Gumby is an American clay animation franchise, centered on the titular green clay humanoid character created and modeled by Art Clokey. The character has been the subject of a feature-length film and other media. Since the original series aired, Gumby has become a famous example of stop-motion clay animation and an influential cultural icon, spawning tributes and merchandising. Gumby follows the titular character on his adventures through different environments and times in history. Gumby's primary sidekick is a talking orange pony, his nemeses are the G and J Blockheads, a pair of antagonistic red humanoid figures with cube-shaped heads, one with the letter G on the block, the other with the letter J. The blockheads were inspired by the trouble-making Katzenjammer Kids. Other characters include Prickle, a yellow dinosaur who sometimes styles himself as a detective with pipe and deerstalker hat like Sherlock Holmes; the 1988 syndicated series added Gumby's sister Minga, mastodon friend Denali and chicken friend Tilly.

Gumby was created by Art Clokey in the early 1950s after he finished film school at the University of Southern California. Clokey's first animated film was a 1953 three-minute student film called Gumbasia, a surreal montage of moving and expanding lumps of clay set to music in a parody of Disney's Fantasia. Gumbasia was created in the "kinesthetic" style taught by Clokey's USC professor Slavko Vorkapić, described as "massaging of the eye cells." Much of Gumby's look and feel was inspired by this technique of editing. In 1955, Clokey showed Gumbasia to movie producer Sam Engel, who encouraged him to develop his technique by animating figures into children's stories. Clokey moved forward; the name "Gumby" came from the muddy clay found at Clokey's grandparents' farm that his family called "gumbo". Gumby's appearance was inspired by a suggestion from his wife, that Gumby be based on the Gingerbread Man; the color green was chosen because Clokey saw it as both racially neutral and a symbol of life.

Gumby's legs and feet were made wide for pragmatic reasons. Gumby's famous slanted head was based on the hairstyle of Clokey's father, Charles Farrington, in an old photograph. Clokey's pilot episode was seen by NBC executive Thomas Warren Sarnoff, who asked Clokey to make another one; the second episode, Gumby on the Moon, became a huge hit on Howdy Doody, leading Sarnoff to order a series in 1955 entitled The Gumby Show. In 1955 and 1956, 25 eleven-minute episodes aired on NBC. In early episodes, Gumby's voice was provided by Ruth Eggleston, wife of the show's art director Al Eggleston, until Dallas McKennon assumed her role in 1957. Gumby's best friend, an orange pony named Pokey, was introduced during the earliest episodes; because of its variety-type format, The Gumby Show featured not only Clokey's puppet films, but interviews and games. During this time, the show went through a succession of Robert Nicholson and Pinky Lee. In 1959, The Gumby Show entered syndication, more episodes were produced in the 1960s.

Production started in Hollywood and in 1960 moved to a larger studio in Glendora, where it remained until production ended in 1969. During this time, Gumby was voiced by Norma MacMillan, by Ginny Tyler; the cartoon shorts introduced new characters including a blue mermaid named Goo and a yellow dinosaur named Prickle. Beginning in 1982, Gumby was parodied by Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live. According to Murphy's parody, when the television cameras were turned off, the sweet Gumby reverted to his true self: an irascible, cigar-chomping celebrity, demanding of the production executives. Whenever the executives refused to give in to his demands, Gumby would assert his star status by saying “I’m Gumby, dammit!" in an exaggerated Jewish accent. In 1987, the original Gumby shorts enjoyed a revival on home video; the following year, Gumby appeared in The Puppetoon Movie. This renewed interest led to a reincarnation of the series consisting of 99 new seven-minute episodes produced for television syndication in association with Lorimar-Telepictures in 1987.

