Barack Obama: geek, former ape owner, rejected pin-up model

U.S. president-elect Barack Obama is apparently a bit of a geek.

The U.K.’s Telegraph has posted a list of 50 things you may not know about Barack Obama and some of the items reveal a smidgen of nerd in the next president’s character.

Obama likes to collect comic books (Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian, naturally), he’s a Mac user, he’s addicted to checking his Blackberry, and he’s read all of the Harry Potter books.

Of course, there are varying degrees of geek and Obama seems to only skim the surface but it’s nice to know that the next U.S. president will bring a bit of flair into the office.

Other highlights from the Telegraph’s list include:

Ӣ Obama won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams from My Father

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

Ӣ He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

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

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

Ӣ He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds