Tag Archives: Mei Xiang

Scandal in the Panda House?

Uh oh…Bubba has been discovered spying on the back room deal making meeting between Pinky and the Meihems! Is this a political scandal in the making? What kind of deal is Pinky making with the Meihems? Is Bob going to be out on his fuzzy ears? And where IS Mittens?

Just what kind of deal is Pinky making?

Just what kind of deal is Pinky making?

I hope everyone had fun celebrating the Meihems’ birthday this weekend! Stay tuned, because Pinky and Bubba have a birthday coming up, not to mention some more political chicanery of some sort or another. And will we ever find out what happens to Mittens? Is he coming back? We hope not, but Pinky’s poofing is not always permanent. (Except as regards the Meihems and brother sister Po.)

I would settle for Secretary of Binky Bars.

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

 

It’s Time to Party Like a Panda!!!!

Oh my, it is the birthday celebration for Atlanta’s favorite sweethearts, the Meihem sisters, as they turn three years old! I still remember the morning the twins were born. I was…um… checking in on Facebook, because the panda keepers at Zoo Atlanta were pretty sure that mama Lun Lun was pregnant, but they had NO idea it was twins!*

Along with thousands of other panda fanatics, I was glued to the internet, awaiting the entrance of another baby panda to the world, when a cub came shooting out into the universe. (They do seem to come out at great speed). Lun Lun lept into mom mode, but turns out she wasn’t done yet. Less than a half hour later, another cub came rushing out and then we had what you might call a situation.

I did what any other right thinking panda fan would do, under those circumstances. I called another panda fan (Cyndi A) and we danced around our respective kitchens screaming like a girl.

So without further ado, I now present some of my favorite cartoon moments with the Meihems, starting with the Wu Self’s reaction to the news!

24) Dis. Will. Not. Stand!

Dis. Will. Not. Stand!

Of course all the other panda moms were on the phone to Lun Lun to congratulate her…

25) "Well Bless your Heart" is not always a compliment

“Well Bless your Heart” is not always a compliment

When the twins were born, everyone thought that they were boys, along with their sibling Po. Boy did we all have a surprise coming!

Atlanta twin panda cubs Mei Lun and Mei Huan and older prother Po

Huzzah! a guest appearance by little Po! And is that a cameo appearance by Mr. Bun?

Bao bao changes panda cub gender

Oh…yeah…how could we forget Pinky?

Atlanta panda cub twins

Huzzah! It’s Bert and his brother Ernie!

Zoo Atlanta Twin panda Cubs

…and their jammies! Huzzah!

But after we found out that the Meihems were girls, they promptly joined the Panda Scouts and went to work selling cookies! Binky Bars, anyone? But of course, Pinky threw a monkey panda wrench into the works…

George Washington Bridge lane closure satire.

Princess Pinky Bao Bao…what have you done now?

zoo atlanta, bao bao, national zoo

Time to call in …Inspector panda!

But in the end, all was well that ended well, after a whole bunch more stuff happened, (which, if you had Book 5 of the Panda Chronicles, Pandapocalypse Now! you would know what happened!) and now, it’s time for some cake!!!!

There must be cake!

There must be cake!

I hope you enjoyed my Salute to Meihem! Join us next month when we celebrate Pinky’s third birthday and Bubba’s first!!!!

Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

*Not only did they not know it was going to be twins, with pandas, you don’t even know for sure if they are pregnant or not.

Double “O” Bubba: A Spy for All Seasons

Uh oh. Has Bubba gotten a little too big for his cubberalls? He should know better than to spy and tattle on his big sister. I mean, what kind of cabinet post can he expect in Pinky’s administration if he keeps this up?

And just what do the Meihems have in mind for Unka Bob in the Pink House?

Oh Bubba! What were you thinking?

Oh Bubba! What were you thinking? And now that Mr. Bun is back, don’t you think Pinky should treat him better?

I just want to give a shout out to all my new readers here at the Panda Chronicles! Helloooo Panda Fans!!! Last week was a tough one, out in the real world, and we have retreated to the world of pandas to catch our breath, before we go out there again and try to make the world a better place.  And if you need another dose of pandishness, check out Pinky’s Aunty Sandy’s video of her little brother being a pest here!

Don’t forget to tune in on Friday for the Meihems’ pandapalooza celebrating their third birthday on July 16th. (I believe they are getting their cakes on Friday, so if you want to watch that live, check on the Zoo Atlanta Panda Page!)

Be the Bear!
Don’t spy on Pinky!
Bob T Panda

Politics Makes Strange Denfellows

Where have the Meihems been? We have hardly seen hide nor hair…um..fur of them since Bob hired them to be his political consultants. Personally, I think they have been so absorbed with planning for their gala third birthday party, (TWO CAKES!!!!!!) that they have forgotten all about Bob and Pinky and, not to cast aspersions on their southern belle-ness, but…politics makes strange denfellows.

But now the cakes have been ordered, and their dresses shopped for and they have remembered that they have an important client. But have the events of the last weeks incited a shift in the political cosmos? Is Bob ready to through in the towel and join forces with Pinky, in order to defeat a terrible foe?

