This bit is from Chuck Plahniuk's Rant:

Dr. Christopher Bing, Ph.D.: Generally speaking, liminal versus liminoid is defined as follows. The term "liminal" refers to a ritual that marks passage from one phase of life to the next: a baptism, a graduation, a honeymoon. In contrast, a typical "liminoid" event such as a rock concert, a rave, or a plyamorous consensual group sex party occurs outside of the mainstream, but a liminoid event marks no such life transition. The defining characteristic of the liminoid space is that all participants are equals. Social or caste rankings are discarded, and all present enjoy an egalitarian mutual affection for one another. Turner's name for this spontaneous solidarity and love was the Latin word "communitas."

Dr. Christopher Bing, Ph.D.: At its worst, the liminal or liminoid event functions as a release for accumulated anxiety, thereby protecting the overall civilization. At its best, liminal and liminoid spaces become social laboratories wherein participants can experiment and develop new forms of self-expression and social structure.

liminoid space = acid test + rave + group sex party.

Or something. :lol:

Yeah, I'm up for a liminoid event (minus the group sex part).

But I think maybe it could be arguable that a liminoid event marks a passage from one phase of life to the next. Couldn't a liminoid event give way to something... liminal?

I definetly think so, Whirly. Coachella with you guys was both a liminoid and liminal event for me.

BTW, I saw a book reading by Chuck Pahlaniuk a few weeks back. Several hundred people in attendance. Very entertaining. Read some unreleased work and also read 'Guts'. Hearing 'Guts' read aloud made my skin crawl....

hehehe, glad to have been a part of your limin(al) (oid) event!

I was sort of thinking along the same lines, actually. When I started getting into the Chemical Brothers, I was moving away from a really dark, depressing and bad phase I was going through. Seeing the Chems live was the final push getting me over that hump, as cheesy as that may seem. I think that is why I feel indebted to their music in some ways in that their music has given me so much, why I feel connected to people who enjoy them as much as I do, and why I tend to be overprotective of the brothers and their music at times.

That trip was a real turning point for me, with the Chems set being the climax of the experience. My first time away from home by myself, meeting with total strangers and having to invest my trust in them (thankfully you guys are great!), seeing the most amazing concert of my life, and taking E for the first time. I wasn't the same person when I returned as when I left. It took a while for some of those changes to really become apparent to me but it was definetly the start of the next phase in my life.

Chuck Palahniuk is great. He read one of his short stories while guest speaking at a university and it caused some people to get sick right there in the theater.

Biff, was it 'Guts', the story of disturbing consequences from rather odd masturbatory techniques? That story made me cringe to read but to hear him read it aloud was such a viscerally disturbing experience.

I was living in D.C. and I got the chance to be there when he did a reading at the D.C. Press Club, and it was awesome. It was so amazing to be pressed to tears with laughter, yet twisting with disgust.

Even if his style isn't wholly unique, his tone and subject matter make him stand out more than most to anyone young enough to recognize him.

yeah it was guts, the pool one. I recall they eventually published it in playboy. Read "Survivor" if you haven't, great book!

Surprisingly, 'Guts' is the only thing of his I've read. I'll get around to some of the rest when I get a chance.

Oh yeah, and a buddy of mine made a few photocopies of it and left it around the lunchroom at our old work... heheh

I don't care much for Chuck... probably because I saw the film before I read the book, but Fight Club was one of those very, very rare cases where the film was, IMO, infinitely better than the book. IMO, when that happens, you=fail as an author.

Yeah, Stash, definitely agree with you on that one.

I also thought it was weird how I absolutely enjoyed the film better than the movie, but even Chuck thought that they film was better than what he wrote.

David Fincher did an amazing job with the film, and Norton/Pitt were just spot on.

But aside from Fight Club, definitely read any of his other books. Lullaby is one to check out--it's absolutely hilarious, and an awesome story.

I as well agree with you Stash, but on different grounds. I would not say that the movie being better does not speak bad of the book as much as I would say it speaks good of David Fincher. Chuck has a dark tone to many of his books that really Fincher was born for. The first time I saw it, it reminded me of the tone he did for Alien 3, which is one of the most overly scolded films IMO, especially the extended version on the latest release. That film had that dark style that was really stunning, the problem was the plot was changed a the night before they would record and Fox rushed it because they started advertising it before they even began recording. And lets not forget the privative 1991 CGI for the alien..

Damn nation I still haven't read Lullaby nor Choke!!

Choke is actually being made into a movie, so definitely check it out.

Very dark, but hilarious.

Oh man, I loved Alien 3. I actually saw it twice, consecutively, the day it opened... actually, we were so depressed and drained of will to live, I think we just sat there until it came on again going, 'wow'

still, a good movie.

then i hope you've seen the recent release of it, like 3 years ago the quadrology had a much better version.

NO! I MUST SEE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

The shitty Alien/Dog hybrid ruined it for me.

The extended version is worth it?

ALIEN>ALIENS>ALIEN 3> ALIEN RES. >>>>>>> ALIEN V.S PREDATOR

The 4th Alien was so horribly bad, I thought I was going to miscarry. (I was pregnant when I saw it at the theater). Am I the only one that thinks Winona Ryder can't act her way out of a paper bag unless she's in a Tim Burton film?

Anyway. Alien vs. Predator was absolute poo.

Now - Alien is classic sci-fi thriller with a genuinely creepy psychological element: Excellent. Aliens was classic sci-fi shoot-em-up fun: "Get away from her you BITCH!" I thought Alien 3 was underrated, but it's been so long since I've seen it so I have to watch it again.

I want to watch Alien 1-3 now.