The 25 Things You Never Knew About John McCainThursday September 4, 2008
Photo credit: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty ImagesFirst it was his vice-presidential pick's turn.
Now the man who hopes to be the next president of the United States is prepared to officially accept the honour in a ceremony at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota Thursday night. John McCain is a war hero and has long been known as a maverick on some issues that have always been the centerpiece of his party's main platforms.
But with the ex-POW firmly in place, the final charge for the White House and his inevitable clash with Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama can officially begin.
You might think there's nothing left to find out about the possible next resident of the White House.
But you'd be wrong.
Here are the 25 things you never knew about John McCain. 1. He has a stuffed dancing hamster on display in his Senate office.
Every evil egotistical dictator has a mini-me, why should he be any different?2. His wife says her obsession with electronic gadgets and technology is one of his pet peeves.
That's probably because he can't figure out how to use them.3. He says his pet peeve is politicians who talk too much. (He admits that he's guilty, too, sometimes.)
4. He's not much of a shopper, but he likes to buy rugs when travelling abroad.
5. His favourite book is "For Whom the Bell Tolls," by Ernest Hemingway.
6. He was addicted to the TV show "24." 
Folks, ...this in itself should be reason enough to keep him out of the oval office.7. He carries a lucky penny in his pocket.
8. He played Scrooge in the PoWs' staging of "A Christmas Carol" at the Hanoi Hilton.
Threy were probably type-casting.9. His movie favourites include "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Casablanca," and "Viva Zapata!" He and wife Cindy have seen "Mamma Mia!" twice.
10. He talks to fellow prisoners of war, those with whom he shared a cell in Vietnam, almost daily.
11. He has seven children. The first two he adopted from his first wife's previous marriage, the third was born to him and his first wife, the next three were born to him and his second wife, and the seventh they adopted from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh. He has four grandchildren.
12. His wife was in Bangladesh on a charity mission and brought home baby Bridget without checking first with McCain.
13. He describes himself as "a person who is mostly normal."
It's not the normal part that scares us, ...it's the "not normal" part that'll mess us up.14. His parents "eloped" and got married at Caesar's Bar in Tijuana, Mexico; McCain's grandfather accompanied them.
15. He's serious about the finer points of barbecuing, and he likes to deep-fry turkeys in peanut oil.
16. He wasn't happy when Hudson, the neighbours' black lab, ate the tenderloin he'd been marinating to grill for dinner at their ranch in Sedona, Ariz.
Wonder if his neighbour still has the dog, ...or if it suddenly, mysteriously disappeared one night? 
17. He doesn't like to be alone.
That must pose a real problem for him, ...especially since people can't stand to be around him. 
18. At Christmastime, he likes to supervise the lighting of about 1,000 luminaria candles on their property in Sedona with family and friends.
19. Going on vacation with him is anything but relaxing. His children call it "Camp McCain."
Why does this not surprise me in the least?20. He's an early-bird, not a night-owl.
21. He doesn't e-mail. He doesn't surf the Web. He likes to read the newspaper in print. He's attached to his cell phone.
First he has to figure out the Googles. 
22. His office window sill is overrun with stacks of books. He hands books off to friends once he's read them.
23. He's into fruit trees. And birds. He keeps binoculars and bird books at the ready in Sedona. His pet collection: two dogs, two turtles, a cat, a ferret, three parakeets and 13 saltwater fish.
24. His wife is super-rich. They have a prenuptial agreement.
I guess after seeing how easily he tossed aside Carol, ...Cindy wasn't all that dumb after all25. He programmed digital remotes at the family's homes in Phoenix and Washington so they can call up DVDs in any room.
Source. The Associated Press
commentary in red is my own
