THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT
Disappointed by the selection of children's stories 17 years ago, Robert Trahan of Lafayette set out to write an original for his own brood of three - two girls and a boy then aged 3-8. Robert also convinced his friend, Lafayette illustrator/artist Tina Trahan (no relation), to team up with him on The Little Lost Dog, as Tina also had three children of her own.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Written by The Independent Staff
THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT
Disappointed by the selection of children's stories 17 years ago, Robert Trahan of Lafayette set out to write an original for his own brood of three - two girls and a boy then aged 3-8. Robert also convinced his friend, Lafayette illustrator/artist Tina Trahan (no relation), to team up with him on The Little Lost Dog, as Tina also had three children of her own. Robert's kids used the hand-made book, a sweet, wholesome story about reuniting a lost dog with its mother, at school show and tell events. Then about six months ago his son, now 23, retrieved the dusty book and developed an interactive app for the family's beloved tale, which Apple quickly approved and made available for downloading from its App Store. The app allows children to choose sounds, like a cricket chirping or dog scratching on a door, to accompany the story as they read it on an iPhone or iPad. The download is 99 cents for an IPhone (download the app "The Lost Dog") and $2.99 for an iPad ("Little Lost Dog"). - Hope Rurik and Leslie Turk
PASSION BREW
Arnaudville's Bayou Teche Brewing has just released the third beer in its LA-31 series. Grenade, brewed with wheat and passion fruit, takes its name from the French word for pomegranate, which the passion fruit resembles, and which Cajun settlers used for the wild growing local fruit. Bayou Teche brew master Karlos Knott says passion fruit vines grew wild on the fences of his grandfather's farm, and he recalls many days where he and his family would enjoy the fruit in the shade of a large oak tree after a long day's work. Grenade, the beer, is a lighter wheat ale with a tropical sweet and tart flavor. It's now available on tap in select bars and restaurants and in stores where Bayou Teche is sold by the bottle. "We definitely wanted to offer this beer in bottles," Knott says. "That way, like us y'all can find the shade of [a] large moss-drenched oak tree on a bayou nearby and enjoy a cold one." - Nathan Stubbs
TIME TRAVELER
Valcour Records released this CD in the fall, and it just crested the stack of backlogged CDs here at The Independent Weekly office. Worth the wait, Dennis McGee's Himself is a never-before-released recording of Cajun music's master of the fiddle. Recorded by French musician Gérard Dôle on a trip to Eunice in 1975 using a Nagra III reel-to-reel recorder, the album plays like a time capsule, teeming with ancient Cajun fiddle music played in a relaxed atmosphere free of clinical studio uptightness and peppered with conversational asides and verbal liner notes all delivered in Cajun French. Part historical document, time-travel machine and gratifying listening experience, this CD is a keeper. Packed with 33 tracks, Himself can be purchased at Cedar Deli, Johnson's Boucaniere or online at www.valcourrecords.com. - Dege Legg