Happy birthday to Levi-Strauss

 

Last year, my anthro buddies planned a trip to attend a conference in France to honor Levi-Strauss on his 99th birthday.  Today, he turned a century old. I wander what keeps him that long? Is he vegan?

Canon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stood in rapt stillness for Canon played by the Quartet in a reception party at the Natural Museum —  really beautiful!  Justine plays this solo when she was 4 and had the standing ovation for playing it soo well. This is a hard piece and felt good to listen to the endless chorus.

What (not) to do when you meet the S.V.s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Irresistable temptations.

Yummiest biscuits on planet earth! Double choco with ginger tidbits, freshly baked please, one bag please.

1. Make sure (not) to forget your wristwatch or any gadget for timekeeping.

2. Do (not) arrive on time. A little of 5 minutes late is fine. Do (wear) a comfy running shoes in case you need to sprint.

3. Do (not) lounge at G & D, or attempt to order two scoops of Oxford blues ice cream, or buy a ginger biscuit at Ben’s or get a regular sized strawberry smoothies at Moo’s (although its good to clear the throat for the Q & A).

4. Do (not) browse at second-hand bookshops, it “eats time” as you suggest.

5. Do (not) be surprised if your s.v.s had a prior meeting before entering the cafe. Surprise, surprise!

6. Do (not) order latte to keep you awake from the afternoon Q & A portion.

7. Do (not) write notes of the meeting, if you have short term memory.

8. Do (not) end the meeting with deadlines, jumps the adrenalin high!

End the meeting with felicidades for the pleasant conversation.

And as always, its (not) good to cram …

Ibaloi Heritage Museum in Loakan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heaps of cheers to Manang Rosella for a job well done to the Ibaloi Heritage Museum in Baguio! Mabuhey ka!

_______________________

Ibaloi fear extinction, want to tell their stories
By Vincent Cabreza
Philippine Daily Inquirer 

BAGUIO CITY – The summer capital’s Ibaloi community has created its own museum, stacked with photographs and memorabilia of their ancestors, to tell anyone who may be interested why they are on the verge of “extinction.”

The Center for Ibaloi Heritage and Loakan History is a living museum because the community has pledged to donate new photographs, artifacts and items to document what had transpired in their lives after each year.

The center is being hosted by the Loakan Elementary School near the city’s only airport in Barangay Loakan, about 5 km from downtown Baguio.

Descendants and relatives of Loakan’s original Ibaloi families went to the school last month to witness the museum’s very first exhibit – a historical summary of Baguio Ibaloi which was put up by Rosella Camte-Bahni for her master’s thesis in cultural production at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

Bahni, executive director of the advocacy group, Igorota Foundation, has pushed for the creation of the museum using her exhibit, saying Loakan is the perfect site to host Ibaloi memorabilia.

“In this one place, the Ibaloi were subjected to so many expropriations [by the American colonial government and the Philippine government],” she says.

She says the Ibaloi folk in Loakan first lost their farmlands to the Americans who started building roads. They gave up more rice fields so that the Americans could build the airport.

The Ibaloi lost hillsides to mining expeditions and later to the government when it decided to build the Philippine Military Academy there.

The Ibaloi also lost vast vegetable lands when the government extended the perimeters of Camp John Hay and built the Baguio Economic Zone.

Bahni exhibited portraits of Ibaloi people during the 1900s, as well as a series of photographs depicting the construction of the airport, to tell these tales.

Former Baguio Mayor Virginia de Guia looked through the photographs, searching for a high school classmate with whom she has lost touch.

Leonora San Agustin, curator of the Baguio-Benguet Museum, marveled at the artifacts that the community managed to keep intact, despite the fact that their families were slowly displaced from their ancestral homes.

A huge map has been posted at the door of the school’s library where the museum is located. Bahni says it shows just how little is left of Ibaloi lands in Loakan.

Bahni’s exhibit begins with a large photograph of old Ibaloi folk sitting beside two trees. She says the photograph was symbolic because those trees still stand outside the gymnasium of the grade school.

“Right now the fear is that the Ibaloi are getting extinct in Baguio. It is mind blowing that 55 years after that memorable picture of proud Ibaloi [they would disappear just like that],” she says.

