August | 2015 | Everybody Loves Sammy

Kizmet and Onyx Lead us out tonight

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good evening friends. Tonight we have Kizmet here on the left, and Onyx below leading us out tonight. They belonged to our dear friend Kathy Tracy. We wrote about Kathy’s great niece the other night Kate who was having some trouble at school, but is doing a lot better right now.

Kizmet is a 11 year old beauty that my husband and i adopted from helping paws when she was 6 months old. When we brought her home you couldn’t even pick her up she hated people. She wasn’t taken care of with her other family and was given up. She now lives with us and has the run of the house with her sister onyx who is 10 and was also adopted. Kizmet and Onyx have the run of the house and chase each other up and down the stairs. Kizmet is a Himalayan mix. when she was first adopted by her new mommy and daddy, they couldn’t even pick her up because she was so afraid of people in general. Today Kizmet and Onyx are in a loving home that Sammy & Family can only wish for all animals around the world to have the same. As animal loving people, we know the path to a better flows through the humane treatment of all animals. No lives will go in vain, no pain will go unnoticed. Amen. Dr. Harp Seal for Sammy & Family.

We Are All The Same

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good morning friends. Dr. Harp Seal here.

Thank you for stopping by. I just wanted to point out a line in the 1998 movie Dr. Doolittle. Towards the end when Eddie Murphy who played Dr. Doolittle and his dog Lucky were walking away from the camera, lucky asked Dr. Doolittle; “if he is now going to be doctor for animals and people?”

And the Doctor responded with; “What difference does it make? We’re all the same anyway. Eddie Murphy was right, whether Dr. Harp Seal is a 44 year old man, a 10 pound Pomeranian or a Harp Seal from the Arctic, what difference does it really make ?

See you tonight friends.

Sunday Sunday’s, so good to me

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good morning friends.

Happy Sunday Funday. Pardon the late post, we had a power outtage this morning.
Sammy & Family wants to wish you all a splendid day. Sunday mornings are by far our favorite day of the week. day of the week.

Monday through Friday its, work, work, work. Saturday we catch up on personal responsibilities. But on Sundays, we let imagination in the door and back into our lives. On Sunday’s we get to be us again, the people we set out to be from the very beggining.

We want to thank Karen Kirkman Hanckle for that fabulous story she shared with us last night. Our friends from around the world really enjoyed it. It was very sincere and heart warming. Karen has been an amazing friend to The Smith Family.

With that said, The Smith Family and Sammy & Family invites anyone at anytime to come share one of their stories with the ELS community. It does Not have to be about Sammy & Family either. We want to hear your interesting stories that involves your family and / or pets too. Everybody has an interesting story to tell that we can all be entertained by, or where we can all learn something from.

Nobody needs to be shy either, look at the stories I write. I let it all hang out, the good, the bad and the indifferent. I will continue to share my stories with y’all on Thursday nights. Hopefully Jessica and mother will start sharing some of their stories as well. But its not all about us. Quite Frankly,I am getting bored with us, lol. So you all have an open invitation so say” — Scott I have story I want to share, and I want to share this week”
From there, we got right to posting. No nonsense, no politics, no bureaucracies, straight to posting.

OK lets kick this day off with two positive notions.

1. Take the words; “Should have, Could have, would have” and throw them in the garbage. The only thing they do is hold us back. I used to be in that business, i am not in the business anymore.

2. Unless I’m dead, i keep swimming. Everyday above ground is a gift. Sometimes I forget that and i have to remind myself that many people that were here yesterday are no longer with us. If I wake up, I thank life for another gift.

3. The path to a better world flows through the humane treatment of all animals. — Dr. Harp Seal —

See you tonight friends.

Karen Kirkman Hanckel leads us out tonight with a Personal Story

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good night friends. Let me say before Karen Kirkman Hankel tells her story, that she is the ultimate Social Media Princess. Second to none. OK, here’s here story below;

Our family member, Karen Kirkman Hanckel leads us out tonight with a very touching story. Karen is part of Sammy & Family’s immediate family;

In July of 2012 I decided to join Facebook. I kept hearing family and friends talk about it and I thought it would be a good way to keep up with family. Of course, I was a late comer as social media was already the way to communicate and the youngies in our family were already on FB for years. Anyway, I had no idea how it worked but after just a few days I was connected to most of my family, cousins and old high school friends.

