They Call Us Early Adopters
It started with a marmot, and went through otters, bunnies, and wallabies, but the Sidepodcast mascot always seems to return to the panda.
Whilst I am a fan of the baby panda, all the black and white creatures are awesomely cute, and that’s why I have officially adopted one on behalf of Sidepodcast.
I’m assuming that my £3 a month doesn’t cover an entire panda, so maybe it’s just an ear or a paw, but this cute and cuddly representation was sent to me a few days after I clicked donate.
Our adopted panda is called Zhu Xiong (pronounced Ju-Shong) meaning ‘Bamboo Bear’. She’s a giant panda, and about 11 years old. Here’s a little blurb about her:
Zhu Xiong was only two years old when she was found in a small farming village in the Pingwu district of China. WWF staff moved her to the Wanglang reserve, the oldest and most remote reserve in China, where she joined 30 other pandas.
I have a certificate to confirm adoption, I’ve got some photographs of Zhu Xiong, and apparently I will get newsletter updates three times a year. It was really easy to do, and there’s plenty of information on the WWF site, both about our panda and all the other animals that are available for adoption.
All that’s left to do, then, is to come up with a name for our new Sidepodcast mascot. Although the cuddly toy represents the actual real life panda, I think it’s only fair she has a Sidepodcast name. That’s where you come in. I’m thinking something like Jane doesn’t really do her justice, and maybe you guys can think of a clever motorsport related name for our newest member. I’d love to hear your thoguhts in the comments.
October 5th, 2008 at 3:41 pmOllie said:
Now all you have to do is recruit Zhu Xiong into a driving role at the Panda-Cosworth Racing project and you’ll have a dream-team.
Hmm, names… I’ll have a think…
…What about Fiat? Okay, I’ll think some more.
October 5th, 2008 at 3:54 pmLynch said:
What about “debris” ? As mechanics “clear debris out of the Sidepods” ??
October 5th, 2008 at 3:59 pmOllie said:
If Fiat is too blatant, what about “Lingotto”? Sounds quite feminine and it is the Fiat factory in Turin with the racetrack on the roof.
October 5th, 2008 at 4:02 pmSteven Roy said:
That looks like an angry panda. Maybe it is just the picture but I think the panda has a temper.
October 5th, 2008 at 4:07 pmOllie said:
Juan-Panda Montoya…?
October 5th, 2008 at 4:22 pmAlianora La Canta said:
If my foot was caught in a mug, I’d be slightly angry too… (Also, going through the British postal service is not a comfortable thing to do!)
How about ??? (Wang Ji Xióng) - for “Internet Panda”?
October 5th, 2008 at 4:41 pmJourneyer said:
How about Sidepodcast in Chinese?
Side Pod Cast
Alia, can you do the research?
October 5th, 2008 at 4:45 pmr.g (my fuji, its mini me) said:
awwww, thats so cute.
almost as cute as christian klien
only kidding, but since you like franck montagny so much, why not call him franck?
October 5th, 2008 at 4:47 pmOllie said:
I tried that but got some Chinese characters (obviously), which are, erm, unreadable to me. Alia…
October 5th, 2008 at 5:04 pmSteven Roy said:
Chinese for unlucky - Mon Ta Nyi
October 5th, 2008 at 6:57 pmChristine said:
October 5th, 2008 at 7:23 pmme said:
October 5th, 2008 at 7:50 pmScott Woodwiss (Franck FTW! XD) said:
Aww! Christine finally has her panda!
As for names, what about “Apex”?
October 6th, 2008 at 2:44 amJordan Allen said:
Two suggestions:
Lord Hesketh. (In honour of the first English racing team to have a stuffed bear mascot).
Adnap the Panda. (Take Panda, and spell it backwards).
October 6th, 2008 at 3:48 amcharlie said:
My first comment here ever~
What about “BMW” ,which also means “don’t touch me(Bie Mo Wo)” in Chinese
October 6th, 2008 at 4:49 amJordan Allen said:
Should I be somewhat concerned that your stuffed Panda appears to be wanting to drink something of a mug?
October 6th, 2008 at 6:52 amme said:
wow, really? that’s my personal favourite.
splendid first comment charlie
October 6th, 2008 at 11:13 amJeremy said:
How about Peefa?