Baguio is celebrating its centennial in 2009 but it remains silent about plans commemorating the Ibaloi’s legacy to the city.

“Most of the historical data [about the Baguio Ibaloi] are done by people who are not from the place, so [the center has] given the community the opportunity to tell their own story and to make their own interpretations of that story,” Bahni says.

Bill: A Person to Emulate

Bill Longacre was one of my examiners in 2002, he gave me a flat 1.0 for a class I never attended, but based my marks on my written research.  He defended me well from the critics unfamiliar with my regional interest and pointed me to other materials that I need for my study. The last time I saw him was he was in his car with a sack-load of red rice.  His original mind, generosity and kindness to Filipino researchers and students is something to emulate.   I found this article penned by one of his students. I have been searching where to find him since he retired from the U of A in 2004. I hope our paths will cross again.

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‘APO’ BILL LONGACRE: A FRIEND OF THE FILIPINOS

By R. H. A. VILLANUEVA
Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology
University of Arizona

Last 13 December 2003, 40 years after receiving his doctorate in anthropology from the University of Chicago and after being invited by the late eminent Emil J. Haury to teach archaeology at the University of Arizona (U. of A) Department of Anthropology; a roast and scholarship fundraiser was held for Dr. William “Bill” A. Longacre at the historic Manning House in Tucson, Arizona.

The successful launch of the W.A. Longacre Scholarship Fund for anthropology students at the same university honors Bill Longacre, who retired in June 2004 after a very accomplished career in the field of archaeology and anthropological education.

Many of the top archaeologists and anthropologists from all over the United States such as Raymond Thompson, Ezra Zubrow, P. Bion-Griffin, Norman Yoffee, Bill Rathje, John Olsen, Alan Sullivan, Patty Jo Watson, Margaret Nelson, Steven Kuhn, and others paid homage while roasting him that night.

Members of the Filipino-American Students Association (FASA) at the University of Arizona also provided a selection of Philippine ethnic dances to the delight of Bill Longacre and the guests.

Bill Longacre, Uncle Willie to generations of students at the U. of A, Tito Bill or Apo Bill to his students at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, in Kalinga, Sorsogon, Ilocos, and Dumaguete, among other locations in the Philippines, is one of the foremost archaeologists, not only in the United States, but in the world.

His accomplishments are legendary and span the theoretical and philosophical debates in archaeology in the 1950s, New Archaeology in the 1960s and 70s, and ethnoarchaeology in the 1980s, where his pottery research in Kalinga provided much fertile ground for the crystallization of the new theoretical field.

Bill started his academic career the day after getting his doctorate, when the U. of A hired him to teach and direct the long-established and highly regarded Grasshopper Field School in Arizona for the next 13 years. His work as Field School Director resulted in numerous publications including student dissertations and theses.

In one pueblo (town) ruin called the Carter Ranch Site, Longacre and his colleagues conducted one of the first case studies of “New Archaeology,” wherein the distribution of painted pottery decoration was studied to learn more about the social organization of the pueblo residents.

Longacre with Paul Martin and his colleagues argued that pottery decoration could infer what gender made the pots, how pottery making skills were passed on through the generations, whether marriage was exogamous or not and so on, in other words, were micro-traditions in pottery decorations reflecting learning frameworks in a society (Longacre et.al 1991)

When other archaeologists began to critique the theoretical foundations of New Archaeology, Bill initiated fieldwork in the Province of Kalinga; northern Philippines in 1973 to further explore the relations between material culture and human behavior. Bill recognized that the archaeological record may not directly reflect where and how pottery was made, used, and discarded.

Studying a present society that had a pottery production and use tradition could provide the desired information. The upland barangays (villages) of Dangtalan and Dalupa, Municipality of Pasil in Kalinga provided the ideal study sites, and the long-term Kalinga Ethnoarchaeological Project (KEP) was borne after a 1973 initial scoping trip.

Research continues to this date with many Filipino, American, and Asian archaeologists and graduate students studying and producing articles, books, theses, and dissertations on how indigenous peoples manufacture, use, and trade pottery in ways that resemble prehistoric societies.

