A pint of plain is your only man

Well, President Obama finally downed the proffered pint of Guinness with good grace and seemed to enjoy it. How unlike our own dear Queen who greeted the offer of a glass of stout with a 'what the hell am I supposed to do with this?' look, like a cat bemused by a Rubik's Cube, before stalking off. Given that her job consists entirely of waving, looking regal and being pleasant, she really ought to have done better than a guy with his mind on the fraught job running a not-insignificant country. So much for the effortless grace of the Royals outshining the lumpen efforts of all those grubby little elected presidents. Republic 1, Monarchy 0.

At least she didn't ruin the pint by mixing it with sparkling wine. Which reminds me of my favourite joke from Samuel Beckett:

Why did the barmaid sham pain?

Because the Because the stout porter bit her.