Talk of the Town: Naked truth about sex is headline act

MUSIC festivals are typically a great excuse for revellers to enjoy a bit of drunken debauchery.

But two Edinburgh PhD students are trying to turn the experience into a sexual health lesson.

Vicky Young and Gemma Sharp, from Edinburgh University's Centre for Reproductive Health, will be targeting 16 to 30-year-olds at the Green Man Festival in the Brecon Beacons later this month.

Their technique will see them launch The Egg and Sperm Race, whereby festival-goers can race sperm toys through a model of the female reproductive tract to reach the ultimate goal - the egg.

Ms Sharp said: "Sexual health is important, but we didn't want to seem like we were preaching.

"The plan is that people visit the stall, have a good time while they're there and walk away with a better understanding of reproductive biology and how important sexual health is."

Transport committee fun? You're having a laugh . .

THE council's transport committee is not renowned for its laughs.

Indeed, yesterday's meeting wasn't much different, with discussion of matters such as parking and road improvements bordering on the soporific.

But when the transport convener called for a report on cycling to be delayed by "two cycles" there were guffaws all round.

We warned you it was dull.

Unlucky for some

STILL with those jokers at the council and Labour councillor and taxi driver by trade Eric Barry raised a smile during a licensing board meeting when he appeared to suggest that bingo halls were his preferred choice of venue for wooing the ladies.

During a discussion at the City Chambers about an application by Mecca Bingo for an outdoor smoking area, he told members: "For several years I have been going in to bingo halls to pick up ladies and take them home."

Amid awkward laughter, he clarified: "As a taxi driver."

Haven't a dram clue

JK ROWLING has been looking into her family tree for a TV show and it seems not all the surprises were nice ones as she admitted to being reduced to tears on three occasions during the filming.

Perhaps this could help explain some recent research by Grant's Whisky, which concluded that two-thirds of Scots know nothing about their family life story.

Of 2000 people surveyed, more than half did not know their grandparents' full names, where they grew up or their ages.

We're obviously happier to live in blissful ignorance.