Pottery studies provide many facets of the relationships between “variation in material culture and variation in behavior and organization” (Longacre et.al 1991).

Specific areas studied by Longacre, his colleagues, and students include a strong link between age of potter and degree of complexity of pottery decoration, use-life of different types pf pots (larger pots survive longer than younger pots) as a dating tool, vessel breakage characteristics, refuse disposal behaviors, the phenomena of the switch to metal pots, craft specialization, even basketry production, and the implications of ecological and economic factors on pottery production, use, and distribution.

The 30-year old Kalinga research project (and still ongoing) has been used, referred to, and formed the basis for other research projects of an ethnoarchaeological nature. In fact, the Arizona State Museum has an extensive collection of Philippine materials and has permanently allotted a portion of its exhibition area to the Kalinga project, even though the museum’s focus is primarily on the cultures of the Native Americans.

This Sigma Xi scholar’s work at Grasshopper and Kalinga has been widely acclaimed. In 1971, while a visiting professor at Yale University, he was named Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Palo Alto, California. Later on, he was an Adjunct Professor for nearly a decade at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where several of his students now teach. He served as the Head of the Department of Anthropology at the U. of A from 1989 to 1998 and raised over a million dollars for scholarships. He was named the Fried A. Riecker Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and held the Chair until June 2004.

In 1994, he and former U. of A graduate student Patricia Crown were awarded the first Excellence in Ceramic Research given by the Society for American Archaeology. He was elected an Honorary Member of the American Ceramic Society in 1997. He was, until his retirement, the Director of Graduate Studies of the department. Tucson’s Mayor recently awarded him a plaque of appreciation for scholarly excellence.

He was appointed visiting professor in the University of the Philippines, Diliman in the early 1980s, where he taught archaeology during the 1^st semester of every year. In 1994, he also taught at Silliman University, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental (Central Visayas). Many of the anthropologists/ archaeologists, including the author, have benefited from his lectures, comments, and advices.

His research in Kalinga has brought the place worldwide renown. The Kalinga Ethnoarchaeological Project (KEP) is a familiar refrain when ethnoarchaeological issues and studies are discussed. Because of Bill, there is a new generation of archaeologists who have made their names through their work in Kalinga, Sorsogon, and Ilocos Sur, such as James Skibo, Miriam Stark, Marc Neuport, Margaret Beck, Matt Hill, Ramon Silvestre, K. Quimpo, among others.

Not one to brag, but known only to his close friends and students, Bill is someone who has been generous not only with his knowledge, but with his time, and resources. He has financially supported countless American and Asian students, as well as Filipino students, both at the U. of A. and at UP. He is known to lobby and write letters of support for the student visas of Filipino students at the US embassy, to the point of accompanying them to the consul interview (and ask for scholarship donations from the consuls themselves!).

At the U. of A, his office is a virtual hangout of his students, including a handful of Asian and Filipino graduate students who have access to numerous book shelves of anthropological and archaeological books and papers. Every year when he returns to the Philippines, he does not fail to bring and donate boxes of books and resources for the UP Anthropology Department library, while purchasing Filipiniana books for the Arizona State Museum library (which is inside the U. of A. campus).

In the late ’90s, after many years of lecturing at UP for free, the then enlightened Department chair insisted that Bill be paid a salary for his lectures no matter that it was a pittance for someone of his stature. Bill promptly used his UP salary to treat the faculty and staff and buy equipment, materials and books for the department. In fact, he donated one anthropology fieldschool’s printer and computer.

In Kalinga, Bill used his own funds to help finance the schooling of Kalinga youth, provided research employment, financed the construction of various local infrastructure projects, brought in countless boxes of medicines, and help support the local economy in many ways. His graduate students have emulated his generosity in their own ways. Bill has been generous to a fault and never took offense when his generosity was abused.

Never one to lose his scruples, legend has it that one day in his Kalinga abode, some communist rebels came and demanded money from him. He haggled down the PhP100,000 demand to several thousands and with a cool demeanor, demanded a written receipt prior to “payment” as he had to liquidate the amount to the funding agency.

