Your little part of the universe.

While reading "Dreadnought" a steam punk novel this afternoon I ran across a passage that gave me pause.
( Second in a series by Cherie Priest, I highly recommend them all).
While traveling from her job as a nurse in Richmond Virginia to see her dying father in the Washington Territories, the main character is in an airship that crashes, just outside of Cleveland Tennessee.
Which is an actual town, 20 miles south of me.

While in college, the first time I experience this was a Tom Dietz novel, whose main character was from Tellico Plains, another actual town here in East Tennessee.

Movie wise, Super 8, shows a map of southern Ohio, which shows both the town I was born in as well as the town I spent the first 3 years of my life.

The best has been "American Gods" by Neill Gaiman, who writes the final war of the gods as happening on the slopes of Lookout Mountain, just below Rock City, in Chattanooga, about 50 miles from here.


Soooooo, the point of all this is for the small town folks on this board.

Any actual place near you ( that is not world known) ever been in a book/movie/TV show?

 

Hmmmm... Scranton, PA, about an hour and a half north of me, is where the show "The Office" is set at.

That's about all I know!

 

Cool!

 

I wish. It would be great if they made a form of media involving the town of Coontail, but a doubt they will.

 

Rod Serling lived in Binghamton, NY which I drive through every night to go to work. The small towns in our area were mentioned in a few of his Twilight Zone shows. Stephen King mentioned Binghamton and Rte 81 in one of his novels - can't remember which one.

 

The small town in NSW, Australia where I am from had a movie filmed in it, but I think they called it a different name. It was only really big in Australia. Eric Bana (The Hulk, Funny People) starred in it and was here though.

 

Ah, I just worked out.. No, I didn't. I thought you were from the dish town for a sec, yeoy, but Eric bana wasn't in that, was he? Lol.

I live in a tiny town, population 1000 or so. Nothing happens here, except maybe chickens wander into the post office and business shuts down while they get taken home (again).

 

. Nothing happens here, except maybe chickens wander into the post office and business shuts down while they get taken home (again).

While we do not shut down the post office where I work when animals come in, I have had to remove 3 snakes, 2 birds and call animal control about a raccoon,

 

Oceano dunes near me is used as a desert in a lot of movies

 

There have been many movies shot in Medford and in the surrounding area. We have a few stars with homes in the valley. Even our theater is known as the Ginger Rodgers' Theater. She was very involved in our town during her senior years.

Ashland is a town south of us, near the California border, that hosts the Shakespeare Festival where many plays are performed.

And, then there's Crater Lake National Park. Diamond Lake has been the location of many activities as well. Being in the middle of the forest and having access to true log cabins, the movie crowd love that area. With very little effort they can make you think you are in the late 1800s or in an earlier time.

I love reading books that use actual areas as a point of reference; or even those that pull in bits of actual history and weave their stories around them.

 

While I'm not from Maine, all Stephen King's stories are based there.

 

I lived in Petaluma CA in grade school and Peggy Sue Got Married and Howard the Duck were filmed there! Also Wynona Ryder went to high school with my sister there, I know not a stellar line-up but interesting for a small town

 

I grew up in Los Gatos,CA
John Steinbeck lived here and wrote "Of Mice and Men", Peggy Flemming ( gold medal ice skating champion ) still lives here, Several of the rock band Dobbie Brothers still live here,
Thomas Kinkade lived here until his passing, many many silicon valley CEOs and sports celebrities.

Junne

 

There have been many movies shot in Medford and in the surrounding area. We have a few stars with homes in the valley. Even our theater is known as the Ginger Rodgers' Theater. She was very involved in our town during her senior years.

Ashland is a town south of us, near the California border, that hosts the Shakespeare Festival where many plays are performed.

And, then there's Crater Lake National Park. Diamond Lake has been the location of many activities as well. Being in the middle of the forest and having access to true log cabins, the movie crowd love that area. With very little effort they can make you think you are in the late 1800s or in an earlier time.

I love reading books that use actual areas as a point of reference; or even those that pull in bits of actual history and weave their stories around them.

Hey...I've been to Medford! Had to install some equipment at Roxyanne lanes last fall.