It was just great catching up with a lot of people that I had kinda lost touch with for many years. One of my oldest (before high school) and dearest friends, Donna-Gayle, kept sharing this little dog’s picture almost everyday. I was fascinated by him because he was so cute that I thought he can’t possibly be real. He looked like an adorable stuffed toy!! Of course, it was even more fascinating that he was in photos and doing things in every landmark in New York City:) I just couldn’t believe that here was this precious dog in my favorite city in the world! I went to Sammy’s page and liked Everybody Loves Sammy so that I would see his daily posts of inspiration and animal advocacy. Everyday, I loved the posts and looked forward to them morning and night. ELS is a very interactive page and I enjoyed the contact and hearing more and more about Sammy. I couldn’t resist his charming, beautiful smile.

He always looked like he was smiling. Just the happiest little dog I’d ever seen.:) You get the picture, I was really falling in love with Sammy.

To fast forward the story a little, I became friends with Scott, Jessica and many of the Everybody Loves Sammy community. They are all a great bunch of animal lovers and we had Sammy at the center of our friendships. As time progressed, I felt that I would love to meet Sammy and Scott in person. But they were in NYC and I was in Virginia by then. I just knew that if I possibly could I wanted to hold Sammy in my arms. It was my dream. Then, after Scott and Vanessa had been dating long distance for awhile, they announced they were getting married in Central Park in June of 2013. I thought, oh wow, somehow I have to get there and meet them personally. I really wanted to take Scott up on the open invitation to the wedding. My husband, John, was out of town for work, so I booked a train ticket for myself to NY so I could make the wedding. John came home 2 days before I was supposed to leave on Saturday morning. He had a fit and said “you can’t go to NYC by yourself to a wedding to meet people you’ve never met” LOL, it was a little strange I guess.

Anyway, knowing I was going, he couldn’t talk me out of it. So he had me book a ticket on the train for him as well. Friday night at 11:30, the Amtrak people called and said the train was going to be delayed by two hours. I was so upset because the delay would mean missing the wedding. I cried and cried because I could see my “dream” of meeting Sammy going up in smoke. John said go to bed because we’re getting up in a few hours and driving to NYC. So we did. Left @ 4:00am and drove into lower Manhattan at around 10:30 Saturday morning!

I didn’t care about not getting any sleep because I was too excited about meeting Sammy anyway.

We checked into our hotel and leisurely walked a few blocks to the Motor Boat Pond in Central Park. I was so worried we were in the wrong place but then all of a sudden, I heard Scott with his true NY accent talking and coming down the hill to the pond. My heart skipped a beat as I was standing there and I first saw Sammy.

I couldn’t believe it was really happening and I was seeing him for real. And Scott, Vanessa and Henry:) It really was my dream come true.!!!

The wedding was so nice. Scott and Vanessa treated us like old friends and I held Sammy & Henry. The pictures from that beautiful perfect June afternoon in Central Park will be forever in my mind and my heart.

We met so many people that day like Jennifer and her kids, Jo Ellen, Briggette, Brian, Ron, Diane and others that are treasured friends now. Nothing more special than Sammy though:) Henry is the love man, what a sweetheart. We’ve visited several more times since that day and hope to see Sammy and Family again soon but that first meeting in the Park will always be one of my most favorite memories ever.

Sammy & Family would like to close with having Karen and John at our wedding, and Jo Ellen Berryman took our wedding day to unprecedented heights. June 15th , 2013 was one of the nicest days I have seen in NYC after 44 years old at that point. God is great. And God was exceptional to us that day.

Signing off from Puerto Rico, Dr. Harp Seal for Sammy & Family on day 231.

Happy Haturday on August 29th, 2015

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good morning friend and happy Haturday. Remember, Henry + Saturday = Haturday. So from “Henry the Soldier of Love” — He wishes everyone a wonderful Haturday.

Lets kick this day off with two positive notions.

1. from the lyrics of Frank Sinatra; ♫♫♫The record shows, I took the blows, and did it my way ♫♫♫

2. From the movie Vanilla Sky “I don’t want to dream anymore, I want a real life”

OK friends, day 231 here in Puerto Rico. See you tonight.

