October 16, 2009
Alright, new update record! This one's for you, Mr. 10 & 20,000! WOOOOO! </wcw>
Shoot...apparently, MSIE 8 also likes to do that same blur-schtick as Firefox 3. Just what the hell is with this paradigm shift where EVERYTHING HAS to look blurry? First 'high-definition' television, now this. I just can't win, can I? :| At least I still got my ALTs! F TITLE-tags...
More of DCTP's historical details, including previous URLs, were added to the bottom of the Title Screen. Those dates should cover just about everything.
With the addition of Silver Onith's beasties, I've been up to quite a bit of Gallery maintenence. Its next big update is set to feature dozens of drawings from the pre-and early-DCTP days, along with a couple recent doodles and CGs.
I was so amped about the Links wrap, I completely forgot to mention my latest Humor Me! Born in the spring of 2002 (during HoD's approach), Liddy & Maria BASE was finally completed in July! ID6 was listed, too.
Numerous and nagging little fixes abound at our next stop, the Miscmix. In Download Deeze!, I've added the CastleVania and CV-ish fonts that have been available at the TerribleHands gateway since its inception, along with Dracula's Curse: THE WAVMIX!!!, which had been mistakenly listed under More than misc the eye... The irony was More's introduction hoping there wouldn't be anything CV about it.
While we're there, its near-handful of blanks have finally been filled and two treats have finally been properly presented: the All Your Base Flash movie that Set Up Us The Phenom and the awesome All Your Bass MP3, which I'm not sure anyone ever knew about. Both were originally listed in April of 2001, some time after I was first hit by the BASE bug. The MP3 file had previously been striken by FortuneCity's policies, I think.
Backing up a few slots, Potent Quotables! reveals some new slices of wisdom (or wisdumb, ROR).
Blanks in The MAN List! were also filled in (following a patient wait since 11-17-2001), with a certain Minoru taking his rightful place amongst his fellow men (but NOT due to 7|15).
A few fixes also grace the DCTAMADL part of my Epitaph.
Finally, I've added a Link or few to the NES, Videogames, Flash, Assorted, and JPN collections.
There're also some blanks I noticed amongst the Battles that I'll take care of soon. In addition, Masukomi and Miscmix's HIT ME! will also be receiving some attention.
Now that you've gotten the lowdown on the matters of this session,...

In Other News...
...pardon me while I wax about college years and earlier adulthood . . . This is a love story.

On March 10th of 1999, Ned-rick the NINJAAAAA!!!, the guy who taught me the basics of Flash (as I'll always remind), first mentioned a Japanese bookstore that was selling NewType magazines and boxes of books for a dollar. Very familiar with the "Import Tax" at this point, I thought that was absolutely insane. Following egging from Ned the next day, Bert, my Demon Familiar, led me through unfamiliar territory to the huge location of Asahiya Bookstores. Indeed, it was true; just past the door and to the immediate left was a nice little setup piled with magazines, manga weeklies, books, and more, all insanely priced! Digging in with my fellow vultures, I pulled out a Gasaraki issue of B-Magazine, amongst other things. Ned's tale had given the impression that this was the usual nature of the store; as it turned out, this event was just one of many Bargain Sales I'd witness (and mention here) over the course of my years of visits.

::sigh:: Asahiya Bookstores...a Japanese supermarket of inspiring imagery and mysterious words; a place whose layout would change, yet I'd always find my spot; where Bert and I would gawk at photos of the intricate Twin Tower Jagd Mirage from The Five Star Stories ("You give us 4 Jagd Mirages, you give us THE WORLD!" to paraphrase 1010 WINS...); the place where I'd forever regret never picking up the Konami anniversary(?) special (with Tokimemo's Shiori on the cover), the TwinBee RPG guide (which portrays Princess Meloura as an elegant adult), and an H-Game magazine loaded with huge pinups (Kao no nai Tsuki possibly among them); a crazy-looking Eva Unit One in Niragram; pretty faces I was too "spineless" to court; the humble temerity with which I would ask a fellow reader-shopper to translate the following title, "Kao no nai Tsuki"; the scent of freshly-printed books, Made-in-Japan; the quiet, humbled cop who just seemed so out of place; the Bargain Sales which would introduce me to Elysion and Sakura Taisen 3...

Its grandiose space was patrolled by the great and kind, giant-hatted NASCAR enthusiast and welding hobbyist whom, on the ten-items-for-a-dollar tail-end of the Bargains, would stock up on anime & manga mags just to cut CD covers out of... Hello Andre, guard of guards, wherever you may be today...

They couldn't keep up with the lease. I wondered if the World Trades Affair had anything to do with it.

