The Birth of Horny Town U.S.A.

I didn't put traffic circles on the map. They're not a feature I'm used to dealing with ~ unless there's a courthouse in the middle and then they're just called "the square".

Feel free to add one if you think you need one. I left free space. Oh, and somebody needs to use that mysterious building up in the right-hand corner. {I misread someone's post. } That one house might be the perfect place for the crazy cat lady {Every small town needs one.} or perhaps Miss Fifi's House of Delights. After all, it's just a short ride from the Military Academy...

A from the good little witch.

Handley_Page said:

How cute; we have Traffic Engineers to do all the measuring and calculations to see what size and even "if" a roundabout will work at a particular location.

Oh well, I can see some fun with one here.

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Back in the late seventies, the village of Woodbridge had a 'roundabout' that GI's had to be specifically briefed to be aware of because it consisted of a pole in the center of an otherwise square intersection. I'm sure that the traffic engineers spent hours studying that one.

Introduction When?

litfan10 was working on a story that I thought was going to be the first and would lay the ground work for the rest of us to embellish with our own characters.

Call me eager to see how my ~6900 odd words are going to work, or not with the first story?

I've got two pages of ancillary characters that might have to be changed to fit what is written.

Randy Leroy Johnson had been a Chicago policeman, actually a lieutenant of detectives, until he had a personal epiphany one day and had to be restrained from stuffing a kilo of cocaine down the throat of a drug dealer. His “rabbi” at the Fraternal Order of Police suggested that it might be time to “refocus his efforts” and assisted him in finding suitable employment in the Horner Springs Police Department.

Mr. Johnson was sensitive about his name, and insists that, “It is pronounced ‘Yo-han-son,’ not Johnson, it was a mix up at Ellis Island.”

The Mayor noticed the change in the roster, when the Police Chief came for his weekly meeting with her. “Is this the new man you were telling me about, Randy Johnson?” She chuckled, “I must say, that is a distinctive image.” She said grinning at the Chief.

“Oh, don’t call him Johnson, he prefers Yo-han son. I can’t afford to loose one of the few experienced homicide detectives we’ve been able to attract. He seems to prefer to be called Lee,” the Chief said, and added, “I’ll change the roster before it’s published in the town minutes.”

“Yes, that’s probably a good idea.” The mayor said grinning.

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and

Lee Johnson was explaining how to pronounce his last name to Betty Collins the Chiefs Secretary, while waiting to see the Chief, “It is pronounced, Yo-han-son, like Swedish, you know?”

Betty, a 20 year old junior at Futter University, who worked mornings, smiled and looked at Lee. He was medium height, but quite broad in the shoulders and had a dark complexion, which worked well with the mahogany colored suit he was wearing. Betty looked quizzically at him and said, “Forgive me for saying it but, you don’t look Swedish?”

Lee smiled and said, “I hear that a lot. I’m only a sixteenth Swedish, I guess the Nubian comes thru more.” He flashed Betty his smile. That usually worked to close out this particular line of conversation.

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Now Lee Johnson is the main character and Betty Collins, could be anyone, as long as the tag is right.

I need a hill top lookout an I thought that if the distance from the upper river crossing at River Rats and the lower crossing was about two miles? that about Half way between them and a third of the distance from the river, there is an igneous extrusion eroded and covered in a volcanic ash sediment allowing a gravel road to the radio towers. Do we really want to nail it all down tight?

25,000 people in a rural setting can spread out over a fair distance. If River Rats is at the outlet of the lake and the river runs through town and out into the valley "beyond", how far is the lake from town?

JackLuis said:

litfan10 was working on a story that I thought was going to be the first and would lay the ground work for the rest of us to embellish with our own characters.

Call me eager to see how my ~6900 odd words are going to work, or not with the first story?

I've got two pages of ancillary characters that might have to be changed to fit what is written.



and


Now Lee Johnson is the main character and Betty Collins, could be anyone, as long as the tag is right.

I need a hill top lookout an I thought that if the distance from the upper river crossing at River Rats and the lower crossing was about two miles? that about Half way between them and a third of the distance from the river, there is an igneous extrusion eroded and covered in a volcanic ash sediment allowing a gravel road to the radio towers. Do we really want to nail it all down tight?

25,000 people in a rural setting can spread out over a fair distance. If River Rats is at the outlet of the lake and the river runs through town and out into the valley "beyond", how far is the lake from town?

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'Bout 10 miles.

