personal favorites

Strong Bad Email #69

watch ← caper big white face →

"Now spell 'Carp for brains.'"

HockeymanJ05 writes in to ask which one of the emails is Strong Bad's favorite, and Strong Bad takes a trip down (a dubious) memory lane.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Homestar Runner, Grape-Nuts Robot, Bubs, Marzipan (voice only), Pom Pom, Coach Z, The Cheat, Gavin (Easter egg)

Places: Computer Room, The Field, Strong Sad's Room (seen through a hole in the wall), Bubs' Concession Stand, Marzipan's House, The Stone Bridge

Computer: Compy 386, Tandy 400

Date: Monday, April 14, 2003

Running Time: 2:21

Page Title: Compy 386!

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Two, Sbemails' 50 Greatest Hits DVD

Transcript

STRONG BAD: OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH EMAIL!!! {This echoes, and heavy metal music plays while Strong Bad rocks out.} Whoa, that ruled. What function key do I gotta press to get that to happen again?

{Tries to type the key again, eventually hitting Enter and loading the email:}

Hey Strong Bad,

You have done so many of these
e-mails which one would you say is
the best, or your personal favorite.

Thanks,
HockeymanJ05

{Strong Bad shouts "Hey Strong Bad," and pronounces HockeymanJ05 as "Hockeyjockeymannooh... whatever".}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Well, Hockeyfriend, my emails are like my childrens. I love them all! But if I had to play favorites... Let's see...

{Cut to the scene from invisibility where Strong Bad punches Homestar.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} There's that one where they asked what I'd do if I was invis-able, and I got to punch Homestar in the gut.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, hey guys. Ooh!

{Homestar Runner is punched in the gut by an unseen force.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Owww! Those things are bad for you.

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} Ooh, and that one where my computer exploded.

{Cut to the scene from gimmicks with Strong Bad sitting at the Tandy 400. It explodes and he is sent flying across the room and through the wall.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} And then there's that one where Bubs built the Strong Bad Robot out of a box of Grape-Nuts and a Speak & Spell.

{Cut to Bubs and Strong Bad standing in a field with the Grape-Nuts Robot.}

GRAPE-NUTS ROBOT: Now spell "Come back Ali. Come back Ali's sister."

STRONG BAD: No way! That sounds just like me! {Strong Bad does a number of double-takes.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} And that time where that girl wrote in and I drank a glass of soy sauce and thought I could fly Bubs' Concession Stand.

{Cut to Strong Bad sitting on top of Bubs' Concession Stand. He's wearing aviation goggles and is holding a makeshift steering wheel. Empty soy sauce bottles are strewn about. Bubs is watching placidly}

STRONG BAD: Whoohooo! Clear the launchway, man. We're takin' this baby TO THE MOOOOOOON!

{Strong Bad falls over backward behind the sign and the "D" falls off, onto Bubs's counter. Bubs puts up a sign that says "'D' for SALE".}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} Oh, and who could forget... TAPE-LEG TWO!

{Cut to Strong Bad sitting at the Tandy 400. There's an email on the screen which says:

Dear strong bad again,
my brothers continue to tell me that your
legs are made of tape, are you sure it's not true?
-Nicolas

a> They still say my legs are made of tape?!
WHAT?? I say again, do I look like some kinda
tape-leg? I swear on Strong Sad's grave, man,
I was never, nor will I ever be, a tape-leg.

{He sticks his foot in the air and it's covered with tape.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} Oh and how 'bout that one where I left such a good prank call on {Cut to Marzipan's Answering Machine} Marzipan's answering machine that it exploded?

MARZIPAN: {simultaneously, from answering machine} Hi! This is Marzipan.

STRONG BAD: {from answering machine} PRANK CALL!!

{Marzipan's Answering Machine squeals and explodes, leaving behind only half of a tape labeled "Lilith Fair '99".}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} And then there's that really old one that asked what my favorite phrase was.

{Cut to Marshmallow's Last Stand-style Strong Bad at the Tandy 400. An email on the screen reads:}

Favorite
phrase?
-trixie

STRONG BAD: {in an old-style voice} I like-a to say, "Holy crap!"

{Marshmallow's Last Stand-style Homestar appears.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {in an old-style voice} Oh no, it's a Strong Baaaaad!

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} And the one where Pom Pom and Coach Z got in that knife fight on the stone bridge.

{Cut to stone bridge over a river. Coach Z and Pom Pom are facing each other with knives. Coach Z keeps dodging back and forth and Pom Pom deftly twirls his knife.}

COACH Z: {to Pom Pom} Hoo-ah! Woo-ghi! I'm a blade man, man!

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} And then the one where The Cheat drank a glass of soy sauce and tried to eat Bubs' Concession Stand.

{Cut to Bubs' Concession Stand. Empty soy sauce bottles are strewn about and The Cheat is gnawing away at the back corner.}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises and growls}

{Pan to Strong Bad, atop Bubs' Concession Stand again with his aviation goggles and steering wheel.}

STRONG BAD: Hold on tight, The Cheat — we're blastin' offa TO THE MOOOOOOOON!

{Cut back to Strong Bad in front of the computer}

STRONG BAD: {typing} So that's it, Soccerdude. That's pretty much the cream of the crop. There might be a few other good ones but uh, if you ask me it doesn't get any better than that Grape Nuts robot. {not typing} Okay, so... OHHHHHH THAT'S THE END!!

{Strong Bad's last line echoes, and he begins imitating a guitar, but the rockin' music doesn't come back.}

STRONG BAD: Oh man, which button was it...?

{Strong Bad hits various keys on the keyboard in an attempt to play the music again. The Paper comes down.}

Easter Eggs

• At the end, click on the word "other" to see two bonus emails:
  • Email One:

{Strong Bad is sitting at the Tandy 400. There is an email on the screen.}

Dear Strong Bad,

Are you are real wrestle-man? I'm hope that u r.
-Pred

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} How about that time when Gavin wouldn't leave me alone?

{Gavin crawls across the screen.}

STRONG BAD: {swatting at Gavin} Get outta here, man, I'm checking my email!

• Email Two:

{Strong Bad is sitting at the Compy. There is an email on the screen.}

Sup Strong Bad,
Do that thing you do that one time. I
wasn't watching and I missed it.
Forever young,
Zebbadee

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} There was that one where the G and U keys were the only ones that weren't broken.

STRONG BAD: {typing} guUU gu guu uuUUUuu gugug ug ug UG gu gu Gu gu

• At the end, click on the words "Grape Nuts robot" to see three possible scenes of the Grape-Nuts Robot.

  {The Grape-Nuts robot sits in the field, and speaks one of the following lines:}

  • "Now spell 'Carp for brains.'"
  • "Things were just about to start getting crazy-go-nuts."
  • "Now spell 'Douuuuuuuuble Deuce.'"
• Also at the end, pressing the "Q" key will play Strong Bad's email intro tune again.

Fun Facts

Explanations

• Only the first two emails (invisibility and gimmicks) are real. The email "tape-leg 2" isn't real, although it refers to tape-leg.

Trivia

• The side of the box of Grape-Nuts cereal reads:

This is a very healthy
choice for your breakfast
needs. Try it once or
more, for best results.

Ingredients: cereal, milk,
cold cereal, 2% milk,
more ceral, more milk,
grape nuts, nuggets,
nuggets, nuggets,
assorted premium
ingrediants,

iron calcium fiber oats wheats Vit. C zinc

0g 0g 0g 0g 0g 0g 0g

• Coach Z's original line during the knife fight with Pom Pom was "I'm a white guy with a knife!". This was changed within a week after the email came out.
• The Strong Bad and Homestar featured in Trixie's Favorite Phrase email are straight out of Marshmallow's Last Stand.
• The YouTube description for this email is "Strong Bad does the thing where he makes you think it's a clip show but then it's not really a clip show. I think this is the first appearance of the stone bridge. You know, because you care about that sorta stuff, right?"

Remarks

• The alcohol content in soy sauce is generally less than 0.05% by volume.
• It is debatable whether all of the emails featured are really part of the Homestar Runner continuity or not, especially considering the Grape-Nuts Robot's comebacks in Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 8.0 and hiding.
• The two real emails both pertain to the fall of the Tandy 400.
• The Tape-leg 2 email was "sent" by the same person who wrote the original tape-leg email.
• Although Strong Bad says he "drank a glass of soy sauce", there are numerous empty bottles of soy sauce on the ground.
• After he first read it over, Strong Bad claims that the email your friends was the best email he's ever received. However, it is not mentioned anywhere in this email.
• Strong Bad's Shift/Caps Lock and space bar keys are obviously working during the second bonus email, not just G and U (not to mention that he had to find a way to load the email in the first place).

Goofs

• During the intro song for this email, the first four times that Strong Bad head-bangs to the music, his head bounces twice, while the reflection of his head bounces only once.
• When Homestar appears during the "Favorite phrase?" flashback, his legs are (probably intentionally, in keeping with the deliberately low-quality drawing and animation) not visible under the table.
• When Strong Bad shoos Gavin away from the screen, his arm doesn't show up in the reflection on the screen.
• At the end when Strong Bad is head-banging, his reflection's chin can be seen protruding from the bottom of the Compy.
• Strong Bad omits the hyphen in "Grape-Nuts".
• The Kikkoman logo on one of the soy sauce bottles is going backwards.
• "Ingredients" is misspelled "ingrediants" the second time it appears on the box.

Glitches

• When the Grape-Nuts Robot Easter egg plays, press Tab and hit Enter. The other Easter eggs of either the broken "g" and "u" keys, or the Gavin emails will play. Pressing enter again without moving the mouse or anything will restart the same Easter egg. (This may not always work; it usually works best to use Tab to highlight the Grape-Nuts Robot on the Compy in the first place.)
• Changing the Tandy's contrast in the Gavin Easter egg will not affect the very edge of the Tandy's screen.

Inside References

• "Now spell 'Come back, Ali. Come back, Ali's sister'" is a reference to sisters.
• "Now spell 'Douuuble Deuce'" is a reference to the bird as well as 20X6 vs. 1936 and other Stinkoman appearances.
• In addition to the first email mentioned being invisibility, Strong Bad pronounces the word "invisible" as "invis-ABLE", just as he did in that email.
• "Things were just about to start getting crazy-go-nuts" is a reference to The Luau, as is "Carp for brains", which is a slightly mispronounced version of another line from that toon: "Crap for brains".
• Strong Bad swearing on Strong Sad's grave in the unaired email "tape-leg 2" is a reference to Strong Sad's imagined death.

Real-World References

• Speak & Spell was an educational toy first sold in the late 1970s.
• Marzipan's answering machine tape says "lilith fair '99". Lilith Fair was a music festival celebrating feminist musicians, and women in general.
• The soy sauce bottles are Kikkoman brand.
• One of the Easter egg emails was from "Zebbadee", a character from a French/English children's TV program called "The Magic Roundabout".
• "Forever Young" in Zebbadee's Easter egg email is a reference to the 1973 Bob Dylan song that became a hit for Rod Stewart in 1988. Strong Bad also ends "dreamail" with "forever young".
• Strong Bad's attempting to fly Bubs' Concession Stand after drinking soy sauce may refer to a rock-and-roll anecdote that claims John Lennon tried to drive his house after consuming hallucinogens.
• Coach Z's "I'm a blade man, man" is a reference to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode where they riff Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and Crow T. Robot says, "Santa's gonna cut you, man. Santa's a blade man, man."

