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Enchanted Animation
An Animation Spin Valentine to "The Archies"
Keith Scott on Voices
February 10, 2020 posted by Keith Scott
"Hello All You Happy Tax Payers": Tex Avery's Voice Stock Company
When we think of Tex Avery's cartoons, his soundtracks don't instantly spring to mind. Avery's films are by far the most famous examples of unexpected, FAST visual gags and off-the-wall animated insanity in the history of the medium, and today, forty years after his passing and sixty five years since his last theatrical short he is still revered by cartoon buffs of all ages as a totally unique talent.
With vintage cartoons now popping up on YouTube, and in shelf copies on DVD or Blu-ray, generations of younger cartoon enthusiasts are now able to study classic era geniuses like Avery in microscopic detail, in a way unknown to we first generation chroniclers.
Once the newer fans become truly familiar with these directors' works, inevitable questions arise about just how they were made: who animated that scene, who did all the background art, how were they gagged, and so on. Next people then ask about the audio…the dialogue, music and sound effects.
Avery might have seemed a total visual savant at first glance, but a careful listen to his soundtracks reveals his painstaking approach to comedy, built frame by crazy frame.
Tex's tracks, like everything else in his canon of comedy, were funny in and of themselves.
With the imminent release of the new Warner Bros. Blu-ray collection containing nineteen of Avery's MGM classics I felt that the cartoon buff community might like some information about his stock company of voices.
(Note: I've been researching this topic for thirty years and there are still gaps in my knowledge, so please don't think I'm the font of all cartoon voice info. There are holes due to a frustrating lack of original MGM documents.)
As we know, Tex was the first to boost Mel Blanc to vocal stardom when he was directing at the Leon Schlesinger studio. From the spring of 1937, when Blanc became the improved voice of Porky Pig and at the same time the embryonic Daffy Duck speechifier, and up through 1940 when Mel and Tex crafted the voice for the great Bugs Bunny, they were a terrific creative match. Blanc's crazy voices, vocal effects, hiccups and unmatched zany yells suited Avery's deliberately over-the-top parodic style to a tee.
But when Tex departed the Warner studio in May 1941, Mel Blanc had just signed his exclusive agreement with Leon. For cartoons, Mel had to forego all the competing work he had been doing in abundance at Universal, Columbia, Paramount and MGM.
And so, Tex had to find new voices at Metro, the studio he ultimately landed at in the fall of '41.
Avery was a highly particular creative talent, a true one-off. His innate penchant for placing laughs above all else bred a lifelong comic's insecurity in him, despite his often-astonishing results.
He had the nervously perfectionist streak common to all original thinkers. This extended from his habit of changing layouts to his constant worrying about the timing of his animation, to his unmatched gags and his uniquely funny soundtracks. He believed strongly that exactly the right voices and sound effects were critical to the comic impact of his films. Fred MacAlpin, head of sound for Metro cartoons, recalled Avery always liked exaggeration in his sound effects. He also liked them loud, such as a musical saw vibration to indicate a body being hit or shattering glass for some poor schnook at the end of a fall.
While Tex's MGM cartoons were as outrageously funny as the best of the Warners, his dialogue was often merely functional. Spare, short lines linking his wacky visual universe, but not quotable the way much of the Looney Tunes dialogue could be. Droopy would today be the only one well remembered for his fourth wall greetings to the audience ("You know what? I'm happy.")
Bill Thompson and Elvia Allman
He had been auditioning freelance voices for years, and at MGM, where the budgets were appreciably higher, Tex was able to get some seasoned radio people. And while he couldn't use Mel, he made sure at first to hire several top voice talents from his earlier Warner days, fine artists he knew could deliver for his special brand of comedy. Avery was always after a certain delivery and sought top voice talents, several of whom got their first breaks on one of his gigs (Blanc, Daws Butler, Don Messick). These actors worked hard for him. Avery could be infamous for his sessions where he would often get them to yell and scream until they were hoarse, and as various people noted – animator Mike Lah, writer Heck Allen and actor Daws Butler – he was customarily compelled to request a ton of takes.
And so, let's examine these forgotten people in the order of the cartoons' appearance on the new Blu-ray, starting with one of Avery's greatest.
Frank Graham (The Wolf)
RED HOT RIDING HOOD
Frank Graham does the opening kiddie-storyteller and gives us the first appearance of his famous gravel-voiced Wolf character, who morphs into a Charles Boyer when attempting to seduce Red. He even throws in the nightclub MC and cab driver voices. Graham was a busy CBS radio announcer who was also a skilled actor, one of the first to be nicknamed "Man of a Thousand Voices." He had been doing a nightly quarter hour radio series for a couple of years starting in 1939 called Nightcap Yarns, in which he played all the roles in each entry…one night a week was Western story night, another night featured a comedy story, and so on. Graham had by this stage built up a large range of accents and character types to impress any radio or cartoon director at auditions.
[Footnote: To be accurate, Frank Tashlin was the first director to use Graham's talents at the Screen Gems cartoon studio, then Bob Clampett nabbed him for his Warner cartoon HORTON HATCHES THE EGG, after which Friz Freleng used him narrating FONEY FABLES where he first used his Wolf voice. But Tex Avery got the best animation performances out of Graham, using him over and over.]
Frank Graham was already familiar to Fred MacAlpin in the MGM cartoon sound department, because he had narrated the Tom & Jerry NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Tex acknowledged that Frank Graham required virtually no coaching and always considered him a class act.
Connie Russell, singing voice of "Red"
But what's fascinating about the track of this cartoon is that two people voice the wolf! Tex was always after an audience jolt, and in this case it's a sound jolt, not a visual one.…The wolf's voice suddenly changes from intimate Boyer to goofball ("What's yer answer to that, Babe?") simply for comic effect. Tex knew who he wanted for the alter ego: the young actor-impressionist Kent Rogers had done some fine mimicry for Avery in HOLLYWOOD STEPS OUT and was the voice of Willoughby the dog in THE HECKLING HARE, Tex's penultimate Bugs Bunny cartoon for Schlesinger.
Red herself has three distinct voices as well. Her speaking roles (child Red Riding Hood and adult Red Hot a la Kate Hepburn) is voice artist Sara Berner, a premier female character voice in the 1940s. She had been in several of Tex's spot gag cartoons at Warners and was – like Kent Rogers – a fine mimic. She also doubles as the cigarette girls. Red's singing voice was another matter.
The MGM music department was the biggest in Hollywood and its vocal arrangers had access to every singer in town. When Tex requested a sexy vocal for Red's big number, "Oh, Daddy" he was rewarded with Connie Russell, a young singer of renown who had signed an MGM contract in 1940 (see her in Lady Be Good). Her sultry singing combined with the marvellous Preston Blair dance animation was one of the most striking moments in all the cartoons of 1942.
The budget extended to hiring Elvia Allman as Red's lovelorn Grandma, and again Avery had full confidence. He knew Ms Allman was an expert radio comedienne and would need no direction. He had earlier used her in such WB cartoons as LITTLE RED WALKING HOOD and CINDERELLA MEETS FELLA. It was this, just his third MGM release, which took Avery to the pinnacle of Cartoon fame.
WHO KILLED WHO?
This terrific genre-buster opens and closes with still another comic innovation, a live-action bookend using the veteran character player Robert Emmett O'Connor in a send up of MGM's own Crime Does Not Pay shorts.
Kent Rogers
The atmospheric cartoon features the return of Avery's old Warner voice man Billy Bletcher as the basso-voiced and super-loud detective, who is in turn a visual caricature of actor Fred Kelsey (known for scores of burly cop movie roles including comedies like THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE and the Three Stooges' IF A BODY MEETS A BODY). Sara Berner and Kent Rogers appear again, she as the Brooklyn cuckoo clock and maid, with Rogers offering a fine imitation of English comedian Richard Haydn's Edwin Carp character as "The Victim," plus a Red Skelton voice – highly familiar to audiences of this era from Skelton's hugely popular radio series – as what else, a "red skeleton." And he even adds a Jerry Colonna imitation ("Ah yes, quite a bunch of us…"). Finally, he does Santa Claus saying, "Hey, Doc…can't ya read?" That "Doc" appellation is a true Avery signature as we know, and we can almost hear Avery demonstrating the line before Rogers voices it. The cartoon boasts a uniquely eerie music score which was provided by Bernard Katz, veteran radio musician playing a Novachord and mysterioso organ. And how's this for trivia: Bernard Katz was Mel Blanc's cousin.
WHATS BUZZIN' BUZZARD?
Here's the cartoon that Tex's boss Fred Quimby found highly distasteful. The first buzzard is old friend Kent Rogers again, this time doing a great Leo Gorcey Dead End Kids imitation. He also does the voice yelling, "Send down one hamburger." The second buzzard with the funny Jimmy Durante gruff is unconfirmed. I have my suspicions about who it is, but no actual proof. The final announcer is NBC newscaster John Wald who had been the identical radio voice in some MGM features that year, including Skelton's Whistling in Dixie. He hammers home the wartime food shortage gag.
BATTY BASEBALL
John Wald, who we just heard at the end of the cannibalistic Buzzard opus, opens this cartoon with his baseball announcer voice by employing a vocal trick many radio commentators had developed back in that time: the ability to talk very quickly but clearly. In the National Radio Artists casting directories of the period there was even a category called Fast Talkers. This cartoon is an example of Avery's penchant for limited dialogue depending on throwaway gag situations. And the sound effects are a treat. Fred MacAlpin knew Tex loved odd sounds so instead of a standard baseball hitting noise he substituted a .22 caliber gun shot. At first, he worried that maybe it was too silly, but Tex told him, "That's great!"
We can hear Pinto Colvig, the great voice of Disney's Goofy, doing two lines as the pitcher McGrip ("Good joke!" and "I got it!!!"). Also heard is comic actor Jerry Mann who was then on staff at Metro for gags and voices between his stage engagements. He does the loudmouth yelling "Kill the Umpire," and the catcher's endless "That's the old pepper." The first gruff ballplayer voice we hear ("How about the MGM titles??") is a radio actor named Wally Maher who adds the fastidiously effete and neat umpire's voice. We will meet him again soon in the starring role for one of Tex's oddest characters, Screwy Squirrel.
Sara Berner
THE HICK CHICK
Kent Rogers, Avery's mimic of choice had tragically died in the service by the time this cartoon's dialogue was ready for recording. It is essentially a take-off of Red Skelton's famous Clem Kadiddlehopper radio character, even adding Red's radio girlfriend Sara Dew (or Daisy as played in the cartoon by Sara Berner, who goes from cowgirl voice to Katharine Hepburn depending on her male partner, and she doubles as the Mae West maternity nurse). The angry bull is Frank Graham reprising his gruff Wolf voice, and he also plays the Charles Boyer villain. Sadly, I can't confirm the identity of the impersonator hired by Tex who does such a nice job of the Skelton "Lem" voice (this same impressionist was heard in the Screen Gems cartoon HOT FOOTLIGHTS the previous year). The square dance background was recorded for Tex by the well-known Pickard Family country swing group, with dad Obediah Pickard as genuine dance caller. In the cartoon they are topically billed as Spike Bones & his Chicky Slickers.
BAD LUCK BLACKIE
Tex is the real star of this cartoon doing his patented guttural belly laugh, first heard as a walrus in the old Warner cartoon THE PENGUIN PARADE. He does the sadistic chortling for the mean old bulldog who eventually gets his. Blackie the cat is another of those gruff-edged tough guys, supplied by radio character expert Patrick McGeehan.
GARDEN GOPHER
Occasionally Tex did a cartoon that didn't need dialogue, relying instead on striking sound effects. In this one we hear assorted gulps and belches, while the gopher's chatter is a sped and reversed dialogue track. Avery admitted to a real affection for comic sound effects and had a good relationship with Jim Faris of the MGM sound department. Listen for a re-used recording of Sara Berner's laughing effect at one point, as Spike is being tickled.
THE PEACHY COBBLER
The elf shoe manufacturing gags are almost a throwback to mid-30s cartoons, but always with Avery touches throughout, although here they are necessarily gentler. An early theatrical cartoon credit for the famous voice artist Daws Butler (his sixth gig for Tex). He sets it up as an old storyteller and adds the Geppeto-esque shoemaker voice. Avery had first used Daws as the suave city wolf in LITTLE RURAL RIDING HOOD, a cartoon classic which doesn't appear in this set. (Note to each reader: please buy one or two copies of this Blu-ray Tex Avery set so that it sells big-time, and WB will have to produce more in this series!! We need a Tex sign at this point, with the words, "Pretty blatant plug, huh?")
SYMPHONY IN SLANG
In this famous Avery cartoon the wordplay is everything. And here Tex, the long-time radio comedy fan, once again went after a big-time supporting air-comedian, John Brown. Born in England, raised in Australia, but indubitably a product of Manhattan, Brown was a seasoned radio stooge for huge stars like Jack Benny & Fred Allen. Avery used him here doing his Thorny voice, the neighbour pal of Ozzie in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. He also does St. Peter the heavenly gatekeeper and Noah Webster, a voice which resembles Brown's sepulchral Digger O'Dell, the "friendly undertaker" from The Life of Riley.
SCREWBALL SQUIRREL
Wally Maher – voice of Screwy Squirrel
Here is a cartoon for the true Avery-holics. Wally Maher was one of the stalwarts of Hollywood radio, a fine and mostly anonymous artist who played a million hoods and cops equally well in comedies or dramas. One of his strangest creations was this bratty voice with the adenoidal sniff, which actor Tommy Riggs decided to use as the slightly unhinged boyfriend Wilbur on his Tommy Riggs & Betty Lou Show. It is a perfect fit for this anti-cute cartoon star, a voice that Avery admitted came first before he even had a character ready. He just wanted to use the voice after it got such huge laughs on radio. I believe it's Maher also doing the falsetto cutesy Sammy Squirrel.
The identity of the voice for poor maligned mutt Meathead is not confirmed although I have suspected for years it is gag man Cal Howard, Tex's old crony from his early days with Walter Lantz. Cal Howard was at MGM at the time, at first under Fred Quimby's employ as a story man, then with big-time producer Arthur Freed as apprentice to comedy writer Wilkie Mahoney. Howard had earlier done a few odd voices for Schlesinger and Fleischer. Normally I wouldn't name an unconfirmed voice, but recently one of the best of the new generation of cartoon historians, Devon Baxter, made the same connection. Why? Because we had both heard the revival of this Meathead voice a few years later at Screen Gems in the 1945-46 era when Howard was their main gag man, and who Bob Clampett confirmed did voices there. Meathead's voice is heard nowhere else in the history of animated cartoons but these two venues, and in the first Screwy cartoons, the canine's voice is instantly the funniest of all the many brain-dead dumb dogs of cartoon-dom. [Interestingly, Tex tired of the Screwy character rather quickly and seemed a little embarrassed about him in his later years.]
THE SCREWY TRUANT
Wally Maher is back as Screwy and as annoyingly obnoxious as before. This time though Meathead is spoken by Pinto Colvig, who was freelancing as a gagman, song writer and voice at Metro and Disney. Pat McGeehan is the gruff wolf.
BIG HEEL-WATHA
For this entry Avery was able to employ four of the West Coast's top radio talents. They were Wally Maher as Screwy, Frank Graham doubling as the narrator and Chief Rain-in-Face, Sara Berner as Minnie-Hot-cha who finally speaks like Mae West, and Bill Thompson as Heel-watha doing his patented Wallace Wimple voice from radio's Fibber McGee and Molly. This was Thompson's last cartoon recording for a while as he was due to serve in World War II in the U.S. Navy. While he was away, it is generally thought that Avery filled in for him as the Droopy voice in a few other cartoons. Tex's writer Heck Allen hinted as much in a couple of interviews.
LONESOME LENNY
