Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 218

National Artist Nick Joaquin would rap me on the head with his knuckles whenever...

National Artist Nick Joaquin would rap me on the head with his knuckles whenever we met. This was the peculiar (and painful!) way he expressed his affection. Cariño brutal I think its called in Spanish, see how he dedicated this book :)

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Autographs

My Inquirer column today.http://opinion.inquirer.net/39926/red......

My Inquirer column today.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/39926/red-hats-for-all-souls-day


Red hats for All Souls Day
opinion.inquirer.net
READING biographical data off tombstones is a lesson in research I learned from the late E. Arsenio Manuel, author of the four-volume “Dictionary of Philippine Biography.”

Undas brings families together in cemeteries and memorial parks once a year. Its...

Undas brings families together in cemeteries and memorial parks once a year. Its time to remember that Funeral parlor ads are not as graphic as they used to be a century ago.


History 2

My Inquirer column today.http://opinion.inquirer.net/39790/riz...

My Inquirer column today.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/39790/rizals-ghost


Rizal’s ghost
opinion.inquirer.net
ON APRIL 22, 1895, Jose Rizal, then an exile in Dapitan, consulted a Jesuit regarding noisy and destructive ghosts in one of the houses in his estate. These types of spirits are called poltergeists and were the subject of a scholarly paper by the Jesuit historian Jose A. Arcilla, who dug up the foll...

Downtown Quiapo, home of the Black Nazarene, armpit of the nation, is said to ha...

Downtown Quiapo, home of the Black Nazarene, armpit of the nation, is said to have gotten its name from the water plant "kiyapo" that was abundant there in pre-Spanish times. This colored plate from Blanco's Flora de Filipinas carries the Latin scientific name. In English kiyapo is also known as: water lily, tropical duckweed or even freshwater lettuce though it doesnt look edible to me.

I have been teaching for close to three decades now, hoping to find one student...

I have been teaching for close to three decades now, hoping to find one student who will, like me, follow the path of Clio. Finally, a student gave his teacher the best compliment ever--front page story in today's Inquirer.
Now I can look to retirement.
Congratulations Nicholas Sy!
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/296856/st-calungsod-saintly-arm-could-be-dangerous


St. Calungsod saintly arm could be dangerous
newsinfo.inquirer.net
A picture indeed paints a thousand words, as does the portrait rendered by artists of Pedro Calungsod, who on Sunday officially became the second Filipino saint next to San Lorenzo Ruiz.

My Inquirer column today.http://opinion.inquirer.net/39452/for......

My Inquirer column today.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/39452/forbes-por-bes-or-pobres-park


‘Forbes,’ ‘Por-bes,’ or ‘Pobres Park’?
opinion.inquirer.net
“Dasma” is short for Dasmariñas and refers to the posh gated community in Makati, not the busy Chinatown street in downtown Manila, or the first-class city in the province of Cavite. “Por-bes” used to refer to a street near España Avenue and the University of Santo Tomas named in honor of William Ca...

Nila grew abundantly along the Pasig and gave the city its name Manila. (may nil...

Nila grew abundantly along the Pasig and gave the city its name Manila. (may nila). Some idiot added a "d" to give us: Maynilad, Maharnilad, and Lagusnilad! In Fr. Blanco's Flora de Filipinas circa 1877 we find the "ixora manila." There is no "d" after nila.


History 2

My Inquirer column today.http://opinion.inquirer.net/39320/br-......

My Inquirer column today.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/39320/br-and-different-reasons-for-reading-books


‘BR’ and different reasons for reading books
opinion.inquirer.net
WHEN I lived with my parents, their visitors would often be given an obligatory tour that included a stop in my library, which occupied two of the biggest rooms in the house. If I was unfortunate to be working at the time of the intrusion, I would often be given a sorry look and ignorantly asked, “N...

Contrary to popular belief the Spanish friars did not destroy all of native Phil...

Contrary to popular belief the Spanish friars did not destroy all of native Philippine culture, some of that culture especially languages were preserved by them. The earliest Tagalog dictionary was compiled by the Franciscan friar Pedro de San Buenaventura and published in Pilar, Laguna in 1613. For many years the only copy known to scholars was in the British Library in London until a more complete copy was found in Spain and reprinted by a company that specializes in rare and obscure books. You cannot imagine how much history lies untapped in language, in dictionaries.


History 2