BEST OF EUGENE 2007: Tightrope Walkers and Trapeze Artists | Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll |Eat Freaks | The Incredible Shrinking Wallet | Sights, Sounds, Scribbles Everything Else Under the Big Top | Trap Door | We’re So Vain | Staff Picks | Best of the Ballots
Trap Door
WORST FASHION TREND
 |
| Crack is ruining our community |
1. Baggy pants, especially on men
2. Low-rise jeans
3. Leggings
This could all be summed up in a hyphenated “word”: K-Fed. Instead, let us elaborate. Baggy pants not only elicit painful, awkward memories of high school for some of us, but the fact of the matter is crack (as in butt crack) is detrimental to our society. None of us need to see your boxers swallowing your ass. Recently, in Atlanta, a law was introduced to ban sagging, with consequences that include community service and small fines. See, we’re not that bad; we’re just asking for some common courtesy. We propose a collaborative “crackdown” on baggy pants!
WORST RESTAURANT SERVICE
1. McMenamins
2. Cornucopia
3. The Glenwood
It surprised us that a few of you felt compelled to tell us that the Trap Door categories were “mean.” Come on, now. Eugeneans like to complain as much as the next person, and besides, with the exception of Worst Politician — a public figure category and, let’s be honest, lots of politicians are problematic — none of these categories pick on an individual person. They’re a place for you to vent with your votes. We’ve heard endless complaints about Eugene’s restaurant service, and we thought we’d see where most of you directed your ire. And lo and behold, McMenamins took the cake. Not just High Street, not just North Bank, not just East 19th Street Café — all of them, as far as we could tell. We’re guessing it’s the slowness that gets to you, as well as the occasional crappy pour or lackadaisical response to requests. Whatever it is, we did debate one thing: Is this a McMenamins hallmark? Are they proud of it? Does it come with the territory? Do we keep going there to have something to bitch about? (Well, we go there for the tots, but whatevs.)
WORST POLITICIAN
1. Jim Torrey
2. Kitty Piercy
3. Gordon Smith
Jim Torrey’s seemingly endless reign as mayor of Eugene came to an end when he decided not to seek reelection in 2004, and his hand-picked successor Nancy Nathanson lost to Kitty Piercy. Torrey then tried to unseat Sen. Vicki Walker and lost, perhaps ending his political career. He’s now on the school board and mostly out of the public spotlight, but for many Eugeneans Torrey symbolizes an earlier era when Big Timber money ruled and progress was measured not by quality of life, but rather by sprawling industry, highways, new shopping malls, billboards and housing developments. In his defense, he knows how to run a meeting.
WORST JOB
1. Dealing with all forms of refuse
2. Food service
3. Police officer
You’ve got our readers’ sympathy, Honey Bucket cleaners, porn store moppers, dorm cleaners, wastewater treatment plant workers, road kill collectors and other doers of jobs that begin with “cleaning up.” What did we think would win this? We’re not sure. Mostly, we looked forward to the creative responses, but a lot of folks were pretty straightfoward: They didn’t want to touch icky stuff. And then there were you few funny goofballs who put “Counting these ballots” for worst job. Worst? No. But we’d be lying if we said we weren’t glad it’s over — for this year, at least!
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519