Rumor has it that there was a large flash of light over the continent of Australiayesterday, as people headed to the polls to vote in their elections. We can neither conform, nor deny that Pinky and PPJ had anything to do with the outcome. After all, magical wands are prohibited within 50 feet of a polling station.
Pinky is VERY powerful. Be afraid, be very afraid, Mr Wu.You say you want a resolution, well, you know, it is hard to change a bear….Pinky answers difficult questions from the press in her own way.Never say “No” to a Pinky!The Power of the Poof
What have we got to lose? Everything. That’s what. It’s not too early to check your voter registration (primaries are happening, y’all!) and make a plan to vote. Remind your friends to vote too.
A big thanks and a couple of cuppycakes to my faithful friends and readers, who send me nooz stories of bears behaving badly! Apparently a bear had to be rescued from a California amusement park. Thanks for the valuable* tip! (*No actual monetary value)
Has anyone seen Frank and Mikey around?
And who among us can resist that pink cotton candy that proliferated at amusement parks and county fairs?
Some weeks I have a time to expound upon, and then I look for archived ‘toons that illuminate that theme. Other weeks I have no idea what I’m thinking of and then I just have to spin the wheel and see what pops up.
One thing you can be sure of, it’s likely that Pinky will be involved!
On my honor, I will try…to eat as many cookies as I possibly can….
Well…no Pinky in that one! let’s try again!
Mei should not be getting all excited like this in her condition!And what better talk show is there, than Mehitabel Tonite!?I really had no idea what she was up to.Make sure Pinky doesn’t try to steal Bubba and Ping’s candy!
Well as Pinky all says, you can never have enough ‘toons about Pinky!
Before we begin with today’s ‘toon archive presentation, I thought I would reveal the answer to the riddle posed in last Thursday’s ‘toon post. I asked if people could identify the painting and painter that Bebe Maurice was reprising, with his petite zizzies as his models.
It was, of course, John Singer Sargent’s Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, or as one of our alert readers revealed from some writings of Mr. Sargent, he referred to it as Damnation, silly, silly, pose. He has a point, I guess, but it has remained one of my all time favorite paintings, by one of my favorite painters. And it really ought to be done with pandas! The painting resides at London’s Tate Britain, along with many other works by Sargent.
Aren’t you glad I didn’t sleep through ALL my art history classes?
I also wanted to share my method for covering N95/KN95 masks, to make them more fun to wear. It requires no sewing ability, but sharp scissors are very helpful:
these masks are not washable, but you can wear them several times. throw away when stinky or dirty, like you would any other mask.
Now for some ‘toons while we celebrate May Day!! While we are in Art History mode….
Of COURSE he would be an artist!We are pandas of mystery!What grace! What form! Bebe Maurice is a painter to be reckoned with!
And from deep in the archives, even Bob had some artistic tendencies!
You say sumi-e, I say Tsunami
Proving once again, that I have not frittered away 7 years of Art School!
Be the Bear! Bob T Panda
Happy May Day, and to all the organizing Starbucks workers, happy International worker’s Day!
“Wu calls his dance, ‘Ode to a Weaf’ “What’s that stuff getting all over my paws? Oh…it’s frosting!
How about one of Mr. Wu’s stories?
Whatever could be in the box the panda kindergarten is delivering to Mr. Wu?Will the panda kindergarten get it put together before Bai Yun gets home?“Up in the Air, Junior Pandas…”Nothing like a snappy graphic to um…solve a problem!May Day! May Day!Bet ya didn’t see this coming…or maybe you did.
I hope you enjoyed this story as we celebrate 50 years of pandas at the National Zoo!
Yes, I know that Mr Wu is not an SNZ Panda, but he is related through his mom and Papa Tian Tian, who are half siblings!
It’s now official. A book written by Beth Bacon and illustrated by yours truly will be released on September 6, but you can pre-order it now via Amazon. It’s called The Panda Cub Swapand it’s all about the birth of the first twin pandas born in the US who lived to young adulthood, Mei Lun and Mei Huan of Zoo Atlanta.
This book took almost 8 years to come into being. I met Beth through working on Pandamorphosis, and while the publisher she was working on at the time kind of crashed and burned, and did not ultimately participate in publishing Pandamorphosis, she helped to shape the book and we connected through our interest in writing for kids.
Fast forward a few years from working on Pandamorphosis. Beth was completing an MFA in writing for children at Vermont College of Fine Art. She needed a project, and she suggested we collaborate on a picture book, which hopefully we would be able to interest an agent or publisher. I suggested the story of Mei Lun and Mei Huan (aka the Meihems) since they were the first surviving twins born in the US and we were off to the races.
Well, if you think things are going to happen quickly and easily in publishing, you are going to be disappointed. The project had various moments of interest, then rejections, and we each got busy with other projects and put it aside. Sad, because we thought it could be a beautiful book, but there is a lot of “oh well, what might have been,” in publishing.
About 2 years ago, Beth called me and said she wanted to self publish the book and could she hire me to do the illustrations. I had some sketches from the early drafts, but really had to start from scratch other than the source photos that I had already saved. In the end, she decided to try once more to find a publisher who would be interested in the project and she finally did.
This was such a fun book to work on. She had lots of communication with the panda keepers at Zoo Atlanta, so that the story she told was accurate. I got to draw pandas! I know September seems like a long time to wait, but it will go faster than you think. Meanwhile, pre-orders really help to get the book more notice in a crowded field of children’s book, and help the publisher make a larger first printing. Over the months while we wait, I will occasionally tease you with an image for the book!
So let’s start with the cover:
But what about today’s ‘toon?!?!?!?!
Remember I said something about presents from the universe? There was this story on the mid week edition of Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me about a job posting for a Grizzly Bear Conflict Manager in Montana. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect job for Frank and Mikey? (MX: yes! It sounds perfect! Can I help you pack?)
Well, that’s all we have time for today! Alas, I think this job listing has already closed, but if Frank and Mikey are on the job, I’m sure there will be another opening *soon*!
Be the Bear! Buy my book!* Bob T Panda
okay, technically, it is Beth’s book, but I made the pictures!
BTW there are only 5 felty kitties remaining! See the Felties revisited page for all the details on ordering. If I’ve already made contact with you, your kitty is already reserved!