Life was good today on August 28th, 2015. Plus it’s TGIF

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good evening friends. Its great to be hear with everyone. Our boy Jeffrey wants to come say goodnight.

I’m sure y’all saw in the news the storm in Puerto Rico skipped right over us and left us with no additional water. So its great that there was no damage, and horrible we still have this water drought. Lets call that a wash (meaning even) as for this particular storm.

OK, where are we in life right now. Oh, that’s right its Friday, TGIF. That never sucks. It’s great to be alive on August 28th, 2015. It didn’t have to be this way. Thank God that it is.

Remember friends, you don’t have to feel pressure to go out just because its the weekend. Its normal to be tired after al long week. That’s where the slogan “Thank God It’s Friday” comes from.

Friends I have had my day count since I got to Puerto Rico off a day or two in the last week I noticed. So i just did the recalculation. I landed in Puerto Rico on January 11th, 2015. So today is exactly 230 days. I still don’t speak any Spanish, but i have gotten very good at sign language, my own kind of signing if you will, and manage to communicate pretty effectively.

OK i have spent very little time with the wife the last two days despite only knowing her, Raquel and her dad on the Island. We have been very preoccupied with the fear mongering media. They love to instill fear, they love it.

Lets close tonight with three Positive notions.

1. The weekend is here. I want to rejuvenate and not ruminate.

2. As I have said, if anyone ever wants to reach out because you feel lonely or down out, you have my email. I lived in the zip code for decades. I have the GPS out of their.

3. We might not be able to change the world but we can all rescue a pet and make their world. There is nothing more noble then that. You will be saving a life, and they will take your life to immeasurable heights. Why is that exactly ? Because they are angels walking amongst us. Everyone’s home has room for an angel just waiting to give you unconditional love. Where else in the world can we say that ?

Signing off from Puerto Rico on Day 230th, Dr. Harp Seal for Sammy & Family.

Father caught me smoking Marijuana in 1983, not good

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good evening friends. Looks like number 2 won the vote for tonight’s story. So here’s the story when my father caught me smoking marijuana in 1983.

Now just to back up a little, my father did smoke Marijuana now and then. I did Not know that til after he died in 1984. As i told you he was a very successful commercial real estate broker in NYC and Long Island through the 1970’s and up to his death in 1984.

One day in the late 70’s he gets a call from a Middle Eastern political group that wanted to lease space in the United Nations building. But they were very well known and did not want the press knowing they were looking for commercial space in NYC. So my father had about 10 of them stay at our home in Long Island. They were having a blast. So my genius father decided to brake out some of the Marijuana to add to the fun.

Now as many of you know, Marijuana can make some people very paranoid and they have a terrible reaction to it. One of these Middle Eastern men had that reaction and now the group of them thought my father might have tried to poison him to kill the man quietly. So our home literally almost became war grounds for the Jewish Smith family and the Arabs in from the middle east because they trusted my fathers real estate skills.

Real quick on the Jewish thing, I am not Jewish, when your father dies you take the religion on your mother. My mother is Italian Catholic. Having said that, if my father were still alive, I would still consider myself Italian Catholic. No offense to being Jewish, its a very nice religion, i just felt no connection to it. And with that said, I never went to church either. What I’m saying is at 13 years old, i just wanted the girls.

Ok, back to the Middle Eastern War going on in our Long Island Home. My mother gets the MVP award here. My mother suggested to the the man who was having paranoid attacks and hallucinations to lay down on the couch and just take deep breathes. She then was putting a cold washcloth over his head, and as she was doing this was holding his hand and letting him know he was going to be OK. The rest of the Middle Eastern Entourage realized then there was no espionage going on here. So everybody went to bed and woke up all lovey dovey in the morning. My father took the entourage into the city and closed a deal with them that very next day. When my father got home from work that day, my mother ripped him apart verbally with words I’ve never heard before. OK, so u get the picture.

Now, back to me and 1983. I was 13 years old and at my oldest sister’s party. I have 5 sisters, she is the oldest, she was 22 at that time. I was at her apartment in the city, a couple of people were smoking some weed, and i asked them if I can take a few drags and they said “sure why not ?” — It was so strong I went into my sisters bedroom to lay down and the room was spinning like you could not believe. Two hours later my uncle (my father’s brother) showed up at the party. Once he saw the condition i was in he called my father, and my father and mother drove in from Long Island (20 miles) to come get me.

