Keep cool

"Cool Time, Pool Time!"

Strong Bad explains how he keeps cool in the summer.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Bubs, Strong Mad, Homestar Runner, Strong Sad, Marzipan, Coach Z, Pom Pom, The Poopsmith, The Cheat, The King of Town

Places: Computer Room, Strong Badia, Bubs' Concession Stand, The Stick, The Brick Wall, Marzipan's House, Swimming Pool

Computer: Lappy 486

Date: Monday, July 31, 2006

Running Time: 3:33

Page Title: Lappy 486

DVD:strongbad email.exe Disc Five

Transcript

STRONG BAD: {rapping} I'll take you back to a time when email was king! {brings up the email}

>subject: Oh man,,, >How hot is it right now in Strongbadia? We're boiling over
>here. What do you do to keep cool?
>
>Tom B
>Sunnyvale, CA

{After "Strongbadia", a record scratches, the screen dims and another Strong Bad appears.}

STRONG BAD: Note to viewers:

{Screen cuts to Strong Badia. A cutout in the shape of Strong Bad labeled "sb" is shown.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} This is Strong Badia.

{Screen cuts to Bubs' Concession Stand, with a similar cutout for Bubs labeled "bubs".}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} Not this...

{Screen cuts to Strong Bad's basement, with a cutout of Strong Mad labeled "graw mad".}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} ...this...

{Screen cuts to The Stick, with a cutout of Homestar labeled "ds".}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} ...or this.

{Cut back to Strong Badia.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} Just this.

{Cut back to the still-dimmed Lappy.}

SECOND STRONG BAD: We clear? Now gimme five.

{The second Strong Bad holds up his left hand, and then disappears as the rest of the screen returns to normal and the original Strong Bad finishes reading the email. He reads "CA" as "Cactus Area."}

STRONG BAD: {typing} I'm not exactly sure how hot it is round here, Tomby. But we do have an old-timey, made-uppy, no-worky way of finding out.

{Cut to Strong Sad, sleeping on a brick wall. A book labeled "Mr. Chekhov" is next to him.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} We carefully place a spoonful—

{Strong Bad and Strong Mad rise from behind Strong Sad, and Strong Bad places a spoon of sauce on Strong Sad's head.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} —of hoisin sauce on Strong Sad's disturbing soft-serve flip. {pause} And then we just... ask him.

STRONG BAD: Hey!

{Strong Bad hits Strong Sad, who wakes up.}

STRONG BAD: Trundle bed. How hot it is right now?

STRONG SAD: Current temperature: ninety-seven, ninety-eight degrees... humidity: twenty-five percent... {Strong Bad and Strong Mad slowly start to leave, making a tapping noise as they do.} barometric pressure's thirty point oh five inches mercury... I'm gonna eat this spoonful of hoisin sauce...

{Strong Sad grabs the spoon from off his head and opens his mouth widely to eat the sauce. Cut to the edge of the wall, where Strong Bad and Strong Mad are standing.}

STRONG BAD: You hear that?! The high nineties!

{Strong Bad pulls out a paper titled "[#Trivia Monkey D's Summer Tips]". The screen cuts to a closeup of the paper.}

STRONG BAD: You know what that means!

{Cut to Strong Bad and Strong Mad. Music starts. Strong Bad jumps up in the air, whilst Strong Mad raises his hands up.}

STRONG BAD AND STRONG MAD: COOL TIME, POOL TIME!!!

STRONG BAD: In the pool that we've always had... {Strong Mad looks surprised} that we use all the time... and the school has always had an elevator!

{Cut to Marzipan's couch. Marzipan is sitting on it. Homestar Runner pops up in the foreground.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Cool time!

MARZIPAN: Pool time!

{Cut to Bubs' Concession Stand, where Coach Z is leaning on the counter.}

COACH Z: Cool time?

BUBS: Pool time!

{Cut to the Field, where Pom Pom and The Poopsmith are standing.}

POM POM: {bubbles}

{The Poopsmith gives him the thumbs-up.}

{Cut to the Pool. Strong Bad is sitting in the lifeguard's chair. Coach Z walks past in the background with a barrel over him. Bubs floats with inflatable water wings on his arms. The Cheat skims across the surface of the water quickly twice. Cut to a closeup on Strong Bad.}

STRONG BAD: All right, ya little sacks of crap, just so I never have to use this weird foamy thing, {He kicks a floatation device hanging from his perch.} lemme explain the pool rules.

