http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEqWKJuG1qU

This is one of a bunch of new vids posted to youtube in the last couple of weeks, kindly filmed by our good friend Andy Andersson at One-2-One Bar in Austin, TX.

Hi all, just letting you know I'm doing a radio interview back home with Eoin Cameron on ABC 720 Perth this Friday morning at 6:45am (Perth time) - that's Thursday 5:45pm Austin time.  I don't think there's a podcast of the show or anything, so make sure you tune in or record it.  Probaby safe to listen in ealier that than in case the time changes too.  They stream live on the website so you can hear it that way - the website is http://www.abc.net.au/perth/..radio/?nav=true.  Wish me luck!

Hi, we did a bit of filming with the help of good friend Andy last week at One-2-One, he hasn't edited the footage yet but In thought I'd post what I have, so check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYgiT0oNX2o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tygf-7idRQg

'Mother's Child' live at One-2-One Bar, Dec '08. Kindly filmed and recorded by Andy Andersson and Gregg Ware.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84OoR-9RrDQ

Here's a bit of footage from one of our shows at One-2-One every Tuesday night, from our acoustic set, kindly filmed and recorded by Andy Andersson and Gregg Ware, Dec '08.

Some of you may have been wondering why my list of upcoming shows is starting to dwindle down in the last week or so, so I just wanted to reassure everyone that I am indeed playing shows in Austin, TX for the foreseeable future, after a short trip back home to see the family for Christmas.  So after a few more shows at One-2-One, Momo's, Tiny Bar and Latitude 30, I'll be flying home mid-December and enjoying a few ham sangers and Coronas for what will probably be a scorching holiday season in Perth, WA, but by the second week of January I will be back and Wilson, Johnny and I will be firing on all cylinders for our return to our regular Tuesday at One-2-One and other shows to be announced.  So fear not, Austin fans, we'll be back to it in no time.  In the meantime, please be sure to patronise One-2-One and check out who is filling our spot - One-2-One is one place where you can always rely on seeing a great band.  Here's a shot taken by our good friend Andy Andersson from our Nov.18th show at Antone's.

Hey People,

I have a couple of new clips up on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaPCMW54siQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFIF8LQssyA

Enjoy,
Karl

Well, two days out from the election, eight years after probably the greatest electoral debacle in Western political history, and all the problems with voting machines are looming once more in the US.  So, at the risk of sounding like one of those annoying, 'it's not like it is back home' types, I've decided to recommend to the American public two small pieces of technology we use back home in Australia when voting: the pencil, and the piece of paper. 

Yes people, that's right, pencils and paper.  When you vote in Australia, you go into a primary school or a local community hall, or library, which are set up as polling places on election day (always a Saturday), get your name crossed off the rolls to show you have voted, then go into your little collapsable cardboard booth with your pieces of paper, mark them with your pencil, drop them in the ballot box and go home.  After that it's a simple matter of the ballots being counted, which is strictly overseen by the Australian Electoral Commission. 


I have never had to wait any substantial amount of time at a polling place to cast my vote, and have never heard of ANY serious questions arising about whether or not people's votes have been properly registered - the idea that your vote would not count because of a procedural problem with the voting process is practically unthinkable in Australia.  All the potential problems you have with voting machines - hacking, malfunctioning, incorrect voting due to voter confusion and error, are simply not appreciable risks with a manual paper ballot, and the ways in which ballots can be tampered with in a paper ballot system have been around so long that they have been effectively countered by time-tested regulation and oversight.  Yep, pencils and paper America - sometimes it pays to just keep it simple.