This frantic cartoon marked Wally Maher's final appearance as Screwy Squirrel (he doubles as the pet store owner). Sara Berner plays the snooty customer, in an imitation of one of those screwball comedy heiresses like Mary Boland. But the real star of this cartoon is Tex himself reprising his fine Lon Chaney, Jr. voice imitation from the movie Of Mice and Men. That film and especially Chaney's performance had inspired Tex mightily back in 1939 to create Willoughby the dog (and to supply his voice) in the Warner cartoons THE CRACKPOT QUAIL and OF FOX AND HOUNDS.
HOUND HUNTERS
Tex again offers a dumb voice variation of his Willoughby/Lenny voice for Junior, the larger member of the George & Junior partnership. Actor-mimic Dick Nelson, who worked mainly in cartoons for Walter Lantz, spoke for the smaller George. The voice he used was a Flatbush dialect, an impression of the character Archie the manager from radio's long-running comedy hit Duffy's Tavern, which Nelson had already parodied a year before in Warner's HUSH MY MOUSE.
RED HOT RANGERS
Nelson and Tex team again to voice this amusing duo, battling the animated flame to end all animated flames.
DUMB-HOUNDED
Here is the first appearance of the deceptively mush-mouthed basset hound Droopy, although he wasn't officially named as Droopy until 1949's SENOR DROOPY (slated – we fervently hope – for a future collection?). This mild dog was arguably Tex's most famous MGM cartoon star, although fans of the Wolf, Red and Screwy may agree to disagree. Avery told his biographer Joe Adamson that it was inspired by Bill Thompson's henpecked Wallace Wimple voice from the Fibber McGee and Molly program, but Thompson had to vary the voice a bit for Droopy. The dog sounds slower and sadder (his Heel-watha voice is more like the radio Wimple). Frank Graham is heard as the Mayor at the end and of course reprises his marvellous Wolf voice yet again, this time in a non-lecherous, more criminal guise.
Pat McGeehan (left) with Red Skelton
WAGS TO RICHES
Bill Thompson was back from his war service but was unable to record the Droopy voice for this cartoon due to a scheduling conflict. Tex asked Daws Butler if he could do it, and Daws in turn recommended a ventriloquist-cum-actor he had met at a radio school in 1947. His name was Don Messick and as we all know, he and Daws went on to cartoon immortality some eight years later when Hanna & Barbera truly kickstarted the whole TV cartoon business with RUFF & REDDY.
The sonorous opening voice of the lawyer is Pat McGeehan, a fine radio talent who was the multi-voice male stock company for Red Skelton's long running radio show, and who also worked as a straight announcer and stentorian narrator. Here McGeehan doubles as the Irish dog catcher. Tex does Spike's barks and chesty laughs, which Messick lifted years later for Hanna-Barbera's chuckling dogs like Muttley. And when Spike falls from an open window, the terrified scream is reused from one heard in many Tom & Jerry cartoons and which was done by the one and only Bill Hanna himself.
Don Messick (fill-in Droopy)
THE CHUMP CHAMP
Messick subs as Droopy again, filling in for Thompson (whose voice is heard in an old "Hello" which Avery cut in). Daws Butler is virtually every other voice: Announcer, Spike, the phony Fortune Teller and even the Queen of Sports, but Frank Graham is also heard saying, "And now the final event…" [This was an extra line recorded at a different session.]
DAREDEVIL DROOPY
The final cartoon in this collection has fizzy-voiced Bill Thompson back in the role he created and was born for. Tex does Spike's woofs and "Tim – BER" again, and the cartoon also features an actor as the Circus Man. Could this be Shep Menken, whom Avery said he used in cartoons? (It sounds a bit like Freberg, but Tex swore he didn't recall using him even though Freberg had been in on auditions.)
Avery's deep catalog is only just beginning to be mined in this Blu-ray release so we must all cross our fingers and hope the series continues. Avery was one of the single most important contributors to the theatrical cartoon. He certainly has his detractors, those who find his work simply too wild and zany, but they are outvoted by the millions who love Avery's daring and ground-breaking comedy and who just can't get enough.
Sources: CBS & NBC Program Information; the great Ned Comstock at USC who sourced some fine MGM music department records for me; Margaret Herrick AMPAS Library; Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters Radio Life collection; Thousand Oaks Library radio script archives; Joe Adamson's seminal book Tex Avery King of Cartoons, the fine Moondance TCM documentary (1988); correspondence with Jerry Brewer, Robert Bruce, Daws Butler, Don Messick, Chuck Jones, June Foray, Paul Frees; Card file indices at the Billy Rose Theatre Collection (Lincoln Center); information via Michael Barrier, Milton Gray, the late Hames Ware, Graham Webb, Devon Baxter. And my radio show collector network, especially Ken Greenwald, Ron Barnett, Skip Craig and Don Aston.
Thanks always to the inestimable Jerry Beck for this fine forum.
© Copyright KEITH SCOTT: Feb 1, 2020
MGM CartoonsTex Avery
Eric Costello
February 10, 2020 5:39:53 am
Superb, well laid-out post.
Fantastic article, and yes, I await my copy of the first volume of TEX AVERY'S SCREWBALL CLASSICS, VOL. 1 and *WILL* see it through to the delicious end!
MGM was not the first place that Tex thought to use other voices sometimes remaining a mystery. At Warner Brothers, he proved that Mel Blanc, although credited as such, was *NOT* the only voice over talent on the various soundtracks. In fact, I wondered if the voice of Egghead in cartoons like "CINDERELLA MEETS FELLA" and "BELIEVE IT OR ELSE"followed Tex to MGM. Tex knew just what voices worked to even enhance the character or the comedy; note the yodeling of Egghead in "A FUED THERE WAS" or, reverting back to MGM, a bit of music that still remains a mystery, the singing "red" character in "WILD AND WOLFY", seemingly taken from an old country western record…or was it recorded specially for this short? I wonder if the recording still exists somewhere in those dusty vaults at Warner Brothers or what is left of MGM. This cartoon will no doubt appear on a second volume of SCREWBALL CLASSICS as it is perhaps Tex's favorite and best sendup of the western gunslinger pictures.
And, of course, a principal player in these Avery cartoons, like all MGM cartoons, are the lush scores by Scott Bradley. He musts have stressed a bit as to how to keep up with Tex Avery's speedy gags. "LONESOME LENNY" is perhaps the best example on this first volume of how he kept up well with Avery's timing. Another will be "ONE HAM'S FAMILY", a cartoon that I remember oddly enough only being shown once or twice on TV when I was a kid in front of that black and white TV watching what I realized were black and white prints being run even into the age of color TV sets on our ABC affiliate.
One could say that Bradley and Avery balanced each other out in the SCREWY SQUIRREL gruesome finale, but "ONE HAM'S FAMILY" is a great cartoon for startling gags, with the Mean Wittwe Kid caricature inspired by the character from Red Skelton radio days "heckling you people out there" by scraping a piece of chalk across the blackboard and winking "Oh I sure is a mean wittwe kid, ain't I?" I cracked up when I was reminded of this at a Tex Avery animation festival in the 1980's and it was one of the MGM classics shown by Leonard Maltin at his famed New School animation history nights.
Bradley hardly misses a beat here as the cartoon opens with narration by Kent Rogers (please feel free to correct me, should I be mistaken) setting up the story. This cartoon surely must have inspired similar parodies later to come from Warner Brothers, and Tex himself tried to do this at Warner Brothers with varying results, but the frenetic pace of this cartoon amps up the possibilities when it comes to both scoring and sound effects.
February 10, 2020 9:51:43 pm
Hi Kevin– Thanks forthe nice words.
You're right, it is Kent Rogers in ONE HAM'S FAMILY narrating the opening, as well as doing the Mean Widdle Kid and the Gildersleeve wolf. And in WILD AND WOOLFY it is Ann Pickard singing especially for the cartoon. As for Tex taking voices with him from WB to MGM, they would be Kent, Billy Bletcher, Sara Berner and Elvia Allman. Egghead was mostly Dave Weber doing the Joe Penner version of Egghead, but he was drafted and didn't work for Tex at Metro.
Excellent article, Keith. I swore I read somewhere Tex did Santa in "Who Killed Who?" but I'll defer to your judgment.
Thanks, Thad. No, I am now so familiar with Rogers's voice that I can tell. But it sounds like him imitating Tex's direction. Also sounds like one of his voices in Lantz's THE HAMS THAT COULDN'T BE CURED from memory, but softer.
Christopher Mulwee
I heard that did voiced Santa in Walter Lantz's 1935 TOYLAND PREMIERE. Is this correct?
Because to me, it sounds like Billy Bletcher.
So it IS Tex who voices Lonesome Lenny, some sources said it was him, but others suggested that it was Dick Nelson who was also capable of that type of voice.
And while Connie Russell was the singing voice of Red in RED HOT RIDING HOOD, she was later replaced by Imogene Lynn for singing voice in SWING SHIFT CINDERELLA and LITTLE RURAL RIDING HOOD. In the latter, the speaking voice is done by Colleen Collins – who later was one of two women who voiced JOT THE DOT.
Thanks. It's definitley Tex, who told his own biographer Joe Adamson he was Lenny and Junior. I don't think Connie Russell was replaced by Imogene Lynn, so much as the music contractor at MGM recommending Ms Lynn when the recording was needed. (I have seen one record showing a few other singers were auditioned). In LITTLE RURAL Tex just re-used Ms Lynn's track from SWING SHIFT CINDERELLA. (Colleen Collins was imitating Judy Canova from her hayseed radio character.)
February 14, 2020 12:10:55 am
No it wasn't Billy Bletcher as Santa in TOYLAND PREMIERE, nor was it Tex. It was a bass baritone singer names Allan Watson.
Duck Dodgers
Such a magnificent post, thanks a lot!
Anthony D.
"Avery's deep catalog is only just beginning to be mined in this Blu-ray release so we must all cross our fingers and hope the series continues."
Oh I don't think you'll have to worry about that. 😉
See for yourself, the Blu-ray has already proven to be a big seller. 🙂
Anyway, wonderful, WONDERFUL info Keith! Very useful. 🙂
Paul Groh
A-very good post! Get it? A-very? Avery? Oh, never mind. But if I could construct a replica of the wolf's hand-cranked applause machine, I would be spinning its handle wildly in appreciation.
When I was twelve I discovered that my transistor radio could pick up the audio signal from a couple of TV stations. Thus I didn't have to miss out on my Saturday morning cartoons while on camping trips. Best of all was listening to those cartoons without dialogue (Roadrunner, Pink Panther), and letting the music and sound effects alone tell the story and stimulate the imagination. It would be worthwhile to examine Tex Avery's cartoons in this way, for the reasons you've cited above. But to turn my eyes away from Red while watching "Red Hot Riding Hood" — no. This I cannot do. It's not possible. HAROOOOOO!!!!!!!
FRANK M YOUNG III
February 10, 2020 12:18:07 pm
I've always thought Bill Scott did the hayseed chicken of THE HICK CHICK. Nothing to go on but a noticeable similarity to Scott's voice for Bullwinkle. I think of Scott whenever I watch this curious cartoon.
Hi Frank…yes, I hear the similarity you can detect, but it's another. And Bill Scott himself told me his first cartoon job as a voice and not a writer was a Pete Hothead entry at UPA. (When Tex did this cartoon Scott wasn't a performer but a full-time assistant cartoonist based at FMPU, then to Warner Bros. as a staff story man). THE HICK CHICK probably seems curious to most viewers today, unless you've listened to a lot of Skelton's 1940s radio shows, as there are references to characters and catchphrases.
Great article, Keith! Do you think that Fred MacAlpin was the SFX guy who came up with the idea to use a bullet ricochet sound for a fast character exit, or a fast run past the camera in MGM cartoons? This effect was first used in early Tom and Jerry cartoons, such as "The Bodyguard", and used a lot by Tex for all kinds of fast zips and "takes". I was thinking that if MacAlpin suggested a .22 caliber shot gun for a ball and bat sound effect in "Batty Baseball", that maybe he would have been the one to introduce other gun sounds like a bullet ricochet in to the cartoon effects canon. Bill and Joe of course carried a lot of the MGM effects with them to H-B Enterprises when they went in to business for themselves. Sound effects libraries often ID the bullet sounds as "H-B Ricos".
Thanks for the nice comment, Mark. I once read an interview with MacAlpin and he spoke of being responsible for many zany MGM effects for the several years he was there (1934-49). He and his two assistants did all Tex's 1940s cartoons, as well as Bill & Joe's.
Hans Christian Brando
Considering the highly anticipated release of the long-overdue DVD, the phrase might be tweaked a bit to "Hello, all you happy Tex payers." A welcome reminder that once upon a time animation was Tex Avery and not the tech slavery it is today.
What a wonderful post. Now if we could get Keith to write a post like this for every cartoon short ever made…what a history we would have. Bless you Keith Scott for giving these players their due!
Ken Layton
Thanks for posting. It's nice to finally see pix of the voice actors, especially Frank Graham. Did you know Graham provided the "voice" of The Crimson Ghost" in the Republic Pictures serial trailer? In the actual serial itself actor Stan Jolley was the voice.
Thanks for that info, Ken.
I had no idea that John Brown grew up in Australia! His scenes as the friendly undertaker Digby O'Dell in the radio comedy "The Life of Riley" were my favourite part of the show. (Riley: "You've been in this business a long time, Digger. I'll bet if all your customers were laid out end to end —" Digger: "They are!") Brown also played Riley's neighbour and fellow Brooklynite Gillis.
Do you know of any other work he did in animation?
Well, cheerio! I'd better be "shoveling off"!
Paul, he spent some time in Melbourne before his family moved to New York City. Brown was in a Disney Goofy short (A KNIGHT FOR A DAY), and he narrated UPA's THE UNCORN IN THE GARDEN. Worked again for Tex in DIXIELAND DROOPY.
Valentin M.
Great article, Keith! I commend you fo your dedication in researching little documented actors of animation!
I strongly believe Tex Avery was doing voice work as early as the Universal years, on top of animating, sketching gags and ghost directing, sadly I have no concrete proof of it. 1934's "Ye Happy Pilgrims" lets us hear a scream that in my ears sounded too much like Tex's voice to not make any connection when Oswald's friend notices he's been pacing up a couple trees, but of course I'll be happy to defer to your judgement. Here's the incriminating evidence https://youtu.be/F9I_L55S3go?t=254
Yes, I also hear Avery in various early Lantz cartoons. And Tex himself owned up to it in a 1933 article (he said he was one of the voices for Oswald). Thanks for the note.
Charles Ilardi
Where were you in 1982 when I ran my Tex Avery program in college?!? Other than Tex's contributions, I had no voice info whatsoever! But seriously, I have been waiting almost 40 years for this article. Can't wait until King Size Canary comes out: I just love to know who did the "Ohh, I've been sick!" line.l Thank you
That same line was also used in "Slap Happy Lion" (both 1947). Joking about children deformed by polio — yep, Tex went there.
Charles, it was Sara Berner who recorded the "Well….I've been sick" line for a small crocodile in SLAP HAPPY LION. Tex had the sound department lift the recording and reuse it in his next cartoon, KING SIZE CANARY.
Was the Durante buzzard in "What's Buzzin' Buzzard" voiced by Harry E. Lang? Because when I was watching "The Cat that Hated People," which also featured a Durante soundalike cat that was also voiced by Lang, it drew to my conclusion that Lang did the voice for the buzzard since it sounded close to that.
I disagree it's Harry Lang, sorry. That guess I think came from Graham Webb's incorrect information in his McFarland Encyclopedia (2000) ad possibly repeated on IMDb (I haven't checked because it's cartoon voice attributions are so often wrong). I am very familiar with Lang's voice and I believe the Durante imitation to be another actor that I am not naming until I'm more sure. It is the same actor, however, from THE CAT THAT HATED PEOPLE, you had that right!
Steven Hartley
Exquisite and very enlightening piece, Keith! Being an auteur, Avery's comedic timing and visual shtick has been lauded a hundredfold by fans and scholars alike (and rightly so). But reading your analysis for the vocal performances and sound featured in Tex's MGM cartoons was a real breath of fresh air and further testament to Avery's creative genius!
ABOUT KEITH SCOTT
Keith Scott is a voice actor, impressionist and animation historian. Scott provided the voice for Bullwinkle J. Moose in the 2000 motion picture The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (for which he had been specially flown to the United States several times) and did the voice of the narrator in George of the Jungle and George of the Jungle 2. An expert on the history of Jay Ward Productions, Keith authored the book The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose (St. Martin's Press, 2000).
More from Keith Scott
More Cartoon Research