Serving New York City since 1993, Asahiya Bookstores, once located on the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and 45th Street, closed its doors for the last time on the evening of Thursday, March 20th, 2003. The whole store was on sale for about a month until its final moments, and I'd hit the spot a few times to chat with Andre, scavenge, or pay my respects. My work schedule of the final day only allowed me a quick visit to the death-bedlam during my 15 minute break. After getting off later in the evening, I passed by on my way to a homebound train. Andre had gone. Staff scurried within to make preparations... I had missed The End.

"Epilogue 1", the bad-ending music from Harmony of Dissonance, was most appropriate for this period of time.

During a pass a week later, I'd helplessly watch as shelving, including cabinets still stuffed with fresh, unsold books, was devoured by the dark machines of private trashers. Despite being in the midst of a dark task, the demolition crew was gracious enough to let me make one more lap around the block (as well as hold on to some of Asahiya's farewell signage). Devoid of books, shelving, platforms, and decorations, the place was...like the stringy veins left behind when the body of a dry leaf is crushed away. To stand in this brightly-lit cavity was heartbreaking. I rescued neglected packs of Japanese for Busy People tapes and a poster so meaningless it has since been long-discarded. In the heart of my mind, I bade the tenderest sayonara to Asahiya Bookstores and the times that were.

The Asahiya cavern would lay bare and unused for over a year. Across this period, I'd occasionally visit the place, like a grave, to remember and reflect upon the good times. A thin pane of glass seperated me from a plaque etched with the store's hours; a relic which would silently greet me each time.

It was the day after Christmas, 2003. I was making my way to HQ Video, also on 45th, when I happened to notice a completely intact blue plastic bag labeled ASAHIYA BOOKSTORES. I asked the old Japanese man toting it if Asahiya had returned... The visit to HQ was immediately postponed as I eagerly aimed for the new location, apparently an avenue and a half west of its original corner!

The strangest thing about returning to this entity, since its death earlier in the year, was the feeling that came over me upon settling into that relatively small, L-shaped space: disconnect. Asahiya Bookstores was back in a new way, but that loving feeling wasn't. Back in the day, there was always some sort of...inspiratory spark or charge that ran through me as I marveled through those books...an indescribable sensation of happiness and ambition; "...one day, MY works will grace these covers..." It wasn't my meager budget or stressful relationship of the time that kept me from enjoying the place 1,000%; this (lack of) feeling would remain long after those elements of the equation would change.

Aside from its familiar and welcoming scent, Asahiya Bookstores wasn't ever the same. Completely new staff; completely different tone; no friendly guard (or ANY guard, for that matter). As often as I'd visit 360 Madison Ave, the feeling just wouldn't come back. Hell, not even Emma's charming demeanor, beaming off a cover of Comic Beam, could rouse me from the lost dream in early 200V. It would never be the same.

Until two weeks ago...

Making my way to Grand Central Terminal to catch a homebound train, I decided to sidetrack towards Asahiya. It was the first of the month; perhaps they'd have some new stuff in. Upon my approach to its glass doors, I was greeted by a pair of signs; "CLOSEOUT SALE!". In my experience, Japanese tend to mix words in their advertising, so I didn't give much thought to the phrase. I entered and was very pleased to witness a sight last seen damnear seven years ago: boxes filled with GREATLY discounted books and magazines!!! HELL YEAH!!! The Bargain Sale was BACK, BABY!!! I had to call m'man Jason to give him the good news. I had always made a big deal about these awesome sales; once, I'd even gotten him a buck's worth of haul! As I started to jog his memory, I noticed another pair of signs:

The wording had momentarily snapped me back six.

"Oh, shit."

The year, season, place, staff, and overall taste were all different, but the swan song was the same. True, I never warmed up to this location as I had the last, but in that moment, when I realized that I was about to lose this one, too, it hurt all over again.

"Ooh...sorry, man..." sympathized Jason after I explained my shock. The next time I saw him, he'd tell me it sounded like I just died. In a way, a part of me did; an unspoken hope of accepting this Asahiya and appreciating it as much as I wished I could.

It is Wednesday, October 14th, 2009, 8:30PM EST, about a week after I began telling my story. As I finally conclude my memoir of a doomed store, its countdown continues. The sale, however, hasn't picked up; nothing's been added to the light pile since the steal I caught ten days ago. Perhaps they're saving the mother lode for a final blast. A few of the shelves, now made of metal and glass, stand bare. One of the more fluent cashiers gave me this "Why do you care?!" glance when I asked if the 31st is still the last day... :\ Perhaps if I had informed her that the last Asahiya advanced its close by eleven days...but I could never get into anything like a real conversation with this set...except for when they politely declined my Birthday Discount, even though I couldn't control the reasons that made me show up a day late.

As I made my way there earlier today, passing by its old corner (since split into Ammos restaurant and Blake & Todd's Fine Foods, a work-hours deli of sorts) I started to rethink my farewell. Considering a possible pattern with Asahiya Bookstores, my sayo-bye-bye could become a "'till next location,..."