CORK, Ireland — It was a surreal week in many respects. When Queen Elizabeth’s BAE 146 Whisperjet touched down in the Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, the nation seemed to take in one long, measured breath. For four days thereafter, the weight of history made everything else shrink into insignificance. We scarcely blinked at the thought of Obama’s forthcoming stopover. We forgot about debt, jobs, policies. The IMF told us we were on track and making progress, and we even landed a few blows in the ongoing corporate tax spat with Sarkozy. But much of this fell to the wayside while we sat glued to our televisions and watched a small 85-year-old woman and her 90-year-old husband disembark, smile, greet. She made headlines — made history — with her emerald green attire and that familiar, delicate wave.

Geographically, Ireland is as close as forty miles to the UK, but for all that has happened between the two over the centuries, she might as well have been taking her first steps on the moon. Time has moved on. There are now a great deal more Irish people whose experience of the countries’ troubled relationship is confined primarily to history books, a few Hollywood movies, and half-hour montages from RTÉ’s popular historical series Reeling in the Years.

The days and weeks leading up to her visit raised few heads, bar the usual grumbles from republicans. Or at least, I personally wasn’t paying too much attention. However, the sight of her plane descending from grey skies stirred up the significance of the occasion. The first monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland. The first to even touch Irish soil in a century. I wondered what it must have be like for her as she came down those steps. It must have been strange to have access (and be welcome) to so many parts of the world, and yet to be unspokenly denied by her nearest nation and the echo of war.

And maybe stranger still for the door to finally open in her 85th year.

Although Ireland and the UK now enjoy a harmonious relationship and lucrative trade deals, no corners were cut when it came to security. The week preceding her arrival was a string of nervy reports of viable devices and coded IRA threats. The euro equivalent of $42 million was spent on ensuring her safety and stamping out possible attacks from dissident republican groups. There were violent protests from a handful of dissenters on Dorset Street, just a few hundred metres from O’Connell Street and Parnell Square, but police in riot gear held them off comfortably. Controversially, Sinn Féin declined to participate in the visit that was described by party leader Gerry Adams as “premature”. He and others opted instead to “celebrate republicanism” by releasing 1,000 black balloons to coincide with the Queen’s excursion to the Garden of Remembrance. Inside, however, she laid a wreath at the sculpture of the Children of Lir and bowed her head noticeably, paying her respects to the soldiers who had fought British crown forces for the sake of Irish independence. It was a poignant acknowledgment of Ireland’s sovereignty and bestowed respect upon those who had died fighting for it. In light of this, republican demonstrations seemed weak and fussy, even self-defeating.

She followed an exhaustive, if sterile, tour of Ireland’s historical sites, planting trees, visiting Áras an Uachtaráin, The Book of Kells, the Guinness Storehouse, Government Buildings, Croke Park, and Islandbridge (a memorial garden dedicated to the 50,000 Irish soldiers who fought and died for Britain in World War I.)

A state dinner was held in Dublin castle where, to her credit, she met and greeted 160 guests—a feat at any age, let alone at 85. There had been plenty speculation about her scheduled speech. The matter of whether there would be an apology made many headlines in the UK and around the world, but despite reports to the contrary, the Irish people neither expected nor demanded an apology. This visit was never intended to act as some sort of confessional for years of colonial fallout.

Britain’s is a constitutional monarchy and it has not operated in a political capacity in decades. She is the head of state, an ambassador, and not a general or a strategist. It was never the Queen’s responsibility to apologise for The Troubles. The mood of the event was one of reconciliation as a means of moving on from the past, and her words were fashioned around this more optimistic notion.

In an unexpected gesture, she opened with Irish.

“A Uachtaráin agus a chairde”.

President, friends.

Those cúpla focail, perfectly enunciated, will most likely live longer in people’s memories than anything else the Queen said or did. She spoke of the anguish the conflict had wrought and accepted that mistakes had been made by all throughout the two nations’ tetchy story.

“To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past, I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathies. With the benefit of historical hindsight, we can all see things which we would have done differently or not at all.”

