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TWO HAPPY NEW YEAR DOGS

Usually I snap the photos of our sleeping dogs, but my funspouse Martha has a deft touch with the camera and she managed to get these pictures that suggest a Happy New Year event has occurred. 
We’re spotlighting these dear friends of ours in the last 2016/first 2017 edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.
Both are wander-up dogs. Both showed up in the Christmas season. Both are doing impressions here.
That mostly white dog is Porche Noel -- found on the front porch at Christmas several years ago.
That brown dog -- yep, brown, Martha tells me and others agree though now and then I say “black” -- is Dudley the Angel, named after the Cary Grant character in The Bishop’s Wife.  And our Dudley is an angel.
As you can easily see, they are doing impressions of young professionals who passed out at a New Year’s Eve party at a colleague’s apartment and just couldn’t get up and go home the next morning.

Porche, courtesy of the angle in Martha’s shot, clearly is demonstrating what happens to a once-slim co-worker when there’s been a little too much brew available throughout the holidays. Porche told me, “The leg dangle really makes the impression.”

And Dudley, possibly the sweetest dog who ever was born, is showing his “Don’t wake me, I’m still grumpy from last night and the bets I lost on the bowl games” face.

You know what happens to these dogs next? A veteran writer is going to stand up from his keyboard, waddle over and wake each of them so he can hug them and tell them, “Happy new year! I love you!”

Heck, here’s a cyber hug to each of you, Dear Readers -- I love you, too! And if you showed up on our front porch, we’d take you in and get you spayed or neutered, too! Whichever you needed.
Happy new year and remember to tell other people they need to do something good for the animals. In return, they'll get to enjoy some funny sights with dogs and cats and maybe even a good nod-off with a drowsy critter.
--- To comment, grip your ProsperoAnoMouse and click below. ---

WEATHER IN THE EAST; A HERO FOR ANIMALS OUT WEST IN BURNS FLAT; AND ALWAYS DALLAS OPPORTUNITIES

EDITION OF FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2016, A SUNNY DAY IN NORTH TEXAS (PetPowellPress) Thanks to the our veteran Eastern Seaboard Bureau Chief Andy Fisher, we have these examples of weather and the ruggedness of nature at Indian Lake, the warm but wintry community at Denville, N.J.
See that big photo? It’s from earlier in the holiday season -- remember when the temp was nudging 80 in Dallas? This is what was happening at Indian Lake. Andy tipped us to an element of the photo: “If you blow up the picture, you can see little white lumps on the unfrozen part of the lake. Those are swans, their heads and necks folded back on their very own down pillows. We think of birds as being delicate; tell that to these guys!”

A few days passed, rain washed away the snow and Andy sent this photo.
Perhaps envious of our tropical temps in Dallas, he wrote, “As you bask in balmy temperatures, be advised that the stuff floating on the surface of the lake is ICE. That's a seagull standing on the ice in the center of the picture. The phrase that comes to mind is slate gray.”

We’re a little more colorful in North Texas in the winter -- brown. Maybe some ochre on the stubborn leaves not yet whipped off the trees by the chilling wind.
And, when someone uses the term “tough ol‘ bird,” just think of the swans and seagulls on Indian Lake. Maybe the people, too, though they do have tender hearts.

FACES AT DALLAS ANIMAL SERVICES


Information is scant on these animals, but they are still in the need of a place to call home. That dog with the fab face is Buster.
As our tipster Kimberly Jones succinctly wrote, “Buster is still in need.”
And the DAS website (you can see the animals HERE) says Buster is a neutered male who may be 10 years old.
How’d he wind up in the shelter? A human let him down. (Buster is A0605730.)

And there’s this great cat face in the shelter, too.
That is Buddy (A0839040).
He’s an adult cat, but there is virtually no information about him on the DAS shelter site.

[LARRY ASIDE: Our theory is Buddy won first prize in a Charlie Chaplin “Little Tramp” Look-a-like Contest in Hollywood, celebrated too much, got on the wrong flight, wound up at Love Field, panicked, took a cab to the Dallas Animal Services Shelter thinking he’d just be sheltered, and now Buddy finds himself in a fix that might just be fatal if a human doesn’t step up and take him off death row.] 
Visit the shelter at 1818 N. Westmoreland at I-30. Call 214-671-0249. End your 2016 with a great start for your 2017. Save a life and gain a devoted friend.]

CHARLIE IS SAFE
You may recall the story Denton McNatt Animal Shelter monitor Amy Poskey sent us earlier in the week. This wonderfully, beautiful puppy Charlie’s little body had been peppered with BBs, some still in his hide. Somehow his jaw had been broken. He was healing. But he was also quite uneasy around people.
Amy sent us this report Friday:
“I’m thrilled to report that Mike and Mary Frazier with I AM DOG Rescue in Aubrey, Texas, will be taking this little angel to his foster home today!!!  WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!  Thank you soooooooooooooo much, Mike & Mary!!! Amy.”

Well, Amy, WOOOOHOOO indeed.
To offer to adopt or to donate to Charlie’s care, you can see how to get in touch with Mike and Mary at I Am Dog Rescue by going to www.iamdogrescue.org or by calling 940-202-0951. The rescue’s address is 11450 US Highway 380, Suite 130-240, Cross Roads, Texas 76227.
[LARRY ASIDE: The readlarrypowell.com world headquarters is in Oak Cliff, Texas, on the southern side of the Trinity River, about six miles from downtown Dallas. However, we are willing to cross the river and leave Dallas County if someone knows who shot this little dog or who broke his jaw. We have our 2017 models of the Readlarrypowell.com Two-by-Four of Enlightenment and we’d like to try them out in the field. Wait. That would be wrong. If you know who hurt his dog, call a peace officer and sic the cruelty laws on these rotten SOBs, pardon my entirely accurate French. The wood we use for the 2017 Two-by-Four of Enlightenment is guaranteed to be as hard as the heads of the North Texans who don’t spay and neuter. Now, that’s a really hard head.]

HERE’S A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
This showed up in our NextDoor neighborhood email and if you don’t take this warning seriously, you’re a nitwit.
The message reads, “It is never a good idea to fire a gun aimlessly. Discharging a firearm within the city limits of Dallas is punishable by fines up to $4000 and up to a year in jail. New Year’s Eve seems to be the time people like to bring in the year with a bang! But remember discharging a firearm in the air can be extremely dangerous. Stray bullets kill dozens of people annually. A bullet fired in the air can travel up to 2 miles before falling back down at a speed between 300 and 700 feet per second, fast enough to kill . DPD officers will be looking out for anyone discharging firearms within the city limits of Dallas.” 