{A paper reading "POOL RULES" appears. Strong Bad reads along.}

STRONG BAD: Welcome to our 'ool. Notice there is no "Take a crap in it" in it. Please keep it that way.

{Cut to The Poopsmith, wearing a Nebulon flotation device and testing the water with his foot.}

STRONG BAD: Poopsmith, don't even try it.

{A Nebulon-esque sound is heard as The Poopsmith hangs his head. Cut back to Strong Bad. The Pool Rules sheet returns, and the following rules get added with illustrations as Strong Bad mentions them. The pictures are: A horse head holding a knife in its mouth, a house with a blast behind it and its walls and roof falling in, and a person's butt with a hand on it.}

STRONG BAD: Also, no rough-horsing, no house-rousing, no butt-patting.

COACH Z: {offscreen} Aw, nuts!

STRONG BAD: And no running, no diving, no swimming.

{Cut back to Strong Bad.}

STRONG BAD: But that last one is not very widely enforced. But most importantly, after you eat, wait three full days, get a complete physical, have an ear candling, and press UP, A, and START before re-entering the pool.

{Strong Bad looks at Marzipan, whose ponytail has a green tinge and the very tip of it is smoldering. The burn is slowly making its way up her ponytail, burning it off during the whole scene.}

MARZIPAN: Strong Bad, what did you put in this pool water?

STRONG BAD: I dunno... Chemicals. Whatever was under the sink.

{Cut to a pile of chemical containers and a bottle of Awesome Sauce.}

STRONG BAD: You gotta put chemicals in the pool, right? That's what they say. {Pause} And that is all that they say.

{Cut back to Strong Bad and Marzipan}

MARZIPAN: {suddenly smiling} Well, whatever it is, it's doing wonders for my hair. I can feel it tingling.

{Cut to stormy clouds, faint flashes of lightning, and the sound of thunder and wind blowing. Cut back to Strong Bad.}

STRONG BAD: {in sing-song voice} Light-ning. {in a normal voice} You guys know the drill.

{Cut to Bubs, Strong Mad, and The Cheat leaving the pool}

STRONG MAD AND THE CHEAT: {groans and The Cheat noises}

BUBS: Man!

{Homestar Runner, Coach Z, and The King of Town walk through the pool carrying a TV antenna, golf clubs, and an umbrella, respectively. They stop in the middle of the pool.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER, COACH Z AND THE KING OF TOWN: {sighs and groans}

{Cut to Strong Bad talking with Bubs at the lifeguard chair}

STRONG BAD: So later on anybody wanna get together a game of "Sharks and Minnows"? "Einstein and Kreskin"? "Pregnant and Seventeen"?

BUBS: {points toward the diving board} Uh-oh! Looks like we should've been playin' "Keep Strong Mad off the freakin' high dive for Pete's sake, man!"

{Strong Mad jumps off a high-dive}

STRONG MAD: MANNONBALL!

{Strong Mad takes the shape of a cannonball and makes a tiny splash in the water. There is a short pause. Suddenly, all of the water is splashed out of the pool. Shadows of The Cheat, Coach Z, the lifeguard tower, Strong Bad, and Homestar are seen through the wave. Cut back to Strong Bad's computer. Strong Bad crashes in through the ceiling. Water splashes down on him. He looks up}

STRONG BAD: I should really just stop patching that hole. {typing} Well, it looks like pool season's over. Guess I have to start Back2School shopping. Get some new pencil holders... {Homestar can be heard screaming in the background} stencil folders...

{Homestar lands on top of Strong Bad}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Uh, Strong Bad, I think that total wave ruined your 'ool.

STRONG BAD: {groaning} Ah... I... breaky... spiney...

{The Paper comes down.}

Easter Eggs

• Click on CA when Strong Bad says "Sunnyvale, Cactus Area" to see a menu:

>Cactus Area
>"The most boring Mexican restaurant on Earth"
>{picture of a circle around two saguaro cacti and the word "Sombrero".}
>(Yes, we know what salsa is now!)

