broken

 Decks of those Iraqi playing cards are actually pretty cheap on eBay. The mousepad is nice too. And the poster -- wow, this war has simply been one fun game, hasn't it?

 Brooke has launched the second-to-last episode (#23) of Broken Saints. He says #24 is out in June.

 City Pages has launched Babelogue, which I'll hereby declare the first alt-press blogging community. I like it, but some things confuse me: Is the front page a collection of posts or a blog itself? What kind of relationship does CP have to those "Freelance Webloggers"? Why doesn't Melissa Maerz post more? Since they've surprisingly landed Greil Marcus as a writer again, can they get him to do a blog?

 NYTimes compiles a slideshow of Saddam's image being defaced. And BBC had decoded Iraq's symbols of celebration.

 The Times thinks Six Feet Under has jumped the shark. I've only see the first season (on DVD), and I'll say the show is both very brilliant and pompously irritating -- just like American Beauty. The most telling moment was the last episode, where one character has the gall to ask "Why do people have to die?" And, get this -- there's an answer. A serious answer, not a joke answer. When Nate replies "To make life more important," that's when this show jumped the shark.

 Not to be outdone by Apple, now Microsoft wants Universal Music.

 Bukowski: Nazi. That's probably less of a shocker than it should be.

 Roger Ebert trashes Kiarostami's Ten.

 I'm pissed I owe Kottke nothing.

 Pick your story: General Motors Should Pay CNN For Hummer Placement | CNN Joins Attack On Iraq.

 Obligatory Z Magazine Chomsky interview link.