Dallas McKennon returned to voice Gumby in the new adventures, in which Gumby and his pals traveled beyond their toyland-type setting and established themselves as a musical band. The show included new characters, such as Gumby's little sister Minga, a mastodon named Denali and a chicken named Tilly. In addition to the new episodes, the 1950s and 1960s shorts were included in the series, but with new audio; the voices were re-recorded and the original music was replaced by Jerry Gerber's synthesizer score from the 1987 series. Legal issues prevented Clokey from renewing rights to the original Capitol Records production tracks. Starting in 1992, TV channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network aired reruns of Gumby episodes. In 1995, Clokey's production company produced an independently released theatrical film, Gumby: The Movie, marking the character's first feature-length adventure, with John R. Dilworth, creator of Courage the Cowardly Dog, as the film's animation consultant. In it, the villainous Blockheads replace Gumby and his band with robots and kidnap their dog, Lowbelly.

The movie featured in-joke homages to science-fiction films such as Star Wars, The Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey. In 1998, the Gumby episode "Robot Rumpus" was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. On March 16, 2007, YouTube announced that all Gumby episodes wo

For the English-born songwriter, see Charles Basil FosterBasil Samuel Foster was an English cricketer who played 34 first-class matches in the early 20th century. He was born in Malvern and died in Pield Heath, Middlesex, aged 77, he was the inspiration for the Wodehouse character, Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright, having become a stage actor so that he could play county cricket. One of the seven Foster brothers who played for Worcestershire, he made his first-class debut for that county against Kent in August 1902, but scored only 4 and 0 as Worcestershire lost by nine wickets, he played against Surrey a few days taking three catches, against Hampshire the following June, but made ducks in both his innings. Foster did not play first-class cricket again until 1906, when he made 27 and 26 for Marylebone Cricket Club against Worcestershire at Lord's. Between and early May 1912, he played for MCC, making 15 appearances for them in all while turning out only four more times for Worcestershire, it was for MCC that he made his two half-centuries: 86 against the South Africans in 1907, 74 against Leicestershire in 1910.

After his last match for MCC, Foster returned to county cricket, but now with Middlesex. For his new county he made 12 first-class appearances, but in 15 innings never scored more than 35, his final game came against Kent in late August, but only one day's play was possible in the match and Foster made just 8 in his only innings before being caught and bowled by Woolley. Basil Foster at ESPNcricinfo Statistical summary from CricketArchive

John Greengrass is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand in the 1970 and 1975 World Cups. A Linwood Keas player, a [[Canterbury rugby league team| Canterbury representative Greengrass made his debut for the New Zealand national rugby league team in 1970 at the World Cup. Greengrass represented Southern Zone in matches against Northern Zone, he played in 35 games for New Zealand, scoring six tries. This included, he was part of New Zealand's squad at the 1970 and 1975 World Cups and toured Great Britain and France in 1971 and Australia in 1972. He was unavailable for both the 1975 Australia tour, his international career was ended in a World Cup match against Wales. Greengrass has just scored a try. Greengrass received 15 stitches. Mills was suspended for six months by the Rugby Football League and banned for life from playing in New Zealand by the New Zealand Rugby League. In 1976 Greengrass moved from Linwood and joined the Kaiapoi club

Monte Collins was an American film actor and screenwriter. He appeared in 167 films between 1920 and 1948, he wrote for 32 films between 1930 and 1951. Dapper, pencil-mustached Collins starred in silent short comedies in the late 1920s; these were produced by Educational Pictures and directed by Jules White. Prior, he had worked as a director in Oregon; the coming of sound in movies had no ill effect on Collins's career. Although Collins took to talkies he never established himself as a major comedy star. Throughout the 1930s he appeared in secondary roles in short subjects. Collins was Jules White's first choice when casting supporting players. White's 1932 short Show Business, starring ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd, co-stars Collins as the frustrated manager of a vaudeville troupe traveling by train; when Jules White organized the short-subject department at Columbia Pictures in 1933, he remembered Collins and hired him. Columbia historian Ted Okuda says Monte Collins was the Dan Aykroyd of his day: a reliable, skilled comedian who assisted other stars in getting laughs, rather than driving the action by himself.

