Culturite

John Battelle, CEO of Federated Media, decided to have a little bit of speculative fun onstage with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the Web 2.0 Summit. It’s the sort of “speculative fun” that could give tech bloggers a gossip-overload headache for weeks to come: Battelle decided to throw some fuel on the “Facebook might buy Twitter” fire. Which, as far as I can tell, is a relatively new addition to the rumor-roasting pit.

“Is Twitter just a feature of Facebook?” Battelle prodded. Facebook, after all, has its own “status” feature that arguably competes with micro-blogging services like Twitter and FriendFeed.

Zuckerberg answered cryptically. “Oh, that’s tough.”

Battelle then asked if Facebook’s chief financial officer, Gideon Yu (yes, the one who’s reportedly hunting for V.C. dollars in Dubai right now, depending on who you ask) has a “build-or-buy spreadsheet” on the wall of his office, jokingly implying that the company could be weighing the option of acquiring Twitter to boost its own “update” service. There wouldn’t be a particularly logical way for the two to integrate, but what the heck? It’s juicy, unfounded gossip ripe for the mongering! And once these things start, they can get deliciously out of hand.

Zuckerberg laughed it off, and said he’s “really impressed by what they’ve done” at Twitter, and that it’s “a very elegant model.”

An estimated 10,000 marchers descended on Westwood last hour to protest the passage of Proposition 8, leading to a bust of outrage large enough to encircle the Mormon Temple on Santa Monica Blvd. before overtaking the thoroughfare itself. Streaming live footage from KNBC features a mostly peaceful protest to date, with only minor incursions resulting in a driveway shout-down and a bit of get-the-homos-off-my-lawn resistance from cops nudging marchers off a sliver of LDS property. The crowd spilled onto Santa Monica around 3:15, shutting down westbound traffic en route to Westwood Blvd.

Los Angeles Police Department officials say they are preparing for another major Proposition 8 protest in Westwood today at the landmark Los Angeles California Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Westwood.

While things got violent in Los Angeles and Sacramento when more than a thousand people gathered to protest the passage of Proposition 8, a gay marriage ban in California, students across the state also held their own rallies and vigils Wednesday, a day after the controversial ballot initiative passed.

Civil rights groups moved quickly today to challenge Proposition 8, asking the California Supreme Court to strike down the latest attempt to ban same-sex marriage across the state.

It wasn’t just Christians who voted to ban gay marriage in California, but no doubt the measure would’ve failed without their support. Ditto to the Mormons.

There are so many questions I want to ask those people who voted in favor of Proposition 8 and as a result banned gay marriages in California:

• How is your marriage any more secure now that homosexual marriages in your state are broken?
• What do you say to the children of gay parents who question why their mommies or daddies can’t be married?
• Can I vote on the legality of your marriage?

The campaign manager for the group advocating passage of Proposition-8, which would ban gay marriage in California, says members of the Mormon church have donated about nine-million dollars so far to help pass the initiative. That’s about 40-percent of the total amount raised since July. Leaders of the church have encouraged members to do what they can to support Prop-8. While churches cannot take a stand on political candidates without affecting their tax status, they are allowed to address ballot issues. A spokesperson for the Mormon church in Sacramento told the “Sacramento Bee” the proposed ban on gay marriage should not be portrayed as a “Mormon issue.” Other religious groups have also contributed to support Prop-8. The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization, has donated more than one-million dollars.

Representative Rahm Emanuel on Thursday accepted the offer to become the White House chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama.

Emanuel was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2006 elections. After the Democratic Party regained control of the House, he was elected as the next chairman of the Democratic Caucus. He is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Leader Steny Hoyer and Whip Jim Clyburn.

Hundreds if not thousands of observers have already noted the key role that the Internet and social media played in the successful campaign of Barack Obama. But when he’s President, how will he utilize the hundreds of thousands of MySpace friends, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, My.BarackObama.com members, and SMS opt-ins (just to name a few points of presence) to advance his policies and politics?

The MTV Europe Awards took place at Liverpool’s Echo Arena last night. Katy Perry and Jared Leto hosted. Both also won awards. (Huh?) Britney Spears won a couple, too, though she didn’t attend. Tongue-and-cheekily, Rick Astley nabbed “Best Act Ever” via presenters Perry and Perez Hilton. (The end is near.) Pink, Tokio Hotel, and Kanye West were also winners. West (with Estelle), Killers (trippily, with feathers), Beyoncé, Kid Rock, and Paul McCartney all performed. The biggest presence was Barack Obama, even though he wasn’t there. Perry, who got “Best New Act,” wore an Obama shirt, as did Leto. Mr. 30 Seconds also reportedly led the crowd in a chant of “Congrats, Barack.” The only thing able to compete with all the Obamamania were the Beatles: McCartney was there because he received an “ultimate legend” award presented to him by Bono.

Preparations for the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 are in full swing in Liverpool- where they take place this Thursday.

The Liverpool Echo Arena has been transformed over the past few days with a truly awesome stage set now in place.

AND the A-list stars are now turning up in the city to gear up for their performances on the night.

Two of the UK acts playing on Thursday will be on stage this evening running through their moves.

Man band Take That will debut a track from their new album while Liverpudlians The Wombats will also play live.

MTV News can also reveal that Estelle touches down this evening while many other stars- including Kanye West and Beyonce- arrive tomorrow.

Long before President-elect Barack Obama had even made up his mind to run for the highest office in the land, Edward Norton and his Class 5 Films production company were already documenting the Senator’s life. The 39-year-old actor said that he became inspired by Obama’s 2004 speech at the National Democratic Convention and felt inspired to capture someone from his generation — and not his parent’s — inspiring so many and rising in leadership.

Since 2006 — starting with Obama’s trip to Africa — Norton and his team have had the cameras rolling every step of the way. The whole project was kept fairly secret — since neither the campaign nor Norton wanted it to fuel any criticism of Obama’s ‘celebrity’.

Back in August, it was reported that HBO was highly interested in snagging the rights to the footage. Their initial plans were to air the series within the first ‘100 days of the Obama Presidency’; provided he win. Mission accomplished.

The two famously locked lips during the VMAs, plus colloborated (sic) on “Me Against the Music” for Britney’s album In The Zone.

Word has it the pop princess will perform alongside her idol tonight during Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet tour at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

“This is almost worth getting Parkinson’s for!” Michael J. Fox declared as he took the stage to play guitar with The Who in New York City Wednesday night.

The actor – who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 – rocked out to the legendary band’s “Magic Bus,” trading licks and windmill guitar riffs with Pete Townshend.

The once-in-a-lifetime performance was the grand finale of Fox’s annual A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson’s.

Adult entertainment company Playboy Enterprises Inc forecast a sharp decline in advertising revenue in the current quarter after posting a third-quarter loss, and its shares fell 27 percent.

Playboy lost $1.3 million in its publishing division as revenue fell 6 percent to $21.8 million. It also expects a 17 percent decline in ad revenue in the fourth quarter compared to last year.

After months of speculation, Kim Cattrall confirms that there will be a sequel to this year’s hugely popular Sex and the City: The Movie.

The actress appeared on Britian’s The Paul O’Grady Show, with guest-host Spice Girl Melanie Brown.

Asked point blank, “Will there be a sequel?” Cattrall replied emphatically, “Yes there will!”