Why can’t companies simply re-release old television shows in their complete, original format? Do these media companies think us consumers won’t notice the changes? Do they think we don’t care?

Today I was very excited to finally get my copy of The Muppet Show – Season 1 on DVD! I was super-excited because I got my hands on the version with the fuzzy green cover. After watching the first DVD in this box set, I began scratching my head. A couple things seemed odd. I quickly broke out my old Time Life Muppet DVDs, looking for a first season episode I could use as a comparison.

I used the classic Vincent Price episode as the basis for my comparison. The Brian Henson introductions were gone – nowhere to be found on the new DVD set. Not a huge deal, but a nice extra I would have liked to have. Another interesting difference was the closing credits. At the very end, a generic shot of Zoot playing the Sax has been inserted, replacing the original footage which varied from episode to episode – the gags with the Sax have been lost in favor of an updated copyright message. I was also surprised to see the original season 1 opening, which was not present on the Time Life set. Why the differences? Time to do some homework online…

I stumbled upon a great review with many more observations about this DVD set at Muppet Central, and I must say I agree with everything said about this DVD set. It’s a great Muppet set, but has some typical Di$ney muck-ups like cutting some songs and removing the DVD chapters so you can’t skip through parts of an episode (which the Time Life versions did have). The one thing this set has going for it is picture quality – clear, crisp, and vibrant.

Ok, that’s my rant. Now back to watching more classic Season 1 Muppet episodes.

While sitting at my desk at work (in the United States), I went to CNN’s website to check up on the status of Hurricane Katrina. At the top of the screen a typical, annoying banner advertisement was displayed:

This is a great example of how someone tried to invent some smart marketing technique, which backfired. My company’s IP address block is owned and assigned to a Canadian address. However, a vast number of our users are in the US. Yet, when we go to a site that attempts to use geographic information, it fails miserably. I always get bombarded with Candian advertisements or redirected to sites like google.ca when trying to go to their .com counterparts.

Someone’s getting rich off this marketing scam and selling it as “targeted marketing”. Bastards.

In the Richmond, VA area, toll roads recently converted from only accepting Virginia’s Smart Tag to now also accepting the more popular E-ZPass. While this is all well and good, for some reason they have automatic gates at every toll lane. You have to come to just about a complete stop before the green light comes on and the gate goes up. It saves all of 2 seconds over the exact change lines (the ones where you throw your change into the basket). So what’s the point? Get rid of those gates and let us pass through at a decent 15-20mph.

Actually, states need to get with the times and follow New Jersey’s lead with the full-speed E-ZPass lanes. No stopping, no slowing down… nothing. This will eliminate lines and help keep the idiots who can’t read “E-ZPass Only” signs out of my way.

If there was a compilation CD of the best hold music from major corporations, I’d buy it. Seriously. I’d put it on my answering machine, voice mail, and play it at work when people were buggin’ me. If my cell phone could ring to the tune of hold music, I’d be on cloud 9.

Track 1: Your Call is Important To Us

Our audio conferencing system at work plays some really annoying, yet catchy tunes while waiting to join a meeting. By the time I get sick of the music they play, they change it…. well, they change it 6 months later.

Hmm… maybe I’ll share the pain and record a couple clips of this stuff and post it on here.

I was very excited today to see that New Hampshire finally jumped on the E-Z Pass bandwagon. On the Everett Turnpike, they have one lane in both directions that is E-Z Pass only. I thought this was fairly clear and well labeled with a big red and purple sign hanging above the dedicated lane.

Aparently I was wrong.

While traveling northbound, as I approached the toll plaza there was one truck in the dedicated E-Z Pass lane. As I got closer, the truck was still there. I pulled up behind the truck just as he was backing up slightly. He rolled down his window, looked around with a confused look, threw change at the toll booth, and drove off.

After my initial “damn, people are dumb!” thought, I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt. The system is new, he may have missed the sign, whatever. It was a one-time thing, no worries… I can deal with that. Fine.

Aparently I was wrong.

Now it’s about 45 minutes later and I’m traveling southbound and approaching the toll plaza. This time, the dedicated E-Z Pass lane is empty. I’m getting closer to the toll booth when suddenly a car with Connecticut plates cuts in front of me to get into the E-Z Pass only lane. I started to think “cool, someone embracing this new technology…”.

Wrong again.

The lady gets to the booth… stops… and sits. She sits there for over a minute as traffic backs up behind her (and me). Everyone is laying on their horn, and this lady (and her 3 passengers) are just sitting there looking around, not sure what to do. Finally, she opens her door, gets out, and places change on the ledge of the toll booth. WTF!?!? These people are so stupid. The little message sign even lit up and said “Call E-Z Pass”.

Someday, reading and being good at driving will be a requirement in order to be allowed on the road.

Those northerly neighbors sure got their ship together. Tonight we went to the Burger King in Manchester, NH for dinner. I picked up a copy of the official rules for their current Star Wars promotion and read a few sections. Aparently, unlike in the United States, up in Canada not just anyone can walk up to the counter at their local Burger King and redeem a winning “free food” game piece. Oh no. It can’t be that easy. The official rules for the Burger King “Choose Your Destiny” game make it impossible for certified morons or 1st graders to redeem winning game pieces in which food is a prize.

Check out the highlighted passage from their official rules (full size available):

My question is this. Can any Burger King employee validate the answer to the mathematical question, or do you have to be in management to be able to do that? Now if only the United States would hold its Burger King employees to these high standards!

Can you imagine walking into a Burger King, coupon in hand, only to get your testing sheet back with a big red F at the top? Sorry, no soup for you.

By the way, in case you were wondering… the odds of winning the $1 million prize or the $100,000 Sony Shopping Spree are 1:152,024,297. Void where prohibited or when you can’t figure out which train arrives at its destination first.