Whoever could it be, to see Pinky in her lair?

Whoever could it be, to see Pinky in her lair?

And just because Pinky is ahead in all the polls (well, at least the polls at the National Zoo) it doesn’t mean she can coast from now until November. There may be sneaky things up certain sleeves (do cats have sleeves?) All I can say is stay tuned!!!

By the by, this coming Saturday is the Meihem girls third birthday and the team at Zoo Atlanta is indeed making them TWO special ice fruity cakes to celebrate the occasion. I hope they remembered to invite Pinky, because, you know how Pinky hates to be ignored! This week’s Fabulous Furry Friday will therefore be dedicated to all things Meihem, so be sure to tune in and gather round your computer and have some cuppycakes with the girls!

Till then,
Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

Meanwhile, at the Panda House…

Did you see what happened at the last debate? I was out in the kitchen, checking to see if the cookie fairy had brought me some cookies during the night and I looked away from the television just at the crucial moment, and when I looked back, Mittens was gone! Poof! Just like that! And meanwhile, back at the Panda House… Mei was doing some fast thinking and making calculations on how she could keep her daughter out of hot water.

Last week over in the Twittersphere, some people were having fun with the names of Beatle’s songs and panda fan extraordinaire Anne Lane Witt came up with this one, which I…um…borrowed for this ‘toon:

What happens at the debate, states at the debate...

What happens at the debate, states at the debate…

I hope everyone is planning to have a safe and sane 4th of July, and NOT follow the example of the panda kindergarten, who are anything but sane.

uh. oh.

uh. oh.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. Not that artists/writers/cartoonists get 3 day weekends. Oh no! But you all go and have a good time. Don’t give it a second thought. (But if you could send some cake my way, I would take back that pissy little rant. Really.)

Be the Bear!
Bob T. Panda

And lest I forget our neighbors to the north, Happy Panada Day!!!!

Oh Panada, Oh Panada, how tasty are your maple leaves....

Oh Panada, Oh Panada, how tasty are your maple leaves….

 

A Public Service Announcement.

Mr. Badger just returned from a trip to the mountains of our neighbors to the north, and one of the things he saw while there lead me to think that the time was NOW for this very important public service announcement. What he saw was a grizzly bear crossing the highway just a little way in front of his car, and then what he saw was a bunch of people following it with cameras at the ready. I am not making this up.

I am only going to say this once (a year):

Do. Not. Try. To. Take. A. Selfie. With. A. Grizzly!!!!!

Hey! That reminds me of a song!

...if I were a panda, yadda dah dah da- da- da- AAARGH! I can't stop!!!!!

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

And now, our Salute to Stupid Selfies!!!!

Coming to a mountain road in France, really soon:

Who says real life can't be funny?

Who says real life can’t be funny?

What was that they said about being prohibited from taking a selfie with a tiger?

Much better to take a selfie with pandas!

Much better to take a selfie with pandas!

You know we're just kidding about this, right?

You know we’re just kidding about this, right?

And then Pinky thought this would be a really great fundraiser for her campaign…

I really had no idea what she was up to.

I really had no idea what she was up to.

And then maybe since you can’t take a selfie with a tiger, you could take one at…for instance…the running of the bulls!

AAAAAAhhhHHHHHH!

AAAAAAhhhHHHHHH!

Probably safer to just take a selfie in the Oval Office during your White House Tour…

Mei should not be getting all excited like this in her condition!

“Get those pandas off my desk!”

Have a Fabulous Furry Friday, and while you are having a Fabulous Fourth of July, you leave off with the fireworks and just load up on hot dogs and beans.

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

 

 

Mr. Bun Returns

I know it has taken a little too long for the return of Mr. Bun but in ‘toon time, it has been no time at all. And isn’t it wonderful  that Pinky is so technologically tuned in? Do we know where Mittens has been poofed to? Do we care? No, all we care about is that Mr. Bun returns to the place he belongs…with Pinky.

Of course,  if Pinky DOES become president, how will it look if she brings her stuffie bunny to the inauguration?

Oh, Mr. Bun! Where have you been?

Oh, Mr. Bun! Where have you been?

As a side note, we’ve been having a few technical difficulties over here, which for the moment seem to have resolved themselves. (That’s how I usually resolve technical difficulties: shut down laptop, go to dinner, have a cuppycake and hope that whatever was wrong no longer is when I turn on the computer again. ) For some reason I was not able to upload today’s new cartoon, and I was afraid I was going to have to figure out some low tech work around – print and deliver personally to hundreds of people around the world, perhaps? But while that might have been lots-o-fun, the time required and the cost of world-wide personal delivery was beyond my resources. So I am happy to report that the problem seems to have gone away by itself. Huzzah!

We will have more from Mr. Bun this Wednesday, and then who knows what I will have prepared for you for next week. The Tour de France is coming up soon, so we will revisit the danger of selfies at the Tour, as well as other selfie hazards in Fabulous Furry Friday’s encore extravaganza!

