colonization

Strong Bad Email #90

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"This'll grow ya some nice fishcorn bushes!"

Strong Bad is asked if he celebrates Thanksgiving like everyone else. He then shows a history book about the colonization of Strong Badia.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Strong Sad, Homestar Runner, The Cheat, Bubs

Places: Computer Room, The Field, Strong Badia

Computer: Compy 386

Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Running Time: 1:57

Page Title: Compy 386!!

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Three

Transcript

STRONG BAD: {singing} Email me don't email me, email me don't email me. {He pulls up the email and reads it aloud.}

Hi Strong Bad!

Do you celebrate thanksgiving
normally? Or do you have special
traditions for when Strong Badia was
first colonized? What's the story
about?

From your Buddy,
Shana Ma.
Los Angeles, CA

{Strong Bad reads "Shana Ma." as one word (Shanama). He also pronounces "Los Angeles" with a hard "g".}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Oh, Shanama, the story of the colonization of Strong Badia is a tale as old as, say, the wireless Web {pause} or energy drinks maybe. It began in a period of strife...

{Cut to a shot of an old book on a wooden table. It is open and pictures Strong Bad, in a pilgrim hat, squirting ketchup onto a plate of eggs, next to Strong Sad in a wig and typical 17th-century clothing.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} ...when I was being persecuted for my beliefs.

STRONG SAD: {voiceover} Ewwww! Ketchup on eggs?!?

{A caption reading "Ewwww! Ketchup on Eggs?!?" appears beneath the picture. The page turns to show Strong Bad reading the newspaper and seeing an ad saying "LOT FOR SALE!" along with a page saying "Homestar declares eggs not a fruit."}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} I learned of a place where a man can be free. Free to do what he wants to do. Free to ketchup his eggs without being hassled by the man.

{The page turns to show Strong Bad and The Cheat, also wearing a pilgrim hat, traveling across Free Country, USA, Strong Bad carrying a musket and eating a sandwich and The Cheat dragging a bag along behind him. A caption along the bottom reads "The Three Stout Sub Sandwiches: The Ham 'n' Swiss, The Dijon Chicken and the Veggie Delux."}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} So I set sail with three stout sub sandwiches, and my best The Cheat to find this mystical land.

{The page turns to show the two of them meeting Bubs, who is waving at them, wearing a Sioux-style feather headband and wearing a loincloth.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} I met a strange man who had strange ways and strange odors.

{The page turns to show Strong Badia in front of a glorious sunrise, above a caption reading "The Neu Wirlde."}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} And he led me to the new world, out beyond the dumpsters.

{The page turns to show the Tire falling onto The Cheat, whose hat is sent flying from his head.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} There was a brief struggle with the indigenous peoples.

{The page turns to show Strong Bad handing Bubs the rent check.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} At last, we reached an agreement to peacefully co-exist in this land, after I gave him my first and last months' rent deposit.

{The page turns to show a ploughed field where Bubs is planting a fish. Strong Bad is looking at him, holding a fish and a corn cob in his hand.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} Then the strange man probably showed me how to put fish in the ground with corn, for some reason.

BUBS: {voiceover} This'll grow ya some nice fishcorn bushes!

{A caption reading "This'll grow ya some nice fishcorn bushes" appears at the bottom of the page. The page turns to show Bubs, The Cheat and Strong Bad sitting at a picnic table in Strong Badia, feasting on fast food.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} Then we celebrated with a feast of some cold Hardee's he had lying around.

{Cut back to the Compy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} So there you have it, Shana... Shanamana... {singing} Shanamanamanamanamana tonight! That shoulda been in your history books at school. I gotta get on those people over at Hoofton Mifflin. Those guys are slackin off. {stops typing} Okay, so until next week, leave me alone!

{The Paper comes down.}

Easter Eggs

• After the email is over, click the first part of the word Shanamanamanamanamana and Strong Bad will "Shanama" into some songs.

STRONG BAD: {singing to the tune of "O Canada", though missing the final note} O Shanama... Do do doot doot doot doo... {stops singing} What else is there? Shana... Shanamatopoeia. Ooh, how 'bout this? {singing to the tune of "Panama" by Van Halen} Shanama! Shanama ho ho ho huh ho! {on each "ho", his head changes position}

• Also at the end, click on the words "history books" to hear Homestar Runner address the imaginary masses.

