Imagine that there's somebody whose work you so admire that they inspire you every day. Imagine that what this artist creates fills you with such joy that your life is better because of it. Imagine that this visionary is one of your greatest personal heroes and you obsess over everything they've released.
Now imagine that this person has decided to make a rare public appearance to discuss these works which have been an inspiration to you for your entire adult life... and you have an opportunity to see them do so live and in person.
That's exactly what happened to me when I found out that animation legend Hayao Miyazaki would be speaking in Los Angeles today.
Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. You just don't pass up an opportunity to attend a lecture with the man responsible for My Neighbor Totoro...
Blogging buddy Howard (from the Web Pen Blog) and I attended the event, and it was an amazing, incredible, wonderful night.
Too many times the best days of our lives go by unnoticed and are only realized upon reflection.
I know this was one of the best days of my life.
To read more about Hayao Miyazaki, here's a Wikipedia entry.
But to really understand him, just go watch his films.
I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.
Atom Entries Feed Comments Feed
Lucky guy! Wish I could have been there! Nausicaa was the first anime I remember. I was struck by the story and marveled how the characters moved differently from anything I had ever seen. It’s times like this that living in flyspeck city really bites! 🙂
wow, that’s awesome
*Ahhhhhhhh* I’m now extremely jealous!
The first Miyazaki I came across years ago was ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’.
I was instantly enraptured and bought an imported boxed set of all the Studio Ghibli movies. They are amazing.
As impressive as the movies are, it must have been stellar to actually get to hear him talk about creating them.
I’m aquiver with excitement for you. Well done Dave!
I’ve only seen Howl’s Moving Castly, but that one was amazing. I’ll have to make sure I put some more on my Netflix queue. After I am done with BSG, of course.
I just went and watched all the video clips from that link you provided. I can see why he is such a hero of yours. Incredible.
I don’t know that I’ve ever even heard of this guy. Hmmm… Gonna go check him out!
What a fabulous opportunity! Totoro is a family favorite and is my 5-year old daughter’s “go-to” movie.
I’m more than a wee bit jealous.
For a person who has never seen his work but who wants to learn to appreciate both the genre and his particular work, what ONE film would you recommend? I assume Netflix will have it.
My Neighbor Totoro!
Congrats!
Whenever you write a post about him you always have these sense of awe and admiration that you always express so clearly! I’m so glad you got to see in person!
That’s awesome. 😀
I loved his humility, humor and guidance to Daniel-san in Karate Kid.
That’s really awesome Dave!
I adore his stuff. My first of his films was, of course, Princess Mononoke.
I am squeeing for you!
I love his work! Particularly Porco Rosso
Awesome, Dave! I have yet to find a single person who inspires me in that way. That’s something to be grateful for too.
Miyazaki was here in LA??? I didn’t know about it??
Fuck.
I would give anything to see him.
Omedetoo gozaimasu to you, Dave. You lucky bastard!
Dude, I fucking love his shit. Well done, you.
Green with envy!
And Totoro is one of our fave moves. I love Spirited Away, too, but it freaks out my kids.
His work is not my cup of tea, but that’s very cool for you.
Awesome, hon! I feel the same way about seeing Professor Hawking speaking at a Physics conference many years ago.
Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond to this. It’s just that the pure emotion I felt coming from you and surrounding you was just too much for my juvenile emotional range to handle. Sharing those 3 hours with you in L.A. were the most wondrous time I had even on a July 28th. Sharing my love with you was truly beautiful and not only because we shared it, but because your love of the Master is so palpable. So I look up in remembrance of our time together, my eye is caught by the Miyazaki program on my book shelf that now has a Daveorado placard hanging next to it. Tears come so easily at this point that I can’t go on other than to say, “Styx was genius, fool! Grow some taste!” xoxoxo