The Big Boo Cast
Authors / speakers Melanie Shankle and Sophie Hudson - also known as Big Mama and BooMama on their blogs - talk about all the important stuff: faith, family, friends, football, fashion, and food. Plus, of course, their hair.
At this point in our podcasting careers we're pretty similar to a white sale at your favorite department store: a SEMI-ANNUAL EVENT. And truth be told, I'm not entirely sure what we talk about in this episode, though it seems like John Hughes movies and breakfast foods came up an awful lot. Not to mention our respective addictions to Pathwords, a game that I'll be playing just as soon as I hit "publish" on this bad boy. So we hope you sort of enjoy this. Just like we sort of record podcasts from time to time, then sort of publish them when the mood strikes. Because we? ARE PROFESSIONALS. In the absolute least professional sense of the word. Merry Christmas, y'all.
Direct download: thebigboocastdecember08.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:25am CDT

Okay. We recorded this last week. And it took a sweet forever to get it edited and uploaded and whatnot because we forgot to record an ending, so then we had to go back and record an ending, and then we chased about four hundred rabbits when we recorded the ending, so I decided to just tack on all that stuff, too, because SWEET MERCY, HAVEN'T THE SIX OF YOU WHO LISTEN TO THESE THINGS WAITED LONG ENOUGH?

So besides that, I really don't know what else to say. Except that Travis does an imitation of Neil Diamond that makes Melanie and me laugh until we wheeze. And we talk about American Idol and NASCAR and our ongoing sound issues and the songs Travis sang in 8th grade chorus. We also answer some of your questions (thanks for those, internets), repeat some stories we've told before (JUST LIKE YOUR GREAT UNCLE LARRY! ONLY NOT!) and laugh sort of an obnoxious amount. You should expect no less.

Also: Travis wants the whole world to know that HE PLANTED SOME TREES.

Hallelujah and amen.

Direct download: thebigboocast12_1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:31pm CDT

Now you may feel like we hardly ever podcast anymore. But the the truth of the matter is that we <em>record</em> plenty of podcasts, but we don't necessarily post them because, well, they're lame. Or the sound's even worse than usual. Or we were interrupted 421 times by preschoolers who wanted juice or Goldfish or whathaveyou while we were trying to record.

This week, however, we're actually posting the WHOLE ENTIRE THING. Even though the sound's still sort of bad because Big Mama and FryDaddy couldn't hear me, but I could hear them fine, so I had to turn up my sound output, only on the podcast I'm VERY, VERY LOUD and they're not as loud, only I wasn't trying to be loud, and IS THERE AN A/V PERSON IN THE HOUSE?

Also: we laugh a sort of obnoxious amount at things that probably aren't particularly funny. However, we're always happy to cast on the pod with our buddy FryDaddy, who has all sorts of great perspective about American Idol and also manages not to SCREAM HIS HEAD OFF when Big Mama and I go ON and ON and ON about a pair of fab wedge sandals.

We also talk about music we loved in high school, Christy Nockels (SHOCK. SURPRISE.), our favorite AI moments of years' past and our NCAA tourney picks, despite the fact that I had a devil of a time locating my bracket online.

It is also worth noting that Big Mama and I managed to record an entire podcast without mentioning our hair. Clearly the Lord has done a special work in our hearts.

And seriously, thanks for your patience with our sound limitations. Big Mama and I would like to tell you that we're diligently working on our sound ish-ahs behind the scenes, but the truth of the matter is that we're pretty much flying by the seat of our pants. However, when we are flying by the seat of our pants, we try to wear pants that are sassy. Because that's important to us when podcasting.

Direct download: thebigboocast11.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

This is our first podcast with A Very Special Guest Star.

Ladies and gentlemen, Travis Cottrell.

{wild applause}

{and also, quite a bit of woo-hoo'ing}

And while you might think that Big Mama and I tried to be all subdued and professional and calm during this podcast, you would be wrong. Travis, God love him, had to listen to a great deal of Talk About Dresses that I edited out, but we were kind enough to not drag him into some sort of discussion about our hair. That would have been cruel and unusual punishment indeed.

However, we do talk about The Office, Angela's Legendary Jeans, and the fact that my town is about to get a fancy new department store.

I know. Travis was probably screaming on the inside, desperately pleading with God for one of us to PLEASE TALK ABOUT FOOTBALL.

And if the beginning of the podcast sounds disjointed, that's because it is. You will think, "I don't believe they mentioned that before," and you will be right. I had to do some serious editing to the very beginning because of all our talking and rambling and rambling some more, but after about five minutes, the narrative structure will be CRYSTAL CLEAR, my friends.

Or not. But still. We can pretend.

And once we get going, the three of us spend a lot of time on the internets' (great and oh-so-fun) questions; there's all sorts of cool info about how Travis and Angela met, what happened when they went to American Idol, and how Travis started doing ministry with that girl named Beth who has written some Bible studies and EVEN SOME BOOKS, Y'ALL. They say she speaks, too, but I'm not sure that I believe them.

We didn't get through all the questions - not by a long shot - and that is why we've already planned a part 2. And a part 3. Because for Big Mama and me, this whole process has been like finding a brother we never knew we had.

And for Travis, this whole process has been like finding two sisters he's not entirely sure he wants. Because he has plenty of real sisters already. And Big Mama and I can be a little loud.

Oh, it is a precious time.
Direct download: thebigboocast10.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:37am CDT

Well, after a six week-ish hiatus, Big Mama and I return to the wonderful world of podcasting by covering a completely random array of topics for your listening pleasure. And we use the word "hiatus," by the way, to make it seem like our podcasting break was TOTALLY PLANNED, but the fact of the matter is that we just never got around to recording anything because we were too busy eating cakes and watching TV. We also did a good bit of sleeping. This week we talk about Big Mama's hair woes, our teenage fondness for writing notes in church, how chocolate chip cookie dough and Cheetos can completely derail parenthood, blog-related Google searches that crack us up, our deeply academic appreciation for the Old Testament, and why you wouldn't want either one of us to ever be in charge of starting some sort of fire. In short, it's the least entertaining entertainment that the interweb has to offer. Which makes us understandably proud. And I'll go ahead and warn you that I had some microphone ish-ahs on this podcast, so I apologize in advance for the technical difficulties. You can rest assured that I will work tirelessly to fix those ish-ahs just as soon as I can tear myself away from my Dairy Queen chicken tenders. My, they are tasty. And as always, we thank you for your patronage.
Direct download: thebigboocast9.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:39am CDT