No. There is no good reason aside from the quirky personality of the bride.

From FoxNews

“This was a lot of fun. I think that Japanese have a strong sense that robots are our friends. Those in the robot industry mostly understand this, but people mainly want robots near them that serve some purpose,” said bride Satoko Inoue, 36, who works at manufacturer Kokoro.

What a creepy smile....

I clearly don’t get it, since I’m not in the tight inner circle of robotics. There is no way that a robot (in 2010*) can perform a task more efficiently and effectively than it’s human counterpart. The robot can’t just roll up, sit down, and run a wedding.

Wires led out from beneath it to a black curtain a few feet (meters) away, where a man crouched and clicked commands into a computer.

Still not sold on the purpose of the robot. Is there a shortage of priests in the country? Did the robot have some dirt on the groom and forced him into letting him preside over the festivities? They had to go through the hassle of setting up a specialized area for the robot to be, and then have someone input commands into a computer. Here is what I do understand.

Matsui and his 'Wife'

In the past 5 years the Japanese have typecast themselves in American culture as a people who have completely outrageous competitions on gameshows, are aroused sexually by drawings and pillows, and who push the envelope of technology. This wedding fits nicely into the 3rd category. There is no logical explanation to an American as to why a robot had to be there, but to the Japanese it makes perfect sense; they are increasing the acceptance of technology in their lives.

And yes… this would have gotten story of the year if the groom was on a gameshow “The Bachelor: Love Pillow 4″ and picked Kimiko as his bride. If this does happen in 3 years, I’m going to sue the government of Japan for stealing my idea.

*I put the date of this writing in parentheses so that in 40 years I am not murdered by a robot that has become self aware and thinks I’m apart of a human resistance movement.

Story from ArgusLeader by Peter Harriman

Not wanting to be labeled as a racist or hateful group, people within the party intentionally toned down rhetoric for yesterday’s events.

Ronald Reagan was quoted, invoked and lionized liberally at the South Dakota Tea Party Tax Day program Thursday at the Holiday Inn City Centre.

Sarah Palin wasn’t mentioned. Nor was President Obama.

The closest reference to a divisive figure of the day came in the title of Bob Bush’s song sung early in the evening: “God, Freedom and Liberty, an Ode to Sean Hannity.”

The previous evening, following a Tea Party-sponsored debate among Republican gubernatorial candidates, Tea Party organizer Allen Unruh had said the U.S. “is on the verge of the likes of a Civil War. But we’ll win with ballots not bullets,” and “our first black president is reinstituting slavery for Americans.”

Thursday, however, Unruh, and keynote speaker Deborah Brezina stayed away from hot-button contemporary politics and veiled threats of secession. Instead, they focused on principles of liberty embraced by the Founding Fathers and echoed by Reagan. Brezina, a Winston Churchill scholar, also drew similar parallels to the British World War II leader.

While Unruh’s comments may not have been the most tactful, he is only one man.  Is the Tea Party really racist, or extremist?  Are they a group preaching hate under the guise of constitutional liberty?  Or are they a misunderstood political movement, being defined by the few on the outer ends of the spectrum?

In an attempt to find out, I did what any good voter would do.  I trolled the internet for about 45 seconds to find funny pictures that were even tangentially related to the debate.   Lucky for me, there were many other Tax Day Tea Party events across the country, and there were many funny photos to find.  A few favorites were culled from the Huffington Post (link here)

This seems rational.

Like you didn’t see this coming already.  By the way, how has “Joe the Plumber” really managed to stick this long?  Does anyone know this guy’s last name?  Not since Bob the Builder has a man been so defined by an occupation.

Nothing racist about that!

That’s good to know.  I was trying to figure out which of you were the sellouts and who was keepin’ it real.  I HATE bandwagon fans.

There’s that Jesus guy again.  Always butting in with his opinion.

A novice protester.

By far the best photo.

From Fox News:

It was not until an hour and a half later that he felt a tap on his shoulder — not from an air steward or fellow passenger, but a baffled mechanic.

In a panic, the sports law lecturer went to grab his bags, thinking he just fell behind the other passengers exiting the plane.

But the mechanic quipped: “Don’t worry, chill out and take all the time you want. The flight landed an hour and a half ago.”

It’s never a good thing when you wake up to see some seedy airplane mechanic hovering over you. It’s even worse when you have no idea what time it is, how long you’ve been out for, or where any of the other passengers are. It’s like a scene from a bad movie; you pass out as your leaving London, and come to with a gaggle of mechanics in a dark airplane hangar in Canada.

Of course, the real kicker in this story was the airlines response. In typical Canadian fashion;

Lines sent a complaint to Air Canada and got an email back from customer services, apologizing and promising him 20 percent off his next flight.

Wow. How generous, 20% off.

“Sorry our flight crew didn’t do it’s job, here’s some bubblegum and a coupon to Bennigans. Get outta here”

Monster Snowball Takes Out Stupid Kid – Watch more Funny Videos

A company called Ideal Creations unveiled a lens filter for cell phone cameras at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas over the weekend. This filter will block out all visible light, essentially turning your cell phone into an infrared camera. Like you would expect, this is their sales pitch

Our powerful IR Filter will allow your cell phone camera to see though a thin fabric such as blouses, pantes, or swim suits.

Anyone else feel violated? I’m sure all the ladies out there who’s goodies are worth looking at are petrified of the shady guy walking around the streets with his camera after reading this. And for good cause; you shouldn’t be allowed to just passively check out chicks tits without them knowing. Either build up the confidence and go woo her back to your place, or drive down the street and find someone who will show you for money. Cell phone peeping is just weird and creepy.

