Talk of the Town: Window display a little less colourful

RESIDENTS of Portobello were getting a little hot under the collar last week when some “provocative” paintings by artist Laetitia Guilband appeared in the windows of a vacant shop in the High Street.

Following complaints from residents who felt the images made the shop look “like a brothel”, the council said it would take them down and replace them with something “more suitable”.

And it seems what is deemed more suitable for the straight-laced locals is a return to the innocent value of the 1940s.

The images have now been replaced with gentle scenes of landscapes and cruise ships.

Touch of class for the residents of Portobello

ON the subject of Porty, there has not been so much excitement amongst the middle classes of Portobello since the wild rumour recently swept the seaside community that Waitrose was going to move on to the old Scottish Power site.

The organic food company Earthy Foods and Goods has quietly opened a new warehouse-sized store in Porty and all the talk in recent days has been of organic olive oil, hot chilli jam and the impressive range of Fairtrade chocolate. The only question left now on everyone’s lips is how will the already car-jammed Windsor Place cope with the new influx of people carriers and Chelsea tractors?

Joke’s on Fern’s ex

IF you’re a performer, you can expect to take a lashing from the acid pen of a critic at some point.

But one comedian new to the game wasted no time in turning the tables to berate a city magazine critic at the recent So You Think You’re Funny? finals.

Fern Brady had already based half of her show on an embarrassing encounter with said reviewer, who also happened to be her ex-boyfriend. Accepting her £500 prize from comic Lee Mack, the third-place runner-up said: “My ex-boyfriend is comedy editor at Fest magazine and every word of that story is true.”

Shirley pales an orange

THE pitfalls of having an ‘orange glow’ were highlighted by porcelain-skinned songstress Shirley Manson at a recent appearance on a US chat show.

Edinburgh-born Manson, 45, told the host of the Late Show, Craig Ferguson, how she was baffled by the trend of Scots women sporting orange faces with white necks.

“My husband is always like, ‘What is with the girls with orange faces? I don’t understand it’,” she said.