Grumpy group organiser on the Museum of Failure and AI shenanigans

The Museum of Failure

Let’s face it, there’s a museum for everything and everyone if you look hard enough. But a collection of failed products and services from around the world is a new one for me. The Museum of Failure exhibition has been open in Brooklyn, New York over the past few months but closed on 18th June. A failure in itself you might think.

But no; it’s been visiting various cities since 2017 including Los Angeles, Paris, Shanghai, Taipei and Helsingborg. Surely the UK must be soon. My group would definitely be amused enough by the name to go and see it. You learn more from your failures than your successes, as the saying goes… and I should know.

Questions and answers

When people ask certain questions, they expect a certain answer. For instance, when someone asks, “how are you today”, it is socially expected that your reply is, “I’m fine thanks, how are you?”. Because, they’re not really interested, are they?

Often people don’t know what to say when I reply with “no, I have decided to go somewhere with no roof and a leaking toilet, but thanks for asking.

However, when you’re in a restaurant, it should be different, surely? So why is it that when I’m asked if my meal is ok, the waiting staff freeze when I reply with “no, it tastes like dust, with the same consistency”. They are clearly told to ask the question, normally when you have a mouth full of food, but they seem to only expect a positive response.

But my absolute favourite is when you’re asked “are you going anywhere nice” prior to a holiday. Given that my humour is not for everyone, often people don’t know what to say when I reply with “no, I have decided to go somewhere with no roof and a leaking toilet, but thanks for asking.”

Artificial Intelligence picks best holiday hotspots

When it comes to romance, Mrs Grumpy often calls me a robot. So, when I saw that the top European holiday hotspots, including breaks for passionate couples, had been picked out by artificial intelligence, I took note.

The study, by Forbes Advisor, asked each AI platform to suggest the best place in Europe for eight different holiday types, including romantic, cultured, culinary – and the overall best place for a 2023 holiday.

ChatGPT recommended Santorini in Greece for a romantic break, Florence in Italy for a cultural getaway, Lyon as top for a culinary break and Paris as best overall destination. But Google’s Bard gave a different set of results. The AI competitor suggested Paris for a romantic break and Rome as the go-to destination for both culture and as the best overall holiday. Barcelona in Spain was the best destination for foodies.

Paris for romance? Such intelligence! Even an idiot like me knows that, although I often feel that Margate is underrated. AI and travel advice… I think the jury is out.