Pandagyric
Feb. 4th, 2010 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pallas_athenaWashington DC's firstborn panda, Tai Shan, is being flown to China today. Here is a photo gallery displaying his many significant achievements.
These days, most pandas in non-Chinese zoos are on loan from China for about $1 million a year; all cubs also become Chinese property. Tai Shan stayed with his mother for a full 2 years, as panda cubs (ideally) do in the wild; the Zoo negotiated extensions to the contract so he could stay on another two years in the state-of-the-art enclosure built for him and his parents. Now he's four, and the deadline is here.
In Washington DC, anything to do with our pandas is big news. Our first ones arrived in the year I was born: a pair sent as a gift after Nixon's visit to China. I grew up near the zoo, which is free to enter, so I went to see them often. I still remember getting teary in the Royal Academy of Music computer room when I read that the last survivor of the two, the male, had died. (The news made the front page. Like I said, DC takes its pandas seriously.)
For a while, the city was sad and panda-less. Since our zoo doesn't charge admission, it took them a while to raise the funds for China's rent-a-panda scheme. But 10 years ago DC finally got a pair of young pandas, and they play-wrestled and nibbled bamboo and did panda things, fulfilling all the social duties of a DC star couple. Eventually they managed to puzzle out the mysteries of sex, and shortly afterwards, Tai Shan was born.
From our little cub's first day, he was an instant sensation thanks to the Panda Cam, a webcam feed that showed every moment of mother panda Mei Xiang looking after the tiny squeaking furball. The press reported breathlessly that a newborn panda is "about the size of a stick of butter," leading just about everyone to start calling him Butterstick. (UK-siders confused by American butter topology: just roll with it, OK?)
The Panda Cam was the subject of an epic thread on MonkeyFilter, which was then my favourite corner of the web. It was full of interesting people, insight and humour; it was well-moderated; draaaama was fairly rare. I harboured a certain verbal affection for one of the posters, a gifted poet whose face I've still never seen. The panda thread was full of bad jokes, poems, ASCII art and pictures, including two inspired paintings by a talented guy in Liverpool.
So obviously, when I was able to visit DC, I'd go to see Tai Shan and then report back to the MoFites about it.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
speedlime and I were there on the very first day the public were allowed to see the cub: he bimbled around on the rocks, played with a football, sat in a bucket, and eventually fell asleep with his paws in the air. Speedy took pictures with her phone, which were instantly the subject of much online glee.
Today MoFi is a ghost town, and I miss it. I've been subsumed into the MetaFilter vortex like everyone else, but it's a maelstrom where MoFi was a haven. The poet disappeared into the ether, as poets do, and most of the cool kids emigrated. Now MoFi users are as rarely seen as giant pandas.
I know online communities, like all human constructions, are transitory. So are pandas, youth, warm days and good TV shows. But that doesn't mean they're replaceable. Even now, the National Zoo is on pregnancy watch for its female panda; and any cub she bears will be well loved, adorable, a vital victory for an endangered species. But Tai Shan was DC's firstborn, and you don't get that twice.
Today I watched Tai Shan's departure as I'd watched his first days: online. I hope that he'll be happy and live a long life in China, and contribute successfully to the breeding programme, and to the survival of the giant panda as a species. He was one of the few creatures unanimously loved in my political town, and pretty much the only source of good news in DC during the Bush years. He will be missed.
These days, most pandas in non-Chinese zoos are on loan from China for about $1 million a year; all cubs also become Chinese property. Tai Shan stayed with his mother for a full 2 years, as panda cubs (ideally) do in the wild; the Zoo negotiated extensions to the contract so he could stay on another two years in the state-of-the-art enclosure built for him and his parents. Now he's four, and the deadline is here.
In Washington DC, anything to do with our pandas is big news. Our first ones arrived in the year I was born: a pair sent as a gift after Nixon's visit to China. I grew up near the zoo, which is free to enter, so I went to see them often. I still remember getting teary in the Royal Academy of Music computer room when I read that the last survivor of the two, the male, had died. (The news made the front page. Like I said, DC takes its pandas seriously.)