I have managed to print Glyndah's map out.
I figure the Radio Tower is above the Marina and a mile or three away from the observatory. The ground rises fairly steeply at that point. I've called it "Knob Hill"; I hope that's ok (got the idea from San Francisco at the time of the earthquake).

Now, I fear, I need a few pointers to Americana.
What's a "Drive in" ?
And "Shady Acres" is what (a retirement home?)
I take it that "Grease Monkey" is the local garage /motor fixit ?
What IS "River rats" place ? A riverside Bar ?
What's a "Knight Market" ?

I assume that there are local farmers of one sort or another. Do they have their own Market or what ?

I suggest that the top right hand building is rumoured to be a house of ill repute, but it's actually a good hotel: The "Hotel Marcel"

Why would a small place like Horner Springs have a City Hall, or is this name a bit of a convention for such buildings ?

How does Mail (as in Post) get delivered in a place like Horner Springs ? Can the Post Office be somewhere near, or at the back of, the Bank ?

Handley_Page said:

I have managed to print Glyndah's map out.
I figure the Radio Tower is above the Marina and a mile or three away from the observatory. The ground rises fairly steeply at that point. I've called it "Knob Hill"; I hope that's ok (got the idea from San Francisco at the time of the earthquake).

Now, I fear, I need a few pointers to Americana.
What's a "Drive in" ?
A kind of restaurant. At one time there were also 'drive-in theaters' but most of those are gone now. When the first drive-in's were built, they had only a counter with stools. Most of the customers simply parked and lowered their windows. The waitresses (car hops) would come out and take the orders and deliver it on a tray that hooked onto the side of the car. Most of them disappeared but are now coming back as a wave of nostalgia sweeps the nation.

And "Shady Acres" is what (a retirement home?)
Good question. It could be a retirement home or a trailer (caravan) park.

I take it that "Grease Monkey" is the local garage /motor fixit ?
Correct

What IS "River rats" place ? A riverside Bar ?
I'll leave that to the person who came up with it. It could be that or a canoe/raft/drift boat rental with guide service. I'm betting on the latter though there is no reason to think that "both" might be correct.

What's a "Knight Market" ?
A pun?


I assume that there are local farmers of one sort or another. Do they have their own Market or what ?
In the U.S. "Farmer's Markets" are like those Sunday markets you find in Europe where the local growers show up in customized vans (lorries) and sell direct to the customers. Usually they take place on parking lots, either commercial or public.


I suggest that the top right hand building is rumoured to be a house of ill repute, but it's actually a good hotel: The "Hotel Marcel"

Why would a small place like Horner Springs have a City Hall, or is this name a bit of a convention for such buildings ?
In the U.S. there is no special breakdown between towns/cities/villages. It's all pretty much a free choice.


How does Mail (as in Post) get delivered in a place like Horner Springs ? Can the Post Office be somewhere near, or at the back of, the Bank ?
Even small towns have Post Offices. They may only have one employee but they're there. A town of 25,000 will have a small one but there will also be letter carriers. They make very poor characters for erotic stories because unlike milkmen, the government takes a very dim view of carriers who don't get their deliveries done on time.

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Answers in blue.

What's a "Drive in" ?
A kind of restaurant. At one time there were also 'drive-in theaters' but most of those are gone now. When the first drive-in's were built, they had only a counter with stools. Most of the customers simply parked and lowered their windows. The waitresses (car hops) would come out and take the orders and deliver it on a tray that hooked onto the side of the car. Most of them disappeared but are now coming back as a wave of nostalgia sweeps the nation.A restaurant!?! Bite your tongue, Mr. Bear! That's the classic American make-out place, a drive in movie theater!!!

And "Shady Acres" is what (a retirement home?)
Good question. It could be a retirement home or a trailer (caravan) park. I was thinking of a trailer park, but it's open to interpretation.

I take it that "Grease Monkey" is the local garage /motor fixit ?
Correct Yep.

What IS "River rats" place ? A riverside Bar ?
I'll leave that to the person who came up with it. It could be that or a canoe/raft/drift boat rental with guide service. I'm betting on the latter though there is no reason to think that "both" might be correct.
Horner Springs needs a roadhouse. A dive where the cocktail waitresses dance on the bar in their underwear and keys to no tell motel rooms are exchanged.

What's a "Knight Market" ?
A pun? Someone requested a all-night market and that's the name chosen.


I assume that there are local farmers of one sort or another. Do they have their own Market or what ?
In the U.S. "Farmer's Markets" are like those Sunday markets you find in Europe where the local growers show up in customized vans (lorries) and sell direct to the customers. Usually they take place on parking lots, either commercial or public.

I suggest that the top right hand building is rumoured to be a house of ill repute, but it's actually a good hotel: The "Hotel Marcel"

Hm. It seems awfully menacing to be a good hotel... The house of ill-repute is that smaller darker building to the left, right above the bank.

Why would a small place like Horner Springs have a City Hall, or is this name a bit of a convention for such buildings ?
In the U.S. there is no special breakdown between towns/cities/villages. It's all pretty much a free choice.

The mayor would have her office there. Townspeople would pay their utility bills there. The police department is there, as is the jail. There are a couple of courtrooms there, too.

How does Mail (as in Post) get delivered in a place like Horner Springs ? Can the Post Office be somewhere near, or at the back of, the Bank ?
Even small towns have Post Offices. They may only have one employee but they're there. A town of 25,000 will have a small one but there will also be letter carriers. They make very poor characters for erotic stories because unlike milkmen, the government takes a very dim view of carriers who don't get their deliveries done on time.
I accidentally left off the post office. It has been suggested that it could share the Write Place building or maybe the bank. One of those unnamed houses could also serve that purpose.

The "new" post office is not shown, it is between the Bank and the Diner. Closer to the diner and behind the Knight Market, aka Loiuie's Liquor, although Louie's has been gone for five years, people still call the market "the liquor store". The post office is about 60 foot by 180 foot single story building with a parking lot behind, to store all the delivery vehicles.

If the lake is ~ 10 miles from the town center, allowing a good canoe ride into town from River Rats, then there are a lot of buildings not shown. Which makes it good for the 25,000 people who have to live somewhere. If the river runs to the east thru town and spreads out in the valley, shallow and wider there would be some good fishing out in the pastures and hay fields along it. This allows the Guide service to lead the tourists, away form the best fishing, which is just above town, when the rafts are off the river.

Another Character warning;

Lee Johansson, had been in this berg more than four months and nobody had been killed, except for in traffic, and he didn’t cover traffic. That, it was explained to him, was Belinda Blight’s department and she didn’t need his assistance, “Thank you very much, and Good Day Mr. Johnson.”

She was away on her scooter, so Lee yelled to her, “It Yo-Han-Son, Ms Blight!” She couldn’t hear him over the scooter, but it made him feel better.

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Belinda is Lee's conflict character.

glynndah said:

What's a "Drive in" ?
A kind of restaurant. At one time there were also 'drive-in theaters' but most of those are gone now. When the first drive-in's were built, they had only a counter with stools. Most of the customers simply parked and lowered their windows. The waitresses (car hops) would come out and take the orders and deliver it on a tray that hooked onto the side of the car. Most of them disappeared but are now coming back as a wave of nostalgia sweeps the nation.A restaurant!?! Bite your tongue, Mr. Bear! That's the classic American make-out place, a drive in movie theater!!!

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A couple of expansions for the non-americans:

The car-hop at most drive-in restaurants wore rollerskates so they could take and deliver orders efficiently without having to run. Modern drive-ins have intercom stations and menu displays similar to a fast-food drive-through lane, but the food is still delivered by car-hops on rollerskates. I don't think the classic drive-in window trays are still used, though; they tended to break windows and modern safety-glass windows aren't really strong enough to support them.

A fast-food drive-thru order station/menu:


A modern drive-in restaurant:


FWIW, if there is a drive-in restaurant in Horner Springs, it is probably a Sonic because independent drive-in restaraunts mostly went out of business during the 70's oil crisis and drive-thru windows are cheaper and more profitable.

The 70's oil crisis killed a lot of drive-in theaters, too, but real estate (land) prices killed more of them; drive-in theaters take up a lot of room and building a multi-plex indoor theater with parking on the same ground makes a lot more money than a drive-in that can only show movies after sunset.

Still, some drive-ins are still in business and have even converted to multi-screen theaters with six to eight screens arranged around a central snack-bar/restrooms/projection booth building.

Old drive-ins were dotted with speaker poles but modern drive-ins use low-powered, directional, FM-stereo radio transmitters to get the movie soundtrack to the cars.

Old-style Drive-in:


Note the raised mounds along the speaker rows; patrons are intended to park with the front wheels on the top of the mounds so that they have an unobstructed view of the screen. Modern drive-ins have done away with the poles, but still retain the mounds.

