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THE 'OPTO' IN OPTOELECTRONICS — Part 1
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The word 'optoelectronics' first came into general use in the 1970s. The word roughly describes the branch of electronics that is concerned with the practical application of light-related optical (opto) phenomena, and with traditional optical devices such as mirrors, prisms, and lenses, and with modern optical devices such as fiber optic cables, LEDs, and lasers.
Most Nuts & Volts readers will have few problems in understanding the purely electronic aspects of optoelectronics, but probably have very limited knowledge of its optical parts. This new four-part series aims to help remedy the latter situation by giving fairly concise descriptions of vital optoelectronics-related 'opto' subjects.
This opening episode deals with the basic nature and behavior of light, and with mirrors. Part 2 will deal with prisms and lenses. The final two episodes will deal with fiber optic communication and with LED and laser operating principles.
Light is a form of energy and is transported by electromagnetic radiation. It has an apparent dualistic nature that enables it to be regarded as both a wave phenomenon and as a flux-like flow of sub-atomic particles known as photons, which are released as a consequence of shifts in the energy levels of atoms, such as those caused by heating or various other disturbences.
All active (moving) photons are endowed with parameters such as frequency (f), velocity (v), free-space wavelength (λ), and mass, and thus represent a finite unit of energy (e). In pure physics, the photon's energy, in joules per second, is usually defined by the formula
e = h x f
in which h is Planck's constant (= 6.626 x 10-34 J s).
In optoelectronics, it is more useful to define the energy in terms of electron-volt (eV) units, and to relate it to the photon's wavelength (λ) in nanometers (nm) rather than its frequency. In this case, the basic formula transforms into the easily remembered form
eV = 1240/λ
Thus, an LED that generates a red output at a wavelength of 645nm has a bandgap energy value of 1.92 eV. The energy value of an individual photon depends on its actual wavelength, but is very small; an ordinary green LED, for example, generates an output flux flow of about 2,500 million photons per microsecond at a mean light output power level of a mere 1mW.
Figure 1 shows a simple conceptual diagram that illustrates some basic features of light when radiated from a small point source.
FIGURE 1. Conceptual diagram illustrating some basic features of radiated light.
The light flux (which contains vast numbers of photons) is effectively radiated in the form of a continuous series of spherical photonic waves that become progressively more planar (less sharply curved) as they move further from the source.
The photons move outwards, perpendicular to the wave fronts; a photonic light ray traces the mean path of a photon, a photonic light beam depicts the paths of a collection of rays. A light beam is angular when close to the light source, but becomes progressively more parallel as the distance from the source increases.
In optoelectronics, the term 'light' relates to the entire visible light (400nm to 700nm) part of the electromagnetic spectrum, plus most of its invisible infrared (IR) and ultra-violet (UV) ranges, i.e., to the spectrum's 10nm to 100µm section. Figure 2 shows details of the full electromagnetic spectrum, and Figure 3 shows the so-called 'visible' part of the spectrum. All wavelengths are marked in decade multiples and submultiples of the meter.
FIGURE 2. The full electromagnetic spectrum (wavelengths are given in decade multiples and submultiples of the meter).
FIGURE 3. The visible light part of the spectrum (wavelengths are in nanometers).
The sun is the most powerful light generator in our solar system. It generates and radiates light energy as a byproduct of its continuously-active nuclear fusion process; 60% of its radiant energy lays in the IR range. Only 0.0005% of the sun's radiated energy is (after travelling a mean distance of 93 million miles through space in 8 minutes 20 seconds) received by planet Earth, and one third of this reflects directly back into space. The energy contained in the remaining flux delivers a mean power of 4KW per square meter per day to the earth's surface, and acts as the engine for our planet's weather systems and (as a consequence of the results of photosynthesis, etc.) sustains all life on our planet.
Light travels through empty space at a velocity of 186,282 miles (299,792 kilometers) per second. Light's velocity was first estimated with reasonable precision by the Danish astronomer Ole Roemer in about 1690, after he observed unexpected variations in the actual and predicted times of the eclipse of Saturn's moons.
The velocity of light through the earth's atmosphere (which is 0.03 percent slower than through empty space) was first measured with reasonable precision (within five percent) by the French amateur scientist Armand Fizeau in Paris in 1849.
Fizeau used an opto-mechanical stroboscopic technique to measure the time (about 57µS) that a beam of light took to cover a two-way, 17km journey and, from the results, estimated the speed of light at 313,300 kilometers per second.
THE VISIBILITY OF LIGHT
A stream of light (photons) racing through empty space can be regarded as a stream of latent energy, and is quite invisible; it only becomes visible when its flux strikes an absorptive material and releases some or all of its latent energy. These effects can be observed by looking up at the moon on a clear night; parts of its surface are illuminated because they are absorbing energy from the rays of the sun, which is out of sight below earth's horizon; the areas of space through which the sunlight is travelling appear completely dark.
If you go out into the open air on a bright summer's day, you will be bombarded by a stream of solar-generated IR, UV, and visible light rays that will produce three distinct types of physiological effects on you. The IR rays will produce a sense of warmth wherever they strike exposed areas of your skin, and the UV rays will slowly start to change your skin's pigmentation in those exposed areas, eventually giving them a deep tan. The visible light rays from the sun span the full color spectrum. When they strike an object that you can see, the object's visual coloring is dictated by the object's spectral characteristics.
If the object that is exposed to the sun's light absorbs all of the spectrum's light energy, the object appears black. If it absorbs only part of the available energy and reflects the rest, it will appear white if it reflects light equally across the entire spectrum, or red if it reflects mainly the red part of the spectrum, or green if it reflects mainly the green part of the spectrum, and so on. The apparent colors have degrees of purity that depend on the width of the reflected part of the spectrum.
Note that human eyes do not have a linear spectral response (just as our ears do not have a linear aural response) and the response varies between individuals. The graph of Figure 4 shows the spectral response of typical human eyes, which are 10 times more sensitive to yellow-green (560nm wavelength) than they are to mid-blue (470nm) or mid-red (660nm).
FIGURE 4. Standardized relative spectral response of the human eye.
You can observe these effects by looking at a stained glass window (from within a building) when the window is brightly illuminated by the sun; the window's glass segments all have roughly similar values of translucence, but the green segments seem far brighter than the mid-red or blue ones. The next section of this article gives more details on this subject.
When dealing with light and optoelectronic components such as LEDs and lasers, etc., the units most often used in data sheets are those relating to the light's wavelength and spectral bandwidth, and to the intensity and power levels of its flux. Light wavelength is a measure of the light's color; visible-light wavelengths fall within the range 400nm to 700nm; UV-light has a wavelength below 400nm; IR-light has a wavelength above 700nm.
The color purity of a light is defined by its spectral bandwidth, which is measured between the points where the radiated power falls to half of its peak value. True white light contains all the colors of the 400nm to 700nm spectrum; it thus has a bandwidth of at least 300nm and is known as chromatic (multi-toned) light.
Red LEDs (operating at about 650nm) have typical spectral bandwidths in the range 15nm to 50nm and are thus also chromatic, since their light outputs span various shades of red.
Laser-generated light usually has an exceptionally narrow bandwidth (often less than 0.01nm), and is known as mono-chromatic (one-toned or pure-toned) or (if all of its emitted photons are in phase) coherent light.
Dealing next with the light units concerned with values of light intensity and power, it is important to note that — since human sight does not have a linear spectral response — these values may be expressed in two different types of unit. Conventionally, photometric units are used if they relate to the physiological (apparent) values of visible light sensed by humans, and radiometric units are used if they relate to genuine (true) values of visible or IR or UV light. The following four basic types of unit (each of which has both photometric and radiometric notations) are widely used in optoelectronics.
TOTAL RADIATED FLUX POWER
Light is radiated energy; the total power of the flux flowing from a light source is measured in watts in radiometric notation, or in lumens in photometric notation. The photometric quantities are related to the corresponding radiometric ones by the internationally-recognized standard 'human eyeball response' photopic conversion graph shown in Figure 5, which shows that one watt of light power is equal to 680 photometric lumens at a wavelength of 555nm (yellow-green), or roughly 82 lumens at 475nm (mid-blue), or 65 lumens at 660nm (mid-red), and so on.
FIGURE 5. Standard 'human eyeball response' photopic conversion graph showing the photometric lumens to radiometric watts relationship.
In most practical optoelectronic applications, only a small fraction of a light source's total radiated power falls on a targeted light receptor such as a photocell or an eye's retina and, in such cases, the most relevant parameter is the light's flux density (brightness) at the actual target point.
In radiometric notation, this parameter is known as the light's irradiance value and is measured in watts per square meter (W/m2). In photometric notation, the parameter is known as illuminance and is measured in lumens per square meter (lm/m2) or 'lux.' The lumen/watt relationship is the same as that shown in Figure 5.
ANGULAR FLUX INTENSITY
Man-made light generators such as LEDs and filament lamps act like crude 'point' light sources, but produce directional outputs, i.e., most of their available flux is concentrated into a cone of radiation. To specify flux intensity in such cases, a standard three-dimensional angular unit known as a steradian (symbol sr) is used; in radiometric measurements, angular flux intensity is known as radiant intensity and is specified in units of watts per steradian (W/sr); in photometric measurements, angular flux intensity is known as luminous intensity and is specified in units of candela, in which one candela equals one lumen per steradian (lm/sr).
Figure 6 shows a conceptual diagram that illustrates the basic features of a steradian unit.
FIGURE 6. Conceptual diagram illustrating the basic features of a steradian unit.
Imagine here that a point source of light is set at the center of a translucent globe. From the point source, form a 57º cone that reaches out to the surface of the globe. This cone is a three-dimensional angular unit known as a steradian; the surface area of its mouth encompasses approximately 8% of the globe's total surface area.
RADIATED FLUX BRIGHTNESS
The brightness of a light source is proportional to both the radiated flux density and the radiating surface area of the light source. In radiometric notation, this parameter is known as the light source's radiance value and is measured in watts per steradian per square meter (W/sr x m2) of radiating surface area. In photometric notation, the parameter is known as luminance and is measured in lumens per steradian per square meter (lm/sr x m2) or candela per square meter (cd/m2).
LIGHT-BEAM MANIPULATORS
Visible and IR light beams can readily be reflected, bent, or manipulated in various other geometric ways with the aid of simple optical devices such as mirrors, retroreflectors, prisms, or lenses. This next section — and the whole of our next episode — describes the basic operating principles and optoelectronic applications of such devices.
The simplest mirror is the ordinary flat totally-reflective silvered-back glass type. If a narrow beam of light is aimed through the glass and onto the reflective (rear) surface of such a mirror, the reflected beam always obeys the basic law of reflection, which is illustrated in Figure 7, and states that the angle of incidence (the angle between the arriving ray and an imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the mirror's surface) and the angle of reflection (the angle between the reflected ray and the imaginary perpendicular line) are exactly equal.
FIGURE 7. Diagram illustrating the basic law of reflection that applies to a flat mirror.
Figure 8 shows two simple ways of using a mirror in optoelectronic security applications. In Figure 8(a), the mirror is used in a corridor protection system, to link a coded Tx IR light beam into an adjacent Rx unit, which activates an alarm if the beam is interrupted.
FIGURE 8. Two simple ways of using mirrors in optoelectronic security applications.
In Figure 8(b), the mirror is angled at 45º and projects the Tx beam around a 90º corner and on to a remotely-placed Rx unit; this system can be used to protect an L-shaped corridor or two adjoining outside walls of a building, and is aligned by aiming the Tx beam directly at the mirror's Rx image.
Note that the image reflected by a simple mirror is reversed, left-to-right, as shown in Figure 9.
FIGURE 9. The image reflected by a simple mirror is reversed, left-to-right.
If you take Figure 9 and hold it in front of a mirror, you will see that all of its text is reversed in the reflected image, which is thus known as a 'virtual' (rather than real) image. While you are standing in front of the mirror, scratch your right ear; you will see that your virtual image is scratching its left ear.
If a mirror's reflection is viewed in a second mirror, the image that appears in the second mirror becomes real, rather than virtual. Try standing sideways in front of a large mirror, with a small mirror in your left hand; use the small hand mirror to view your image in the large mirror, and scratch your right ear; note that your image also scratches its right ear, but that if you look at your virtual images directly in either mirror, it is the left ear that is being scratched.
One of the most common applications of the above two-mirror technique is in simple periscopes, as illustrated in Figure 10. Figure 10(a) shows the basic construction of a conventional 'view-above' type of periscope. Here, the light from the scene that is being viewed strikes the upper mirror, is reflected downwards at an angle of 90º, and strikes the face of the lower mirror, which bends the light through another 90º, where it can be viewed by the eye of the observer. The resulting image is real, rather than virtual, and is seen from a perspective above the viewer's eye level.
FIGURE 10. A periscope presents a genuine (rather than 'virtual') image of a viewed scene.
The 'view-above' periscope of Figure 10(a) can be used as a 'view-below' type by turning it upside-down, as in Figure 10(b). View-below periscopes are often used in the movie and TV industries to obtain ground-level shots of small animals or of miniature (model) towns or battle scenes, etc., for use in various films/videos.
RETROREFLECTORS
A retroreflector is a passive device that automatically reflects a light's radiation back towards its source, irrespective of the light's precise angle of incidence. Devices of this type are widely used in reflective optoelectronic light-beam security alarms and barrier control systems, and do not have to be precisely aligned with the light-beam source.
Figure 11 shows a way of using two small mirrors (or mirror tiles) to make a device known as a cube corner retroreflector.
FIGURE 11. Basic construction of a simple 'cube corner' retroreflector.
The two mirrors are simply butted and taped together and set at an angle of 90º degrees by pressing them against the edges of a rectangular base (such as a soft-cover book).
If a light beam (or image) is aimed into the cube corner of this device from any point that is at right angles to the cube's vertical plane, and anywhere within ±35º of its central corner axis on the horizontal plane, the device automatically reflects the light (or image) back towards its source point. Figure 12 illustrates the unit's operating principle.
FIGURE 12. Diagram illustrating the functional operation of the cube corner retroreflector.
In Figure 12(a), the light beam is projected from a left-of-center source towards the retroreflector's corner, hits the LH mirror at an incident angle of (say) 75º, is reflected off again at 75º, hits the RH mirror at an incident angle of 15º, and is reflected off again at an angle of 15º, and heads back towards the source on a parallel path.
The light beam's total angular change is equal to the sum of the two incident and two reflection angles, and inevitably equals 180º. This same basic action is obtained in Figures 12(b) and (c), except that different incident and reflection angles are involved and that the Figure 12(c) illustration shows the beam bouncing from the RH mirror on to the LH one.
Note in Figure 12 that an imaginary line drawn centrally between the transmitted and returning parallel beams always hits the cube corner, and that the two beams thus lay symmetrically about this line. This action enables the cube corner retroreflector to produce some unusual visual effects when viewed in frontal elevation, as illustrated in Figure 13.
FIGURE 13. When viewed in frontal elevation, this retroreflector produces three images of an object.
In Figure 13, a three-dimensional, solid L-shaped model is turned around so that it is facing the retroreflector and is placed in front of its cube corner. Note that the LH mirror reflects the RH mirror, and vice versa, producing a 'mirror cube' reflection. The retroreflector produces virtual images of the object in both the LH and RH mirrors, and produces a true image of the object in the mirror cube.
The cube corner unit gives only one-dimensional (horizontal plane) retroreflection. An alternative design is the trihedral unit, which gives two-dimensional (vertical and horizontal planes) retroreflection of light beams.
Figure 14 shows the basic construction of this unit, which uses three diamond-shaped mirrors set at 120º to each other; the unit's action is such that a light beam entering its front is reflected through 180º in two dimensions by the mirror surfaces and then returns towards the source point on a parallel path.
FIGURE 14. Basic construction of a trihedral retroreflector.
Often, hundreds of miniature retroreflectors of this basic type are used in road-side signs, making them glow brilliantly in the headlights of passing vehicles.
Our next episode of this series will describe the action and applications of prisms and lenses. NV
The "Opto" In Optoelectronics
All articles in this series:
This first of four episodes on Optoelectronics deals with the basic nature and behavior of light, and with mirrors.
The basic nature and behavior of optical prisms and lenses. Part 2
The basic nature and behavior of fiber optic cables and communication systems. Part 3
The basic operating principles of LEDs and lasers in this final episode of the series. Part 4


