President gives queen an iPod

For a White House that is meticulous about every small detail, President Obama might want to seek more help in the gift-giving department.

Maybe something more personal than consumer electronics would be nice.

Today, he gave Queen Elizabeth II an iPod. The BBC reports: "President Obama has given the Queen an iPod during their private meeting at Buckingham Palace. It contains footage of her state visit to the US in May 2007. The Queen has given the president a silver framed photograph of herself and her husband. The official picture is what she gives all visiting dignitaries."

As a secondary present, Obama also gave a rare songbook signed by Richard Rodgers of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame.

Last month, when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Washington, Obama gave him a parting gift of 25 DVDs of classic American movies.

That got the cackles up of the British press, which noted that Brown offered the president a more thought-out present: an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet.