Farrah Fawcett, a reigning symbol of American pop culture has died. She was 62 and had been suffering from anal cancer, which had recently spread to her liver.

«After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away,» Fawcett's longtime partner, Ryan O'Neal, said in a statement released by Fawcett's publicist, Paul Bloch. «Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world.»
 

the King of Pop has passed away, aged 50, bald and emaciated.

no question he was a very troubled man addicted to prescription drugs and lived as what many would say was a freak with disturbing relationships with children. yet he still was very much the consummate entertainer from the second he'd set foot on a stage.

the world has lost an icon. he is now extinct and as one says, at peace.
 

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (24 June 2009) - The US Men's National Soccer Team pulled off one of the biggest upsets in its history in the semifinals of the FIFA Confederations Cup, beating No. 1-ranked Spain 2-0. It was Spain's first loss in 36 games and puts the Americans into the final for the first time. Goals from Jozy Altidore in the 27th minute and Clint Dempsey in the 74th minute lifted the US into the final, where they will play the winner of tomorrow's Brazil-South Africa semifinal.

photo: © Chris Brunskill/isiphotos.com
 

Unfortunately, Rafael Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon Friday due to knee tendinitis and after losses to Lleyton Hewitt and Stan Wawrinka in exhibition matches.

Nadal is the second player in the past 35 years not to defend his championship. Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia won the title in 2001 and did not compete in 2002 because of a shoulder injury.

this should do.

via PostSecret.
 

it was Roger Federer who won his first-ever French Open title this past weekend.

Federer, still only 27 years of age, is now tied with Pete Sampras for the all-time men's record in major titles with 14, and became only the sixth man in the history of the sport to capture the career Grand Slam, joining legends Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi.

Sampras needed 52 Grand Slam events to win his 14 majors, while Federer required only 40. Federer also tied Ivan Lendl's record of appearing in 19 Grand Slam finals (14-5) and has performed in 15 of the last 16 major championship matches.

Federer also ran his streak of winning at least one major title to seven years, which includes three occasions that have seen him corral three of the four majors in one campaign.

The masterful Federer is the reigning five-time US Open champion and has reached the last five Grand Slam finals, going 2-3. The three losses came at the hands of his great rival, Rafael Nadal.
 

Robin Söderling gjorde det ingen trodde var möjligt...

Rafael Nadal has still never played a five-set match at the French Open, but he is no longer undefeated at Roland Garros. In one of the biggest upsets in the long history of tennis, Nadal, the four-time defending champion who had won 31 straight matches here, was beaten in the fourth round , 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 by Robin Söderling of Sweden.
 

you may or may not like the film (i did and well enough), but the soundtrack is extraordinary. if you're put together properly you'll want nothing more than sex while listening to this music... or just a bottle of wine to sip away. it's norah jones, cassandra wilson, mavis staples, cat power, ry cooder, ruth brown, otis redding, amos lee and others who'll accompany you to heaven.
 

via Andymatic @ Tumblr from a must-read article at the brilliant A List Apart.
 

Tot el camp
es un clam
som la gent Blau Grana
Tan se val d'on venim
Si del sud o del nord
ara estem d'acord
estem d'acord
una bandera ens agermana.
Blau Grana al vent
un crit valent
tenim un nom
el sap tothom

BARÇA, BARÇA, BARÇA

Jugadors
Seguidors
tots unit fem força
son molts d'anys plens d'afanys
son molts gols que hem cridat
i s'ha demostrat
s'ha demostrat
que mai ningú no ens podrà tòrcer
Blau Grana al vent
un crit valent
tenim un nom
el sap tothom

BARÇA, BARÇA, BARÇA
 

The Barça vs Manchester United.

And it's FC Barcelona 1-0 by half-time!
2-0 @ 70'!!!
And FCB WINS!!!
 

so here's farmer Adrian Remund from the Canton of Basel-Landschaft posing with a goat during the casting for the Swiss farmers calendar. fortunately he's just giving the goat... a hug. still, a farmer in flip flops. it throws me.

photo: EPA

via the Telegraph.
 

i sent OzDJ's presidential loo paper entry to some friends and one countered with this.

horror writer Koji Suzuki teamed up with a japanese paper manufacturer to have his latest stomach-churning novella published on toilet paper.

in the photo, Koji Suzuki poses with his latest work.

Photo: AP

well, summer begins and also one of my favourite tournaments of the year, Roland Garros/The French Open. it never disappoints and already first round matches have been good fun. so i shall be glued to the telly until 05 june. it's tough that one couldn't make it to Paris this year... ;-P
 

miami beaches, however beautiful and fun, are not like proper Caribbean beaches, with palm trees and lush vegetation instead of concrete. yet a friend who lives in the bubble that is miami sent this small photograph of some palm trees he found seaside. note that there's no beach here though...
:-D

photo credit: jB
 

Danny O'Donaghue, Mark Sheehan and Glen Power.
 

I would like to see a demonstration of waterboarding with George W Bush as the subject. Televised. Outdoors. Naked. From Crawford, Texas. At noon. In August.
 

i'm not a great fan, since i prefer darker, micro-brewed beers, but i thought the design of the packaging rather nice.

cheers!
 

yesterday we found this little fellow abandoned in a fallen nest in the middle of the road so we took him in and are nursing it. today it flew and chirped and all!

so now i have a temporary pet.

no name yet.