Anyone see this ? CNN reports :

“When Mark Malkoff thought about where he could stay while his New York City apartment was being fumigated for cockroaches, he quickly ruled out friends’ places (too small) and hotels (too expensive).

Instead, the comedian and filmmaker decided to move into an Ikea store in suburban New Jersey, where on Monday he unloaded two suitcases into a spacious bedroom at the store. “

Publicity is the name of the game. Starving comedian and IKEA decide to get some. Reminds me of that Tom Hanks movie, The Terminal, where he lived in an airport. Of course there the TVs and toilets worked.

Although I do love IKEA, and it’s spare, modern designs which work, I might add – take a look at this beauty of a very comfortable chair, their furniture does tend to fall apart rather quickly. My bed and dresser set – very good-looking – are actually composed of a few particle boards with wood veneers, lots of cardboard, and some very good engineering. Of course anything which is not solid, it-won’t-break, wood can’t take the strain after a couple of years.

But then again, on the flip-side, it’s cheap (very student-friendly) and amazingly easy to assemble. They provide you everything you need to assemble : screws, nails, screwdrivers etc. and their directions are what I’d call precise. When they say align A to B, and screw in Part #2 through pre-drilled hole in A and B, you can be very sure that pieces A and B will exist, and be labelled, Part #2 will be in a sealed plastic bag waiting for you, and the predrilled holes will align perfectly. The thing may not work until I’m 80, but hey, as far as engineering is considered, you’ve got to admire them.