Pastiche . . .

(pas-ˈtēsh) is not hallucinogenic macaroni, but rather a hodge podge of imitations of other artistic works. If you've ever taken interest in art or writing in the Post Modern age, you've encountered it. If you've ever watched Family Guy you've been drowned in pop culture pastiche.

I think anything we create is in some way referential to something else whether it's unconscious imitation, homage, revisionist/commentary, or somewhere in the gray area of unintentional reference. SAN for me is exactly that, just a pastiche of the various streams of information that crawl through the back of my mind.

So this weekend I've been re-watching Kill Bill vol.'s 1 & 2. Just trying to comb through the soundtrack is dizzying, not to mention the film references! I really like to dig in with stuff like this that just has so much texture. I would say the Watchmen graphic novel and the Kill Bills are on about the same resonance when it comes to pastiche. Let's see how good the Watchmen film comes out.

Here's a stumble my stumble-bumper buddy Ace sent me about a savant who can recall and play every note of every song he's ever heard. I had to go and find some Mozart after hearing that.

Okay a couple of spotlights:

Kate Beaton - makes sexy comics based on history; shame on you for never checking her out---i mean looking at her stuff---i mean---drat. go!

John Allison - how can you pretend to like web comics and not be a Scary-go-round fan? No really. He's the truth.

Chris Hastings - Dr. Mcninja. Start here. Thank me later

Center Storm (Impromanga) - web comics began here(well kinda*) for me circa 2000

*originally hosted at pixelspace, since hot-potatoed to wherever it could.

also OCAD used to be somewhere else

Kelly Hamilton - She doesn't seem to have the buzz she had a year ago, but I still think she's top notch. Kind of reminds me of Cyril Pedrosa's work, and her tutorials are outstanding.

Daniel Krall - everything about his drawings is fun.

Jen Wang - and Vera and Pants Press still rock my socks

okay i'll stop for now.

btw i'm watching: Persepolis, The Honeymoon Killers, Owning Mahoney, A Woman Under the Influence, Kill Bill (of course), Full Metal Panic, Ducktales, Touch, Yakitate, Mighty Orbots, Future Boy Conan, Nadia, and a few others. oh and happy belated v-day.