He reassembles, I dissemble

Forget about mindfulness and calm abiding, I (and many others sporting both an X and Y chromosome I imagine) have been greatly soothed and comforted this week by three episodes of James May's The Reassembler on BBC 4.

It breaks down like this; an amiable middle aged man in a shed puts objects back together from their constituent parts, while drinking tea and nattering. Imagine the excitement in the meeting in which they pitched the idea to the channel.

Slow TV became an unlikely hit in Norway in 2009 with a seven-hour film about a train journey, followed by a 12-hour knitting marathon and the live broadcast of a five-day boat trip which had thousands of people lining the route and was watched by more than half of the Norwegian population.

Reassembler III, in which a Japanese 80s Stratocaster gets the treatment spoke to me particularly directly. My electric axe is an Asian Fender knock-off as well. I remember the first time a string broke on it. Having no clue how to put another one on it, I laid the guitar on its back and started taking it apart from the front, only to discover (half an hour and numerous pieces later) that you restring a Strat by removing a plate on the rear and pushing a replacement through. No James May I.

Hmm......