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Home › Message in a Bottle (Snap Case)
Warner Manufacturing
Message in a Bottle (Snap Case)
Product Description They got a second chance at the love of a lifetime. Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn star in this tender tale of a romance sparked by the discovery of a love letter in a beached bottle. Amazon.com If, as they say, you're in a certain mood, Message in a Bottle can be just the ticket. Based on Nicholas Sparks's bestselling novel, this handsome but overly calculated romance tale stars Robin Wright Penn as Theresa, a Chicago Tribune researcher who finds a note encased in a green bottle that has floated onto a Cape Cod shore. The message within is a heartfelt, yearning declaration of love to a woman named Catherine, but the author is unknown until Theresa (rather improbably) tracks him down in North Carolina. He's Garret Blake (Kevin Costner), a taciturn builder of sailboats and a grieving widower whose late wife, poetically speaking, was the intended recipient of the seafaring note Theresa found. Theresa, a divorcée with a son, decides to meet Garret, only to find him as bottled-up as his message. Nevertheless, a romance blooms on the strength of quality time in a sailboat and lots of cuddling, though the script tosses in bits of conflict to keep their relationship spicy. Directed by Luis Mandoki ( When a Man Loves a Woman), this love story is entirely by the numbers, with Costner inhabiting (rather than performing) a stock fantasy of a man perfect in every way save his broken heart. Penn brings more vibrancy to her equally predictable part, but fortunately for all, Paul Newman, John Savage, Robbie Coltrane, and Illeana Douglas are on hand in nicely textured character parts. Sometimes predictability is exactly what one wants when settling in for an evening of home video, and this movie fits the bill nicely. The appealing cinematography is by ace cameraman Caleb Deschanel. --Tom Keogh