For a while, the city was sad and panda-less. Since our zoo doesn't charge admission, it took them a while to raise the funds for China's rent-a-panda scheme. But 10 years ago DC finally got a pair of young pandas, and they play-wrestled and nibbled bamboo and did panda things, fulfilling all the social duties of a DC star couple. Eventually they managed to puzzle out the mysteries of sex, and shortly afterwards, Tai Shan was born.
From our little cub's first day, he was an instant sensation thanks to the Panda Cam, a webcam feed that showed every moment of mother panda Mei Xiang looking after the tiny squeaking furball. The press reported breathlessly that a newborn panda is "about the size of a stick of butter," leading just about everyone to start calling him Butterstick. (UK-siders confused by American butter topology: just roll with it, OK?)
The Panda Cam was the subject of an epic thread on MonkeyFilter, which was then my favourite corner of the web. It was full of interesting people, insight and humour; it was well-moderated; draaaama was fairly rare. I harboured a certain verbal affection for one of the posters, a gifted poet whose face I've still never seen. The panda thread was full of bad jokes, poems, ASCII art and pictures, including two inspired paintings by a talented guy in Liverpool.
So obviously, when I was able to visit DC, I'd go to see Tai Shan and then report back to the MoFites about it.
speedlime and I were there on the very first day the public were allowed to see the cub: he bimbled around on the rocks, played with a football, sat in a bucket, and eventually fell asleep with his paws in the air. Speedy took pictures with her phone, which were instantly the subject of much online glee.Today MoFi is a ghost town, and I miss it. I've been subsumed into the MetaFilter vortex like everyone else, but it's a maelstrom where MoFi was a haven. The poet disappeared into the ether, as poets do, and most of the cool kids emigrated. Now MoFi users are as rarely seen as giant pandas.
I know online communities, like all human constructions, are transitory. So are pandas, youth, warm days and good TV shows. But that doesn't mean they're replaceable. Even now, the National Zoo is on pregnancy watch for its female panda; and any cub she bears will be well loved, adorable, a vital victory for an endangered species. But Tai Shan was DC's firstborn, and you don't get that twice.
Today I watched Tai Shan's departure as I'd watched his first days: online. I hope that he'll be happy and live a long life in China, and contribute successfully to the breeding programme, and to the survival of the giant panda as a species. He was one of the few creatures unanimously loved in my political town, and pretty much the only source of good news in DC during the Bush years. He will be missed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2010-02-04 07:52 pm (UTC)I believe I've mentioned this before to you and speedy, and was met with resounding silence as your answers, which is fine (and understandable), but there's always a welcome home for you on WTFIWWYP:
http://whatthefuckiswrongwithyoupeople.org/
Kit just started a thread about someone smearing animal semen on unsuspecting people, so naturally, it turned into a pun thread. And as with all pun threads, the more the merrier...
We're now in our second year. Which is perhaps surprising -- to us more than anyone -- given how small the membership actually is. But it seems to be working.
Again -- not to press the issue. Just know that the invite stands, and that membership in the one place is not exclusive of the other place.
no subject
on 2010-02-04 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-02-05 12:11 am (UTC)But I know what you mean about those videos; there are definitely some weepy moments.
no subject
on 2010-02-05 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-02-05 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-02-05 02:11 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-02-08 09:48 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-02-17 10:28 pm (UTC)American butter comes in sticks of 4 ounces, or 1/2 cup. So 4 sticks = 1 pound. It's clever and convenient for measuring and baking. Here is a picture! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NCI_butter.jpg) Now you know all about American butter.
no subject
on 2010-02-05 10:38 pm (UTC)My heart belongs to MeFi, but I admit I miss MonkeyFilter sometimes. I'd forgotten the epic panda thread; thanks for reminding me.
no subject
on 2010-02-08 09:46 am (UTC)