She honoured President Mary McAleese, who had originally invited the Queen as early as 1998, shortly after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and her meditative words garnered a five-minute standing ovation from a room full of diplomats, politicians, and poets.

From Dublin, she moved south, passing through Kildare and Tipperary before arriving in Cork where the sun made a rare appearance. In contrast to Dublin, where security efforts had resulted in large exclusion zones and mostly empty streets, the Queen was met by a crowd of 30,000 in the rebel city and here she embarked on an impromptu meet-and-greet with the some of the people who had lined Grand Parade to see her. With the help of blue skies, the occasion turned into something of a festival experience, and the crowds were treated to live music performances and food fairs throughout the city’s temporarily pedestrianised streets.

Her short two-hour stop in Cork saw her visit the famed English Market, a beautifully restored 18th-century indoor food emporium, where local traders described her as gracious and warm. She was given a less traditional insight into modern Irish culture when she was brought to the Tyndall Institute, UCC’s state-of-the-art research facility. She was given a brief overview of the work being done at Tyndall before meeting Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf—conjoined twins who were born in Cork and separated successfully by surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

Ireland has hosted Clinton, Bush, and today Obama, but this was a state visit like no other. To say it was packed with symbolism is now a redundant statement. The phrase was beaten into the realms of cliché by media mallets over the last few of days. But it was symbolic. As her plane lifted off from the blacktop at Cork airport, we reflected on the week that had passed and there was a sense of relief and accomplishment. I think, more than anything, we surprised ourselves. Where previous generations might have spurned her, might have wished for more sinister outcomes, we surprised ourselves with an unexpected anxiety for her safety and an eagerness for her presence. For a long time, every official interaction between Ireland and the UK seemed only to highlight our differences and fuel the resentment, but May 17th marked a turning point where the sole wish was to cast off history’s deadwood and to reconstruct using the things that we have in common.

“These ties of family, friendship, and affection are our most precious resource. They are a reminder that we have much to do together to build a future for our grandchildren. The kind of future our grandparents could only dream of.”

Gordon Brown has resigned as British prime minister, making way for a coalition government led by Britain’s new prime minister, David Cameron, to take the reigns of British parliament.

After announcing his resignation outside 10 Downing Street today, Brown and his wife spent about 15 minutes at Buckingham Palace, after which a statement was released citing the queen’s acceptance of Brown’s decision.

Earlier today, talks on forming a new government between Brown’s Labour party and Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats broke down. After narrowly winning the May 6 election, Cameron’s Conservatives reached out to Clegg’s party in hopes of forming a coaltion and avoiding a hung parliament, the first since 1974 and the second since World War II.

In order to take full control of parliament in the UK, the winning party must garner 326 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. A coalition between the Conservatives (who won 306 seats) and the Liberal Democrats (who won 57 seats) would help the country avoid a hung parliament.

Oddly enough, just months ago, no one in the UK could have predicted the fate of the British government would lay in the hands of the 43-year-old Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.

Cameron, speaking outside 10 Downing Street, said he aims to create a “full and proper” coalition with Clegg’s Liberal Democrats.

“I believe that is the best way to get the strong government that we need, decisive government that we need today,” said Cameron in his first speech as leader. ”I love this country and think it’s best days lie ahead. Now we need to confront our problems and take difficult decisions.”

Ten tunes from Freddy Mercury and the rest of Queen are your new additions to the Rock Band Music Store next week.

The list is impressive, but no “Bohemian Rhapsody” irks me a bit. Maybe Harmonix is saving that one for Rock Band 3, where there will hopefully be vocal harmonies, a la The Beatles: Rock Band.

Rock Band: Unplugged gamers can enjoy two new additions next week.‚  One tune from The Offspring, and the other by Blink 182. Here’s the full list.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Oct. 20) and PlayStation 3 system (Oct. 22):

“¢ “Another One Bites the Dust”
“¢ “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
“¢ “Fat Bottomed Girls”
“¢ “I Want It All”
“¢ “I Want to Break Free”
“¢ “Killer Queen”
“¢ “One Vision”
“¢ “Somebody to Love”
“¢ “Tie Your Mother Down”
“¢ “Under Pressure”

Tracks available for Rock Band Unplugged (Oct. 22):

“¢ Blink-182 “" “The Rock Show”
“¢ The Offspring “" “All I Want”

Each song is $2, and if you prefer bundles, the “Queen Pack,” with all 10 songs, is $15.99.

