Is Vlad Sad?

He shouldn't be. His Olympics are over and we're all still here. The terrorists held off, the infrastructure held up, more or less, and Russia even won the medal count, beating the U.S. and all the other countries for both total medals and gold. So why did Vlad look so stern at the closing ceremony last night? I didn't watch it all but every time the camera zeroed in on President Putin in the stands he looked like someone had just killed his cat.

Of course, the Sochi show wasn't perfect. There were the lightbulb/shower curtain glitches at the beginning, the hockey team lost to the U.S. and it's never good when you're being ridiculed because your toilets won't flush. There's also all that unpleasantness in Ukraine. Still, overall the games went better than many people expected, the flag's been passed and now Rio's in the spotlight, with concerns about citizens being displaced from their homes and construction that's way behind schedule. So cheer up, Vlad, and crack a smile now and then. It looks like your $51 billion was (at least partly) well spent.

And yet... What happens to cities when the Olympic circus leaves town? Will Sochi turn into an on-going international winter resort destination or will most of the facilities built for the Games end up sitting empty and unused? Salon has a fascinating look at former Olympic cities and how they've evolved over the years. Not to put too fine a point on it, Sochi is probably screwed.