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HRWiki:Featured articles archive of weeks 21-52, 2005.

Week 52, 2005

Holidays are a big part of Free Country, USA. There are many unlikely choices for prevalent holidays, including April Fool's Day and Mother's Day. Other important holidays that are celebrated are Thanksgiving and Labor Day, also known as Labor Dabor. The most celebrated holidays in Free Country, USA are Halloween and Decemberween, the latter of which is a euphemism for Christmas, possibly created for viewers of religions other than Christianity.

Week 51, 2005

Decemberween is a holiday celebrated by the people of Free Country, USA, 55 days after Halloween, on December 25. It bears many similarities to Christmas with colorful lights and garlands and the giving of presents, but also has some obvious differences. Decemberween food has some unique variations on more recognizable cuisine. Instead of turkeys, the traditional meal is bunnies (much to Marzipan's chagrin). The origins of the holiday are complicated, involving at least one Angel, Dr. Christmas (who looks a bit like Santa Claus), two Kobe Bryants, and a sailor named Archibald, as explained in A Decemberween Pageant. It can also be celebrated in July, time permitting.

Week 50, 2005

Limozeen is a hair metal band that Strong Bad loves. Their name was born from the email "band names." Limozeen's logo is reminicent of AC/DC's logo with the same text and the lightning bolt in the center. They had a cartoon based on them that was set in space, but it was canceled before the pilot episode even finished. The members are often played by different actors, such as The Brothers Chaps and their friends and family, or sometimes just by Matt Chapman alone.

Week 49, 2005

Puppet Stuff refers to live-action video clips starring various characters as puppets. The Puppet Jams feature the Homestar puppet rocking out with They Might Be Giants. The Cheat puppet used in these clips is the The Cheat Talking Plush Doll for sale in the Store. As far as we know, The Homestar and Strong Bad puppets are one-of-a-kind items.

Week 48, 2005

The BMW Lighter is a handheld naphtha-type fire starter. It prominently displays the logo of BMW, an abbreviation of “Bayerische Motoren Werke” (Bavarian Motor Works), a German company and manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. When the lighter was first introduced on Homestar Runner, a "real world" BMW lighter was unavailable as The Brothers Chaps attest to on the DVD commentary for "dragon". There are now several styles of BMW lighter available.

Week 47, 2005

The Paper is the piece of printer paper that comes down after nearly every Strong Bad Email. Although it started simply as the address to email Strong Bad, it has slowly evolved into a separate pseudocharacter, which often talks to Strong Bad via the printed message. According to the Strong Bad Email montage, it will be replaced by an inkjet printer after email #173. That, of course, remains to be seen.

Week 46, 2005

Peasant's Quest is a text-based game made by Videlectrix, set a real long time ago, in the peasant kingdom of Peasantry. The player assumes the role of Rather Dashing, a peasant wearing short pants, who returns from his vacation to find his thatched-roof cottage BURNINATED! Rather Dashing then embarks on a journey to get revenge on Trogdor once and for all. Videlectrix programmers have actually been hard at work bringing lush 16-color landscapes to life, and providing state-of-the-art text commands and interface. "Can one peasant wearing short pants save the country-side from certain Burnination? YOU DECIDE!"

Week 45, 2005

Thorax Corporation, LLC,,. is a fictional company created by The Brothers Chaps. Thorax originated as a joke Web site created by TBC, and the URL to this site is found in one of the Fortune Cookies. They are the stereotypical, overly aggressive domain-name owners who offer domain-name registration services while smashing you with a lot of popups and ads.

Week 44, 2005

The Brothers Chaps (real-life siblings Mike and Matt Chapman) are the creators of the Homestar Runner body of work. They create the cartoons using Macromedia Flash out of their home in Atlanta, Georgia. They are sometimes referred to by the acronym TBC. They also have 3 (other) siblings and a young niece, who is featured in several Puppet Stuff films.

Week 43, 2005

Each year, the Halloween Cartoons feature the characters dressed in different Halloween Costumes, usually of pop icons and celebrities.

