Giving Project:Follow up

21 Pairs of Shoes

"Alright Alright, I'll set down the camera, the computer and the phone to make some time."
That's what I had to finally tell myself when I hadn't spent the remaining $800 from the money I won at The Long Beach Giving Project. So its finally been done! I have a little over $200 left, but plenty ideas for that sum. Here's what I did with the most recent $600.
Thanks to team work from my Intern Emily and of course some savvy shoe shopping from my girlfriend Audrey. I was able to help out 2 great organizations inside Long Beach. I found out the greatest need from each shelter and tried to match it.

Here's what I bought:

•21 Pairs of Kids Shoes (either Black or white for their school uniforms, sized to fit each individual child)
•22 Pairs of Boys Socks
•12 Bras (MUCH Needed we were told)
•6 Outfits for little boys up to age 12.
•25 Pairs of boys underwear
•15 Pairs of Women's Panties.

So there you have it, nearly finished with the giving and I'm having fun!
Someone wise once said at dinner tonight... "The happiest people in the world are those that give of themselves" Eddie said that, I think he may have been quoting my mom, because I can't tell you how many times I've heard something similar to that coming from her.
Anyways, I think they are both right.

Individually labeled to the correct size. (Good work Audrey)

Audrey at "New Life Beginners" dropping off the shoes.

Jonathan had to open the door and tell us his little brother was sleeping, so quite down.

Off to the next stop!

Amazing lobby

Goretty is my main contact at the Domestic Violence Resource Center

Big thanks to Audrey Armada,Emily Durand,Justin Rudd from C.A.T for putting the giving project on,Target for giving a 10% discount to the cause and big big thanks to The Domestic Violence Resource Center (Goretty) and the New Life Beginners (Bonnie)

Do you want to chip in to help too?
Here's the #'s:
Domestic Violence Resource Center
562.437.7233

New Life Beginnings Inc.
562.590.1538

Both of which are in downtown Long Beach.

Who Awards the Nobel Peace Prize Anyway?

Have you heard the story about the runner-up for the Nobel Peace Prize?
Irena Sendlerowa
1910-2008: May 12 marked the death of a 98-year-old lady named Irena.

During WWII, Irena received permission from the Nazis to work in the Warsaw ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist.
She had an ulterior motive...
Being German, she knew the Nazis' plans for the Jews and smuggled infants out in the bottom of the large tool box she carried. Larger children were placed in a burlap sack in the back of her truck. Also in the back was a dog that she had trained to bark each time the Nazi guards allowed her out of the ghetto and back in.
The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog, and its barking covered any noise made by the infants and small children. Irena managed to smuggle out approximately 2,500* children before she was finally caught... on 20 October 1943, she was arrested at her home. She was taken to the notorious Gestapo headquarters in central Warsaw and tortured. During the sessions they broke her legs and feet but she refused to reveal any names.

"I still carry the marks on my body of what those 'German supermen' did to me then. I was sentenced to death" Irena Stated

But her colleagues "managed to foil the plan after they bribed a Polish-speaking German officer with a large backpack full of dollars. On the drive to her execution site the officer knocked her unconscious. He stopped the car and left her bleeding on the roadside...The following day, unaware the execution had not taken place, the German authorities put up posters all over the city announcing she had been shot..."

Irena kept a record of the names of all the children she smuggled out of that Warsaw ghetto and kept them in a glass jar buried under a tree in her back yard.
After the war, she tried to locate any parents who may have survived so she might reunite the child with its family. Most, of course, did not survive the Holocaust, and the vast majority of the surviving children were placed in foster homes or adopted.



Last year Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, but she lost to Al Gore, who won the award for presenting a slide show on Global Warming. Heartwarming, isn't it???