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The Alienware Graphics Amplifier: Finally, desktop quality graphics on your laptop
By Sebastian Anthony on October 28, 2014 at 9:20 am
The Alienware 13 laptop — announced this morning — will go down in history as the first ever laptop allowed into the vaulted, blustery, and mythical halls of True PC Gaming. While the laptop itself is just an upgraded version of the Alienware 14, it has a new peripheral that will blow your mind: the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, an external enclosure that allows you to attach a full-length desktop graphics card — such as the Nvidia GTX 980 or Radeon HD R9 295X2 — to your laptop. The price of desktop-like performance on your laptop, though, is steep: The Amplifier itself, without a graphics card, is $300 — and, sadly, it (currently) only works with the Alienware 13 laptop.
As you probably know, if you want real performance — for gaming, video editing, 3D rendering, compiling — you need to use a desktop PC. Laptops are certainly okay for most tasks, but in some scenarios they just can't keep up with desktops. There are myriad reasons for why this is the case, but primarily it all comes down to heat: The more computing power you use, the more heat your computer produces — and laptops, despite heroic measures in heatsink and fan design, just can't dissipate enough heat.
One solution, of course, is to increase the total volume of the laptop, so that you can incorporate larger fans and heatsinks, or perhaps even water cooling. The laws of physics won't be so easily tricked, though: To get desktop-class performance from your laptop, you need to make it as big as a desktop — and unless you're built like a brick outhouse or have access to some kind of powered exoskeleton, that's probably not a good idea. Thus, a more workable solution is to increase the size/volume of the laptop with a peripheral — a peripheral that can be plugged in when you need more thermal headroom (and thus more processing power), and disconnected when you actually need a laptop-sized laptop.
Alienware Graphics Amplifier, with the case removed
The proprietary connector for the Alienware Graphics Amplifier
Enter the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, which is essentially just an external enclosure with a 460-watt PSU and full-length dual-width PCI Express x16 graphics card slot. The Amplifier will take any standard Nvidia or AMD graphics card up to 375W TDP. The PSU has all the necessary 6- and 8-pin power connectors for beefier GPUs. The black box, which is about 7 inches (18 cm) square and 16 inches (40 cm) long, connects to an Alienware laptop via a proprietary cable (which we believe is a combination of PCIe and USB). Currently, the Alienware 13 is the only laptop that can connect to the Amplifier, but presumably future revisions of the larger Alienware 14, 17, and 18 laptops will also have an Amplifier port.
Read: Nvidia launches GTX 980M, almost closing the laptop-desktop performance gap
When the Amplifier is plugged in, it bypasses the Alienware 13's on-board GPU (the GTX 860M) completely. Unplugging the Amplifier and rebooting the laptop reverts back to the on-board GPU. Our sister site PC Mag has a few more details of the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, but it seems no one has had proper hands-on time to review the device yet. Alienware's own figures (below) paint a very rosy picture — and to be honest, we have no reason to doubt the figures. With the exception of CPU-limited games (which are rare), the Amplifier really should give you desktop-like performance.
Alienware Graphics Amplifier performance (Alienware figures)
External graphics for laptops isn't an entirely new thing, incidentally. If you reach way back in time, there were actually ExpressCard (PC Card/PCMCIA) graphics card enclosures — and then, of course, with Apple/Intel Thunderbolt there were a smattering of enclosures as well (including a delightful DIY solution for the MacBook Air). As far as we're aware, though, this is the first time that an OEM has attempted to bring external laptop graphics to the masses. The $300 price tag on the Graphics Amplifier might seem extortionate — especially as you have to spend another $200+ to get a decent graphics card — but it's a lot cheaper than the commercial/enterprise Thunderbolt enclosures currently on the market.
The question now, of course, is whether Alienware (Dell) will open up the Graphics Amplifier to other laptop makers. The connector is apparently some combination of USB and PCIe — which, as long as Dell has stuck to the standards, should be easy enough for other companies to implement. Having an Amplifier at home that you can plug your Alienware laptop into would be nice — but it would be even nicer if your school or office had a bunch of Amplifiers that worked with any laptop (or desktop!) that you could borrow when you need a bit of extra GPU juice.
Personally, I'm thinking an Alienware 13 plus Graphics Amplifier would be almost perfect for LAN parties… Hmm…
Now read: Shopping for PCs is a wretched, broken experience – and budget ultrabooks haven't helped
Featured image credit: Gizmodo Australia
external graphics
alienware graphics amplifier