The costumes are generally "vintage," in that they feature characters who were either popular in the '80s and '90s, or just plain obscure, although it is uncertain if this is simply a style choice, or done deliberately to give the cartoons a more "timeless" feel.

Week 42, 2005, Day 7

The Random Toon Button was added to the main page alongside Quote of the Week, Weekly Fanstuff, and Sketchbook on September 12, 2005. It loads a random Toon, Strong Bad Email, Marzipan's Answering Machine, or Teen Girl Squad. If you don't like the selection it comes up with, you can press the "again" button on the left side of the box before you are redirected, which will restart the selection process. You can also press the "close" button on the right of the box to abort the selection.

Week 42, 2005, Day 6

In the disc three DVD Sketchbook, Mike and Matt Chapman give us a close look at many never-before-seen sketches, along with insightful commentaries. They also demonstrate their speed-drawing abilities on Homestar. Some of the sketches have since been featured on the Main Page Sketchbook.

Week 42, 2005, Day 5

The old Sketchbook (not to be confused with the weekly feature by the same name) is found in the Museum section of the Homestar website. It includes a set of thirteen pages of various early character sketches, some of which were rejected. They are accompanied by commentaries written by Matt Chapman. He offered ten bucks to anyone who could identify all the rejected Halloween costumes; thus far one of them is still a mystery to the wiki.

Week 42, 2005, Day 4

The Sketchbook is a collection of conceptual art and sketches by The Brothers Chaps. These are found by clicking on the S at the top of the Main Pages, and are generally updated on Thursdays. This page is a list of all the sketches since this feature started on July 19, 2004.

Week 42, 2005, Day 3

Fan Stuff is a Museum collection of early fan-submitted material. The tremendous inflow of fan art and projects prompted The Brothers Chaps to later have a more selective Weekly Fanstuff feature on the Main Page. The comments for some of the pictures are meant to be taken humorously, so in the FAQ it asks that you shouldn't write them with corrections.

Week 42, 2005, Day 2

Weekly Fanstuff is a collection of fan-submitted Homestar Runner projects and pictures. These are viewed by clicking on the F at the top of the Main Pages, and are generally updated on Thursdays. This page is a list of all the fanstuff since this feature started on January 27th, 2004.

Week 42, 2005, Day 1

The Quote of the Week is a sound bite from the Homestar Runner body of work. These are found by clicking on the Q at the top of the Main Pages, and are generally updated each week on Thursday. This page is a list of all Quotes of the Week collected since this feature started on January 10, 2002. Since early 2004, the Quote of the Week was updated with more regularity. The dates of some quotes are estimated on the basis of the file-modified date.

Week 41, 2005

The Old-Timey era (also referred to as the 1936 era) is the collective name for the Homestar Runner toons said to have been made in the 1930s; and are in essence a pastiche/tribute to the cartoons of the time. The toons are in black and white and have intentionally sloppy edits, a grainy and scratched appearance, and a soundtrack filled with static and pops. The characters look and sound different from their modern-day counterparts, and often have different personae, much in the way that the characters in the earliest Mickey Mouse and Looney Tunes cartoons are noticeably different than later incarnations.

Week 40, 2005

Strong Badia (also spelled Strongbadia) is the field behind the dumpster that is ruled by Strong Bad. He introduced his monarchy in "i rule." Its population is Tire, and the Stop Sign and the Cinder Block serve as an unfinished monument to Strongbadia's monarch. In the email "flag day," Strong Bad sings the Strongbadia National Anthem and the flag of Strongbadia is first shown. As explained in "other days," Strong Bad gives Strongbadia a firm scrubbing every Thursday. In the email "2 years," it was predicted that sweeping changes would happen to Strongbadia by September 2005. However, none of the alterations have appeared.

Week 39, 2005

The Cheat Commandos are an elite fighting force that, along with a civilian contractor named Reynold, is dedicated to protecting the world from the evil forces of Blue Laser. Their appearance is modeled after The Cheat, who originally dressed as Firebert in the email army, which is considered to be the conceptual birth of the Cheat Commandos. Every Cheat Commandos toon seems to parody a different facet of 1980s animated shows, especially G.I. Joe, with reiterated plugs for action figures and breakfast cereals, and rehashing as teaching aids.

