Talk about coincidences . . .

What, I ask you, are the chances of two people thinking, "Let's take a relatively obscure Welsh painter who has been dead for a quarter of a century and make a programme about him!"? Don't bet on it. It happened today.

I've spent a most enjoyable day doing light research: that is, sitting at my computer and meandering my way through the Internet, interspersed with light telephoning to curators, librarians, film makers and one amazingly interested and helpful PA. The end of all this electronic gossiping is that I've discovered that MY painter who I was going to use for MY programme (not that it's been commissioned yet) has been purloined by a film company in North Wales.

Archie Rhys Griffiths (1902 - 1971) was born in Aberdare but brought up in Gorseinon on the outskirts of Swansea. He worked in the Mountain Colliery and the tinplate works at Gorseinon

before attending Swansea School of Art (1919 - 1924) and the Royal College of Art (1924 - 1927). Griffiths produced a mural at the Workingmen's College in Camden Town (1932). And I've got an engraving of Old Loughor Bridge of his, given to my grandfather on his retirement. His work is in the Vivian Art Gallery in the Permanent Collection and, I think, in the National Museum in Cardiff. He was described by the artist Ceri Richards as “a grave figure of some dignity … the artist of dreams” but he ended as “depressed, crumpled, monosyllabic” and an alcoholic. I think. That is one of the things about his life; it's not easy to find out about him - hence the light research. I will have to wait until Geraint (the man who had already done his heavy research) gets back to me, so I can find out what, if anything is left for me. I will keep you informed.

Meanwhile my 'unwaged' status is now official and the powers that be are interested and I have had official phone calls (as well as me making some of my own.) It's a long time (first year university vacation) since I have been into Job Centres for myself. It will be an interesting experience. It will be especially interesting to see if they have done anything to make the experience a little more human than it was at the end of the sixties! Dear God, that's 36 years ago.

The hysterical demands of air carriers have now come home to me. It was bad enough returning from Barcelona in the summer with the tail end of a luggage handlers strike combined with the restrictions linked to the prevention of terrorism, but now we are planning to go to Dublin for the weekend and have had a list of demands sent through to the house via the computer. We can take razors as cabin luggage but not the shaving foam to use with them; we can take a nail file, but not hand cream; we can take electronic equipment with bluetooth capability but not a bar of soap. Is this one of those times when you just have to believe that the authorities know what they are doing? Or . . . I know which side my thoughts lie on.

This will be the first time that I have been to Dublin and am much looking forward to it. I will not be following in Bloom's footsteps as I will have three Barbarians with me who will, I trust, keep my propensity for pretension under some sort of Guinness control.