Propeller Skies

“Debris on I-75 N Near I-285,” seen this morning on a variable message sign on GA 400. Normally, the signs display useless information like “I-20 6 Miles Ahead Travel Time 3 - 6 Weeks,” or “Accident on I-85 2 Miles South of GA 400 All Lanes Blocked Hope You Have Plenty of Canned Food and Bottled Water.” Also, debris on the road in Atlanta is a common occurrence. For example, driving one lap on I-285 would net enough discarded mattresses, couches, recliners, and other furniture to furnish a five bedroom McMansion. So there must have been some pretty interesting debris in the road to rate posting on a sign. Anyone care to speculate as to the nature of the debris?

Dear residents of Miami: fuck all of you. Just because you cocksucking wankers decided that it was a good idea to build a city on a fucking swamp where it rains every single fucking day and major hurricanes hit, on average, once a decade does not mean I want to work 80 hours a week trying to mitigate your flooding issues. Please learn to swim, fuckos.

I caught the Envie show at The Earl last night. Although the vocals were buried in the mix*, it was still a good show. As some of you may know, the musicians in Envie change periodically, with only Renee remaining constant. While all the configurations have featured top-notch local talent, this is my favorite line-up. I particularly enjoy the guitar noises that Chris Hoke adds to the already lush sound. Additionally, on songs that feature Renee on harp the interplay between electric guitar and traditional harp is fantastically original and invigorating.

Twittering Machine was the headlining band, and they were very good. Like Envie, they break away from the traditional vocals, guitar, bass, and drums configuration of a standard issue rock band. The addition of a cellist gives them a unique sound and provides an interesting counterpoint to the guitar player. They also accomplished two key things, which are:

1. Made an accordion cool; and
2. inspired people to dance.**

notes:

* since the poor mixing at The Earl is legendary, I am not going to kick that dead horse in excruciating detail at great length here. And The Earl’s ability to book great bands on a regular basis more than makes up for this shortcoming.
** absolutely no one dances at indie rock shows in Atlanta. It is positively unheard of, which makes this an amazing feat.

Last night, I attended the 2004 Full Moon Brew Fest at my friend Geoff’s house in East Atlanta. The party featured several varieties of home brew, as well as live music provided by Suspicious Package and Groupie. As I drove up to the party, I was met by my friends Dawnmarie, Trey, and recurring Propeller Skies character Stacia. I promptly ditched them when Some Dude mentioned homebrew was inside the house.

The home brew was excellent and I was particularly fond of the American Pale Ale, brewed by Some Dude*. Fortuitously, a keg of Sweetwater 420 was available on the front porch. A patented Smoove D Pale Ale Tasting was conducted. Some Dude’s Pale Ale has knocked Sweetwater out of second place in the Smoove D beer pantheon. In addition, Some Dude contributed a keg of American Brown Ale that was good, but not spectacular like the pale ale. Some Other Dude brought a keg of Red Ale, which was also good and a keg of Heffweizen. I did not sample the Heffweizen, because:

1. I do not care for it; and
2. It is difficult to spell**.

In addition to beer and music, the party also featured several beautiful babies. Unfortunately, I cannot remember any of their names either. Overall, it was a great party that drew an eclectic crowd from as far away as Cumming (which is so far OTP it might as well be in North Carolina).

notes:

* A risk of brewing up good beer is consumers drink too much of it and forget your name.
** Even Word is unable to spell it.

I started the day by dropping in on the 1st Annual Oyster and Crawfish Festival at the Park Tavern to photograph for AtlantaBuzz. A big shout-out to the Park Tavern for letting the photographer skip the ridiculously long line.

This event was packed with people at 5:00 pm, a very impressive feat considering it was the first one ever. Not surprisingly, since the crowd was so large, I ran into several friends while I was at the event. On my way in, I ran into my friend Susan. While I was photographing, I also ran into Andrew and Patrick. As I was leaving, I saw Susan again and she was obviously having a good time. I hope she managed to stay awake long enough to get home.

Since the event was hosted by Matt Jones of 99x, it also featured several live bands, which I did not get a chance to listen to. However, the bands drew a good crowd under the big tent.

notes:

PHOTO: Partiers at the 1st Annual Oyster and Crawfish Festival, Park Tavern, Midtown, Atlanta, GA. March 6, 2004. Courtesy of d.2263 Photographics. View more Oyster and Crawfish Festival photos.

Dear Fulton County Traffic Engineering Department: Thank you. It made my day to stop at every. fucking. single. traffic. signal. on Peachtree-Dunwoody between Abernathy and Glenridge Connector. Assholes.

Instead of covering an event tonight, I hung out with recurring Propeller Skies characters Lisa and Susan in front of a Texaco on Roswell Road. We chilled and drank O.E. 800 and Colt 45. Later on, we went cruising in Buckhead Village.

Not really. I actually hung out with them at Taxco, a somewhat sketchy looking Mexican joint on Roswell Road. Despite the somewhat dilapidated appearance of Taxco, it has two important features. First, there were plenty of beautiful babies. Second, and most importantly, big-ass beers were only $3.00. I am not sure what kind of beer it was. The aforementioned beer will not be winning any Smoove D beer tasting festivals. That said, if quality is not an option then quantity is certainly an acceptable substitute.

Every day I travel on Georgia 400, which is the only toll road in Atlanta. Despite the fact it is the only toll road, this is not a secret. There are several signs notifying travelers that it is a toll road. There is even a sign at the last exit before the tollbooth, which states clearly and unambiguously, “last exit before toll.” It is not like Georgia 400 is a double secret toll road, with toll ninjas that randomly pop out and demand 50 cents.

This morning, I watched in amazement as the person in front of me pulled into the toll booth, put their car in park, stepped out, walked to the trunk, opened the trunk, retrieved 50 cents, got back in the car, threw the coins in the basket, and drove off. What the fuck?

Tonight I stopped by the Southern Center for International Studies‘ Young Professionals (YP) social to expand my horizons and photograph. Just kidding, I really dropped in because international chicks are hot and they have not heard all my lame pick-up lines yet.

I attend a good number of events and the YPs are one of my favorite groups to hang out with. People at the YP events are always friendly and willing to chat. Additionally, the focus on international studies keeps the group from becoming a lame-ass singles group full of desperate losers. I highly recommend their events. Learning about other cultures and meeting people from other countries without even having to venture OTP is excellent.

The crowd tonight was good for this group, with roughly forty people attending. Bar service was a bit on the slow side, but I was still able to attain a slight buzz.

The YP social was at Rock Bottom in Buckhead. For those of you keeping score at home, I have now been to Buckhead three times and lived to write about it in Propeller Skies.

notes:

PHOTO: Random revelers at the SCIS Young Professionals Social at Rock Bottom, Buckhead, Atlanta, GA. March 3, 2004. Courtesy of d.2263 Photographics.

In the express checkout lane at the grocery store, which character is more annoying:

1. The old dude who takes forever to count out the exact change necessary to pay for his Preperation H; or
2. he college student charging $3.19 worth of Doritos on their check card?

Discuss.