Columnists

We challenged James Pannabecker to create a column for the Icon that mentions the names of 20 Bluffton residents. He met the challenge. Here is the result. You may find other columns by him on his blog.

By James Pannabecker
Two weeks with Wanda Pannabecker, who proved on 5 occasions that one plus one equal three (Phil, John, James, Tom, and Mary), drove me back to sites of my youth. 

TEH. BEST. GAMES. EVAR.
By André Swartley

Issue #3
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
(With a bonus review of Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty)
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: Playstation 3
Rating: E for Everyone

Insomniac Games came on the scene in 1996 with a first-person shooter called Disruptor for the original Playstation.  The story played out in corny videos starring live actors (or at least people in costumes), but the game itself played smoothly and looked great for a PS1 game. 

By Tanya Pike

TEH. BEST. GAMES. EVAR.
By André Swartley

Psychonauts
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Publisher: Majesco
Platform: PC, PS2, Xbox, XBLA
Rating: T for Teen

Oddball game designer and Rubik’s Cube master Tim Schafer began his career working for George Lucas at Lucasfilm Games.  He worked his way up the ladder quickly, playing important roles in the development of groundbreaking adventure games like Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island.  His hilarious scripts and programming skills soon landed him at the head of the teams that designed adventure classics Full Throttle and Grim Fandango.

By Tonya Pike
Last night about 8:50 p.m., I heard two men's voices floating up the stairs. I was up reading in bed and A. was watching TV. The voices sounded at first like they were coming from the front porch. I heard A's laughter, so I wasn't too worried. It continued for a few minutes and the voices sounded closer. Sammy, our dog, was barking a bit wildly so I thought I should go down and investigate. Since I was wearing my pajamas, I put on a sweatshirt and headed downstairs.

When I got to the landing I was horrified.

There was a man unpacking a vacuum cleaner in our living room.

I shot A. a look that could kill and didn't smile at Mr. Salesman. He didn't bother introducing himself as he launched into his presentation.

By Tanya Pike

There are oodles of foods that bring back strong memories of my childhood. Until I was in high school I'm quite sure that I had never eaten a biscuit that was born out of a can, a pie crust that had ever encountered a freezer, a cake that had been conjured from a cardboard box or an entree that didn't have some kind of fresh, frozen or canned vegetables that hailed from our garden.

I never knew that there was such a thing as a white egg that came from a chicken's behind. All of ours lay brown, speckled eggs that we gathered while they were still warm and washed very carefully in the sink before hiding them away in the 'fridge for breakfast the next morning. (Except for that one time Dad put the fresh eggs in his coat pocket, forgot they were there and went into town for breakfast. He went to pay his bill, reached for his wallet and you can guess the rest of that story.)

With Halloween on the horizon, let's hear your best Bluffton Halloween story.

 While this isn't my most frightening, it's still a good one. Before you say, "Well, that's just an urban legend," remember that this story took place before the term urban existed. Concerning a time line, we're talking 1870s. So, it makes this one the oldest known Bluffton Halloween-type stories. I have no doubt that this really happened.

It was told to me by "Link" Hauenstein (I never knew him by any other name) circa 1978.

Link's grandfather worked at  Sidall’s saw mill. Today that would be on the northeast side of North Main just as you cross the bridge over Riley Creek.

Review by Kerry Bush

As demonstrated by films like Twilight, Eragon, and various Dr. Seuss classics, most children’s movies that are made based on children’s books don’t turn out to be very good. However, Where the Wild Things Are breaks this stereotype. Although it’s a lot darker than advertisements lead people to expect, Wild Things manages to stay true to the book off of which it was based while still providing the viewer with a lot to think about. Wild Things is full of symbolism and parallels to real life that are difficult for even the most passive of us to ignore.

The film starts out with the main character, a young child named Max, having a rough day at home. He gets in a snowball fight with his older sister and her friends and ends up getting his snow fort knocked down—something many of us can relate to having gone through as a child.

TEH. BEST. GAMES. EVAR.
By André Swartley

Issue #1
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: Playstation 3
Rating: M for Mature

The Golden Age of Hollywood died before 1950, but filmmaking didn’t become the moneymaking juggernaut it is today until the late 70s, with the advent of so-called “blockbusters.”  Following the same pattern, the Golden Age of video games ran from the mid-1980s to the early '90s.  The Nintendo Entertainment System made the Atari 2600 look like an Etch-A-Sketch, and every American child could tell you that Mario’s princess was in another castle or recite the Konami Code to get 30 guys in Contra.

Autumn – fall – what it is?

Note: We are happy to once again read a column by Joanne Niswander. She says that she'll write as the spirit moves her.