Talk of the Town: Bringing cheer to the Royal Smile

But on the BBC show Pleasure and Pain, TV presenter and former doctor Michael Mosley focused instead on a survey which had found the Capital's residents were the most miserable in Britain.

In a bid to cheer up passers-by on the Royal Mile, he asked them to hold a pencil between their teeth, as apparently the act forces your facial muscles into something resembling a smile, tricking your brain into making you feel happier. Certainly the sight of a pair of blue meanies champing down on their pencils and still attempting to talk raised a genuine smile here.

Squirrel fails to go nuts over Commie Pool revamp

WE reported last month on the arrival in the Twitterverse of the Meadows Squirrel, who tweets on all manner of matters relating to the park.

Unsurprisingly, many of his messages focus on the harvest and storage of nuts, but he has also branched out into wider concerns.

This week we are amused to see him tweet of concern to those across the Southside and beyond: "Managed to sneak into the Commie today and can exclusively reveal . . . it's not that different."

Close shave for students

WITH gloomy news that the financial misery may be around for some considerable time, there was a ray of sunshine for local students in the shape of free razors.

Wilkinson Sword has announced that it will be coming to the Capital next month to give away free products of the new Hydro range and teach some scruffy students all about grooming, so they can look their best the next time they skip lectures to go on a protest march.

There is one setback, however. The event is being held on a Monday morning at 10am.

Prickly problem for pizza

INTRIGUING menu suggestions have been received from Mamma's Pizza, with the restaurant celebrating 25 years in the Grassmarket with a contest to find a new pizza topping.

The winning pizza will be named after its creator and feature on the Mamma's menu throughout the summer.

One of the three finalists is the All American pizza suggested by one Jayne-Leigh Thomas, which includes not only fried egg, garlic, prosciutto and artichoke, but also cactus.

Perhaps she was aiming to provide a dish which came with its own toothpicks . . .