title: MySQL pattern replace
body: <p>Would it be possible to do a little more 'advanced' string replacing in a MySQL query? I read about the <code>REPLACE()</code> method, but as far as I know, it cannot be used for fancy stuff. </p>
  
  <p>Basically, what I'm trying to do is remove all HTML tags from a specific column in a large dataset. Being able to do this in a single query would be a lot cooler than having to use PHP to do the processing in between. Can I do something elegant in order to remove everything encapsulated in <code>&lt; &gt;</code>?</p>
  
  <p>I just realized there's another small catch to it... due to some improper data conversions before, some of the tags now contain &lt; and > <em>themselves</em>... Worst cases look like <code>&lt;(&gt;&lt;&lt;)&gt;b&gt;</code>. Don't even ask how, but something seems to have gone terribly wrong. Anyhow, great minds with great ideas on this?</p>