The openingwas held on Friday and was a great success, with plenty of interested people, both young and old, looking, talking and eating. There was also live music performed by local musician Liam Parry-Mills, adding that bit of extra class and ambience to the exhibition.

Each piece of work in the exhibition is interesting and thought provoking. There are some pieces that look beautiful, some that make you think and some that are just plain weird, but all have been made with skill and dedication.

One of the exhibition’s highlights is Olivier Hasan-Fourcard’s series of photography experiments and accompanying letters that he himself wrote, which were recently featured on ABC News.

So why not head on down to Darwin City Council and take a look at the exhibition? Entrance is free and you might find an artwork done by one of your friends!

20 things to do in 20 minutes. When you’re so bored you can feel your eyeballs melting and you just need something, ANYTHING to do.

1. Read a newspaper: the local newspaper can be read in twenty minutes. Just spend five minutes reading headlines, five minutes on an interesting news story and five minutes reading the comics. The remaining five minutes are to rage at opinion pieces, news stories and letters to the editor.

2. It is possible to draw a picture in twenty minutes. Look around for inspiration, do you see anything that could be interesting…. If not, just chuck in a dinosaur and see what happens.

3. Make 20 paper aeroplanes. Everyone knows that paper aeroplanes are cool.

4. Visit this website and start cooking! I particularly like the creamy bacon chicken pasta. http://busycooks.about.com/od/fastestrecipes/a/20minute.htm

5. Write a letter. These are so much better than emails because they are old school and they come with stamps.

6. Despite belief to the contrary, in 20 minutes you can ring your grandmother or grandfather and make their day.

7. If you play a musical instrument, a simple song like the Mario theme can be learned in 20 minutes.

8. You can watch an episode of that 70’s show on youtube if you type in the url quick enough.

9. To test to see if you have too many shoes, try relacing/refitting all your shoes. If it’s not possible to do in 20 minutes, then you have too many shoes.

10. Go clean your room. If it is not too messy, then 20 minutes is enough to clear your desk of rubbish and move enough stuff off your floor to walk on.

11. Try playing a simple tune on glasses with different amounts of water in them.

12. Learn how to skip backwards (unless you are unco like me).

13. Play a game of age of empires. Seriously, of you give yourself lots of stuff and cheat, you could probably fit two or three in.

14. Go through your yearbook(s) and laugh at yourself.

15. You can give your pet a bath. If you have fish, take a bath with them.

16. Do some homework. You probably can’t do all of it but you’ll be 20 minutes further than you would be otherwise.

17. Find an old t-shirt and give it a make over. Pens, paint, scissors and safety pins can all be used to turn that old t you haven’t worn in three years into the envy of the rest of your clothes.

18. Think of all the hilarious four letter words you could get tattood on your knuckles. Don’t actually get them done though. If a tattoo takes only 20 minutes it’s probably not a very good one.

19. Photoshop your friends heads onto pictures of dogs wearing outfits and put them on facebook.

20. This article can, indeed, be written in 20 minutes!

To welcome in the new year and to celebrate young artists Darwin City Council will be hosting a Youth Art exhibition throughout January 2011.

If you are aged between 12 and 21 years we welcome you to exhibit your paintings, drawings, sculptures, scribbled on note books, ANYTHING YOU LIKE to be shown in Council’s Community Art space. You can even put your art up for sale if you like!

All you need to do is fill out our registration form and get your work to us by January 1st for the Gala opening exhibition on January 7th, 2011.

The art works can be about whatever you like* (within reason). If you’re stuck for an idea our GRIND crew have come up with some suggestions

- A Journey

- I am…

- Doors

- Pick a colour!

- Inside this envelope…

- Decorate your shoes (clean ones, please!)

Please fill out this form ASAP as limited spaces are available.

This exhibit is has come and gone, but we will be hosting another one next year!

Attach a shot bio and title for each of your works when you drop them off.