Oh Al Gore, its not your fault that you won. You did do a good thing in telling everyone how hot it is outside. Its not your fault that you beat out a women that had her Arms and legs broken to save 2500 helpless little children in the most wretched war of recent memory... Al, if you actually did deserve that award, you would drop that Nobel Peace prize off at the Museum at Auschwitz, dedicate it to Irena and get that burden off your shoulders, who wants to be the person that steals the award from one of the most amazing humans that ever lived? At this point... no one thinks you deserve it. -Sincerely Samuel

MY Question is: Who awards "The Nobel Peace prize"?? They have obviously switched judges since Mother Tereasa,Nelson Mandela and MLK received the award.

In memory of Irena Sendlerowa

* Oscar Schindler saved 1200
*Thanks Rita for bringing this to my attention.

My Howe Shirt

An Image I took of my amazing friend Heather was converted onto a T-Shirt for Howe Clothing Company
I think it turned out slick!
Now that I've found out what it looks like, I need to get my hands on one before they run out! I heard that this shirt is the owners favorite of the season.

T-Shirt and the original shot are in the images above. Shirt is called

"Love EM & Leave EM"

Cheers to my work on T-Shirts (Especially on a Howe shirt! I love their stuff!!)



-Samuel™

Note From Cuba

Luis (middle) is a Student at the Havana College.
I spent 3 days with him and his friends... they treated me like family and I did the same in return... Heres what he wrote me.

"Hi Samuel, you can´t imagine how much I miss you, and the rest of the
group too, you know you change our life for ever because we never
tough that one day we going to meet someone so special like you.
I feel sad because I can´t meet you since the first day you was here in
Cuba, we just spend 3 days with you, I have to say that
you are like a god*,
because not everyday someone meet a nice boy like you.
You are young but you have a great heart, more bigger than your body,
you are kind, brave, honest, a real friend, and you accept me like I
am, today I check in the internet all your webpages, photos, your work
is really cool, I have to congratulate you, for all the good things
you made and make in the present too. I know that you going to be very
famouos one day and this day is very soon. Please never forget me, I
am still crying because you leave. We wait outside of the airport
until your plain enter to the sky, well I guess that you are in
mexico now I hope you see this email anyway I´m going to send it for
your normal email too, well bye for now but I have still many things
to tell you, excuse the way I write but I´m not so good writing, I
understand and speak well but I have many trouble for write in english
ah!!!, bye little mouse take care and you was so kind and good with me
that I have to say I LOVE YOU a big hug your friend Luis."

I'll post more from Luis and his thoughts on a Post Fidel Cuba... He's mentioned that he wants to marry a girl from Equador. He writes "...maybe I get married with a friend she is from Ecuador and can help me to get out of this country."

When Luis sent me that note, it made me sad to read it, but it also made me happy to know that I could go somewhere, meet a group of people and effect their lives in such a way...




*I think he meant hero.

The Lakers

Oh my! I suppose its about time to come out and say it, I've been holding it in for awhile and only my close friends know this, so here goes... I AM A HUGE LAKER FAN!

Its not that I haven't been a fan for the past 4 years. Its not that I've been ashamed of being such a fan (its just I've been too busy to write anything about my obsission)Anyways, this whole season I've been hooked! And it helps that they're on track to win big this year, also its nice to have newly aquired Pao Gasol, as well as a nearly healthy Kobe "Beef" (errr, bean) Bryant...Anyways, our team is good this year, so go support them.
So if you live in LA (or know where the Lakers play when they come to your town),buy 2 tickets, then strap on some purple and gold, pick me up and then we'll go to the game:)
Now that they're doing good, ticket prices have soured and I'm stuck watching stats on my computer, or being anti-social and peaking at the play-by-play on my Apple iPhone during a study or meeting...So point being; I need press passes; to sit courtside and shoot pictures of the pride and joy of Los Angeles, Kobe,Pau,Lamar,Fish and hopefully A.Bynum soon!

Alright, enough about that, I feel relieved thats off my chest!


Good luck with your Roadtrip lakers, you have your work cut out for you!
New Orleans,Houston,Dallas and Utah...4 of the top teams the NBA has right now.
Lets sweep this trip!

P.S. Poor LA. Clippers... I wonder if they could move to San Diego... or Long Beach?

