Talk of the Town: Oh go on, go on, go on and sue me

FOR those seeking a lesson in how not to conduct yourself in public relations, look no further than the tale of the Fringe reviewer threatened with legal action after daring to give a bad review.

Amy Taylor, of The Public Reviews, received a barrage of emails from Laughlines, a company claiming to be “the UK’s leading comedy entertainment company”, demanding she immediately remove her review of Ted & Co: The Dinner Show or face being sued for defamation. She was also accused of “gross unprofessionalism”, being in cahoots with a rival theatre company and acting with “malicious intent”.

Interesting side note – despite being based around the television show Father Ted, Ted & Co: The Dinner Show had not been authorised by the original hit TV show’s writers.

Old school ties

THE battleground will be central London, but if things become too heated, a shared memory of their Edinburgh upbringing may cool things down a notch. In an exchange of former Loretto School pupils, Alastair Darling will go head-to-head with Norman Lamont in a debate over the coalition government’s economic strategy.

Jonathan Hewat, director of external affairs at Loretto, said: “Whilst Alistair Darling and Norman Lamont sit on different sides of the political fence, I am quite sure that if things get too heated, we can remind them both of common ground – their happy time at Loretto School!”

That sounds like a gas

WHILE “aesthetic drainage” may sound like something you’d get a landscape gardener to do, it is in fact one of a range of treatments being offered by the UK’s first Guerlain Spa, opening in the Capital this December.

The spa, which will “reflect luxury, emotion and refinement with a collection of indulgent treatments” is set to launch later this month at The Caledonian, or The Waldorf Astoria, as it will come to be known. Also on offer is “body sublimination”, which if the dictionary is anything to go by, and it usually is, seems to mean they can transform you directly from a solid to a gaseous state . . .

Pillars of society

WEEKENDS rarely come without mass cycling events these days – and as Edinburgh celebrates Sir Chris Hoy and other local Olympic heroes on Sunday, a troupe of riders are to gather at the nation’s golden post boxes, painted in honour of Team GB’s Scottish stars.

In the Capital, cyclists will be meeting at Sir Chris’ pillar box on Hanover Street at 11am.