Patrons in pick-up trucks, station wagons and vans often park with the rear wheels on the mound and open the rear doors/tailgate for a better view -- weather permitting.

Typical drive-in parking:


In late fall/winter keeping the windows clear enough to see the movie could be a problem. Some theaters offered pole-mounted (coin-operated) electric heaters, similar to the pole mounted speaker units, but they were short-lived and never widespread.

Fogged up windows (due to heavy breathing) were(are) a standing joke about drive-in movies but there was a great deal of truth to the jokes as well. I'm just one (of probably millions) of my generation who lost their virginity in the back seat at a drive-in movie -- don't ask me what movie was playing, I don't think we even looked at the tickets to find out.

I think HM and I were married before we went to a drive-in together. We made out in the car just to be able to say we had but actually the movie (Patton) was exciting enough to keep us inside our clothes. Should have chosen a more doggy production! Added note, not only did rising real estate values kill drive-in theaters but so did the proliferation of lights around them. Eventually, in some locations, there was so much artificial light surrounding the theater that no-one could see the screen.

I'm old enough to have miss-spent my youth in drive-in-theaters. I loved my old '48 Studebaker Land Cruiser. It wasn't fast or pretty, but man what a back seat!

JackLuis said:

I'm old enough to have miss-spent my youth in drive-in-theaters. I loved my old '48 Studebaker Land Cruiser. It wasn't fast or pretty, but man what a back seat!

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One additional thought about Drive-in theaters:

High definition DLP projectors and the proliferation of various wireless technologies, like Bluetooth, make any flat surface a possible location for a 'roaming drive-in' -- a van or car with a DLP projector and either huge speakers or low-powered FM stereo transmitter for the sound parked next to a warehouse or commercial building with a windowless wall and a (pirate) DVD makes a temporary drive-in theater that is gone by dawn only to reappear next to some other building with a windowless wall or even a billboard along the highway.

Horner Springs probably has a traditional Drive-in Theater upgraded to multiple screens, but Drive-in Theaters tend to feature G and PG rated movies. (Although I did encounter a Drive-in visible from I-5 in southern Washington that was showing something R rated -- if not X-rated -- when I passed by late one evening; 40-foot tall full frontal nudity is NOT something you see along the freeway every day. ) Perhaps some enterprising college students are showing less violent but more interesting fare in random parking lots around town late at night?

JackLuis said:

The "new" post office is not shown, it is between the Bank and the Diner. Closer to the diner and behind the Knight Market, aka Loiuie's Liquor, although Louie's has been gone for five years, people still call the market "the liquor store". The post office is about 60 foot by 180 foot single story building with a parking lot behind, to store all the delivery vehicles.

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I thought the Post Office (US Mail ?) was behind the Bank. This gives three roads for in and out routes.

Weird Harold said:

One additional thought about Drive-in theaters:

High definition DLP projectors and the proliferation of various wireless technologies, like Bluetooth, make any flat surface a possible location for a 'roaming drive-in' -- a van or car with a DLP projector and either huge speakers or low-powered FM stereo transmitter for the sound parked next to a warehouse or commercial building with a windowless wall and a (pirate) DVD makes a temporary drive-in theater that is gone by dawn only to reappear next to some other building with a windowless wall or even a billboard along the highway.

Horner Springs probably has a traditional Drive-in Theater upgraded to multiple screens, but Drive-in Theaters tend to feature G and PG rated movies. (Although I did encounter a Drive-in visible from I-5 in southern Washington that was showing something R rated -- if not X-rated -- when I passed by late one evening; 40-foot tall full frontal nudity is NOT something you see along the freeway every day. ) Perhaps some enterprising college students are showing less violent but more interesting fare in random parking lots around town late at night?

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The drive-in where I went to high school and college featured soft-core porn, mostly German as I recall, about once a month. I can definitely remember parking along side the grounds of the drive-in and watching the show. I have no idea what was said, but I can still picture the forty-foot topless coeds on the screen.

I picture the Horner Springs Drive-in as being slightly run-down and playing second run movies. It hasn't been updated or sterilized. It's outside of town so the lights aren't a concern.

That sounds right. Small town, drive-in theater, one of the last of it's kind . . . yeah.

voluptuary_manque said:

That sounds right. Small town, drive-in theater, one of the last of it's kind . . . yeah.

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I'm pretty sure it would have the FM Stereo soundtrack system instead of the classic speakers, though. There simply wouldn't be many speakers left because nobody has made them in years and nearly every showing, somebody would drive off with the speaker still in the window.

