Talk of the Town: Kitty corner with the rockhoppers

EDINBURGH Zoo may have shipped off most of its penguins for a holiday while their pool is fixed, but it seems visitors might just get a closer look at the ones left behind.

The zoo has moved some of its penguins to other enclosures during the work to repair a leak in the pool. And staff admitted that the rockhoppers, now housed in an enclosure near the big cat walkway, are quite fond of showing off there.

Some of the birds were housed in the enclosure last year and developed a habit of jumping up on to the windowsill – much to the amusement of visitors.

Perhaps they were trying to find out where all the growling was coming from.

Gail blown over by gall of charity shop thieves

HER image once graced the Houses of Parliament – but now Gail Porter is working in a charity shop.

The Portobello-born TV presenter hasn’t fallen on hard times – she’s been volunteering at a Save the Children store in north London.

And the mum-of-one has admitted she was shocked after someone stole a “Home Sweet Home” sign from the store, saying: “I didn’t think people had it in them to steal from a charity store.”

Check this out

WE can’t be sure, but here at Talk of the Town, we can’t recall Run DMC ever performing in kilts.

But if you ever wondered what it might look like if they had, then an event next Friday at the Capital’s Voodoo Rooms is for you.

Whisky Kiss, who mix a live DJ with fiddles, whistles and pipes, will provide a “cool, Caledonian soundtrack” during a dance-off between the Scottish Champion Breakdancers and the World Champ Highland Dancers.

If there are kilts involved, it might be a good time to break with tradition and wear something under them.

Techno notice, kids

SCHOOLS in the city today are a far cry from the days of jotters and ink fountains.

And it seems youngsters are not afraid to move with the times, with a new survey showing that most would rather Google a question than ask the teacher.

Meanwhile, research by the Birmingham Science City revealed more than a third of children would turn to the web rather than their parents for help with their homework.

Then again, how many parents in the Capital can claim to know more about the world than Wikipedia?