Week 38, 2005

Free Country, USA, is where the Homestar Runner universe is centered. All of the main characters live, work, and play here. It has been around since at least 1933, and will continue to be around until at least 20X6. Viewers of Homestar Runner have variously speculated about the "real" location of Free Country, USA, though it can be safely assumed The Brothers Chaps prefer to leave its location undetermined.

Week 37, 2005

Marzipan's Answering Machine is probably one of the most overlooked sections on homestarrunner.com, likely because it has little or no animation. The messages often dive deeper into interpersonal relationships between the characters, with each short message packed with insight. Some mainstays of the section are Strong Bad's unrelenting prank calls, Homestar's constant misunderstandings, and Coach Z's and Strong Sad's depressing ramblings. It also features various other surprise messages and cameos from major and minor characters.

Week 36, 2005

The Main Pages are the menu pages for homestarrunner.com. They are the central hub, with links to nearly every facet of the site. The Main Pages are one of the more interesting aspects of the site. Every time a viewer returns to the Main Page, a random one will load. Rolling-over the six central buttons with the cursor makes Homestar Runner read them aloud, and also makes certain events happen in proximity to Homestar. These all are related to the theme of the Main Page, and often make references to previous toons.

Week 35, 2005

With more and more released on homestarrunner.com, it's hard to keep track of all the Strong Bad Email Statistics. For example, which computer was used the most, or how the length of emails has increased throughout the years. To correctly calculate those numbers, a few charts and graphs have been made for the ease of the people who like to know everything about Strong Bad and his emails.

Week 34, 2005

Videlectrix is a multi-dollar fictitious video game company that makes some of the hottest games ever. If anyone is playing a video game in any of the Homestar Runner toons, chances are it's a chart-topping Videlectrix classic. The brains behind the company were the cover story for January 2005's issue of Hundredaire Socialite. They are, of course, The Brothers Chaps in fake mustaches, and their friend Jonathan Howe.

Week 33, 2005

Marshmallow's Last Stand is the first full-length Homestar Runner toon made, and though removed from the official website, it was spoofed in the recent Strong Bad Email entitled "lady...ing." In the toon, Strong Bad and Strong Mad steal the star from Homestar Runner's shirt in order to force Homestar and Pom Pom to participate in a tag team wrestling match.

Week 32, 2005

strongbad_email.exe is a DVD collection of the first 130 Strong Bad Emails. Commonly referred to as the Strong Bad Emails DVD, this product was originally released as a three-disc box set in November 2004. A fourth disc was released separately in July 2005. Along with the first 130 Strong Bad Emails, the DVDs contain four extra emails, creators' commentaries, Puppet Stuff, and other bonus features not found on homestarrunner.com. The DVDs are available for purchase at the Homestar Runner Store.

Week 31, 2005

In the Strong Bad Email "comic," a girl named Brittany asked if Strong Bad could make a comic strip about her four friends: Virginia, Joy, Kristin, and Jennifer. Strong Bad's spur-of-the-moment comic strip soon became a series. Teen Girl Squad centers on four teenage girls — Cheerleader, So and So, What's Her Face, and The Ugly One — who like to buy clothes and attract cute boys and look SO GOOD! Unfortunately, they are all-too-often subjected to the random dangers of Strong Bad's overactive imagination. But being killed doesn't seem to be a problem for the girls, for they are always back for the next episode.

Week 30, 2005

Strong Sad's Lament is Strong Sad's personal weblog. It originated in the email "website," when you could access it by clicking on the "F10" image at the bottom of Strong Bad's Website.

In his lament he expresses his frustrations with life, complains about Strong Bad's constant practical jokes, and describes his bizzare relationship with Homsar. It was on hiatus for 17 months until August 5, 2004, when Strong Sad remembered his password and began posting regularly again. Once again, it appears to be on hiatus as it has been over 10 months since the last update.

Week 29, 2005

20X6 is an era of cartoons that depict stereotypical Japanese cartoons. Pronounced "Twenty-Exty-Six", this era contains elements of Mega Man and Metroid video games, wherein the year is referred to as 200X, 20XX, 21XX and 20X5.