We have found bullets burrowed nose-first into the wood on our backyard deck. You’ll see stories, no doubt, of innocents being struck by wayward bullets in Dallas -- aimed bullets kill enough people around here all year long, so lay off the "fun shooting." If you're a witness, call the police. Turn these idiots in -- they shouldn’t be walking free and firing at random. And, Good Lord, keep the peace officers safe from shooters, drunken motorists, fighting couples and anybody else who can do them harm and will try to apologize later. “Sorry, dude” doesn’t bring anybody back.

A THEATRICAL REMINDER

The talented people at Pegasus Theatre are in the process of previewing Death on Delivery in “Living Black & White” at the Eisemann Center in Richardson. Tickets are available at Eisemancenter.com -- you can pick your seats online. Read more at pegasustheatre.org. Show up and be prepared to laugh. And the Eisemann is a great theater venue. Plus, anything Kurk Kleinmann writes is a lot funnier than the 2016 presidential campaign. Show up, relax and laugh.

A 2016 CONTEMPLATION

FROM TERRY LYNN FISHER:
REMEMBERING ODDBALL
We got this note Friday from the inspired Terry Lynn Fisher in Burns Flat, Okla. For people who aren’t familiar with her story and what actually inspires her hard work for animals, this explains it.  If you’ve ever emailed her, you know that her address is [email protected]. There’s a heart-breaking reason. (These are photos of some of the animals Terry Lynn has worked with because of the experience you are about to read.)
Here’s what she wrote Friday: 
“Today, like every year, I want to take a few minutes to remember my sweet pup, Oddball. She is why I got started in rescue, why I fight for the innocent animals in kill shelters and those just being thrown away by irresponsible owners.

“Oddball was born March 14th, 2002. Born to a stray we had taken in. There was Oddball, Runt, Tails, Ro Ro and Stubby...

“On this date, December 30, 2002, at the age of 9 months, she and Stubby got out of the backyard while I was working on the fence. I yelled at the boys to go get them.

“WITHIN 5 MINUTES, she was dead. The then-City Administrator and another idiot were down the street shooting a skunk. They saw my babies and pulled to where they were. He got out of the truck and whistled for them. As Oddball ran happily to him, he opened fire.  He shot my baby girl 4 times before killing her. There were 4 places where her young body went down. Stubby ran home, My boys ran home, crying  ‘She’s dead! They killed her.’

“I stopped the [officials] and the arrogant idiot got out acting so tough. He said she should not have been out. She barked; she was vicious.
“I later learned he shot hundreds over the years. If he saw one loose, he got out and shot it.
“I was so devastated... I went online looking for someone to understand the pain I felt. And I found a wonderful soul named Julia. She got me involved in transporting... I met so many other people that felt like I do. Then, I learned that shooting the dogs was how our town euthanized... My heart broke. I promised Oddball I would stop it and I DID.
“We took over the pound and for almost 11 years, we have stayed no kill. I provide all food and supplies as well as care. I find rescues and get them moved to safe places. We have wonderful people that help with this and now, we (my family) help with surrounding towns as well.

“We do this as volunteers,  but it was my promise to Oddball, a sweet little dog that was gunned down and had her life taken way to soon... FOURTEEN YEARS AGO TODAY.

"So, please. Take a moment of silence and remember my sweet baby.  REMEMBERING ODDBALL... ALWAYS AND FOREVER.”

That’s from the heart of Terry Lynn who added a PS: “I still have her brother, Stubby... he will be 15 in March...  : )”
These are photos are of some of the dogs that have come through Terry Lynn’s care. Gracie is the one who was branded by some creep a couple of years ago. Buster is the one who was attacked by hogs earlier this year and left untreated until Terry Lynn stepped in to help.
And those two dogs in the cage were saved from the streets recently when Terry Lynn got tough with some unkind people.
She does that now and then.
You can reach Terry Lynn at [email protected], at 580-330-1459 or at P.O. Box 578, Burns Flat, OK, 73624.
--- To comment, grip your MyHeartCaresMouse, click below and tell us why YOU got into rescuing animals. God bless them all and shepherd them happily into 2017 -- bless those rescuers, too. ---

IN PRAISE OF PETSITTERS; IN HOPE OF HELP FOR ANIMALS & A DOG'S FACE

EDITION OF THURSDAY, DEC. 29, 2016 (PetPowellPress) -- Before we get to my praise of holiday-season, sleep-deprived, mission-determined Petsitters in this edition, we’re going to take a side trip to Denton where our McNatt Animal Shelter tipster Amy Poskey has what she calls “another heartbreaking story of a precious little angel who was the victim of evil, cruel humans.”

 You see the photos. Someone would hurt that pup? It’s enough to make good people everywhere mad enough to ... well, you know, go bad if they can get their hands on the creep who did this.

Amy writes that Charlie is an 8-week-old terrier mix who was found as a stray. Here’s the tough part:

“In his young life, he has been shot with BB's in which several are embedded in him and had a bone broken under his jaw that has healed. Because of this, he is extremely fearful of people and will need a little time to learn to trust humans again. He is willing but he has the instinct to flee... Can ya blame him?  He enjoys being around other dogs and having another dog around will help him move forward. One of our awesome shelter volunteers, Kim Gaffey, is taking him tomorrow for X-rays to see if the BBs can be removed.  
“We desperately need a rescue group to take him since he is not ready to be put up for adoption.  
"So, if anyone can give Charlie a safe, loving home where he can learn to trust humans again, please let me, Gayla Nelsen (kennel supervisor), and/or Kim Gaffey know ASAP!”
Gayla’s contacts are [email protected] or cal 940-390-4131. (The shelter is 940-349-7594.) Also email Amy at [email protected] and these, too:  [email protected], [email protected], and/or [email protected].
THE JOY OF PETSITTING:
A PROFESSION & A MISSION

