Talk of the Town: Speaking your mind is a tweet

IT’S not easy being a political spin doctor at the best of times, but when the prognosis for your own career is grim it can be a particularly hard pill to swallow.

So step forward Rami Okasha – Scottish Labour’s former head of communications – who put on a brave face after standing down.

He was reportedly removed amid a shake-up of the party following last year’s humbling at the ballot box, but Mr Okasha displayed good humour by changing his Twitter biog to: “Now my tweets really are my own views.”

They’re the wheel deal

TRULY great teams – in any sport – are hard to come by.

So when they do (we’re thinking the 1970 Brazilian football squad and the US basketball Dream Team of Barcelona 1992 as the barometer for greatness) it’s only fair that we sit up and take note. It’s fair to say TOTT was positively salivating at the news Golden Boy Chris Hoy and stunt bike supremo Danny MacAskill (pictured) had come together at the Glasgow velodrome to promote the city’s Commonwealth Games.

Sadly, we can only imagine the spoils this duo could reap if tandem bike racing were an Olympic event.

Not quite a brush with fame

WE’RE big fans of money for old rope, but this next offer really had us scratching our heads.

An advert doing the rounds for Alba Science, based on Broughton Street, appealed for women aged between 28 and 37 to get in touch if they don’t mind having their hair brushed.

For the trouble, each candidate would receive £20 in expenses.

After brushing, the boffins want to count the number of hair strands lost. All applicants must be using the hormonal contraceptive to take part.

For details visit www.research.net/s/211216Screening.

Just add some flakes

A CONTROVERSIAL cake designer is taking her gruesome designs to London for a display to raise awareness of skin disease.

Gillian Bell, who ran a cake-making firm in the Capital, creates cakes in the shape of body parts such as hearts and fingers, is entering her designs to an entirely anatomical and pathology-inspired cake shop in London.

Ms Bell, 33, said “The idea behind the event is designers from all over the UK make cakes that will help raise awareness of different diseases.

“There are cakes based on heart disease. My own cakes are based on skin disease.”