NEWS & BOOZE.

It is the end of an era.

In a few weeks,"Sunny", the proprietor of "News & Booze" is selling up & moving out of the Gallowgate.Gone,Free at Last! Young Sunny  has run this colourful shop-- opposite my Studio--since taking over from his father,"Big Peter",more years ago than I care to remember.
He has catered to the needs of this diverse community with great good humour & generosity of spirit,providing a wide range of goods to the people who cross his doors daily: the lank-haired & wan oddball artists & permanently skint beatniks of Dovehill Studios,the less-fortunate homeless vagabonds from the various hostels nearby,the confused & the drug-addled;football-crazed nutters en route to Parkhead,giggling teenage boy-band aficianado's queuing up all day at "The Barrowland Ballroom",Barra's traders & customers,ladies of the night(& day),broken-down alcoholic concert violinists & the occasional hammer wielding maniac on a post-prandial rampage,
He has served them all equally & with civility--ever considerate, with his can of "Everglade" air freshener at hand for his, sometimes,less than fragrant patrons.
His shop has had a wide range of goods,from newspapers,shoelaces,tinned foods,sweets,cigarettes & baccy--to cleansing fluids,bin bags & basic pharmeceuticals,including a surprisingly wide range of painkillers.Also,as the name might imply,"News & Booze" sells booze-- & lots of it.In this Twilight Zone of an area there is much demand for it--red biddy,Buckfast Tonic & economy family-size bottles of "Pulse","Frosty Jacks" &"White Blood" ciders being particularly popular tipples.All this served to a pleasing, in-shop soundtrack ranging from Philip Glass &Bela Bartok to Blue Oyster Cult. Amiable,well informed & cultured,Sunny is always willing to chat,whether on current affairs,music,art,bodybuilding,tongue & nipple infibulation or anything else you fancy.
Latterly,in these austere times,he has even kindly provided me with free, "sell-by" date, Plain sliced loaves.