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January 28

name the novel (fantasy trilogy)

It's a fantasy trilogy novel series... I can't seem to remember its name though. I read it like 5 years ago... In the first book, there is a family (a mother, a father, twin son and daughter, and a baby) and the book starts off with the family moving within the city into a lower hierarchy region. (in the fictional universe of the novel, everyone is divided into different social caste status, with each caste represented by different colours) I don't remember much, but the father takes some kind of an exam to make a living or something, and at the end, the twins do something heroic to save the townspeople. in the second book, the twins are now teenagers, and an evil and sinister force lures in millions of innocent children and brainwashes them to form a mind controlled army. It's rather reminiscent of the chinese army in the korean war: in one incident, these children army literally fills a trench with their bodies to get across it. one of the twins' friends gets recruited into the army against his(/her ??) will and eventually the children manage to save them. (or was all of this in the first book?? i really don't know lol) the army keeps on chanting "Kill! Kill! Kill!" Also in the second book, the twins run away, and the girl twin disguises as a servant of a princess. the princess is rather lonely, so she really likes her servant and they become close friends. However, the princess needs to take dancing lessons so that she can dance with a prince in a ball, but she sucks at it. But the twin girl realizes she is quite good at it even though she has never had any dancing lessons before. So, the girl poses as the princess in the ball, and dances beautifully with the prince. Also, the princess falls in love with the twin brother (she hasn't even met him yet) , just from hearing stories that the twin sister told her. In the third book, the family and some of the townspeople migrate from their homeland to an unknown paradiseland. during their trip, they encounter an unusual creature or more of a mental parasite that latches onto a particular person and makes them act strange. for example, when the parasite was inside the father (the leader of the pack) it makes him snappy and aggressive, and when the parasite resides inside the princess (she actually left her kingdom to follow the twins' family) it makes her less shy and kisses the twin brother. the twin brother has some kind of a psychic ability, and is able to get rid of the parasite (in the princess's case, he kisses her to understand the parasite better, and to drag the parasite out of her) and in an alongside story arc, there is this round looking hermit that bounces, and it recruits the twin brother as his apprentice or something. the bouncy thing teaches the brother how to do supernatural stuff, including walking on air. the twin sister lives with her brother and this hermit on a boat. she learns to do stuff on her own just by watching the hermit give lessons to the brother. near the end of the book, the twin brother must sacrifice himself to save the world or something so he goes to this island where all kinds of strange mythical sorcerers and creatures meet (including the bouncy). but in the end, the bouncy tells him that it wasn't him that was meant to be sacrificed, it was his sister. He doesn't accept his sister's fate, so he fights with her sister (with mental telekinesis or something) but he realizes she is stronger than him, so the sister sacrifices herself in the end. In the epilogue, the family and the townspeople have found their paradiseland, the twin sister is dead, but her mind resides inside the brother's head (they had this special mental connection since they were children). the brother is now happily married with the princess from the second/third book and they have children.

I read this series while i was in adelaide, australia. I borrowed it from the children's books section in the marion library centre (park holme). I'm not sure if this is an australian novel or an american or british, or even if it went international. I know that my description of the series is quite poor, but any help with remembering the name of these novels would be appreciated. Thanks. Johnnyboi7 (talk) 08:10, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well, my first instinct was Time of the Twins, which I haven't read myself, but the description and plot summary don't quite match your summary. I'll have a look and see what I can find. -- WORM MЯOW 08:48, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I just found out, it's Wind on Fire series. but thanx anywaysJohnnyboi7 (talk) 05:07, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

T-shirt design

Can anyone identify the design on the fourth t-shirt from the bottom of this page? Is it just some artsy design or is it a reference to something specific? Dismas|^(talk) 04:28, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The green one with the guy with the handlebar mustache, looking at the crescent moon and stars, holding in his hands what appears to be the Volcom gem logo? Other than being a stylistic picture around the Volcom logo, I don't know of any significance to the picture. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 05:04, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

OH!! That's what it is! I could make out the moon and stars but didn't "see" a man with a handlebar mustache until you explained it. Now I see it. I guess it's a Volcom shirt now that you also point out what he is holding. Now that I know it's a person and that those bits are arms/hands, it makes more sense. Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 08:24, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Heavy metal a victim of reverse discrimination? (question moved from Misc desk)

