HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London

July 14-18

Cast: Penn Jillette, Raymond Teller

Executive director: Glenn S Alai

Producer: Live Nation

Running time: 2hrs 15mins

This ever so short run at the Hammersmith Apollo marks Penn and Teller's first UK performances in more than 15 years. Tiffany Pendants Let's hope this pair of dazzlingly talented showmen don't leave it as long the next time.

There are perhaps less than half a dozen truly great magic acts performing today and Penn and Teller are undoubtedly one of them. There is a wonderful balance to their shtick - Penn is the big, brash one and Teller is the small, silent one. Penn is the style, Teller is the substance.

And this extends to the show itself - one minute they are performing a bombastic 'memory' trick in which Penn fires a nail gun alternately into his hand and a wooden board while remembering a sequence so he doesn't stake himself, the next Teller is standing alone on the stage producing coins or live goldfish from the air and dropping them into a glass bowl. It is a beautiful effect and it's in these more delicate moments that the show really flies.

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This London outing is, for me, even better than their pandora style beads Las Vegas residency - the ratio of patter to tricks falls more favourably to the latter and, in this extended format, the duo are able to showcase a greater range of skills. The only loss is the absence of their bulletcatch trick - perhaps their single greatest set piece - but this is made up for by a water tank escape which, with their typically black humour, leaves Teller apparently drowned at the interval.

It's this dark sensibility - as well as Teller's incredible inventiveness as a magician - which raises them above their peers and means that if you can't get to Hammersmith before the show closes, you should be thinking about making the trip to Vegas.

Alistair Smith

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HARRISBURG -- It appears the blow to Pennsylvania's state budget from a shortfall in Medicaid funding won't be as severe as once thought, the state Senate majority leader said Monday.

Top state legislative leaders and Gov. Ed Rendell are awaiting a U.S. Senate vote that will determine how much states get in extra Medicaid money.

The $28 billion state budget they approved June 30 counts on $850 million in Medicaid money. Rendell has said thousands of tiffany heart ring state and local officials might be laid off to balance the budget if that federal money doesn't come through.

The state is obligated to pay for Medicaid and would have to draw money from other programs.

State Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester County, said he believes Pennsylvania might get 70 percent of what it expected. That would leave a funding shortfall of about $255 million, instead of $850 million.

Some portion of a $250 million increase provided for basic education would appear to be in jeopardy because it is one of the few parts of the state budget with a significant increase that increased the previous year, Pileggi said.

Rendell "is more optimistic now than he has been over the past few weeks," said his spokesman Gary Tuma. "He continued to work the phone over the weekend with members of Congress."

Asked whether Rendell concurs with Pileggi's 70 percent estimate, Tuma said: "The governor did not mention a specific percentage figure to me, but that is consistent with the ballpark number that I have heard."

Pileggi said he and other legislative leaders held a conference call with Rendell yesterday. He emphasized there were no guarantees on the ed hardy hoodies Senate vote.

State Sen. Jay Costa of Cheap Jordan Shoes Forest Hills, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he is "cautiously optimistic" about approval in Washington.

But if the Medicaid funding is reduced significantly, "I think a lot of (programs) in Pennsylvania are going to take a hit," Costa said.

If the Senate approves the bill within the next few days, House passage likely would follow, though that might not be until fall, Pileggi said.

If the Senate doesn't act or shoots down the bill, Pennsylvania needs to begin developing a contingency plan this week, he said.

The Senate vote appears to have been delayed until Wednesday at the earliest, said Erik Arneson, Pileggi's spokesman.

Pileggi believes it is "reasonable to let the federal process play out" before proposing cuts in state programs. The U.S. Senate is set to recess Friday.

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By Todd South

Lt. Col. Steven Hall stood by Balenciaga Handbags his son all of his life. As a father, that never was a problem.

But the last 11 days have taken their toll.

The Air Force colonel walked the room Monday, greeting relatives and friends at the funeral service for his son, Pfc. Jonathon David Hall.

"Thank you, thank you," he said in a hushed tone as people lined up to comfort him, though he seemed ready to comfort them.

On a long table in Woodland Park Baptist Church, framed photos of a blond-haired baby boy stood amid a hockey ballcap, a yearbook and sketches of a moose.

A left-handed, dust-covered glove, a black ink pen, a blue pocket-sized New Testament, a green book of matches, dog tags -- these things also lay on the table. They were some of what Pfc. Hall carried with him on his last combat patrol.

At the other end, a Purple Heart sat shining in its box.

Across a room that was quiet but for muffled sobs and whispers rested his body. His crisp, green uniform held rows of ribbons and medals. A teddy bear perched inside the casket looked down on the 23-year-old soldier.

On each side of him fellow soldiers stood. Pfc. Ryan Claiborne managed to stand stiffly while wearing a white neck brace.

He was driving the truck and sitting just a few feet from Pfc. Hall on April 8 when a roadside bomb erupted beneath the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, flipping it over, breaking Pfc. Claiborne's back, injuring three others and causing a massive brain injury to Pfc. Hall, a combat medic.

The soldiers were on patrol in Afghanistan's Paktika province with the U.S. Army's 3rd of the 187th Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, part of the 101st Airborne Division, stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky. The unit had been deployed there less than two months.

Pfc. Claiborne couldn't talk about the mission but said his friend, Pfc. Hall, was a great medic and soldier.

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After the explosion, Pfc. Hall, still alive, was flown to an Army hospital in Germany where his parents met him.

"We spent 23 hours with him," Lt. Col. Hall said.

With no chance of recovery and life slipping away, cartier women's watches the family allowed doctors to harvest the private's organs, which saved or improved the lives of six people in Europe.

Lt. Col. Hall asked to accompany his son's body home. "I was just so proud to be with him and salute him along the way," Lt. Col. Hall said. "I just couldn't be more proud."

Pfc. Hall had been in the Army nearly two years and trained as a combat medic.

The private spent most of his life in Anchorage, Alaska, but joined the Tennessee Army National Guard in Chattanooga while living with his grandparents, Don and Jan Priddy.

His mother lives in Dalton, Ga., and he has extended family in Clarksville, Tenn.

After the church service, police and Patriot Guard motorcycle riders escorted the family to the Chattanooga National Cemetery. Soldiers carried Pfc. Hall's casket and fired the 21-gun salute during the ceremony.

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