business trip

Strong Bad Email #182

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"I think I heard a bear rustling in the woods!"

Strong Bad is asked if he ever does anything serious, so he and Homestar go on a business trip.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Homestar Runner, The Cheat, Strong Sad, The King of Town, Strong Mad (voice only)

Places: Computer Room, The Field, The Bar, The King of Town's Castle

Computer: Lappy 486

Date: Monday, October 15, 2007

Running Time: 3:41 official, 4:06 actual

Page Title: Lappy 486

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Six

Transcript

STRONG BAD: {singing} When I was sixteen, I sold all my emails and hit the road.

subject: have you ever? PLEASE!!

Have you ever made a sbmail about a business trip or
something serious? think about it.

-ROXY~VA

{pronounces "sbmail" as written. The "~" is accompanied by a sound like a cassette tape playing unevenly, and "VA" is pronounced "V-A".}

STRONG BAD: {typing} I think we should seriously talk about your name, Roxy. I'm afraid your career choices may be limited to a Limozeen groupie or maybe an American Gladiator. {clears screen} Something involving you wearing scantily clothes. You don't meet too many Professors of Women Studies named Roxy. As for business trips, The Cheat and I are being sent to a conference in a just a few seconds here. {stops typing} The Cheat, you ready to ro'?

{Cut to wider shot of Homestar Runner standing next to Strong Bad's computer.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Sure am, Sam!

STRONG BAD: Hey, you're not The Cheat.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Nah, not any more. The Cheat got promoted to—

{Cut to a portrait of The Cheat in a business suit. Homestar is reading the plaque, where the text runs off the square.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: —Junior Executive Of Not Having To Go On Pointless Business Trips.

{Cut back to Strong Bad.}

STRONG BAD: What?! I've been trying to get that job for years.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: So, it's just going to be me and you. Sleepin' out under the stars. Roasting some {in a crude impression his old voice} mwarshmallows.

STRONG BAD: Homestar, this is a business trip, not a camping trip.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh. Oh, I see. I guess I shouldn't have brought these, then. {Pan over to a stack of cans marked "Pork b/w Beans"}

{Diamond iris out to The Field, next to a sign that reads "Annual Symposium Conference Lecture Seminar Series Registration".}

STRONG BAD: All right, Homestar. We got to start talking loudly about our business trip, so that everyone around us knows we're on a business trip. {speaking a little louder} Uh, continental breakfast? More like, in-continental blech-fast. {As he says "blech," the top and bottom of his mouth wiggle}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {angrily} Yeah, seal the deal! {wider shot with Homestar wearing the pork b/w beans cans on his feet} Seal the deal!

STRONG BAD: Homestar, {close up of the cans} what are those jangles?

{Cut to Homestar.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, airport security. You know how it is these days. {Homestar's eye highlights rotate} Roll my eyes.

STRONG BAD: Well, hurry up. We've got to get there before the keynote starts so we can ditch out five minutes after the keynote starts.

{Push wipe to Strong Sad wearing glasses and holding a clip board. He is standing on the soapbox, but one of his feet has pushed through the top.}

STRONG SAD: {flatly} Welcome to Reducing Your Business's Carbon Footprint Is Not A Matter of Buying Everyone Smaller Shoes. Please allow me to begin.

{Reverse shot to Strong Bad and Homestar.}

STRONG BAD: That's our cue.

{Strong Bad and Homestar sneak out.}

{Cut back to Strong Sad.}

STRONG SAD: ...And we'll go ahead and break for lunch.

{Diamond iris out to The Bar, medium shot of Strong Bad with several bottles of Cold Ones.}

STRONG BAD: Man, there's nothing like a couple of ice cold Expen$e Account Ones while on a business trip.

{Cut to a wide shot of Homestar and Strong Bad. Homestar is wearing six lanyards.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Boy, I'll say. I've been going nuts with our lanyard per diem.

STRONG BAD: Let's see what's next on the itinerary.

{Cut to the itinerary. As items are checked off, check marks appear.}

STRONG BAD: Take off wedding rings, check. Complain about hotel mattress, check. Talk about how our dogs are killing us...{squiggly line appears} we're not quite there yet.

{The next item is written in blue ink, with a silly picture of Homestar drawn next to it.}

STRONG BAD: Collect dry twigs for kindling?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {off-screen} That's a check.