Don’t forget to…

Be the Bear
Bob T Panda

Baby Panda Season

What better distraction is there to world events, the 2016 presidential election, and the lack of cake at my house, than BABY PANDA SEASON ??????? Pandas are popping out all over, and while we wait to see if Lun Lun (mom of the Meihems) or Lady MacBear of Edinburgh are going to gift us with bouncing baby pandas, we must be satisfied with reports and pictures of panda kiddies in China and Belgium.

So to celebrate Baby Panda Season, we here at The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire and Fabulous Furry Friday bring you some of our favorite cartoons about….baby pandas! (What? you thought it was going to be about the gross national product forecasts or the effect on global economies if Britain leaves the EU?)

"Howdy do! I'm Mr. Wu! Who are you?"

“Howdy do! I’m Mr. Wu! Who are you?”

Yo ho ho and a bottle of BooBeer!

Yo ho ho and a bottle of BooBeer!

And then just one year later, Meihem ensued!

Oh, those southern Belle pandas!

Oh, those southern Belle pandas!

And then along came PINKY!

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

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

093-pinky-pinky-tv-100-res.jpg

Princess Pinky is drawing a line in the sandbox. Even as a baby, she was a force to be reckoned with.

But then we had no new baby pandas till 10 months ago when Pinky’s little brother Bubba arrived…although that event was a mixed blessing…

PP: um, dis is not going to interrupt my presidential campaign, is it?

PP: um, dis is not going to interrupt my presidential campaign, is it?

One of Mei Xiang’s twin cubs did not survive, and Pinky dealt with the loss as only Pinky can…

Mr Bun has a question, daddee.

Mr Bun has a question, daddee.

I love Pinky’s resilience! But we would not be doing our job here if we did not include one of my favorite baby Bubba ‘toons.

Bubba's first feature role!

Bubba’s first feature role!

He's small for now, but Bubba Bei Bei is shaping up to be a whole lot of panda!

He’s small for now, but Bubba Bei Bei is shaping up to be a whole lot of panda!

I hope we have distracted you sufficiently from the trials and turmoil of the real world.
Be the Bear, everyone!
Bob T Panda

 

 

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?

I love Roz Chast’s memoir Can’t We talk About Something More Pleasant?, and while she was recounting the story of her aging parents, I think the phrase is particularly appropriate today. Today, we are not going to talk about any of the appalling news that has happened in several parts of the world, or about political candidates and the stupid, insensitive things that they may or may not have said.

We are going panda panda panda with some of the cutest panda cartoons of all times.

2) Life on the panda ranch

Like this one from the way back files…

 

3) This cartoon appeared in Henry Nicholls' book The Way of the Panda

This cartoon appeared in Henry Nicholls’ book The Way of the Panda

You can't just DO stuff. You need instruction from an expert!

You can’t just DO stuff. You need instruction from an expert!

How IS this different from Pinky's normal bossiness?

How IS this different from Pinky’s normal bossiness?

What the well dressed panda cub is wearing this season!

What the well dressed panda cub is wearing this season!

When I first started drawing panda satire, I went through this intensive period of what I called, “Learning From the Masters” and immersed myself in books of collected cartoons by Bill Watterson, (Calvin and Hobbes) Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury) Steven Pastis (Pearls Before Swine) and Darby Conley (Get Fuzzy) among others. recently, I received the exhibition catalog from a 2014 show of Bill Watterson’s original cartoons at Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. I’m in the middle of reading an interview with Watterson and it is full of Calvin-ish wisdom. Have I mentioned Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite cartoon series ever?

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

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

Anyway, although I was making notes on some of the most significant points in the interview, I seem to have misplaced the paper I wrote them on. (this happens a lot around here) but if I may paraphrase some of the statements I loved best:

On the difference between editorial cartooning and comic strips: You get to make stuff up.

What characters say: When you are really in tune with your characters, it’s not so much writing dialog, but listening to the characters own voices.

Yeah, see? it IS Pinky saying all that stuff! I think I need to go on a road trip to all the cartoon museums in this country.

And because this will always be one of my favorite Wu-toons,

24) Dis. Will. Not. Stand!

Dis. Will. Not. Stand!

Mittens will return on Sunday. Stay tuned.

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

Here Comes Mittens

Oh yeah. Mittens the Cat is back and as I previously might have mentioned, once or twice, it is really hard to make stuff up when the stuff you read on the news is already so absurd. As the Nihilists said in The Big Leibowski, “It’s just not fair!” Oh, yeah, here comes Mittens the Cat!

The disappearance of Mr. Bun has taken a back seat to the debate between Princess Pinky, Bob T. Panda, and Mittens the Cat. Tell me when it’s all over…I don’t think I can bear to watch!

"You are all Losers!" - Mittens the Cat

“You are all Losers!” – Mittens the Cat

What’s that you say? Mittens bears some resemblance to one of this year’s Presidential candidates? Imagine that! well, if all of this year’s political shenanigans has got you down, get yourself a beer, some cuppycakes, and sit a spell and watch this video by my pal Doxiemom made of Bubba and his mom! I hear panda videos are very relaxing and we are going to need all the relaxing we can get this summer and fall!

Be the Bear,
Bob T Panda

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