As Beijing recedes, I was sifting through the detritus for a nation or athlete that reminded me most of Rodal in the 1996 games. Of course there were a few as it is fair to say that there are and always will be those like Vebjorn who rise to the Olympic occasion with the small but focused tide of their country's support behind them.

First I looked to the 800 meters where I found that Rodal's Olympic record stayed well intact and that the anticipated front runners ran in front. No major surprises there amongst the medals. Usain Bolt comes from tiny Jamaica and his unparalleled dominance in the sprints surely had his fellow countrymen reveling in unison, but he'd set the world record coming into the games so only his dominance, not his triumph, was surprising. The Jamaican women jointly shone as brightly as Bolt.

I’ll go with Constantina Tomescu of Romania, who won the gold in the women’s marathon. Her country’s modest medal take (8) is roughly Norwegian in scale (Norway happily racked up 10, including 3 golds that eluded SI’s pre-games radar). Personally, she took a 3rd at her last World Championships (ala Rodal) and then peaked at the Olympics. Toss in that she’s 38 and most certainly her greatest chapter has been written here at these Games with a stunning victory already etched in her nation’s athletic lore.

-Tom Flynn

*(see Flynn's pre Olympic piece Gold Free Games)

Hasbro is changing the names of the characters in Clue. Is nothing sacred?

Has Senator John McCain forgotten that in 2003 the United States invaded Iraq, or has the Republican presidential nominee simply lost track of which century we're in?

Long the envy by the likes of man, the cloak of invisibility, a technology once only possessed by Predator, Federation Starships, and Frodo Baggins, is one step closer to reality. In an confusingly-titled article ("Science Close to Unveiling Invisible Man"), the Times Online reports big advances in the realm of invisibility, though the technology still teasingly wavers in the distance a few years off. "Xiang Zhang, the leader of the researchers, said: 'In the case of invisibility cloaks or shields, the material would need to curve light waves completely around the object like a river flowing around a rock.' An observer looking at the cloaked object would then see light from behind it – making it seem to disappear."Great observation Dr. Zhang. Gary Busey said the same thing in Predator 2 (1990). I imagine it will be but a few short years after this cloak is perfected, that people will start lining up, shelling out twice or perhaps thrice as much for the +1 version, and, a few years after that, the code to a more highly coveted item will be broken: the legendary boots of escaping.

-C. Barclayhill, wealthy businessman

(*In fairness to the gentleman pictured above, he admitted this (uninvisible) iteration of the Predator suit was a prototype. Chad Barclayhill may be cynical, but he is not cruel to the common man.)

It might not matter if your IT department is run by a guy like Terry Childs, aka Maggot617, the network administrator accused of blocking access—for anyone but himself, for days—to a San Francisco government system "that controls data for its police, courts, jails, payroll and health service."

Associated Press is pronouncing him dead at 65. By coincidence, last night I happened to watched Escape from New York for the like thousandth time but for what was also the first time in a long time, and there he was as always as The Duke of New York. Did Fanzine jinx him? wf

Who will replace him in Ocean's Fourteen?

You might have noticed in one of our recent header photos, two comely folks standing in front of a bunch of graffiti signatures (with the Melvins’ John Hancock most prominent in the background). Well that’s the power duo of writers Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian. Will be seeing them when I head to the Bay area next week. The 2nd book Fanzine Press is doing after The Weaklings will be Kevin Killian’s Screen Tests, a book of personal essays about film. So we’ll be going over the logistics of that soon. For now check out a new essay by Dodie Bellamy about the artist Tariq Alvi on Tarpaulin Sky #14. The above photo is Alvi's "The Bandaged Lady" -CM

Flying anywhere this summer? Planning on being thirsty on the plane? Well as the NY Times just reported, U.S. Airways has a new strategy for cutting costs. They now will charge for coffee and sodas, but flight attendants have the power, the discretion to offer say a $2 coke for $1 or, heck, even free, if customers get angry enough. I see riots in the making...

Anyway, sorry for the slowness of the blog. Too durn hot! Happy summer, more soon.

(drawing Danny Jock)