Fast Forward

• In labor day, Strong Bad claims his favorite email is the basics.
• In Thy Dungeonman III, stone bridges are said to be "notorious for their knife fights".
• In Date Nite, the Stone Bridge is shown to be a real place that exists outside Strong Bad's imagination.
• "Carp for Brains" later showed up in dictionary.
• Marzipan's answering machine would actually explode in Marzipan's Answering Machine 17.2.

DVD Version

• All three Grape-Nuts robot quotes have been incorporated into the same clip, which is accessed via the Strong Bad logo at the middle bottom of the screen.
• The guitar riff Easter egg is still there, accessible by clicking a Strong Bad Icon on the right side of the screen.
• 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, Matt Chapman)

MIKE: Oh, look at this. Listen to these chops!

MATT: Yeah, Mike did this. Lixx! Those are—

MIKE: Hot lixx! I used to-

MATT: {simultaneously} L-I-X-X.

MIKE: I used to have this poster in my room of this red guitar and it said "HOT LIXX" and they were, like, smoking the guitar strings?

MATT: Yeah, I think you're right.

MIKE: I think I got it for my 14th birthday, maybe?

MATT: Did Mom buy you a "HOT LIXX" poster? Or did you just, like, go and buy it with money?

MIKE: {simultaneously} No no, I think I got it for my birthday, for my 14th birth— whatever birthday I had in 8th grade, yeah, probably my 14th birthday.

MATT: Like, from Mom?

MIKE: I think so.

MATT: That's amazing.

MIKE: That's a loving mother right there.

MATT: I know! Hot lixx.

MIKE: Yeah—

MATT: That's great.

MIKE: I also got, um, some leather gloves with the fingers cut off. Like, weight-lifting gloves.

MATT: Yeah, that's right.

MIKE: Yeah. Oh wait, that— that was one of my favorite parts of anything on our website, where Homestar Runner— where Homestar Runner says, "Hey guys!" {starts cracking up} talking to floating boxes of Swiss Cake Rolls.

{pause}

MIKE: I really want to make that robot.

MATT: Yeah, we should. I bet Slocum could do that, Paul Slocum, the guy that's making the Atari 2600 Homestar Runner game. I bet he could—

MIKE: Yeah, he could—

MATT: —figure that out.

{Pause}

MIKE: Drank some Kikkoman, that looks like.

MATT: Yeah. That really looks like that Kikkoman bottle.

MIKE: Regular Sodium. The low sodium-

MATT: {simultaneously} Hey, Kikkoman, everybody says you're The Guy! Get it?

MIKE: Yeah, Stink— yeah.

MATT: Sounds like... the tape here, is really good, the tape floating down... watch this. Ah. Lilith Fair '99. Uh, this is, of course, a homage to when we... sucked—

{Mike laughs}

MATT: —at animation, and funny. The st—

MIKE: Matt, do we not do that anymore?

MATT: No.

MIKE: We don't?

MATT: Uh, the Stone Bridge is uh, there is a Stone Bridge near here.

MIKE: Yeah. We need to go film the Puppet Stuff there.

MATT: {simultaneously} We need to go film some live action stuff. Yeah. I like that, The Cheat gnawing on something. We should use that again.

{Mike laughs}

MIKE: People, uh, would all the time email us, and probably still do, asking about how come they can't find those emails.

MATT: Yeah. Well, it's because, we start, you know, we fake you out, and start with a couple that are real...

MIKE: {simultaneously} Right, the first two, and so people that aren't the smartest... don't get the joke.

MATT: Yeah. Joke it out.

Fun Facts

• The origin of "Hot Lixx" is explained.
• Matt mentions Paul Slocum and the Homestar Runner RPG he had been developing for the Atari 2600.
• The line "Hey, Kikkoman, everybody says you're the guy!" is a reference to 1-Up's line from japanese cartoon.
• "The Cheat gnawing on something" is, in fact, used again, in portrait.
• Mike says all the time.
• Matt says "joke it out".

External Links

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