Selfridges rob dead man's papier-mache head

It's nice that Selfridges liked the idea of Frank Sidebottom enough to do a tribute window.

Less impressive that they didn't ask permission nor, indeed, make a donation to the late great Fantastic one's estate.

Amazon's secet plan: Time to dust off 'clicks and mortar'

The Sunday Times is claiming this morning that Amazon are looking to open shops in the UK:

One source familiar with Amazon’s proposals said: “When Amazon was just selling books and CDs that fitted easily through the letterbox it was fine to be a web-only business, but now it has branched out into everything from children’s bikes to electricals it believes it could boost sales by having stores that offer a collection point for shoppers. It will probably be an Argos-style operation.”

By "Argos-style operation" you hope the source doesn't mean "combining the experience of queuing to buy train tickets in a busy branch-line station with the atmosphere of claiming Income Support in an area of high unemployment during the mid 1980s".

There's a degree of common sense about this, until you remember the reason why everyone likes Amazon is because it doesn't involve shuffling through a shop and having to force an assistant to help you. You do wonder if the idea is to allow customers to have somewhere to pick up stuff, why don't they just do a deal with a company that already has a national network of shops. The Post Office, perhaps - or how about seeing Lloyds Banking Group would like to do something useful in return for a small fee?

Peaches Geldof: The one-woman Richard Madeley tribute act

James P emails with a link and an assurance that it's not a repeat. Well, it is, but not in the sense that it's a story being re-run, just history repeating itself, as Peaches Geldof's people again explain how her leaving a shop with items unpaid for was a terrible coincidence and nothing to do with incipient kleptomania:

Geldof's lawyer said: "The correct facts are these; our client was shopping in an east London retailer trying on clothes with friends. She bought a number of articles of clothing from the retailer. One article she tried on and discarded was picked up by a friend in the mistaken belief that it belonged to our client.

"Some time later, when our client and her companions were at another shop, the friend who had picked up the item was approached by the shop owner - [from] whose stock it came - and she explained that she had taken the item in the belief that it belonged to our client.

"When our client explained that it did not belong to her, her companion apologised for her mistake, and the item was returned to its owner."

It happens to us all. As James observes:

Hang on, let me check the official term from her legal people here... Ah yes, 'Trying on clothes in a shop and then discarding a garment which a friend thinks is actually hers and so helpfully puts in her bag for her, only for her to be accosted later on by shop staff who had to explain that it hadn't actually been paid for'. They might want to come up with a name for that, considering how often it seems to happen. Still, kudos to the shop staff who managed to resist the temptation to shout "Just give us yer fucking money"

It makes me wonder if she actually leaked that drug-deal video herself, on purpose. You know, just to prove that she does pay for stuff sometimes.

Britney: Tell me, do you like it in my hair?

In the never-ending cascade of Britney's over-the-falls-in-a-sieve lifestory, she's now accused of pulling a Winona Ryder - and, apparently, trying to pinch a wig.

The Mail's reporting of the story is a bit woolly, though:

Erratic Britney Spears has been accused of shoplifting a wig just hours after stripping down to try on a pair of briefs in an adult store in Los Angeles.

It is alleged that after an altercation with staff, the troubled singer snatched a wig off a mannequin and left without paying for it.

The incident happened in the adult shop Hustler shortly before 1am on 18 November, the American magazine Us Weekly is reporting.

But surely only the panties "incident" (although we're not quite sure that warrants description as an "incident") - presumably she didn't then return to Hustler to steal a wig?

The Mail has illustrated the story with pictures of Spears shopping at Target for some reason.

The original US magazine report suggests that, more plausibly, she stole the wig upon being asked not to try on knickers.

David Byrne goes to IKEA

It's always nice to enjoy a new cultural experience.

For David Byrne, going to IKEA counts:

IKEA is huge. We went up to the second floor where the shelves, sofas, tables and lamps are all arrayed into tasteful little room settings — rooms, but with mysterious tags hanging everywhere. Immediately I thought it was like entering a videogame world. Who lives here? What do they do? Why is that book on the table? Is that significant? Could it be some kind of clue to the occupant’s identity?

Unfortunately, David was killed by a giant Swedish Meatball before he could get to level two.