is having lots of sales over the next couple weeks, so maybe something with pandas on it? Check out my Panda Chronicle shop over there!
Stay strong
Call or email your Congress People and tell them what you think about all this stuff Mittens is doing,
And always always always Be the Bear!
Bob T is trying to not panic Panda
Once again, time slipped away from me and there is no new ‘toon for today, but I am working on a new Thanksgiving ‘toon and I’ll have it here next week. What’s time to a panda?
Nooz reached me this morning of the passing to the great beyond of Gao Gao, paterfamilias of the PanDiego Zoo for some 20 something years. Gao Gao was one of the great pandas. Wild born, he was brought to the Wolong base as an injured cub, rehabilitated and set free. I don’t know if he had already lost a chunk of his ear by then. Anyway, as the story goes, after being released, he must have figured what a sweet deal it was at the panda base, and he turned himself back in. Sometime later, he was assigned to PanDiego, to be the mate of the enchanting Bai Yun, who was not getting on with the older panda they had paired her with.
They went on to populate the first great panda dynasty in the US. Their grandson, by way of the effervescent Zhen Zhen, Yun Chuan is now in his grandfather’s seat in PanDiego.
Gao Gao was considered something of a stud muffin by his friends and nannies, as well as a very sweet tempered panda by his caregivers. We were all sorry to see him leave to return to China, but by all reports and pictures, he continued to charm his nannies and was given stellar care.
His last cub in PanDiego was the one and only Wu Self, Xiao Li Wu, or Mr. Wu to his friends and fans. Somewhere along the way, I started drawing him with his ear taped down, as a tribute to his dad, with his half gone ear. To hear Gao Gao tell it, he lost it in a bar fight defending Bai Yun’s honor.
In my as yet unpublished graphic novel, The Pandyland Mysteries: The Case of the Picturesque Panda, Wu loses his ear tape to the dastardly Babette De Panda, who holds it for ransom.
I think you all know things to be grateful for are a little scarce on the ground right now, but there is still much for which to give thanks. I am inordinately thankful that you all are still here. I am thankful for pandas, and the community of people who love them. I am thankful for those who are no longer here, for the friendship and support they gave me when I needed it most. I am grateful for that strange place in my brain that spills these stories out. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that pandas saved me. At a time when optimism disappeared along with most of my income, the pandas arose and said, “Hey look! Over here! We are cute and we have cuppycakes!“
And so here we are.
I hope you are spending the day as you choose, and with whom you choose, and if you’re not, well, there is always third helpings of pie.
Be the Bear,
Bob T the T stands for Thankful,* today, Panda
*Usually it stands for “the”