If Pandas Went to the Movies...

If pandas got to go to the movies, they would want to sit through endless repetitions of Kung Fu Panda or maybe The Incredible Journey, the new version staring pandas, of course. They would rush up and down the aisles, throwing popcorn at each other and leave chewed up bamboo ends under their seats. They greatly appreciate the air-conditioned theater but they will spill their bamboo colas on the floor.

Cats, on the other hand, are models of propriety and almost never bring bunny parts in with them. We also have much more in the way of cinematic cats to choose from. I can't say I think much of the portrayals of cats in Babe, Stuart Little, or Harry Potter, but as they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity. If you need to get in touch with me, I'll be watching The Aristocats.

Ta-ta for now,

Mehitabel

News Flash! Pandas Invade Coupeville!

OK, there are not pandas ACTUALLY stampeding down the streets of Coupeville, WA, but they have made their first appearance in the Whidbey Examiner. They will be appearing every other week as of August 1st. While large daily newspapers are biting the dust left and right, smaller weekly papers are still alive and well. They are worth supporting. (especially ones that publish "Way Better Than Working's Panda Chronicles") After all, we're ALL endangered, more or less, ya know. If you want to support the "Panda Chronicles", you can subscribe at http://www.whidbeyexaminer.com/ Just tell em, Bob the Panda sent you! thanks.

Panda On!
Bob the panda

Open Season on Bunnies

Mehitabel here with the latest field and stream report.... well, I wasn't really in a stream, but we've been having a bit of rain recently and I got all WET while I was out... um... shopping. So there I was, bringing my faithful servant a really nice present, and she rushes out and makes me DROP it, and drags me in the house, rubs me with a towel, and then SHE LETS THE BUNNY GET AWAY!!!!!!! I ask you, is this how a grateful person reacts to a charming little present? I mean I didn't even get to bite its' little head off. I may have to go back out on strike again if she keeps this up. And don't even talk to me about birds. (The brightly colored ones taste the best, you know.)

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully she'll let me out of the house soon, and then......

Panda On!

Mehitabel

My true relationship with computers, OR Technology When It Suits Me

I don't know about you, but I came late to this whole computing thing. For years I resisted, making snotty comments when my more computer savvy friends extolled the virtues of doing this or that on the computer. Finally the day came when I could no longer buy 35 mm slide film for my camera locally, not to mention get it processed. I had to break down and get a digital camera which of course meant I had to get computer. Oh woe is me. My first computer was ( and in fact still is) a small brained behemoth running windows 98 (first edition). It served me pretty well for the first year or so, until it crashed because I was trying to keep too many large file images on it. (Aren't you impressed that I know the term "large file"?) Anyway, I now have a sleek and stylish iMac, which has many mega googles or whatever they're called and I can have lots and lots of junk on it that sometimes I can even find.

By the way, Mehitabel has gone on strike and refuses to write anything until I run some more cat cartoons. "Pandas....phuufffff!" she says.

Until next time,

Panda On!

Miz B

You're not really trying unless....

It has always seemed to me that unless you are willing to fail at something, you're not really ready to succeed. Yesterday I finally felt I was ready to start sending out query letters for my book legnth collection of panda cartoons, so I picked a prestigious agency with a very wonderful and quirky website, emailed my query and was promptly rejected. Having been in the art business for over 35 years, I've had the full range of rejections. My favorite for the ultimate in impersonal dismissiveness was on a post-it note that said, "doesn't interest us." This one was kind, firm, and showed that he'd actually read my letter. I knew it was a long shot, but as the Filson Co. says, "Might as well have the best."

I will continue to send out queries and proposals and we'll see what happens. After all, being endangered is no laughing matter.

Panda On,

Miz B

Goodbye, Gretchen

A little over a week ago, the pandas lost one of their fans. We all have these ever widening circles of friends and acquaintences ( like Rabbit's friends and relations). Gretchen was not in my closest circle of friends, but we had lots of overlapping circles of friends and interests. We are both artists, we both adore cats, and now I find we are both pandaphiles. (And yes, I would fondle a panda if given the opportunity.) Life is too busy and too short to know well all those we meet in our travels. I always enjoyed running into Gretchen at the grocery store where we would talk about art or our cats or what was blooming in the garden.

Some religions believe that your journey to what ever afterlife there might be takes 7 days. I'd like to think that there was a panda guide to lead her on her passage, and a great host of pandas waiting to welcome her and offer her a "little something" to snack on till lunch time.

Panda on, Gretchen. We'll miss you.

Miz B

Voices in My Head

Generally speaking it's not a good idea to admit that you hear voices in your head, but I'm going to go public with this dirty little secret. The voices are usually attached to animals, like my cat Mehitabel, or the pandas. Mehitabel's voice is very sultry and rather cynical. Think Lauen Bacall in "The Big Sleep". The pandas have two different voices. The small pandas are kind of high pitched and exuberant and the big pandas sound a lot like Tony Soprano. It's not that I sit around ALL the time, listening to these voices, but it does make life more interesting.

Panda On!

Miz 'B'