Pinky holds a staff meeting! Sometimes she says nice stuff!
I’ve checked out of Twidder for now, so you can find me on Heffalump! (okay or Poot’er!)
Be the Bear!
Bob T under a blanket of snow Panda
“Error of Pinky’s ways??!?!?!?!” Hahahahaha!
Who can the ghost of Halloween Present possibly be? ‘Toon in next time for our fabulous Encore Presentation of A Halloween Carol!
And don’t forget to head over to Substack for our annual Encore Presentation of The Wizard of Wu, in 3 parts!
Be the Bear
Bob T I was never as bad as Pinky Panda
There might be too many bears in the panda house, that aren’t strictly speaking…um…pandas.
Some of you might be wondering who Josie is. Josie is Frank and Mikey’s sister, and she does not approve of their career choices. She is the bear who stayed home to look after Mom and their youngest brother Scooter. (See last summer’s road trip to Alaska with Frank and Mikey as they searched for their family reunion.
Josie and Scooter’s names (and existence) are owed to Amy of Panda Twitter, who came up with names for the cubs that appeared in one of the numerous videos of bears behaving badly that circulate on the internet. The exploits of Frank and Mikey owe much to these videos and Nooz stories of bears doing things they shouldn’t.
I guess we’ll find out on Thursday whether or not Josie tracked her clueless brothers down, along with her missing cub.
Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda
Let the fun begin! LOTS of ‘toons for today!
He was determined not to let that happen on his 2nd Birthday!
Later in the year, we will rerun the whole Beary Poppins story, but for now, here is one of my favorite panels…
Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda
It’s the high season of Panda Birthdays. This week we celebrate the birthdays of the great Mr. Wu, the triplets (aka Pinky’s minions) and PPJ, Pinky’s real life daughter and supernatural apparition within The Panda Chronicles.
Remember when Mr Wu got a present from da panda kindy?
I hope you enjoyed our encore presentation of this segment of panda birthday season! Tune in next Sunday when we start our monthlong celebration of the most famous pandas anywhere (Pinky made me write that) Bikkie, Bubba, and of course…um…what was her name? Oh yeah! Pinky!
Be the Bear
Bob T Panda
BTW, I made a felty cake to celebrate Mr. Wu’s 10th birthday. It’s one of a kind and includes Mr. Wu atop his cake. The whole thing stands about 5 inches tall with Wu. It is available for $98 + shipping. Send a message via the Contact Us page.
As you might imagine, the January 6th Committee Hearings are giving me many, many thoughts. Having the events put into a running timeline, from what was happening behind the scenes even before the election, right up until the minute by minute events at TFG’s rally to the coordinated effort (pre planned as we are learning) to storm the Capitol, is really helpful to understand the enormity of this event.
I appreciate all the people (primarily republicans who worked for TFG) who have come forward to testify. I really do. It doesn’t make them heroes, but they did need to find a reservoir of courage to speak up. There are some of course, who despite the fact they admit that TFG went three stops past too far, say they would still have voted for him and that they are “proud of their accomplishments.”
Maybe they want to stay in good standing with the GOP, such as it is, or maybe they have the very real fear that angry mobs will show up on their doorsteps or attack them online. This is happening and these acts are terrible. The violence that has been directed at some of the people who have testified is not the equivalent of peaceful protest at the recent SCOTUS decisions or attacks by the states on reproductive health freedom.
I am also grateful the representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have stepped up to be such integral members of the J6 Committee. Despite what TFG and his minions say, it really IS bipartisan with them on board.
I know that we are never going to agree with many of our core philosophies of what constitutes good government. But I ask if you can see that the GOP stance on voting, on telling lies about your opponents, are the very things that brought us to the point that a corrupt president would think it was his god given right to abuse his office, mismanage a global pandemic, and end with an attempt to overthrow the government.
Going forward I would wish not that we agree on everything, but that we can accept that we each have sincerely held beliefs. That we can debate these differences without telling lies and attacking each other. That voting is a right and the more people that are engaged in voting, the better it is for our country. That an educated population is more productive than an ignorant one. That healthcare and housing and adequate food for all makes a better, safer country for everyone. That clean air and water and open space and pandas are part of having a strong country. (did you notice I snuck pandas in there?)
