Over 180 fed!

Wow! What a success! Our 2nd "Bodies, Bicycles and Backpacks" had a great turnout!
We met in the morning, made nearly 200 lunches and then rode our bikes around Long Beach passing them out.
I'm so happy with the responces, the people involved and the energy everyone put into making this event an amazing experience!

Enjoy some pictures I took during the day.

let me know if your interested the next time we do another event like this.

-Samuel


One of the many sweet bikes.


Sandwich production line.


Rita working hard!


Sandwich stack.


Bagging lunches is always the hit of the party!


This is the lunches we prepaired... they're tasty! (I had one)



180 lunches



The team!


Our route.


Basketfull of waters





Explored far and wide to find the hungry. (across from the 710 freeway)


Under the bridge on the freeway... we left lunches.




we saw some really happy faces today!



Thank you to all the put so much effort into making this huge feat a reality!

God bless each of you!

Feed the homeless in Long Beach

This Sunday (May 20th) join me and some others in feeding over 150 homeless people in Downtown Long Beach.
See blog below this for more information.
I need more people!
Please let me know if you are interested in helping out!

-Samuel

Bodies.Bicycles.Backpacks

<<< Click image for the juice (More info) >>>

According to the City of Long Beach 2007 Homeless count, there are 3,829 homeless people living in Long Beach. 2,150 are living on the streets, 358 are children.

Lets feed the Homeless!
Heres the skinny.
We all bring different items to contribute to a sack lunch (enough to put in 40-50 lunches).
Meet at 10am (Assembly crew) to put sandwiches and sack lunches together.
Meet at 11:30am (Bicycle Delivery Crew)
Ride around mapped locations meeting homeless people and giving them a really tasty lunch... maybe sit down have lunch with one... why not, the sandwiches were tasty last time!

Please join us, we'd love to have you!
Don't pull the "I can't come, I'll be at church" card, thats pretty much the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of... Thats when church becomes a building and you a slave.

Last months "BBB" was a great success! We fed around 150 homeless people in the Downtown Long Beach area.
We were on our bikes for like 3 hours though... so this time we want to do it differently... more efficiently.



What we need
(each person please bring enough to feed 40-50 people/ we need 3 people per item). (# in parentheses is how many more people need to contribute for each item.)

-bologna or salami (3)=150 slices
-cheese (3) =150 Slices
-bread (3) =300 slices
-fruit (oranges or apples) (3) =150 pieces of fruit
-chips (small bags please) (1) =50 bags
-granola bars (2) =100 bars
-water!! (2) =100 bottles


**in order to have enough food, we need at least 20 people who are committed to bringing at least one of these items. check back daily for updates on what we still need .

Trina and Kristian's Engagement shoot.

Trina and Kristian called me a few months ago and asked me to shoot their wedding, they then wanted an engagement shoot, which was smart of them, because we got some amazing shots! This is the first look at this shoot.

We shot in El Sugundo near the LAX airport.
They really wanted shots w/Kristian's El Camino. I like the overall feel of the images.
Here are 3 images that i think highlights the evening perfectly.
Enjoy!

Favorite site of the month.

coolhunter.net
Its Amazing, I feel so un-cool when i look at it, yet it makes me want to be a more stylish person, more well rounded and intouch w/good culture.
Its like looking in on some of the most amazing places, sites, trends,fashions, fads, movements in the entire world... and its right at your finger tips!



www.coolhunter.net
"Go get cooler."

70's Snorkeling shoot.

I like these snorkeling pictures we took w/a junky point and shoot in the Mayan Riviera. I feel like I went back in time to shoot these shots.
It was a fun trip and the water was much more beautiful then these shots indicate.
My shorts help the cause...or maybe they're a little too 80's?

RENT... I saw it on Broadway NYC.

RENT is currently the 8th longest running musical in Broadway history, and will celebrate its 10th anniversary in early 2006. The show has also toured the U.S. and been performed on five continents. Knowing that Larson is not here to enjoy this incredible success serves as a constant, poignant reminder of the show's message to live your life to the fullest, for there is "no day but today."-MTI (Music Theatre International)

I thought it to be a very sad story about homosexuality,aids, being ultra poor and freezing in NY. I also thought is was touching... It taught me some stuff about life in general and made me miss a certain someone whole lot more...

We got lucky when I won the lotto for rush tickets. $20 apiece 2nd row. Cheers to that!

I wanna see wicked next.

-S

Has anyone seen wicked or RENT? What did you think? (Not the movie)

Yucatán Peninsula

Its starting to feel alot more Caribbean style.
Me chillin w/ a Mayan ruin.
This place is so amazing!



I jump off stuff all the time.








Adam and Ira in the tub. this is on our deck.











