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Strong Bad Email #123

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"Bread is a good time for everybody!"

Strong Bad discusses the hangingoutitude of The Stick.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Lil' Strong Bad, Señor, Mr. Bland, Bubs, The Stick, Homestar Runner, The Cheat, Strong Mad, Marzipan, Homsar, Strong Sad, The King of Town

Places: Computer Room, Bubs' Concession Stand, The Stick

Computer: Lappy 486

Date: Monday, January 31, 2005

Running Time: 3:20

Page Title: Lappy 486

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Four

Transcript

STRONG BAD: {in monotone} This email is leaving the station. Please move to the center of the email, and away from the doors.

subject: a sticky question...

Dear Strong bad,
I have recently been wondering about the origin of the
stick. Has it always been a good place for hanging out and
making rendezvous?

Luke, Eau Claire, WI

{Strong Bad tries to pronounce the plural of 'rendezvous' as 'rendezvouuuu-ses?', and the bottom line as 'Luke— eww...Claire...why?'}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Ugh! Why do you Van Peebles always wanna know the origins and histories of every freakin' little thing? Like, do you wanna know how Strong Sad got his belly button, too?

{Cut to a young Strong Bad. A hanging banner reads 'Happy Birthday Lil Strong Bad'. Strong Bad has a black shirt with a yellow truck on it, and is looking at a white present with a blue ribbon and a tag reading 'To Strong Bad From Mom or Dad'. He grabs the lid and takes it off to reveal a power drill.}

LI'L STRONG BAD: {lifting the drill} Oh, awesome!

{He revs the drill.}

{Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {clears the screen, typing} Or, like, the origin of Bubs' Concession Stand?

{Cut to Original Book style. Señor and Mr. Bland stand on a flat green field. Strong Bad's words are subtitled.}

STRONG BAD: {narrating} Señor Havin' A Little Trouble and Mr. Bland were by far the most popular characters.

{The concession stand, with a sign reading "Stand", falls on top of them with a "splurt!"}

STRONG BAD: {narrating} Then, they were crushed by a falling Bubs' Concession Stand.

{Bubs appears in it, waving.}

BUBS: Hot time!

STRONG BAD: {narrating} said Bubs.

{Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Well, I'm not gonna show you those things. Or the origin of the stick. But I will indulge your curiousity about the stick's hangingoutitude. It currently rates a 10, but such was not always the case. Like when Homestar used to hold his weekly {sounding disturbed, and the words turn green and jiggle on the screen} bread sing-alongs, {back to normal} we avoided that place like the plegg! Er, {deletes up to the letter P} plague!

{Cut to The Stick, where Homestar Runner is surrounded by bread. He is holding a slice and waving it around while marching on the spot.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {singing} And bread is a good time for me, woo-doo-doo-loot-doo, singing, bread is a good time for everybody!

STRONG BAD: {voiceover; Homestar keeps peeking out around the bread slice} We sure sniped that problem right between the eyes from three hundred yards by scheduling The Cheat's rhythmic chain dancing recitals to the same time and place.

{Strong Bad and Strong Mad stand in the background while The Cheat, dressed in a blue suit, is swinging a chain around, hitting Homestar's face and the bread. Homestar has acquired a sign reading 'Come On & Sing.'}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {singing, despite being hit in the face} I cut the crusts off in the morning light...

{At this point, Homestar's face has a red chain mark from being hit.}

{Strong Bad claps; The Cheat picks up a slice of bread and twirls it while making The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: {whispering} He's quite good.

STRONG MAD: SUCH GRACE!

{Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} After a couple of minutes, the popularity of Homestar's sing-alongs faded and Strong Mad ate The Cheat's chainwhip. So that's when the stick became a great place to spraypaint Marzipan.

{Cut to Strong Bad, Strong Mad and The Cheat by The Stick spraying at Marzipan's dress, which has a picture of a steak and 'St8k DiNNeR' written on it graffiti-style.}

MARZIPAN: To me, this is something that losers would do.

STRONG BAD: Oh, this is gonna be my freshest piece yet.

MARZIPAN: Strong Mad, that looks like cooking spray.

STRONG BAD: What?! Aw, that's some neva-forgive action right there.

STRONG BAD: {voiceover; the scene darkens slightly} But spray-painting people isn't very much fun when they stand there and make fun of you.

{Cut to The Stick at night. Marzipan is standing by The Stick with an upside-down Homsar stuck to her head; her dress is no longer spray-painted. A wolf howls}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} So I super-glued her to {exaggerating the "hhh" sound} Chhh-Homsar... aaand left them for dead.