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Interview with author JAAP BOEKESTEIN by Dave Wolff
Interview with author JAAP BOEKESTEIN
When we started corresponding on Facebook you said your fiction writing encompasses everything from science fiction to fantasy to horror to crime to erotica.
Way back then I started with science fiction and fantasy, because that was what I was mostly reading at that time and I had way too little life experience to write about things I really had experienced and felt. But little geeks grow up and learn about the universe, life and themselves. Slowly but surely my field broadened. I did odd jobs like working for a detective agency and being a bouncer, I dug into alternative lifestyles, got stabbed, was set afire (by accident, it scared her way more than me) and worked for the Dutch penal system for a while (I've been in a LOT of jails). All this showed up in my writings. I started to write crime stories (or noir, or whatever you want to call them), and erotica for anthologies and zines. Although I read very little horror, I love to write the stuff. In my opinion you got two kind of horror writers: the ones who write horror to confront themselves with their own fears and phobias, and the ones who are just sick bastards who want to torture the reader. I seldom feel fear so you can figure out which kind of horror writer I am. Another reason for the wide range of (sub)genres, is that I like to try things. Am I enough of a writer to write Sherlock Holmes stories? Convincing lesbian erotica? Or gay erotica? Children stories, classic Gothic stuff, hard SF, sword & sorcery? Some genres are pretty funny, and I will return to them. Other genres are less interesting for me and I move on after proving to myself I can do it (or not, still haven't been able to write a convincing romance. It is so boring!).
You stated you write for the passion of it, not fame and fortune. Also that few writers achieve notoriety for their work.
Mine isn't a story of crushed dreams, I'm afraid. I've the advantage of being Dutch and the Dutch market is really small. When I started writing I looked around and realized right away that even the most successful Dutch fiction writers hardly could make a living from writing, and those guys and ladies were mainstream writers. Let alone for the tiny, tiny Dutch markets of science fiction, fantasy, horror or crime. Although I don't write for fame and fortune, I do like to be published. It's like: someone thinks the stuff that came from my mind is interesting enough to publish. Yeah! Of course if it's great if people like it, but for me that's just the cherry on top. Somehow for me it's more about recognition (being published) then fame (being well-known). Anyway, I always approached writing as a fun hobby, even when I started writing in English for real (in 2015). Sure, that is a much bigger market, but with way more competition. Besides, if you want to try to make a living as a writer, you will have to do novels. Although I've done five novels (in Dutch) I am a short story writer at heart. The fantasy novels where basically mosaic novels: a bunch of short stories about the same characters. Quite like the Sword books by Fritz Lieber, a writer who has had a huge influence on me.
How small exactly is the Dutch market when compared to the markets in the U.S. and other countries?
About twenty million people speak Dutch, which is peanuts compared to the English market. For me it isn't as much a question about how many potential readers I can reach, but about opportunities to be published. In the Netherlands there are about two to three zines for the fantastic genres and say two to four anthologies each year. I write about forty to fifty stories per year. The situation is even worse for crime and erotica. Even with several pen names I just had way too much stories for the market. And self-publishing isn't my thing. Too much hassle.
How many pen names have you written under over the years?
I think four or five, but the majority were one offs. The only I used for a while, was a female one, Claudia van Arkel. I wrote the more experimental stories under that name and it was a great way to explore different styles and themes. After a few years I stopped with the pen names and nowadays I write exclusively under my own name. Not matter what genre. At a time the stories of Claudia van Arkel were published way quicker than my own work, and damn! She was getting fan mail. From male fans, which was not something I had anticipated, or was hoping for. I could really have milked those guys dry, but no, I didn't. All the things I've done in English, are under my own name. Although crime publishers seem to prefer initials to full first names. So there are few crime stories out there by J.L. Boekestein instead of Jaap Boekestein. It is both me.
You were writing and publishing your fiction in Dutch for some time before writing and publishing in English. At what point did you switch and what were the reasons?
My first story was published in 1989 (I am that old) and at that time there were a handful of zines in Dutch around. During the years the number of publication possibilities dwindled and I started to translate stories to English. Basically for fun, because, hey it looks good to be published abroad. A writer friend of mine convinced me somewhere in 2015 to write directly in English and submit a story. To my surprise it was accepted and I suddenly realized I had a gigantic market with tons of anthologies and zines! That one anthology was never published because the guy behind it moved to Japan, but I started writing and sending of stories in earnest. English isn't my first language, but it holds up good enough to be accepted. So far I've had over fifty English publications in a wide range of sometimes pretty obscure publications.
Which Dutch zines consistently published your work in the early years of your writing career?
Well… There was a bit of a jinx. This was back in the late eighties, early nineties: pre-internet so you couldn't put your zine online. It was mostly xerox-copied stuff with good to awful artwork and names like Survival Magazine, Holland SF, Rakis, Ator Mondis, Cerberus, Manifesto Bravado, Xuensé. A lot zines seemed to fold right after they published one of my stories. I deny anything, but it sure was weird.
Are any of those magazines that published your earliest work still in print today? Do you still have copies of those published writings?
This is ancient stuff, nothing is in print anymore. I still have copies somewhere, and I've scans of the zines. Way easier to find! I scan all my publications. Heck, I scan all my papers. If my house burns down, I still have a backup of everything I've ever written.
Do you think local zines being short lived was a limitation on you promoting your work?
I just don't promote my work. I write the piece, sent it off and the story gets published or not. The payoff for me is the writing itself and the publication. I care little for what happens afterwards because I will not -and certainly do not want to- make a living from my writing. That would totally suck the joy out of it.
When you started writing in English, how many publications published your fiction pieces most consistently?
Not many, I guess, because basically I'm a publishing-slut: I will put out for almost anyone who will publish me. And I do a lot of anthologies. Come to think of it, I've been published quite a lot in the anthologies of Hellbound Books Publishing (Devils, Demons and Denizens of Hell, Volume 2, The Big Book of Bootleg Horror, Volume 2, Depraved Desires Volume I & II). They like my kind of kinky bizarro horror and we've become friends. All this is very much not the way to go if you want to be a 'serious' author which is commercially interesting for the big publishing houses. They need authors and work that will sell to the masses and this stuff is just too uncomfortable. Don't follow in my footsteps if you want to be the next Stephen King!
Were the anthologies you were published in offered for sale online? If so, how much did this help get your name around?
You can find most of them on Amazon, where I have an author page. Not to promote myself, but I'm vain and love to see all the publications together. I really don't know if I reached any readers, but I do know at least some small press publishers know my name. Some sub-genres are pretty small with the same names over and over again. So pretty soon you're a medium sized fish in a small pond.
Which fiction genres are you still pursuing after proving to yourself you can compile a story? How often do you feel you have nothing more to prove in that regard?
Well, I don't have a bucket list. I've a dozen sites I check daily for calls of submission and if anything looks interesting I put the details on my writing list. If I have the time and the energy I will write that story and sent it off. If it is accepted, yee! If not, I'll submit it somewhere else. What triggers me are the 'out there' themes. This year I've written Edgar Allan Poe erotica, tentacle erotica, Weird Western, vampire stuff, noir, bizarro horror, sword and sorcery. Still on my to do list for this year are Splatterpunk in space, Christmas Noir, a Las Vegas horror story, a Bondage story, 1980's trash, Cthulhu Mythos, Maid erotica, Consent and a few more. I sure hope to have time to write them all. What triggered me with Autoeroticasphyxium zine in the first place was the brilliant title and the artwork, so I sent you a story which I thought was a fit. Purely based on the title and drawings! Only later I read the blog and I loved it. Yeah, sometimes things work out in a weird way.
Which science fiction and fantasy authors were early inspirations when you started writing? Did any specific stories stand out to you in those days?
Besides Leiber's dark humor and undercurrent of dark eroticism, there was the colorful work of Jack Vance, the elegance of Clark Ashton Smith and the decadence of Tanith Lee. There is also this Dutch writer Robert van Gulik who wrote detectives in ancient China (Judge Dee), but he isn't well known outside the Netherlands. When I like a writer, I usually read all of his or her work. It's hard to point at a specific novel or story that stands out. I just don't have any favorite book, story, color, song, hero or such. I'm afraid writers like Stephen King, Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft or other big guns didn't do much for me. Neither can I really point at any crime writers which got me going. Sure, I read Chandler, Hammett and plenty of others, and I can appreciate a lot of authors, but they didn't really form as a writer.
What books by the authors you cited as influences would you suggest to the readers?
That's though, because these authors really were a start for me personally, but I haven't the faintest idea if anyone else would find them interesting nowadays. I guess some work of Fritz Leiber will interest some readers. He was on the periphery of the whole Lovecraft circle and there is a flavor of decadent darkness in his work which is pretty good. Don't expect gore, or the usual monsters. His villains are bad, but sometimes you want to be them. At least I wanted to be them as a kid!
I think I've heard of Clark Ashton Smith but I'm not completely certain.
He was a contemporary of Lovecraft and died sometime in the seventies, I think (Wikipedia knows). He only did short stories and a lot of poems. During his life he was more famous as poet then a fiction writer. Most of his stories are scoundrel fantasies set on several pe-historic continents. Like so many writers of the Lovecraft circle there are plenty of Mythos links in Smith's work. Of the big three of that clique (H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith) the work of Smith has not doubt the best style. Come to think of it, Smith was clearly inspired by partly the same source material as Poe and Lovecraft: the stories of 1001 nights and Vathek. My first published story was really a Clark Ashton Smith rip off. Like almost all writers, it took some time to find my own voice.
Why wasn't Robert van Gulik recognized outside the Netherlands? How would you rate him as a writer of detective fiction?
I suspect a host of reasons. Maybe Robert van Gulik did not want to put in the marketing effort, or he had a bad agent, or the English market in the 1960's wasn't ready for historical whodunnits set in ancient China. Fair to say, in the Netherlands he was popular until the late 1980's, after which his work dwindled pretty much into obscurity. Most of it is written in the 1950's and 1960's and it is a bit old fashioned. Like the work of Agatha Christie or such. What attracted me wasn't as much the crime element, but the very convincing portrayal of life in the Ming dynasty. He knew how to make an utterly alien world alive and accessible, what I've always tried to do with my own fantasy work. Robert van Gulik was a China-specialist, spoke the language and knew a great deal about Chinese history. And he wrote a study called: Erotic Colour Prints of the Ming Period: With an Essay on Chinese Sex Life from the Han to the Ch'ing Dynasty, B.C. 206-A.D. 1644. A Dutch university has a copy and a friend of mine once got permission to study the book.
What can you say of the writings by Jack Vance and Tanith Lee? Are their writings still relevant today?
Both have their fans, but very few dead authors stay relevant. Public tastes move on and artists are a product of their time. I've both met them at conventions and I loved and love their work, for different reasons, but I doubt they influence a lot of new writers nowadays. Yes, at this day and age the work of deceased writers stays available by digital means: no more hunting for second had copies or trying to find that one anthology or zine. But when everything is available it's pretty difficult to find the gems. As Sturgeon said: 90% of everything is crude.
What by Fritz Lieber have you read, and what do his published books offer horror fiction?
I've almost read all his books. I would recommend his Sword-series if you like scoundrels. There is plenty of horror in his short stories and of course the novels Conjure Wife and Our Lady of Darkness. And his sci fi novel The Wanderer is pretty interesting and certainly has its dark moments. The thing to remember is that Leiber is subtle. The blood doesn't ooze from the walls, the maniac isn't breaking down the door. Somehow he manages to put the horror in the possibility of the blood oozing from the walls and the danger of the maniac on the other side of the door. He's an acquired taste and in this day and age he will probably feel rather old fashioned.
How much of an inspiration has Edgar Allan Poe had on you as a writer?
I read everything of Poe, which is one of the early giants of the genre. As a starting writer you really need to read him, just like Lovecraft. He had a subtle sense of humor, which I like, as his sense of the bizarre. What didn't work for me was the whole Gothic doom and madness approach. I like my characters to go down fighting instead of complaining. The world is full of day to day horrors, and most people accept them and go on with their life. Romanticism with its suffering and moaning about destiny and lost loves, doesn't do it for me. So yeah, Edgar Allan Poe influenced me, because he influenced a lot of writers I read (and don't forget those great movies with Vincent Price et al), but I think it was mostly indirectly.
How did Lovecraft and his published works help to inspire your writing?
I started with Lovecraft pretty late; style and theme wise he did nothing for me. I don't care for the whole "it's terrible that we humans are insignificant in an indifferent universe" thing. The Mythos as a shared universe is great but that was never Lovecraft's real aim. He and his fellow writers started it for fun and it grew from there. I like to write Mythos stories every now and then, but they are pretty far removed, theme-wise, from the original works. I have people entering R'lyeh through BDSM, or Cthulhu worshippers stray from the path because they run into a funny, seductive dominatrix. So did Lovecraft inspire me? Only as far that there is this big story universe with plenty of interesting places to visit.
How would you say your Mythos fiction compares to that of Lovecraft and other authors you have read?
Most Mythos writers love to make their own Elder God and forbidden book. I couldn't resist to invent the Liber Buckesteynus as a joke, but there is such a multitude of Ancient Ones that I stayed away from making one up. A lot has been done with the Mythos by a lot of different writers. The one thing that connects my Mythos stories, is that none of my characters really get excited about all the old aliens and ultimate secrets. That stuff is usually going on in the background and my characters are busy leading their own lives. They want money or power or love and the cults and monsters are just a way of getting it. In my stories the mythos is mundane, because everything becomes mundane if it is around long enough in people's lives. One tale is about a cultist who is bored because his mother makes him go to these endless rallies where they pray for the end of the world by the hands of some ancient, sleeping, gigantic alien. He would rather go to all those weird and scary and mysterious BDSM-parties where people do all kinds of interesting stuff. I'm pretty sure Lovecraft would have hated my take on things…
How much vampire fiction did you write this past year? Did you draw inspiration from any particular eras or use your own imagination?
The fun thing is that I recently did some vampire erotica stories, which were really my first serious vampire stories ever. I think I've done three so far, mostly to prove to myself I can write them, and because vampire erotica anthologies keep turning up looking for stories. For a long time, as a writer, I had the same problem with vampires as I did with dragons: the traditional vampire who is super powerful and can infect anyone, is unbeatable in the real world. Are as dragons. They are too damn strong to make sense. Only when I started making vamps considerably weaker, I could create a believable world where they could exist. My inspiration for vampires was painfully limited: Dracula (I read the damn book about three or four times) and way to many Anne Rice vampire-novels. Oh, and Kim Newman excellent Anno Dracula-series. Of course I've seen scores of vampire flicks. Some of them were entertaining enough, but the only one that really inspired me, was Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. I guess it was the dames in corsets that worked for me.
What about the storyline and character development in Coppola's Dracula was an inspiration to you?
Francis Ford Coppola gave Dracula a background story, which I thought really worked for a modern audience. We want some meat on the bones of our villains nowadays. But in the movie I think Coppola struggles with the fact that Bram Stoker had so many male characters. You got the three suitors of Lucy, you have Mina's husband and of course dirty old Van Helsing. That makes five good guys, which is way too many for a movie and even for a book. Probably Bram Stoker choose three suitors because three is a powerful number and Dracula has three brides, but poor Quincy Moris (the American) does little more than waving his Bowie knife and dying. And after his ordeal in Dracula's castle, Jonathan Parker becomes a non-entity in the story. What I liked in the movie was the beautiful cinematography, Gary Oldman's performance and -oh god!- the extremely hot Sadie Frost. And Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Professor Van Helsing. In horror there are only two famous Dutch characters: Professor Van Helsing, and the Flying Dutchman. I've used them both in stories.
How do you view action packed vampire movies such as Blade, Underworld and Van Helsing?
I love them for what they are: entertainment. They absolutely have their faults, but shoot, watching Wesley Snipes dusting vampires (Blade), or Kate Beckinsale run around in black gleaming body suits (Underworld) or a corset (Van Helsing) is fun! Which doesn't mean I can't appreciate the artier vampire movie. The Hunger with Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie was great. I'm not a vampire acolyte, but I like them well enough. Thematically they usually are a lot more interesting than slashers or torture porn. Which may sound a bit strange, because I'm no stranger to describing torture in my horror stories.