It is the week after Christmas and just before the arrival of the New Year. So, what do we need to do right now? It’s important. 
We need to take a moment to remember the people who are members of one of the most diligent professions in the world: Petsitters.
Don’t wake them! They need their sleep. Holiday weekend starting early, you know.
How do I know how busy and how sleepy petsitters are?  For about 5 years in the late 20th century my funspouse Martha was a petsitter.
That is the logo on her business cards and her “work shirt.” We don’t have a lot of photos of this era in Martha’s life -- it was BEFORE cameras on phones!
During the holidays, petsitters race bladders all over town. Can an old car on its last wheels outrace the bladder of a post-middle-aged dog on diuretics? Bring plenty of paper towels.
Cats? Ever walk into a house with two or three cranky, hungry housecats? They all have lawyers and they’re not afraid to call ‘em. You don’t think cats go through the world without representation, do you? 
Petsitters must dodge traffic, avoid construction and cut short conversations with people they adore. 
Challenges? Keys that once worked suddenly don’t work.
Burglar alarms that can’t be turned off and you have to explain yourself to the Officers of the Law.
Once Martha had a client whose two-story home was being remodeled.
Mehitabel the Cat vanished. Martha’s good husband joined her in the search. We feared Mehitabel has gone out a door. We walked the neighborhood for a couple of hours -- Martha juggled other stops while we hunted Mehitabel.

Distraught, Martha called Mehitabel’s understanding human who flew home from New Orleans to join the search. We were at home when the phone rang and he happily reported that when he came home, Mehitabel recognized his voice and began meowing so he could find her. She was in the crawl space between the second floor and the first floor ceiling. She’d found an open space workers had left in partially finished remodeling project. She went in and couldn’t find her way out.

Her human couldn’t get her to come to the opening, so he sawed a hole in the floor and lifted happy Mehitabel out. 

Once, Martha was sitting a Boxer named General (Hen-er-al) who had been a police dog in Bolivia. Big dog. Took guarding seriously. Loved Martha. Also loved chocolate.
He counter-surfed a box of chocolate candy off a kitchen counter and when Martha arrived to take him on his rounds, she found a dog we can all relate to: Happily high on chocolate.
Quickly she put him into the back seat of her bright green Ford Escort station wagon and she drove out of the residential streets and onto a nighttime freeway headed toward an emergency clinic in Irving. About the time she hit the entrance ramp to the freeway, General decided he wanted to sit in the driver’s seat with Martha. He squeezed himself between Martha’s seat and the passenger seat, then plopped himself down on top of Martha so he could watch the landscape whiz past at a suddenly inconsistent rate of speed. General was happy and Martha was terrified. At the clinic, the doc checked General’s vitals, looked him in the eyes and decided he hadn’t eaten enough chocolate to be concerned. On the ride home, General crawled into the back seat and went to sleep.

Petsitter memories are of challenges and triumphs and animals they come to love. Petsitters become dependable friends to humans and animals. Petsitters are, on the whole, very dear people who make life better for humans and animals. Then they try to catch up on sleep they miss while everyone is being holly jolly or on the trip of a lifetime.
So, as this season goes along, bless those Petsitters and may their destinations be dry and happy. (The photos? That’s Martha’s latest artistic camera shot in her rearview mirror -- drives a Ford Escape now -- the Escort was totaled in a collision when someone ran through a stop sign while Martha was making her rounds. She called me not come check on her, but to come get her to finish the rounds after the police finished the wreck report.  And that cat in the Bedford Falls lighted village? That’s our late cat Spike who loved year after year to curl up next to Martini’s Bar and nod off. What does this say about animals and pet-sitting? It’s A Wonderful Life.)
MEANWHILE IN BURNS FLAT
Our longtime Western Oklahoma rescue tipster Terry Lynn Fisher has some animals that need a place to go. She writes, “Remember this girl? She laid in the middle of I-40 for at least three days... Hit by a car, her front leg was badly broken. When I was notified, I rushed out there. This poor girl was terrified. I got people there to help by trying to catcher. She ran down the interstate (thank God she wasn’t hit again) and ran onto a KOA campground. We tried to catch her for 2 days.. My youngest son basically camped out there, setting food in a fenced area and when she went in to eat, he closed her in.  He finally caught her and we rushed her to my vet. She has had surgery and the pins come out Friday.  She has been on boarding for a few months now.  really need a safe place for her to go. She is still a little skittish, but very loving.”
Terry Lynn is looking for someone to “take this baby or help with vetting.” 
Here contact point is [email protected]. Call her at 580-330-1459. You can write to her at P.O. Box 578, Burns Flat, Okla., 73624.

And there are these five. “The Brothers I believe they are Lab/Catahoula mix, under a year. They were seen wandering the country a few weeks, skin and bones.  Every time I got the call they were gone by the time I got there (about 13 miles away). They finally ended up in town there and went to jail. They are so sweet.. calm and friendly... beautiful boys.

“BUDDY was listed on a buy/sell trade site. Someone messaged me about him. I found a rescue but was out of town. I told Buddy’s owners to meet transport which was 7 miles away. They refused  I was out of town so couldn't help. Rescue filled with other dogs in need. [The owners] moved and LEFT HIM THERE. UGH. He is in a very short term foster. She said he would be an awesome therapy dog. He’s house-trained, very well behaved.. He turned one in October.

“BRUTUS (left) ... was beaten so badly by his owner that he could hardly walk  I had him rushed to my vet. He was bruised with cracked ribs. He is better now. I was afraid to take him to the pound there because his druggie owner has been known to shoot other dogs. I didn't want to take a chance. So he is in boarding. I am having him neutered this week. He is a great dog. Under 2 and over 80 pounds.

“BELGIN -- this boy is 6 years old. The owners needs him gone ASAP. He is a wonderful dog. Very friendly. He IS NOT IN A SAFE PLACE.
“I have 5 in boarding right now. I am struggling to keep up. PLEASE, if anyone can help, let me know.”
[LARRY ASIDE: I’ve been writing about Terry Lynn’s rescue efforts for years. Now and then I become convinced that some of the jerks from North Texas have gone out west and are continuing to live the lives of creeps and villains. There are, we must remember, Angels in Oklahoma, too. Bless their overburdened halos and pocketbooks!]
CONTEMPLATION:
As you may suspect, readlarrypowell.com loves animal faces. Here’s a collection from one dog that was posted on Dallas Animal Services’ Facebook page. Mario is one of many available animals at the city shelter. Visit it at I-30 and Westmoreland. Look it up online at dallasanimalservices.org.

