I’ve generally ignored the Olympics in the past. Of course, given the fact the last few times I was incredibly young and didn’t get anything out of watching them. But for some reason this time it’s different. I’ve actually watched some coverage about every night or at least checked up on them at NBC Olympics to see what’s up.
Few notes:
- Michael Phelps is all that is man.
- Usain Bolt is literally a freaking lightning bolt.
- Shawn Johnson is kinda hot.
- Okay, about all of the USA’s gymnastic women were kind of.
I noticed when I was looking at the stats for my blog that some people have actually ended up at my blog looking for the meaning of the John Mayer song Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, which I posted a while back. Because obviously some people have looked for it before, I figured I would post my interpretation here.
The lyrics
It’s not a silly little moment
It’s not the storm before the calm
This is the deep and dying breath of
This love that we’ve been working on
Can’t seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms
Nobody’s gonna come and save you
We pulled too many false alarms
We’re going down
And you can see it too
We’re going down
And I know that we’re doomed
My dear, we’re slow dancing in a burning room
I was the one you always dreamed of
You were the one I tried to draw
How dare you say it’s nothing to me
Baby, you’re the only light I ever saw
I make the most of all the sadness
You be a bitch because you can
You try to hit me just to hurt me
Just to leave me feeling dirty
Cause you can’t understand
We’re going down
And you can see it too
We’re going down
And you know that we’re doomed
Don’t you think we should know by now?
Don’t you think we should have learned somehow?
My dear, we’re slow dancing in a burning room.
—”Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”, John Mayer
The Interpretation
The song is written, obviously, from a male’s perspective in a relationship. He has realized that their relationship is failing, but has accepted it, and is at peace with it in his mind. You could surmise that it was written after a fight, or even an epiphany by the male about their doomed relationship. Either way it may be, it is clear that something has occurred that has made the man realize their relationship simply isn’t working. In the first stanza he states that this is the “deep and dying breath of / this love that we’ve been working on.” (3-4)
This, however isn’t from lack of trying. In the second stanza he states that he “can’t seem to hold [her] like [he] [wants] to / so [he] can feel [her] in [his] arms” (5-6) I would also surmise that their relationship has been turbulent for a while, as he also feels that “nobody’s gonna come and save [her] / [they've] pulled too many false alarms.” (7-8) Their relationship has been failing for quite some time, and caused them both pain, however they’ve not given up, in turn causing them even more hardship. Their friends who they would go to for advice have seemingly turned their backs on them, as the couple has blindly held on, resisting the advice of their friends, consequently making things worse for themselves. Their friends see this, and are no longer willing to comfort them as they feel their situation is the couple’s situation is their own fault.
The couple’s reasons for hanging on are partially revealed in the fourth stanza. He states that he was “the one [she] always dreamed of.” (14), while she was the “one [he] tried to draw.” (15) When she begins to get the feeling that he’s giving up on their relationship, she grows angry, accusing him of thinking the relationship was “nothing to [him]” (16) He defends by saying, “How dare you say [that] [...] / Baby, you’re the only light I ever saw.” (16, 17)
The anger and sadness that takes over their relationship bothers him, but he “makes the most of [it]” (18) She reacts to his decision by “[being] a bitch because [she] can” (19) and “[trying] to hit [him] just to hurt [him] / Just to leave [him] feeling dirty / Because [she] can’t understand” (20-22) But still they persist. They want so badly for the relationship to flourish, but it simply isn’t working out.
The burning room represents their relationship, which is crumbling around them. Rather than escaping it, however, they are willfully staying in it, “slow dancing” as it crumbles around them. They simply cannot be together, but love each other—hopelessly, even blindly—too much to not be together.
I came across this post on Think Christian concerning the TV show The X-Files and its spiritual/scientific standings. I thought the following was a pretty dead-on description:
I was a big fan of The X-Files back in the 90s, and was frequently impressed by its earnest and occasionally nuanced exploration of the conflict between a faith-based worldview (Mulder and his ability to believe in most anything) and Scully’s scientific, agnostic worldview (capable of clinging to scientific explanations far beyond the point of reason). I liked that the show tried to depict each worldview respectfully, and over the course of the series pitted each character up against challenges that threatened their particular understanding of the cosmos. I wouldn’t describe the show’s spiritual themes as particularly deep; it never got much more specific than “faith vs. science”—but at the time there weren’t many other shows exploring that theme with the same earnestness.
He couldn’t be any more right. I used to watch The X-Files constantly while growing up. I’ve probably seen every episode. It was always interesting to me because it wasn’t like any other show. Sure, it had “unrealistic” things such as aliens, but that wasn’t anything new: so many sci-fi shows had the same thing. But what made The X-Files so interesting was you walked away from it with a new way of thinking. Unlike most shows, not only was it entertaining, but it was thought-provoking. It walked the line between science and spiritualism very closely, presenting both sides respectfully and inquisitively. TV could use more shows that not only entertain you, but challenge your thoughts and beliefs so that you grow stronger in them and come to full terms with what you actually believe.
I haven’t seen the new X-Files movie, but I’m sure I’ll see it sometime soon.
The comprehensive Django blogging solution that Bruce Kroeze and gang have been working on, Banjo, has been released in Beta on Banjo’s website here. Even in the short time I’ve been watching Banjo’s progress I’ve seen it come a long way, and I don’t see it slowing down any time soon. Watch out, Wordpress.
Not sure when this happened because I don’t use Del.i—excuse me—Delicious anymore. That’s right. Yahoo! bought Del.icio.us a while back and has now released a new design and many new features but most notably: they took away the dots. The once witty del.icio.us domain utilizing a .us domain now redirects to Delicious.com.
The new design and features, however, are great. Good going Yahoo!! (two exclamation marks because Yahoo! already has one in it 
)
Wordpress is powered by PHP. Lots of it. Generally Django/Python developers like myself have a vendetta against PHP for some reason. I suppose it’s because they find Python so much more efficient, and PHP is incredibly hard to get complex projects done with. Personally, I don’t have a problem with PHP. I don’t use it anymore (two years, cold turkey), but I’m not altogether against it either.
But since I’m a Django developer, why am I using Wordpress for my personal site? It’s obvious, isn’t it? Sure I could easily develop a blogging solution in Django. There are so many of them. Bruce Kroeze and gang are currently working on a pretty promising looking Django blogging all-in-one solution called Banjo. But still I have opted to use Wordpress simply for this reason: it’s developed. PHP usage aside, Wordpress is a great app that makes blogging extremely simple to do. I could spend—even in Django—several hours developing something of my own that compares to it, or I could just embrace it and use it to simplify my life.
I choose Wordpress.