What did you like about The Hunger when you saw it? What do you think was unique about that movie?
Definitely it 1980's aesthetics, but also the theme of aging and decay. Most vampire movies focus on the bloodsucking and fighting the vampires. In The Hunger the vampires where brutal but you could see why. Blood is survival. Come to think of it, Only Lovers Left Alive did the same in a more mellow way. Also a nice movie.
Are you interested in any movies from the zombie genre, anything from the 1970s to the present day?
I dig the Romero-movies, and I love Shaun Of The Dead, but most of the zombie genre does not appeal to me. The whole nihilistic approach most zombie-movies have, is just depressing. World War Z was rather boring after close escape numero zillion and The Walking Dead are not really about zombies but is just a pretty unrealistic survival story. The Resident Evil movies are fun, bet hey, pretty babe fights and shoots gory monsters. What is not to like?
Would you ever consider writing a screenplay for a vampire or zombie movie?
It would be a challenge. I've haven't done any real zombie stories yet because I've haven't found an original take on zombies. Making them conscious with feelings feels like cheating. In my eyes they just aren't zombies anymore.
How many Western based pieces have you written to date?
Exactly one, which is the story I've done earlier this year. And this was Weird Western: a Western setting in combination with supra-natural elements. Like Stephen King's Gunslinger. My story is about ghosts stopping at a saloon on their way to Hell. I've submitted it and now it's playing the waiting game. Maybe I will write more (Weird) Westerns if an interesting anthology comes riding into town. Who knows?
How would you define what you termed as bizarro horror? How many fiction pieces of this theme have you worked on?
Don't shoot me if I get this wrong! As far as I can see, is bizarre horror the kind of horror that includes ultra-nasty psychological, sexual and body elements. I've done stories were people want to feel living metal everywhere in their body, were an ancient Death-God initiates an acolyte with his nails, or a fetish party where glass shards rip open latex and flesh. How many did I write? God… about twenty so far. I don't freak out about bodily functions, so I'm comfortable to write in excruciating detail about whatever nastiness I've come up. I do this grinning, because I know some reader will feel sick, or aroused, or sick because he/she is aroused.
How many of your personal experiences, if any, were written into your crime fiction? Do you feel comfortable relating those experiences in your work?
Of course there is the theory that you can learn an author's character by reading his work, and I pretty much believe that is true. At least in my case. I write about what interests me. My characters think and react, up to some level, how I think and react. Of course I don't go around killing people or such, but when I write about it, it is me doing that shit. On paper, but it's me. Over the years I've used plenty of my own experiences in my stories. Little details from the several jobs I held, plenty of things I experienced with friends and at parties. I've been stabbed back in 2009 and I used that in several stories. I don't mind and I don't see it as some therapeutic exercise. Those things make unique, good stories and I'll use them gladly. Maybe I'm just an exhibitionist (all writers are), I sure am a sadist, and I just don't dwell in the past too much. It happened, I survived, and hopefully I learned a few things. And why not use it? It sure is much easier than making up things! The protagonist in my story Rabbit Burns is a kinky Vietnamese stripper with a big mouth and cynic outlook on live. I couldn't have written about her, if I wasn't familiar with those elements. I'm pretty cynical, she is based on several friends and I am familiar enough with her lifestyle to write about in convincingly. Right now I've written about ten stories about her, which has a word count of 46,000. If I reach the point of 50k+ words, I'm thinking of hammering it into a kinky noir novel and trying to flog it. Probably small press because I doubt 'kinky noir' is anything for the bigger publishers.
How did you come up with the idea for the Rabbit Burns series?
It all started with an anthology which wanted stories about Texan P.I.s in an unusual Texan setting. I've never been to Texas and to hide my ignorance, I decided to take a character most people knew little about themselves. Hence a second generation Vietnamese woman living and working in Houston. I decided to throw in some elements I actually knew a bit about, so she became a stripper with a kinky hobby. For that first story she gets hired by her uncle, who has lost his wedding ring with some dominatrix. He can't go to the cops, and he can't find the lady, so he goes to the black sheep of the family and hires her to find the dominatrix and his ring. Sadly the story was rejected for that anthology. Later on it was published somewhere else. I actually quite liked the foul mouthed stripper babe (Gee, why?) and I wrote some more stories.
Did you base the characters in the Rabbit Burns novels on people you knew in real life?
Definitely! The black guy is a former Dom of a lady friend of mine, the white Sam is 90% a girl I know and Samurai Girl is a combination of two half Asian lady friends, a no limit dominatrix (She is a fun girl and I tease her merciless, I am one of the few guys who is not scared of her), plus some other friends and a shot of myself. I don't set out to write people I know into stories, but looking back at a story, I can usually tell what I took from real life and put in. I guess it just makes better characters.
How soon do you expect the next installment of Rabbit Burns to be completed?
It really depends if I can fit her in one of the stories I want to write for one of the anthologies. There is this Christmas noir anthology, but so far three different starts with this lady didn't work, which usually is a sign to move on. But she will show up, sometime, somewhere.
Of all the genres you have written in, which have you gotten the most from?
That used to be fantasy, but currently its bizarro horror. There are no limits in that genre and you can go as deep and dark as you want. You want to focus on graphic body horror? Sure. You want to put in some perverted erotica? No problem. A sophisticated, twisted universe? There you are.
Do you have any ideas in mind for splatterpunk in space and Christmas noir?
For splatterpunk in space I see aliens with tentacles and a zero-G environment with thousands of decaying human corpses. It won't be pretty. Right now I'm out of ideas for the Christmas noir story, but something will show up. I mean: happy happy Christmas in combination with the desperation and angst of noir? That is a delicious combination!
Are there other fictional genres besides those we've covered you would consider trying out?
Only a fool says he has no limits, but anything legal I am willing to give it at least a try, if the challenge is interesting enough. Which doesn't mean I wholeheartedly embrace the ideology of any genre. I can do a furry story, without being a furry. Or some religious piece, while being an atheist. Now, that sounds like I'm ready to write anything, but the reality is that in the field of science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime and erotica there are more than enough interesting calls for submissions to keep me busy. For me writing is about having fun. Sure, I like to try out new things, but there isn't some career path or bucket list. I see plenty of fellow-writers who get frustrated because their work doesn't sell, in spite of having done a ton of promotion and such. I respect they have ambitions and dreams, but I have neither and that works just fine for me.
Are you thinking up any ideas for a new series of novels to start writing?
I tried many times, and I just get bored around 20,000 words. I'm definitely a short story writer. Ideas are never the problem. That's what you get from starting out in science fiction, which is a real idea genre. On regular basis I write science fiction stories with a writer friend, Tais Teng. When we are together it's a barrage of ideas. Our minds really feed on each other. That only seems to work for science fiction and fantasy. Individually we both write horror, but it just doesn't work together. We are thinking of doing a noir story together, and I really look forward to that. Can we use all those ideas and energy to write dark crime stories? We will find out soon.
Anything you have in mind as far as new short stories?
Right now I should be working on for stories with deadlines at the end of June, but somehow I just can't get into the right groove to write them. Luckily I write for fun so when that happens, I just pick a story I really want to write. I'm working on a manga-like story with robots, cyborgs, demons in warp space, psy-mutants and inquisitors. We will see where it will lead me.
How much research have you been doing for the manga piece you have in mind?
About five minutes. Did the name of my main character already exist? (No.) And how do maids look like in manga? (Pretty much as I remembered: cute, big-eyed and innocent-sexy.) I always have had a slight fetish (one of a zillion of my slight fetishes) for French Maids, so I know how one looks and behaves (in fiction at least). This won't be a fetish story, but an anthology like this, will play with those elements. I put her in a steampunk-like environment with an Empire, a military caste, big ass space ships and weird races and villains, and the story writes itself pretty much. My character will be cleaning, saving the world end taking revenge for the death of the love of her life. I have fun tremendous fun writing this because it is very much over the top.
To be honest, nowadays most of my research takes about ten minutes, or thirty minutes tops. Things are way easier to find with on internet, and I by now I know what I need to lie convincingly to my reader. I know what I want to tell and details are color locale, they are not the story. The longer you write, the easier it gets. At least, for me it is.
How soon do you expect this new fictional endeavor to be released officially?
I've no idea. The deadline is somewhere in October this year. If the story is accepted and the anthology goes through it will be 2019. Having a story accepted, or even have signed contract doesn't always mean the story will be published. Plenty of small press and zines go bust. It's pretty frustrating because that means a story can be out of circulation for two years or longer, but I've learned to take it into account. My deal is: if accepted but there is no contract and no communication for over a year, the story is submitted somewhere else.
If you could be remembered as a fiction writer years from now, in what way would you want people to remember?
That dirty, funny Dutch uncle who enjoyed life to the max.
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Labels: AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
Fiction: RABBIT BURNS by Jaap Boekestein
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Nice clean original Indy 500. Playing great with no errors. Great cabinet and playfield. fade on the left side.
These are tlsbryan's all time market stats.
Great game & really nice condition. Someone will be very happy with this. GLWS.
According to a Congo price check thread I was reading yesterday Indy 500 is a $4K game. GLWTS.
trying to send PM but I keep getting an error??
Very good price for this game. It won't last long.
Put me on the interested list if it falls through with the others.
Not even close to a 4K game..
low to mid 3's max for a very nice game.
PM system seems to be down. I tried to send a PM (not for this game) and got an error for that too.
Anyways if anyone wants to buy from this seller a call or text is the way to go. He usually responds to those quick, not so much Pinside messages.
Was 2800 and it is sitting in my living room.
The number of people trying to contact the op seems to point out that this is not just 2800 dollar game. If it were the interest would not be so great or so fast.
GL to the op though it is a beauty.
Let me know when you're tired of that one! Maybe we can work out another trade or something.
It is fairly priced and if anything one selling last week for the same price is indicative of that.
I ran across and decided to buy it within 20 minutes of it being posted. Whysnow wasn't far behind. If a game sells quickly, chances are the price was low. If it sits for awhile then the price is probably high.
Have someone throw out a nice example at 3500 and see how long it takes to sell. That would be the real way to find out what the market says about it.
I was only interested because I know Kurt well and have bought multiple games from him. Plus it is a day trip to get the game. Kurt is one of those guys where I have bought sight unseen and had no problems at all.
I am interested but not clamoring to buy this title for more than current market (2500-3000). I can appreciate your desire to feel like you got some crazy good deal (we all like to feel like that), but you got a fair price based on condition of the game. Kurt is always solid like that.
It became a $3800 game once you got it home lol. I'd say $2700 or $2800 either way is good deal.
I can appreciate your desire to feel like you got some crazy good deal (we all like to feel like that), but you got a fair price based on condition of the game.
Crazy good deal is snagging an 800 dollar sopranos or trading a player's gofers + 400 for a tricked out STTNG. Indy was a good deal, but I bought it, because I live in Indy and used to drive by the track every single day.
As for what its worth I am judging by what they have been going for in my neck of the woods. Could be biased considering the track is here. Then again people say great price on machines that take weeks to sell. So, until someone tries to sell one for mid 3's on here, let's just say we will have to disagree.
I would pay $3500 for a beautiful one. If there is any fade or wear I would not pay more than $2800.
2700-2800 is pretty much the going rate on a nice condition fully functioning I500 in the midwest. 2 in 2 weeks just on Pinside makes that pretty clear.
back on topic >> tlsbryan, hit me up and lets work this out.
You don't see this game for sale under 3k unless its trashed. Someone is getting a great deal here. Awesome game, one of my favorites.
This would be a nice game to grab, seems I am low man on the list here.
Sold mine to a local guy on here for $3k a few weeks ago. I told him I wouldn't take a penny less than that and he obliged. I would have listed it for $3400 had I been trying to sell. He came to me.
PM didn't seem to be going through today. Game sold pretty quick this morning via the first text. Have a few others available for those interested. Beautiful Jackbot, a teed off, sega harley, demolition man. Hit me up.
Nah, sale would be a last resort. Eventually want to move to all sterns so would try and trade for a rbion, bbh, avatar pro. Not in a hurry though. The game surprised me for being fun and it is quick, feels much faster than the STTNG sitting next to it. Picard maneuver can be fast, but does not compare to the speed of doing the left orbit to turbo shot.
I recently paid $3500 for a really nice example with No fade, so this one is priced right in my book.
Already looking for another RBION, shouldn't have gotten rid of that last one you had.
Hah, I seem to want to move away from the Sterns. Local place has pretty much every new Stern, even getting a NIB Avatar and X-Men LE recently.
I once offered 4400 for a no fade, mint example and was outbid. Then I restored one myself and probably spent more than that on it.
This game is incredible. IMO one of the best.
Whoever got this one should be pleased.
I never considered buying one until I played it at The Sanctum in CT. It's super fun and fast. Has a strong fun appeal like WCS but only 1/4 of the production so much more rare. Completely underrated game because most people have never played it.
Just got one and absolutely love it.
Its a ok game I really couldn't get into it unfortunately and no one else cld either so it had to go .
as most here know, it is a very fast and challenging game, and does take the right strategy to complete all four objectives, with winning the race by far the toughest (and there is a bug in the code relative to that bit me one time and really pissed me off). Too bad it does not have a true wizard mode. It is one of those games that I need to play a couple of games on before I can find the groove and actually have a good game.
I have had a really nice one for a few years, supposed to go to a buddy in Detroit as his first pin (he is a huge race fan and has been to something like 35 straight Indy 500s), but have yet to have room in my SUV when I've been there to visit. I'll miss it when it finally goes, but not a game that is a 'must keep', but right now don't know anyone else who has one, so, will be bummed when it leaves (whenever that may happen). Don't think I have ever seen one at expo.
Indy 500 owners wish. Congo isn't a 4k game either. Unless you ask an owner.
this is priced about right. For me it's to far. If it was in my backyard maybe. But after a 15-20 hour roadtrip, it becomes not a great deal anymore. Nice shape tho. If it didn't have the fade on the one side, it would have been a great deal.
It's true. No real wizard mode is a downer. It doesn't make me dislike the game. But it would've been cool to have a "victory lap" meltable wizard mode with say a 30 second ball saver. Hit as many ramps as possible for jackpots. Don't kill me for an analogy but like Monopoly's land grab.
Still I think the reason it ends after winning the 500 is it's meant to be more like a race. Once it's over, it's over.
I miss having I500. True love/hate experience. Either it'll make you a better player or you'll smash the glass.
One of my all time favorites. I own one and it's awesome. Super fast and hard, fun to mod (I've added several scale cars and checkered flag side panel art and flipper covers) and is just a great pin experience.
I just sold a very nice one for 3200, a bunch of you have seen it. no fade at all. i dig the turbo and the race car in the upper right that acts almost like a shaker motor. It was also the brightest most beautiful game in my collection. we just would always avoid playing it for whatever reason. thinking back one thing that I really didn't like was the ball launch and the backwards oriented ball lock up in the middle there. that lock just catches the ball if it's bouncing around randomly. I never saw a shot that I could make to intentionally get it in there. then once it went it it was just the same sequence. catch, pop it up into the middle lock, collect your reward, wait for it to kick out to the pops. just my take as I try to analyze why some games last and some don't.
but it doesn't really, you have the four items to do, including 200 laps and getting to first place (others being start all modes and get through the flashing standup targets X times, which is really something that just happens vs focusing on it -- getting souvenirs pretty key to that), but finish any and you keep playing. Really pissed me off one time when I got the big gain of 'passing cars' from gasoline alley, and that got me to first place, but it did not light the victory shot. Not like I get to first place very often, that is by far the toughest of the four objectives.
After all of this i500 talk, you know that is the game I'll be playing tonight.
This is a no brainer someone getting a great game that's looks to be in very good condition. Owned a little over a year, I've never won, I got to checked flag for modes last week and bombed out, got to 197 laps and bombed out also.
OR...so many sellers are overpricing pins that there's simply an abundance of demand for correctly priced ones.
I had no shortage of people wanting to buy my LOTR recently and still feel that I priced it correctly.
There was a nice indy 500 on ebay in Mass that went unsold and I made the guy an offer but my sale of something else fell through and I wound up not getting it. It also said I was 180 miles away which I thought was not too bad but in reality it was really like 280 miles. I have the guys contact info if anybody is interested, pm me.