Jules White recognized this capability, teamed Collins with "big and dumb" comic Tom Kennedy. The Collins & Kennedy partnership ran only a few years, but White continued to use both actors as all-purpose supporting players. White co-starred Monte Collins in three of his Buster Keaton comedies, he was memorably cast as the Stooges' mother in their 1942 comedy Cactus Makes Perfect. Collins contributed to the staging of visual gags, he began receiving screen credit as a writer in 1942, he worked behind the scenes throughout the 1940s as a writer or dialogue coach, while appearing in front of the cameras. In 1947, he partnered with actor Robert Paige to produce an independent feature film, The Green Promise. One of his last credits was supplying material for Laurel and Hardy's final film, Atoll K. Filmed in France by French and Italian cast and crew members, the production was hectic and chaotic for the English-speaking stars; the finished film carries the unique credit, "Gags by Monty Collins." Collins was about to launch a career in television when he died of a heart attack in 1951, at age 52.

Monte Collins on IMDb

Shanshan was a kingdom located at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan Desert near the great, but now dry, salt lake known as Lop Nur. The kingdom was an independent city-state, known in the undocumented language of its inhabitants as Kröran or Kroraina –, rendered in Chinese as Loulan. Chinese dynasties took direct control of the kingdom some time after 77 BCE, it was known in Chinese as Shanshan; the archaeologist J. P. Mallory has suggested that the name Shanshan may be derived from the name of another city in the area, Cherchen; the kingdom of Kröran Shanshan, was founded at a strategically-located walled town, near the north-west corner of Lop Nur, next to the outflow of the Tarim River into Lop Nur. The site of Kröran covered about 10.8 hectares with a Buddhist pagoda about 10 metres high, numerous houses, irrigation ditches. The kingdom included the city of Cherchen, as well as Niya, further to the south-west. In 126 BCE, the Chinese envoy, Zhang Qian described Loulan as a fortified city near Lop Nur.

Because of its position on what became the main routes from China to the West, controlling both the Southern Route between Dunhuang and Khotan, the main Silk Route from Dunhuang to Korla Kucha and Kashgar during the Former Han and Later Han. The Xiongnu contested the Han Chinese for control of the region until well into the 2nd century CE. In 77 BCE, the Chinese envoy Fu Jiezi was sent to kill the Loulan king, named Changgui or Angui, after several Han envoys were kidnapped and killed, he arrived on the pretext of carrying gold and valuables to the outer states and intending to give a presentation to the king, but stabbed the Loulan king to death while he was drunk. The king's younger brother Weituqi was installed as the king of Loulan by the Han ruler, the kingdom was renamed Shanshan; the newly installed king requested the presence of Han forces in Yixun, due to his fear of retribution from the sons of the assassinated king in Loulan. Chinese army officers were therefore sent to colonise the area, an office of commandant was established at Yixun.

In 25 CE it was recorded. In 73 AD, the Han army officer Ban Chao went to Shanshan with a small group of followers, receiving a delegation from the Xiongnu. Ban Chao killed the Xiongnu envoys and presented their heads to the King, after which King Guang of Shanshan offered his allegiance to Han. Loulan was recorded as a dependent kingdom of Shanshan in the 3rd century Weilüe. An inscription in the Kharoṣṭhī script was found at Endere written around in the middle of the 3rd century CE; the inscription describes the king of Shanshan as a follower of Mahāyāna Buddhism — one who has "set forth in the Great Vehicle." The king who this refers to was Aṃgoka, the most powerful king of Shanshan. According to Richard Salomon, there is every reason to believe that Mahāyāna Buddhism was prominent in Shanshan at this time and enjoyed royal patronage. More evidence of official adoption of Mahāyāna Buddhism in Shanshan is seen in a letter inscribed in wood which dates to several decades later; the letter describes the Great Cozbo Ṣamasena as one who is, "beloved of men and gods, honoured by men and gods, blessed with a good name, who has set forth in the Mahāyāna."

