Saturday, February 24, 2007

Communication, or "It's not everyday that a hip panda speaks to you."
















Telepathy has always been up there as one of my favourite forms of communication. Sadly, it is a lost art in our modern society overly taken up with texting in dismembered and misspelt words. So you can imagine my joy when I was wandering round the ruins of Monte Alban and heard this little fella speak to me!

Now, it's about time that I let you in on a little known fact - something that Paul and I discovered on our trip to Mexico. After we'd done a lot of walking and were weary and aching, we simultaneously said to each other that our hips were hurting (stay with me...). That was when we found out about hip pandas.

Apparently, by our simultaneous utterance of those words in a place endowed with magical powers, we had inadvertently invoked the ancient gift bestowed upon weary travellers by a band of mostly secret hip pandas.

These are baby pandas who have been rescued from a life of orphan hardship who wish for the opportunity to travel combined with warm human companionship. When you invoke the spell, the hip pandas appear and magically hold your hips to prevent you from feeling the ache of many hours on your feet. In return, they ask only that they be treated with kindness and be taken along on exciting adventures around the world. For many of them, this beats a one-way trip to the zoo.

We were told that hip pandas don't appear to just anybody, but were given no further explanation, so we realised just how lucky we were that they appeared for us. Happily, they were keen to come back to London with us and rest till our next adventures (North Wales in April), and one of their merry band kindly agreed to pose for me for this week's Illustration Friday. So here he is!

Next time you're hiking somewhere really magical, just try invoking the spell. You never know what might happen...

11 comments:

Kimbu said...

You're nuts you are. Guess that's why I like ya!

You're very lucky to have such a cute companion.

Teri said...

Oh fun Tammy. I will remember this story next time I next to find that magical panda :)

harmoniousjosh said...

Did you know that baby pandas frequently get eaten by their mothers? Lovely creatures.

My hips usually feel fine, but sometimes when I run I get a twinge on the outside of my knees. That's when I magically summon a Knee Armadillo. Same thing as a Hip Panda, but with an Armadillo. For your Knees.

Don't get these spells mixed up, however. Nothing is worse than a Knee Panda. And a Hip Armadillo? Fugettaboutit.

steve said...

Aren't all panda's hip though (except for those moms who eat their young). It's great how you can share your view of the world with us, through your art as well (which is wonderful by the way). It's interesting how some folks might find this view funny or strange yet they never took much time to analyze their own belief systems and realizing just how "nuts" theirs may very well be. Anyhow, fascinating stuff.

studio lolo said...

I really enjoyed this story a lot! Sweet illo too :)

Anonymous said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAH cute.

HARDWAX said...

I love your writing, it made me smile and think, if I believe, and liten hard enough, there's one of those little cuties out there for me.
Your new Hip Panda friend is adoreable and your illo so creative and fun!

Anonymous said...

That's an adorable panda, beautiful colors. And you do create lovely stories to go with your pieces! I love the idea of magical pandas!

Thanks for your comments on my blog, much appreciated!

shadows and clouds said...

i'm glad you're mad! we love you that way! and the pandas rock!

Willie Baronet said...

Very interesting. I'm going to have to tell that to my shoulder panda. ;-)

Caroline B. said...

Heartful, you are great. This is exactly how things work. I thoroughly appreciate and enjoy this story (and all the other ones!).