How did your Neat-o-Rama links not pick this up!?!

From the page linked below:
This machine, "Robokiyu the Rescue Robot," was originally designed to help remove rubble and trapped people from disaster zones. Until, that is, it was realized that the thing might be better suited to removing (and swallowing) those unfortunate people who had already died. So now if you get stuck in an earthquake in Japan, consider that not only may you die, but you may spend your last few minutes being eaten by this thing.

http://www.asylum.com/2008/07/30/weirdest-robots-ever-corpse-eater-bot/

"From breast-enhancing Intel processors to breast-enhanced Canon laser copiers, we dissect Japan’s most bizarre tech-related ads."

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/041108-slideshow-japanese-tech-ads.html?ts0 or http://www.networkworld.com/cgi-bin/mailto/x.cgi?pagetosend=/export/home/httpd/htdocs/news/2008/041108-slideshow-japanese-tech-ads.html&pagename=/news/2008/041108-slideshow-japanese-tech-ads.html&pageurl=http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/041108-slideshow-japanese-tech-ads.html&site=remote (one print page) from http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Japan_s_10_funniest_tech_related_commercials_Videos ...

We have another glorious sifter who has just hit triple digits: Our very own Japanese Japanophile JAPR. You may know him from such videos as Lost Highway tailgater or the Ging Nang Boyz, but I'll always remember him for bringing us the most scandalous Mentos parody EVAR! (What kind of mind finds that amusing, let alone worthy of posting, I ask you?)

Seriously, I want to thank this dude for introducing me to so many great rock tunes from the Land of the Rising Sun; stuff I probably would have never heard otherwise. He has significantly helped to give this place the most eclectic feel of any site I've found on the intertubes. So congrats buddy, and start posting some stuff again, for cryin' out loud.

PS: Check out his personal queue too.

Can we get the hyperlink color in Asia Sift changed? That silver is virtually impossible to read against that white background color.

Have you done any traveling in Asia? Or perhaps you even live in an Asian country. In either case, what was your experience like? Where did you go? For how long? What was the food like? What were the people like? Did you take lots of pictures? If so, let's see them! If there are any specific places you'd recommend, please do.

More importantly, let's talk logistics. How did you manage your trip? Did you participate in one of those canned packages where you sat on a bus in a group of vacationers visiting all the typical sites? That is exactly the opposite of my idea of a great Asian vacation. I'd most love to be able to somehow hire a trustworthy local to be our guide/translator to explore the real beauty and wonderment of the foreign land. The place I'd probably most love to spend time visiting would have to be The Land of the Rising Sun. (That's Japan.)

The only place in Asia I've ever been is Vietnam for a couple of weeks around Tết (Lunar New Year) a few years back now. My beautiful wife and I flew from LAX through Taipei into Saigon. We split our trip between some really amazing countryside towns and the fast-paced city streets of Saigon. We had a rented (and air conditioned!) van with friendly driver for the breadth of the trip who also took us out to semi-distant locales, spanning as far west as the border with Cambodia to the beaches of the east coast, but always remaining in and around the Saigon to Mekong Delta region of the country. The most enjoyable part of the trip for me was meeting and spending lots of time with my wife's wonderful family and seeing the towns and schools in which she spent her youth.

I can't wait until we head back to that part of the world. With any luck, Japan will be our next Asian destination, and soon.

Queued two new videos of Japanese rock you guys might enjoy.

http://www.videosift.com/video/UNDER-THE-COUNTER-No-Therapy-PV

http://www.videosift.com/video/Husking-Bee-makafushigi-Thesis-PV

I hope that this is an appropriate use of Sift Talk, there's no posts setting an example.

Anybody here into Japanese rock music, btw?