Talk of the Town: Sign of the times as vandal raises smile

DEFACED road traffic signs are given short shrift at Evening News Towers - as our Get It Sorted column proves - but one creative piece of vandalism did trigger our collective funny bones this week.

Proudly mounted on Portobello Road was a particularly jovial warning sign for motorists under the heading "Elderly".

But the standard silhouette of two bow-backed pensioners with a walking stick ambling across the road had been replaced with a cut-out of two old folk merrily dancing and swinging their crook high above their heads.

Going in at the deep end with charity shark swim

DIVERS at Deep Sea World are to raise money for conservation charity The Shark Trust.

Six of them have volunteered to spend 24 hours in the aquarium's three-metre deep tank, which is home to seven sand tiger sharks.

There will be no chance to cheat because their overnight efforts will be witnessed by more than 100 scouts taking part in a "scary sleepover" at the aquarium.

We don't know whether the worst thing would be the sharks or the wrinkly toes.

Google expert is write on

IT may be no Wall Street Journal versus The New York Times, but one top city Google expert is celebrating becoming the first person to be chosen to write for two major online magazines.

Chris Liversidge of city digital agency QueryClick, which helps firms boost their Google rankings, will soon take up his post as columnist for Search Engine Land and Search Engine Watch.

The consultant will bridge the gap between the websites, which are each worth tens of millions of dollars, for the first time.

Chris said: "The rivalry between them is fierce. Being asked to write for either of these sites is a real accolade for anyone in my profession. Being asked to write for both is all but unheard of."

Brand of no hope or glory

RUSSELL Brand is once again in the spotlight, having been deported from Japan.

In a revealing documentary this week however, it emerged that Russell wasn't always the comedy genius he is considered today.

The programme featured "exclusive" footage of Brand in his first ever gig at the Edinburgh Festival, where he had prepared no jokes before being shouted off the stage by one of the Capital's famously unforgiving crowds.

His return the following year, the one-man Elephant Man show, then constantly over-ran, leading to him being repeatedly fined and leaving the Festival in debt.