In retirement, Bill will be spending more time in the Philippines hopefully to continue his 1st semester courses at UP and to supervise some of his U. of A students who will be doing field research in the country.

Word has it though, that Apo Bill is being given the bureaucratic run around at UP. This would be a shame and tragedy if the free and sincere services of this world-class archaeologist and educator will not be availed of by UP. It is about time that UP, and the educational and anthropological communities in the Philippines, recognize his invaluable contribution to the field of archaeology in general and Philippine archaeology in particular.

Mabuhay ka, Apo Bill, at maraming, maraming salamat!

Evelyn Waugh Night: ‘Et in Arcadia Ego’

In his lifetime Evelyn Waugh was ‘news’ and the wide range of his audience makes it more than difficult than with most ’serious’ authors to establish the context for the reception of his work.  He actively fostered an outrageous public image — at first as a form of self-advertisement and later to protect his privacy.  His public persona was enigmatic, and his artistic approach often baffling. Reviewers find it difficlt to avoid discussing what they took to be his ‘personality’ and its expression in his writings. -Martin Stannard

 

The MCR is pleased to bring you Evelyn Waugh Night, an annual celebration held in honour of one of the most distinguished near-graduates in my college, the brilliant novelist of Brideshead Revisited  (1945) and other, less-known and far better works.  Waugh was a conservative rebel, brilliant and versatile, lucid and always paradoxical that makes him a legend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The evening begins with a champagne toast to Evelyn and a resplendent dinner in Hall, with a menu featuring fare just as it would have been when he supped (compulsorily, and to his great complaint) in the same candlelit environs.

Obama is black

JC sent me a funny cartoon, and the reality of it is: the American people would wake up everyday with a black president in the White House.

Do fidem

Do fidem. I swear.

The ceremony was in Latin. No long speeches and very straightforward.   The only reply to the Vice Chancellor is “Do fidem” then bow three times on the left, middle and on the right.  Exit to the Divinity School and change costume from a commoner gown to an academic gown with matching hoods based on degree conferred by the university. Very solemn indeed.

 

 

I like this cake so much that I do want to eat it.  Many thanks to Nashman and JC, tell the baker next time that my hair is black, and not blonde or brown. Salamat for the wonderful people who celebrated with me!

Sheldonian’s Allure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After four long years with hessian sacking covering the ceiling, the University of Oxford’s Sheldonian ceiling fresco has now been restored. The ceiling is being unveiled at a reception today (Friday 7 November) and will be first seen by the public at a degree ceremony tomorrow.

The panels were taken down for conservation and work was completed earlier this year. Since then a team from Beard construction and IFACS conservators have been working together to put the 32 panels back into place.  Oxford University’s Chairman of the Curators, Jeffrey Hackney, said: ‘I have been very impressed with the good nature and efficiency of the team who have worked together all summer under some fairly intense pressure to get the ceiling open in time for the degree day on the 8th of November. 

‘This may not rank with the restoration of Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch which has just been completed, but I think there will be much drawing in of breath when people see the restored ceiling for the first time. When the new concealed lighting is installed in 2010 the Michelin Guide will have to make the Theatre a ‘vaut le voyage’ item.’

The ceiling panels, in oil on canvas, were painted by King Charles the Second’s court painter, Robert Streater (1624 to 1679). The London-born painter specialised in large-scale architectural and decorative paintings and his work was particularly noted for its illusionistic quality. The allegorical programme in the painting shows Truth descending upon the Arts and Sciences to expel ignorance from the University.

They have now been carefully conserved, including having linings replaced, holes in the canvas fixed and over-painting removed.  The Sheldonian Theatre is a Grade 1 listed building and the principal assembly room of the University, and the regular meeting-place of Congregation – the 4,000-strong ‘Parliament of Dons’, which controls the University’s affairs.

Published 07.11.08/Oxford news.  Click here for the interactive view of the restored ceiling  http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2008/081107.html

 Sorry, I only have two tickets for entry at the Sheldonian.

I is graduating…

at the Sheldonian Theatre tomorrow at 2:00 pm.  Restoration of the Sheldonian ceiling wrapped up today, just in time for the degree ceremony. Funderful!