--- To comment, grip your MugMouse, ask how many faces you can make when you're in the mood for a treat and click below to give an opinion. ---

RESCUE, FILMS AND THE STUFF THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF

EDITION OF WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2016 (PetPowellPress) As December creeps away as if it were wearing the cloak of late spring or early summer, we have some notes regarding the out-of-the-neighborhood attention Texas animals get now and then. Some other stuff, too.
THE PREGNANT DOG’S ESCAPE!
“Mell will be busting outta jail tomorrow and heading to her foster home in Mount Enterprise, Texas!!!”
That was the opening line to a note about a pregnant dog who has been expecting, literally, in the Denton McNatt Animal Shelter for a while now and it was written by the great shelter monitor Amy Poskey.
She also added, as is her style, an exclamation, to wit:

“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA WWWWWWWWW!!!”
Amy’s an Angel With Connections. She’d been in touch with a reliable connection, Renee Riegel with the Greater Dayton Lab Rescue.
Through the connections, Mel is going to be fostered by Penny Bryce of Mount Enterprise, Texas,  a little town on Highway 259 between Longview on I-20 and Nacogdoches in the towering Piney Woods.

Louann Smith and Jackie Byrd got Amy’s thanks “for transporting this momma-to-be so that she can have her puppies surrounded by love!”
Amy also thanks “everyone who helped me network this angel -- it truly takes a village!”
So, ladies and gents, we’ll now wait to hear how the second delivery experience in The Story of Mell goes.

In the meantime, Mell was the last animal left in the Denton McNatt Animal Shelter -- wait a second. Let me check that fact....
Yes, there ARE MORE ANIMALS IN THE DENTON SHELTER! You can see the adorable adoptables HERE. The homeless animals currently include this adult but not old cat named Pirate (championship whiskers and an eye problem) and this youngish Chihuahua named Chompers.

A FAMILY IN GARLAND


Our Garland tipster, Patty Turner sent an appeal about this family. She wrote, “This momma gave birth to 8 puppies during the Christmas holiday. She is sweet and a little bit scared at the shelter. Please help get her and her pups out of Garland. To tag for rescue, email [email protected].”

The shelter is at 600 Tower St. in Garland. Call 972-205-3570.

A REPORT RICOCHETS FROM KANSAS

These two dogs were dumped in Hunt County and wound up in the Greenville shelter.
On Tuesday, a note popped up from Judy Bishop of the Topeka Animal Talk web group and Friends of the Animals in Kansas, based in Topeka. She wrote, “I received a courtesy return phone call from a very nice guy Brandon (???) with the Greenville, TX,  Shelter this morning saying these two Aussie (???) siblings are still there in the shelter and in need of rescue help. 
“Any and all networking we can continue to do to try and get them out and into the safe and loving arms of rescue will be wonderful.  "
I've plugged in below the e-mail address for the shelter: [email protected]
.
"Thank you to the shelter for returning my call and thank you each and everyone for doing all you are to help our FRIENDS in the Greenville Shelter.”

Yep, people on the other side of Oklahoma are trying to help some Texas dogs that someone threw out like trash.

[LARRY ASIDE: If anyone might know who dumped these dogs, this could be a good time to make a discreet call to a peace officer and tip the law to this violation of the state’s animal cruelty laws. Even in Texas it is against the law to abandon animals.]

GETTING THE DOGS OUT OF DODGE
Well, not really Dodge, but Dallas and surrounding area. Among the more enthusiastic out-of-state transport agencies are Tawana Couch’s organization, the Society for Companion Animals, which flies dogs to havens way off, and the Humane Tomorrow organization based in Flower Mound, the Love on Wheels program. These folks have saved thousands by getting them across the state lines. Google these organizations and volunteer to help or donate money or time. They’re both diligent and intense when it comes to saving these lives.

CONSIDER THIS ARTWORK

Click on it to make it grow larger and you can see that someone in CANADA is concerned about the Dowdy Ferry dumped dogs in southern Dallas. Yep, Dallas keeps building its reputation in the 21st century. Here’s the LINK. [LARRY ASIDE: And, is Dowdy Ferry the area of Dallas where the most domestic animals are found dead? No. That area is a property at 1818 N. Westmoreland Rd., Dallas, 75212. The mayor may be aware of that location.]

CONTEMPLATIONS:  Turner Classic Movies showed one of the greatest possible double features Tuesday afternoon: Casablanca followed by The Maltese Falcon (Bogie and the bird on the right).  One day last week, TCM showed ALL the Thin Man movies with Nick and Nora Charles and Asta. That’s a bingeworthy event. Our dogs and cats will sit with us and watch all of these films ... Our thoughts of film came to us while we were in the middle of regretting that Carrie Fisher is not going to be around to write more books, add sharpened dialogue to films and build on her legacy as an actor. She wasn’t just a one-role performer. And, in the future, when you watch a movie that could have used a punch line or a sharp retort, greet that onscreen moment with silence in honor of the writer Carrie Fisher. ... To celebrate all the great movie stars and movie and music writers and the audiences who love their work, here’s a great number sung by Dooley Wilson. It was written by Herman Hupfeld for the 1931 Broadway musical Everybody’s Welcome (stage version of the 1931 Carole Lombard movie Up Pops the Devil which was based on a non-musical Broadway play of the same name, then used so very effectively in Casablanca in 1941. In other words: “Repurposing” may have been honed into an art form in show business in the ‘30s and ‘40s. One source says “repurposed” was first used in 1984 regarding video discs. Another source says the Oxford English Dictionary recognized repurposed as a word in 2004. No matter what they say about repurposed, a kiss is still a kiss. Ask Ricardo Cortez, star of the 1931 film Dangerous Female, the first movie version of The Maltese Falcon. And there was a 1936 version, Satan Met a Lady with Bette Davis. So, what was the Falcon? To borrow from Sam Spade, “The stuff that dreams are made of.”
--- To comment, think good thoughts, grip your OptimistMouse and click positively below. ---

SENTENCES CONNECTED ONLY BY ANIMALS

STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS-TUESDAY EDITION OF DECEMBER 27, 2016 (PetPowellPress) This is being written the day after Christmas.
In the past few days my funspouse Martha and I have been in and out of the county to far Northeast Texas and then back on treacherous, perpetually under reconstruction Interstate 30.

