One of my favorite TV shows is Norwegian, called 'Slow TV'. It's a series of broadcasts that are now on Netflix in which basically nothing happens but the slow processes of time. I've watched National Firewood Evening, in which wood is cut and then burned in a fireplace, a show in which a week-long cruise through the Norwegian Fjords is shown in real time (on Netflix sadly condensed down from almost 200 hours to just a few), and yesterday while trying to relax for half an hour or so I started the salmon fishing episode in which various cameras in a stream in Norway film fishermen (and women) trying to catch salmon (and, not surprisingly, rarely do).
My favorite episode, however, is the original: a 7-hour train ride from Bergen (on the west coast) to Oslo. Basically they put a GoPro on the front of a train and recorded every bit of the trip...from the stops at isolated outposts, the cabin announcements describing the snacks available in the dining car, the many tunnels (in which the screen would go black for however long the train was in it), but most of all the beautiful valleys and mountains of Norway. I have had it on as background several times and have watched through the whole thing at least twice.
There's something about Slow TV that speaks to me. No plot, no conflict (except for the fish being caught), no rush to get through anything. There are times I am way too over-committed, but letting the river valleys or the fjords or the fireplaces simply run their time gives me a sense of peace. It's not something I want all the time, but I need that sense of calm in my life.