Work submitted for display remains the sole property of the artist.  However Darwin City Council may use photo/video footage of submitted work for documentation and promotional purposes.

Art work should be received by Cj, Youth Services Trainee for Darwin City Council no later that January 1st, 2011. If this date is a problem, if your art work is particularly large or you have any other questions please give us a ring on 8930 0403

*We do not tolerate racism or sexism and neither should you.  Council reserves the right to withhold any work from public exhibition.  Not sure?  Just ask us

So, Grinders and readers, GRIND is the best Youth Initiative on the Internet in Australia and New Zealand, according to the Australia and New Zealand Internet Best Practice Awards 2010. Run by “The Australian Domain Name Administrator” and “Internet NZ”, the awards recognise those that “… have embraced the challenge of making the Internet a more secure, open, accessible and diverse place for all users”.  Of course, all of us here at GRIND know we are the best place on the Internet, and now we have an award for it!

Self gratification aside, the award was actually won by GRIND’s trainee, otherwise known to those who frequent our offices as Cj.  She “ … managed the production of a website created ‘by the youth for the youth’ of her local community in providing support and promoting an outlet for youth culture.” So great work CJ!  And remember Grinders, GRIND online is the best youth initiative on the internet out there!

Check out the Australia and New Zealand Internet Best Practice Awards

Youth Challenge Australia (YCA) is an Australian-based, not-for-profit, secular organisation that actively engages youth in community identified development projects. Since 1992, YCA has mobilised young people to assist the growth of sustainable and positive community development both internationally and within Indigenous Australia.

YCA recruits and trains youth to support development projects in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, India, Indigenous Australia, Mexico and Vanuatu. Our development projects range from 5 to 10 weeks in length and focus on poverty, education, gender equality and human rights, health and HIV/ AIDS, environmental sustainability and global partnerships.

Check out their website for more information and to apply!

Quiz4Dili will be a fun night of games and raffles for all members of the community.  Dinner is included in the tickets price and light drinks will be available for purchase. Everyone is invited to have fun and rise money for ACF to help improve the circumstances of young people in Dili.

The English school is located in an impoverished area in Dili, one of Darwin’s Sister Cities and is our closest neighbour.  With no phone or internet lines, and very basic facilities, we are trying to set up a regular internet connection, provide computers, and offer ongoing support to allow the good work the volunteers at ACF do every day to grow.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 concession and a delicious light dinner comes FREE with your ticket!

A bar will be operating throughout the quiz providing refreshments and light alcoholic beverages (if you are over 18!)

Be there from 7:00pm for a 7:30 start on Friday, August 6^th and LET’S GET QUIZZING!

For more info and to book tickets please call Kin, Council’s Youth Services Officer on 8930 0635 or email k.leong@darwin.nt.gov.au

For all of you who are getting ready to vote, are or starting to become interested in the way our country is run, here is some basic information about the Government and how your vote works.

There are three “arms” of Federal Government. These are;

• the legislature (or parliament, made up of the House of Reps and the Senate.) is responsible for debating and voting on new laws.
• the executive, which is responsible for enacting and upholding the laws established by the legislature.
• the judiciary (the high court and federal courts) is the legal arm of the Commonwealth Government. It is independent of the other two arms, and is responsible for enforcing the laws and deciding whether the other two arms are acting within their powers.

When we talk about politics, the Prime Minister and voting, we are usually referring to the Legislature.

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation, and that means we have a Federal Government and State Governments. State and Federal Governments do different things, and what these things are are outlined in the Australian Constitution.  States also have their own constitutions, and if they want to pass a law the Federal Government doesn’t like, it can be overturned. There are State Elections and Federal Elections (there are also Council Elections) and if you are 18 or over you HAVE to vote in them!

