Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

If you even skim my blog, you know how I feel about Thy Mai (Pity Corp.) and Tad Suzuki (The Working Man). They’re super creative, supportive, and caring friends, who were recently involved in my skate film program that played in Chicago, Honolulu, and San Diego. Recently, they’ve been dedicating their energies toward a friend in need. MW: What is Pity Corp. and The Working Man’s connection to Chhunly Hach Slater? Thy: She is one of my dearest friends in the world. I was 17 when I met Chhun working at Outback Steakhouse in Seattle. I had just moved there. She was so nice, and since we were from neighboring countries, I asked her if she liked pho and if she knew where to get a bowl. It had been months and I missed my comfort food. When she said it was her favorite, too, I asked her to take me because I had no car and I’d treat. She called it kha tieu, though, and she rarely let me pay. Although sad that I was moving, she was totally supportive when I decided to move from Seattle to L.A. and go for it. She knew I loved hair and gave me a ride to the airport. That’s how my SoCal journey started. Tad: And for that TWM is indebted to her kindness. Whenever Thy spoke about Chhunly, I always felt as if she was one of her sisters. She’s family. MW: Chhunly has a connection with the suit seen in “The Working Man” video? Tad: Yeah, it was definitely my transition into suits. It’s the first suit I bought and it was our first wedding that we attended as a couple . Thy: We got Tad’s suit on the fly because we wanted him to look his best at her wedding–especially because I was wearing a beautiful-but-super-tight traditional Cambodian wedding attire. I think they had to safety pin it on me because it was so teeny. She was marrying the love of her life so we wanted to do it up. MW: When and how did you find out about her stroke? What were your first thoughts? Tad: I was meeting Thy at a restaurant for a quick visit. As I was walking up, Thy had tears and told me. Thy: Found out on Saturday, which is a workday for me. Was waiting on some food and saw I had missed a call from Chhun’s cell. I called back and heard the fateful news from her husband Matt. My stomach hurt and my heart fell when I heard his voice. I asked what happened. Chhun suffered a stroke when they were out on a date, collapsed, and was in a coma. The situation kept running through my head but I couldn’t process it. My first thoughts were, “Oh my God! Her girls, they’re so young. They love her so much.” What were they going to do? And what was Matt going to do? I felt bad that I had no magical...
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I’ve attended a lot of film festivals over the years. And through Giant Robot magazine, I’ve had the pleasure of introducing features by friends (Harry Kim and David Choe’s Dirty Hands) as well as conducting Q&As afterward (Stephen Chow for CJ7). But Animal Style for FAAIM’s Asian American Showcase was the first program that I’ve ever curated. Yes, it totally ruled. Thanks to connections with the mighty Uprise skate shop, the sold-out slot drew old-school and new-jack skaters from all over Chicago to see Wing Ko’s documentary about the first generation of Second City skaters, which took two decades to complete. Wing shot much of the early footage while attending film school in his hometown before moving to L.A. and working on key skate videos for Girl, the legendary Rodney vs. Daewon series, and the underrated ON Video magazine and then moving on to academic subjects. The Brotherhood: Chicago is Wing’s return not only to skateboarding but his roots, and the three subjects–Jesse Neuhaus, Stevie Dread, Eric Murphy–were in attendance. To help my good friend’s project premiere in the Windy City was very special to me, and warm feelings were everywhere. After a shit-talking-and-loving Q&A, the lobby was packed with Chicago’s hardest-core rippers who didn’t want the afternoon to end.

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Animal Style wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Tad Suzuki and Thy Mai. It was after I sent their first film short to my friend Tim Hugh, who runs FAAIM’s Asian American Showcase in Chicago, that he suggested I curate an entire skate video program. And now their noir-inspired “The Working Man” and hyper-colored “Perfect Time” will kick off the bill on April 14.

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I’ve had the privilege of meeting and interviewing a lot of top-shelf skaters for the pages of Giant Robot: Don Nguyen, Daewon Song, Kenny Anderson, Eric Koston, Shogo Kubo, Steve Caballero, Willy Santos, Peggy Oki, Richard Mulder, Kien Lieu, Chad Tim Tim, Jamie Reyes, Daniel Castillo, Pat Channita, Jimmy Cao, Lincoln Ueda… (I know there are more and if I forgot you, I’m sorry.) Truthfully, the topic was probably lost on many readers but hopefully the culture wasn’t. Streetwear, street art, and even punk rock–so much of that stems from skateboarding and no one should forget that.

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