2 emails

Strong Bad Email #71

watch ← big white face crazy cartoon →

"Where could the ladies be?"

Jimmy from MN asks Strong Bad to do 2 emails. Then Dave Nienaber asks Strong Bad what he would do with a time machine.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Peanut Strong Bad, Homestar Runner, Coach Z, Strong Mad, Bubs, Strong Sad, Old-Timey Strong Bad (Easter egg), The Sneak (Easter egg)

Places: Computer Room, Living Room of the Brothers Strong

Computer: Compy 386

Date: Monday, April 28, 2003

Running Time: 2:26

Page Title: Compy 386!!

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Two

Transcript

STRONG BAD: {singing} What do you get when you email Strong Bad? You get a world of hurt.

{reading}

Hey Strong Bad,
I think that you should do more
e-mails every week. Like two. Then
we could have double the Strong Bad,
and double the fun.

Jimmy, MN

{Strong Bad temporarily stops reading and says, "Ooh! That's like Strong Bad gum!" after "double the fun," and reads "MN" as "Minini"}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Okay little Jimmy. I'll do two emails this week. {stops typing, long pause} Number two.

{reading}

Hey Strong Bad,
If you could time travel, what period
in time would you travel to?

Dave Nienaber
Antioch, IL

{Strong Bad draws out the "CH" in "Antioch" and pronounces "IL" as "Ill-annoy-us"}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Well Naber, I'd definitely travel ahead about 15 minutes to when all the ladies show up for my "2003 Ladies' Choice Awards."

{A logo flashes on screen saying "Ladies' Choice Awards" and a little ditty of music plays}

STRONG BAD: About 70 or 50 fine women will be showing up to vote on which one gets to dance with yours truly. But since I don't have a time machine, I'll just have to wait it out.

{After a few seconds, everything starts going in fast-forward. We only get brief glimpses of all the stuff that happens as Strong Bad forwards ahead, and we stop the fast-forward on a screen that's typed: "Now, On to the ladies!!!" Cut to Strong Bad, Coach Z, Strong Mad, Bubs, and Strong Sad awaiting the females. The room is decorated with a banner that says "weclome ladies/girls" and balloons reading "Ladies' Choice" and "Vote Strong Bad". Many nametags are set out on a tray for the ladies; however, there are no ladies to be seen.}

STRONG BAD: I don't get it! Where could the ladies be?

BUBS: You said there'd be the ladies!

STRONG BAD: I know! I know! Maybe their bus flew off a bottomless cliff... and into, like... a bottomless pit. Strong Sad, did anybody call and say they weren't coming?

STRONG SAD: Oh yeah, I forgot—

STRONG BAD: Or mention anything about a bottomless pit?

STRONG SAD: Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. About a million ladies called while you were checking your email and said they'd be a few minutes late.

STRONG BAD: Oh, good! So their bus is okay.

STRONG SAD: No, I'm just kidding! But Homsar called and said he was a million ladies tall.

STRONG BAD: What?! Oh, this has gone from bad to worse!

COACH Z: Hey, guys, check it out! {puts a nametag on} I'm hot girl number 37!

STRONG BAD: Oh, Coach, don't do it! This is depressing enough as it is.

COACH Z: No, lookit me! {starts dancing} I'm shakin' it to the left and to the right!

STRONG BAD: Auuuuuuuuuuugh! {starts walking off}

COACH Z: {humming} Doo doo duh DOO doo doo doo duh doo doo!

STRONG MAD: I WANT ACTION!

{The same ditty that played before plays again, except this time the logo reads "No Ladies Showed Up!" The banner falls from the wall. Cut back to the Compy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} I'm sorry you had to see that. I shoulda played it safe and gone back in time to where I know I'm awesome. But, since I don't have a time machine I guess I'll just have to wait it out. {stops typing} Umm... {starts typing again} Backwards.

