How did
Nocturne come about?
We started
the site because we were in that gee-whiz-isn't-the-internet-neat
stage, and wanted our own site. But we also knew that
we didn't want a here's-a-picture-of-our-cat vanity site,
so we decided to cover what we knew & loved the most:
Los Angeles. Plus we're night owls, and we got in early
enough to grab our cool domain name (one that was our
original screen name on AOL waaaay back when). To begin
with there was no swing section of the site, but as we
started doing more dancing, we decided to put up a swing
section that rapidly took over the site.
Why are
the non-swing sections updated so irregularly?
Partly
because... well, see above re: the swing section. We're
trying, but since our schedules don't mesh very often,
we don't get out to late night restaurants and pool halls
much. As for books and movies, as we find them and read/see
them, we try to put them up. But not everything we see
or read is L.A. based, and sometimes we just need to see
Streets of Fire again, rather than looking for
the next Demolition Man. And as much as we wish
we were independently wealthy, with a car & driver
to take us to all the cool places, we have to get up at
unholy hours to go to work. Bummer, but there it is.
If you'd
like to be notified when new stuff goes up on the rest
of the site, soon you'll be able to sign up for our monthly-ish
newsletter - keep an eye out!
How do
I let you know about an event that's not on your swing calendar?
For
now, just drop us an email and let us know about the event.
The more information you can give us the happier we are,
but even just a quick line of "band at
club on date" will do the trick. And since
your incoming mail is our best source for a complete calendar,
we appreciate your input!
How do
I let you know about an L.A. book/movie/restaurant/pool hall
that's not on your site?
Please
let us know! In some cases we'll just use your review
(with your permission, of course) or we'll check it out
ourselves and write our own. Restaurant/Pool Halls - the
best places are those that are undiscovered, but the danger
there is that if no one knows about them, they go out
of business. It's a fine line, and we hope that our support
and that of our readers is enough to keep someplace running
without messing up the ambiance. (Al's Bar was a perfect
example - remember the years of the USC influx? Not fun.)
Why don't
you cover [west coast swing, salsa, folk dance] in your swing
dance section?
We just
don't have time yet. We may add additional genres of music
as time and disk space allow, but for now it's just swing
with a little bit of rockabilly thrown in. For now, what
you see is what you get.
Do you
get paid?
Ha!
Not hardly. Nocturne's been a money-suck since day 1.
Thanks to a few of you wonderful folks out there who have
done your shopping through the shops section, we've managed
to defray some of the hosting costs, for which we are
eternally grateful. But it's still money out of pocket
each month. We're trying to figure out how to at least
break even, rather than working real hard to spend money
- if you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear them!
and on that note...
Can you
make my website, too?
Sure!
Tim & Karen both have full time jobs on top of Nocturne.
But you can contact Chip
to have a dynamic database-driven site built just for
you - he's the one who is making Nocturne dynamic.
If you
need design services, contact Brian
- he's not part of Nocturne, but he rocks.
