The Armadillo Podcast

Meet Hydra, Texas Rollergirl and Miss March

Starting this month, The Armadillo Podcast is proud to announce a new feature: The Texas Rollergirl of the Month.

Meet Hydra, Miss March, and No. 4 of the Hotrod Honeys.

Hydra captained the Texas Rollergirls to the first national flat track roller derby championship title in February when they soundly whooped up on every team in the country, winning all seven bouts.

Come back soon to hear our interview Hydra where she'll tell us about being a hydrologist by day, Texas Rollergirl by night and a national champion.

You can also catch the Hydra and all the Texas Rollergirls at a special SXSW bout, Saturday the 18th at the Austin Music Hall.  The Assassination City Derby and Dallas Derby Devils will battle it out first, then your hometown Hustlers and Hell Marys will go helmet-to-helmet. The winners of each bout will then challenge each other for the TX by TX Crown.

These are afternoon bouts from 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. and you can still get tickets here.

Also note that it's just a coincidence that we've interviewed two Hotrod Honeys in a row. (Listen to our previous interview with Melicious by clicking here.)  We promise for next month that Miss April will be from one of the other three teams in the league.

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Episode 18: Dave Steakley

Hey Armadillo Podcast fans, meet Dave Steakley, artistic director for Zachary Scott Theatre.

Dave is the genius behind "Keepin' it Weird," the play that put the likes of Austin character Eddie Wilson, founder of the Armadillo World Headquarters, on stage with Richard Linklater and Spike Gillespie and many others in one glorious, mishmashed love letter to a city.

See "Austin through the 'Weird' looking glass " and "An 'Our Town' for Our Town."

Dave was recently honored with the 2005 Austin Circle of Theaters’ Special Recognition Award for “Outstanding Contribution to Austin Theatre.”  May 18, 2001 was declared “Dave Steakley Day” by former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson in honor of Dave’s tremendous support of professional theatre in Central Texas.  The Austin Critics’ Table and the B. Iden Payne Awards have honored him with multiple “Best Director” and “Best Choreographer” awards. The Austin Chronicle “Best of Austin” Reader’s Poll has twice named him the “Best Stage Director,” and Austin Under 40 honored him with the Outstanding Arts & Entertainment award.

That's a lot of recognition.

But can he convince Galia to move to Austin?  With over 200 productions to his credit as producer, director and choreographer at ZACH, Dave has been able to coax Austinites into the theater and suspend their disbelief for fifteen years now.  Can he perform some more magic on one cynical Israeli?

Click here to Download ArmadilloPodcast18.mp3.

Texas Rollergirls Win First-Ever National Championship (Part 2)

Last week we predicted that the Texas Rollergirls would win the 2006 Dust Devil National Championship, the first national flat track roller derby championship.

They did win it, in fact.  And they won all seven bouts, including a beat down of the Atlanta Rollergirls with a score of 70-1.

Congratulations, ladies!

Starting soon, The Armadillo Podcast is pleased to announce that we'll be interviewing a new Texas Rollergirl every month.  Please come back and meet Miss March.

Until then, you can always listen to our interview with Melicious, No. 11 of the Hotrod Honey's here in Episode 14.

Also note that first bout of the regular season starts March 5th and you can your tickets here.

Save Yourself For Kinky: Don't vote in the primaries

The Texas primaries start on March 7th and this is a good a time as any to implore you to "Save Yourself for Kinky."

Sadly the Democrats don't stand a chance this year, so your vote in the Democratic primary is pointless.  The one and only opportunity for any change is for Kinky Friedman to be elected governor.  And the only way for him to get on the ballot is if nearly 50,000 registered voters sign his petition.  The only voters eligible, according to Texas law, are those that have not voted in the primary.

So stay away from the ballot box in March and save yourself for Kinky.

If you were fortunate enough to catch him in the CMT reality show, Go Kinky, you saw how funny the man can be.  If you'd like hear his more serious side, come dowload Episode 9 of The Armadillo Podcast.

In mainstream media, Kinky is on Fox News today with Neil Cavuto.

Kinky also added some new quips to his repertoire in the Dallas Business Journal article, where he tells why he won't meet with lobbyists when he becomes governor.

* * * * *

Want to hear Kinky's old songs from the 70's that got 60 Minutes all in a twist?  Click here to listen to 30-second clips.

New Austin City Hall Built on Top of Old Redlight District

Remember in the movie Poltergeist when that poor family discovers that their home has been built over an old graveyard?

Turns out Austin's new City Hall was built over the ruins of a 19th century redlight district called "Guytown" that once took up four square city blocks. See article.

So what happens when you disturb the bones of old prostitutes?

Austin, TX: Keepin' it Weird since 1839.

Texas Rollergirls Win First-Ever National Championship

If you thought the Texas Longhorns were dramatic, wait till you see what happens next week.

The Texas Rollergirls   Rock-n-Rollerderby is traveling to Tucson to compete win the first-ever  National Flat Track Derby Tournament, Feb. 24-27. (That's my prediction and I'm sticking to it.)

