An Utter Transformation for Pancake Island

By Mickey L. McSyrup

Andrew and the Safari Rangers arrived on the shores of Pancake Island earlier this summer.

Just months after Andrew and the Safari Rangers arrived on Pancake Island, the bandmates played a prominent role in the recent restoration of the island's monarchy.

The restoration comes on the heels of the Pancake Games, an internationally televised athletic event held in the highlands. Most islanders are by now aware that former mayor Pal Peixoto activated dozens of robots during the event, intent on destroying Andrew and the Safari Rangers, who were in attendance.

“We were pretty scared,” Andrew, the Safari Rangers’ frontman, shared with The Gazette. “We’re musicians, after all, and had little to no experience fending off robots prior to that encounter.”

The incident came as Peixoto was facing charges of financial mismanagement. Peixoto did not respond to The Gazette's request for comment by press time.

The Safari Rangers, a rock band famous in many parts of the world, were largely unknown to Pancake Islanders prior to their visit this summer. But they were quite well known to our ancestors who lived here thousands of years ago.

“One of the first things we did here on the island was visit the historical society,” Andrew said. “There, we learned the ancient islanders believed there would be a trio of musicians who would restore our land to its former glory. It quickly became pretty clear that we were the musicians they foresaw those thousands of years ago.”

The Safari Rangers were instrumental in restoring order to Pancake Island after defeating the robots. Consulting with some of the island’s foremost residents, the Safari Rangers concluded that it was time to end the decades of corruption that several mayors had brought to the island. The bandmates put forth a proposal that the monarchy be restored. With the islanders’ unanimous approval, Max Pancakes – former director of the Pancake Island Historical Society – was crowned King Maxwell of the House of Pancakes.

“I have to hand it to the Safari Rangers,” King Maxwell wrote in an email to The Gazette, “They did an amazing job in bringing order during that chaotic period of time. It’s thanks to them that there was a peaceful transition of power.”

There are, of course, many more details to the story that go beyond the scope of this article. For a full account of how the Safari Rangers restored the island, readers of The Gazette are encouraged to purchase a copy of Andrew and the Safari Rangers: The Battle of Pancake Island, a book which was recently published by the largely unknown author Andrew Butler.

Click here to purchase your copy.

Mickey L. McSyrup is editor-in-chief of The Pancake Island Gazette. He lives on the island’s south shore with his wife and five children. When he’s not covering the latest news on the island, you’ll find him cheering for the Pancake Island College men's basketball team – Go Flapjacks!