Well I enthusiastically forecast New Zealand would smash all previous games medal records. Clearly enthusiasm can only take you so far. In the end the games were full of disappointments for us Kiwis.

There were many heroic fourths, thirds and seconds and not enough heroic firsts. A lot went wrong and I can't help wondering if the games village might, perhaps, have been a bit too much fun ...

Mind you, there were great highlights too. For me, an adolescent when the truly great John Walker emerged, Nick Willis was a very welcome blast from the past. And didn't he adopt a very Walker pose when he crossed the line? Valerie Vili was pumped for her competition and she definitely gave the best medal ceremony, tears streaming. The Sevens surprised, the netballers and Moss Burmester didn't. A shooting gold was a much needed bonus. The full haul is here.

At least they played Neil Finn at the closing ceremony.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Chris reports a disturbing and yet typically cretinous US legal non-decision. The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case about obscenity, leaving anyone who publishes sexual material on the Internet uncertain whether they're open to federal penalties. It was also Yahoo's turn to behave, like, super, super dumb.

Hooray for Nollywood! Nigeria now has the world's third largest film industry after Hollywood and Bollywood, says The Guardian's Jeevan Vasagar.

The Americans try, but fail, to explain what the bloody hell all that fuss was about surrounding that Aussie travel ad (via Arts & Letters Daily). Finally from Chris, a showdown in toytown. Postman Pat-owner Entertainment Rights says it’s considering making an offer for Chorion, the rights holder of Noddy and the Mr Men, two years after abandoning a previous takeover approach.

Monsiour le Broatch discovers the secret to Dan Brown's success. He also sent a link about Terry Gilliam's Brazil and the Wachowski's V for Vendetta. It's all Greek to me.

Penultimately, from moi (and Slate) why nobody gets to hear the good news from Iraq. Here's a message to the deaf: THE BOMBS ARE TOO LOUD!! (not to mention the sound of electric drills and the screams of Sunni bird breeders).

Ultimately, did anyone else notice the story in the Herald on Sunday about "historian" Michael Baigent's new book? Baigent, of course, is one of the guys accusing Dan Brown of plagiarism. Apparently, in his new book, Baigent reckons Jesus didn't die on the cross, it was all a big conspiracy. Well I've never heard that one before!

Oh, and my apologies for our muse's untoward behaviour this week. Ciao.

PS: Scrap! Scrap! Scrap! (via Lemurgram). I'll hold your sponge any day, Che.