• Click on the Lappy's screen at the end to see Strong Sad continuing his weather forecast:

STRONG SAD: Wind sou'-sou'west at 10 miles per hour. Sunset at 8:45 PM. {The King of Town slowly comes up behind him} Baseball games at two, eleven, and three. {The King of Town puts a cherry on Strong Sad's head and pulls out a can of "Lard Wipt"}

Fun Facts

Explanations

• When Strong Bad is pointing out places that are Strong Badia and places which are not, the scenes with the cut-out figures are modeled after pages from children's sticker books in which the goal is to place the proper sticker in the right blank area on the page.
• Hoisin Sauce is a type of Chinese dipping sauce made from soybeans, garlic, and spices.
• A Trundle bed is a low bed that can be rolled under another bed for storage.
• "Rough-horsing" is a play on the words roughhousing and horseplay, which signify rowdy playing or play fighting.
• Strong Bad's advice that "after you eat, wait three full days, get a complete physical," and so on, is a reference to the urban legend that one must wait an hour after eating before swimming so as to prevent cramps.
• Ear candling, also known as ear coning, is a folk remedy purporting to use the heat from a specialized candle to remove wax and debris from the ear.

Trivia

• Strong Bad's paper reads:

Monkey D's
Summer Tips

95°-100°=COOL TIME, POOL TIME!!!

90°-95°=Grip n' Glide time,
Slide n' Slide time

85°-90°=Tinkler time, Sprinkler time

80°-85°=Nose time, Hose time

• In the pile of chemical bottles, there is a bottle of Bleach juice, which claims to contain −4% fruit juice (a possible parody of many modern "fruit drinks", which are composed mainly of water and artificial ingredients).
• Mannonball is a portmanteau.
• All of the main characters except Homsar appear in this email.

Remarks

• Strong Bad clearly explains the extent of Strong Badia, and then immediately leaves it (going to The Brick Wall near Homestar's house) to get the meteorological information.
• An air temperature of 97° Fahrenheit (36° Celsius) with a relative humidity of 25% puts the dew point at approximately 55° F (13° C), low enough to make the heat index approximately 95° F (35° C). While the air temperature may be quite warm, the humidity would not be too terribly uncomfortable. A wind speed of 10 mph (16 km/h) would also keep the air from becoming too oppressive.
• When Strong Bad comes out from behind the wall, his legs are an older version.
• Strong Bad's farmer tan (tanned except in an area where a tank top would be) is curious considering that Strong Bad has only on very rare occasions been seen with a shirt. It also was not present after consulting Strong Sad for the weather.
• The Pool Rules state there is no diving, despite the fact that there is a diving board. Granted, there's also a rule forbidding swimming even though it's a swimming pool.
• Strong Bad mentions that, after eating, you must have an ear candling before reentering the pool. None of the main characters have visible ears.
• Marzipan remarks that she can feel her hair tingling, despite the fact that in haircut she states, "This is a weave."
• While Homestar and the King of Town wear swimsuits to the pool, Coach Z, Bubs, Strong Mad, and Marzipan appear as they normally do, wearing their usual outfits as if they were swimsuits (although Coach Z adds a barrel).
• This marks the first time viewers have seen the King of Town's exposed shoulder area, further reinforcing the fact that he doesn't have visible arms.
• When Homestar lands on Strong Bad, neither the new No Loafing sign nor the old one is anywhere to be seen.
• When Coach Z is flying up in the tidal wave, his feet look unusually odd. One is much bigger than the other and they are more angular then they usually are.
• In Strong Bad's picture of Strong Badia, the shadow of the fence is oddly curved and notched, neither following the straight fence post nor the contours of the ground.

Goofs

• The "temperature chart" for 90° to 95° reads "Grip n' Glide time, Slide n' Slide time", though presumably was intended to read "Slip 'n Slide" time.
• When Strong Bad places the Hoisin Sauce on Strong Sad's head, the reflection of the sun is facing in the opposite direction of the sun.
• The Pool Rules sign doesn't have a closing parenthesis.
  • Since the asterisk (*) and opening parenthesis are closer together on a keyboard, the opening parenthesis may have been typed by mistake.
• Clicking on the Lappy's screen after Strong Bad starts typing after he falls from the ceiling does not cause the usual ripple.

