Home truths.

Byline: By Graeme Whitfield

There is a great film called Manhattan which ends with Woody Allen lying on his sofa, listing all the things that make life worth living.

It's something we should all do occasionally.

Starting off my list is quite easy: The bit in Gregory's Girl where they walk through the country park; the song Groove Is In The Heart; seeing Robert Kilroy-Silk and the UK Independence Party destroying each other.

These are all fairly obvious things that just about anyone with a pulse can enjoy.

But the more I think about it, the more I add to my list some fairly mindless activities, too: seeing people fall over in the street, sledging or popping bubble wrap.

Perhaps what this points to is this: it is important in life to take pleasure from things that are absolutely stupid.

Top of my list in this category is driving under bridges in the heavy rain.

Turn the radio off, stop talking if there is anyone else in the car and listen to the sound the rain makes ( the steady fizz of drizzle ( on your windscreen. When you drive under a bridge the noise will briefly stop and then start again, and it is one of the most fun things you can ever imagine.

If that sounds stupid I urge you to go and give it a try. The Coast Road is quite good for this, as is the A69 between Newcastle and Hexham or the A1 Western Bypass. They all have flyover bridges that are ideal. Within a couple of miles you'll love driving in the heavy rain as much as I do, I guarantee it.

A friend of mine has the amazing ability to name the actor who played just about any character in the Australian soap Neighbours from the last 15 years.

He amassed such useless knowledge by making sure he always watched the credits at the end of each episode and then memorising all the names.

By any stretch of the imagination, that is a fairly stupid thing to do, but I can't even begin to tell you of the fun it's brought us ( and indeed many other people ( over the years.

There's no good reason for driving under bridges or remembering Neighbours characters to be such fun, and that might be part of the appeal. They're such brainless activities and yet by their very nature, they are pretty much open to anyone to enjoy.

Of course, there are things that happen in life that are just as stupid and meaningless, but make you want to tear your hair out with frustration. Why, for example, do people drop litter in the streets when there are generally lots of bins around? Do they think the beauty of Newcastle city centre is somehow increased by their empty crisp bags and tab ends? Or are they just lazy idiots?

Perhaps the key in life is to make sure there are more of the fun stupid things than annoying stupid things around you.

Every time you see people leave a football match early (what are they going to do with that extra five minutes that's better than watching footy?), maintain a balance by driving under lots of bridges in the rain then asking my mate who played Shane Ramsay.

Or even better, go out and do something pointless of your own.