Tammy will be a featured guest at Boskone, New England's longest-running sci-fi & fantasy convention! The event will be hosted at the Westin Waterfront Hotel in Boston, and membership rates are available through January 16th, after which, registration will only be available at full price.
For schedules, information, and registration, head to the Boskone website!


WHITEFISH, Mont. (JTA) – Until last year, Rabbi Francine Green Roston was among the Conservative movement's rising stars.
The first woman in the movement to head a congregation with more than 500 members, Roston, the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth El in South Orange, New Jersey, also published Op-Eds in local newspapers, gave talks at the Jewish Theological Seminary and more than once had a sermon cited in The New York Times.
But after nine years in the pulpit, Roston was burnt out. She wanted a break from synagogue politics, working weekends and putting communal needs ahead of her family.
So about a year ago, Roston and her husband moved with their two children to this Montana city of 6,000 near Glacier National Park, about an hour from the Canadian border. Now, instead of spending her mornings at synagogue services, Roston might be kayaking, hiking or walking her dog on a mountain trail. Most precious of all, Roston says, she gets to sit down and have a home-cooked dinner with her kids, a 12-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter, every night.
Despite its name, there's nothing really Jewish about Whitefish, a place best known for the 6,817-foot ski mountain that carries its name.
But as Roston starts her second year here, she's finding herself drawn back into Jewish leadership. Over the last year, she has organized Jewish holiday celebrations and made Shabbat services and potluck dinners a regular monthly event. She's also been instrumental in facilitating a new, unified Jewish community for the roughly 100 known Jewish households in Whitefish and nearby Kalispell, where there long has been a Reform community but only sporadic meet-ups and no synagogue building. On June 30, Kalispell and Whitefish voted to create a new combined community called Glacier Jewish Community-B'nai Shalom.
Though Roston is positioning herself as the rabbinic leader of this unaffiliated congregation without walls or membership dues, she is not looking to re-create a rabbinic pulpit so much as to become a facilitator of Jewish life in a place that hasn't seen much of it before.
In Roston's vision, that means organizing not just services and holiday celebrations but also challah-baking workshops at the local bakery, Jewish storytelling at a local coffee shop, a biweekly Torah study class at a Kalispell diner, an Israeli film showcase and even a Jewish music festival.
Living as a committed Jew in Whitefish is not without its challenges. For one thing, there's no kosher meat or chicken here. Roston has visitors bring her supplies whenever possible or she splurges on shipments from Grow and Behold, the Brooklyn-based supplier of pasture-raised kosher meat. She is already trying to figure out how to provide proper bagels for her son's bar mitzvah next year.
For another, there are almost no Jews. Roston's kids went from a Solomon Schechter day school in New Jersey to Montana public schools, where her son waited weeks before he felt comfortable enough to disclose his religion to his classmates.
Though Whitefish is home to the white supremacist Richard B. Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute ("dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of European people in the United States and around the world"), Roston says her family hasn't experienced any anti-Semitism in Montana — just curiosity.
Roston's husband, Marc, an investment and private equity consultant, has kept his career, and like many professionals who move here spends a lot of time on airplanes and on the phone. When he has an hour or two of downtime between work calls, he'll often steal away for a quick hike or bike ride or, in winter, skiing at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
"I get to ski like other people go to the gym," he said.
There are other differences to living in Montana. Nobody honks – ever. Roston does recall that Marc was backing up once and a pickup truck gave him a gentle warning beep. The driver then got out of his vehicle to apologize.
Northwest Montana is almost entirely white and Christian, but Roston says her kids experience more political and socioeconomic diversity than they did back East. When her son brought matzah to school on Passover, a few of his friends said they had gotten some boxes of it from the local food bank.
The main things that drew the Rostons to Whitefish were the slow pace of life, friendliness and access to nature. On clear days, the family can see a couple of the 25 glaciers left in the national park from the deck of the new house they bought here a year ago. The park is renowned for its emerald lakes, copious bear sightings and Logan Pass, which at 6,646 feet marks the continental divide and is a favorite spot for sledding as late as the Fourth of July.
Roston says it's all been a welcome break from the pulpit.
As for her children, Roston says Whitefish has been good for their Jewish identity.
Though she sometimes misses the rich Jewish life available on the East Coast, Roston says the move was worth it overall.
"Your Jewish life is what you make it," she said.


