Once again, this article comes to you courtesy of two different trains of thought, neither owned by Transport For Wales!
Which explains why it isn’t overcrowded with words, arrived on the editor’s desk on time, and there are no leaves on any of my lines.
My first train of thought is pulling into the station . . .
Not being a ‘telly addict’, my TV is switched off more than it’s on.
I like using my ‘little grey cells’ on creative or productive things.
But, there are times I need to relax in front of the telly.
The more channels and streaming services I have at my disposal, the harder it is to find something entertaining to watch, like an intelligent ‘who-dun-it’.
That’s partly because many modern who-dun-its are remakes (or in modern parlance ‘re-boots’) of old who-dun-its. Invariably, within 10 minutes I realise there’s no point me sitting through to the finale because I remember who-dun-what-to-whom-and-why.
Look! The second train’s just arrived . . .
I know it’s an age thing with me, but many American leading men (heroes, if you like) on TV and film today are anonymous faces to me.
Obviously not high-profile stars who’ve been around a long time, like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Denzel Washington or Al Pacino.
While I always recognised Ryan O’Neal, I don’t know Ryan Gosling from Ryan Reynolds.
If actors Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine and Chris Pratt walked into my living room, I couldn’t tell one Chris from another.
I’d be too busy complaining on the phone to the bloke who fitted my front door locks.
Watch old films on TV and you’ll immediately recognize Kirk Douglas, Sidney Poitier, Tony Curtis, James Stewart, Robert Mitchum . . . even the ‘newer’ lot like Harrison Ford, Robert Redford and Sylvester Stallone. They all had distinctive faces.
It doesn’t help that many Hollywood leading men hide their features under thick beards.
I like Graham Norton, but one night I suddenly realised his Friday chat show often features actors I don’t know, talking about their latest film or TV show that I’ll never watch.
Is there a new John Wayne film at the pictures this week?