It was good to get home with our dogs and cats and the front porch ferals -- yep we're working on a little Trap, Neuter, Return in their future.
Animals are great Christmas companions, you know. That arises from the fact that they are great day-to-day compansions, too.  Adopt a dog or cat today. Donate to an animal group or shelter today. Do something good for animals today. There’s your free message of compassion.


Our holiday journey took us as far west as the lot on Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth where once stood the great Stripling & Cox Department Store. (That's it under destruction on the left from the era when gasoline was about a buck-sixtynine a gallon.)
Our 2016 trip was an homage to the Ghost of Christmas Past Clerks, or as many an actor has pronounced it in A Christmas Carol, “clarks.”
 One Christmas we were shopping in the old-style store and the clerks -- mostly women of great department store experience -- were celebrating a triumph over management. They’d convinced the bosses to increase the size of the type on the sales slips so they could more easily read them.
At least for a couple of years they were happy -- then progress flattened the place, somebody threw some money into the dirt and a bouquet of 21st century businesses grew like weeds, replacing the staid ol’, thoroughly enjoyable and serviceable 20th century department store. Progress, what a load of crap, eh?

We also discovered something else while in Fort Worth looking for a quick place to dine before the sun went down and we could actually see Christmas lights in a neighborhood known as -- not kidding, Dallasites -- “Mistletoe Heights.” 
What we discovered was that one of our now-and-then favorite Tex-Mex places on University has been flattened. Dos Gringos está muerto. 
I used to eat at Dos Gringos with my kids and my fellow staffers of The Fort Worth Press back in the early and mid-‘70s. No more. It’s menu is a memory.
Again, progress, what a load of crap, eh?

Of course, progress always makes things better, doesn't it? Try exiting Dallas on the southside of town and getting from I-30 west to I-35 south without anxiety. The people who designed that giant looping thing must all live in North Dallas and never drive south of LBJ. Of course, once you’re north of LBJ, how can you get south of it without getting special “Slow-to-No-Speed Collision Insurance” for travel on famous Loop 635's northern lanes?
Dear Santa: For 2017, please bring the entire region a finished highway system.
Honestly, dear designers, stop trying to make us all get on mass transit. Heck, the freeways ARE mass transit.
We don’t want to have to bring the great Susan Powter back to Dallas to stand on the plaza at City Hall and scream STOP THE INSANITY at the urban planners. Those people must all take the bus to work. Or a city hall limo. Maybe they ride in the Big D Employee Chopper.
AND NOW, A COMMERCIAL BREAK:


Click on the ad  to make it larger than a cathead biscuit. Thank you.

WE NOW RESUME
OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED CARPING
Oh, and on Monday, we were shopping for a dog bed at a non-animal store (my frugalspouse Martha had a coupon) in Dallas and, suddenly, our checker, a senior staffer, was called to the next station to help sort out a consumer “discussion.” It took a while. There might have been raised voices. Our staffer returned and, shaking her head, she said, “Lord, I thought we were done with Christmas.”
So, this is a good time to thank her and the other patient store clerks who dealt with all the people who, preferring to shop online, found themselves, instead, navigating the terrifying experience known as “Christmas shopping.”
Where didn’t we shop this Christmas? Many places that we usually visit. Timing was bad. Throw in a three-week-long shared, uncommonly energy-draining common cold and you’ll understand why sometimes we’d simply come home, feed the dogs and cats and crash. Between work obligations and phlegm, our usually holly jolly intentions were foiled. We didn’t even see a movie. How is that possible?
Yet we move on, from Monday to Tuesday and on. And we work. We enjoy the dogs and cats and some people. Others we didn’t get to see. Maybe later.
And, though Martha says she’s tired of hearing this from me, based on our nighttime travels in Dallas, this appeared to me to be the dimmest Dallas since the energy crisis of 1973 when President Nixon asked Americans to drive less, drive slower and not hang Christmas lights. How dim was Dallas? I’m betting that from space it has looked like North Korea.
OK, we still have a few days before the Happy New Year of 2017 arrives. Let’s see if the president asks people to stop lighting fireworks and shooting pistols on New Year’s Eve. (You see the Dallas body count on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Apparently a lot of people got new guns for Christmas and couldn’t wait to use ‘em. 

OK, let’s move on to something to contemplate. But first, the photos of the dogs and that cat all came from the Dallas Animal Services website -- it is easily accessible at dallasanimalservices.org and you can navigate to the photos. Through the end of the month, you can adopt animals for just $25. Surely some of you got cash for Christmas and you have a place to give an animal a home.
Those of us who are at the city limit have taken up the slack for nitwits as far as we can legally, now it is up to YOU to do what the rest of the idiots around here won’t do: save lives via adoption. If we had room, I'd have every one of these animals -- and Martha would have me institutionalized. But, look at that boy Spike. Is that not the body language of a dog who is feeling defeat and may be on the brink of getting the Needle of Death. Never happen in Dallas. Hell, it happens on Christmas Day. Pardon my entirely justifiable French. You need to read the contemplation.
A CONTEMPLATION



That is something to contemplate. While the rest of us were celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, someone was having to kill dogs on Christmas Day. On this holy day in the season of giving, six lives were taken at Dallas Animal Services. Couldn't wait until Tuesday, I guess. The shelter’s “transparency” stats show six dogs were euthanized on December 25. Maybe they were struck by cars and came in injured. Who knows? The shelter may have euthanized them, but you know who really killed those dogs? The residents of this fine city who didn’t take care of the dogs. It happens day after day in Dallas, this killing of animals. Why? Because the place is loaded with stupid people who treat animals like throw-away trash. Anybody feel up to arguing that fact? Someone cast a magic spell and soften the hearts and sharpen the minds in Dallas.
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THE CHRISTMAS BED

Our Christmas weekend edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap is dedicated to all the dogs and cats who have homes and to all the dogs and cats who need homes.
The dog and cats who compose the staff at Read Larry Powell Dot Com all once needed homes. None came from a shelter, but all the animals did come from rotten situations. They were foundlings or wander-ups. Someday I expect people will deliver "unwanted dogs and cats" to our house by drone.
Our dogs and cats now have a home. They have cable TV. They have food. They have radio. They have snacks. They have computers. Two or three have their own cell phones -- the others prefer to have staff answer the calls.
These critter have it better than any teenager in America. And if we had any idea who’d treated them so rotten in the past, they’d also have a lawyer and a civil suit! And Martha and I would need an attorney because we applied the "Two-by-Four of Enlightenment" to some people who ought to be on Santa's naughty list and a prison warden's roll call.

