President Obama feels ‘small’ near Marine muscles
President Barack Obama may be one of the most powerful men in the world but he admits to feeling “small” when working out alongside Marines at their gym on base in Hawaii.
“The only problem I’ve got when I’m here is having to work out with Marines in the gym,” Obama said during his annual Christmas Day visit with U.S. troops at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay. “Because I generally feel like your commander in chief is in pretty good shape, and then I get next to some guy, you know, curling 100 pounds and it makes me feel small.”
Obama works out at the base gym just about every day when he vacations here. With New Year’s Day approaching, though, he told the troops he’s inspired “to work harder so I can keep up with you next year.”
Perhaps using the “workout stuff” his wife, Michelle, had said she was getting him for Christmas.
The 6-foot-1 Obama is known to enjoy a daily workout whether he’s at home in the White House, traveling or on vacation. He plays golf practically every weekend in Washington when the weather cooperates, and he swings his clubs just about daily during extended vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, or here in his native Hawaii.
The Christmas visit with the troops has become a tradition for the Obamas during their annual vacation on the island of Oahu.
Winfrey purchases $14M ski house
Oprah Winfrey has dropped $14 million on a high-tech ski home in Telluride, Colorado – well within construction supervision range of the 60-plus acres she bought last year for $11 million.
The 61-year-old media mogul’s new place was purchased from tech entrepreneur Bob Wall, who served as chief executive for such companies as Theatrix Interactive and Clarity Wireless. The noted African art collector sold the contemporary home furnished.
Set on about 3.25 acres on the slope side of Mountain Village, the five-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom home with 8,700 square feet of living space has some standout features.
The 56-foot-long, 1,600-bottle wine cellar looks like a mining tunnel, complete with piped-in sounds of creaking wood and dripping water and an antique ore cart.
Winfrey, 61, owns real estate in locations including Montecito, California; Chicago; Hawaii; and Tennessee. The billionaire gained fame hosting her own talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” She is executive producer of the 2016 series “Greenleaf.”
The birthday bunch
News correspondent Cokie Roberts is 72. Actor Gerard Depardieu is 67. Guitarist Mick Jones of Foreigner is 61. Singer Hayley Williams of Paramore is 27. Singer Shay Mooney of Dan and Shay is 24.