Back When

Thirty Years Ago One of the first guys we meet is a "popcorn" (small time) pimp lounging in a doorway north of Fifth and Market. He wants to know if Mike knows any white girls who want a job. No, not now. As it turns out, the pimp hasn't seen the guy we're looking for. We cruise down Sixth and back up Fifth, and Bill explains that the small guy we're looking for is probably here at night, except on welfare check days. We head down Market, then down to National, and at a gas station near 38th and National we meet an older guy who's a friend of Mike's. He says he got busted for possession of heroin. "Man, I didn't have any heroin."

-- "BOUNTY HUNTERS," Robert Louis, April 17, 1975

Twenty-Five Years Ago Don't ask how I got into this situation. I'm driving an old VW bus owned by a man who calls himself C.R. Gregory -- the C.R. standing for "Credit Risk."

"The nicest thing about driving from Phoenix to Yuma is that you get to go through Gila Bend," C.R. said about 11 miles east of the Gila Bend city limits as he tried to find a radio station that wasn't playing Pink Floyd.

"What we need is a driving song, like 'Lyin' Eyes' by the Eagles." -- "A SENSE OF YUMA," Jeff Smith, April 17, 1980

Twenty Years Ago I, Gloria Dactilini, am the prud possesr of anunofficl record of sotts -- I am, i thing, the faststypist alove. I havv cloccked myserf at 297 wrods per minute on mure then one occasion and happen ot know that theoficiallyrecordd is a mre 142 words. I must imall modesty repaet thatmy recor is absolutlyunofficl; in fact, before I wrote 6this article, fewother. pepole were awarr of this distinctiin. Min isnta talennt thot will me a guest spot on "The today Show, aftre all or put mne on the lecuter circuit. Besiudes,as you can robebly see by now (I am typing to far too fast to see the results, but ive had muck expierience with this problunm) hand/eye accruacy inst my forte.

-- "QWERTYU," Gloria Dactilini, April 18, 1985

Fifteen Years Ago One would not need to be an expert on the Soviet KGB's Directorate A...the disinformation specialists...in order to recognize Neal Matthews's piece for what it is. As a lieutenant in Nicaragua's Sandinista Interior Ministry during the 1980s, Michelle Najlis was too familiar with attempts to place the blame for cocaine trafficking on the contras, when in fact, the Sandinistas trafficked more cocaine weekly than the contras did during the seven-year civil war.

As late as 1989, two California members of Congress (Ron Dellums of Oakland and Jim Bates of San Diego) were working for the Sandinista government. Bates even sent an aide to compose a political propaganda slide show for the Sandinistas in 1987.

-- LETTERS: "DISCREDITED OR DEAD," Bianca Ramirez, April 19, 1990

Ten Years Ago When we had finished our appetizers, we were presented with a tray of fresh sushi. A man appeared at my side and said, "This is for your wonderful singing." He added, "My mother and I are still talking about the evening at Maitre D' when you sang 'Orchichorniya' and other songs." He paused, "I hope you don't give up your singing."

At Maitre D's annual Russian Festival, I sing "Dark Eyes" at my table. This year after a kir royale, I went up to the piano for a rendition of "I'm in the Mood for Love."

-- RESTAURANTS: "ENDLESS ROUNDS OF 'DARK EYES,' " Eleanor Widmer, April 13, 1995

Five Years Ago Walk into 99 Ranch Market and you're transported into California's future. Asians and Hispanics crowd the store's long aisles. Over in the produce section, El Salvadorans and Cambodians stand side by side squeezing mangoes and papayas. Over in seafood, Vietnamese women improvise a frantic international sign language to explain to Mexican clerks how they want their fish filleted. Voices bicker, whisper, and laugh in Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Cambodian, Lao, Tagalog, Thai, Hindi, and, every now and then, English.

-- RESTAURANTS: "TASTE THE FUTURE," Max Nash, April 13, 2000