text: Q: Dynamic Sitemap Django for not use model and only use api Please help me. I am developing odoo ecommerce project. I use frontend with Django framework and backend with python. I give api from backend to Django frontend. Please let me know how to write dynamic sitemap. I am not have model to import and only use api.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Users can now watch the world's first VR ballet from the imperial box of one of Europe's oldest theaters - the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.
Users of Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift can now have the same experience as the Russian tsars once did, and watch ballet in the lavish interiors of the Alexandrinsky Theater, but from the comfort of their homes.
A VR film made during the Dance Open International Ballet Festival in St Petersburg is now available with the Prosense app.
The Dance Open International Ballet Festival is an annual event, the largest in Russia and one of the leading cultural festivals in Europe.
The gala concert of world ballet stars shot by the VR filmmakers was held in April. Principal dancers from the Bolshoi Theater, Ballet La Scala, the San Francisco Ballet, the Royal Ballet of Covent Garden and many other stars participated in the event.
The program presented a variety of styles - classic, modern and avant-garde – as well as all the newest and best performances over the past year from different countries.
The Alexandrinsky Theater, where the performance took place, is on UNESCO's list of cultural heritage sites. To create the illusion of a view from the Tsar's box, filmmakers used special visual effects. The film was shot during regular performances with an audience present. The main camera was located directly in front of the stage, while others were positioned to the left and right of it, and in the rows near the stage.
"VR technology is often used for sporting events," said Ekaterina Galanova, founder and head of the Dance Open International Ballet Festival. "This is innovative for ballet, and users will experience the effect of an absolute presence in the theater; they can literally see and feel everything that is happening there."