{The Paper comes down}

Easter Eggs

• In the beginning when after Strong Bad says, "double the Strong Bad", one can click on the words "double the fun" to see "Strong Bad's Double Deuce-blemint Gum". The top reads "Strong Bad's Double Deuce-blemint Gum" and a "25¢" sticker, and the bottom reads "'It's light green!!!' Strong Bad's Double Deuce-blemint Gum is the product of choice."
• Before the "Fast Forward", one can click on "2003 Ladies' Choice Awards" to bring up the logo and play the music again.
• At the end, one can click on the word "Backwards" to see a mirror-image "Backwards" logo. The music also plays in reverse.
• Also at the end, one can click on the word "back" (as in "gone back in time") to see an Easter egg featuring Old-Timey Strong Bad and The Sneak.

{The egg begins in the Old-Timey era. Old-Timey Strong Bad is standing in front of a microphone. The background is standard Old-Timey fare.}

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: I'm no apothecary, but before you trek long and wide on the Muskeegee trail, don't forget to try Uncle Strong Bad's Flavor Taste Style Chewing Powders!

{Old-Timey Strong Bad holds up a tin of the stuff.}

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Nothing else increases brain juice quite like it! Once again, that's {holds the tin to the camera} Strong Bad's Flavor Taste Style Chewing Powders. {pulls the tin back to normal view} Whisk away the worries!

{The Sneak enters from the right.}

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: {turns to The Sneak} How was that phraseology, The Sneak? Are your worries adequately whisked?

{The Sneak responds in typical The Sneak-fashion by wiggling his nose.}

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Smashing! {pause} No, I mean... start smashing!

{The Sneak darts off-camera to the right, and the sound of glass shattering is heard.}

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Yes! It's curtains for you, {shakes fist} Ming vase!

{Cut to a closeup of the tin of Uncle Strong Bad's Flavor Taste Style Chewing Powders.}

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Uncle Strong Bad makes good!

{The words "Strong Bad Powdertory, St. Louis, MO" appear beneath the can.}

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: {in a lower tone of voice and quicker than normal} Strong Bad Powdertory, Saint Louis Mo!

Fun Facts

Events During the Fast Forward

• Strong Bad writes a BASIC program.

10 print"STRONG BAD IS COOL!"
20 goto 10
30 end

• He types "run", and the screen fills with "STRONG BAD IS COOL!"
• He is also seen with the drink from interview, a Thai iced tea.
• Strong Bad plays with the Peanut Strong Bad he created in action figure.
• Strong Bad's computer screen shows the text "Wanna fight? Huh?" Strong Bad punches the screen.
• Strong Bad opens an email (his third today):

Hey Strongbad.
I was just wondering what you
thought of Delaware.

Danny

• The above email gets

DELETED!!!

• Strong Bad sticks a Post-it note on his computer that says "Van Buren".
• Strong Bad starts looking at the camera.
• Strong Bad stands up in front of the computer.
• Homestar Runner sits down and writes:

Hey Strong Bad, I built a time
machine by putting a Gameboy
in a blender. I used your
blender and also your Gameboy.
I will go into the future and
buy you new ones.

• Strong Bad types

Only a few minutes left. I
think I can hear some of the
ladies giggling and saying how
they like me and stuff. Or
maybe that's just The Cheat.

• Strong Bad plays a game called "Pigs on Head", later made into an LCD game by Videlectrix. (He gets a Score of 1,200 on level 8.)
• Strong Bad puts on a sombrero.
• Strong Bad types, "Now, on to the ladies!!!"

The Nametags

Most start with "Hello, my name is hot girl #". Exceptions noted:

• 48
• v2.14 (no "#")
• 4077 ("hot lips" instead of "hot girl")
• 00
• 18
• 7 (written as "hotgirl")
• Sue (written as "hotgirl"; no "#")
• 40
• 2
• 8 (written as "hotgirl")
• 13
• X6
• 37
• 26c
• 26

Explanations

• An apothecary is similar to a modern-day pharmacist. Apothecaries sold medicines, tobacco, cure-alls, and other such goods.