Full name: Peefa Beefa (or PB for short).
You know - Beefa bear, Deefa dog, Peefa panda!
PB is what we called Peter Brock
October 6th, 2008 at 11:27 amJeremy said:
Or Possum Bourne…
In Formula One land:
Pablo Birger, Peter Broeker, (Jean) Pierre Beltoise, Paolo Barilla
OR, just plain old Panda Bear!
October 6th, 2008 at 11:47 amme said:
hehe. that would be a tough one to forget.
October 6th, 2008 at 1:49 pmAlex said:
Awwwww cute panda!!!!
Totally unrelated…..anyone know any websites that show the view figures on itv for the 2006 and 2007 seasons???
October 6th, 2008 at 6:19 pmRich said:
Why no commemorate London Zoo’s first Giant Panda Chi Chi - also the inspiration for the WWF logo at the time she was the only Giant Panda in the West.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Zoo
October 6th, 2008 at 7:59 pmJordan Allen said:
What about Panis Panda? In honour of Olivier Panis?
Or Pierluigi Panda in honour of Pierluigi Martini?
October 6th, 2008 at 8:11 pmJordan Allen said:
Looking at drivers firstnames and assinging them the surname of Panda, the ones that I thought where really funny so far are: (Currently around Damon Hill).
Emerson Panda
Heinz-Harald Panda
Mika Panda.
and Olivier Panda.
Peter Panda is just too respectable a name…
October 6th, 2008 at 8:20 pmScott Woodwiss (Franck FTW! XD) said:
Why not Franck Panda?
October 7th, 2008 at 12:03 amJordan Allen said:
Just after supper in the Land of the Multi-coloured Tundra, currently at the “L”’s and a couple more names made me laugh:
Pedro Panda. (from Pedro Lamy)
Niki Panda. (from Niki Lauda)
Carlos the Panda (doulbe joke Carlos Reutemann and that guy from the movie “Day of the Jackel”).
Looing through all these names, I think I like Carlos Reutemann as my inspiration for the naming the Panda.
Call it “Carlos the Panda.”
October 7th, 2008 at 12:13 amme said:
it’s not that evil.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:20 amJordan Allen said:
I can not believe it! You are calling Carlos Reutemann evil just becasue he drove for Ferrari!
I guess that makes Gilles Villeneuve, Nigel Mansell, Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger and Jody Scheckter evil for the same reason.
October 7th, 2008 at 6:56 amAlex Andronov said:
Perhaps you should call it Ernie?
October 7th, 2008 at 6:57 amAlex Andronov said:
Just spotted an ad for Antivirus technology and thought that’s a bit “out there”. Then realised it is for “Panda Antivirus”
October 7th, 2008 at 9:34 amme said:
they get everywhere!
October 7th, 2008 at 11:32 amScott Woodwiss (Franck FTW! XD) said:
Will we get to see the panda on the live shows?
October 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pmAlianora La Canta said:
How about Sidepodcast in Chinese?
Side Pod Cast
Alia, can you do the research? {Journeyer - 25 comments ago}
Finally managed to get to a computer long enough to do it:
????? (Cèmiàn Jià Tòu) - or Jia-Tou for short.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:04 pmChristine said:
Awww, I like that
October 7th, 2008 at 2:09 pmAlianora La Canta said:
Thought you might - I think it sounds sweet as well.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:58 pmSteven Roy said:
You can’t call Gilles evil. There must be a law against that. Mansell, fine I don’t care what you call him.
October 8th, 2008 at 1:16 amJordan Allen said:
I can not help it if “me” calls Ferrari drivers evil simply because they drove for Ferrari…..
“me” is not prepared to name the Panda Carlos because the Panda is not evil enough to be Carlos Reutemann. Now other than being the Ralf Schumacher of his day, I can not see Reutemann being the slightest bit evil expect for driving for Ferrari.
Ego:
I guess that makes Gilles Villeneuve, Nigel Mansell, Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger and Jody Scheckter evil for the same reason…..
October 8th, 2008 at 1:53 amme said:
sounds like carlos the jackal.
am liking alia’s suggestion though.
October 8th, 2008 at 2:49 amJordan Allen said:
Ask a bamboo chute just how evil that Panda truly is…..
How about “Peking Panda”? or is that a better name for a Chinese duck?