Flying in Norway

David sent this beautiful video of base jumpers in Norway using wing suits to skim the face of cliffs at 100 mph before opening their 'chutes. Amazing, and beautiful, video. (This is large-format video -- way better than YouTube, etc.)

Inauguration Panorama

See a cool 360-degree panorama of the inauguration platform and crowd in front of the capital.

Funniest Line of the Inauguration

I kept the NBC broadcast on during most of the inauguration events yesterday, which consisted of Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw, Lester Holt, and David Gregory at "the desk." After the swearing-in ceremony was over, the president and a couple hundred dignitaries retreated to a traditional lunch in the Capital. After that lunch, the Obamas rode in their limousine back to the White House to "freshen up" before going to the viewing stand to watch the parade.

It was Brian Williams' comment after the luncheon that cracked me up, along with his buddies on the NBC desk: (you have to know that President Obama is a private smoker who is trying to quit to understand Williams' comment)

It was after the Capital luncheon and the Obamas were back in the limousine, leaving for the White House. The television cameras focused on the President through the window of the limousine, where he was obviously chewing a piece of gum -- and the camera held that shot long enough for the post-lunch gum-chewing to be obvious.

Brian Williams (who demonstrates a wicked sense of humor when he is away from the "Nightly News" anchor desk), noting the gum-chewing, said, "I'll bet the president is jonesing* for a piece of Nicorette about now." (*jonesing: slang for withdrawal or craving) Obama was no doubt feeling the pain, having been in the public eye since early that morning without a fix.

You could hear the other men at the desk cracking up -- David Gregory even tried to save the moment by adding, "Or a piece of Dentyne." Wrong and too late -- the joke was out of the studio -- and it was a funny one. They immediately moved the conversation to other things, but it was a funny moment.

Congrats to the Prez for trying to kick the habit. It seems odd that he won't allow himself to be photographed smoking -- most people probably don't know about it. Let's hope he makes it.

Horns in the House Band

When Chicago and Blood, Sweat, and Tears added horns to rock in the late 1960's, I never looked back. The groundwork had been laid by the horns in the Motown Sound, but horns added to rock? Chicago IX (1975) is still the album I would take to a desert island if I could only take one -- and "Make Me Smile" remains my favorite rock song of all time. (Mark Spitz, the pre-Phelps most-gold Olympic swimmer, used to train in the pool with "Make Me Smile" thumping in his underwater headphones. It's why he won gold!)

This morning at Elevation Church in Charlotte I thought I was back at the University of Alabama where I saw Chicago in concert for the first (the only) time -- there were horns in the house band. Admittedly, a small start -- two saxaphones -- and only for one song. But what a sound! I've said before in this blog that Elevation's music/worship band(s) is the best I've EVER seen. There are several house bands that rotate between the three church campuses on Sunday morning, and none is better than the others. They are all polished, practiced, and performance-oriented. Unlike a lot of church bands, there is NOTHING tentative about these bands. From the get-go, they know exactly what they're doing and they don't hold back. (Unfortunately, the weekly video of the services on the church's web site only includes the sermon, not the music, so you'll have to attend in person to get thumped -- and you will get thumped. The bass player's Ampeg stack was taller than he was.)

As good as the music was today, the sermon was the focal point. I first learned about Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9) from a carpet cleaner with a sixth grade education from Cleveland, TN, named Milton Green (now in heaven). It's one of the most powerful stories of redemption and grace in the whole Bible. And Steven Furtick did it justice this morning. I would encourage all to watch the sermon when it's posted online by Monday or Tuesday of this week. (When you go the Elevation Church homepage, click on the "Launch Full Media Player" button. The list of three sermons in the current "Come Home" series will show to the right, and today's sermon (don't know the actual name) will be the first in the list of three. It's one of the best sermons I've heard Steven preach.)