Feature
1994
• NuCity goes weekly on Jan. 11. The paper reprints a column from young Seattle writer Dan Savage on the CDC’s new AIDS-prevention marketing campaign. Eventual Web Monkey-in-Chief Kyle Silfer pens a column with the opening line, “There is this thing called the Internet, and it is swallowing up the universe.” Staffer Alma García goes to Ciudad Juárez to write about the Mexican presidential elections. Best of Burque is born. From the introduction: “51 weeks a year we snivel, revile, quibble and criticize this city that we live in, all under our very own directive of cynicism, humor, sarcasm and hope. But the simple facts remain: Many of us came here (on purpose!) to experience life in this town ... .”
Best Traditional Haiku:
Like an eager mob
Tumbleweeds rush up the street.
What am I missing?
—Philip Askenazy, 1994
• Mayor Chavez issues a teen curfew ordinance for anyone under age 17.
• A self-made millionaire and exercise fiend with no political experience, Republican Gary Johnson beats out Gov. Bruce King for the state’s highest executive office.
Best Place to Feel Like You’re Living in the ’70s: Señor Buckets
Best Miniature Golf: Highland Swing
Best Local Candidate for Sainthood: Don Schrader
Best Breakfast Under $2: Wolf’s Bagels
Best Lunch Under $5: Downtown Java Joe’s
Best Thai Restaurant: Bangkok Café
• Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a Democrat from Albuquerque, becomes the first African-American woman elected to the state Legislature.
• Grunge rock poster child Kurt Cobain commits suicide on April 5. (Bandmate Dave Grohl goes on to form the Foo Fighters. Wife Courtney Love gets a Golden Globe nomination for her work in 1996’s The People vs. Larry Flynt. Daughter Francis Bean turns 20 in 2012.)
• Mazzy Star plays El Rey. Hope Sandoval is depressing to watch in person.
• NAFTA is enacted.
• Genocidal slaughter on a massive scale sweeps Rwanda; the world does little to nothing in response.
• Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as president of South Africa.
• Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction starts to hit theaters in October, courtesy of Miramax films. Shortly thereafter, Kevin Smith’s Clerks is released by Miramax. The Weinstein brothers are suddenly the coolest kids in Hollywood.