When he got there and he walked in the room, I was in shock and knew I was dead and busted. So he said firmly, get your things, we’re going home. Once we started approaching the block we lived on, he drove right past it. I said “Dad you missed the turn” — He said “We’re not going home” — I was like WTF.

Next thing I know he turns me into the Great Neck police and reports me for using marijuana. Great Neck was the town we lived in. The police said we can’t arrest him, he is a minor, but they scared the _hit out of me and wrote up an incident report.

Now please don’t tie this story with the struggles I had from 36 years old til I was 44 years old. After that incident with my dad, I was always in long term relationships with nice girls and staying out of trouble. Not doing well in school, but no boozing or anything else all the way up until I was 36 years old. I was clean and sober and quite nerdy despite my lethally handsome good looks, my bedroom eyes and a full head of hair back then.

So friends that concludes the story of my father catching me smoke marijuana in 1983. Hope you all enjoyed it.

Signing off from Puerto Rico on day 228. Scott Smith for Sammy & Family.

Just two chaps doing some people watching in Central Park

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good morning friends. Just a couple chaps here in Central Park doing some people watching. Happy Throwback Thursday.

Henry is so relaxed he is kind of dozing off. On the other hand when Sammy is out and about, the world is like one big candy store. And just like with candy, it hard to keep your eyes off of it. For all the youngies that traffic this page, that was just a metaphor. Try not to eat too much candy….

OK, Let kick this Thursday with two important things to think about.

1. Being I was given this gift of today, what will i give life back for that gift today ? A good attitude, or a not so good attitude ? Things to think about.

2. I used to bring clarity to my relationships and honestly look at it for what they were in this way. Take a see-saw for example. Which side is higher, the happy side or the unhappy side ? Love can make that line seem very blurry. But our minds know the deal, are we happy, joyous, and free, or uptight, anxious and uncomfortable ? Things to think about.

So apparently this Storm Erica is going to hit Puerto Rico today which actually is a good thing. We have a serious water drought over here past two months. We have water one day, then two days without, This is good news for PR. For me its Not good news because I will have to start showering everyday again. To me showering and going to the dentist are the same experiences, lol.

Sincerely, Scott Evan Smith and Dr. Harp Seal. Two different people.

Happy National Dog Day

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good evening friends We have a very special visitor leading us out tonight for “National Dog Day” — This is our great friend Nicholas from NYC. His human dad’s name is Jim, also a great friend to Sammy & Family.

Nicholas is one of the sweetest dogs in all of NY. He is exceptionally smart and happy. Nicholas has been making people smile from all over the world the last couple of years. Its no wonder why either, Jim loves his boy more than anything.

Nicholas is also a beacon for animal kindness. Jim and his boy have been very active participants in animal welfare. Its an honor to have they leading us out tonight.

We hope that all dogs around the world had a happy National Dog Day today. Lord knows they all deserve it. Sadly we know its not the case for too many of them. Lets keep their well being in our thoughts and prayers.

With that friends we are going to call it a night. We want to thank Jim and Nicholas for joining a tonight. Its always nice to be surrounded by animal loving friends.

Signing off from Puerto Rico on day 227, Scott Smith for Sammy & Family.

Steven Blandin’s Bird & Wildlife photography

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Dr. Harp Seal

Good morning friends. We are thrilled to have Steven Blandin featured on “The Good News Channel” today. He is an award-winning professional wildlife photographer who leads instructional bird & wildlife photography tours in the United States and around the World.

Flash Of Pink => Gold medal at the 2014 Professional Photographers of America International Print Competition | Roseate Spoonbill flapping its wings after a quick bath in the shallow mangrove waters. Also created at the Tampa Bay Spoonbill rookery. A rare glimpse at the full wingspan of this magnificent bird.

When i originally contacted Steven after seeing his work, he could not have been more passionate about when speaking of wildlife photography and cordial in explaining it to me. This gentleman is an artist when it comes to photography. Nowadays anybody can snap a picture with their smartphones and capture a pretty decent shot. But that’s not the game Steven Plays. He’s all in on techniques, equipment and the process of capturing those one in a life time shots. Here’s a link to see what equipment combinations work best for him; http://bit.ly/1hYuzDE

Flying In The Water => Short-billed Dowitcher shaking the water drops away. Small shorebirds are very interesting when looked at from closer! Fort Desoto Park, St Petersburg, Florida.

