Autobiography of an Assassin - The Beginnings Part 1

Long title I know...I'll get more creative later. :)

One might picture my childhood as something a little horrific. That is partially correct. Although I grew up a normal child for the first years of my life, that normality ceased to exist. Due to certain events early on, I matured quicker than any child should have to as adversity spat in the face of my family.

To begin, I was born in New York City in 1895. My father and mother were Italian immigrants and my father wanted to experience the "American Culture" and try to embrace it, though to no avail. He wanted his life of deep, religious fervor and raise me in the customs of his country. He was very devoted to Catholicism and loved to preach and so my mother, enamored by the American lifestyle but loving my father too much to stay behind, spoke to him of missionary efforts in Asia. Many of her friends had visited areas around Beijing and eastern China to bring religion to those parts of the world. My father, delighted by her encouragement to serve, agreed to make the journey and preach the word of the Lord.

I remember naught of the journey. It is a blur in my aged mind. When we arrived, we lived a days walk outside Beijing in what was the small village of Yanquig. The beginning of our sojourn through Eastern China was quiet and humble, yet with no success. The people of China did not like western culture. It was a sin, imperfect, and they were taught by their religion, if they embraced the iniquitous ideals and philosophies, they would surely suffer, not just in the life to come, but in this one, as well. Thus began the Boxer Rebellion.

The hatred of the west was not the only reason for the uprising but also that China was being forced by western leaders to import opium which had caused widespread addiction. Those who feared the country was beginning to be carved by western tools, rose up and fought. At first, only small skirmishes dotted the land. But over the next five years it turned into constant bloodshed. After the conversion of a prominent Buddhist temple to be used by Christians, the Imperialist army decided to join the Boxers. Soon, there was a widespread massacre of missionaries and Chinese Christians. The battle came to our small village and with it, death.

To avoid bloodshed, my family slipped out in the late hours of the night. Imperialists were camped all throughout the small town and its borders. Our payment of passage was to take us through the river and to the surrounding forests. I remember the water being cold, but I knew nothing of the true, penetrating numbness I would soon feel.

We were a small group of just eight people. We made our way down the small river, past the outskirts of the town and made for the surrounding forests. We approached the line of trees and stopped abruptly. Our guide whispered for us to hold still. I can still remember the sound to this day. Incoherent in any situation, yet as loud as an exploding star in my ears. The sound of the arrow whizzed right into my mothers chest in an explosion of dark drops of what could only be blood. Screaming and panic soon followed. The men poured out of the trees, seeking no accord but taking the lives of the innocent with no remorse.

My father sparred no time in our escape. My mother was dead as soon as her body made the agonizing thump on the ground. I don't know how my father managed to escape. I was six years old. My mother was dead and I remember nothing. I was too entranced by the face that was fixed one me. She was dead, yet her stare was as alive as we were.

All I do remember was gaining passage on a small boat back to Italy. We were physically exhausted and our souls wracked with immeasurable pain and sorrow for the loss of my mother. I never cried once. Anger, resentment, guilt of leaving her behind is what filled me. As we drifted on the boat, the water seemingly endless as my agony, my father pulled a paper out of his pocket. It was a newspaper clipping my father had gathered sometime during our stay in China. His look was was stone cold and emotionless.

"Son, I want you to remember this face," as he handed me the clipping.

I opened up the paper and peered at the portrait of the man staring at what seemed to be only at me.

"That is the face of the man who killed your mother. Remember it well."

I still do.

Guest Blogger #2 Jeffery Taylor - Nintendo Time

Jeffery Taylor is first and foremost a human being. Secondly, he's the greatest author-artist-musician-baker-paleontologist-customer service representative-quality assurance specialist-freight crew worker-carnie-lover hybrid the world has ever sseen. He lives with his cat Grumpy (9) and his fiancee, Randi, in their exquisite apartment situated amidst the hustle and bustle of downtown Logan, Utah, where Jeffery studies English at Utah State University.

...and he can't stand the sound of a child's laughter.

His rant will come in 3 parts about the E3 conference, first up: Nintendo

"This week marked the 16th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game conference in Los Angeles, California. This trade show is considered the premiere video game convention within the industry, and as such, often features reveals of the newest software titles and hardware in development. 

This week was no exception.

Nintendo – Nintendo started their conference on Tuesday with an orchestra playing music from The Legend of Zelda to commemorate the series' 25th anniversary. Franchise creator Shigeru Miyamoto took the stage alongside his translator to let us know that a Zelda game was coming out for all of their current hardware. First, on the 3DS, Nintendo launched a digital shop similar to the Virtual Console on their Wii system where users could download retro games like original Gameboy and Gameboy Color games, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening being the first game available for download. I played this game when it was originally released in 1993 and loved every minute of it. If I h ad a 3DS, I would have a definite interest in this. Coming out next week on the 3DS is the 3D remake of 1998's Ocarina of Time, one of the highest-rated games of all time. Again, I would love to play this, but $300 to play a Nintendo 64 game at this point seems a bit frivolous to me.

Coming to Dsi in the fall is the Legend of Zelda Four Swords, available as a free title downloaded through Dsi ware. I thought that was interesting. A new Four Swords was one of the first titles announced back when the original DS was first announced. Years later, it's finally finished, and it's free? Sounds like a tech demo that never went anywhere to me, but hopefully it's as fun as the original and manages to improve upon its predecessor. Finally, Miyamoto announced that the next Wii Zelda, Skward Sword, would be out by the holidays. I wasn't originally impressed with what I saw of SS (more waggle, ugh), but after hearing that Miyamoto said if it wasn't the best Zelda yet, the franchise would be shelved, I find my interest piqued. Is the Nintendo shelf like the Disney vault?

Nintendo president Satoro Iwata next took the stage to show off some 3DS footage. Iwata invited Reggie Fils-Aime upon the stage to announce specific titles, all of which seemed to be coming by the end of the year. First up was Mario Kart 3DS, which featured new mechanics which saw the inclusion of air and sea travel. Next up was Mario proper, which looked to use the 3D for some interesting platforming mechanics. Also shown were Kid Icarus: Uprising and Lugi's Mansion 2 (there was no release date mentioned on this one.) Finally, Reggie announced some classic titles redone in 3D such as Excitebike, and a 3DS Pokedex.

On to what everyone was waiting for: the reveal of the Wii's successor, the Wii U (really?) This system brings Nintendo into the HD era, with a system that rivals (if not exceeds) the capabilities of their competitors. Nintendo focused mostly on the controller, which features a 6.2” touch screen, in addition to a number of face buttons, and two circle pads, Nintendo's take on analog sticks this go round. I find it funny and kind of sad that many people apparently thought the control was simply a peripheral for the current Wii. Nintendo didn't even show the image of the new console until after the conference. Weird. Besides the tech demo stuff using the new iPadesque control, Nintendo showed a reel of footage of upcoming games, which apparently was taken from footage of 360 and PS3 games. All in all, this presser was a sight better than 2008's infamous vitality sensor presentation. Nintendo is vowing hardcore 3rd party support, but we've heard those promises before for both the Wii and the GameCube, so we'll see. 

I'll wait and suspend my judgment until I get my own grubby hands on it."


Check out the link up above in the title to get the full recap of everything!