A military colony of 1,000 men was established at Loulan in 260 CE by the Chinese general Suo Mai. The site was abandoned in 330 CE due to lack of water when the Tarim River, which supported the settlement, changed course and the military garrison was moved 50 km south to Haitou; the fort of Yingpan to the northwest remained under Chinese control until the Tang dynasty. Chinese rule continued into the Western Jin Dynasty and intermittently in centuries, it was recorded that in 283 the son of the king was sent as a hostage to the Chinese court during the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin dynasty. In the 5th century, the Northern Wei installed a Chinese king in Loulan and called the city the Shanshan Fort. At the end of the 6th century, the Sui dynasty established the city state of Shanshan at Loulan; the Chinese pilgrim monk, stayed about a month in Shanshan after a 17-day journey from Dunhuang in 399 CE. He described the country with a thin and barren soil; the clothes of the common people are coarse, like those worn in our land of Han, some wearing felt and others coarse serge or hair....

The king professed Law, there might be in the country more than four thousand monks, who were all students of the hînâyana.......were all students of Indian books and the Indian language."From the 5th century onwards, the land was invaded by nomads such as Tuyuhuns, the Rourans, the Dingling, the area became abandoned. In the spring of 442 CE, Loulan was invaded by Juqu Anzhou and its king fled to Jumo, Shanshan came to be ruled from Qiemo. At around 630, the remaining Shanshan people, led by Shanfutuo, migrated to Hami in the Northern area; the Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang passed through this region in 644 on his return from India to China, visited a town called Nafubo of the Loulan country, he wrote of Qiemo: "A fortress exists, but not a trace of man". In 2011, the local government decided to undertake a large-scale development aimed at positioning Shan

The PLDT Volleyball Club is a professional volleyball club owned by PLDT. It competed in the Premier Volleyball League as the PayMaya High Flyers and the PLDT Home Fibr Ultra Fast Hitters. In September 2018, it was announced that the women's team would return to the Philippine Superliga and be merged with its PSL affiliate team, the Smart Giga Hitters; the men's team would continue playing in the revived Spikers' Turf on October 6, 2018. The PVL men's division ended with the 2018 Collegiate Conference as its final tournament; the club debuted in 2013 as the PLDT myDSL Speed Boosters women's team in the Philippine Superliga during the 2013 Invitational Conference. The men's team debuted in the following conference. In 2014, while participating in the PSL, the club joined in the Shakey's V-League with its women's team as the PLDT Home Telpad Turbo Boosters during the 2014 Open Conference; the club ended its participation in the PSL after the 2014 season. In 2015, the club competed under the name PLDT Home Ultera Ultra Fast Hitters and the men's team joined the 2015 Open Conference of the Spikers' Turf, becoming its first champion.

The club became dormant in 2016 and 2017. It returned to active competition in 2018 in the Premier Volleyball League as the PayMaya High Flyers and the PLDT Home Fibr Ultra Fast Hitters. In September 2018, the women's team returned to the PSL through a merger with the Smart Prepaid Giga Hitters, its affiliate team in the PSL; the Smart PSL team was renamed the PLDT Home Fibr Power Hitters in February 2019. For the 2018 PSL All-Filipino Conference see Smart Prepaid Giga Hitters. Philippine SuperLiga: Premier Volleyball League: Others: Premier Volleyball League: Philippine SuperLiga: Lou Ann Latigay Suzanne Roces Jasmine Nabor Roger Gorayeb Coaching staff Head coach: Arthur Alan "Odjie" Mámon Assistant coach: Rolando Casillan Spikers' Turf/Premier Volleyball League: Philippine SuperLiga: Others: Spikers' Turf/Premier Volleyball League: Philippine Superliga: Notes: Richard Gomez Dante Alinsunirin Ronaldo Casillan John Vic de Guzman Henry James Pecaña Arthur Allan “Odgie” Mamon PLDT Home TVolution Cignal HD Spikers