Vintage Obama

Many, many years ago, on a family holiday to Florida, I stood in line for a ride at MGM. Although I can't remember anything about the ride itself, my hour or so in the queue remains quite vivid. I was surrounded by a fabulous collection of Star Wars memorabilia, the most impressive of which was a full-size version of one of the Imperial AT-AT Walkers (I had to look up the proper name) from the start of The Empire Strikes Back. I was amazed, naturally, and said eagerly to one of the park attendants, "Did they use that in the film?". He laughed first, and then said soberly, which somehow made it all the more cutting, "No, they used little models in the movie". I was pretty embarrassed, truth be told, I'm still a little embarrassed.

In my defence, I was 12 years old and wasn't running for President.

Here's Obama at Mt Rushmore (from the AP):

Obama said it was his first visit to the landmark.

He did express curiosity about the filming of a chase scene in "North by Northwest," Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 classic starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint that included a death-defying scramble over Rushmore's presidential faces.

"How did they get up there in the first place?" he asked ranger Wesley Jensen.

"They didn't. It was a movie set," Jensen told him.

It stings, Barack, I know, don't fight it, just get back on the horse.