At Christmas, the household's sensitive human, my yulespouse Martha, makes sure they all have a good reason celebrate being home for Christmas, as the song goes. This year she decided to upgrade the living room bed that Annie, the ancient heeler mix, flops on to watch TV. It’s a red bed. And it has been gnawed at the corners until the fluffy green filling spills out and attracts the attention of other dogs and one or two cats -- and they all go "mining for green stuffing" which is then spread throughout the house. (We left the “mattress tag” on the red bed in hopes that a dog would chew that off instead of the corner of the bed. How foolish we were.)

  The week before Christmas, Martha bought a new big bed for Annie and put the red one and it’s familiar smells and odd contours into temporary storage -- the seat of a chair now used exclusively for storage. Cats stop by to nap now and then.
And, naturally, Annie did not get to use the new big bed.
The Senator, our wanderup cat, took over the bed. That first photo of The Senator in a big new bed shows his attitude. “Yeah, I’m in the bed. So what?”
So, we put the worn red bed back. And Annie flopped on it.
 But, then a couple of nights before Christmas, Martha said, “I’m getting another one of those beds for Annie.” 
Sure enough, she did. Identical to the other new one. 
And she put it down in the den next to a cabinet that once held a functioning computer and now holds office supplies. 
|
Annie ignored it.
The Senator did not. He took it, too.
He had one visitor, Porche Noel (found on the porch at Christmas) and she moved on, trotting back into the living room to jump up in the recliner I bought Martha for our anniversary.
Porche nodded off and Annie took over the other old bed on the rug in front of the big TV.


Somehow they’re all happy. The sleeping dogs lie on assorted beds and platforms. The napping cats nap on assorted beds and platforms. 
The Senator does what he wants.

The humans? Well, the couch is nice and you can watch TV for as long as your insomnia holds out.

[LARRY'S BEGGING NOTE: For 2017 we’re going to need some sleeping dogs and napping cats for our weekend edition. Please send photos and info to [email protected] and we’ll make your critter more famous than a Trump cabinet member. After all, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie and Napping Cats Nap has an international readership. Several years ago, I convinced my sidekick, Inky, the Cocker Laureate of Texas, to pose in a Santa hat. He enjoyed the experiment and said that he was grateful I didn’t ask him to wear the reindeer’s red nose -- his nose was very sensitive, you know. As longtime visitors to Readlarrypowell.com know, the late Inky was our staff impersonator. Our animals all have more than one name: Inky needed but one, just like Cher. To the left, you see Inky giving us his impression of an angelic caroler who has been a-wassailing and is about to enjoy a big slice of Christmas Knock-a-Hole-in-Your Stocking Super Dense Fruitcake and  cup of Mom’s Dazzle Your Sugarplums Eggnog.
In the 14 Christmases we were privileged to live with Inky, he only ever chewed open one gift under the tree.
It was a small box in which there was, from my funspouse Martha, a keyring with a metal Cocker Spaniel  image dangling from it.
I think Inky wanted to get the product number and check the trademark. He was sensitive about his image being used to promote anything that wasn’t righteous.
Inky was made for Christmas -- he had joy in his eyes and he was always excited when the gifts were being opened. And he wagged his ultra-short tail with great enthusiasm. Love Inky? Like the breath of life.
May you all have a wonderful season of joy and may your dogs, cats and any critter in your life be merry and bright. And may any animal that needs a home get one before Santa has time to finish his cookies and milk.]
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SAVE SOME ANIMALS, ENJOY SOME SONGS

EDITION OF FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016 (PetPowellPress) We’re approaching Christmas Eve with thoughts of wishing we had the ability to do more for more animals and for more people. One good Lotto Texas ticket and a lot of animals are the winners. 
There is still a chance for people to open their hearts and create a safe home for previously unwanted animals. 
Bless the animals. They give us so much.
TRYING TO HELP DENTON ANIMALS
Amy Poskey sends regular emails trying to help animals in the Denton McNatt Animal Shelter. Lord only knows how many she has helped. We’ll focus on the latest two she is trying to help.
One, Mell, we’ve mentioned before. 
Amy writes, “Beautiful Mell is STILL waiting for her Christmas miracle and she is about to pop with puppies!  We think she only has about one week before she gives birth.
“We also have an adorable little Chihuahua who is ready to give birth. Tinker Toy is only 1-2 yrs young and she doesn’t want to have her babies in the shelter, either.
“I’m just praying they don’t abort the babies tomorrow before they close for Christmas cuz the shelter will only be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and will be closed on Saturday and Sunday.”
The contact points are [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. Call the shelter at 940-349-7594.
ONE MORE THING: Amy signs off her email this time with this line: “Some people don’t understand why I help animals. I don’t understand why they wonder.”
Read the next item and go ahead and shake your head at the outrageous people who walk this planet.
A KITTEN’S FATE

The Dallas Morning News reported this story Thursday. If it is anywhere close to factual, it is disgusting and a clear example of why animal cruelty laws should be strengthened in Texas. The bottom line is the story says a Denton shelter employee (planning to quit his job) was working with a kitten, was bitten and simply threw the cat down and killed it. Read the story HERE.
Maybe this will help explain why a big-hearted person such as Amy feels compelled to help the animals. Check with the Texas Humane Legislation Network at thln.org to see if there’s something to protect animals coming up in when the Texas Legislature goes back into session in January. 
Now and then it would be nice to see the law strong enough to put creeps in jail.
CHRISTMASSY CRITTERS AT DAS    

I clicked my way to the adoptables on the Dallas Animal Services website -- start out at dallasanimalservices.org -- and found, next to each other, some holiday-themed critters: Kris the Cat (A0969153) and Kris Kringle The Dog (A0968021).

If you’ve been involved in animal rescue -- either by picking ‘em up off the streets, grabbing them out of city parks, opening your door and finding them on your porch, taking them away from creeps and villains -- you’ve probably seen animals before that sort of look like these. 
You look at them and you feel it in your heart. 

