Los Angeles – Page 10 – Andy Sternberg

October 28, 2008

Obama Facebook App Targets Your Friends in Battleground States

Barack Obama’s 21-month-long presidential campaign got off to a lively start, owing much to students who used Facebook — among other social networks — to raise awareness and build a coalition. The McCain campaign (as well as every other campaign) struggled but all fell short in attempts to embrace and embolden the millions of social media loving youth to their advantage.

It was easy for Obama. At an early campaign rally, he went on and on about the Students for Barack Obama group on Facebook and how it helped get his campaign off to a running start. This was in Los Angeles in February 2007 and I was there shooting video:

Last week, Obama’s online team went live with an integration of MyBarackObama.com and Facebook via Facebook Connect.

Tonight I was welcomed to Facebook with a notification asking me whether or not I had voted yet. The greeting came from the Obama app which I had installed months ago. In Facebook — as in much of the online world — Obama beats McCain in a landslide. Messages from campaigns on online networks *could* get annoying if frequent, but in Obama’s case, frequency was not necessary for the messaging to be effective. Facebook users are more aware of social media etiquette than most. Perhaps that’s why they’re so quick to call out the bullshitters and fear-mongers — as much of the online media world is at this point in the campaign (see my previous post).

How has the Obama campaign used social networks and leveraged social media so wisely, even getting up and running on Facebook Connect a month before its official launch? Obama discovered the power of Facebook early on in his campaign and, well, he’s got Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes working on his online strategy team.

See also: Obama Dominates Content Sharing as Election Approaches at Mashable.

October 26, 2008

Sarah Palin Effigy Hanging in West Hollywood

This is in very bad taste. If you are not a fan of Sarah Palin, I recommend ignoring her existence entirely. Not only is this lame attempt at a joke in poor taste — and not only in light of reported Obama effigies (most recently at a Christian university in Oregon — but acknowledging Palin in such an extreme way (or any way) only gives her more credibility / recognition. As it is there will be no shortage of Sarah Palin drag queens at this week’s Halloween Parade. Ugh… From tonight’s CBS2 news:

“I know if we had done it with Barack Obama, people would’ve probably
thrown things through our windows,” [creator of the display Chad Michael] Morrisette said. “The image of a hanged black man is a lot more intense than the image of a hanged white woman — for our country — in the history of our country.”
[…]

“It should be seen as art and it should be seen within the month of October. It is Halloween. It’s time to be scary. It’s time to be spooky,”
Morrisette said.

CBS/KCAL is the only network to report on this, even though it was pointed out as early as Thursday by WeHo News. The display is on this house at the corner of Fountain Avenue at Orange Grove.

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September 28, 2008

MLB: Last Day of the Regular Season – 2 Playoff Spots at Hand

It doesn’t get any more exciting, especially in a sport that often drags on and on for 5 1/2 months. But this year might see — for the first time ever — 2 (and possibly a third) one-game playoffs for the final two spots (the NL Wild Card and the AL Central Division Title) in the playoffs.

UPDATE: The Brewers beat the Cubs and the Marlins beat the Mets, so for the second straight year, the Mets have been shut out of the playoffs on the last day of the season. The Brewers will play the Phillies in the NLDS beginning Wednesday and the Cubs will host the Dodgers Wednesday in that NLDS. The White Sox must beat the Tigers in a make-up game Monday to face the Twins in a playoff Tuesday for the AL Central Crown and a spot in the playoffs vs. Tampa Bay (starting Thursday).

I’m listening to WGN Radio’s broadcast of the Cubs vs Brewers, where the crowd is decidedly split, but while the Cubs are starting one-time prodigy Angel Guzman (who after all these years is still 0-7 and awaiting his first major league victory), The Brew Crew sent out CC Sabathia for the third time in 10 days. I’m watching the scores on the Mets/Florida game very closely, as well as the Sox/Indians and Twins/Royals.

Here are the possible playoff scenarios:

AL Central: If the Chicago White Sox (86-74) and Minnesota Twins (87-74) are still within a half-game of each other after play is completed Sunday, Chicago must make up a rainout against the Detroit Tigers on Monday. If the White Sox and Twins finish with the same record, they would play a tiebreaker game Tuesday in Chicago.

NL Wild Card: If the New York Mets (89-72) and Milwaukee Brewers (89-72) still have identical records after Sunday, they would play a one-game tiebreaker Monday in New York.

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August 26, 2008May 29, 2014

Radiohead at Hollywood Bowl — Best Live Band Today

After being somewhat underwhelmed by Radiohead from outside Lollapalooza earlier this month, I was completely blown away last night at the Hollywood Bowl. I had looked forward to seeing Radiohead at the Bowl all year as it is my favorite venue — the open [dry] air element lends itself to pristine sound and with the elaborate light/visual show put on by Radiohead’s crew, sitting in the Bowl felt not unlike floating in outer space. Jonny Greenwood is one of the greatest guitarists of our time. I’m saying this now, because, it’s not just his tone and creativity, but his ability to rip away in multiple directions and also disappear into the atmosphere of a song or play straight acoustic. Kind of like Jimmy Page. And while I like to make fun of Thom Yorke for mumbling and moaning incessantly, he was very effective and very sharp utilizing his voice as a melodic instrument. And the guy is no hack at guitar/piano either.

I snuck some short video clips with my crappy digital [still] — it’s worth sharing the handful of 15-second clips combined in the video below to give you an idea of the light show. The sound is horrible on the camera, although it was pristine at the show… and yes, the video may be nauseating, but, hey, you’ve been warned. Further below, the setlist and a few more videos from the end of the show of 1-2 minutes each.