Inside References

"I should really just stop patching that hole."

• The "ds" on the Homestar Runner cutout might stand for "Duckshirt" or "Dumbstar", two nicknames Strong Bad has used for Homestar in the past.
• Hoisin Sauce was previously mentioned in the Homsar Easter egg in Halloween Potion-ma-jig.
• Strong Bad's calling Strong Sad "Dairy Queen" (a restaurant famous for its soft-serve ice cream products) in Bug In Mouth Disease is related to his describing Strong Sad's head as having a "soft-serve flip" in this toon.
• Monkey D contributes his "summer tips".
• Strong Bad's reference to the pool's existence refers to the pool scenes from A Jumping Jack Contest and the Theme Song Video. His insistence that they use it "all the time" is a play on the fact that, until this email, the pool had not been seen since the Theme Song Video.
  • Strong Bad's assertion that they've always had the pool is later supported in the commentary for In Search of the Yello Dello, where Strong Sad mentions that everyone in school suddenly started being nice to him because he had a pool.
• Strong Bad's tan lines were first seen in lures & jigs.
• The patch of sunscreen on Strong Bad's face is a reference to a running gag that he has no nose.
• The Poopsmith uses a Nebulon floating tube; when Strong Bad tells him that he can't get in the pool, the Nebulon sound effect is played.
• In the pile of chemical containers, there is some "Roach Killa!" from bedtime story and some "Awesome Sauce" which was mentioned in funny (though this is "Awesome Sauce for her").

For Her?

• Homestar's swimsuit is the same as the one he wears in Theme Song Video, only updated to fit the current animation style.
• The nickname "Graw Mad" is a reference to the facts.
• Strong Bad's remark explaining that he "should really stop patching that hole" refers to pom pom, when he fell through the roof in a similar fashion.
• Back2School was first mentioned in modeling.
• The disk in the floppy disk container is the same one found in disconnected.

Real-World References

• This email was released during an actual heat wave in the United States, Canada, and much of Europe. Sunnyvale itself had just suffered a two-week period of unusually hot weather, responsible for 83 heat-related deaths in California.
• Anton Chekhov is a Russian writer. Pavel Chekov, a character on Star Trek, was often referred to as "Mr. Chekov." It is not clear from context whether the intended reference is to one or both of these people.
• The manner in which Strong Sad reports the weather is very similar to the style of NOAA Weather Radio, which uses synthesized voices to read weather information (however, the voices are not monotone). The common order of this data, the hourly weather roundup, is:
  • Location
  • Condition
  • Visibility if under 1 mile (1.6km)
  • Temperature
  • Dewpoint
  • Relative humidity
  • The heat index if necessary
  • Wind
  • Windchill if necessary
  • Barometric pressure

Strong Sad's statement of "Sunset at 8:45 PM" could also refer to the sunrise and sunset data given in the climate summary, which is broadcast every morning if a climatology reporting location is within a listening area of a station.

• The second item on "Monkey D's Summer Tips" is a reference to the Slip 'N Slide water toy.
• Strong Bad's line "the school's always had an elevator" refers to an episode of Saved by the Bell in which an elevator suddenly appears in the school as required by the plot of an episode, though the characters act as though it had always been present. Note that in this case, the pool had been seen previously, but The Brothers Chaps suddenly reintroduced it after having seemingly abandoned the location for several years.
• Strong Bad's "Welcome to our 'ool" sign is a parody of a popular "Pool Rules" sign that states "Welcome to our ool. Notice there is no 'P' in it. Let's keep it that way."
• Strong Bad's command to "press UP, A, and START before re-entering the pool" is a reference to the manner of entering various cheat codes on the Nintendo Entertainment System using two NES controllers. Its most notable application is in The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II, in which it can be used to save the game without getting a game over.
• Marzipan's comment "I can feel it tingling" is a reference to commercials for medicated anti-dandruff shampoos, particularly Selsun Blue, that use tingling as an indication that the product is working.
• Einstein and Kreskin refer to Albert Einstein (world-famous physicist) and The Amazing Kreskin (kind-of-famous stage mentalist).

DVD Version

• The DVD version features creators' commentary. To access it, switch your DVD player's audio language selection while watching.