The FM Stereo transmitter system would be far cheaper than trying to keep speakers wired to poles and probably absolutely necessary to financial survival.

Even the poles would have succumbed to careless drivers over the years; they weren't run over as often as speakers were driven off with, but they'd be kind of pointless to maintain without the speakers on them.

But you know that some townsfolk are unhappy about that. "Souless, new-fangled technology will never replace the hard-wired speaker. Without dodging poles and trying to remember to unhook the speaker, you simply can't have the complete drive-in experience!"

voluptuary_manque said:

But you know that some townsfolk are unhappy about that. "Souless, new-fangled technology will never replace the hard-wired speaker. Without dodging poles and trying to remember to unhook the speaker, you simply can't have the complete drive-in experience!"

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Well, maybe they maintain one row of hardwired speakers for the horse and buggy set.

Weird Harold said:

Well, maybe they maintain one row of hardwired speakers for the horse and buggy set.

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why not sub-titles for those with no FM stereo radio ?

Hey guys. I must apologize as I have been working on my story so you can see where I at least am going with this whole thing - but I am dealing with a major skunk crisis that threw my life off. Almost back to normal so the story should be done by the weekend.
So as to not delay forever, my story is about Lin Fu being very horny and while running an errand for her dad to see Mr. White she comes across Darren and they go to the Drive In (really love the recent threads!!) but Tiffany interrupts so Lin walks home and ends up at Shear Pleasure with Kitty. After leaving with a new hairdo Lin has a problem and ends up attacking a couple of workers at Choicest Pearls out of frustration and almost gets caught by her dad. I am writing this one with a very humourous tone.
Before I submit I plan to show it to Stella as I do a bit with Darren, and I want to make sure it jives with her views of Darren.
Thanks for the patience! Looking forward to the place coming alive to the main Literotica reading public.

Handley_Page said:

why not sub-titles for those with no FM stereo radio ?

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'Cause that would require a special copy of the film unless the theater has upgraded to DLP projection and DVD distribution -- and theater release DVDs may not have the subtitle/closed captioning options a mass market release DVD has.

I don't know how widespread Theater DLP/HD Projection is yet, but the days of 35mm distribution prints are numbered; if the Drive-in is as nostalgia oriented as VM wants it to be, they are probably still dealing with huge 35mm reels and two projectors like this one:

Weird Harold said:

if the Drive-in is as nostalgia oriented as VM wants it to be, they are probably still dealing with huge 35mm reels and two projectors like this one:

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How nice; a baby one, with a lens missing.

I was thinking that, as there is damn all between the Movie screen and anywhere else but square miles of nothing or hills, a certain amount of 'fun' could be had with the local sparkies getting the thing working with the odd porn film (much to the annoyance of certain "opposition" parties).

Handley_Page said:

How nice; a baby one, with a lens missing.

I was thinking that, as there is damn all between the Movie screen and anywhere else but square miles of nothing or hills, a certain amount of 'fun' could be had with the local sparkies getting the thing working with the odd porn film (much to the annoyance of certain "opposition" parties).

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See my earlier post about the possibility of "roving drive-ins" using digital home theater DLP projectors and a random building wall or billboard. The drive-in probably used to be far enough outside of town not to worry too much about blue-nosed neighbors, but urban sprawl has surrounded it with ticky-tacky housing and the attendant outrage from the PTA set over anything that might accidentally expand their children's minds.

Weird Harold said:

See my earlier post about the possibility of "roving drive-ins" using digital home theater DLP projectors and a random building wall or billboard. The drive-in probably used to be far enough outside of town not to worry too much about blue-nosed neighbors, but urban sprawl has surrounded it with ticky-tacky housing and the attendant outrage from the PTA set over anything that might accidentally expand their children's minds.

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I'd rather think that the Drive-in is nowhere near housing estates. The urban sprawl would be on the wrong slope and in line with Fast Water routes (danger of flooding). Besides which, the right people are in charge (at present). Further development might, for example be a lot further down the river route.

Incidentally, where's the Public Library ?
At the back of City Hall ?

I purposely put the drive-in way back in the boonies so the lights of the city wouldn't bother in and it'd be away from the prying eyes of the city fathers. I'm pretty sure the owners play some pretty risque movies very, very late at night occasionally.

Rats! I forgot a library, too?!? How about one of those two little unnamed houses beside the bank or maybe the Write Place would be willing to share quarters?