This just In ...

This just in ... So, I left The Times of Acadiana. Anyone who has seen the paper as of late doesn't need any explanation on why. I'm back in school and doing work for The Independent Weekly and KRVS 88.7. I just wrote this piece on deadboy & The Elephantmen.

This just in ... The Balfa Brothers were the subject of two events in their honor. More history than news, I penned Remembering The Balfa Brothers. Using a once forgotten interview, it follows the Brothers (more so Dewey) from their early sharecropper roots to their world wide travels. Plus, thoughts from Marc Savoy, Ray Abshire, Christine Balfa Powell and more.

This just in ... The week of March 8 was a busy one for my byline. Dig Last Spins , possibly the most important story I have ever done. It's about local music stores fading away. After reading it, Wilson Savoy of the Pine Leaf Boys set up a special day at Louisiana Heritage & Gifts on April 2. Check here for more. Wax Sticks also came out that issue, but only on our web site. It's about a local electronic music store doing well thanks to their vinyl sales. Plus, here is a shorty about theTransmission's second record.

This just in ... Marc M. has a sick mind. Local animator gets a Comedy Central pilot. Beware! these cartoons ain't for youngsters.

This just in ... I started doing Lafayette Now a podcast about local music. The link is to a myspace group where you can keep up on the cast and get links to new and old ones. So far: MattRock & The PowerBoxx, Drew Landry, theTransmission, The Taipans, Ahab! have been featured with Allen Clements on the way today. UPDATE: lots of good music - from ska to zydeco to Cajun - in the casts.

This just in ... James P. Vanway III (or Jamie VanWay or whatever you know him as) is often the subject of my bad jokes. The relationship grew about on Told by An Idiot and continued over near-weekly barbecue lunches at A&B Henderson's. One fine day I realized he bore a striking resemblance to a star of country music. I posted it to TBAI. Some agreed, some didn't, most laughed. I didn't think about it until today, cleaning up this old site. Is it Vanway or Conway?

This just in ... One of the many hats I wear means that entertainment often comes second to gettign some news in this here paper. Kat Landry wants to recall Gov. Blanco. She needs close to 1 million signatures to do it. That's a whole lotta tomatoes!

This just in ... I had initially wanted to do a piece on D.L. Menard rebuilding his chair factory, a story that would span the construction process. Problems arose: D.L., despite being in his 70s, is a man constantly on the run. Plus, hurricanes. So, this is what I got. It tells of a retired D.L., his fame and his eventual rebuilding.

This just in ... I'm so lazy: I haven't been updating the Picks page as I should. So I dropped in a Curley Taylor Pick from last week that references the last night at Grant Street.

This just in ... The first time I wrote about The Pine Leaf Boys, they had just been kicked off UL's campus for playing their Cajun music. Less than a year later, they are establishing themselves as a young band to watch and have signed on with Arhoolie Records. Truly impressive.

This just in ... Curley Taylor has made a name for himself, mixing zydeco of old with smooth R&B, ala Sam Cooke. Now, he serves up a double disc - one of zydeco, one of R. Kelly inspired baby making music and "body wine."

This just in ... Added some stuff that I thought I'd lost. Google's cache is nice. Fiber Election Wrap-up - Terry & The Zydeco Bad Boys - The Racines - Cattlehead

This just in ... Added a page for Picks and Notes for now. Interested?

This just in ... Michael Jackson's zydeco � perhaps that is misleading, but MJ does play into the release of the From La La to Zydeco DVD.

This just in ... In between trips to the Burger King, The Dollar General (where lead singer James VanWay tries to steal a cat sign), Chris' Po Boys and their flights of fancy (the) Frames of Reference do work at Lafayette's Leap Studio. Leap is actually Paul Broussard's home/studio. Read all about it here.

This just in ... Hurricane Rita. My house: bent fence, shingle damage. My inlaws: lots of water. tearing the walls down to studs. mildew. ruined furniture. (click here for story) Me: Officially hating hurricanes. Will sue next Gulf hurricane, order cease and desist.

This just in ... What is left to say? Hurricane Katrina ripped through my home state a couple weeks ago. My mother lives about 80 miles above New Orleans and had two trees on her house plus many down on her property. The Blame Game is likely to go on for a long time and you can see why. I don't feel like talking about it. It just so happens that right before the storm, Louisiana Cookin' Magazine out of New Orleans published a piece I wrote about Louisiana Barbecue. It had a strong emphasis on NOLA 'cue. Visit their site, louisianacookin.com. Hopefully they/we/everyone can weather the storm.

This just in ... Well, The Times web site no longer has archives. This means that works I did and forgot to post (read Oct. 2004 until now) are lost. Plus, inside stories are not currenlty posted on the site. This limits my access to the finished article and the proper HTML coding. So it's slim pickin's until the site is better. In the meantime, enjoy a late 2004: Cedric Watson piece and a brand new MattRock & The PowerBoxx article.

This just in ... from Timshel: "Among some friends I've been critical of the "Times of Acadiana's" Nick Pittman for a variety of reasons, mostly his taste, but there's no doubt that he's been an aggressive and effective promoter of local artists in the pages of the Advertiser's weekly mag."

The blog is one of the countless Monday morning quarterback sites that posts stuff from and links to various media and takes a shot at it, often criticizing them on the job they didn't do. Any how, he doesn't explain what tastes he doesn't agree with, hopefully he wants more coverage of chamber music! (Due next issue!)

This just in ... The Wizards of Boat wear masks and hail from the future ... or do they?

This just in ... Soundtrack by sci-fi electro garage rockers The Transmission

This just in ... The boy who went to California returns not just a man, but ... a director. Mike Miley doesn't fall into Hollywood cliches, no matter how hard I try.

This just in ... What do you get when you introduce Cajun music to Scandinavia? Cajun du Nord

This just in ... I'm Nick Pittman and you're not! Well, actually you are ... or you might be. See, here at the old page Nick Pittman likes to get noticed. That counter ain't moving by itself and all these other Nick Pittman's aren't helping. Take Google for example: whenever you search for Nick Pittman, you get Nick Pittman � but not this Nick Pittman. It is some other Nick Pittman. And you also get Mrs. Nick Pittman, my lovely wife. Or you get "by Nick Pittman" in some article this Nick Pittman wrote. Nick Pittman is not a lawyer, he's a writer. Neither does he fly airplanes or run track. Nick Pittman = wordsmith. Wordsmith = Nick Pittman. This Nick Pittman site needs more Nick Pittman traffic. As a result, you have just read a lame attempt to get more search engine play for Nick Pittman of Lafayette, Louisiana, who currently works as a music writer and/or entertainment editor. Top that Nick Pittman!

Yours always, Nick Pittman

This just in ... In a room where Wolverine - complete with owl-like hair, claws and stubble - sips Sprite out of a plastic cocktail glass and Obi Wan Kenobi picks out free comics, it is easy to overlook Kody Chamberlain wearing a dim orange button-up shirt. A flip through his portfolio and it's hard to forget the gritty black-and-white characters clothed in shadows or the vampires painted in nightmare colors.

This just in ... Ashley Ewing wants you! ... to vote no on ONE

This just in ... Frigg A-Go-Go; Drew Landry; Told by an Idiot; Bimora; Mike Dean; Lafayette Local Entertainment

the above have been accused and found guilty of rocking

The Stolen Pictures atop every Page ....

You may navigate by using the three pictures atop every page and on the bottom of most. The Quarter takes you back here. The Scissors takes you to the dormant Cutting Room. The Pipe-smoking gent brings you to the reading room, where I am working on posting more of my articles.

You may reach me via e-mail at home Thanks for the interest.

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