Getting To Know The Big O

Glad to pass along some interesting things you should know about our new President, Barack Obama (courtesy of the Daily Telegraph). A couple of highlights-- he speaks Spanish, is a Mac user, and is a chili connoisseur. A longer list of 50 facts can be found here.

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

• He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball

• His favorite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini

• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali

• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream

• He can speak Spanish

• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't

• He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

• He can bench press 200 lbs

• His favorite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

• His favorite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.

• His favorite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees

• He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker

• He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol

• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician

• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine

• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal

• He uses an Apple Mac laptop

• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300

• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes

• His favorite fictional television programs are "M*A*S*H" and "The Wire"

• His favorite artist is Pablo Picasso

• His specialty as a cook is chili