Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 198

My Inquirer column today on our heroes in Paris.http://opinion.inquirer.net/567...

My Inquirer column today on our heroes in Paris.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/56719/filipino-heroes-in-france


Filipino heroes in France
opinion.inquirer.net
Bastille Day, the French National Day, was held this year in the residence of the French ambassador in Forbes Park, which was once the chic home of the late Elvira Manahan. Bastille Day in Manila often required a large hotel venue, but this year’s event was smaller because a separate reception was h...

These firemen and their fire-fighting machine remind me of a time when houses ca...

These firemen and their fire-fighting machine remind me of a time when houses caught fire immediately because roofs were made of thatch. Bahay-na-bato was an improvement because these used roof tiles that didn't burn easily but posed another danger when they came crashing down during earthquakes. Finally, we had galvanized iron or G.I. sheets that were light and fireproof, these posed another problem during typhoons when they flew off and hit people.

M. H. del Pilar is a Manila street busy with jeeps and go-go bars named after t...

M. H. del Pilar is a Manila street busy with jeeps and go-go bars named after the editor of the reformist paper La Solidaridad Marcelo Hilario del Pilar better known as Plaridel (town named after him in Bulacan). The faded original photograph, inscribed to his rival Jose Rizal, is preserved in the National Library of the Philippines.

See you on Saturday July 20. The information and link on reservations is on the...

See you on Saturday July 20.
The information and link on reservations is on the post.


Timeline Photos
History Comes Alive! with Professor Ambeth Ocampo!
Forging the Nation: The Kalantiao Hoax Revisited!
July 20, 2013

Yes, that's Ambeth on a Dinosaur.

MERALCO used to be an electric AND Railway company. In this prewar ad they are s...

MERALCO used to be an electric AND Railway company. In this prewar ad they are selling advertising space on their trains very much as we would in the MRT and buses today.

My Inquirer column today on the "real" meaning of Kalantiaw according to my stud...

My Inquirer column today on the "real" meaning of Kalantiaw according to my students.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/56321/chewing-testicles


‘Chewing testicles’
opinion.inquirer.net
One chapter deleted from the late Bienvenido Santos’ memoirs was on me. Part of it was on his vain attempt to get a young historian and a young poetess to fall in love with each other. “Ah,” he groaned, “Cupid wasted all his arrows.” Santos’ slim book is called “Memory’s Fictions,” a title that has…

July 11 Feast of Benedict of Nursia reminds me of a time when I was known as Dom...

July 11 Feast of Benedict of Nursia reminds me of a time when I was known as Dom. Ignacio Maria, the happiest and most productive six years of my life. The opportunity to visit Benedict's cave in Subiaco, outside Rome came years after I left the monastery, I pretended to be a tourist who didn't understand the signs forbidding photos and was driven out by a cranky Italian monk who had not learned Benedictine hospitality. Monastic life taught me to find silence and solitude in a busy world. Benedictine life was about reading and reflection, a love of learning and a desire for God.


Travel

My Inquirer column today, on the Kalantiaw hoax is still in textbooks.http://op...

My Inquirer column today, on the Kalantiaw hoax is still in textbooks.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/56207/kalantiaw-lives-in-textbooks


Kalantiaw lives in textbooks
opinion.inquirer.net
Arguments for and against the changing of the name of the country from Pilipinas to Filipinas prove that old habits truly die hard. We are a young country with many names: Islas Filipinas, Philippine Islands, P.I., (not the bad word), Republica Filipina, Republic of the Philippines, RP, The Philippi...

I'm definitely in good company!Ars longa vita brevis.

I'm definitely in good company!
Ars longa vita brevis.

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash4/371710_522578203_915413082_q.jpg

Robby Tantingco
Biasa la tagana reng Kapampangan! The French Ministry of Culture has awarded Kapampangan filmmaker BRILLANTE MA. MENDOZA the title Chevalier (Knight) dans l’Ordre des Artes et Lettres for his contribution to arts. He joins the likes of Rudolf Nureyev (1992), George Clooney (2007), and Tim Burton (2010). There are now two Filipinos who were honored such by the French government. The other one is another Kapampangan, AMBETH OCAMPO, who was inducted into the same Ordre des Arts et des Lettres with the higher rank of Officier. Other recipients in this category are Jeanne Moreau (1988), Susannah York (1991) and Danielle Steel (2002). The third and highest rank is Commandeur, where you have the likes of T.S. Eliot (1960), Lillian Gish (1983), Bob Dylan (1990), Vaclav Havel (2001), and Ray Bradbury (2007).

While people argue over our "ps" and "f"s in Pilipinas or Filipinas, just stop t...

While people argue over our "ps" and "f"s in Pilipinas or Filipinas, just stop to appreciate the fact that we have España Avenue in Manila while Madrid has an Avenida de Filipinas where you will find the Rizal Monument.