The Modern Penguin: The Nathan’s Trip

(By Modern Penguin I mean stories that are part of my adult life, that are in my memory banks as well as in the memory banks of others. This does not mean I am not misremembering, just that this is the way I recall it. I am sure that Mrsfabp or CollegeBoy or MillieJupiter or someone will quickly correct my stories so that they are accurate…)

When I was in college one of the guys I hung around with, I’ll call him Hud, was from Brooklyn and he had some very strong Brooklyn tastes. He like his bagels and lox, loved his Brooklyn pizza, cold, and had a special place in his heart for Coney Island.

For those who might not know better, Coney Island, was the equivalent of Six Flags Amusement Park at the beach. There was sand and boardwalk and amusement park rides and one of the world’s oldest and best roller coasters, The Cyclone. This is where the Hot Dog Eating Contest is held every year, right in from of the famous hot dog and Coney Island staple, Nathan’s.

You can buy a Nathan’s hot dog at the grocery store now a days but as good as it is, it is not as good as one eaten with relish (yes, double entendre there!) with the sound of the surf in your ears and the smell of the ocean in your nostrils. Well, Hud was partial to the dogs there and to raw clams on the half shell so it was not out of the ordinary for him to ask if anyone with a car might be interested in a 2 am trip to Nathan’s. It was only 20 minutes from school at that time of night, more like an hour during the day, fighting the Kennedy Airport traffic, so it was an easy trip and I had a car.

So one night, 3 am or so, Hud knocks on the door and asks about a Nathan’s run. On top of the hot dog and raw clam goodness, he has an opportunity to introduce a non-city boy, we’ll call him Noel, to the greatness of hot dogs at that hour. Noel was from the northern NYC suburbs, had never been to Coney Island or had a Nathan’s dog so a trip it was.

No traffic, no problems and before you could say Gulden’s mustard, we were on the sidewalk in front of Nathan’s. Of course it was quiet but there were some people there, probably headed home from their local tavern and in need of a bite to eat. Well, it was hot dogs and sodas all around and Hud got a plate of raw clams, drenched in hot sauce and awaiting a slurp, which he did oh so well. This is where things get interesting.

We are standing, munching out on the dogs, when Noel notices that Hud has something different. He asks what that was and Hud says clams, would you like one. Noel says sure and Hud spends a minute explaining how to tilt the head back and slurp it down. Noel does the job like a pro and then Hud asks him what he thought of it. He said (a paraphrase after 30+ years but pretty damn accurate) “Well, it’s a bit salty but I was expecting it to be hot. It’s weird that they would cook it and then cool it down.” Hud replied in three simple words “They are raw” at which point Noel doubled over, grabbed his stomach and evacuated its contents onto the sidewalk. Yes he threw up on the sidewalk in front of Nathan’s. Quickly one of the workers ran out with a hose and washed the clam, hot dog bits and soda off the sidewalk and onto the street.

After a few minutes, we climbed back into the car for the drive back to school with a story I would remember and tell several times a year ever since then. MillieJupiter just came in and with a smile told me this is her favorite story that I tell and I have to admit I think it is my favorite too.

PenguinPolozza: A brief history of music in my life Part 2 College Life

(On the right hand column is a Playlist music player which has some of the songs I will mention in this series. Feel free to play them in the background as you read, for the very popular multimedia effect)

College and young adulthood brought me a tremendous diversity of sounds, so much music, so little time. There were a number of people in this period who introduced me to different sounds, styles and musicians that still are the face of the music I listen to today. Let me begin by saying that almost every musician or group I am going to name are well know and were getting radio air play at the time. When I say someone introduced some music to me, what I generally mean is that it was through their influence that I began to listen deeper, began to get to other album cuts, rather than just the stuff on the radio.

My first college roommate Kevin got me hooked on Todd Rundgren. A bit off beat, as was my roommate, many evenings and early mornings were spent with Kevin, Todd, Thoreau, and discussions about philosophy or religion or where we would be sometime in the future. He also introduced me to Cat Stevens, someone I had very little knowledge about at that time but ended up listening a lot to in the college years. I can remember the anticipation of waiting until the next Cat Stevens album got released.

Jim and Ron, college friends a couple years older than me, brought the counter-culture feel of music into my experience. Among the most prominent were Jethro Tull, George Harrison, and John Lennon. Tull was the hard rock I hadn’t listen to before. They were sex, drugs and rock-n-roll and I enjoyed every minute of them. I went to my first concerts with Jim and Ron, several Tull shows in NYC and Long Island, and each was a treat. As for the Harrison and Lennon connection, Jim and Ron showed me there was life after the Beatles and that it didn’t need to be the syrupy Paul stuff. Harrison had a unique sound and did causes while Lennon lived his life in the very public and condemning eye, and allowed his followers glimpses into the pain he experienced. Give peace a chance. Unfortunately there are no Lennon songs on Playlist, license issues. One final influence by these two guys was a Texas singer named Shawn Phillips. Again counter-culture, with long blond hair and a wild voice, I listened to him for hours and still play his stuff today. Not well known, he had the ability to hook you and bring you in.

Another college buddy, Billy got me started into Yes. At a time when most music was pretty straight forward, Yes was doing crazy things and again hours were spent listening to them What was remarkable to me now looking back at this is the fact that Yes music was so different from what you would have guessed Billy liked. He was always one to go off in a different direction than you would have expected.

A final college influencer was MHG, aka Mark. He was a big guy with bit thoughts, dreams and ideas. He was the planner of the 3 am trip to Nathan’s in Coney Island, a driving force behind the amateur shows we did in college and the planner of NY Times Sunday afternoons with bagels, coffee and good music. One of those musicians was Jackson Browne. First a side note; as a college freshman MHG offered a bunch of us a chance to go see some new guy at a local NYC club. I passed on seeing Jackson Browne that night and regretted it later. One other note; Kevin and I drove cross country after college graduation and stopped in Winslow, Arizona to stand on a corner to wait for a girl driving a pickup truck. Mission accomplished! MHG also introduce me to the various configurations of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Such tone, harmony and musicianship there. Saw Stephen Stills and Neil Young in concerts – Young at MSG in NYC, Stills in a college auditorium on Long Island. 18,000 fans to maybe 1000. Very cool. MHG also introduced me to Monte Python but that's something completely different!