The Variety on Sauchiehall Street is one of my favourite bars anywhere, and a truly great spot in Glasgow. Directly opposite what was the grandest art deco hotel in the city, the Variety was part of that deco cocktail renaissance the city went through in the 1930s and the interior is largely untouched since that time. Sure, it's a little crumbling and tatty round the edges but its combination of hardened drinkers and students from the art school up the road is a winner, as is the music beamed in from an iBook behind the bar - I heard Sonic Youth, Dusty Springfield and Boards Of Canada in a little over half an hour the other week. The Variety is also conveniently on my way home from work, and I'm off there now for a quickie before going home. It's going to be strange being in there now that the nights are getting longer: somehow its charm is enhanced by it being a bit dark and gloomy, but on the other hand I'll be able to read the paper and do the Glasgow Herald crossword without squinting or having to stand at the one spot at the bar that has enough light on it. It's been a long and busy day but I'm all content with it.