Passing the tongs
by Nicolette Ong
for the Emerald
Everyday peoople walk past it. Some
step over it without realizing it’s
there, while others notice it and won
der who she is.
Placed in the pavement at the comer of East
13th Avenue and Kincaid Street, a gold-rimmed
plaque sits quietly near the newsstands in mem
ory of Cookie Szakacs, the hot dog lady.
The plaque lists the date of her death
—May 28,1994 — and the words, “She cared.”
Eight years ago, Szakacs was the hot dog
vendor on campus. She was a well-known
personality who was both a merchant and a
friend. After she passed away, Tim Nally took
on her role and carried on her tradition.
“I wanted to fill the void that Cookie left
— and keep the students fed,” Nally said.
Szakacs had been selling hot dogs for about
15 years when she suffered from an aneurysm
at her home at the age of 52. She died instantly.
Still, her legacy continued.
After her death, Cookie’s husband, Robert
Szakacs, 64, tried to carry on her business. He
gave it a try, but things didn’t work out be
cause he was also working at the physical
plant at the University.
Nally had restaurant experience and knew
the couple. He understood what Robert was
going through and took over the hot dog busi
ness five years ago.
Getting a taste for it
Cookie, who was from Hammond, Ind., first
came to Oregon with Robert in 1973. During
the first few years, Cookie spent most of her
time taking care of their three children. As her
children grew older, Cookie decided to work
and found a job at Roadway Inn as a waitress.
When Cookie was later laid off by Roadway
Inn, she went out looking for a job again.
Then, while she and her husband were pa
tronizing a hot dog stall in Salem, Cookie de
cided to sell hot dogs, and Robert made a cart
for his wife.
Cookie chose the campus location because
the street was always crowded with people
walking by, Robert said. In addition, the Uni
versity of Oregon Bookstore was just oppo
site her stall, which helped bring in more
customers.
“It was an ideal location, where business
should be good,” he said.
At first, Cookie didn’t have a taste for sell
ing hot dogs, but once she got connected with
the students, she really liked it, Robert said.
Maintaining the connection
Nally, too, said it’s easy to get tired of sell
ing hot dogs, but if there is a connection be
tween the customers and the vendor, it can be
a lot of fun.
“It’s more than selling hot dogs,” Nally said.
“It’s more like a public relations thing.
“If you didn’t like people, you wouldn’t like
the job. People also won’t like coming to an
unfriendly place to buy food.”
Cookie was very connected to her cus
tomers, especially die students, Robert said.
“She sold hot dogs, pop and advice,” Robert
said. “But that was free, of course.
“The kids would come to her when they
had problems and needed a listening ear.”
Like Cookie, Nally has a good rapport with
his customers. Standing under the shade of
the umbrella attached to his cart, there is nev
er really a dull moment, as friends and cus
tomers stop by to talk.
People of all ages, nationalities, professions,
genders and races come to talk to Nally. Some
buy hot dogs, while others are simply passing
by or basking in the sun. Like Cookie, Nally
has become a familiar face as well as a friend.
Regular customer Matthew Yeow said Nally
has that personal touch.
“He doesn’t just sell hot dogs,” Yeow said.
“He takes the time to get to know you, too.”
At the age of 62, Nally is lively and young
at heart.
“I’m like a full-time student,” he said. “I
never get out of here. I’ll probably still be
here 10 years from now and become an old
hot dog man.”
Nicolette Ong is a freelance reporter for the Emerald.
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Adam Jones Emerald
The comer of East 13th Avenue and Kincaid Street would not be the same without the aroma of hot dogs.
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‘Crank Yankers’should be yanked off small screen
Every once in a while, I
think television can’t go
any deeper in the pit than it
already has. Then, somebody
hands down a shovel. From the
minds of Jimmy Kimmel and
Adam Carolla, the two perpetual
adolescents behind the much
more clever and entertaining
“The Man Show,” comes the lat
est excavation device.
“Crank Yankers” (10:30 p.m.
Sunday, Comedy Central) is a sad
exercise in “We do it because we
can.” The show revolves around
the denizens of “Yankerville,” a
community of puppets whose sole
Guest Commentary
Pat
Payne
purpose in life is to harass inno
cent people over the telephone.
What fun.
One episode featured Tracy
Morgan as the character “Spoony
Luv,” calling up a prestigious
country club to get a tee time, and
then accusing the (understand
ably) flummoxed and distressed
manager of racism when he’s told
he has to be a member of the club
to play there.
It was a painful exercise to
watch as the unsuspecting man on
the other end was brought to his
wits end by Morgan.
Another skit had Jim Floren
tine as “Special Ed.” Yep, he’s the
stereotypical learning-disabled
child, as if you couldn’t tell by
the oh-so-subtle name. His ap
pearance was grating, annoying
and about as funny as watching
one’s own fingernails get pulled
out. Calling a travel agency, all he
could say was, “I wanna go to
Hawayee — yaaaaay! ”
At least this poor mark realized
it was a joke and played along,
making it only marginally less like
watching an unprovoked case of
verbal assault and battery.