 

I lived in Petaluma CA in grade school and Peggy Sue Got Married and Howard the Duck were filmed there! Also Wynona Ryder went to high school with my sister there, I know not a stellar line-up but interesting for a small town

I LOVE Howard the Duck! And my siblings do too

 

I went to college in a small town called DeLand in Florida. My freshman year the movie "Ghost Story" was filmed on campus. We were bummed because they shot it over the summer and used residents as extras in the college scenes!

 

Ah, I just worked out.. No, I didn't. I thought you were from the dish town for a sec, yeoy, but Eric bana wasn't in that, was he? Lol.

The town I am from is probably closer to 10,000 people. Or even 15,000 nowadays!

 

We've got quite a few successful writers who live in or came from the Twin Cities. Neil Gaiman lives around here somewhere. Steven Brust used to live here. Emma Bull (whose War for the Oaks is set in the area).
In the "less known, but still successful," we have Lyda Morehouse, Alison McGee, Roy C Booth, Michael Merriam. These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

 

I LOVE Howard the Duck! And my siblings do too

I watched again a couple of years ago and lets just say it really shows how far we've come movie wise. It reminds me of the teenage mutant ninja turtles movie I loved as a kid.

 

We've got quite a few successful writers who live in or came from the Twin Cities. Neil Gaiman lives around here somewhere. Steven Brust used to live here. Emma Bull (whose War for the Oaks is set in the area).
In the "less known, but still successful," we have Lyda Morehouse, Alison McGee, Roy C Booth, Michael Merriam. These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

I have met Neil, Steven and Emma.
I even have a nice picture with Neil and Terry Prattchett standing in front out of booth at WorldCon in 2004.

 

I grew up in the town that they filmed the tv show "Dog River" in. I am annoyed to this day that the grain elevator was repainted to say 'Dog river' on it rather then the actual town name. The show has been over for years now, but they still haven't changed it back >

 

There is a drive in movie theater near me that was in the move "The Cider House Rules" I haven't seen the movie but I love the drive in.

 

My soon to be next door neighbor is Melinda McGraw she lives three houses down from my new place

 

Sweet!

 

I live about 20-30 Minutes away from Flint Michigan which has some notoriety because of it's crime but it was also the subject of Roger and Me, a documentary by Michael Moore. Also there was Semi-Pro with Will Ferril about the Flint Tropics and the American Basketball Association.

 

Oh I almost forgot! In my current hometown, we have a somewhat, almost famous Thia Megia - Megia finished in the top 11 of the tenth season of American Idol. Our town is very small with just under 9k residents - This is a picture I took of her during our annual 4th of July parade.




Junne

 

Rod Serling lived in Binghamton, NY which I drive through every night to go to work. The small towns in our area were mentioned in a few of his Twilight Zone shows. Stephen King mentioned Binghamton and Rte 81 in one of his novels - can't remember which one.

Wait, dude, what?! I'm IN Binghamton right now; I work here at BU and drive the 81N back home to Ithaca every night. I thought I was the only FL member anywhere near here! Scranton is only about an hour south of us, too. I had no idea Bingo was mentioned in King's books, but that's not surprising. It's a gross, creepy town, full of gross, creepy people.

The movie "Road Trip" had a stop in Ithaca for "Ithaca University" which doesn't exist (there's Ithaca College and Cornell University right next to each other). Supposedly, at one point in the Twilight books, somebody moves to Ithaca, but I haven't read them myself (too much self respect).

I spent a chunk of last summer living in El Castillo; a town in Costa Rica that has ~100 people. There's lots of chickens, but no post office of any kind for them to wander into.

 

Wait, dude, what?! I'm IN Binghamton right now; I work here at BU and drive the 81N back home to Ithaca every night. I thought I was the only FL member anywhere near here! Scranton is only about an hour south of us, too. I had no idea Bingo was mentioned in King's books, but that's not surprising. It's a gross, creepy town, full of gross, creepy people.

That's funny because a big joke between my husband and I is that when we go for joyrides, we almost always end up somewhere near Ithaca. I am a nervous wreck with him driving through there because the streets are so narrow and hilly and full of people and he drives like a maniac.

 

That's funny because a big joke between my husband and I is that when we go for joyrides, we almost always end up somewhere near Ithaca. I am a nervous wreck with him driving through there because the streets are so narrow and hilly and full of people and he drives like a maniac.

Half the streets being one way probably doesn't help, and some of those college students drive like they paid somebody to take their test for them.