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Brad Stevens Has Yo-Yo Celtics Back On A String But Will It Last?
At 37-21, Celtics head into All-Star break with momentum after two bad losses. Can they prove to be real contenders over the final 24 games?
BOSTON — Ball don't lie.
The great basketball historian and philosopher Rasheed Wallace coined that expression to underscore that there are indeed basketball forces that will ultimately reward the deserving and penalize those who cheat the game.
That's a theme that's been going around the Celtics for the last week. Actually, it's been a huge subplot to the story of the 2018-19 hyped-up Celtics.
"We realize that we've played pretty well in the last month and a half, although there have been multiple days where it sure hasn't felt like it," Brad Stevens said before his team went out and took care of the Detroit Pistons, 118-110 to head to the All-Star break at 37-21. "We played well (Tuesday) in response to two (games) we really don't feel good about. We want to feel good about ourselves heading in (to All-Star break). It doesn't mean you're going to win the game but you've got to play with great effort and you've got to play together.
There is so much to take from what the Celtics coach said the day after the Celtics beat Philadelphia in a game that tested much more than Boston's depth without Kyrie Irving. The Celtics need to prove to themselves they're capable of playing the game "the right way" for the final 24 games before the playoffs. If the Celtics are going to be the team that Sixers coach Brett Brown insisted after Tuesday's game might "still be the team to beat" in the East, then they have to prove to themselves they're worthy of that distinction.
The power of Stevens is that he doesn't panic in moments like last weekend when the team looks like its ready to spiral out of control. He has handled the countless Kyrie Irving dramas flawlessly, giving them their due but not playing them up to be a distraction. And now, that he has the team's full confidence, he can convince them of what is possible if the consistency is there for the rest of the season.
Sure, it's easy to daydream about playoff series against Philly, Milwaukee or Toronto. But before the Celtics can entertain thoughts of slaying their fellow beasts in the East, they have to all be on the same page, sustaining a style that carried them in Philadelphia Tuesday and was on display in an uncharacteristically dominant third quarter Wednesday. The Celtics started slow this season at 10-10 after a loss in Dallas on Nov. 24. The Celtics then went 25-9, posting the most wins in the NBA over that 34-game stretch. They were shooting up the Eastern standings before the 2-game LA meltdown.
Ever since Danny Ainge peeked into the press room following a stunning a 129-128 loss to the Lakers on Feb. 7 at TD Garden and uttered the words "you mess with the game…" after watching his team blow a six-point lead to LeBron and Co. in the final 90 seconds.
Stevens has been on that same train of thought.
But then came the next game 48 hours later. A 28-point lead turned into a 11-point loss to Doc Rivers and the rebuilding Clippers, as the Celtics were booed off their home court by disgusted fans. Marcus Morris tore the team a new one after the game, saying the team wasn't having fun and intimated the team wasn't playing the right way. Making matters worse, Kyrie Irving sprained his right knee in the ugly loss and would be out for the final two games before the All-Star break.
With the odds greatly against them, the Celtics went into the belly of the beast in Philadelphia and found a way to come together in Morris' hometown and come away with a 112-109 win over Joel Embiid and the red-hot Sixers.
The win showed everything the Celtics could be – mentally tough, disciplined and deep enough to compete with the elite teams in the East, even without their best player on a given night.
And that's the most important thing for this Celtics team to keep in mind for the final 24-game playoff tuneup.
"That's why (Tuesday's) result was a lot less important than the way that we played," Stevens said in confirming that assessment.
Make no mistake, another spring without Kyrie Irving means no NBA Finals. Last year, the Celtics caught lightning in a bottle with Terry Rozier playing phenomenal basketball in series wins over the Bucks and Sixers. But the magic finally ran out in Game 7 against Cleveland. The thought that the Celtics are somehow more cohesive and "a better team without Kyrie" is utter nonsense, something Brad Stevens again confirmed after Wednesday's win over the Pistons.
Horford has been a lightning rod for the Celtics when things haven't gone well in his time here. If the Celtics don't show spark or intensity, Horford for some reason, bears the brunt of the angry masses bleeding green.
But it's been Horford who's been an absolute beast when the Celtics are at their toughest. He has single-handedly contained this season's most dominant big man in Joel Embiid. He had an epic game in Philly (23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals) followed up by a monster double-double (17 points, 14 rebounds) against Andre Drummond on Wednesday. There shouldn't be the need to remind everyone of Boston's best player in the last two postseasons and what a healthy Horford means but lest you forget, take a look at his box scores against Washington and Atlanta in 2017 and Milwaukee and Philadelphia last year.
The other player that often gets lost in all the Kyrie buzz is Marcus Smart. He remains the heart and soul of this Celtics team. I mean how many players can miss 19 consecutive threes over three games and still come out determined to knock them down from deep. He did Wednesday (draining four straight at one point) and, like the Celtics, carried that momentum with him into the break.
Should Kyrie Irving Play or Rest on All-Star Sunday?
"You know, there was – there was a – a reason to be down on Sunday, there was a reason to be licking your wounds a little bit," Stevens said after Wednesday's win. "And then Monday's practice was good; you felt like we were headed in the right direction. I thought we'd play well yesterday. But that doesn't mean you're going to win. And to come out with that one, and back it up with another physical team that had been playing really well, that was fully healthy, I thought this was a real – this was a good two days for this group.
The Celtics are an upper-level Eastern Conference playoff contender. To become more than that – much more – they will need to show they're ready to buy in to what Stevens is selling for the rest of the season.
SHOULD KYRIE REST OR PLAY IN THE NBA ALL-STAR GAME?


