Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 184

My Inquirer column today on Leonard Wood's brain preserved in Yale Universty.ht...

My Inquirer column today on Leonard Wood's brain preserved in Yale Universty.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/69743/a-brain-preserved-in-yale


A brain preserved in Yale
opinion.inquirer.net
Leonard Wood has gone down in Philippine history in a bad way. From what I remember from history class, he was against: Filipinization of the government, greater autonomy for the Philippines, and Philippine independence.

Tourist souvenirs a century ago are the antiques of today so hang on to the man-...

Tourist souvenirs a century ago are the antiques of today so hang on to the man-in-the-barrel or giant spoon and fork from Mines View tourist traps as they might be valuable one day. Of these hardwood handicrafts sold in the Cordilleras as souvenirs in the early 1900s only one was made in the traditional Hapao style, the others bear no resemblance to any authentic bulul. Can you spot which one is real?


2014

My Inquirer column today on Rizal and hashish.http://opinion.inquirer.net/69629...

My Inquirer column today on Rizal and hashish.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/69629/rizal-tried-hashish


Rizal tried hashish
opinion.inquirer.net
Marijuana is a prohibited substance in most parts of the world. In some places it is tolerated for medicinal use by patients suffering from lingering and painful illness. In the Netherlands marijuana and some special mushrooms remain illegal but are tolerated in small quantities. In Amsterdam you ca...

Trash to one person can sometimes be treasure to another. After a visit to Natio...

Trash to one person can sometimes be treasure to another. After a visit to National Artist Edith Tiempo in her house-with-a-view outside Dumaguete I saw this in a pile of scratch paper and asked for it. Maybe I should have exchanged five reams of bond paper for that precious pile of drafts and jottings that depict her creative process. Sayang. Anyone knows the significance of her pen name "Eleftheria"? Its Greek to me :)


Autographs

Juan Luna's sktechbooks deserve to be studied by art historians because in them...

Juan Luna's sktechbooks deserve to be studied by art historians because in them we see the steps to painting. To see how Luna develops an idea is fascinating, but the notebooks are part autobiography too. For example, this quick sketch, if I am not mistaken, shows the other 19th century master Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo at work. (Dr. Eleuterio Pascual Collection).


2014

Prewar photo studios in the Philippines provided costumes for clients that inclu...

Prewar photo studios in the Philippines provided costumes for clients that included Japanese kimonos, Igorot or Dalagang Bukid attire for women, but the studio back drops were the best. My favorite were cardboard boats like this from "Moderna Studio."


2014

My Inquirer column today on the US Governor-general's Report on the Philippines...

My Inquirer column today on the US Governor-general's Report on the Philippines for 1924.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/69207/seeing-the-present-in-the-past


Seeing the present in the past
opinion.inquirer.net
Last Dec. 10, in the wake of the death and destruction left by Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” Sen. Grace Poe filed Senate Resolution No. 413 calling on the government to consider electronic backup of important documents. Historians should be happy about this, and I can only hope that the resolution is take...

Sr. Flor Maria Basa, FMM passed away at 92 in Cavite. She asked to see me last y...

Sr. Flor Maria Basa, FMM passed away at 92 in Cavite. She asked to see me last year not to talk about the Corona Impeachment but to tell me about her grandfather Jose Ma. Basa, friend of Rizal in Hongkong. I found a photo of JM Basa in a rather unique manually driven wheelchair. Sr. Flor's wheelchair was a better model--Pajero.


2014

My Inquirer column today on unusual Philippine names.http://opinion.inquirer.ne...

My Inquirer column today on unusual Philippine names.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/69059/a-typhoon-named-gloria


A typhoon named ‘Gloria’
opinion.inquirer.net
Before Ateneo de Manila moved its e-mail server to Google with an @ateneo.edu address, we had a very distinct, Pinoy e-mail address in @pusit.admu.edu. This led to my being called, behind my back, “Pusit” or “Tiya Pusit” in Ermita antique shops. Ateneo employees had a different address: @balut.admu....

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? My dad is going on 89, he doesn'...

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? My dad is going on 89, he doesn't know how to type or text but over the holidays he started snapping photos with his iPhone. If he learns more tricks I will give in to the temptation and get an iPhone too.


2014