Have any interesting articles been written on whether the overrepresentation of hip-hop and underrepresentation of metal in the North American music scene is reverse discrimination? Neon Merlin 06:08, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well, first of all you'd have to define what you mean by the "music scene". That could mean the variety of groups, of venues, of live shows being put on, of records sold, etc. I suspect what you're actually talking about is the media, which is a different thing altogether. Metal fans in Britain – and I suspect it will be the same in North America – are always complaining that their music doesn't get enough coverage in the mainstream media (radio, TV, press and so on). By contrast, hip hop is probably fairly well covered in the media. There's no reason why you should imagine that there's a relationship between these two levels of coverage, though. Most genres except metal – rock, soul, R&B etc – get pretty good coverage. So why doesn't metal, even though metal acts sell millions of records? By and large, because the people who make the decisions on who gets covered feel that metal is basically uncool, with an unattractive image, a fanbase that their viewers/listeners/readers are not part of and have no wish to be, and little to recommend it musically. You could call that unfair if you like, but it would be a waste of time if you ask me. I like free improvisation and post-industrial, and those genres aren't exactly on heavy rotation either. Doesn't bother me. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 06:59, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Discrimination on what basis, is there any evidence that hip-hoppers are a historically disadvantaged group and metallers are members of a historically advantaged group? Or do you mean the demographics of the people that make or listen to such music? In that case is it racial, economic, sexual? Rockpocket 08:23, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Racial, AFAICT. Neon Merlin 15:03, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Then who are you suggesting might be discriminated against – metal fans? musicians? – and by whom? Sorry but I still don't understand the premise of your question. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 15:23, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

So you're looking for evidence of some sort of 'musical affirmative action', where "black" musical styles are given preference over "white" ones? APL (talk) 15:31, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I believe the questioner is looking for "interesting articles" that describe the polularity of hip hop versus the lack of popularity for heavy metal as discrimination against white people (where popularity is defined by the genres' relative prevalence in the media). I could be wrong though. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 15:40, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I doubt much has been said about this, because you're not being discriminatory if you don't make your orange juice out of apples. The radio plays mass-marketable music; generally, that means poppy, catchy, or danceable. Poppier "metal" bands do get lots of airplay. But a lot of metal is intentionally alienating and difficult to listen to, and that's part of the appeal. Most serious metal fans don't want to see teenyboppers at the mall wearing Darkthrone shirts. That being said, metal has been heavily marketed to the public in the past, and probably will be again, but the current trend is toward dance-oriented R&B/hip hop and pop rock. Meanwhile, metal continues to flourish as a niche market. I'll bet there are a lot more "serious" hip hop artists complaining about lack of airplay than there are "serious" metal artists, because the metal scene is international and well-established, whereas the underground hip hop scene has to compete with top 40 radio for much of its audience. --Fullobeans (talk) 21:08, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

My theory is that we don't hear much heavy metal any more because, by now, they've smashed and/or incinerated all their instruments. :-) StuRat (talk) 15:53, 29 January 2009 (UTC) [reply]

I think I'll go with "music is not a zero-sum game". The presence (or absence) of one musical genre does not meaningfully impact the absence (or presence) of another. So no, no discrimination. Just the market following the money. — Lomn 20:01, 29 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

old 90s/80s cartoon

hi i'm looking for an old 90's/80's cartoon, it stars a blond kid (he looked a bit like Mighty max) who lives in a haunted lighthouse/castle and could travel to a world populated by monsters, most of them were friendly except this christmas tree monster which would trap people in its baubles (cant believe i just typed that!) can you help me find it?--Lerdthenerd (talk) 17:01, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Nation ? That is, where did you see it and where do you think it was made ? StuRat (talk) 15:50, 29 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

England, I'm sure it was an english or european cartoon (probably not american i looked there but can't find anything that resembles it)--Lerdthenerd (talk) 17:28, 29 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If it helps the cartoon was on during the afternoon after school, i watched it in similar time slot along with bump in the night, oscar and oscar's orcherstra (that cartoon with the talking piano. (why has no onele answered this yet, please do!)--Lerdthenerd (talk) 16:04, 11 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]