The Dust Devil National Flat Track Derby Tournament will feature bouts between 20 Flat Track Derby leagues from across the United States, competing against rivals in their respective divisions.

The Texas Rollergirls Rock-n-Rollerderby team will skate in Tucson as the Austin Texecutioners, a powerhouse team that showcases the Texas Rollergirls' finest: all-stars in their respective positions and outstanding representatives of the sport of Flat Track Derby. Meet the team.

The Armadillo Podcast was fortunate enough to interview Texas Rollergirl Melicious, No. 11 of the Hotrod Honeys in Episode 14.  Click here and Melicious will tell you everything you'd ever want to know about the life of Rollergirl.

Kinky on TV; Leslie in Jail

Two Austin-related items to report:

Leslie Cochran has been missing for over two weeks from her post on 6th and Congress because she's been in jail in Iowa.

According to John Kelso, Leslie says jail in Iowa is much nicer than what he's used to back in Austin.  'Man, it was like being in the royal suite by comparison," he said. "Instead of those funky, dinky, old dilapidated mattresses, they've got these really nice, cushiony things that have the pillow built into it.'

Kinky Friedman's in the New York Times today because he's in a reality show on CMT.

Quoth the NYT: "Mr. Friedman confides that he hired a private investigator 'to dig up some dirt on Rick Perry.'

"He was unable to," Mr. Friedman reports. "He did, however, find a considerable amount of dust."

Also see "Kinky Lights up His Campaign," Austin Chronicle.

Note: If you hate registering on news sites, use BugMeNot to get around the registration process.

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Homesick for Texas?

If you're homesick for Texas, take a listen to some of our guests on The Armadillo Podcast. 

Download a little twang into your iPod and then go find a BBQ joint in your neighborhood.  Order the ribs and a beer, then turn up the volume on one of shows. The food may not taste like the Salt Lick BBQ back home, but listening to these folks talk  will  almost make you feel like you're having a sit-down, family-style meal. (Complete episode guide after the jump.)

Listen to The Armadillo Podcast and meet  some of  Austin's most interesting  people. The Armadillo Podcast exists solely to convince Galia, my best friend living out in California to move to Austin, TX.

That may sound like a small niche but the people who love Austin and its quirky ways are a large and passionate audience. 

And I intend to ask every person in Austin to share their affection for the city through his podcast interviews until my friend moves to town. 

Previous guests who joined me so far on this quest so far have included Kinky Friedman, Melicious, one of the Texas Rollergirls and David Brown, the host of KUT's Texas Music Matters program.

In trying to convince my friend to "come home with the armadillo," like the song says, I’ve so far interviewed 18 people in Austin, the country's 16th largest city.  That's 18 down and 656,544 to go till I either interview them all, or my friend gives in and moves here.  But this show is really about the things that make Austin special. It's an online radio postcard that says "Wish you were here," to all our friends abroad.

My friend Galia, an Israeli woman who lives in Northern California, has been my friend for nearly twenty years.  Since The Armadillo Podcast launched last year, I've interviewed Austin authors, musicians, politicians, every day Austinites and I end every show by asking Galia if she’s ready to move.   However, every week, my friend says, "No, I won't.”



Will Galia ever move to Austin?  Don't miss a single episode of The Armadillo Podcast and find out.

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Video Interview of Willie: On Why Cowboys (Of all Persuasion) are his Heroes

KXAN, the local NBC affiliate, scored a funny, intelligent, one-on-one interview with Willie Nelson and he talked with Michelle Valles about his new song, "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly (Fond of Each Other). At this posting, the song is currently the number four most dowloaded song on iTunes.

Regarding BrokeBack Mountain, Willie said, "It was a beautifully made movie. Ang Lee is a great director and you know the guys didn't turn me on. I saw a couple of sheep that turned me on."

Link: KXAN.com - Willie Nelson's New Song. (Click the little red camera icon on the left to see the video.)

Willie's new song about the rodeo that dare not speak its name (sorry, Oscar Wilde) can only be found on iTunes and you can download it here:    

Free 30-second previews of all songs only at iTunes.

Willie, if you see this, we'd really like to interview you on The Armadillo Podcast.

Back in Episode 9, we interviewed your buddy Kinky Friedman and he told us about naming you Energy Czar once he wins the governor's race.  Ask Kinky, he'll tell you we don't bite. As Kinky says, "Why the hell not?" (Sorry, Kinky.)

West Texas' Take on Willie's New Gay Cowboy Song

He's just pulling our leg, says MyWestTexas.com. 

Quote:

"I prefer to think he's just having fun at our expense. He's certainly not above or below that. Which is not to say we're apt to have fun back. My guess is we won't much like Willie's song in these parts. Nor will there be much of a chance of us turning on local country radio and hearing it any time soon."

"...Hey, it could be worse: instead of singing about gay cowboys, he could have suggested that they're all liberals."

Link: MyWestTexas.com - Willie's new gay cowboy song set in West Texas.

Want a free copy of "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other?" Click here for details.

Free 30-second previews of all songs only at iTunes.