1995

\ Sep 20, 2012

3 min read

• We publish our first Gay Pride issue, as well as an epic gonzo-style interview with Hunter S. Thompson after two staffers follow the man through six days of chaos. NuCity changes its name to Weekly Alibi on Aug. 9 thanks to threat of legal action by Chicago’s New City newspaper, and we throw a party at the Sunshine Theater to celebrate. This includes a satirical “Miss Chicago” beauty contest and an “old-fashioned Chicago-style sausage toss.” This proves to be one of our most controversial events, with many Chicagoans claiming there’s no such thing as a “sausage toss.” Lousy sausage-tossers! The following Monday, 600 “Why I Hate Chicago” postcards are mailed to the New City publisher.

• Alibi hosts its very first Short Film Fiesta at the Golden West Saloon. More than 100 people gather to watch the dozen or so films presented. Brad Wolfley’s “Who is This Bearded Man in My Bed” wins first prize. Wolfley goes on to become a faculty member at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Encouraged by the response, we continue the tradition, moving to larger and larger venues over the next 10 years—including the Lobo Theater, KiMo Theatre and Madstone.

• Pioneering punk/ska/new wave club Beyond Ordinary shuts its doors after five years in Downtown Albuquerque. A funeral procession is held along Central.

• Pixar Animation Studios release the first feature-length computer-animated film, Toy Story.

• The WB network premieres with “urban” sitcoms “The Wayans Brothers,” “The Parent ’Hood” and “Sister, Sister.” Less than a week later, rival UPN debuts. Its shows “Star Trek: Voyager,” “Platypus Man” and “The Sentinal” fail to attract ratings, and Paramount loses more than $800 million by 2000. The WB eventually airs hits like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “Smallville.” By September 2006, however, both networks will go off the air—recombining as The CW.

• Gov. Johnson signs tribal gaming pacts, initiating an era of Las Vegas-style casino gambling.

• The original home of the Internet, National Science Foundation Net, is switched off, thus rendering the information superhighway a commercial enterprise forevermore.

• Jeff Bezos incorporated his online bookstore Cadabra in July of 1994. By the time it goes live in 1995, it has been renamed Amazon.com. Today, selling DVDs, music, video games, electronics and more, the company has an annual revenue of more than $48 billion.

• A truck bomb planted by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols kills 168 people at a federal building in Oklahoma City.

• The city adopts a new slogan: “Good for You, Albuquerque!”