Framed the damn thing in Black & White at my laptop desk — to remind me of it at every moment, especially whenever online or on the phone.
Discovered the simple joy of my Sony PSP 3 — the so very popular PlayStation Portable made by Sony. That product was so good but they discontinued it as demand slowed in NA and EU (the last factory for it in Japan closed). I guess, people want to just sit in front of a big screen with the big console instead.
Of course, gaming consoles have better processors & graphics. But call me old, I like mobile devices, such as my Hohner harmonica (still only made in Germany), a pocket notebook & pen to jot down ideas / concepts. Not to forget the best, most fuel-efficient vehicle, a motorcycle!
This game on screen is ‘Assassin’s Creed – Bloodlines (2009)’. Well, whaddya know, there are 3 rules they follow:
1. Never hurt an innocent person,
2. Always be discreet and
3. Never compromise the Brotherhood.
Outlaw stuff inspired from real-life Knights Templar and “haššašin”. Etymology of the word ‘assassin’ is from ‘hashish-users’ — it supposedly helped relieve pain & continue missions.
The popularity of the game inspired expensive comics and collectible novels. Of course, the Hollywood movie adaptation ‘Killed’ the enthusiasm I believe. Anyways, they had already flooded the market with a dozen games instead of managing their hen that laid golden eggs. Media!!!
Anyway, the plot line of the video-game is much better than “The Hitman” series of games. More interesting than other periodic settings such as ‘Prince of Persia’. The latter contributed a lot in development of Assasins series. Actually, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise is considered to be the ‘spiritual successor’ to that series.
So what’s the “Creed” in the “”Assassin’s Creed” series?
Creed of the Assassins : “nothing is true; everything is permitted”.
When I was a kid, the only comic books available to me were Archie comic series and He-Man cartoons on TV. There were also plenty of The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician comic strips in newspapers – both created by Lee Falk.
For the trivia-inclined, it was The Phantom who was the first superhero to have tight-fighting leg-wear and his underpants outside. Yup! Not Superman! Unfortunately, you can’t find either of Lee Falk’s creations easily anymore. Politically Incorrect.
The Phantom was compared to white-man Lord of Africa – the Tarzan of the Apes, which came before him. Mandrake found his origins in the Himalayan-Tibetan mystical school of magic and hints at an adversary as secret group of criminals ruled by an unknown boss / bosses. They were referred by ‘The League of 8’ or ‘The Sign of 8’. Sound similar? Well, apart from the ‘triad’ there is the famous Ian Fleming’s James Bond whose big adversary ‘Blofeld’ also has that ‘eight-tentacled octopus’ as a symbol in the last movie ‘No Time To Die’ (2021).
While adults can understand the timeline and culture when words and concepts were used in print, I guess it was obvious that ‘modern’ children, despite ‘Google’, may not fully comprehend the unwelcome-in-school novels such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain or the landmark To Kill a Mockingbird by author Harper Lee.
Probably a Google search would lead youth to worse confusion and / or violence and behavior. Life was simpler and less interference growing up for their predecessors.
While Flash Gordon is still remembered, probably more because of the bad movie and epic song by British rock band ‘Queen’ — another comic strip I found and loved in daily newspapers while growing up was the private & classy detective ‘Rip Kirby’. He had a ‘butler’ style assistant named Desmond who was a reformed pickpocket type. Desmond being ‘handy’ in assisting the detective in investigations. So very far ahead of his time. This was so much more interesting and I finally as an adult came on to read Sam Spade, and saw Humphrey Bogart’s take on Sam, etc.
Both Flash and Rip Kirby were created by the legendary ‘artist’ cartoonist Alex Raymond.
Now, in 21st century, writing for Bikernet.com since 2006, it’s a hell of a long leap from Archie & his high-school woes!!! Though I must add that the TV series ‘Riverdale’ was quite interesting while it was interesting. The TV series ran for 6 seasons. It was described as ‘an American supernatural horror crime drama’. For those who are lost, ‘Riverdale’ was the school those ‘Archie & Friends’ went to in the comic books and the thick comics ‘Digest’ print series.
I also like American spy Matt Helm novel series by Donald Hamilton as well as those short Western novels by Louis L’Amour. Hope to find the non-fiction novels by L’Amour. Even his fiction ones are so expensive.
Well, before I put you to sleep, check out Spotify. Something that’s been around a while. I can’t recommend it more than anything for flashbacks. I found songs dating back to the 1920s on it. Incredible stuff, all on a mobile app. It had lyrics for most of the songs I was interested in….not just strange random alphabets youth call lyrics today. Educative for a new generation?
Well, consider this article information overload or goodies to be rediscovered, but make some memories and don’t sell it all in a barnyard-sale or on Ebay. Books, comics or LPs. Maybe gift it to a genuinely interested youth or well-funded library. Then memories will live again through same passion as yours.
Wayfarer,
Monk is Training, Bikernet Blog Editor,
Bikernet Thought Temple
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