STRONG BAD: Meet hot female executives for drinks. {Cut back to Homestar and Strong Bad. Strong Bad looks around.} Um... mostly check? Oh crap!

{Cut back to the checklist. "Mostly check" is a check made from a dotted line.}

STRONG BAD: We've got to seal the deal with the foreign conglomerate in ten minutes!

{Cut back to Strong Bad and Homestar. Homestar has leapt into Strong Bad's arms in fear.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: And not a moment too soon! I think I heard a bear rustling in the woods!

{Iris out to The King of Town's castle. A gong is heard. The King is wearing a tag saying "Foreign Conglomerate".}

THE KING OF TOWN: All right, gentlemen, here's how this is going to go down. I'm gonna write a number on this piece of paper.

{Reverse shot to Homestar and Strong Bad. The King slides the paper with an obvious bulge to the pair, accompanied by squelching noises.}

STRONG BAD: {holding up the paper} Uh, King, you wrote a piece of lasagna on this piece of paper.

{Cut back to The King of Town.}

THE KING OF TOWN: And I ain't budging! Now, where are those units?

{Reverse shot.}

STRONG BAD: What units? I thought we were just here to seal the deal.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, Strong Bad wouldn't let me bring all of them. But I did manage to smuggle these two {holds up the Pork b/w Beans cans} past airport security.

STRONG BAD: What the sense-make?

THE KING OF TOWN: All right, I'll take it! You boys drive a soft bargain. Poopsmith! Prepare the bathtub!

STRONG BAD: Well, cramp my style. We sealed the deal! Go ahead, Homestar. You— you've earned it.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {puts his feet up on the table} My dogs are killing me!

{Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} But the real reason for business trips is to buy last minute peanut brittle and crappy souvenirs from airport gift shops for your kids!

{Cut to The Cheat on the computer table, with a windup airplane that says "I ♥ St. Louis" floating in a fish bowl.}

THE CHEAT: {annoyed The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: No, see, it's an airplane! That swims! And loves St. Louis!

THE CHEAT: {annoyed The Cheat noises}

{The Cheat walks off.}

STRONG BAD: Fine, then. Strong Mad will appreciate it.

STRONG MAD: {off-screen} NO I WON'T!

{The airplane sinks and New Paper comes down.}

STRONG BAD: The peanut brittle could've swam better than that.

Easter Eggs

"We Really Just Made It!"

• Click on the "mostly check" check mark to see an assortment of hockey player trading cards for Jeu'realo Mostlycheck, Claudglaun Sortacheck, and Reneejeue Kindacheck.
• Click on "peanut brittle" as Strong Bad types it to see a box of "Last Minit Peanut Brittle".
• Click on The Spirit of St. Louis at the end to see an advertisement for "Expen$e Account Ones".

  ANNOUNCER: Cool, refreshing Expen$e Account Ones make everything go down smooth. Including that moron from delivereceivables they sent you on the road with. Yes, that's right, he just made a "You Go Girl" joke.

Fun Facts

Explanations

• A continental breakfast typically consists of juice, coffee, tea, pastries and fruit. Many hotels have such breakfasts available at no charge for guests.
• Incontinence is the inability to control urination or defecation.
• A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted by a product or service, or in this case, a company.
• "Per diem", a Latin term meaning "for each day", is the amount of money a business allows their employees to spend each day to cover work-related living and traveling expenses.
• "My dogs are killing me" is slang for "My feet hurt".
• "Take off wedding rings" on the itinerary refers to the tendency of some business people on the road to remove their wedding rings to hide the fact that they are married from other people they might meet.

Trivia

• This is the first appearance of the current Field with streams of clouds and gradient sky.
• The Floppy Disk Container reads "ballistix".
• The Podstar Runner description for this email reads, "Strong Bad shows off how he rolls on a business trip with Homestar."

The other sbemails could've done better than that...

Remarks

• Though the cans of pork b/w beans are curved, the text on the labels remains straight.
• In the New Stuff preview on the TV Time Toons Menu, the cans strapped to Homestar's feet lack the labels they do in the toon itself.
• Homestar and Strong Bad wearing wedding rings, let alone removing them, seems impossible considering that neither of them have visible fingers.
  • It also implies that they are both married.
• The toy Spirit of St. Louis looks nothing like the real aircraft, instead resembling a modern jet airliner, while the actual airplane was a propeller plane.
• Homestar's "airport security bypass" would not work, as he would still have to be fully analyzed from head to toe and go through a metal detector.
• Despite Strong Bad saying "...could have swam," the past participle for "swim" is "swum".

Goofs

• The indentations usually caused by clicking on the Lappy's screen are missing in this email.
• The phrase "In 10 Minutes" is misspelled "In 10 Mintues" on Strong Bad's itinerary.
• The @ sign on New Paper is off-center on its key.
  • This was fixed in the podcast version.
• The soapbox Strong Sad is standing on has a line going out the side.

Glitches

Fact three: It's like a big square, this face.

• When Homestar flicks his head back when he says "Seal the deal" the first time, his outline is protruded by a large white box. This is due to his blinking eyes animation continuing to loop under his closed eyes. Additionally, the very bottom of his open eye animation pokes out of the bottom of the box, and continues to disappear at the same rate his eyes usually blink.

Inside References

• Homestar states that he isn't The Cheat anymore, referring to do over.
  • Additionally, the exclamation he uses, "Sure am, Sam!", is a phrase used by The Cheat during an online chat in i she be.
• During the scene with Strong Sad, the boredom music from slumber party is playing.
• The soapbox reads "Fifteen Types".
• Homestar mentions eating "pork b/w beans" in both helium and Arcade Game.
• One of Homestar's passes reads "LEMKE". Also, the pennant reading "LEMKE!" is just visible on the wall of the Bar.
• The "Last Minit Peanut Brittle" box mirrors the "Not-So-Thin Mints" box seen in rough copy.
• The hat and briefcase in the Expense Account Ones Easter egg were previously seen in montage.
• "Delivereceivables" is a portmanteau.
• The Cheat's job position holds another instance of Not X.
• The music playing in the background while Strong Bad goes over the itinerary is Coach Z and Bubs' jam from cheatday.
• When Homestar seals the deal, Strong Bad exclaims, "What the sense-make?"

Real-World References

• American Gladiators, one of Strong Bad's suggestions for Roxy's career path, was a television show where contestants would compete against each other in various athletic contests while muscle-bound "Gladiators" attempted to frustrate their progress. The gladiators were given one-word names that bordered on "remarkably cheesy". Some notable examples are: Blaze, Bronco, Diamond, Ice, Thunder, Turbo, Storm, Tower, Viper, Elektra, Havoc, Tank and Thor.
• The Expen$e Account Ones commercial is a parody of Miller High Life commercials.
• The Spirit of St. Louis made the first non-stop solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1927.
• "You— you've earned it" is a quote from the movie Ghostbusters. Peter Venkman (played by Bill Murray) delivers the line while rewarding Egon Spengler (played by Harold Ramis) with a candy bar for discovering how to "catch a ghost and hold it indefinitely".

DVD Version

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

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Mike Chapman, Puppet Homestar)

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Mike, you and I have been on many business trips together.

MIKE: Ohhh, it's the Homestar puppet, everyone. {chuckles}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: That's right! Can you hear my— Hear, hear me smack 'em! {the puppet's mouth "snaps" into the mic} That's my— that's my mouth.

MIKE: {overlapping} Your gums?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yep.

MIKE: Teeth?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Flappin' my... felts.

MIKE: Mm-hmm.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I call it "flappin' the felt...s"!

MIKE: Um... so yeah. You usually travel in a duffel bag, and Matt stuffs all his clothes up inside the puppet so that it doesn't get all crumbly.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I got to maintain my shape!

MIKE: {laughing} Yeah, that's right.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Sometimes, I get a crinkle body.

MIKE: {laughing} Uh-huh.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I get crinkle-bodied. That's bad news.

{pause}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Um, we got sent— we get sent to conferences all the time, Mike!

MIKE: Uh, a couple times.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: It's you and me, because Strong Bad— that Strong Bad puppet is too heavy. And cumbersome.

MIKE: {overlapping} Uh... very cumbersome and heavy, and... I like your puppet.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah.

MIKE: Yeah.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Did you have to get that little plaque custom-made for The Cheat there?