{Cut to a page in a history book with a drawing of Homestar, dressed in Colonial American attire (with powdered wig), with text below it reading "Homestar Runner addresses the imaginary masses." There is cheering.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: A-hem. From this day forward, I hereby declare eggs... not to be... a fruit!

{More cheering.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yes, yes, quiet down. And furthermore, no longer shall dirty diapers be accepted as legal tender!

{More cheering.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hang on, I got one more. Henceforth, those named Henry will no longer be allowed to call themselves Hank. That's just too much of a stretch.

{More cheering. Homestar smiles.}

Fun Facts

Explanations

• "Shanamatopoeia" is a play on the literary term "onomatopoeia", defined as a word that sounds like what it represents, such as "sizzle", "pop", or even "preeeeow".
• The Native Americans taught the Pilgrims that planting fish with corn would help fertilize the soil.

Trivia

• The YouTube description for this email is "Strong Bad describes the colonization of Strong Badia like a politically incorrect 1980's third grade american history book might."

Remarks

• According to the later email monument, the Stop Sign and Cinder Block make up a monument of Strong Bad's right foot. However, they are shown in this email as being part of the area when Strong Bad bought it from Bubs.
• In this email, it is shown that Bubs owns Strong Badia (which is located behind the dumpsters), and Strong Bad just rents it from him. This fact may explain why Strong Bad said "Maybe get a little place in Strong Badia" in Strong Bad is in Jail Cartoon.
  • Despite this, it says in the Bubsifieds that there is a lot for sale.

Goofs

• When Homestar blinks his eyes in his Easter egg, they are much darker rather than the sepia tone in which the rest of the picture is displayed.

Inside References

• The background music during Strong Bad telling the history of Strong Badia is an expanded version of the background music in the beginning of Tis True, Pom Pom, Tis True.
• The crowd cheers in the second Easter egg are from A Decemberween Pageant and Marshmallow's Last Stand.
• Strong Badia was originally established as being "out behind the dumpsters" in i rule.
• One of the subs Strong Bad ate while traveling to Strong Badia was titled "The Dijon Chicken".
• Strong Bad believes himself persecuted for putting ketchup on his eggs.
• Homestar declares eggs not to be a fruit.

Real-World References

• The entire story is based on the historical accounts of the Pilgrims founding the Plymouth Colony, after they were persecuted for their religious beliefs in England. Bubs's Native American character is probably based on Tisquantum, better known as Squanto, who, among other things, taught the Pilgrims to fertilize their crops.
  • Although the story is mainly based upon the Pilgrims, the "Three Stout Sub Sandwiches" most likely reference the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, the three ships used by Christopher Columbus to travel across the Atlantic Ocean and discover the New World.
• Homestar declaring eggs not to be a fruit may be a reference to the famous 1893 Supreme Court decision (Nix v. Hedden) that tomatoes were not fruit.
• "Hoofton Mifflin" is a misspelling (and mispronunciation) of scholastic publisher Houghton Mifflin.
  • Houghton Mifflin is correctly pronounced HOE-ton MIF-lin.
• Hardee's is a fast-food chain primarily located in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. It is known as Carl's Jr. elsewhere in the US.
• Strong Bad saying "Free to do what he wants to do. Free to ketchup his eggs without being hassled by the man." is a reference to the movie The Wild Angels, in which a character states "We wanna be free to do what we wanna do [...] We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man!"
  • This line is prominently sampled in the Mudhoney song "In 'n' Out of Grace". Mike Chapman has cited Mudhoney as an influence, listing Superfuzz Bigmuff (the album on which "In 'n' Out of Grace" appears) among his top five favorite albums.

Fast Forward

• Homestar has a brief scene as a founding father in Hremail 62.
• A hand drawing of Homestar in his founding father attire is seen in lieu of stamps on Dangeresque's mail in Dangeresque Puppet Squad: The Hot Jones Hijack.

DVD Version

• The Easter egg of Strong Bad singing about Shana's name can be accessed by selecting the hidden Strong Bad logo at the top right of the Compy screen after the video is over.
• The Easter egg of the Homestar in the history book giving a speech can be accessed by selecting the hidden Strong Bad logo at the bottom left of the Compy screen after the video is over.

External Links

• watch "colonization"
• watch "colonization" on YouTube
• watch "colonization" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "colonization"