MARZIPAN: Ooh, I think I hear wolves coming.

HOMSAR: AAAaaaAAh'm the human wedgie!

{Homsar's hat falls and lands on Marzipan's dress.}

{Homestar marches in, holding a loaf of bread.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {singing} ... don't ask me why, pumpernickel and rye. {Note: Homestar's speech impediment makes "why" and "rye" sound exactly the same.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} In order to properly leave them for dead, and not keep hanging around them for dead, we relocated to behind Bubs's—

{Cut to behind Bubs' Concession Stand. A crown with 'On Point' is spray-painted on the wall. Strong Bad, Strong Mad and The Cheat are hanging out with the muffler and pipe.}

STRONG BAD: —and started calling ourselves the On Point Kings. We di'n't take no guff from nobody!

STRONG BAD: {to The Cheat} Hey man, I know what it means. I was just seeing if you knew.

THE CHEAT: {frustrated The Cheat noises}

STRONG SAD: {walking in} Have you guys seen my moleskin journal?

STRONG BAD: {producing the power drill} You want another belly button there, Harry Elephanté?

STRONG SAD: {frightened at the sound of the drill} Waah! No sir! Heck no at all!

{Strong Sad runs away.}

STRONG BAD: {throwing away the drill} Man, did you guys see me refuse to take that guff? I flat out rejected it! That guff never even had a chance! {pulls out a nail file and starts filing his gloves} Ah, that's what being an On Point King is all about.

{The King of Town walks in wearing a blue dunce cap.}

THE KING OF TOWN: I hear somebody mention a pointy king? {poking with his hat} Doink, doink?

STRONG BAD: Heck no at all!

{Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} So ya see Claire, if it weren't for the stick, and Marzipan's considerable resistance to death, the On Point Kings may never have stolen the King of Town's dunce cap and renamed it Lotionman. {a little embarrassed, and stutters his 'd' (though only one 'd' is typed)} D-don't ask, it was Strong Mad's idea. Well, I hope that makes you not email me anymore.

{The Paper comes down.}

Easter Eggs

"Pumpernickel and rye."

• After Strong Bad says "eww... Claire... why???" click on "Eau Claire, WI" to view Beverly Sportsinterviews's book Ewww, Claire!! Why???
• Click on "dunce" at the end to see and hear an album of Homestar's Bread Sing-alongs.
  • Keep clicking the CD cover to hear different songs. The three songs he sings are the same as the ones from the email.

Fun Facts

Trivia

• This is the first time Homsar's hat has not returned to him, regardless of his position (barring Modestly Hot Homsar). Because he is upside down while glued to Marzipan's forehead, his hat settles on her dress. However, in his character video, he ends up upside down at the end (or, depending on one's point of view, the entire video), but his hat still comes back to him.
• This is the first time Señor's full name (Señor Havin' A Little Trouble) is revealed on the website (though it had been mentioned in the DVD commentary for flashback).
• Even though in the origin of Bubs' Concession Stand, the sign above the window reads "STAND", during the first appearance of said concession stand (Where My Hat Is At?), the sign reads "CANDY".
• The YouTube description for this email is "Homestar singing some songs about bread is all you really need to know about this one. Strong Bad is in it too, I assume."

Remarks

• Strong Bad has trouble with the pronunciation of the plural form of the word rendezvous, which is spelled the same as the singular, not rendezvouses. The plural can be pronounced either /ron-day-voo/ (which is also the same as the singular) or /ron-day-vooz/.
• In the Bread Sing-Alongs CD, the picture of Homestar blinks. This is due to his Flash "movie clip" symbol, which makes him blink automatically in a looped animation.
• The "Come on and Sing" sign was not in the animation the first few days. It was added sometime after a week.
• Strong Bad misspells "curiosity" as "curiousity".
• Strong Mad seems noticeably shorter than usual.
• The electric drill makes a sound effect very much like that of a pneumatic impact wrench or drill, rather than an electric drill.
• In the first flashback, the trigger to the drill depresses even though Strong Bad's "finger" isn't long enough to reach it.
• The spelling of "steak" given in this email would more normally be pronounced "state-k".
• Strong Bad uses a nail file even though he lacks visible fingers.
• When Strong Bad is spray painting Marzipan, and when he's hanging out behind Bubs's, his pants are a slightly different shade than normal.
• When The Cheat chainwhips Homestar, the whip appears behind the piece of bread he eventually picks up.

