Talk of the Town: Sushi chef tries his best for rugby stars

HOW many rugby players does it take to fill a sushi bar? Scotland captain Chris Cusiter picked the wrong evening to indulge his taste buds in telling Twitter that he turned up for a sushi meal this week to find the Japanese squad in town to play a Scotland XV at Murrayfield next Tuesday crammed into the eatery.

Tweeted Chris: "The bar must have had the busiest chef in Edinburgh!"

A Japanese rugby team in a sushi bar? No pressure there, then, chef!

Have a butcher's at prize-winning black pudding

NOT every profession is filled with glitz and glamour, but it's always nice to see those who excel in their field being recognised.

The regional heat of this year's Scottish Black Pudding Championship saw John Saunderson of Saunderson's butchers in Tollcross winning the title for the south-east of Scotland.

He will now have his black pudding purchased by a mystery shopper and compared with others from across the country in the hope of winning the prize for Best Butcher's Black Pudding in Scotland, 2010.

Councillors pull a fast one

WHEN it comes to the monthly meetings of the full council in the City Chambers, the Capital's politicians usually need to clear their diaries and prepare for a long day.

Indeed, one such meeting in December dragged on for an all-time record 13 hours and didn't finish until close to 11pm.

So it was something of a surprise when yesterday's full council meeting was one of the shortest in history, finishing at 11:30am.

With no groups or individuals attending to give deputations, and only one report being debated, councillors raced through the agenda. And what debate that did take place centred on discussion of the political make-up of Westminster rather than about the issues of Edinburgh.

We just hope that councillors made good use of all these extra free hours yesterday afternoon.

The stress of gardening

FOR most people, Bank Holiday Monday means a rare weekday out with the family or nursing a hangover from a Sunday drinking session.

But a warning has been sounded to those looking to undertake activities like gardening or DIY.

They may think they're being productive and keeping healthy at the same time, but new research from drug company Apos Therapy suggests they may be putting themselves in harm's way.

Chris Conbeer, a physio from the organisation, said: "People may not realise that gardening, DIY or other 'sedate' activities can cause more stress to our joints than we think."