(Pointless) R.E.M. News: Yeah, there’s a lot of it floating around these days. I guess the Athens publicity machine is revving up for the new album. Anyhoo, the Nevada Assembly passed a resolution last week praising R.E.M. for the anti-suicide message of “Everybody Hurts”. Yes, they thanked the band for a song that came out in 1992. I guess things take a long time to filter down to Nevada.

So like I mentioned, Snookums and Alex and I went on an IKEA excursion Saturday. Alex wanted a poster frame, and Snookums and I were looking for bookcases. (My book collection spilled out of my closet some time ago.) I’d never been to an IKEA before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Holy cow… It was a madhouse. I think everyone in North London was there. It had its own parking garage, two restaurants, and a child-care area. It was insane. We were caught up in consumer frenzy. We ended up getting two excellent cheap bookcases (ours is the 3rd pictured), Alex’s frame, eight wineglasses, martini glasses, a garlic press, a chest of drawers, ice cube trays, four candle holders, and numerous kitchen utensils. The real fun, however, was getting our haul home. How we managed to cram all of it and me into the back of Alex’s little Peugeot I’ll never know.
 
I’d forgotten how much fun it was to go shopping in a big place with lots of choice. Most shops in the UK are rather small and you’re in and out within ten minutes. I miss the Meijer and Sam’s Club experience, where you walk around acres of consumer paradise and emerge with all kinds of stuff you never knew you needed. Is that weird? I guess you don’t realize what you’ll miss til it’s gone.

Hooray! I just uploaded my new and improved custom 404 error pages. Unfortunately all my fancy-pants innovations here at web-goddess in the last few weeks resulted in a lot of broken links from Google and the like. My new 404 page, though, will analyze what page you were looking for and, if it exists, redirect you on your merry way. Doesn’t that kick ass? I’d post instructions for doing it yourself, but unfortunately it’s got to be pretty much customised for every different site. If you are interested in setting one up, let me know and I’ll help you out.

R.E.M. Update: Peter is sorry.

I don’t know about you, but I think a computer that causes this much confusion is very cool indeed.

Good grief. Some UK “internet monitoring” company says that musical mobile phone ring tones could be considered to be in breach of copyright law. This could be costing the record company up to $1 million a day. Yeah, right. This is getting ridiculous. Are you telling me that a five-second midi version of “The Girl from Ipanema” is damaging the integrity of the song and costing the songwriter profits? What about if I record my own voice humming the song – am I still breaking copyright? What if I *gasp* sing a few bars while walking through the park? Should I pay royalties for giving a “public performance”? Money-grubbing bastards.

Ebert’s got a new Answer Man column that includes some good discussion of “Memento”. I haven’t seen it yet, but my flatmates saw it in London last year and really liked it…

New Poll: In honor of our shopping excursion Saturday, a new poll topic is up. Please give me your opinion on the world of IKEA.
 
Results from the old poll: Out of 23 respondents, almost half of you (eleven, to be exact) bow down to the god that is hummus. As a fellow addict, I’m right there with you. A further five of you admit that you like hummus but, as Snookums put it, don’t feel the need to “eat it til it comes out your ears.” That’s cool. Four of you haven’t tried it, which is a real shame. (I know at least one of these people is my own mother, who would love the stuff if she gave it a chance.) Two of you seem to have some sort of tastebud-impairment, because you claim to dislike our favorite dip. I urge you to seek medical help right away. And lastly, one person admits that she doesn’t eat things with “tahini” in them. I’ll bet you $20 this was my sister. I totally set that up for her.

Salon has vindicated everything I predicted about the American reception of “The Weakest Link.” Could I be any more suited for a career in film/television criticism??

R.E.M. News: Wow. So Peter got busted for “air rage” and Michael’s at war with his neighbors. Way to go guys. You better be ready to play this weekend. (Please, God, let me get tickets!)