These two were listed among the animals in the shelter’s inventory Thursday.

You realize of course, that Dallas Animal Services is still giving away animals.

Here’s some artwork. 
And why is important to realize that these animals need out of DAS.
Look at the euthanasia figure in that “transparency” chart posted on the DAS Facebook page.  


CLICK ON THE CHART to make it LARGER. And ask yourself, WHY ARE THERE SO MANY ANIMALS IN THE SHELTER? There are people who let these animals down. Not the shelter people or the people at city hall, but the don't-care residents of Dallas. There has to be some way to change hearts and minds. After all, what is the penalty for doing good?
CONTEMPLATION: Some people scoff at Bob Dylan’s singing voice. Some scoff at the awarding of the Nobel Prize to the great performer/writer. And, yet, at Tony Bennett’s 90th birthday gala, he gave great voice to the song Once Upon a Time from the 1962 Broadway production All-American. Here is Bob’s version and Tony’s version. The song’s music is by Charles Strouse and the lyrics are by Lee Adams. It is a love song with a message that almost cannot be ruined by a lousy voice though I have managed to butcher it a time or two in the house when the dogs and cats are sleeping and no human is around to run screaming from the building. (That's the album that introduced me to Tony's version. I still have it somewhere in a music closet. No needle on my record player in this century.) 
Here’s the opening verse. It is the pure poetry of love:

“Once upon a time
A girl with moonlight in her eyes
Put her hand in mine
And said she loved me so
But that was once upon a time
Very long ago.”

My girl still holds my hand, unless I begin to sing.
"
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SAVE SOME ANIMALS; LIGHT A CANDLE; CELEBRATE A TV AD

How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
 -- From The Merchant of Venice, written in the late 1590s by William Shakespeare.
Today’s reading from the Bard of Avon is dedicated to the first dog in our report and to any other animal who needs someone to do a good deed in this naughty world, Open a good heart and take in a critter forever.  From Chance to Peach to the crowd waiting in every shelter, use your candle to light the glow of happiness in some lives.
Later in the report, we’ll praise a sitcom actor who has become a Yuletide legend.
A DOG, ER, DOGS NEEDING RESCUE

Pardon me while I get personal about a dog I’ve never met. Dogs are a book you can tell by the cover. You know they are dogs the minute you see them.
You know what dogs are capable of and you know what you are capable of achieving. Working with a dog, you can triumph.

So, this dog is Chance (A0837364), a resident of the Dallas Animal Shelter and Adoption Center who is, as of this writing, not up for adoption but is up for rescue. 
Look at that face. Is that not the face of a dog who could love you?
Erica Vega of DAS sent the appeal. She says he’s 2 years old weighs, about 45 pounds, but is “a little underweight and can’t be placed in adoption. He has till Close-of-Business 12/22/16 to be pulled or transferred.”

[LARRY ASIDE: Know what happens then? He doesn’t get a bus ticket to Vegas. They needle him to death at taxpayer expense and with the full approval of Dallas City Hall. Why? Because the City of Dallas, a municipality that likes to present itself as the city of the future, fully embraces the traditional Texas theory of animal management: “Got an animal problem? Let’s kill it!” You think I’m kidding? Look at the euthanasia stats posted on the Dallas Animal Services Facebook page.]
Why is Chance on the clock in Dallas? “Owners say he is a great dog, he just didn’t get along with their cat.”
To begin the process of saving his life, email [email protected]
That second dog? Later Wednesday, Erica sent the note about this 2-year-old Doberman mix. He weighs 73 pounds and, like Chance, has until the Close of Business on Thursday “to be pulled. He was a little timid when he came into the shelter; he is doing a little better. When I walked into his kennel he was wagging his tail, he was reluctant to come up to me.  We know that with some TLC he will fully come out of his shell.”
Subliminal message: Adopt a cat, too!
AN ADOPTION NOTE AT DAS


Erica included this note, “Also all animals are FREE for the rest of the month of December for approved transports only. Includes spayed/neutered, microchip, and all age appropriate vaccinations.”


[LARRY ASIDE: On the DAS Facebook page you can find this. An opportunity to help, it’s there. Light that candle and be the good deed that shines in the dog and cat world.]


Subliminal message: Adopt a cat, too!

ONE MORE TIME FOR PEACH:

“ZERO INTEREST. NO COMMENTS OR SHARES.”

Some of the dogs in shelters are just pitiful. We’ve mentioned Peach before.
Stacey The Stylist Carney, who is our west-of-Fort Worth tipster, sent another note Wednesday about Peach and the subject line is that “Zero interest” passage in this item’s headline.

If you have a heart, this story will touch it. Most of us who have a heart (sometimes I’m among them) already have a houseful of dogs and cats. We have no room, we can only try to influence an individual or rescue group to save the life of a dog.

Peach is waiting for either rescue or the Needle of Death in the Weatherford Parker County Animal Shelter. 

Stacey writes, “This poor dog is a senior and seems to have some skin issues. She is terrified and just shakes at the shelter. She is very stressed but is super sweet. Let's find her a home for the holiday guys! ... She has almost no attention on Facebook. Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for sharing sweet Peach, Stacey.”
 (Contact info is on the bottom of the illustration. Click on it to make it larger.
[LARRY NOTE: There is no reason in America for a dog like this to wind up on death row. No reason. Except the failure of humans -- a condition that is an epidemic.]

Subliminal message: Adopt a cat, too!

URGENT DAK, BLUE HEELER
The story, from dogfan Karen Lee of barkleyworld.com, is that Dak is an “urgent at the Euless Animal Shelter.”

Here are the particulars from Karen: “He unfortunately does not get along with other dogs or cats. He is fine with people but does need some training in the manners department. This makes us so sad when someone doesn't understand the amount of time it takes to train a cattle dog. They are high energy. He would need to be the only dog in the home. Anyone know a runner that wants a running buddy?
"If Dak does not get adopted soon he is at risk to be deemed unadoptable. Unfortunately this would mean the unthinkable will happen. Please share his posting to help find Dak a home.  He has been in the shelter for quite awhile now and is going a little nuts from boredom and lack of anything to do!! He’s a great dog—please help us save him.”

Take the first step to saving Dak (#17013), the young Heeler, by emailing  [email protected].