Even worse, well-known come
dians like David Alan Grier, Den
nis Leary and Sarah Silverman
squander their considerable tal
ents on this slightly (but only
slightly) more sophisticated ver
sion of “do you have Prince Albert
in a can?”
The only redeeming part I could
find was that at the end of one
show, there was a musical per
formance by Kyle Gass and Jack
Black, otherwise known as “Tena
cious D.” But even that was
painful, as displayed on the tube
was full frontal puppet nudity of
two men who should be forbidden
by law to disrobe.
This show is a morass of sopho
moric humor. Even though I like
low laughs, I don’t like them be
low the belt. The TV wasteland
may be strictly “giving the public
what it wants,” but the public
should soon come to its senses
and hang up on “Crank Yankers.”
Pat Payne is a freelance columnist.
His opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Kerns
continued from page 5
from 1896 to 1899, Kems later be
came the head of art education at
the University in 1921.
“Kerns was a painter who
worked with materials such as
oil, print and watercolor. She also
experimented with pigments,
fabric and sculpture,” said her
grandniece, Leslie Brockelbank,
78, who is a volunteer at the
Maude Kerns Art Center.
Unlike other women during
the early 20th century who taught
art instead of being an artist,
Kerns was ahead of her time, said
Brockelbank.
Kerns was one of the first
women in Pacific Northwest to
paint non-objectively, and she
used art to express moods, emo
tions and spirituality, Pavelec said.
“Non-objective or non-repre
sentational art has no recogniza
ble subject matter,” Pavelec said.
“Often choosing to paint themes
like war and peace, violence,
poverty and depression, Kems was
always sensitive about her sur
roundings,” Brockelbank said.
Although Kerns painted clas
sic subjects such as portraits
and landscapes, she also did ab
stract art that expressed her
concerns about what was going
on around her.
“She painted typical things
“Kerns was a painter
who worked with materials
such as oil, print and
watercolor. She also
experimented with
pigments, fabric and
sculpture."
Leslie Brockelbank
Kerns’ grandniece
like street scenes, railroad sta
tions, circuses and things that ex
pressed life,” Brockelbank said.
“New Works on Paper by
Kerns” is the current theme for
Kerns’ display in the Salon
Gallery, apd it will be on Exhibit
through November 15. The dis
play features 23 small-scale col
orful paintings hung at varied
lengths on the walls of the Salon
Gallery.
Some of the pieces include
“Form and Color of Freedom,”
“Approach of Winter,” and
“Strange Bird With Fruit and Two
Crosses.” These paintings are
also available for purchase.
Brockelbank said that these
non-objective paintings were
done toward the last two decades
of Kerns’ life.
“The displays show expres
sions of where we are going,”
Brockelbank said. “They are ab
stract pieces that expresses her
spiritual thinking.”
The Maude Kerns Art Center is
open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, and noon
to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday when
there are exhibits on display.
For more information, check
out the Maude Kerns Art Center
Web site at www.mkartcenter.org
or call 345-1571.
Nicolette Ong is a freelance
reporter for the Emerald.
Mayer
continued from page 5
efforts, saying “That’s fucking
teamwork.”
And while Mayer displayed an
intensity on stage — from his high
lifting leg movements to a self-pro
claimed “stupid” head-bob — he
never seemed to tire.
Mayer sang his video hit, “No
Such Thing,” which crafts feel
ings of conformity with lines such
as “So the good boys and girls
take the so-called right track /
Faded white hats, grabbing cred
its, maybe transfers / They read
all the books but they can’t find
the answers.”
On Friday, fans craved tunes
like “83,” where Mayer yearns for
the simplicity of his youth with
lyrics like “Oh, if only my life was
more like 1983, all these things
would be more like they were at
the start of me.”
After nearly a three-minute
standing ovation following “83,”
Mayer returned to the stage to
finish the night with his electrify
ing “Neon.”
Compared at times to Dave
Matthews for his lyrical content
and voice, the newcomer greatly
differs.
Mayer looks at the world in a
micro sense, compared to
Matthews’ macro sense. And
while both don’t follow a lyrical
formula and relegate themselves
into a “trite” rhyme scheme that
lacks “bite,” Mayer’s verses are
thoughtful and concise. While
Matthews is often vague, Mayer
has the knack to somehow pro
vide deep lyrical meaning that
can be deciphered.
Ultimately, it’s Mayer’s ability to
capture feelings of angst and un
certainty within semi-sugarcoated
pop tunes that makes him unique.
On Friday, Mayer sang the
lyrics “Everybody is just a
stranger / But that’s the danger in
going my own way / I guess it’s
the price I have to pay.”
Fear not, John. You’re on the
right path.
And your fans are grateful
you’re taking them along the way.
Contact the sports editor
at bradschmidt@dailyemerald.com.