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Mike Chapman, Matt Chapman, Ryan Sterritt)

RYAN: I got an issue of Redbook this morning.

MATT: Oh yeah? Are you getting Redbook in the mail?

RYAN: Yeah.

MATT: I keep getting it, too!

RYAN: What about you, Mike?

MIKE: I do not get Redbook, guys.

MATT: I keep trying to g—they get—

MIKE: I get Dressage Today. {Matt and Ryan laugh}

MATT: Alright!

RYAN: And that's not a joke.

MATT: {laughs} Nope. {pause} So that was—Strong Bad finally got fed up and told everyone that Strong Badia does not refer to all of the world they live in.

MIKE: All of the world is Free Country, USA.

MATT: That's right.

MIKE: Strong Badia is just the fence and mowed dirt.

MATT: {laughs} Oh, "Mr. Chekhov". That is some high-brow readin' he's doing right there. {pause} I feel like we're, uh—we're opening minds with, uhh, what, we've mentioned Thai iced tea, spring rolls, not that that's such a.... a rarity... uhh, hoisin sauce. What else? I feel like there's a few different culinary things that we've mentioned.

MIKE: Pan-Asian cuisine. {Matt laughs and starts to say "Yeah"} In general.

{pause}

RYAN: Monkey D.

MATT: Monkey D!

{pause}

MIKE: So this reminds me of the, uhh, episode of Saved by the Bell where they've got an elevator in the school. {laughs}

MATT: Yep.

{pause}

MIKE: Aw, the pool! {pause}

MATT: Uhh, but they have had a pool, seemingly for a—for many years, Mike. All the way back to the Jumping Jack? Yeah.

MIKE: {simultaneously} Well, yeah, that's right. Uhh, Jumping Jack? And it even had that red and white checkerboard, uhh, border on the top.

MATT: Yeah. Look, he's got his t—tan he had—his farmer's tan that he had in, uhh, what is that, lures and jigs?

MIKE: {simultaneously} Lures and jigs.

MATT: Look at that baby's stinky butt.

{Ryan and Mike laugh}

MATT: Aww.

{all laugh}

MIKE: Nebulon.

{pause}

MATT: What is that— "House-Rousing", is that house, like, falling apart? That's how you rouse a house? {pause} And it does look pretty hot, you guys, there.

RYAN: Mm-hmm.

MIKE: Yeah, the color, the green's a little bit off—

RYAN: Yeah.

MIKE: —from the usual green.

MATT: It—it's saturated—It's saturated with sunlight.

{pause}

MIKE: Remember hair turning green?

MATT: Yeah.

MIKE: Uh, as a blonde-haired, uh, youth, that wa— that was a big deal in the summertime.

MATT: Yeah, you had to watch out—

MIKE: Making sure chlorine didn't turn your hair green. {all laugh}

MATT: {laughs} Remember, what were those foam pad things that the, uhh, lifeguard would have? {short pause} It was just this big, foam—it was a float, you know, a flotation device, but it was just this big chunk of foam.

MIKE: {simultaneously} Wasn't gonna do much.

MATT: No.

RYAN: Were they connected to it?

MIKE: Uhh... the lifeguard?

RYAN: I can picture them running, and it's like, it has a string on it, but, I dunno.

MATT: Maybe. {pause} Y'think—so, can Bubs not swim? He needs water wings?

MIKE: Uhh— {laughs}

MATT: {pause} That's the best.

MIKE: Look, nothing hap—

MIKE AND MATT: {simultaneously} Oh no!

MATT: Lots happened, actually, Mike.

RYAN: Ooh!

{pause}

MATT: Isn't that only the second time—the second time {Mike laughs and starts to say "I think the—"} Strong Bad has fallen through his ceiling?

MIKE: Yeah, when Pom Pom beat the crap out of him, he fell through it.

MATT: Yeah.

MATT: {pause} Uh-oh.

{all laugh when Homestar crashes into Strong Bad}

MIKE: Breaky-spiney?

MATT: Yeah. I don't— We just kinda watched this one.

Fun Facts

• Redbook and Dressage Today are both popular magazines.

External Links

• watch "keep cool"
• watch "keep cool" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "keep cool"
• forum thread re: "keep cool"