You can buy this device for 15 bucks from the companies website, but if you are that desperate to see boobs, you probably already knew about this months ago during the initial prototyping stage. And if you don’t know what prototyping is, you probably don’t need this product as you’ve seen it all already. This one is clearly for the nerds…

The “first” interactive sex robot has officially been designed by True Companion, LLC in New Jersey.  The difference is this robot focuses on “conversation” as opposed to life-like movement.  Supposedly.

Story from AP (Courtesy of Yahoo! News):

LAS VEGAS – A New Jersey company says it has developed “the world’s first sex robot,” a life-size rubber doll that’s designed to engage the owner with conversation rather than lifelike movement.

At a demonstration at the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas on Saturday, the dark-haired, negligee-clad robot said “I love holding hands with you” when it sensed that its creator touched its hand.

I say that in bed all the time.  No, really.  I’m very sensitive, or so my therapist tells me.

It has touch sensors at strategic locations and can sense when it’s being moved. But it can’t move on its own, not even to turn its head or move its lips. The sound comes out of an internal loudspeaker.

Awww!  Conversation my ass.  The first company to make this kind of robot will probably make a lot more money than these folks in New Jersey.

“The sex robot thing is marketing — it’s really about making a companion,” he said.

A companion?  Isn’t that what you know… people are for???  Wives? Husbands?  Whores? Call me old-fashioned, but I’m gonna “hold hands” with people for right now.

On one hand I’m incredibly impressed with the initial lift. 300+ pounds is a solid effort. On the other hand, you can’t pass out 5 seconds after, save that for the locker room. All the chicks he just impressed were immediately turned off. Way to go dude.

A great band at the beginning of the decade, a great band at the end of the decade. Enough said.

#4 – Black Eyed Peas Rock that Body

Say what you want about this group, but at the end of the day they bring the energy. Much better than hearing Daughtry sing a slow song in the middle of times square.

#3 – Jay-Z & Rihanna – Run this Town / Umbrella

If Green Day was great throughout the decade, then Jay-Z was unstoppable. Probably one of the greatest runs of any musician in the last 30 years. The Blueprint 1,2 and now 3 has at least 4 of the top 10 hip hop songs of the decade. Best part about this performance, he just leaves the stage after his solo in Umbrella, you can see him literally walking off the stage. “PEACE!”

#2 – Travis Pastrana Jumps 250+ feet over water

Odds are you missed this regardless of where you celebrated. ESPN isn’t the first thing that comes to mind for new years eve programming, but this was just awesome.

#1 – Justin Beiber

This is the greatest performance I’ve ever seen. I was literally fell off my couch in tears and laughter as I watched this. Whoever came up with the idea for a 13 year old white kid with long hair and a walking boot on his right leg to try and rap is pure genius. This sets the bar incredibly high for the best unintentional comedy video of the new year.

So now, as an adult watching these videos of Mario as a drug addicted, unemployed plumber bring me back to those wonderful childhood moments playing the game. Enjoy this!

Yes, this man is Japanese. Yes, the Japanese like anime, and it doesn’t surprise me at all that this sort of thing happened. There, I said it. I’m apparently a racist.

Is anyone else reading this (who isn’t from Japan) the slightest bit concerned? Are we headed to a world where it is acceptable to partake in the sacrament of marriage with a virtual being? And you thought the gay rights movement was crazy; just wait until this sort of thing catches on with lonely, depressed 45 year old men in America. There won’t be enough Pokemon characters to go around!

This is the legitimate definition of giving up. In honor of this achievement(? not really sure what else to call it), I’m revealing my 5 levels of “giving up” as it pertains to relationships.

Level 1 – Free Internet Porn

No one is going to fault you for basking in the warm glow of your monitor watching a dirty movie every now and then. But don’t substitute a good 30 minute jerk for a potential hook-up on a Friday night.

Level 2 – Paid Internet Porn

So you’ve passed the first threshold. You are now a member of Brazzers.com*. You have access to an entire vault of porn, more than you probably ever imagined. You begin to learn the pornstars by name, and even begin to develop a fondness for some of them (she sucks a great dick is a really nice person!) You get legitimately excited when you see new material from one of them.

Level 3 -Anime Porn

Sadly, after watching so much porn you could recognize stars by the birth marks on their inner thighs, but had trouble with their face, you realize you need a real change. You turn to porn which is animated. Now, things that are physically impossible for a human to do, sickos with a pen and drawing pad can make it happen. You like this, and repeat steps 1 & 2, only this time its with fictional people**. This is the final level you can change your life. Should you move to Level 4 its all over.

Level 4 – Interactive, Scripted, Fake Relationship with Fictional Character

You become infatuated to such a degree with one particular character, that you begin to actually think you are in a relationship with them. You ask them what to cook for dinner and what TV show you want to watch together. Since your ‘partner’ is never going to want to do something you don’t want to (remember… this is fake – you are making all the decisions, kind of like being in a real relationship in the 1700′s when women didn’t have opinions or feelings) you move to the final step.

Level 5 – A Real Marriage of a Fictional Character

See the video above. If you reach this level may god have mercy on your soul. Filling for divorce years later will not be worth it. You are so emotionally damaged at this point, no real woman will want to be within 50 feet of you. Sorry.

* I don’t intend on going to Level 2, but how about a free 1 month membership for the plug? Since I wouldn’t be paying for it, I see no faults in this plan. Make it happen! I’ll even do a favorable review of the site.

** Say what you want about porn stars, but they are at least real human beings. They may not have a soul after some of the things they can get talked into doing on camera for money, but they are apparently very real people.