Established to service the UK market, Stellar Technik has now grown to become one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of machine knives worldwide. The industry demands competitive prices, the highest quality and delivery on time. Stellar Technik takes pride in fulfilling these demands.
We specialise in precision machine knives for the food and pharmaceutical industries, extruders and special applications for cheese production and packaging, and a number of other high precision tools for specialist applications.
Our Crewkerne facility has a range of modern CNC lathes with multi axis capability, CNC milling with multi axis, a top quality grinding section plus 13 Wire EDM machines and 7 Die Sink EDM machines coupled with a highly skilled workforce to ensure efficient production of both one-off and large production runs. The ISO 9001 British standard accreditation ensures customer confidence in quality control and administration however large the project, through the design stage and onto final manufacture and delivery.


Mishchenko, M.I., and L.D. Travis, 1994: Light scattering by polydispersion of randomly oriented spheroids with sizes comparable to wavelengths of observation. Appl. Opt. , 33, 7206-7225, doi:10.1364/AO.33.007206.
We report the results of an extensive study of the scattering of light by size and size-shape distributions of reandomly oriented prolate and oblate spheroids with the index of refraction 1.5+0.02i typical of some mineral terrestrial aerosols. The scattering calculations have been carried out with Waterman's T-matrix approach, as developed recently by Mishchenko [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 8, 871 (1991); Appl. Opt. 32, 4562 (1993)]. Our main interest is in light scattering by polydisperse models of nonspherical particles because averaging over sizes provides more realistic modeling of natural ensembles of scattering particles and washes out the interference structure and ripple typical of monodisperse scattering patterns, thus enabling us to derive meaningful conclusions about the effects of particle nonsphericity on light scattering. Following Hansen and Travis [Space Sci. Rev. 16, 527 (1974)], we show that scattering properties of most physically plausible size distributions of randomly oriented nonspherical particles depend primarily on the effective equivalent-sphere radius and effective variance of the distribution, the actual shape of the distribution having a minor influence. To minimize the computational burden, we have adopted a computationally convenient power law distribution of particle equivalent-sphere radii n(r) $propto$ 1/r3, r1 ≤ r ≤ r2. The effective variance of the size distribution is fixed at 0.1, and the effective size parameter continuously varies from 0 to 15. We present results of computer calculations for 24 prolate and oblate spheroidal shapes with aspect ratios from 1.1 to 2.2. The elements of the scattering matrix for the whole range of size parameters and scattering angles are displayed in the form of contour plots. Computational results are compared with analogous calculations for surface-equivalent spheres and the effects of particle shape on light scattering are discussed in detail.


Aqua Angel has recently expanded it's business operations into Zimbabwe.
We are always on the lookout for opportunities to improve water conditions in Zimbabwe.
In the meantime please browse through our gallery below, showcasing some of Aqua Angel's work in Zimbabwe.