I'm at a sweet hotel in the Yucatán Peninsula with Ira and Adam.
I'll add to this blog sometime tonight or tomorrow.
But I wanted to drop an update on here.

We're enjoying the hot caribbean sun and enjoying this restful trip so far.
Tomorrow will be filled with hiking, exploring, snorkeling and just plain enjoying Gods creation.

Hope you are all well.

-S™

www.hotelbasico.com

"Displace me" The experience.

Last night over 6000 people gathered in one location for one reason. To the war in Uganda.
Pomona Fairplex was the stomping grounds and epicenter for a night that will go down in history.

We arrived, cardboard in hand, red "X's" painted on our white shirts, a water bottle and a box of saltines.
The whole idea was to camp out with just sleeping bags and cardboard. To mimic the people of Uganda that have been "Displaced" by war.
The Saltine crackers and water bottles were quickly taken from us unopened and would be distributed in rations the way the government does for the displaced.

People got up and spoke in front of the thousands sprawled out on the grass. We all listened to what we had to do to end the war, who was capable of doing it and what we could do to help urge these people to make a move.
We saw videos on a large screen and we had 21 minutes (which seemed like an hour) of silence for the war and its victims.

Everyone was encouraged and felt like we had accomplished something.

It was apretty fresh night, alot of energetic people ready to save the world one place at a time.
Our group was pretty sweet, we made a nice fort of a cardboard hut, played a few rounds of "Mafia" and then packed in like sardines, we whispered ourselves to sleep under the misty sky.
Yes, I felt like I was in Woodstock, minus the drugs and sex. Add some really cool cardboard huts and really friendly people to the mix, your pretty much camping with 6000 friends.

Heres some pictures from my experience.

I'll be glad to keep any of you posted on the on-goings of this organization.
Visit their site for more info www.invisiblechildren.com

-Samuel™

The "Displace Me Crew"


Filming to promote the end of the war in Uganda.


morefilming.


More.

6000 People.


The women were handed these water bottles, the guys grabbed the saltine crackers...to mimic the Ugandan's


The boys. After we built our fortress.




Getting ready to sleep...in cardboard boxes.


Our version of Uganda's Displaced sleeping arrangements.

There IS HOPE!


part of our group.


My sleeping bag was warm.


Our view.

My letter to one of CA.'s senators.

More on the way.

Vote for my "Jones Soda" label.

I have 3 images currently in the running for a JonesSoda bottle cover.
Vote for mine...vote 10, otherwise don't vote... even if you hate it, still vote 10, cuz you love me :)

Bottle #1

Bottle #2

Bottle #3

Brittany's Shoot

I did a shoot today with Brittany, it went well.
You may recognize Brittany from other pictures I've taken. (South Africa, Christmas, New Years, ect...)
These are Brittany's Senior pictures.

Displace me.

This Saturday "Invisible Children" is hosting a national event to draw attention to the injustice in Uganda.
Hundreds of thousands of Ugandians are "Displaced" have no homes due to war. They have barely any food and live off of little or nothing in terms of clean water and food.
checkout this video (below) for more info.
Join me and thousands of others, this Saturday night.
You can find me in the middle of a thousand people cardboard box in hand and sleeping bag wrapped around me... Pomona Fairgrounds. 3pm- 10am
Please join us. We are going to get alot of political attention to push a change in Uganda. We've already made a huge difference!
Visit www.invisiblechildren.com/displace Me for alot more info.

-S™





What is a displaced camp?

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has abducted thousands of children, subjected them to torture or sexual violence and forced them to fight in a violent guerilla army for 21 years—making it the longest running war in Africa. In hopes of providing protection from this rebel militia, the Ugandan government forcibly evicted its Northern citizens from their homes—giving them 48 hours to relocate into camps. Today, more than 1.5 million Northern Ugandans remain far from secure, suffering nearly 1,000 deaths per week due to inhumane living conditions in the camps.

Alcoholism, sexual abuse, HIV/AIDS, inadequate sanitation and lack of education have caused immeasurable damage to two generations and the near-total destruction of Acholi culture. Water is scarce and people are reliant on food to be delivered by foreign aid. If the food isn’t delivered, the people starve. This April, the already meager rations delivered by the World Food Program to the camps will be cut in half due to lack of funding—with school feeding programs and support for HIV/aids victims soon to follow. This will indisputably increase the number of deaths among those already suffering from severe malnutrition—mostly among women, children and the elderly. That is why the timing of this event, and your participation are so crucial.



Alot of people are going that I know...so if you need a ride...let me know.

I shoot weddings Alot

Go to this link to view more of my wedding work. www.iralippkestudios.com

I'll be regularly posting updates from weddings I shoot, as well as posting my favorite images from random photo projects.
Stay tuned for more later on.