MIKE: I did. Up at the trophy shop, Suburban Trophy Shop upstairs.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I bet that was— what do they call it? I bet it was die cut.

MIKE: Uh, it did need to be die cut. That's an extra four dollars.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, dang.

MIKE: Yeah.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Um, so, Mike.

MIKE: Yeah...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: When we travel, we like to expense everything, right?

MIKE: That's right.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I keep the receipts!

MIKE: {laughing} Yeah?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah!

MIKE: Um... what kind of stuff do we expense that maybe we shouldn't?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, man. One time, I got a... I got a free toothbrush from the hotel lobby.

MIKE: Okay...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: The kind that has the toothpaste in the handle!

MIKE: That exists?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah!

MIKE: Really?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, yeah.

MIKE: I didn't know about that...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {overlapping} It's really bad.

MIKE: But... so, you said it was free.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah!

MIKE: And so, is that...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {overlapping} So I expensed it out! It looked like an expensive piece of toothbrush-ery!

MIKE: {overlapping} Well, it was free!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {overlapping} I said it cost twelve-ninety-five!

MIKE: {laughing} Oh, I see.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah!

MIKE: That's pretty clever.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: And then another time, I did something totally different, where I got the free razor from the front desk of the hotel.

MIKE: {overlapping} Kinda the same thing, but then you charged...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: And it was— No, it was completely different thing. And it was a razor.

MIKE: Twelve-ninety-five?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: No! I broke it! {Mike laughs} Yeah, right in front of the guy's face. I was like, "Can I have one of those free razors?" And the guy said "Oh, excuse me, sir, yeah, Absolutely." And he gave it to me.

MIKE: He said "excuse me, sir" after you asked—? After you asked him a question; he said, "Excuse me, sir"?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah, that's how they—

MIKE: That's not an appropriate response. {laughs}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: It's politeness! It's how they talk at the front desk! They start every sentence with "Excuse me, sir"! It's in the employee handbook.

MIKE: All right.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: And, um...

MIKE: Did you expense the dry kindling?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yes. I did. I went in and I sent all those, um— what do you call them? Lanyards?

MIKE: {simultaneously} Lanyards. Yep.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I sent all them lanyards to eBay.

MIKE: {laughs} Yeah?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah.

MIKE: Just sent them to eBay?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Uh-huh-huh.

MIKE: What did they do with them?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I dunno!

MIKE: Maybe they just threw them in the trash.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {simultaneously} It was— it was a donation and I wrote it off.

MIKE: Wow.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: See, you really need to get me to tax you down.

MIKE: {chuckling} I will hire you to be my tax-you-down man next April.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: That's right! Look at all that grease from that ol' lasagna {pronounced luh-ZANN-ya}.

{pause}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {when Homestar on screen holds up the Pork b/w Beans in the King of Town's castle} Yeah, that was— It was like you said, Mike. We stuff those {both laughing} inside... the body.

MIKE: Yeah, to hold the shape.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: To hold my girlish figure.

{pause}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: ...Um...

MIKE: What else about business trips? I've never been on one, Homestar.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Uh, you better look out.

MIKE: Yeah?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I did one.

MIKE: Uh-huh-huh.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yep.

MIKE: Do you have to go on any—

HOMESTAR RUNNER: You know what you do?

MIKE: —client dinners?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: No one is going to ask you about the conference you were supposed to have gone to.

MIKE: Right.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: So, you can just walk around all day.

MIKE: Oh. And down at the— down at the fish market, maybe?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah!

MIKE: In Seattle.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah, maybe. {pause} Oh, remember that guy, he would swim, he's a big long flipper swim?

MIKE: Scuba Man.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Why didn't nobody's dad bring that back to me?

MIKE: {laughing} I'll bring one back to you next time.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Thanks.

Fun Facts

• See Public Appearances for a list of conferences The Brothers Chaps have attended.
• The trophy shop that Mike refers to is likely Suburban Custom Awards in Georgia, located near the office of the Brothers Chaps.
• The fish market in Seattle is Pike Place Market, a famous landmark within walking distance of the city's convention center. The Pike Place Fish Market is widely known for the tradition of dramatically throwing fish that customers have purchased.

External Links

• watch "business trip"
• watch "business trip" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "business trip"
• forum thread re: "business trip"