Pap: Outside Intramuros – Manila, Philippines c. November 1946

I am guessing this shot was taken in the Intramuros district in the general vicinity of the Pasig River, as that looks like the Manila Post Office at the top right of this photograph, with Taft Avenue running up to it. My new friend John Tewell, who I've asked for help identifying sites in Manila, sent me…

Advertisement

Pap: Finance and Legislative Buildings, Intramuros Walls, Recoletos Church – Manila, Philippines c. 1946/1947

I've been on a little hiatus from my daily photo posts after reaching a frustrating stumbling block in identifying historical sites in Manila.  Thanks to the kindness and knowledge of John Tewell, who is currently posting a collection of historical photographs on Flickr, I've now got some clarification.   I highly recommend you check out his Flickr photostream for a…

God Only Knows What I’d Be Without Pet Sounds

No other album besides The Who's Quadrophenia has impacted my life more than The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, which was originally released on May 16, 1966.  The album is celebrating its 46th anniversary today. Songwriter and producer Brian Wilson (with lyricist Tony Asher) created a kaleidoscope of teenage emotions with Pet Sounds: the hopeful romanticism…

Happy Mother’s Day

Good Vibrations

Tonight I saw all surviving Beach Boys on the same stage together, celebrating the group's 50th anniversary. I can't believe it.

Pap: Finance Building Ruins – Manila, Philippines c. 1946/1947

Here is yet another piece of Filipino architecture ravaged by war.  It is truly sad and unbelievable to see just how  much culture, art and history that the city of Manila lost during World War II. I had a little bit of difficulty researching this building and trying to figure out whether it was the Finance…

Pap: Legislative Building Ruins – Ermita, Manila, Philippines c. 1946/1947

I'm not sure who this serviceman and woman are, but they are posed in front of the ruins of the Legislative Building located on Padre Burgos Avenue in Ermita, which is considered the financial, cultural and commercial district of Manila.  This view looks north-northwest down Taft Avenue.   If this shot were wider, we would be able…

Pap: San Agustin Church and Convent – Intramuros, Manila, Philippines c. 1946/1947

My pap only drank alcohol once during his time in Manila.  That was after a Christmas Eve mass at a Catholic church.  Remember Red, the head cook from a few pictures ago?  Well, Red served pap a nice cocktail of grapefruit juice and gin.  His friends had to carry him, drunk, back to his bunk.…

Pap: University of Santo Tomas – Manila, Philippines c. 1946/1947

The University of Santo Tomas was orginally located within the walled Intramuros district of Manila before the current campus with main building pictured here was built in the Sampaloc district in 1927. During World War II, the Japanese occupied Manila and converted UST into an internment camp for enemy aliens living in the Philippines, mainly Americans,…

Pap: University of Santo Tomas – Manila, Philippines c. 1946/1947

The building in this photograph is the main building at the University of Santo Tomas. Thanks to funding and  a donation of his personal library from Bishop Miguel de Benavides, O.P. in 1605, UST was originally established as a seminary-college for aspiring priests, but it eventually grew into a full-fledged university offering academic degrees and…