Federal Parliament is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Reps is all of the individuals who we (the general public) vote in to represent us, they are our voices and are elected by preferential voting. Preferential voting is how you vote in a Federal election: you are given a ballot with a number of candidates for your electorate, you will then assign each of these candidates a number, 1 being your favourite choice, 2 being your second favourite, and so on. This is very important, so pay attention- sometimes who you vote for second can be just as important as who you vote for as first.  If one candidate gets more than 50% of number 1 votes, they are the automatic winner, if this does not happen (which happens a lot) then the candidate with the least amount of votes is excluded, and if you voted for them then your second preference is counted as your first preference. This process is repeated until one candidate has more than 50% of the vote.

The senate does not use preferential voting, they use proportional representation, which is very complicated. The main thing you need to know about the senate is that they are NOT voted in directly by the public, instead they allocate senate seats to parties in proportion to their overall vote.

Political parties are like teams that Politicians can be part of. Australia has four main political parties.  The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is a social democratic party founded by the Australian labour movement (that’s who is in charge right now). The Liberal Party is a party of the centre right. The National Party of Australia, formerly the Country Party, is a conservative party representing rural interests.  The Australian Greens is a left-wing and environmentalist party. Being a member of a party means that you will generally agree with the policies your party agrees with, and disagree with the things your party disagrees with. Some politicians prefer to make up their own minds, and are voted in with no party, as an Independent. Often the big parties must rely on convincing the Independents to join their views for laws to be passed, especially in the Senate.

Something that lots of people who are new to voting don’t understand is that in Australia the public does not vote in our Prime Minister. The Prime minister is a candidate, like everyone else, who must be voted in in their particular electorate. The candidate who is chosen to be Prime Minister is NOT voted in by the public when we vote, the political parties elect their own ministers and Prime Minister. Lately lots of people have been saying that Julia Gillard is not our “real” Prime Minister because we did not vote for her, without realising that we didn’t vote for Kevin Rudd either, we voted for the ALP.

So, go enrol! It’s your country, and it’s your vote!

While you’re at it check out Count Me In

Another year, another Darwin Festival. And the festival’s line up is looking bigger and better than last year’s frankly awesome line up. We managed not only to get a sneak preview on the festival’s program, we also managed to get an interview with Joe Duffy, the artistic director of the festival. There is also a snippet of what to expect from the festival as well, which we have put together into a short clip so you can see what Joe Duffy has to say and the interesting performance.

So what about the line up itself? Well, there are sorts of things, from the comedic genius of former ROVE Corinne Grant to the famous names of music like John Butler Trio and The Cat Empire, just to name a few. There are 75 events, 47 of them involve artists from around here! Similar to last year, there are plenty of free events, like Dancing in the sand, and the famous Teddy’s Bear picnic makes a return. There are dancers from all over the world as well as people from local areas. And aimed squarely at the youth of Darwin, events such as Silent Disco, Hip Hop battle and an all new event, En Route, based around mobile phones and IPods. All this will happen between 12th and the 29th August in Festival Park, otherwise known as Civic park, with the lighthouse, in the amphitheatre and other places. Tickets are to be sold online, and from box offices in DEC, Festival park and other places, so look out for places that sell tickets.

So watch, Grinders, and see you at the festival! And check out their website

Since 2008, the Chinese government has been running the Hanyu Qiao Chinese Bridge Chinese Speaking Competition. The competition gives students learning Chinese a chance to show their skills in Chinese speaking, general knowledge about China and their cultural knowledge and performances.

Twenty students competed for the chance to represent Australia at the finals of the competition in China. Three of them came from Darwin, one of them was yours truly, and the other two were Gabriel Heines and Jeremy Lung.

All of the contestants performed incredibly well, with topics ranging from the humdrum families and activities to international travels and Chinese censorship. There were four winners, and while unfortunately no one from the Territory won, Gabriel won a special mention for his speech, in which he talked about the history of the Chinese in Darwin. Good work Gabriel!

If you are learning Chinese, this competition is a great opportunity to show off your Chinese. And to those who are not, remember to consider learning Chinese due to Australia’s (and Darwin’s) proximity to China and its prominence in the world.