This morning, I made a little rhubarb simple syrup; tonight, I'm having a little cocktail moment.
Sweet and tart and minty fresh. Rhubarb mojito.
Simmer all three ingredients in a saucepan for about 15 minutes, or until the rhubarb is fully soft. Pour the hot liquid and fruit (okay, yeah, it's technically a vegetable) over a fine-gauge strainer into a bowl. I resisted the urge to try to speed things up by smooshing it through with a spoon, but if you don't mind cloudy syrup, have at it. You could always strain it again through cheesecloth, I suppose.
Pour the shockingly, delightfully pink syrup into clean glass bottles or jars. They'll keep in the fridge for weeks (mine never last that long). If you want to put them up for longer-term storage, you could hot-water-process them for 10 minutes. Rhubarb syrup's a delicious tart-sweet addition to seltzer, cocktails, or even in salad dressings.
And don't toss those solids, either. They're ugly—because the color mostly leaches out into the syrup—but they're still tasty. Heck, they're basically a rustic jam. So go ahead, spread them on toast or spoon them into greek yogurt.
Tear or muddle the mint leaves into a small rocks glass. Add crushed ice, rhubarb syrup, and rum. Stir. Top off glass with club soda or seltzer and a squeeze of lime.
Jenny, you won't even believe how brilliant that syrup is. I think the Instagram filter actually toned it DOWN.
Is it 5 pm yet? So thirsty!


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Home » City Life
The Grinches who steal Christmas
Austin makes naughty list as one of worst metros for porch pirates
Saving our feathered friends
New lights-out initiative takes flight in Austin to protect birds
back on the rails?
New Austin light-rail project could remove cars from The Drag
One potential design could remove car traffic entirely from The Drag. Courtesy of Project Connect via KVUE
KVUE — The Austin Transit Partnership, created to act on behalf of Capital Metro and the City of Austin, held two workshops on Wednesday, December 8 for the public to share their input on a light-rail line coming to The Drag in the future.
The light rail would run through the section of Guadalupe Street that divides the University of Texas from West Campus. It will be part of the Orange Line, a 20-mile light-rail line that would operate along North Lamar Boulevard and Congress Avenue from the Tech Ridge park-and-ride at Howard Lane south to Slaughter Lane.
The Orange Line is part of Project Connect, a massive voter-approved transit plan for the city of Austin. CapMetro wants input from University of Texas students, staff, and faculty, along with community members.
Two different potential designs were presented at the workshop: an option including the rail and a traffic lane in each direction, and another including the light rail and no traffic lanes.
Option A includes the light rail and one bus/traffic lane in each direction. This layout would mean narrower sidewalks and no separated bike lanes. The traffic lanes could create slowdowns for all traffic in the area, according to the information sheet provided. Bus-to-rail transfers are more direct in this option.
Option B features a transit mall with no traffic lanes or dedicated bus lanes. However, it may be possible for buses to share the light rail guideway. Bus-to-rail transfers with this option may be less direct.
One in-person workshop was held at the William C. Powers Student Activity Center on the UT campus on Wednesday afternoon, December 8. A second workshop was held in a virtual format the same evening at 5:30 pm.
According to the Project Connect website, the Orange Line was identified as one of the dedicated-pathway, high-capacity transit corridors in the project.
Continue reading this story and watch the video on KVUE.
Four Points: An area expert sums up this quartet of neighborhoods


If you have been to any of my other Web sites you know that they all deal with strong emotional issues, in one way or another they have been a part of my life. So I wanted to do a site that was less stressful and more fun to do. So here is where you will find out more about me and my family, and the things that I like.
I have purchased the software Paint Shop Pro and after this site is completed I want to start working on making my own graphics for my sites. I have found such wonderful graphics to use on my pages and thank those whole heartedly for the use of these graphics but I want to be able to make and use my own one day.
As I have learned in the past, I am trying to eliminate the use of to many graphics for it takes so long for a page to load. Also, I am not using any guest books on these sites. In my own opinion they have been to much of a headache to keep up with. I feel that if you want to comment or have a question then you can just email, which is provided on every page I do.
If you can be so kind, if you run across any broken links please report them to me. No one including myself likes it when you run across broken links.
Last but not least, if I did not give proper credit to anyone for the use of graphics or poems please email and I will do so.


