KIM’S VIDEO

 

like many immigrants who came to the U.S., my dad, despite having a degree in mathematics from one of the top universities in South Korea, had to begin his journey in the U.S. humbly, working first as an orderly at a hospital where he met my mom, a nurse. he had come to the U.S. with plans to attend grad school at University of IL where he got accepted to study engineering but ultimately ran out of money and couldn't afford the tuition. 

so my dad, being a hustler, instead got entrepreneurial and started businesses with friends - a liquor store, a fast food restaurant, a corner magazine shop. And for most of the 80s, he owned a video store in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, called Kim's Video (no relation to the more lauded Kim's Video of St. Marks in NYC). a little while later, he opened a second location, aptly named Kim's Video II. i believe Blockbuster eventually ran him out of business. but needless to say, i grew up with movies, and they, as well as the music in them, had a big influence on me. my older sister, even now, searches out and downloads film and tv scores, aka background music.

recently, i found a large box of old vhs movies and tapes in my parents' basement (which we have no idea what to do with) and have also noticed random merch around the house from the Kim's Video days. i'm not sure who, maybe the video distributors?, would send my dad merch like this all the time. i know we used to have a lot more and wish my parents had saved more of it throughout the years! regardless, hope you enjoyed a bit of fun nostalgia with me. :)

bootlegged tape homemade by tony, my dad's video store manager who had a dark shoulder-length bob haircut, a thick mustache, and a not bad musty smell of cigarettes and leather (he always wore a leather or jean jacket or possibly a combination leather+jean jacket, i can't remember exactly). And who would give me candy all the time.