Two a penny

Wicksteed: When the enemy was always listening, and cigarettes were two a penny .

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Walmington-On-Sea 333: Treading The Boards: Bill Pertwee in …

… and the two of them bring the first act to a rousing close with a sultrily choreographed dance. It’s not every day you see cabarets that feature dance so fully, but then talents like Halfpenny’s are hardly two-a-penny , either.

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The Stage / Reviews / Jill Halfpenny Celebrates the Great British …

He was a fat boy in the days when it was a rarity, before obese children became two a penny in this country, if you believe the papers that is. However, he was one fat boy who was picked on by nobody because he was hard. …

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There's a joke for that « Pie and Biscuits

Celebrity chefs are two a penny these days, but when it comes to down to earth, no nonsense cuisine there’s no competition. From his naked chef days, to my most recent recipe packed purchase, you just can’t beat a bit of Jamie Oliver.

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Jamie's Italian: pukka tukka really hits the spot | Bristol24-7

I have had such a nice break from anything work orientated last couple of weeks, free from exams and just being able to enjoy life! Such a nice week for weather too! I went to the theatre on wednesday night to see my all time favourite …

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Some bourgeois two-a-penny thing

Some bourgeois two-a-penny thing. I have had such a nice break from anything work orientated last couple of weeks, free from exams and just being able to enjoy life! Such a nice week for weather too! I went to the theatre on wednesday …

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Some bourgeois two-a-penny thing « Spilt Glitter

.Defending champions Spain proved there is life without Rafael Nadal when it swept aside Switzerland 4-1 overnight to set-up a mouthwatering Davis Cup quarter-final clash with France.
World number two Novak Djokovic won a five-set thriller to defeat America’s John Isner and hand Serbia a first ever place in the Davis Cup quarters.
Serbia will face bitter rivals Croatia at home on July 9-11 for a spot in the semi-finals after Djokovic claimed a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 win over Isner in a four hour, 16 minute marathon as his team took an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Croatia, the 2005 champions, the Czech Republic, which was runners-up to Spain last season, and France had already wrapped up their quarter-final places on Saturday.
Russia also went through thanks to a 3-2 win over India, its 17th successive home win, which gave it a last eight clash against Argentina who defeated Sweden 3-2 in Stockholm.
Nicolas Almagro then eased past Marco Chiudinelli 6-1, 6-3 in the dead rubber.
In Logrono, world number 16 David Ferrer scored the winning point for Spain as he easily saw off an exhausted Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 to give the hosts an unbeatable lead after they had led 2-1 overnight.
Despite his heroics, Ferrer admitted that his place in the team for July’s clash with France was not guaranteed with Nadal and Fernando Verdasco expected to return. I just want to focus on the next tournaments,” said Ferrer. .
“It’ll be like a final, it’s the kind of thing you dream about,” said France captain Guy Forget.
France maintained their 72-year domination of Germany when they wrapped up a 4-1 win in Toulon, leaving the French eager to face Spain on home ground..
“Facing the defending champions with Nadal, Verdasco, Ferrer, Lopez…”
France will have the advantage of playing the tie at home and will – not surprisingly – opt for a hard court rather than the clay courts favoured by the Spanish. We have started to talk about it and I hope that the boys will be in peak form.
Croatia wrapped-up a 5-0 win over Ecuador in their first round tie.
“You play tennis for moments like this, at home, in front of your own fans and against a very strong team,” said Forget.
Rohan Bopanna won the dead rubber, beating Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, to ensure a final scoreline of 3-2, after veteran doubles pairing Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won Saturday’s doubles to keep India in the tie.
In Moscow, Mikhail Youzhny eased Russia into the last eight when he beat Somdev Devvarman 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 to give his side a 3-1 lead over India.
“It was much easier for me in the first two sets.
“It wasn’t as easy as the scoreline may suggest,” Youzhny said.”
David Nalbandian was Argentina’s match-winner in Stockholm when he defeated Andreas Vinciguerra 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the deciding rubber after Robin Soderling had seen off Leonardo Mayer 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 to pull Sweden level. I won many points with drop shots as he (Devvarman) was not running well. Chile were 2-0 ahead after the opening singles. Chile were 2-0 ahead after the opening singles.
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.France captain Thierry Henry said he understood why fans were jeering him after persistent booing from the home crowd during the 2-0 loss to Spain in a World Cup warmup match at the Stade de France on Wednesday.
France, in its first game since Henry’s infamous handball against Ireland in a World Cup play-off in the same stadium last November, was outclassed by the European champions and the 32-year-old captain was the main focus of French fans’ wrath even before Spain opened the scoring.
“I understand people who were eager for us to play well against Spain and, when you don’t play well, you have to expect being jeered at.
“It’s the same story as usual and it’s not the first time I’ve experienced that kind of situation at the Stade de France,” he said.
“I absolutely had no pace. I don’t know if I deserved that but there is nothing I can do.
Coach Raymond Domenech, who had been a firm supporter of France’s all-time topscorer until Wednesday night, expressed his concern at Henry’s present state. .
“[His situation] raises some questions but we’ve not reached the point yet when it has become alarming.
“Obviously, everybody knows Titi has performed better in the past and it’s obvious that it is becoming a problem for him to play high level games such as this one while he’s got less playing time [at Barcelona],” Domenech, the only man French fans booed more than Henry, said.”
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.Emerging teen star Melanie Oudin has sealed the United States’ passage to the semi-finals of the Fed Cup with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win over Julie Coin, as the Americans eased through 4-1.
Also advancing were holders Italy, who waltzed past host Ukraine 4-1 in Kharkiv as the sister act of Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko failed to disturb Francessa Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta before Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci carried off the doubles for good measure.
“This victory is very important for me as I lost the decisive match against Italy in the final.
In the absence of the Williams sisters the American contingent has shown its strength in depth and Oudin, who looked a little out of her depth in last year’s final loss to Italy, was delighted to prove her own worth in bagging the all-important point at Lievin.
“Then I got into my game. I was tense to begin with but Julie was also making things tough for me as she was serving very well,” Oudin said.
Oudin, breaking crucially in the fifth game of the second set to steady herself, made headlines last year with an exciting run to the US Open quarters, having reached round four at Wimbledon, shocking former world number one Jelena Jankovic en route. I’m really happy to have helped my team win this match in France,” said the 18-year-old from Georgia, ranked 53 on the WTA computer as she took her country’s Fed Cup record to 11-1 against the French.
Here, she beat Pauline Parmentier in straight sets in the second singles rubber after 140th-ranked Bethanie Mattek-Sands had started the ball rolling with a 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 win over Alize Cornet.
At Flushing Meadows, she then defeated fourth seed Elena Dementieva and another former number one, Maria Sharapova.
But she was unable to prevent Oudin, taking her tournament record to 3-3, from sealing the decisive point which takes the USA through to the semi-finals as it hones in on an 18th title.
That loss being Cornet’s sixth loss in as many Fed Cup starts, team captain Nicolas Escude withdrew her from the firing line and sent in Coin.
Serbia kept in the clash thanks to the impeccable Jelena Jankovic, who made it two singles rubbers out of two when she beat former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
In the semis, the Americans will play Russia, which edged Serbia 3-2 in a thrilling tie.
Elsewhere, the Czech Republic edged out Germany 3-2 at Brno in a thriller which went down to the final rubber.
However her team-mate Ana Ivanovic’s woeful form continued as she lost to Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets and then she and Jankovic had no answer in the decisive doubles as they were steam-rolled in straight sets.
But the 24-year-old was unable to complete a hat-trick in the doubles as, after seeing off Petra Kvitova early in the day, she and Tatjana Malek went down in straight sets to Lucie Hradecka and Kveta Peschke.
The Czechs, beaten semi-finalists by the USA last year and chasing a sixth title to go third in the historical rankings ahead of Spain, saw Anna-Lena Groenefeld bag two points for the Germans.