As the title suggests, this book covers the top 25 flyable historic military aircraft in the world today but it is more than that. It not only gives you a complete and detailed coverage of the chosen aircraft, the 39 page introduction also gives you a background on how the interest in recovering, restoring and flying ex-military aircraft began and the industry that now supports it.
The individual aircraft themselves are diverse and include both machines from the Allied and Axis forces of WWII as well as WW1 and between the wars ones of the RAF.
Each aircraft is devoted its own chapter. Each chapter is between one and six pages with most having three. Some of the coverage is thumb-nail in type but the vast majority tells the whole story of the aircraft from when it first rolled out of the factory, through its service life and abandonment, and of its restoration.
�span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7.0pt; font-family: Times New Roman"> North American Mustang P-51C 42-103831 � N10204 "Ina The Macon Belle"
�span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7.0pt; font-family: Times New Roman"> Boeing B-29A Superfortress 44-62070 � N529B "FIFI"
�span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7.0pt; font-family: Times New Roman"> Consolidated B-24 Liberator 44-44052 � N224J "All American"
It is lavishly illustrated with both black and white and beautifully composed colour photographs. The photographic coverage is more that just the aircraft listed above as the introduction features a whole lot more. Seekers of cockpit and under-the-hatch photos will be delighted with the clarity of the photographs.
The book is 208mm x 215mm in size and comprises of 128 glossy pages between thin cardboard covers.
Thoroughly recommended for modellers seeking detail photos as well as anyone with an interest in historic aircraft.


Turn right at the first set of traffic lights into Freiherr-vom-Stein-Straße. The main entrance to thecampus of the German University of Administrative Sciences is located here, on which the FÖV site is situated.
You can also turn right at the end of the street into Otto-Mayer-Straße. After about 200 metres you will find the FÖV and faculty building (level with the bus stop). The main entrance is located at the back of the building.
You will find parking places by the main entrance of the German University of Administrative Sciences (Freiherr-vom-Stein-Straße 2), next to the FÖV and faculty building (Otto-Mayer-Straße), or 300 metres further behind the Otto Mayer halls of residence at the end of the same street.
From the ICE station Mannheim Central Station there is a twice hourly connection to Speyer by city train (S-Bahn routes 3 and 4). The journey time is around 25 minutes. Current train schedules can be found on the timetable information section on the Deutsche Bahn website.
Speyer train station is located around 3 km away from the university. We recommend taking a taxi or the number 561 bus. The journey time from the stop "Bahnhof" (Bus stop 1) to the stop "Verwaltungshochschule" (main entrance located on Freiherr-vom-Stein-Straße) or "Landesarchiv/-bibliothek" (entrance to the faculty building/research institute and to the university halls of residence on Otto-Mayer-Straße) is around 15 minutes. The buses run daily from 6:17 am until 7:47 pm every half hour (until 7:17 pm at the weekend). The timetable for all city bus routes can be found on the timetable information section of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (VRN) website.


McNeal, Sports & Wilson Risk Advisers provides insurance to technology service businesses in Waycross, Blackshear, Patterson, Alma, Hoboken, Jesup, and surrounding areas.
With such a wide range of potential protection plans, it's important that you contact an insurance specialist at McNeal, Sports & Wilson Risk Advisers to go over all of your options. We will help you find a plan that's right for your business.


Modern Steel 2019 Honda Accord EX-L FWD CVT 1.5T I4 DOHC 16V Turbocharged VTEC Gray Leather.
Hello, I would like more information about the 2019 Honda Accord Sedan, stock# S03091.
Hello, I would like to see more pictures of the 2019 Honda Accord Sedan, stock# S03091.


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Death Toll Rising - [ Official Web Site ] - [ Tour Dates ]
Defecation Suffocation Canada
The Visceral Remains
Blood Stained Ceiling
Defecation Suffocation
The Bludgeoning
Babyslitter
Transcendence Ritual
Categories: Death
MetalBite Review by JD on 8/18/2010
Canada is getting known for it's heavier metal with every passing day. Take it from this Canadian Rocker who has seen the rise of his country's metal scene. They are coming into it's own and showing the world, learning from others and then fashioning it into their own warped yet infection brand of Metal. They are taking over piece by piece. With that been said, please take note of Edmonton Alberta Canada's Death Metal Masters - Death Toll Rising.
All through the forty three minutes of the album, it is clear what Death Toll Rising are doing. I hear shading of the likes of Death and Obituary mixing with a this injection of Thrash inspired melodies and bad to the core, gut-wrenching growling vocals and ground shaking drumming. The clear thread through it all is awe inspiring power that is hard to ignore for very long.
Songs like the commanding 'Blood Stained Ceilings' and the monumental paroxysm of 'The Bludgeoning' are prime examples of the band sheer potency they already have. The are working to be original, but for a young band like this... that is expected. It is not a bad thing to sound like the ones that are your contemporaries, but it is good that it is very clear that they are striving to make their own way under their own terms.
Death Toll Rising is a band on the verge of having the world seeing them. A little work on their music will poise them for metal supremacy. As they are right now, they are missing the pinnacle they are seeking by a hairbreadth from their goals. If their next album has that certain level of maturity and growth that I hear is needed (I feel that they will have without a doubt), they will finally have become a band that will have no boundaries that could hold them down.
Categorical Rating Breakdown
Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Originality:7.5
Rating: 8.1 out of 10


I may not have mentioned this enough but thank you all you Patreon supporters (we really do appreciate you) and Mark even put out some Patreon only content last week!
Desktop Stacks – Automatic organizing of desktop files into kinds (images, documents, etc.). You click on a stack to expand it.
Metal – Metal is being beefed up with more scaling features.
Create ML – Developers can use Metal to harness their GPU and make their own machine learning tools.
File Vault Improvements – File Vault security protections will be extended to more areas of macOS in Mojave.
Gallery View – A new Finder view that combines the carousel thing Apple has tried to make us want for years, but coupled with a solid preview pane and a pane for metadata.
Quick View Update – Mac users will be able to use Markup right from the Quick View in the Finder.
Safari Intelligent Tracking Prevention Improvements – Safari will prevent social network sharing buttons and comment engines from tracking you without permission.
Group FaceTime calls – Video chat with up to 32 of your favorite people.
Continuity Camera – Use the camera on your iPhone directly from your Mac for photos and scanning!
iOS UI Kit – A set of frameworks that will make it easier to port iOS apps to macOS. Developers can do it starting in 2019, while Apple is starting it with the four apps mentioned above.
New Mac App Store – Apple is giving the Mac App Store some much needed love. It will have a redesigned interface that includes some of the discoverability features that have been added to the iOS App Store.
As usual during WWDC everyone was too distracted to send Nemo anything – so no store this week.
Next Next post: Essential Apple Podcast 92: Is the AR Future Here Yet?


The ocean's 332 million cubic miles are no different to orcas than a 40-foot tank, according to SeaWorld.
The company is making claims that the $300 million "Blue World" expansion plan will be just as good for its whales as releasing them into an ocean sanctuary.
"Part of the reason why we do what we do is so that our guests can see and experience these animals within our parks, and the concept of sea pens or an ocean sanctuary is not inherently better nor does it allow us to fulfill our mission of inspiration and education."
The value of that education to the whales is unknown, however. SeaWorld has repeatedly refused to reveal the exact amount of money it spends on conservation and rescue efforts each year.
Dold also noted that the "primary motivator is the whale experience."
"There will be a variety of surfaces and levels throughout this new habitat ranging from a depth of 50 feet to shallow areas where the killer whales slide up out of the water, doing it on their own and working with the trainers."
Accidents and injuries involving orcas, inbreeding and high prevalence of repetitive, stereotypic behaviors at SeaWorld have led many to argue that the company's "primary motivator" is profit, not animal welfare.
SeaWorld says that the project, which involves building 40-foot-high glass walls, should be completed by 2018. But a spokesperson for the San Diego Coastal Commission told The Dodo that SeaWorld still hasn't obtained the necessary permits to even begin building.
Geologic hazard maps created by the city's Development Services Department show that the park sits on land that has a "high potential" for ground failure hazard, due to shallow groundwater, major drainages and hydraulic fills.