He is currently ranked in the top 5 Professional Photographers in the state of Florida, he exhibits in Arts Galleries in New York and across the United States. His work has been recognized many times and has been published in various nature magazines. Steven gives an instructional eBook, “The 4 Angles Of Success”, for every new blog follower at www.bird-wildlifephotographyblog.com. The Good News Channels has done dozens of features by now and we love to see an artist give something away to share is passion and techniques through his eyes.

Speeding At Low Altitude => Royal Tern taking altitude after taking off. Fort Desoto Park, St Petersburg, Florida.

Artist’s Statement right off of his website.

“My wife introduced me to nature photography during our early dating years. My passion for wildlife photography itself was truly born during an African safari in Botswana. Since then, I have been hungry for learning more about all aspects of photography. I have watched my work flourish into creations that take me back to those encounters in all the vividness of their emotions. Here’s link to Steven’s website; http://bit.ly/1EgW1GY

Smelling The Light => Polar Bear smelling the air in quest of tis next meal. The adorable beast had been munching on berries for a while, when it decided to lift up its nose and walked away. Hudson Bay, Canada.

Steven has a fine art gallery; http://bit.ly/1IfzUv8. Perfect for corporations or for private collectors. We will be pleased to offer you custom fine art photography impressions to adorn your walls. Enjoy browsing through the fine art collections and do not hesitate to reach out to us for quotes or custom requests. We offer limited edition signed aluminum metal prints, metal prints with a glass/acrylic top layer and fine art canvas with sizes up to 98×43 inches. Custom sizes are available; http://bit.ly/1IfzUv8

Vampire Wings => Final round at the 2015 BBC Wildlife Photographer Of The Year competition, Birds category. Reddish Egret in hunting position during an overcast day. Fort Desoto Park, St Petersburg, Florida.

Checkout Steven’s blog where he will share with you his love for nature photography through field posts, instructional photography tours update, photo creation advice, equipment reviews and much more. I personally went through it and was completely amazed. A wealth of information on birds, wildlife, nature and so many camera and photography tips. Here’s the link to his blog; http://bird-wildlifephotographyblog.com/author/bephotographers/

This kind gentleman Steven Blandin has four different types of tours he can take you and a group on. “The Alaskan Bald Eagle Photography tour;

Steven can also arrange a Botswana African Safari — Bird & Wildlife Photography Tour …

If that doesn’t suit your fancy, you can take a Florida Spoonbills & Shorebirds Photography Tour in the Tampa Bay, FL area, Lastly, Steven has a Private Wildlife Photography Workshop and Bird Photo Tours in Florida;

Feature continues below now;

Follow My Eyes => Peacock in full mating display. Corbett National Park, India.

Steven’s Facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/StevenBlandin.birdwildlifephotography

Tilted Landing => Willet about to land to join the flock. Fort Desoto Park, St Petersburg, Florida.

Steven’s Instagram account; https://instagram.com/stevenblandinphotography/

In The Summer Landscape => Final round at the 2015 BBC Wildlife Photographer Of The Year competition, Mammals category. Not the typical Polar Bear image! Male Polar bear cruising the Summer landscape with purple fireweed blooming. Hudson Bay, Canada.

Steven’s YouTube account; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUV24v39vFKDXmMCLI2TSKw

Born Of The Water => Brown Pelican flapping its wings against the water in an attempt to clean up its dirty feathers. Created in the Tampa Bay, Florida.

Pink Landing On Blue => Silver medal at the 2015 Professional Photographers of America International Print Competition | Roseate Spoonbill with breeding colors landing on the clear blue water. Created at the Tampa Bay Spoonbill rookery, where I run photography workshops. I am always amazed at how stunning those birds look when they are about to land!

Sammy & Family would like to close with what a pleasure it was to work with Steven Blandin on this feature. Steven loves birds and wildlife and his pictures show his passion. We would highly recommend taking a tour with Steven. Not only will you see amazing birds and or wildlife but he will teach you his techniques of getting the best possible picture one can get. Taking a tour with Steven would be fascinating and educational. Gotta love that combination.