20X6 stars anime versions of the standard "present era" characters. Strong Bad becomes Stinkoman, a reference to the email "island". Homestar Runner becomes 1-Up, a kid who wants to be the guy. Pom Pom becomes a hungry panda called Pan Pan. Marzipan, Coach Z, The Cheat, and possibly The Poopsmith also made minor 20X6 appearances as well.

Week 28, 2005

Strong Bad's Message Bored was a bulletin board that fans of Homestar Runner could post messages on. On May 12th, 2003, The Brothers Chaps upgraded the Message Bored to one that required registration. Due to the overwhelming response from the fans, The Brothers Chaps were forced to close the board shortly after the update. The old header is still accessible by clicking the front of the blue mailbox on the Email page. Clicking the "O" in the word "bored" will reveal three playable games, namely, Armless Invaders, The Cheat's Smoking Challenge, and Nighttime Driving Type Game.

Week 27, 2005

Bubs' Concession Stand is where Bubs works. It is the place in Free Country to get anything and everything, albeit not everything legal. It accepts different forms of currency, one of them Pencil Shavings. The Concession Stand also has a mascot named the Tragic Clown Dog, played by Strong Bad. There are 296 bricks on the right side of the stand, and according to Bubs' Yearbook Character Page, the Stand is located near the Athletic Field.

Week 26, 2005

The Floppy Disk Container sits to the right of Strong Bad's computer. Whenever the view on a toon or email cuts to a wider view of Strong Bad's computer desk, the Floppy Disk Container is there. With a new game displayed almost every time, it's become an Easter egg of itself. The majority of the labels are names of computer games, and mostly from the '80s. This page not only lists each game, but also includes a brief summary of the described game.

Week 25, 2005

Crazy Go Nuts University is a university created by Strong Bad. It may be a mockery of Whatsamatta-U, of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame. To attend CGNU, send in the free art test consisting of drawing a guy with a big knife. A diploma from Crazy Go Nuts University will be pretty impressive on your wall, and all your friends will be pretty impressed. "Remember, at Crazy Go Nuts University, the future is... you. Probably."  

Week 24, 2005

The CD you've all been waiting for! It's Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits! With 20 songs by Strong Bad, Marzipan, Taranchula, Coach Z, Limozeen, and more! Spectacular cover and inside drawings by the man himself, Strong Bad! And a "Secret Song" sung by Homestar Runner!

You might expect to pay almost $193.75 for this timeless collection, but can be yours at the Homestar Runner Store for only a small fee of $12.00!

Week 23, 2005

The Cheat and his trusty computer, Tangerine Dreams, have been spewing out "Powered by The Cheat" Flash cartoons since 2002. The Cheat's toons, which are a parody of the many poorly drawn Flash cartoons on the web, are usually packed with bad animation, poor imitations of the character's voices (provided by Mike Chapman), and nonexistent plots. He always incorporates himself into his cartoons, sometimes in a Hitchcock-style cameo, but usually making himself appear awesome or receive some sort of prize. The Cheat has won many prizes for these cartoons in real life, including an iron goblet full of Brunswick Stew and the so called "Pizza Trophy".

Week 22, 2005

Strong Bad's emails are the most frequently updated feature of homestarrunner.com. They were originally a small feature introduced in 2001, in which Strong Bad would mock the spelling and grammar of those who wrote him. Although the animations were initially brief, the responses gradually grew to establish numerous catchphrases and running gags, as well as spin-offs like Trogdor, 20X6, Teen Girl Squad, and even the main character Homsar. A typical Strong Bad email will also include numerous easter eggs and other hidden material.

Week 21, 2005

Homestar Runner (often abbreviated HR, HSR or H*R) is an animated cartoon series available mostly through homestarrunner.com. It has an absurdist sense of humor similar to that found in H.R. Pufnstuf. Although originally conceived as a book written for children, the site is perhaps most popular with (and has been gravitating toward) young adults, with its short movies, games, charmingly naïve music, and plentiful opportunities for interaction.