Havana Club

Rum, Rum, Rum! I've ordered 3 Mojitos* since I've been back from my Cuba trip and I am truly spoiled... That muddled fresh mint leaves in a chilled glass, that fresh squeezed lime and the main ingridiant Havana Club RUM! I can duplicate the mint and the limes and even the chilled glass, but I can't seem to get my hands on some of that Havana Club Rum!
Its whats on my wish list.


If you like Mojitos and know of the best white rum to use, let me know which you prefer. Otherwise I'm going back to Cuba for a drink...whos coming with?


The reserve is good too.



(If you have connections with this, feel free to let me know:)
*I had to return one of the mojitos because it tasted nasty! I asked the server what it was and she said a mojito... it was made out of syrupy minty sauce and had horrible rum.

CUBA: Final Note

Final Note


This trip is and has been the most emotional trip I have ever taken… actually the 2nd most emotional!(Banda Aceh can't be beaten if we are talking about harshness and adventure) This Cuba trip has been a life changer as well.
Would I do it again?
…I’m not sure….
there were times I wanted to give up, times I wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits. But I didn’t’ (plus I couldn't) and now I feel the rewards.
Cheers to adventure, 2 cheers for being uncomfortable and risking much, 18 cheers for priceless memories, pockets full of info & new knowledge & most of all, cheers to Cuba & A Coming Change...

The End…
…[The adventure] To Be Continued


Luis walking on the street with me



another roof shot of me.

Extras:

• The Cubans: Luis & Leslie (Pronounced Lay-Lee)(see B&W picture of Leslie below) Thought I should be a famous singer. My voice is better then my pictures? (Ahh Ohh! I may be in trouble if that’s the case)

• Ralph is the heartthrob now. Everyone wanted to see pictures of him again & again.

• I’ve inspired the crew of students to get in shape. We walked up 18 flights of stars everyday at least 3 times a day. Elevator was broken . now they are going to do it even when it works. Also go to the gym.

• I sleep & eat more then these people.

• Buses seat 40 but can holed up to 85 people, you often breath 3 other peoples breathe before getting a fresh one. Really easy to get sick.

• Fires are everywhere…not sure why…burning garbage, brush, ect.

• The sun is hotter here. Burning made easy.

• Downtown Habana has no beach…just a Grande Wall

• Pens suck here (mine jiggles a lot) That’s why I use tape.

• My English is horrible now. I now talk w/ an accent.

OH! & Cheers to getting back home safely!


Leslie in the doorway.

Relaxin on some steps after walking miles and more miles.

Goodbye Cuba.
I'm outa here!!!

Shot of the Week (3.7.2008)

I like this shot.
Its wild, its colorful, its ironic. What time period was this taken in and why was Samuel in that period? These are questions you may never get the answers for...but at least it gets that extra percentage of your brain working.


This image was taken with my Canon 5D, with 580flash attached to 4' flash cord. (all canon products)

More to come shortly... I'll get on the shot of the week thing here.
By the way, if you were at the Bachelors Ball (where this image was taken and would like to see all of the images, email me HERE

Havana Cuba: Leaving

I didn’t write yesterday.
I was too busy going to the beach, drinking white rum & sprite and taking pictures. I got burnt for the first time this trip. Now I’m muy rojo.

