I checked out smarx's noderole/packanddeploy and want to test it locally, then deploy it to Azure, but without using Visual Studio. How could I do that?
You can deploy using the Windows Azure Portal or by using PowerShell. First you'll need to use cspack.exe to create the service package like you'll find in smarx's packanddeploy (more info here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/gg432988.aspx)
Once you have the package, you can upload it through the Windows Azure Portal or use the PowerShell cmdlets. The training kit comes with an exercise to deploy using PowerShell: Exercise 2: Using PowerShell to Manage Windows Azure Applications