This installment of “This Month In Pun” is brought to you by On and On-Anon, offering self-help groups for compulsive talkers. At locations throughout Pun.
October 5-6: Ore Chasm in central Pun hosts the Flourish of Strumpets festival. Ore Chasm was a productive gold mining area in the late 1800’s and there are still many places in Ore Chasm where people still scratch and claw nuggets out of the once ore-rich rock. The festival celebrates the area’s history and features a hoedown on the floor of the ballroom of the homestead of Lady Moneydown, wife of Lord Halfmercy.
October 5-: Pun’s Baseball Championship Series gets underway with the Costa Living Razors, managed by Ron Wayan Flation meeting last year’s champions, the Pun Slingers, managed by Theophilus Punoval.
October 10: October 10 is Independence Day on Pun. In 1791, the death of the Great Pun King, Charlebrown, resulted in a political vacuum because he left no heir. This led to a titanic struggle among Pun’s nobility for control of the ship of state. Eventually, through four years of back-stabbing, arm-twisting and throat-cutting, Lord Elordi of St Spreservus succeeded in dismembering the body politic and emerged as the head of a new political force that he ruled with an iron hand. He was crowned the new monarch in 1795. Elordi’s rise to power was so steeped in treachery that it is no wonder that his government soon found itself in hot water. His oppressive laws and taxes brought tensions to a boiling point and in 1800, Pun exploded in open rebellion. Elordi was backed by the aristocracy while the rebel front was made up of lesser nobility and the common people. Elordi viewed the commoners with disgust. “The people are revolting,” he said. “They have no reason to complain. They are a rabble without a cause.” The two sides met in a climactic battle in the streets of Pun City in 1802. The rebels stormed Bustov Palace (the royal residence) and captured the king. In exchange for his life, Elordi was forced to sign the Countov Manifesto, which established a constitutional monarchy and provided for an elected parliament as the legislative branch of government. This was great victory for the common people who, for the first time, were to have a voice in their country’s future. The day is commemorated across the island by fireworks displays and parades. Before the parade in Pun City, catch the Ouida Peeple Pre-Amble (named for a revolutionary martyr) through the streets of the city. This year’s Grand Marshall for the Pun City parade is the Chief of Pun’s Supreme Court, Justus Ferrol.
October 12-13: The artist’s colony of Sound Retreat on Veronica Lake in central Pun is host to an art sale and wine tasting during the Arts and Carafe festival this weekend. Veronica Lake is is another of Pun’s beautiful lakes and offers boating, fishing, camping and water-skiing activities during summer months. The artists’ colony of Sound Retreat is on the lake’s south shore. It’s guest list reads like a Who’s Who of Pun’s artistic heritage. Over the years, the colony has been temporary home to the poets Tennyson Ewon, Almsford D. Poe, Whittier Want, Odette Burns, Sol Longfellow, Dee Frost, R.U. Donne, Marshall Dylan, and Wordsworth Reeding. Artists such as L.O. Dali, Herve Gaugain, E.Z. Monet, Kay Seurat-Seurat, Potters Klee and Geddup Van Gogh have also sojourned here, enjoying the peace, tranquility, and beauty of this lake settlement.
All month: College football continues across the island. In games of interest this month, it’s Wolfe at DeDorr, Kummeer at Wuntz, Just goes to Showya, Eacher meets Enveggies, and Possum plays Dedd.
All month: Special reduced pricing is featured all month long at The Edible Complex in Fort Issimo. The Edible Complex is not one but several restaurants grouped together under one roof. Because of Fort Issimo’s history as a mining town, all these eateries, such as Grub Steaks, use a mining motif, but each with a different specialty. Panned Out features crepes. Mine Furor specializes in German cuisine. Shaft’s features soul food. You’ll find grilled pork at Pig Iron. There’s spicy cuisine from all over the world at Fire in the Hole. For most people, however, the restaurant of choice is Seven Potato Ore, which undoubtedly has Pun’s finest potato bar. All the restaurants are excellent. Eat at The Edible Complex and you’ll swear you’ve hit the mother lode.