Propeller Skies

Saturday evening, two recurring Propeller Skies characters threw a party at their parents’ house while they were out of town. This was just like high school, except instead of 40s we drank microbrews. Also, no one threw up or was hospitalized.

The barbeque was excellent with plenty of tasty food. To go with the aforementioned microbrews and zesty food, football in high definition on a sweet plasma set was served upstairs. Unlike previous parties, this one featured a pool and a hot tub. As the miscreants who participated in hot garage action at a previous soiree were also at this party, I was very disappointed no one got it on in the hot tub. One of the best moments of the night happened when The Quiet One passed out on the couch with her dog. Too precious. Overall, this was a pretty tame party, but fun nonetheless.

Last week, I ordered a tiny little camera for recreational purposes. I chose the 5.0 megapixel Olympus Stylus Verve S, because of the incredibly compact size and previous positive experience with a film based Stylus.

After taking several shots with it, I determined that photo quality is good for this class of camera and what I intend to use it for. In contrast to my Nikon D70, the exposure metering is weak. I noticed the camera tends to overexpose, which can be corrected by adjusting the exposure compensation setting that Olympus engineers thoughtfully provided. Not surprisingly, due to the small CCD, the camera is extremely noisy at high ISO speeds. This is would be less of an issue if the built in flash was more powerful.

Camera controls are intuitive and easy to figure out. However, there is room for improvement. A dedicated erase button would be nice. Also, the stupid “all reset” menu option is extremely annoying and should be turned off by default.

I highly recommend this camera for documenting nights on the town or other applications where size and weight considerations trump photo quality and battery life. Speaking of battery life, order a spare with the camera.

[The following paragraphs were added September 26, 2005, by Smoove D - Ed.]

The following example photographs were taken with an Olympus Stylus Verve S on September 17, 2005, at the East Atlanta Strut:

• Raj Dixit of Charm School;
• Mary O. Harrison of Charm School; and
• Jenny Hutton of Charm School.

Friday after work, I met up with some old colleagues and several recurring Propeller Skies characters at a little Midtown joint called Vickery’s. I like Vickery’s, the decor is somewhat retro without being over the top. The seats are comfortable and the outdoor brick patio is spectacular in nice weather. A good selection of beer is available, including my personal favorite Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, in bottles or on tap. In contrast to other Midtown venues, the staff is very laid back and quick to bring the booze. I recommend Vickery’s.

Another year, another season opening loss to a second rate team, another call from Propeller Skies to fire the coach. At least it was close this time. Of course, Dennis Franchione and the Texas A&M Aggies could redeem themselves by trying something new this year - beating TU, for example.

I enjoy reading Hilary’s posts about craptastic Jdates she goes on. Judging by the number of comments her posts about Jdate get, everyone else does too. So, in a clever bid to increase Prizzo Skeezy readership, I am contemplating joining Match.

There are two options. I could go on actual awful dates and post reviews on Propeller Skies. However, I am one lazy motherfucker. And with the price of gas these days, who has the money to go driving across town for something as frivolous as a date? The other option is to send deliberately offensive e-mails and then post the letter along with any sure to be hilarious responses. Which option would all five Propeller Skies readers like to see? Answer via the “comments” link.

Last Saturday, I met up with an undisclosed recurring Propeller Skies character for lunch. I ordered the smoked chicken omelet, which was mighty tasty. We chose to sit at the bar, because it was the best location for people watching. As Crescent Moon is located in Decatur, there are plenty of interesting folks to watch. Sadly, they will all disappear in the future as Decatur transforms into a yuppie enclave. Our waitress was excellent and very personable with a snappy sense of humor. I highly recommend Crescent Moon.

While wandering around the hood taking flicks last weekend, I came across the following heartwarming scene. A man, clearly a redneck and identified as such through his charactaristic lack of a shirt was standing in the middle of the street talking quietly to a woman. The woman, obviously white trash and quite possibly smacked on ice, was screaming incoherently at the man. Towards the end of her rant I was able to make out, “now we can’t sell this car like that.” She than began crying. In the middle of the fucking street. And not just quiet sobs, either. She was flat out bawling. As near as I could tell, the dispute was over a circa 1991 Pontiac Sunbird with no visible problems.