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You are here: Home / Business Now / Pathfinder Foundation convenes regional conference on Bay of Bengal and Trincomalee
Pathfinder Foundation convenes regional conference on Bay of Bengal and Trincomalee
February 15, 2017 By Abdul Nazeer Leave a Comment
Pathfinder Foundation convened 'Trincomalee Consultations', a two-day conference participated by countries in the Bay of Bengal, which are dependent on the bay for their trade and other interactions. The conference is attended by India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Japan and Norway are also taking part in the deliberations will be held in Cinnamon Grand, Colombo on 16 and 17 February.
The conference, co-hosted by Carnegie India, will be declared open by Austin Fernando, Governor of the Eastern Province. The event was attended by Santosh Jha, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, India and Noriyuki Shikata, Deputy Director-General of Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan. Among those present will be Milinda Moragoda, Founder of the Pathfinder Foundation (PF), and Luxman Siriwardena, Executive Director of PF. The regional event 'Colombo Consultations' was organised by Admiral Dr. Jayanath Colombage, Director, Centre for Indo-Lanka Relations of the PF.
Following the opening session Chaired by Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman of PF, papers will be presented on the three themes of the conference by Dr. C. Raja Mohan Director Carnegie India, Abu Saeed Khan (Bangladesh); Dr. Satoru Nagao (Japan); Admiral Dr. Jayanath Colombage, Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, and Rohan Masakorala (Sri Lanka), and Secretary General of BMISTEC, Ambassador Sumith Nakandala.
The Bay of Bengal is the largest bay in the world and it covers an area of 2,172, 000 sq. km. The bay boasts of a population of about 1.8 billion or nearly 25% of the world population. Many large rivers and tributaries flow in to the Bay depositing sediments, which contain commercially exploitable minerals as well as hydrocarbons.
There are a number of large and small ports that serve the bay. Among the large ports are Chennai, Kolkata, Tuticorin, Vishakhapatnam in India; Chittagong and Mongla in Bangladesh; Yangon, Sitwe, Kyaukpyu in Myanmar; and Trincomalee and Hambantota in Sri Lanka. These ports provide an ideal platform for trade among the countries in the bay as well as trans-shipment facilities to serve major markets beyond the region.
Port of Trincomalee is the biggest natural deep water harbour in the Bay of Bengal and is one of the finest harbours in the world with an average depth of 25 m, which could accommodate even mega container ships carrying over 18,000 TEUs that requires a draught of 19 metres. Trincomalee harbour provided shelter to the British Eastern Fleet, during the 2nd World War. However, following independence in 1948, Sri Lanka took over the control of the Trincomalee harbour in 1957. Since then, for the past 60 years, one of the largest natural harbours in the world has been in a deep slumber, without making use of its real potential.
The Government has unveiled a plan to develop various parts of the island including Trincomalee. Recognising that poor infrastructure acts as a drag on development plans, the Government has launched an ambitious program of physical infrastructure development to overhaul the sea, air, road connectivity, the energy sector and telecommunications, to form the backbone of Sri Lanka's economy.
In addition to the development projects involving Colombo and Hambantota harbours, government has also taken measures to develop Trincomalee to realise the full potential of the Trincomalee harbour and its surrounding areas. Prime Minister outlining the Government's development plans announced in July 2016 that the Government had engaged the services of a Singapore government-owned consultancy company focusing on infrastructure and urban development, to prepare a master plan for development of Trincomalee, based on shipping, manufacturing and tourism. With the unveiling of the master plan this year, countries in the region as well as others will have an opportunity to become investment partners of the Trincomalee development project and reap benefits of their investments.
The Pathfinder Foundation in cooperation with Carnegie India and with support of Japan and Norway, has launched the 'Trincomalee Consultations' to focus on three broad areas. (i) Geo-strategic significance and regional maritime security demands in the Bay of Bengal, (ii) Transportation and economic connectivity in the Bay of Bengal: Way ahead for enhanced cooperation, and (iii) Strategic importance and potential for development of Trincomalee Harbour as a hub for Bay of Bengal region.
The conference is a Track 1.5 exercise, attended by high level government and non-governmental representatives from Bangladesh, India, Japan, Maldives Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Among the institutions that would attend the event are BIMSTEC, ADB, JICA, Carnegie India, Vivekananda International Foundation and the Tokyo Foundation? The two-day conference, launched with opening statements by Governor of the Eastern Province Austin Fernando, Joint Secretary (Policy Planning) of the Ministry of External Affairs of India Santhosh Jha and Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Noriyuki Shikata, is expected make proposals for closer cooperation among the Bay of Bengal community by focusing on strategic importance of the bay, making proposals for connectivity and developing Trincomalee Harbour as a hub for the Bay of Bengal region.
By launching this initiative, the Pathfinder Foundation seeks to contribute to the government strategy for developing Trincomalee as a regional commercial and shipping hub to serve the Bay of Bengal region. This in turn will result in economic growth and prosperity of the Eastern Province, utilising the human and other resources in that province as well as the adjacent provinces.
Filed Under: Business Now


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Legal Information Column, Private, Student Living
A Little Look at Small Claims Court
Written by Legal Information Clinic at McGill on February 7, 2017
More in Legal Information Column:
How to stay out of trouble while drinking: A rundown of the rules September 12, 2017
University vs. Freedom of Speech: The case of Pridgen v University of Calgary March 14, 2017
Wrapping up the year: Gifts and the law December 1, 2016
As Elle Woods once quipped, exercise gives you endorphins, and endorphins make you happy. However, it's doubtful that anyone is happy if their exercise involves running to court to defend themselves against a lawsuit. The Legal Information Clinic at McGill wants to demystify how courts work so students know how to assert their rights—even in front of a judge.
Everyday cases are often taken to the Court of Quebec's Small Claims Division, also known as the Small Claims Court. Only cases where the amount being claimed does not exceed $15,000—excluding interest—can be taken to Small Claims. Also, a Small Claims Court does not deal with certain issues, such as residential leases, child or spousal support payments, or damage to reputation. Common issues that do make it to Small Claims Court include suing to obtain a refund for a service done inadequately or incorrectly or suing to make someone pay for a service rendered.
Unlike other courts, lawyers are /not/ allowed to represent parties at Small Claims Court, though each side can consult a lawyer before the hearing. As a consequence, the parties are on somewhat equal footing, and the lack of lawyer presence speeds the process up.
People in the Courtroom
In the spirit of being a relatively accessible way to seek justice, hearings at Small Claims Courts are less formal than those at other courts in Quebec. Even so, there can be quite a number of people are present in the courtroom. Invariably, there will be a plaintiff—the person suing—and a defendant—the person being sued. A judge—who hears the arguments and decides the order in which people will speak—will also be present, as will a clerk—who ensures that the court records are complete—and a bailiff—who keeps order in the courtroom. Finally, there might be witnesses if either side wishes to bring them to testify, and members of the public who are curious about the case are permitted to attend. Since courts are public, each side can bring friends or family members for moral support during the hearing.
Whereas other courts in the Quebec judicial system typically require people to come prepared to argue the law, Small Claims Court is more permissive of people coming with just the facts of the case, because the judge will try to tease out the legal issues during the hearing. Of course, understanding the law before going to court might help someone decide whether or not they want to just negotiate a settlement with the other side instead of arguing in court.
Language During Court
In Quebec, each side can speak in either French or English during the hearing. However, this often means that one side might speak in French, while the other side speaks in English. Judges can try to switch between French and English to accommodate both sides in such a situation, but parties may consider hiring an interpreter to guarantee that they will understand everything that's being said.
Generally, the plaintiff has to bring enough evidence to convince the judge that their side of the story is true. The judge does not have to be 100 per cent convinced, but they have to be more convinced than not in order for the plaintiff to win. At Small Claims Court, evidence includes documents such as contracts, letters, and photographs, as well as witnesses, who either write a statement for the judge or testify in person.
The Judgment
The judge can decide to issue the judgment immediately after the hearing; however, in some cases, they might want to take more time to think about the case. If the latter occurs, the judge has four months to issue the judgment. In either situation, a copy of the judgment will be issued in writing. Since Small Claims Court is supposed to provide a slightly more informal and faster form of justice, its judgments are final, and, therefore, there is no appeal.
To have an idea of how the judge thinks, past judgments are available through free online databases. One such database is called CanLII. For more more resources in preparation for Small Claims Court, read Justice Québec's factsheet here. Visit Éducaloi for further accessible legal information, or check out the Young Bar of Montreal's free service to help people who have to appear in Small Claims Court prepare for their hearing.
To ask your own question, contact the Legal Information Clinic at McGill with the directions found at www.licm.mcgill.ca. According to the Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, only lawyers and notaries can provide legal advice or counsel. The LICM, therefore, only provides legal information. For legal advice, please contact a lawyer.
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text:
.. -*- coding: utf-8; -*-

.. _troubleshooting:

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting
============================

This section is a step-by-step troubleshooting guide for ChainerMN.
Please follow these steps to identify and fix your problem.

We assume that you are using Linux or another Unix-like environment.

Single-node environment
-----------------------

Basic MPI installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although ChainerMN stands for "Chainer MultiNode," it is good to start
from single-node execution. First of all, you need MPI. If MPI is
correctly installed, you will see the :command:`mpicc` and
:command:`mpiexec` commands in your PATH.