Harmonix today detailed plans for a Queen ten-pack of songs headed to the Rock Band Music Store in a couple weeks on October 20.

The list contains some of Queen’s greatest. I mean who wouldn’t want to sing/play along to “Crazy Thing Called Love”? Do you have any idea how catchy that song is?

Also, a massive red flag went up for me when I didn’t see “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the list. Is that not one of Queen’s most iconic tunes?

Except for that omission, the list is stellar. Queen fans rejoice.

Another One Bites the Dust
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
One Vision
Fat Bottomed Girls
I Want It All
I Want to Break Free
Killer Queen
Somebody to Love
Tie Your Mother Down
Under Pressure

Guitar Hero World Tour will add to its growing collection of downloadable tracks this month with over a dozen hit tunes from Jimi Hendrix, Queen, and a host of European bands.

On March 5^th, the third European track pack will release featuring “Break it Out” by the Italian pop punk ‚ band Vanilla Sky, and “In the Shadows,” a track performed by one of Finland’s most successful bands, The Rasmus.‚  The third in the pack, “C’est Comme Ca,” is a top single from French pop rock Les Rita Mitsouko.‚  Clearly, the boys over at Activision have done some globe trekkin to find their latest digs, and from past European iterations I can’t help but be excited.

March 19^th brings the music of Dutch symphonic rock/metal band Within Temptation to the stage with “What have you done.”‚  Already famous for their work on Guitar Hero 3, German punk band Die Toten Hosen (that is so fun to say) will perform the full band experience of their 1988 hit “Hier Kommit Alex.”‚  Finally, rounding out Europe is Spanish rock band M-Clan with “Carolina.”

World Tour returns stateside with three Jimmy Hendrix classics, “Angel,” “Freedom,” and a 1969 live from Woodstock rendition of “Foxey Lady.” ‚ ‚ Hendrix, known for his chop busting, face melting solos, is sure to challenge even the hardened guitar hero fan.‚  All 3 songs will be available March 19^th.

Furthermore, Wii fans are also getting love with the songs from the first Jimi Hendrix Track Pack “If 6 was 9,” “Little Wing” and “Fire” also available on March 19th as downloadable singles.

Why stop there? Activision sees no reason to.‚  On March 26^th 3 iconic tracks from Rock and Roll hall of fame legends Queen will go live.‚  “We are the champions,” “Fat Bottom Girls,” and “C-lebrity” round out the trifecta.‚  I can’t wait for my vocal session. “And we’ll keep on fighting to the end.”

Also on the 26^th, James Bond fans everywhere can raise their axes in harmony to the tune of a new recording of the James Bond Theme.‚  I’m a bit skeptical over the *new* but I’m sure justice will be done to arguably the most memorable and recognizable audio tracks in all of film.

If there is one guarantee for virtual currency well spent, it would have to be extra songs for your favorite music game.‚  A quick Youtube search reveals everything you could ask for, and with songs available for purchase individually, the biggest mistake you could make would cost only a couple dollars.

Sure, Guitar Hero doesn’t churn out songs at the rate of Rock Band, but it also doesn’t feature tracks by Miranda Cosgrove and the Jonas Brothers.

The songs in the two European Track Packs, Queen Track Pack and the James Bond Track will be released as downloadable singles for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PLAYSTATION 3 system for $1.99 and Wii for 200 Wii Points each. The Jimi Hendrix tracks will be available as downloadable singles for Wii for 200 Wii Points.

If you like purchasing in bulk and saving some scratch, the two European track packs, Jimi Hendrix pack, and the Queen pack will be available for 440 MS points on Xbox 360 or $5.49 for PS3.