.The amateur archaeologist who first discovered a World War I mass grave in the French town of Fromelles says it was “wonderful” to see the first soldier from the site laid formally to rest at the weekend.
Gunshots rang out across the frozen cemetery on Saturday as the first of the 250 unknown British and Australian soldiers, who all died in the 1916 Battle of Fromelles, was lowered into an individual grave.
“It was wonderful to see the services and that’s what it’s all been about – dignity, and in time, identity for the soldiers of Pheasant Wood,” he said.
Lambis Englezos, whose work was central to bringing the Pheasant Wood grave to light, said he was moved watching the burial at the weekend. And hopefully in time we can give as many of these soldiers as possible their identity.
“Seeing the Army burying their own – our own – was really quite moving.”
The full military honours burial took place in a specially-built cemetary just metres from where the grave was discovered.
“For me, it’s wonderful to see the burial of that soldier and to know that our boys are in good hands in the village of Fromelles.
The final soldier will be buried and the cemetery will be dedicated on July 19, the 94th anniversary of the battle.
The fallen soldiers, who remained undisturbed for over 90 years, are being buried without headstones as a panel aims to identify as many as possible.
“I think we’ve got a moral obligation to recover our war dead, I think the Australian Army has to be congratulated, having established and maintained a process which has brought us to this point,” he said.
– ‘Moral obligation’ –
Mr Englezos said while it would have been preferable for families to be present to witness the individual burials of their loved ones, the sheer scale of the operation meant this was impossible.
“But having said that, Pheasant Wood and the work there, it’s not blood specific, there’s a general ownership of the Pheasant Wood work, and it’s just been remarkable to see this.
“However I would have hoped that maybe the panel of identification could have sat prior to the burial, so that families could have been given the opportunity to be there.
In 24 hours Australian forces suffered over 5,000 casualties as troops charged German trenches in broad daylight.”
The 1916 Battle of Fromelles was the first offensive involving Australian troops on the Western Front.
Veterans’ Affairs Minister Alan Griffin described the Battle of Fromelles as “the bloodiest 24 hours in our military history, before, or since.
The end of the offensive, which had been deemed unnecessary days earlier by senior commanders, found the Australian troops forced back to their original positions. .”
– Task ahead –
While identifying the soldiers has been central to the recovery process, DNA consultant Dr Peter Jones says many gravestones may remain nameless.
But the organiser of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, David Richardson, says he is hopeful the team will be able to put names on some of the headstones.
“At the very, very best, with everything working completely perfectly, the most we’re likely to match up is about 100,” he said.
“There are so many cemeteries here in France and Belgium and all over the world where we work, where there are unknown soldiers, so I think individual burials for us are just fantastic.
“I think, in a way, that’s a little bit of a bonus,” he said.”
Mr Richardson says it is a relief to see the soldiers reburied.”
Mr Richardson says it is a relief to see the soldiers reburied.
“I’ll be more relieved at the end of February when we’ve buried the full 250, but it’s great to see the cemetery fit for burial,” he said.
“It’s the first new cemetery since World War II, but to build something from scratch on a brand new site in a limited time scale in a wet field in northern France has posed some challenges.”