Below is an example of the output from Mvapich on Linux.::

    $ which mpicc
    /usr/local/bin/mpicc

    $ mpicc -show
    gcc -I/usr/local/include ...(snip)... -lmpi

    $ which mpiexec
    /usr/local/bin/mpiexec

    $ mpiexec --version
    HYDRA build details:
    Version:                                 3.1.4
    Release Date:                            Wed Sep  7 14:33:43 EDT 2016
    CC:                              gcc
    CXX:                             g++
    F77:
    F90:
    Configure options:  (snip)
    Process Manager:                         pmi
    Launchers available:                     ssh rsh fork slurm ll lsf sge manual persist
    Topology libraries available:            hwloc
    Resource management kernels available:   user slurm ll lsf sge pbs cobalt
    Checkpointing libraries available:
    Demux engines available:                 poll select

If you see any error in above commands, please go back to the
:ref:`mpi-install` and check your MPI installation.

.. _check-what-mpi:

Check what MPI you are using
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In :ref:`mpi-install`, we mention both of `Open MPI` and
`Mvapich`. If the MPI is provided by the system administrator and
you are not really sure which MPI you are using, check the output of
`mpiexec --version`.

- If the output contains `HYDRA`, then it's MVAPICH (or possibly MPICH).
- If the output contains `OpenRTE`, then it's Open MPI.

However, in such a case, you should make sure that the MPI is
`CUDA-aware`, as mentioned below.  We recommend to build your own MPI.

Check if MPI is CUDA-aware
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your MPI must be configured as *CUDA-aware*. You can use the following
C program to check it.

.. code-block:: c

  /* check_cuda_aware.c */
  #include <assert.h>
  #include <stdio.h>
  #include <mpi.h>
  #include <cuda_runtime.h>

  #define CUDA_CALL(expr) do {                  \
    cudaError_t err;                            \
    err = expr;                                 \
    assert(err == cudaSuccess);                 \
  } while(0)

  int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    int rank, size;

    MPI_Init(&argc, &argv);
    MPI_Comm_rank(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &rank);
    MPI_Comm_size(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &size);

    int *sendbuf_d = NULL;
    int *recvbuf_d = NULL;

    CUDA_CALL(cudaMalloc((void**)&sendbuf_d, sizeof(int)));
    CUDA_CALL(cudaMalloc((void**)&recvbuf_d, sizeof(int)));
    CUDA_CALL(cudaMemcpy(sendbuf_d, &rank, sizeof(int), cudaMemcpyDefault));

    MPI_Reduce(sendbuf_d, recvbuf_d, 1, MPI_INT, MPI_SUM, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);

    if (rank == 0) {
      int sum = -1;
      CUDA_CALL(cudaMemcpy(&sum, recvbuf_d, sizeof(int), cudaMemcpyDefault));
      if (sum == (size-1) * size / 2) {
        printf("OK.\n");
      } else {
        printf("Error.\n");
      }
    }

    cudaFree(sendbuf_d);
    cudaFree(recvbuf_d);

    MPI_Finalize();
  }

Save the code to a file named ``check_cuda_aware.c``. You can compile
and run it with the following command.::

    $ export MPICH_CC=nvcc  # if you use Mvapich
    $ export OMPI_CC=nvcc   # if you use Open MPI
    $ $(mpicc -show check_cuda_aware.c -arch sm_53 | sed -e 's/-Wl,/-Xlinker /g' | sed -e 's/-pthread/-Xcompiler -pthread/')
    $ ./a.out
    OK.

If the proglam prints `OK.`, your MPI is correctly configured.

Check mpi4py
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next, let's check that mpi4py is correctly installed. You can use the following script to check it::

  # coding: utf-8
  import os
  from mpi4py import MPI

  comm = MPI.COMM_WORLD
  size = comm.Get_size()
  rank = comm.Get_rank()

  for i in range(size):
    if i == rank:
      print("{} {}".format(os.uname()[1], i))
    comm.Barrier()

Save the script into a file named :file:`check_mpi4py.py` and run it.
The output from the script should look like this.::

  $ mpiexec -np 4 python check_mpi4py.py
  host00 0
  host00 1
  host00 2
  host00 3

The script prints hostnames and ranks (process id in MPI) from
each MPI process in a sequential manner.
`host00` is the host name of the machine your are running the process.
If you get an output like below, it indicates something is wrong with
your installation.::

  # Wrong output !
  $ mpiexec -n 4 python check_mpi4py.py
  host00 0
  host00 0
  host00 0
  host00 0

A common problem is that the :command:`mpicc` used to build
:mod:`mpi4py` and :command:`mpiexec` used to run the script are from
different MPI installations.

Finally, run :command:`pytest` to check the single-node
configuration is ready.::

  $ git clone git@github.com:chainer/chainer.git
  Cloning into 'chainer'...
  remote: Enumerating objects: 7, done.
  remote: Counting objects: 100% (7/7), done.
  remote: Compressing objects: 100% (7/7), done.
  remote: Total 168242 (delta 1), reused 2 (delta 0), pack-reused 168235
  Receiving objects: 100% (168242/168242), 41.15 MiB | 1.65 MiB/s, done.
  Resolving deltas: 100% (123696/123696), done.
  Checking connectivity... done.
  $ cd chainer/
  $ pytest tests/chainermn_tests/
  ......S.S...S.S...S.S...S.S.........SS
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Ran 38 tests in 63.083s

  OK (SKIP=10)

.. _check-nccl:

Check if NCCL is enabled in CuPy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CuPy requires NCCL to be enabled. You can check it with the following command.::

  $ python -c 'from cupy.cuda import nccl'

If you get an output like below, NCCL is not enabled in CuPy.
Please check the installation guide of CuPy.::

  Traceback (most recent call last):

   File "<string>", line 1, in <module>

  ImportError: cannot import name 'nccl'

Multi-node environment
-----------------------

.. _ssh-and-envvars:

Check SSH connection and environment variables
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To use ChainerMN on multiple hosts, you need to connect to computing hosts,
including the one you are currently logged into, via ssh without
password authentication (and preferably without username).::

  $ ssh host00 'hostname'
  host00   # without hitting the password

  $ ssh host01 'hostname'
  host01   # without hitting the password

  ...

You may get a message like this::

  The authenticity of host 'host01 (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx)' can't be established.
  ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:haGUMcCeC5A8lGh1lpjpwL5dF4xCglZArhhxxxxxxxxx.
  Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

This message appears when you log in a host for the first time. Just
type `yes` and the message won't appear again. You need to repeat this
process on all computing hosts.

Also, you need to pay attention to the environment variables on remote
hosts.  The MPI runtime connects to the remote hosts in *non-interactive*
mode, and environment variables may differ from your interactive login
sessions.::

  $ ssh host00 'env' | grep LD_LIBRARY_PATH
  # Check the values and compare it to the local value.

  $ ssh host01 'env' | grep LD_LIBRARY_PATH
  # Check the values and compare it to the local value.

  ...

In particular, check the following variables, which are critical to
executing MPI programs:

    * :envvar:`PATH`
    * :envvar:`LD_LIBRARY_PATH`
    * :envvar:`MV2_USE_CUDA` (if you use MVAPICH)
    * :envvar:`MV2_SMP_USE_CMA` (if you use MVAPICH)

Besides, you need to make sure the same :command:`mpiexec` binary is
used to run MPI programs.::

  $ ssh host00 'which mpiexec'
  /usr/local/bin/mpiexec

  $ ssh host01 'which mpiexec'
  /usr/local/bin/mpiexec

All the commands should give the same :command:`mpiexec` binary path.

Program files and data
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you run MPI programs, all hosts must have the same Python binary
and script files in the same path. First, check that the python binary and
version are identical among hosts. Be careful if you are using `pyenv`
or `Anaconda`.::

  $ ssh host00 'which python; python --version'
  /home/username/.pyenv/shims/python
  Python 3.6.0 :: Anaconda 4.3.1 (64-bit)

  $ ssh host01 'which python'
  /home/username/.pyenv/shims/python
  Python 3.6.0 :: Anaconda 4.3.1 (64-bit)

  ...

Also, the script file (and possibly data files) must be in the same
path on each host. ::

  $ ls yourscript.py  # in the current directory
  yourscript.py

  $ ssh host00 "ls $PWD/yourscript.py"
  /home/username/your/dir/yourscript.py

  $ ssh host01 "ls $PWD/yourscript.py"
  /home/username/your/dir/yourscript.py

  ...

If you are using NFS, everything should be okay. If not, you need
to transfer all the necessary files manually.

In particular, when you run the ImageNet example in ChainerMN
repository, all data files must be available on all computing hosts.

hostfile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next step is to create a hostfile. A hostfile is a list of hosts on
which MPI processes run.::

  $ vi hostfile
  $ cat hostfile
  host00
  host01
  host02
  host03

Then, you can run your MPI program using the hostfile.  To check if
the MPI processes run over multiple hosts, save the following script
to a file and run it via :command:`mpiexec`::

  # print_rank.py
  import os

  from mpi4py import MPI

  comm = MPI.COMM_WORLD
  size = comm.Get_size()
  rank = comm.Get_rank()

  for i in range(size):
    if i == rank:
      print("{} {}".format(os.uname()[1], i))
    comm.Barrier()

If you get an output like below, it is working correctly.::

  $ mpiexec -n 4 --hostfile hostfile python print_rank.py
  host00 0
  host01 1
  host02 2
  host03 3

If you have multiple GPUs, you may want to run multiple processes on
each host.  You can modify hostfile and specify the number of
processes to run on each host.::

  # If you are using Mvapich:
  $ cat hostfile
  host00:4
  host01:4
  host02:4
  host03:4

  # If you are using Open MPI
  $ cat hostfile
  host00 cpu=4
  host01 cpu=4
  host02 cpu=4
  host03 cpu=4

With this hostfile, try running mpiexec again.::

  $ mpiexec -n 8 --hostfile hostfile python print_rank.py
  host00 0
  host00 1
  host00 2
  host00 3
  host01 4
  host01 5
  host01 6
  host01 7

You will find that the first 4 processes run on host00 and the latter
4 on host01.

You can also specify computing hosts and resource mapping/binding
using command line options of mpiexec. Please refer to the MPI manual
for the more advanced use of mpiexec command.

.. _troubleshooting_errors:

If you get runtime error:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you get the following error messages, please check the specified
section of the troubleshooting or installation guide.

::

   [hostxxx:mpi_rank_0][MPIDI_CH3I_SMP_init] CMA is not available. Set MV2_SMP_USE_CMA=0 to disable CMA.
   [cli_0]: aborting job:
   Fatal error in PMPI_Init_thread:
   Other MPI error, error stack:
   MPIR_Init_thread(514)....:
   MPID_Init(365)...........: channel initialization failed
   MPIDI_CH3_Init(404)......:
   MPIDI_CH3I_SMP_Init(2132): process_vm_readv: Operation not permitted

   ===================================================================================
   =   BAD TERMINATION OF ONE OF YOUR APPLICATION PROCESSES
   =   PID 20327 RUNNING AT hostxxx
   =   EXIT CODE: 1
   =   CLEANING UP REMAINING PROCESSES
   =   YOU CAN IGNORE THE BELOW CLEANUP MESSAGES
   ===================================================================================

-> Check the value of :envvar:`MV2_SMP_USE_CMA` (see :ref:`mpi-install` and
:ref:`ssh-and-envvars`).

::

   [hostxx:mpi_rank_0][error_sighandler] Caught error: Segmentation fault (signal 11)

   ===================================================================================
   =   BAD TERMINATION OF ONE OF YOUR APPLICATION PROCESSES
   =   PID 20643 RUNNING AT hostxx
   =   EXIT CODE: 11
   =   CLEANING UP REMAINING PROCESSES
   =   YOU CAN IGNORE THE BELOW CLEANUP MESSAGES
   ===================================================================================
   YOUR APPLICATION TERMINATED WITH THE EXIT STRING: Segmentation fault (signal 11)
   This typically refers to a problem with your application.
   Please see the FAQ page for debugging suggestions

-> Check the value of :envvar:`MV2_USE_CUDA` (see :ref:`mpi-install` and :ref:`ssh-and-envvars`)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Harbor Oaks is a gorgeous gated community located on the fast growing south end of Lake Norman in Denver, North Carolina. Harbor Oaks boasts that it is one of the most breathtaking pieces of land around all of Lake Norman. The is a newneighborhood thathas large wooded home sites and a handful of prime waterfront lots that are available.This is a custom home community so bring your own builder or you can choose to use a builder that has already purchased lots and has begin building homes for purchase.
Amenities include a Green Area, Gated Entry, Lake. Harbor Oaks is close to Highway 16and is about a 25 milecommute to Uptown Charlotte. Lake Norman and the towns of Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and Mooresville are nearby. Harbor Oaks is a short drive to the famous Birkdale Village neighborhood and shopping center.


People are really outraged by Stacey Dash's endorsement of Mitt Romney. Admittedly, it is quite baffling why ANY woman would throw support behind two men who could care less about women's rights. But then I have to remember that you can't trust anything celebrities do that go against the grain. What better way to be in the public eye & receive attention? My cynicism prevents me from believing that her endorsement is 100% sincere. If it is, God bless her. She has a right choose…unless Mitt Romney really does get elected.


Description: This air-conditioned apartment has a flat-screen TV. The kitchen comes with a stove, oven and fridge.
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Various dining options can be found within a 5-minute walk from Apartment Aghayan. Yeritasardakan Metro Station is a 3-minute walk away.
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This section presents detailed information about the hotel Apartment Aghayan located in Yerevan: photo of rooms, rates, amenities, etc. On the website you can choose and book any room of Apartment Aghayan without a fee.


William Daghlian's apartment on West 107th Street in Manhattan resembled a museum that had been kept a secret for a long time. Every corner of the living room, bedroom, and study was covered with Chinese ceramics and sculpture, nestled together with volumes on Chinese art, and interspersed with African carvings. All the shelves in the bathroom and kitchen were also taken over by Chinese 'pots'. There was just enough room to squeeze a Steinway B Grand piano into the living room, so that Mr. Daghlian could practice, play, teach his private students, and hold his weekly music performance class.


text:
6 Hours to Freedom
Home World Iraqi court issues arrest warrant for Trump over killing of paramilitary chief
Iraqi court issues arrest warrant for Trump over killing of paramilitary chief
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis died in drone strike ordered by US president
Guardian: A Baghdad court has issued a warrant for the arrest of the US president, Donald Trump, as part of its investigation into the killing of a top Iraqi paramilitary commander.
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq's largely pro-Iran Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary network, died in the same US drone strike that killed the storied Iranian general Qassem Suleimani at Baghdad airport on 3 January last year.
The strike on their motorcade was ordered by Trump, who later said it had taken out "two [men] for the price of one".
Press TV: An Iraqi court has ordered the arrest of outgoing US President Donald Trump as part of its investigation into the assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3 last year.
The arrest warrant, issued by Baghdad's Rusafa investigation court, applies to Trump under Article 406 of the Iraqi penal code, which provides for the death penalty in all cases of premeditated murder.
The court said the preliminary inquiry had been completed but "investigations are continuing in order to unmask the other culprits in this crime, be they Iraqis or foreigners."
Iran asks Interpol to issue red notice for Gen. Soleimani's assassins
Iran has issued a red notice request to Interpol for the apprehension of the US president and 47 others in connection with the assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in the Iraqi capital Baghdad last year.
General Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were assassinated along with their companions in a US terror drone strike authorized by Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
Iraqi lawmakers approved a bill two days after the attack, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States from the country.
Both commanders were admired by Muslim nations for eliminating the US-sponsored Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
The US assassination drew a wave of condemnation from officials and movements throughout the world, and triggered huge public protests across the region.
Soleimani assassination 'nail in the coffin of international law': UN rapporteur
A top UN human rights investigator says the US assassination of General Soleimani was a "nail in the coffin of international law".
Early on January 8 last year, the IRGC targeted the US-run Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq's western province of Anbar to retaliate the assassination of General Soleimani.
According to the US Defense Department, more than 100 American forces suffered "traumatic brain injuries" during the counterstrike on the base. The IRGC, however, says Washington uses the term to mask the number of the Americans who perished during the retaliation.
Nasrallah says region resolute to expel US troops after Soleimani martyrdom
'Calls or the expulsion of the terrorist troops of America had not been made prior to the assassination.'
Iran has described the missile attack on Ain al-Assad air base as a "first slap."
Head of the Iranian Judiciary's High Council for Human Rights Ali Baqeri-Kani announced on December 28 last year that the country had identified and was prosecuting 48 individuals for masterminding and conducting General Soleimani's assassination.
Previous articleSenator Vincent Hughes to Senator Doug Mastriano: RESIGN!
Next articleImpeachment Begun: President Biden calls the violent pro-Trump riot at the Capitol an 'insurrection' and 'domestic terrorism' (powerful)
Update – Mistery Grows on Massacre in Italian Nursing Home after Covid-19 Outbreak. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning or What?
Randa January 7, 2021 at 4:19 pm
God yes. Please let there be some kind of justice for Iraq and Iran.
Gird your loins Diaper Don.
The extreme pain and hardship you have caused throughout the Middle East and Afghanistan, you are really damn lucky these are such good people.


Francis "Pete" Kaylor, 69, of 374 White Oak Lane, Bath, died Monday in Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Montour County. He was the husband of Grace (Ziegler) Kaylor.
He was a truck driver for the former Eastern Express, Bethlehem, before retiring in 1977.
Born in Juniata, Blair County, he was a son of the late Edward and Sara (Beecher) Kaylor.
He was a member of Chapman Quarries United Methodist Church.
Surviving with his widow are a son James of Altoona, Blair County; four sisters, Beth Shirk of Monroe, Va., Kate Miller and Irma Maillard, both of Altoona, Blair County, and Jane McDonald of Galion, Ohio; two brothers, Edward of New Port Richey, Fla., and George of Altoona, and a grandson.
Services were held in Altoona. The E. Merrill Smith Funeral Home, 2309 Broad Ave., Altoona, was in charge of arrangements.