A couple of weeks ago, I was on a toboggan ride down a winding road from the village of Monte to Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira. 2 kilometres in a wicker basket being ‘controlled’ with ropes by 2 men standing on the basket behind the passenger seats, a form of transport that first originated in the area in the early 19th century. It was fun – CNN called it one of the 7 best commutes in the world, apparently. I took a video of the whole thing because I remembered this TED talk about Norway’s TV show about ‘the world’s most boring television and why it’s hilariously addictive’ – so maybe you’ll find my toboggan ride somewhat interesting, I don’t know. Maybe it’ll even make someone ‘inordinately happy’ as those videos of entire train journeys did, for one commenter to this old Metafilter post.
I’ve obviously watched it a few times myself by now (it *is* bizarrely addictive, in my biased opinion!). There were some lovely views of the sea, points when I thought we’d dash into walls or go into the gutters by the side (but didn’t), and we passed an intersection where a car crossed the road just seconds before we continued down the path. I even stopped to smile for a photographer at one point.
With my addiction to on-demand entertainment courtesy the ‘Netflix and chill’ culture I currently live in, slow TV might be the antidote I need to my hyper-wired brain at the moment.
One Size Fits One 