Seven months to the day when a tragic boating accident took six young lives, including that of our much loved friend Savanna, her smiling face graces the pages of the daily papers again.

As expected, the legal processes have been set in motion and the courts will have to do what courts do. The adversarial style of our legal system will pitch human against human and lawyer against lawyer. Meanwhile, the media will chronicle it all in the many different styles, from sensational to dry court reporting and often de-humanising.

In all this, all of whom have been dealing with the sense of loss, sadness, media frenzy and all that this tragedy brought, may experience the re-opening of some deep wounds. It may be normal to experience resentment, anger, guilt, blame and even hatred. But let us not wallow in these longer than necessary.

Territory-style acoustic jam sessions at the Darwin North RSL on the 1st Wednesday of the month - from 7pm til 10pm

The LAST Darwin Session for 2008 is on Wednesday December 3

Singers, songwriters & musicians of all ages and all levels are welcome to come along and share their songs, music, and stories the Territory way in a friendly and supportive "camp fire" environment. It's like campfire music ... without the fire!!!

You will find the Darwin North RSL on Batten Road Karama (off Amy Johnson Avenue)

These jam sessions are designed to create a supportive space where singers & musicians can get together and relax ... play their music, experiment with new material, and share their knowledge and skills among friends!

For more information contact Kevin on 0411 135 4188, or
email: macca@blarneybulletin.com

Don't miss Rosa's Journey premiering on SBS TV at 8:30pm on Wednesday 26 November 2008 - the journey of independent East Timor through the eyes of a remarkable and resilient woman.

Following the acclaimed documentary East Timor - Birth of a Nation, Rosa's Journey picks up the story of young East Timorese widow Rosa Martins and her family seven years after independence. Unlike the celebratory climate of 2000, life in East Timor is violent and democracy fragile, as one of the world's youngest nations faces an uncertain future.

The years following nationhood have been hard for Rosa and her country. Freedom has not translated into calm and prosperity. Every aspect of Rosa's life is informed by East Timor's continuing struggle for stability and unity. The documentary starts in 2006 when violence breaks out in East Timor. Rosa and thousands of others are forced to flee to refugee camps. Australian and other international troops are sent to restore peace.

November Films. SBS Television, Wednesday 19 November, 8:30 pm

website http://www.novemberfilms.com.au/films/a-well-founded-fear

At the beginning of A Well Founded Fear we hear Mr Howard declaring after Tampa, 'We decide who will come to Australia and under what circumstances they will come'. His declaration is received with applause from his Liberal Party audience.

Mohammed Hussain, an Afghan asylum seeker rejected by Australia under the Howard government was tortured and beheaded by kidnappers in a province south of Kabul. This poem was inspired by his fate.

How was your morning coffee Johnnny
when you saw the morning rag.
A man who cried for help
closed his eyes and now is dead.

From a place you can’t pronounce,
at the bottom of a well.
His life was hard enough,
but you made it into a hell.

In a mountain and no one else,
the Poet dreamt of greener fields,
but your heart turned to stone
a pen stroke and his fate was sealed.

How was your morning coffee Johnny
when you read it in the news
that a man who fled from terror
lost his life at your refuse.

Arts Access Darwin launched the Open House project to the public on the 4th of September at the Darwin Entertainment Centre, with an exhibition of limited edition prints by young Canteen Creek artist Dion Beasley.

The prints feature Dion's well known cheeky dogs as well as introducing new Canteen Creek characters.

The large format allows Dion to tell stories, and we see the same characters in a variety of situations. The prints are full of humour and emotion and have delighted audiences and have sold well.

The exhibition is now with Artback NT in Alice Springs at the Olive Pink Nature Park and will travel to Tennent Creek in December.

Arts Access Darwin hopes to tour this inspiring exhibition nationally.

The locality of Malak and its surrounds have often witnessed the manifestation of anti-social behaviour. The degree of this behaviour is a point of interesting discussion which lies somewhere between evidence and perception. For the local community members who have experienced first hand the consequences of anti-social behaviour by having their property damaged, violated and defaced, there is no doubt about the seriousness of the problem. For some others, what they hear in the community or read in the press is enough to instill a sense of fear that it is a question of 'when' they will be targeted by this behaviour and not 'if' they ever will.

Dili, is a mere 90 minutes flying time from Darwin. And although it hasn’t become a major holiday destination yet, it has the potential do so, despite the travel warnings by Australian authorities not to travel unless necessary as a result of the volatility of the situation there.

The brevity of this visit would not allow for an informed assessment of the situation, but hanging around Dili posed no threat, even with the visible reminders of a troubled recent past. On the contrary, the hospitality and friendliness of the Timorese people was overwhelmingly nourishing.

Touted as the “poorest” nation in the world, Timor is relatively expensive when compared with other popular South East Asian destinations. This is mainly due to the sizeable contingent of foreign officials, military personnel and NGO’s based in Dili and elsewhere, assisting with the development of the “newest nation” of the 21st century.

Life is too short, and too precious, to not spend every moment as artistically as possible. We should enjoy artistic experiences daily, many times a day, and not relegate art to very few special events during the year.

This is why I have some doubts about how festivals, such as the Fringe, as they have been organised over the years, actually contribute to sustainable grassroots arts development. They take too much time, work and money to produce so that the organizers are invariably burnt out and budgets are in deficit afterwards, and other important work suffers from neglect while we're in festival mode, and whilst we may enjoy a nice big party once a year, by the time we all recover from it, its time to prepare for yet another one.

The conference brought together a wide variety of people with different backgrounds and concerns including artists, scientists, community development workers, funding representatives, academics, teachers and planters. There were many people wearing multiple hats – such as Stephen Routledge, a photographer who runs his local Landcare group as well as harvesting his own chestnut tree crop.

To give you an idea of some of the personalities seated around the rather formal conference table there was Marco the Director of an international contemporary art space in the small dusty town of Kellerberrin, W.A, Peter Pollard a scientists who managed to enthuse everyone with his passion for micro-organisms, David Curtis who had recently completed a PHD on how art influences attitudes and values.

Day One was a deluge of information and text. There were seven programmed papers:

1. Lyndal Jones, the Avoca project