Leaving
This morning... I was nearly screwed over big time.
But Jesus must be looking out for me. I set my alarm for 7 am, but forgot to factor the hour time difference! Ahh! I woke up at 6 am and couldn’t sleep. I tossed & turned for 15 minutes by needing to go to the bathroom really REALLY bad. While I was in the bathroom it dawned on me the time was really 7:20am and not 6:20!!! I was so happy that God had taken care of me and forced me to wake up. I needed to leave at 8am inable to catch my flight back to Mexico City. I would have been really messed up if I missed my flight!
Leslie & Luis showed up at my door like they said they would at 8am. They wanted to usher me out of their country and spend time with me during my last Cuban minutes.
Luis said he went to sleep at 5am! HAHA! He takes great pride in not sleeping. These people are amazing! They stop at nothing to be your friend, to come alongside & comfort you when you are sad. Cubans don’t have much interms of money, cars or homes. They lack NOTHING in heart. I’m writing this in the airport & I’m nearly crying…I guess I’m allowed to cry once in a while. The girl next to me is tearing up too at the site of me writing & crying at the same time. Haha, crying must be like yawning….contagious!
I learned some key things from my Cuban friends
Family & friends are the most important thing of Havana. Yes most of them are secretly frustrated w/ politics. They do want change. This is a place where you need to work all day to put some bottled water on the table or cervesa on a special occasion. And yes the Cubans have their issues, but where they lack…they make up w/ their big hearts & patience the love for each other & respect for their heros. In Cuba, life is hard. You can’t leave the country for any reason for fear you will see & experince greenier pastures, incase you won’t want to come back. The Cuban paseo or even CUC are useless everywhere else in the world. (The money exchange is horrible even if you come from a good economy) The Mexican paseo exchanges horribly as well as the USD (usd has a 20% surcharge added to every exchange) my 500 peseos from mexico got me 31 cuban (cuc) in the us, 500 mexican paseos would get me about $46 dollars.
I never thought I would say this, but I’m sad I’m leaving. I am sooo excited to speak to Ira, Josiah & Audrey.The second I’m in Mexico, I’m going to call them! I feel like Truman in the Truman’s show,in a shelter, seclueded from the rest of the world but also being closely watched!
This trip has been hard. I wish I could explain in words how much I've learned, but its just not possible. I've been alone, I've been lost, I've had to deal with getting cheated and stared at and being a minority, dealing with fear and getting fined for being here. Not having contact with the people you love the most is a huge damper on the day. Not only did I struggle with much, but I had no excess money, no credit card and certainly no luxary items...besides my Canon 5D (My best friend).
This trip has been a huge eye opener…the world may continue to get smaller w/ the population online and everyone united, but there is one place that refuses to give in to the almighty dollar…and that is Cuba.







Miguel on his front porch.



Fidel







A stronger Samuel




I'm sad I'm leaving.

My Metallic Nike Dunks

Wanna know whats HOT?


My new shoes.
I love um.
Gotta love the metallic.
I'll fill you in as I get requests to appear at parties wearing these new kicks and get paid... no, not like a stripper graham, geeez.

Thought for the day:
Obama is still workin it. No worries.

La Playa 2

Feb 3,2008 Habana, CUBA

I spent yet another day on a Cuban beach! Which means another 2 hours of crowded bus rides...(from Hedado to the south eastern beaches) and this time I mean it was CROWDEDDDDD!!! I am literally making a statement in saying that I would breathe the breath of at least 2 new people everytime I inhaled... it was like a rolling box of humans, nothing but humans... i imagine being hauled to jail would be a somewhat similar feeling, except at that point you don't have to fake like you're enjoying it.

Alright Samuel, no more complaining...
Look why I took that wretched bus trip.
La Playa!!!

This was a highlight of the trip.
and the highlights inside the best day include:

1. Havana Club white rum (mixed with lime sodapop...mmmhmmm!)
2. Getting berried in the sand. (I would show pictures, but they are too graphic in terms of particular sand phallus' they attached to my sand body)
3.Ummm...the topless cuban women...(Sorry you had to read that mom)
4.The water. It was beautiful!
5.Getting to know my cuban friends more.
6.Relaxing and getting tan and then really tan and then burnt. (I wasn't that burnt and it quickly turned into a golden tan.)

taking some slick pictures!

heres a few.

My Cuban Familia

Castaway styled beach front property.

The other Cuban beer. its muy fuerte! Heres a picture of me enjoying myself...are you getting upset that I'm having so much fun without you??? haha

YES! i was as happy as I look.

It was a fun day and it was topped off with more homemade food, relaxing in the girls bunk bed rooms and watching the coast erupt from the crashing waves against the brakewall.

Tomorrow I return to Mexico City...I'm sad...but excited to return to Long Beach in 2 days!