Inside References

• The smashed muffler first appeared in no loafing.
• Homestar peeking out behind the bread concealing his eyes at the end of his first bread sing-along song is a long-time running joke that whenever his eyes are concealed or closed, he has to move them so he can see the viewer. Other examples are Pumpkin Carve-nival, A Holiday Greeting, and Cool Things.
• Strong Bad was last "On Point" in the "Extra Real Dating Sim XR," which is the game from the email date.
• This is the second time in the past two cartoons that a character has been pictured wearing a truck shirt. Little Strong Bad does so here, and Tompkins wore one in Teen Girl Squad Issue 8. Also, Little Strong Bad's voice is very similar to that of Tompkins.
• The electric drill sound effect was last heard in privileges as The Cheat earned a new rewards point.
• The full name "Señor Havin' a Little Trouble" comes from the Original Book. In the picture where Señor is being squished under the weight of the grapes, the image's alternate text is "havin a little trouble".
• This is another appearance of bread.
• One of Homestar’s Bread Song-Alongs sounds similar to the song played at the end of Strong Bad Sings.

Real-World References

• Bread was an American Soft Rock band in the 1970s and Homestar's "Bread Sing-alongs" are in their style.
• Strong Bad's introduction to the email is a reference to AUTO, the automated voice used in Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport's Automated People Movers prior to an upgrade for the 1996 Olympics. The original voice said, in a computer-generated voice, "This vehicle is leaving the station. Please hold on." "The next stop is Concourse (A/B/C/D). The color coded maps and signs in this vehicle match the station colors./The next stop is for the Terminal, Baggage Claim and all Ground Transportation. International passengers please remain on-board. Please move to the center of the vehicle and away from the doors." "Please hold on. This vehicle is approaching the next stop." [1]
• When Señor and Mr. Bland are crushed in the scene depicting the origin of Bubs' Concession Stand, the manner in which their legs stick out is as that of the Wicked Witch of the East in The Wizard of Oz when she is crushed by Dorothy's house.
• Beverly Sportsinterviews, likely related to Lem Sportsinterviews, is a reference to Beverly Cleary, an author of novels for children and young adults.
• The name "On Point Kings" and the crown graffiti are references to the Latin Kings, a famous street gang that originated in Chicago. Since members of the Latin Kings are traditionally Hispanic, this is in keeping with Strong Bad's vaguely Mexican heritage.
• Moleskine is a brand of pocket notebooks and sketch pads popular among travelling artists and writers. Strong Sad mistakenly pronounces it "mole skin", whereas the correct pronunciation is /mol-ǝ-skeen-ǝ/.
• "Harry Elephante" is a reference to famous calypso musician Harry Belafonte.
• "Van Peebles" is a reference to the filmmakers Melvin Van Peebles (known for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song) and his son Mario Van Peebles.
• Strong Bad's line "that's some never-forgive action right there" is a direct quote from Min One in the graffiti documentary Style Wars.
• In the second bread sing-along song, Homestar sings, "I cut the crusts off in the morning light." This is a reference to the '80s metal band Dokken, whose song "Alone Again" had the same tune and opens with "I'd like to see you in the morning light."
• The Cheat's rhythmic chain dancing is a reference to the sport rhythmic gymnastics.

Fast Forward

• In secret identity, there is another book similar to Ewww, Claire!! Why??? in an Easter egg entitled Laramie, Why?
• Homestar revisits his bread fixation in disconnected.
• The On Point Kings reappeared in more armies.
• Strong Bad types "bread sing-alongs" in a green, animated font. He does this again in rough copy with "flavored water".
• Strong Bad spray painted a Marzipan poster in Strong Bad is a Bad Guy.

DVD Version

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

Commentary Transcript

(Cast (in order of appearance): Mike Chapman, Ryan Sterritt, Homestar Runner, Jonathan Howe)

MIKE: Hey Ryan, who's sitting next to you?

RYAN: I think it's Homestar!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh no! I'm sitting next to Ryan!

RYAN: Hi, Homestar.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hi, Homestar.

RYAN: I'm Ryan.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hi Ryan! I like your beard!

RYAN: I've got a little beard going.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I'm gonna scrub it!

{Ryan, Mike and Jonathan laugh.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Somebody give me a sponge.

MIKE: Hey Homestar, this is Jonathan.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I don't want to talk to that guy. Oh, wait, sorry! No, hi, Jonathan!

JONATHAN: Hi, Homestar.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: It's great to see you tonight.

