Talk of the Town: Bar's bathroom boast sparks pan-ic

IT IS said that you can tell the quality of any drinking establishment from the standards of its toilets.

It seems that the G1 Group took the idea to heart when it opened its new Edinburgh venue Ghillie Dhu.

When it opened the venue boasted of a range of "periodic features" that included "attention-grabbing male urinals".

The comments were bound to have caused trepidation among customers who wouldn't want their attention – or anything else for that matter – to be grabbed on a visit to the urinal.

But it turns out they only grab your attention because they are unusual "bucket" toilets rather than the more traditional porcelain bowl variety.

Murray takes campaign battle in new direction

LABOUR has followed up Tuesday's gaffe by Tory defence spokesman Liam Fox – when he got off a bus in Edinburgh and announced "Here we are in Aberdeen South" – by sending Dr Fox a map of Scotland.

Ian Murrray, Labour candidate in Edinburgh South – the seat Dr Fox was visiting – posted him the map. He says: "It is worrying when the man who wants to be in charge of Britain's defences can't tell which city he is in."

Dr Fox may also be embarrassed given his Scottish roots – he was born in East Kilbride and used to work as a GP in Pathhead, Midlothian.

Welcome to sin city

GLUTTONY, lust, sloth. While that may sound like a round-up of your bank holiday weekend, those three are actually among the seven deadly sins.

And it seems that we Scots are more likely to commit them than our English counterparts.

Research for the Edinburgh International Science Festival found that only 10 per cent of the country claimed never to have "sinned".

Researchers found the most popular trespasses are gluttony, lust and sloth. Chance would be a fine thing, we hear you say.

Mixed messages cause alarm

GIVEN that it's full of politicians, each convinced of their own point of view, it's not unusual to hear contradictory statements emanating from the Scottish Parliament.

But it was much more confusing earlier this week when a technical fault sparked a fire alert in the parliament and the automatic voice alarm issued completely contradictory instructions.

The disembodied voice first informed building users that fire had been reported, but to remain where they were while it was investigated.

Soon another voice announced: "Fire has been reported in the building, please leave immediately."

But then the "stay where you are" message came again. And the two continued to alternate and overlap, each seemingly trying to drown the other out.