Subliminal message: Adopt a cat, too!

CONTEMPLATION: We've seen all sorts of images associated with Christmas: Three Wise Men paying tribute to The Infant in the manger, stockings, elves, a red-nosed reindeer, etc., and, in the case of me and my brothers, bundles of switches and lumps of coal. Did you ever think you’d see Frankenstein’s Monster delivering a sweet message at Christmas? Thanks to Apple, we have a sweet Christmas message. Not just a sales pitch. This is an advertisement with a title: Frankie’s Holiday. And the person portraying Frankie is the great Brad Garrett, the second member of the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond to play Frankenstein’s Monster -- first was, of course, the magnificent Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. Now, enjoy Frankie’s Holiday HERE. This is the long version of the TV ad -- 2 minutes. But you can make it last all season, maybe all year, or the rest of your life.
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WINTER REMINDER

Winter officially arrives in North Texas at 4:44 a.m. Wednesday when the temp is, according to the Weather Channel forecast, a balmy 38 degrees and the sky is clear.
If any of our Dear Readers are awake at 4:44 a.m., bless your hearts and your happiness. And, of course, your hens and cows because, if you're awake at 4:44 a.m., you either own a chicken ranch and need to get the eggs or you've got to milk the cows.
Or you work in radio. Or you're the Uber driver the morning drive radio people call to get them to the studio on time for 5 a.m. sign-on.
Or you have a zany dog named Porche Noel who likes to light up like Christmas to welcome winter. She knows that the arrival of winter means a warming trend in North Texas. Never fails.
Enjoy the days of winter. Read some books. Hold hands with someone you love. Enjoy a walk in the sunshine. Give winter a warmth of the heart.
 

SOME ANIMAL TALES AND A MUSICAL NOTE

EDITION OF WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016 (PetPowellPress) I have hardly had enough time to Christmas shop or even to consider the things that give me joy about the  season. I do have time to ask this: “Is chocolate the most tempting Christmas sweet? Or have we all just accepted that it is a year-round temptation or necessity?”
OK, let’s move on to the animal world.  
OH, BROTHER, HERE ARE TWO TALES TO TICK YOU OFF
Readlarrypowell.com was tipped to this and it really ticked us off.
The report came from a Facebook posted by Gayla Geist.
[LARRY ASIDE: Here’s the text and, of course, you have already spotted the photos unless you’re having someone read this to you -- I never know how far technology has gone. You might have a robot who reads English.]
The text reads:
“GLEN ROSE Tx-EMACIATED HOUND MIX-Temp FOSTER needed immediately until RESCUE is found. He was found tied to a fence post with no food no water and a plastic dog house we aren't even sure he could fit in. We are amazed he made it through last night. He is so thin at first Julia thought he was dead. The owner has surrendered.
“There is also a PB GSD that belongs to another wonderful resident of this trailer park. [He] is tied to a water heater all day [and] supposedly brought in at night. The owner wants to surrender the GSD due to moving. His picture is in the comments and here: https://m.facebook.com/story.php…
CONTACT: [email protected].”
[LARRY ASIDE: Good grief. The good humans area already at work taking up the slack for the nitwits who roam free in Texas. Dallas worries about the dogs that roam free and we ought to be concerned about the free-roaming nitwits.]
PREGNANT WITH SUSPENSE AT DENTON
Our Denton animal tipster Amy Poskey sent a note about these two dogs. There may be a connection, there may NOT be a connection. You never know in the free-roaming dog world.
Here’s the Denton McNatt Animal Shelter story from Amy:

“This beautiful girl with soulful eyes was set to be vetted yesterday [Monday] but they discovered she is pregnant so she did not get vetted. 
"Now Mell needs a Christmas miracle to save her babies!!!  Mell is a 2-5 yr young Labby mix who was found as a stray along with her brother (or perhaps her hubby?), Marcus. 
“I included a pic of Marcus just in case he is the father of Mell’s puppies, but we don’t know for sure. 
Mell is very sweet and enjoys playing in the yard or going on a walk with the volunteers.

“Can anyone make room for this sweet soon-to-be momma so she can have her babies in a loving home for Christmas?”
Email [email protected] or Gayla Nelson at [email protected].  The shelter number is 940-349-7594.

A HOUSTON DOG IS
ONE FOR THE BOOKS
Now, here’s a great story about a dog  from Houston. Our reliable tipster Alexandra Kelsey of Houston wrote the report this way:

“In early 2015, a sweet dog on walkabout in Houston tried to adopt a nice elderly couple.  He picked out some great real estate, but they were too old to have a dog and were floundering with what to do with this sweet boy.
“Rescuers being who they are, a team went to get the dog and gave him a name, Chapman.  Chapman saw a vet PDQ and then spent time with Matt Bryant, a wonderful Houston dog trainer. Then, he was adopted by an amazing Seattle woman.
“Fast forward to late 2016, and we see this fabulous boy in his Seattle home, with his new kitty brother Mitchell.  And, turns out that Chapman has an author in his family!  The mother of Chapman’s adopter has written a very charming dog book about her dog Dixie, and if you are looking for a great gift, check this out! 
“The author is now is working on a compilation of short stories about dog adoption and ownership. And, Chapman’s story will be one of them! How’s that for a tired, skinny and out-of-luck dog…who now has the most fabulous luck?”
Barb Cartmell is the author of Dixie The 10K Dog, subtitled “The 10,000 miles I walked with my dog and the lessons she taught me along the way.”
CONTEMPLATIONS: The life that includes walking with a dog, sitting with a dog, nodding off while watching sports and movies with a dog -- that is truly a blessed life. For the human and for the dog who is leading by example. ... People who love animals have bigger hearts -- is that a medical or a moral fact? Though, now that I think about it, there have been some real creeps who loved animals. OK, let’s go this way: Animals who love humans live with great hope. ... A favorite newsroom memory from the 1960s? In the era before computers, newsrooms got news via teletype. The machines had bells that rang to announce bulletins and urgent stories. But on Christmas Eve, the geniuses at AP and UPI had figured out how to ring the bells to the tune of Christmas carols. It was kind of touching. No modern equivalent, I think. Most people carry phones that play music all the time. Progress is not as charming as the past. That may be a fact.  Jingle Bells, fyi, was the first Christmas song played from space -- Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra on December 16, 1965. Click HERE. 
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