JONATHAN: Uh, it's afternoon, Homestar.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Well, give me some lunch then. Look at that little truck shirt Little Strong Bad has on!

MIKE: Were you friends with Strong Bad back in those days?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I didn't meet him until later on.

MIKE: No?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: No.

JONATHAN: That drill sounds like that super powered ratchet gun that they have in the...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I think it is. I think it is what loosens your tires. Your lugnuts.

JONATHAN: In the shop.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: You old lugnuts. Get outta here, you old lugnuts!

JONATHAN: {overlapping} Hot time!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Um, didn't Strong Bad really just show us those things, Mike?

MIKE: Yeah, he did. That's sort of the joke of it that he says that he won't show them but he just has.

JONATHAN: Wait, explain it again to me?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Is that a joke? Does that count? As a joke? Honestly?

MIKE: Well, I don't know if it's a joke but—

JONATHAN: Hey, Homestar, this is your big moment, comin' up!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Ooh! Ooh! Shut up! Boodalah loot-doo singing...

MIKE: {overlapping} Yeah...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Bread is a good time for... no, listen! Everybodyyyy.

MIKE: Why aren't you harmonizing?

JONATHAN: We already have that on—

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {simultaneously} Oh, wait. Okay. Uh, hang on, hang on. Bread is a good time for meeeeeeeeeeeeee! Meeeeeeeee.

MIKE: Okay, here comes mine.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: What? I gotta, oh. Uh, uh, in the morning liiiiiiiiight!

MIKE: You don't want it to sound raga.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, it sounds barbershop now.

JONATHAN: Yeah.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: It sounds raga.

JONATHAN: That's agerpellar. {mispronouncing "a cappella"}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Ummm, yeah, those— I had a good— we had a good run, the bread sing-alongs.

MIKE: Yeah, a couple minutes there?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah!

JONATHAN: {overlapping} Off-off-Broadway?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: You know, what more can you really expect from bread sing-alongs? Um, steak dinner.

MIKE: Steak. So Matt, at the time this was going on, Matt was, Matt who's not here right now...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: No, not at all.

MIKE: Was saying steak dinner a— a lot, for some reason.

JONATHAN: It was just the word steak.

MIKE: Well, steak, it started, at some point it was steak dinner, mostly.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Don't forget neva forgive action, either—

MIKE: Never forgive action.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: —was in that last scene.

MIKE: That's, of course, from a documentary called Style Wars about graffiti.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: No way am I...

RYAN: You got an orange there.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: An orange there, Ryan.

MIKE: It's a great movie.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Ohh! You guys spoked over my song. I'll do it again for you! Don't ask me whyyyyyy!

MIKE: That's it! We heard.

JONATHAN: We already have it on...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Spin my buzzer toniiiiiight!

JONATHAN: I like your free styling but we already have it on—

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Thanks.

JONATHAN: —we already have it on record.

RYAN: Are you a part of the On Point Kings, Homestar?

JONATHAN: What is the origin of On Point Kings?

MIKE: I dunno. Matt and I, Matt or I, someone...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Did we see it somewhere?

MIKE: I don't know, we just came up with it a long time ago...

HOMESTAR RUNNER: We? Mike, Matt, and you, see it?

MIKE: Yeah, we by... Yeah, not me and Homestar.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Right, 'cause we don't hang out so much.

MIKE: No.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Look! There's another instance of those guys beating up a muffler with a lead pipe.

MIKE: Yeah. That's happened a couple times.

JONATHAN: He's filing his nails there. That's great.

{Mike laughs}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Filing down his boxing gloves. They get rough. They get roughed up.

{pause until Strong Bad mentions Lotionman}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: You guys, that's weird.

MIKE: Yeah.

JONATHAN: Yeah.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Where, what, where is Lotionman, anyways?

MIKE: I don't know. Maybe— he might make an appearance someday.

JONATHAN: {under Mike} He's on the poster. Look at a poster.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: He needs to come around.

MIKE: {yelps}

Fun Facts

• The conversation involving the harmony sounding "raga" and "barbershop" is a direct reference to the movie This Is Spinal Tap, during a scene in which David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel attempt to harmonize on the Elvis song "Heartbreak Hotel".
• The poster Jonathan refers to is likely the Everybody Everybody Poster, though contrary to his claims, it does not feature Lotionman.

External Links

• watch "origins"
• watch "origins" on YouTube
• watch "origins" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "origins"
• forum thread re: "origins"