People should be able to be who they are, love and marry who they wish, or not marry at all if that is their preference. Why is this such a hard thing?
We will continue this adventure next Sunday, in part 2 of Mr. Wu’s birthday celebration!
Till then, keep being the bears, remember to check your registration and VOTE! Current polls are showing that Democrats have a much stronger possibility of holding on to both the House and the Senate. This is only possible if we get informed as to who wants to do what and then get out there and VOTE!
Bob T *I voted the primary* Panda
If anyone in western Washington state wants a good voting guide, I have several that were recommended by a local organization that I trust:
Really, if you want to know the future, read The Panda Chronicles. Everything happens here first.
Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda
It’s the 3rd of July here on Whidbey Island. I’m happy to say, that it has been raining all day and the temperature has not topped 60. What’s that you say? Shouldn’t I wish for warm summer weather?
Well, as last year, most of June was in the 80’s, with some temps above 90, even out here on the island (Seattle went above 100 several times, even before July arrived) AND as Island County has not seen fit to put provisions in place banning fireworks when fire danger is high, last year at this time I was completely stressed out in fear that some moron would burn down my neighborhood and me along with it.
So, this year, as we have had a very cool start to summer, I was happy when I woke up to rain, which has continued through the day.
The show of my (serious non-panda) paintings opened last night, with a well attended reception and a few sales. If you’d like to see it (and you don’t live within range of Langley) your can see it here. I got a very nice comment form an artist friend who had come into see the show. I hope she won’t mind me sharing it here: ” …the light feels brave, like something fighting the darkness that is trying to overtake us…”
That is exactly what I have been feeling these past 8 months as I worked on these paintings. That I am desperately clinging to some shard of optimism in the face of the evil that still is trying to take us down.
There are glimpses of hope: people speaking up for the January 6 committee that we might not expect, testifying to events we feared and now are confirmed. While it is true that we haven’t gotten everything we want from those we have elected, I can pretty much guarantee that we won’t like ANYTHING the republicans inflict on us should they regain power.
I would point out that this ‘toon was drawn in 2019, and take no credit (or responsibility) for giving the idea to attack the Capitol to Mittens and his band of thugs.
Panda on, no matter what!
Bob T Panda
I’ve been on a little journey these last two weeks…not an actual journey, mind you. More of a healthcare journey. Don’t panic. All is well. But my vision has been dimming and clouding these last couple years, and while the pandemic is not exactly on the run, it felt safe enough to consider….
Cataract surgery.
Just thinking about getting to the point where I needed cataract surgery made me feel very old. But it was time to suck it up and do it, as the last time I had my eyes examined last year, the doctor was saying he didn’t know how much more he could improve my vision with glasses.
I opted not to get the kind of lenses that meant I would no longer need glasses. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 8 and I like them. If nothing else, I am much less likely to poke my eye with a branch when gardening, if I still wear glasses.
Even though my eyes are still recovering, I can see much better. One of my old pairs of glasses seems to be working generally, but not so well for close up. So, I will henceforth blame all typos on this for the time being. Heh!
One thing I can see quite clearly is that the GOP (Guns Over People) Party would rather see more people shot than to either offend the NRA or have President Biden get any credit for doing anything good.
Just in case any of you are about to acquire a swimming pool…you know who you are!
Am I sensing a theme here?
Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda
This has been a hard week. When 20 children were murdered in Sandy Hook, I thought surely, now would be the turning point when something was done to get guns off the street and out of the hands of violent people. Are those people suffering from mental illness? No doubt. Killing large numbers of innocent people is not a normal response to an unhappy life.
But the truth is that mentally ill people are more likely to die from violence than to perpetrate it. There are studies.
Write to any of your representatives you can to let them know your views on this. Take to the streets in protest. Donate what you can to groups that are trying to move the needle on instituting more controls on guns and getting guns (especially assault style rifles) out of the equation. Oh yeah…and VOTE. Vote for people who are not happy with the status quo. You know who I mean.
What we do need more of is baby pandas.
Panda on!
Bob T Panda