Trivia

• This is another instance of Strong Bad checking more than one email.
• Strong Bad's Double Deuce-blemint Gum in the Easter egg (costing 25¢) has the slogan "It's light green!!!", and the package's fine print reads "Strong Bad's Double Deuce-blemint Gum is the product of choice".
• "70 or 50 fine women" is the first instance of Larger or Smaller Number.
• This is the first reference to Van Buren.
• The YouTube description for this email is "Strong Bad checks 2 emails and tries to travel both forward and back in time."

Remarks

• The third line in Strong Bad's BASIC program is unreachable because the second line will make the program display "STRONG BAD IS COOL!" an infinite number of times.
• The contrast buttons on the Compy work during the fast forward sequence.
  • If the Flash file is frozen during the fast forward sequence when Homestar comes and types about a time machine, the contrast can be adjusted and Homestar's reflection will be affected, unlike in anything and 50 emails.
• The Compy's frame appears distorted during the fast-forward, yet the fast-forward has no effect on the screen features such as the text, Strong Bad's reflection, and the DELETED! screen. (See image below.)
• When Coach Z is "shakin' it to left and to the right", he faces left and right from the viewer's perspective, not his own.
• Homestar misspells Game Boy as "Gameboy". It is properly spelled as two words.

Glitches

Distortion Displacement

2-faced?

• After the backwards Easter egg, the word "backwards" doesn't fade out entirely, but remains on the screen for a second before disappearing.
• During the fast-forward sequence:
  • Where the screen is filled with "STRONG BAD IS COOL!", the text sometimes sticks out of the monitor.
  • As Strong Bad takes a sip from his drink, there is no reflection of the drink on the screen.
  • Strong Bad's mouth is gone after he drinks.
  • When Strong Bad punches the Compy, the distortion from the fast forward remains in the same spot of the frame, despite the fact it has left where the distortion logically occurs.
    • When Strong Bad punches the screen, his arm is detached from his body.
  • When Strong Bad turns around to look at the camera, the reflection on the Compy still shows his face instead of the back of his head.
  • Strong Bad's reflection goes off the Compy's screen when he stands on the stool and a bit when he's playing with his peanut action figure. Also, the head portion of the reflection is incorrectly affected by changing the Compy's contrast, and if the contrast is turned all the way up, this portion of the reflection disappears entirely.
  • When the contrast knob is turned, while the distortion causes the left edge of the computer to bend, the border of the contrasted area remains straight.

Inside References

• The "Double Deuce" on the gum is a reference to the email the bird and 20X6.
• The Welcome sign reads "Weclome".
• The name tags Strong Bad prepared for the hot ladies can also be seen in The Luau.
• This is another mention of a bottomless pit.
• This is another reference to Nintendo.

Real-World References

• Double Deuce-blemint Gum is based on Wrigley's Doublemint gum.
  • "Double the Strong Bad ... double the fun" is a reference to the old Doublemint gum slogan "double your pleasure, double your fun".
• "Hot lips #4077" is a reference to the book, movie and TV show M*A*S*H. All chronicled life at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan was a major character.
• A Ming vase is a vase produced during the Ming Dynasty in medieval China, and is therefore very valuable.
• The "Muskeegee trail" may be a reference to the Muskogee Trail, or the Trail of Tears.

Fast Forward

• Homestar's time machine is seen as an "alternate universe portal" in alternate universe.
• Although a Strong Bad gum is seen in an Easter egg, in the email candy product Strong Bad claims he has not made a candy product.
• In the Toons menu, the short Mr. Shmallow has the description, "He's no apothecary.", a reference to Old-Timey Strong Bad in this email's Easter egg.
• A similar BASIC program from the fast-forward (however, written in Applesoft BASIC) was seen again in Workin' on the Game.
• On Homestar Runner Original Soundtrack Volume 1, two alternate versions of the email intro can be heard.

DVD Version

• The gum and event logo Easter eggs are viewable using the angle button on the DVD remote.
• The "Backwards" Easter egg can be accessed via the Strong Bad logo to the right of the Compy screen and plays twice when activated.

External Links

• watch "2 emails"
• watch "2 emails" on YouTube
• watch "2 emails" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "2 emails"