I was already anxiously anticipating the Inaugural activities, but hearing the details of the opening event has really ramped up my interest. I have also been anxiously awaiting the release of the new U2 album, No Line on the Horizon, in March, and hopefully a U2 tour in the not too distant future (no dates announced yet). So I was very excited to see Bono in the lineup for the opening celebration. He seems to be the only non-American in the show….. interesting. Perhaps he and Mary J. Blige will treat us to a performance of One. I am sure this event will be impeccably produced, as every Obama event has been, and the content and presentation will be memorable.

The other interesting event of note that is taking place on Inauguration day is the Neighborhood Ball. Tickets to this ball were available to DC residents only. It will be attended by the Obamas, and will be televised on ABC and on the Internet. I have always wondered what took place at one of these events. This will be my chance to see.

Check out the Presidential Inaugural Committee website for more details and updates. I was wondering why they have been soliciting donations for the Inaugural events and I found out today on a C-SPAN segment. Obama’s representative explained that they are following the same principles regarding funding that they did during the campaign; no PAC or lobbyist contributions, limitations on personal contribution amounts, no contributions from corporations, etc. So, if you have some spare change, you might want to contribute to the biggest celebration America has ever seen.

Peace.

The July issue of Vanity Fair magazine is hitting the racks soon, and I can’t wait to get my copy (or copies…). There are 20 different cover pictures for this issue which is devoted to topics related to Africa. Bono was the guest co-editor for the issue, which is remarkable as this is the first time in Vanity Fair’s history that a guest editor has been allowed to participate in the publication of an issue.

There was a nice piece on Nightline last night with Bono, and Vanity Fair’s editor, Graydon Carter. You can read the article here, and there is a video of the segment on the same page.

There is a great post on the Joinred.com blog with all of the details about the special issue, and some other hot RED news as well.

You can order single issues of the magazine with the cover/s you want from amazon.com. They are only 4.50 each, and there are some really great photos of some wonderful folks. There is a good one of Bono, a good one of Clooney, and two nice ones with Barack Obama!

And, of course, some percentage of the proceeds from the sales of the magazine, poster, and subscriptions will go to the Global Fund to fight Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Tuberculosis in Africa.

Eighteen cameras were used in the filming of multiple shows on the band’s tour of South America last year. The editing is still taking place but the final film is expected to be between 80 and 90 minutes in length. At one show in Chile, the crew only filmed Larry on drums for the whole show – another night was a ‘phantom shoot’, homing in on the band close-up, but with no audience in the venue.

The production team are predicting that the film could change the face of music videos. ’3D is now digital and and it’s going to start to change music videos. And when you no longer need the glasses, then it will really take off.” Click this link to read the entire article on the U2.com site.