Here’s a good one from my co-blogger over at Capsules, Anne Taylor-Vaisey:

The Darwin Awards:

We salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who remove themselves from it. Of necessity, this honor is generally bestowed posthumously.

December’s motto is, “Where evolution meets the pavement”

Read about the man who decided to sleep under his truck, not realizing that he had parked on a beach at low tide.

Or the Croatian chimney sweep who needed an object to weigh something down and unfortunately chose a hand grenade.

There are many more stories like this. You can read them, vote on them, submit your own nominations, and much more. I like the Urban Legends section:

These apocryphal stories are included as examples of Herculean Darwinian efforts. Be glad, be very glad, these people don’t exist.

Here’s what Marriott chefs are predicting will be the hot food and beverage trends for the coming year. I’m all for going more comfortable-yet-still-elegant settings and healthy-but-not-diet food, but please, don’t sic “Highly flavored gel squares and desserts made with gelatin sheets and fresh purees” on diners. Makes me think of Jell-O fruit salad, never one of my personal favorites.

This article from hotel-online shows just how anxious hoteliers are about having complaints go online freely, without their being able to do anything about what is said about them. The author preferred the days when it was just between a disgruntled guest and the manager to hash things out, because, he says, hotels now have no recourse.

To which I say, of course they do. Smart hoteliers should be monitoring the Internet (and blogs!) for mentions of their hotel, contacting individuals who have a beef, leaving comments telling their side of the story, etc., etc. I have so much respect for those who are willing to face the wrath of the public, and explain or apologize or defend themselves in a public forum. People are going to talk, no matter what they do. It’s just that now, the conversation has spread from friends and family to the world. This isn’t something to be afraid of—it’s a tremendous opportunity to join in those conversations.

(My personal favorite of these sites is Hotel Chatter, which is careful to disclaim that the reviews are just one guest’s view, and others may have a totally different experience.)

Update: Here’s a great post about what to do about negative comments from The Diva Marketing Blog (thanks to Kevin for the pointer).