Brittany Highland, Author at The Austinot

Austinot Podcast Ep. 9: World’s Biggest Disc Golf Weekend

May 4, 2012 by Brittany Highland Leave a Comment

Click the Play button on the podcast player above to listen to this week’s episode of the Austinot Podcast!

Austin is a huge city for the sport of disc golf, and getting started is easier than you might think.

In fact, this weekend is the perfect time to get involved because Austin’s Waterloo Disc Golf Club is hosting the World’s Biggest Disc Golf Weekend at Zilker Park. Stop by Zilker between 9 AM and 5 PM this Sunday, May 6th, to meet the community and show off your skills on the fairway. Or, in our case, to wrestle through groves of trees looking for lost discs.

Seriously, you don’t have to know what you’re doing to come out to the World’s Biggest Disc Golf Weekend. It’s an event designed to raise awareness of the sport and get new people excited and involved. Play is free is you have your own discs. If you don’t have discs yet, they will be available at Zilker Park for an affordable price.

Listen to our podcast episode for [Read more…]

Tom Gimbel of Austin City Limits: This Is What I Want to Do

April 30, 2012 by Brittany Highland 2 Comments

This is the story of a man who got what he wanted. Mix one part passionate, one part competitive, one part positive, and you get Tom Gimbel.

Throw in a few parts happenstance, and you get Tom’s life: An amazing journey from record company intern to General Manager of Austin City Limits. Where he ends up – nobody knows.

The Early Years: Amazing Records

Since the time Tom was a student at The University of Texas 25 years ago, he was a fan of music across the board. But playing in local bands wasn’t enough. In order to become more educated about music, he decided to intern at a local record company. He flipped open the phone book and Amazing Records was listed first. His offer to work for free was [Read more…]

Celebrate Eeyore’s Birthday in the Austinot Podcast, Ep. #8

April 27, 2012 by Brittany Highland Leave a Comment

It’s time to celebrate Eeyore’s Birthday Party! This annual event at Pease Park is in its 49th year and getting bigger and better with age.

Throw on a costume for the costume contest, bring your canine friends, and get the kids ready for sack races and face painting. Non-profit vendors will provide food and drink.

These are only a few of the exciting things you’ll experience at Eeyore’s Birthday.

This year, park for FREE at the [Read more…]

The Texas Rollergirls Skate Fast and Hit Hard in Austin

April 24, 2012 by Brittany Highland 11 Comments

On Saturday night, I walked into the Austin Convention Center to see a flat roller derby track for the first time. It wasn’t long before groups of uniformed, geared-up women appeared on roller skates to take center stage.

My senses were bombarded by the Texas Rollergirls experience. A fan on the sidelines waved a checkered flag and yelled, “Faster, faster, kill! Kill! Kill!” and the audience took up the cheer. The announcers excitedly described the action of Luce Bandit, Flash Gorgeous, Vicious Van Gogo and Scrape Myrtle while making sure attendees knew there were three bars conveniently located in the venue.

Meanwhile, I was trying so hard to understand how flat track derby was played [Read more…]

Texas Rollergirls Star in Austinot Podcast, Ep. #7

April 20, 2012 by Brittany Highland 10 Comments

Flat track roller derby was invented in Austin, so you better believe that the Texas Rollergirls are experts. You know who else is an expert? Austinot Eric Highland.

Well, at least that’s what he’d like you to believe. The reality is that Eric has never been to a bout before, but he’s going to get his chance tomorrow night when we watch the Texas Rollergirls at the Austin Convention Center. (Click HERE for details on that.)

This week’s episode of the Austinot Podcast is all about the Texas Rollergirls and the sport of flat track derby. Eric, a self-proclaimed roller derby virgin, explains the intricacies of the game as well as he can. Personally, I’m hoping you can comment and fill in some of the holes for [Read more…]

Big Girls Don’t Cry: Texas Rollergirls This Saturday at ACC

April 19, 2012 by Brittany Highland 11 Comments

I grew up on the straight-laced side of Texas, where getting my ears pierced for a second time was stretching the boundaries just a bit. So should it be all that surprising that when I first heard about Rollergirls, they scared me? I was living up in Seattle at the time, and all the tattoos and brawniness, fishnet and shoving was intimidating.

Little did I know that April 21, 2012 would have me in the middle of the Austin Convention Center with the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers, Hotrod Honeys, Hell Marys and the Hustlers…and nothing but a camera to block any incoming blows.

You heard me. The Texas Rollergirls are back this Saturday at the Austin Convention Center and they’re taking no [Read more…]

Lonestar Round Up – Austin’s Vintage Car Show & Music Fest

April 13, 2012 by Brittany Highland 2 Comments

To say that the Lonestar Round Up is just another Austin car show is a crime, and this week’s Austinot podcast means to prove it to you.

This weekend only, this vintage car show and music festival takes over the Travis County Expo Center, filling it with the best in amazing rides, toe-tapping tunes, food and drink, and even shopping.

Make no mistake, these folks are purists. Car registration is open only to 1963 and [Read more…]

Strolling the Sidewalk with Austin’s “Other” Artists

April 10, 2012 by Brittany Highland Leave a Comment

This guest blog post is by Amy Lynch.

One of the most beautiful things about Austin is its ability to bring seemingly opposing forces together in perfect harmony. We do, after all, call ourselves “the live music capital of the world,” so it stands to reason that we should be able to pull off such a thing.

But aside from music – the thing we’re globally known for, and the very thing that formed the foundation more than 20 years ago of what is now the juggernaut known as South by Southwest – we’re home to a burgeoning colony of another kind of artist.

Some may never have played an instrument in their lives; others may be completely and utterly tone deaf. Luckily for their art, though, it doesn’t matter one bit.

Local artists recently converged by [Read more…]

Reenacting the Battle of Goliad, Texas and Goliad Massacre

April 3, 2012 by Brittany Highland 4 Comments

There are few Texans who don’t enjoy rubbing in the fact that Texas was once its own country. It’s one of the things that the rest of the country hates about us.

But many people, especially in my generation, don’t consider or even know about the decisive battles in the Texas War for Independence that led to victory over Mexico.

Growing up, I was lucky to have two younger brothers who were Boy Scouts. Because of them, I got to tag along on many camping trips and educational adventures. One such adventure was to Goliad, TX for the annual reenactment of the 1836 Goliad Massacre and the battles of Goliad leading up to the Massacre. Goliad was an important location during the Texas War for Independence. Though the events there were tragic for Texas and its allies, they compounded with the fall of the Alamo to galvanize Texas forces to continue the fight for freedom. [Read more…]

Fair Trade Austin Coffee for Education at Dominican Joe

April 2, 2012 by Brittany Highland 6 Comments

Editor’s Note: Dominican Joe closed at the end of April 2017.

For a vast percentage of the Austin population, coffee is at least as important to life as water. Like water, the potability of coffee differs drastically.

The goal of many a college student and working professional is to find an Austin coffee shop with:

A) Good coffee.

B) Electrical outlets en masse.

C) Music playing over the speakers that isn’t so loud that you can’t hear yourself think, or so obnoxious that you feel like stabbing yourself in the eye with a spoon.

Not necessarily in that order.

For many people, the factors that go into choosing a favorite coffee shop end there. And that’s okay. But others take coffee to a deeper level. They begin to question where their coffee is coming from – who it is hurting, who it is helping. If you are one of those people, you’ll want to learn more about Dominican Joe Coffee Shop. [Read more…]

The Early Years: Amazing Records

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