The Saudi King Comes To Buck House....

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2007-10-31 04:44pm

All that's missing to complete this Moment in Awesome, is for some British official to say on TV, with a straight face, "We did it for the lulz. With all due respect to King Abdullah, it was simply too awesome to restrain."

andrewgpaul · Post by **andrewgpaul** » 2007-10-31 05:58pm

Oh, now this shows up in N& P, but my thread gets locked because Dartzap originally posted this in Testing, of all places.

grumblegrumblegrumble.

loomer · Post by **loomer** » 2007-10-31 07:02pm

See, THIS is why I want the British Empire back. The sheer level of incredible awesome.

TC Pilot · Post by **TC Pilot** » 2007-10-31 07:20pm

Beyond the unjustified implication that the Galactic Empire is evil, I really have to wonder if the Saudi king has any idea what the Imperial March is.

Ryan Thunder · Post by **Ryan Thunder** » 2007-10-31 07:23pm

loomer wrote:See, THIS is why I want the British Empire back. The sheer level of incredible awesome.

Seconded. With chocolate, or vodka or something.

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2007-10-31 07:34pm

Dartzap wrote:
Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:I wouldn't mind having a band playing Imperial March for me as well, gives me some.. Imperial Dignity.

But that aside, it seems apt. They should play that for Bush or Cheney if they ever come visiting.
I feel that "Send In The Clowns" would be rather more appropriate.

How does that sound?

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-10-31 11:58pm

Although it is almost unprecedented for an entire country to win this award, let alone Britain, it is a self-evident fact:

I salute you, Britannia!

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2007-11-01 03:48am

I wonder if the Queen knew what it was.

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2007-11-01 06:31am

I can't find anything on it on major news sites.

I can't help but wonder if this was all hours apart, with the band warming up well before the King arrived, but playing something quite different when he did.

Still awesome, the theme song of one of the most Evil Empire's to greet the King of Saudi

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2007-11-01 08:30am

Chris OFarrell wrote:I can't find anything on it on major news sites.

I can't help but wonder if this was all hours apart, with the band warming up well before the King arrived, but playing something quite different when he did.

Still awesome, the theme song of one of the most Evil Empire's to greet the King of Saudi

Channel 4 (the link I posted) is a major news source, it's entirely possible everyone else just missed it or wanted to report on the human rights stuff instead.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2007-11-01 09:00am

Wow.

I wouldn't mind being greeted with that music, but I do wonder if the Saudi kind recognized it...

Oni Koneko Damien · Post by **Oni Koneko Damien** » 2007-11-01 12:09pm

In the linked Youtube video, did anyone notice the 'Policy Exchange' official's name was Stephen King?

SCRawl · Post by **SCRawl** » 2007-11-01 12:40pm

Oni Koneko Damien wrote:In the linked Youtube video, did anyone notice the 'Policy Exchange' official's name was Stephen King?

I did, actually, and found it somewhat amusing in an off-topic kind of way.

I will chime in with my $0.02 (Cdn), that this is indeed awesome. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving head of state.

As for Bush/Cheney, I'm thinking "Hail to the Chief" by a symphony of kazoos wouldn't be too objectionable to me. It has that kind of backhanded respectability to it.

Pelranius · Post by **Pelranius** » 2007-11-01 01:55pm

To be honest, I feel this seems as dramatically appropriate as playing the Imperial March for Nute Gunray. Sure, the Saudi royals are a bunch of kleptocrats and such, but there are far more deserving personalities out there.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-11-01 02:15pm

I wonder if any other ceremonial guards from other countries display the same sort of sly humour? The Imperial March would perhaps be more appropriate for either Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Il or who ever the Chinese chairman is...

Vaporous · Post by **Vaporous** » 2007-11-01 04:59pm

That...that's magic.

Lord of the Abyss · Post by **Lord of the Abyss** » 2007-11-01 05:17pm

Dartzap wrote:
Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:I wouldn't mind having a band playing Imperial March for me as well, gives me some.. Imperial Dignity.

But that aside, it seems apt. They should play that for Bush or Cheney if they ever come visiting.
I feel that "Send In The Clowns" would be rather more appropriate.

How about the Wicked Witch of the West soldier's marching chant ? "Yo-E-Yo, YOOOOOOO-OH ! Yo-E-Yo, YOOOOOOO-OH !" Goofy and ominous at the same time.

DavidEC · Post by **DavidEC** » 2007-11-01 06:06pm

I hate to ruin the mood, but this casts some doubt:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 788560.ece

A Darth song to play for the King

Is this a new fakery scandal involving the media rearing its head? On Monday, Channel 4 News reported the state visit of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. As he met the Queen, it appeared that the band of the Welsh Guards played The Imperial March from the movie The Empire Strikes Back. A touch rude this, what with it famously being the signature tune of Darth Vader. “Before, they played light music, one of which was the theme from Star Wars,” confirmed a spokesman for the Army’s London district. “But as soon as [King Abdullah] stepped out of the vehicle then the Saudi Arabian national anthem was played.”

Channel 4 tell us that their editing was only intended as light-hearted comment, and that no mention of the music was made in the script. So that’s all fine. Isn’t it?

The lack of corroboration from other news outlets is just damn frustrating, either for it being real or it being a fake. But then again I don't have access to a TV.