Hello, everybody, on the one-year anniversary this weekend of the deaths of two iconic entertainers: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. More on that in a bit, but first up...

Call it the goal seen 'round the world! Facing premature elimination, Landon Donovan's last minute goal against Algeria has kept the U.S. team's hopes alive in the 2010 World Cup so far; next up for them is Ghana as they have advanced to the next round.

Now we're not a soccer-crazed country compared to say, Brazil or those in Europe, but as we've seen all over YouTube, there has been reaction left and right to the one goal that saved our butts from being out (Brian Rowe and him going apeshit over Sandra Bullock's Oscar win, eat your heart out). There's a good chance we may beat Ghana, but could we go all the way? I think so...or maybe not; we'll see what transpires as the World Cup rolls on.

(UPDATE: The U.S. will have to wait till 2014; Ghana eliminated them 2-1 on Saturday in extra time)

One year ago Friday, the world said goodbye to two pop culture icons: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Jackson's sudden death -- which I broke it to you on this blog -- was of course the biggie, and knocked Farrah's off the headlines after only a few hours. Shortly thereafter, I chronicled the lives and careers of those two in a special blog.

And now a year later come the commemorations. At Forest Lawn Mortuary outside Los Angeles, the rest of the Jackson family including sister Janet joined Michael's fans as they paid homage in his mausoleum, while Fawcett's friend Alana Stewart along with his longtime love Ryan O'Neal and sister Tatum opened the Farrah Fawcett Foundation designed to aid cancer research.

Farrah passed away after a long bout with anal cancer, but there have been some unanswered questions as to how Michael was killed. Dr. Conrad Murray, who may have supplied the sedatives that took his life, is free on bail pending trial on a felony and involuntary manslaughter charge though he has pled not guilty. But Jackson is still a moneymaker even after his death; his estate has raked in over $1 billion.

In 2008, Lindsay Lohan gave us the surprise of our lives when with the help of photographer Bert Stern, she re-created Marilyn Monroe's "Last Sitting" shoot for "New York" magazine. Now flash forward two years later to 65-year-old Helen Mirren naked in a bathtub for that very same magazine! I'm probably thinking every senior's masturbatory fantasy right now is Mirren and Betty White spending New Year's Eve in Miami Beach (which will never happen because they would overshadow Stacy Keibler). Boy, if only my grandmother Mildred lived a few more years to make it a threesome!

And last but not least: Except for here in Alaska, there have been long lines forming throughout many parts of the world on Thursday for Apple's new iPhone 4 which is out now. CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the current version a few weeks ago, with brand-new features such as retina display, front and rear cameras with LED flash on the latter, multitasking, HD video recording/editing, and something called FaceTime. On its first day of sale, 1.5 million of those new phones were sold.

Earlier this week, the iOS 4 operating system came out with almost the same features as well (except for the background on second-generation iPod Touches). Like I tweeted before on Tuesday, I spent a total of 3 1/2 to four hours downloading the software and then installing it to my iPod, which was worth it.

But yes, the new iPhone 4 comes at a time when the rival competitors already have smartphones of their own that are out for Apple's blood. And you've gotta hand it to Steve Jobs and his gang for making sure his creation has always been originated, not duplicated. So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody, on this Father's Day weekend (which is always boring compared to Mother's Day weekend).

First up...in his first primetime address to the nation from the Oval Office, President Obama on Tuesday night literally went toe-to-toe with BP, vowing to make them pay for the continuing oil spill that has left the Gulf Coast waters in ruins on the 57th day.

Obama said, "We will fight this spill with everything we've got for as long as it takes", and called for the formation of a Gulf Coast Restoration Plan to be led by former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus and funded by BP. According to a group of scientists, about 2.5 million gallons a day have been leaking; if you do the math, that's over 116 million gallons so far.

On Wednesday, the president met with BP executives in person, and they will establish a $100 million fund to compensate the unemployed oil rig workers who were affected by the rig's closure. By the way, the seafood from the gulf is still safe and so are the waters...for now.

Call it the Sweet 16 as the Los Angeles Lakers in a winner-take-all Game 7 narrowly took down the Boston Celtics on Thursday to clinch back-to-back NBA titles -- and for coach Phil Jackson, his 11th -- with Kobe Bryant once again series MVP. With that win, the three largest U.S. cities now claim sports championships: New York (Yankees, World Series), Chicago last week (Blackhawks, their first Stanley Cup since 1961), and now L.A. New Orleans doesn't count, even if their Saints won the Super Bowl.

But of course, the one big sporting event the whole world is paying attention to right now is the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The U.S. appears to be in good shape at the moment, but that could change as the tournament goes on.

However...is it just me or have the venues become the world's largest beehives? I'm saying this because unless if you've been watching with the mute button and closed-captioning on, plastic horns known as vuvuzelas are being blown all throughout the World Cup. And if you ask me, they have been nothing but a nuisance.

Now while we're sticking to the subject, Africanized bees are known for its aggressiveness and its stings can be fatal. European bees, on the other hand, are more kinder and gentle. At one time, there was a spread of African bees blanketing portions of the southwest United States including all of Arizona and even past Southern California including Los Angeles.

Okay, back to the World Cup: For a summer quadrennial sporting event happening in a Southern Hemisphere country like South Africa where it's winter, you can be sure the action will be both hot and cold; hot because of the high kicks and low scoring that make soccer famous, and cold because of those damn vuvuzelas drowning all the excitement and atmosphere away! Now that's not as sweet as honey!

And last but not least...two years ago, that one photo Annie Leibowitz took of a backless Miley Cyrus in "Vanity Fair" both made headlines and caused firestorms around the world because Miley was only 15 at the time. I of course had something to say about it on this blog.

But now looking back in retrospect, the infamous photo proved to be a sign of things to come for the "Hannah Montana" star, as Miley lately has been going Britney Spears on us...and in a good way!

Why is that, you ask? Because at 17 going on 18, she's been sexing up her image prematurely thanks to her new album "Can't Be Tamed" out right now. Prior to that, Miley's "Wonder World Tour" last fall sold out venues across the U.S. and Europe, and as lots of video proof on YouTube shows, she has never been afraid to push the envelope a bit, performing in the most provocative outfits we've ever seen.

Now this came after her so-called "lap dance" performance at the Teen Choice Awards which sparked more controversy. And despite poor reviews of her movie "The Last Song" (where she met her current boyfriend Liam Hensworth), it was a success, though a video was surfaced of Cyrus giving the film's producer Adam Shankman a lap dance at the wrap party. However, while performing on "Britain's Got Talent" earlier this month, Miley simulated a girl-on-girl kiss with one of her female dancers. Since it was the same show that suddenly shot her to stardom last year, I wish it was Susan Boyle instead of a dancer!

And while in Europe, she gave us quite a show at two Rock in Rio concerts showing off lots of leg in even hotter outfits. If only dad Billy Ray accompanied Miley, but you know he's been defending her superstar daughter as only she could.

It's no secret that Miley is attracting more older fans than ever before, and thanks to that "Vanity Fair" pic, she's never been afraid to cross the line. But of course, off stage it's just typical, regular Miley we see out and about. To paraphrase what I've said about Britney Spears almost a decade ago while publicly defending her MTV VMA performance...let Miley Cyrus be Miley Cyrus! So long and stay strong.