London Ninja

This is from earlier this month but since I missed it while being on holiday, I thought I would revisit my angst. When British PM Gordon Brown visited the US earlier in March, he gave Obama:

“…a pen holder made from wood from the anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. The gift was both classy and priceless, showing an understanding of the significance of Obama’s ascendence to the presidency.”

In return, Obama gave our British PM a 25 DVD Box Set. Yes, a set of some of the greatest movies of American history…namely:

# Citizen Kane
# The Godfather
# Casablanca
# Raging Bull
# Singin’ in the Rain
# Gone with the Wind
# Lawrence of Arabia
# Schindler’s List
# Vertigo
# The Wizard of Oz
# City Lights
# The Searchers
# Star Wars: Episode IV
# Psycho
# 2001: A Space Odyssey
# Sunset Boulevard
# The Graduate
# The General
# On the Waterfront
# It’s a Wonderful Life
# Chinatown
# Some Like It Hot
# The Grapes of Wrath
# ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
# To Kill a Mockingbird

I would have personally included Matrix, Indiana Jones, maybe some Rocky Rambo. I mean, what is more American than a veteran of war blowing shit up? Hmm, add Armageddon and Independence Day in there also, as they show that when the world is in crisis, America comes to the rescue. All in all, however, you got ET, some Marilyn Monroe, Jack Nicholson…even Psycho and Star Wars Episode IV were on there. Jar Jar Binks has more international appeal than you would care to know. The problem I have is that DVDs are assigned a region, which means only special (or hacked) DVD players would be able to play such DVDs. The fact that you are making Gordy Brown hack his Downing Street DVD player does show some serious cheek on the part of the prez. WTF.

The good news is that Michelle Obama is more keen on gift giving and has personally asked aids to pick out Marine One helicopter models for Gordon Brown’s sons. Fair enough. I wouldn’t mind playing with those. Transformers or PSPs may be more fun but you can’t just buy Marine One plastic helicopters on the high street.

Jon Stewart sums it up a bit better than I do here: