origins

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Revision as of 00:35, 11 March 2005

The origin of Strong Sad's belly button.

Strong Bad Email #123

Strong Bad discusses the hangingoutitude of The Stick.

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

Date: January 31, 2005

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

{he tries to pronounce 'rendezvous' plural, as 'rendezvouuuu-ses?', and the bottom line as 'Look, eww...Claire...why?'}

STRONG BAD: 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's birthday; a sign 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.}

LIL STRONG BAD: {lifting the drill} Oh, awesome! {he revs the drill}

{cut back to the Lappy}

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

{Original Book style. Señor and Mr. Bland stand in flat greenness, and Strong Bad's words are subtitled.}

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

{a red Stand falls on them with a splurt!}

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

{Bubs appears in it, waving}

BUBS: Hot time!

STRONG BAD: said Bubs

{back to the Lappy}

STRONG BAD: Well, I'm not gonna show you those things. Or the origin of the stick. But I will indulge your curiousity {misspelt, but pronounced correctly} 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 screen} bread sing-alongs, {back to normal} we avoided that place like the plegg! Er, {deletes up to the '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} Bread is a good time for me, woo-oo-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 for 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...

STRONG BAD: {clapping; The Cheat picks up a slice of bread and twirls it while making The Cheat noises} He's quite good.

STRONG MAD: WHAT GRACE!

{back to the Lappy}

STRONG BAD: 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.

{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 never-forgive action right there.

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

{cut to Marzipan standing by The Stick with an upside-down Homsar stuck to her head, at night; a wolf howls}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} So I super-glued her to Hhh-Homsar...and left them for dead.

MARZIPAN: Ooh, I think I hear wolves coming.

HOMSAR: Iiiii'm the human wedgie. {His 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' {cut to Strong Bad, Strong Mad and The Cheat behind Bubs' Concession Stand with the muffler and pipe, and a crown with 'On Point' spraypainted on the wall} and started calling ourselves the On Point Kings. We'd 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: {makes 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 Elephant�?

STRONG SAD: {starts at powering of drill} Waaah! No sir! Heck no at all! {runs away}

STRONG BAD: {throws drill away} 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 with a blue dunce cap on for some reason} I hear somebody mention a pointy king? {nods his hat} Doink doink?

STRONG BAD: Heck no at all!

{back to the Lappy}

STRONG BAD: 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' (not 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

• Click on "Eau Claire, WI" to view Beverly Sportsinterviews' 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 (if we don't count 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 your point of view, the entire video), but his hat still comes back to him.
• This is one of the only times in a toon that a reaction shot, such as Strong Sad's after being threatened with the drill, is featured. Normally The Brothers Chaps keep the perspective facing in one direction, children's book style, and do not show the faces of those facing away from the normal camera perspective.
• 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", the first appearance of said concession stand (Where My Hat is At?), the sign reads "CANDY".
• Señor & Mr. Bland got crushed by Bubs' Concession Stand, though they appear in the audience of Marshmallow's Last Stand. Bubs' Concession Stand appeared before this toon.
• If you look closely at Strong Mad's silhouetted shape, you can see an outline of the front of Strong Mad.

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/.
• "Eau Claire" means "Clear Water" in French; the correct pronunciation of "eau" is "oh".
• The word "St8k" is spraypainted on Marzipan. If it were pronounced the way it is spelled, it would be "Stateke" instead of Steak.
• In the Bread Sing-a-Longs CD, the picture of Homestar blinks. This is due to his flash animation, which constantly has him blinking.
• Strong Bad misspells "curiosity" as "curiousity."
• The card on Strong Bad's present reads:

To: Strong Bad
From: Mom or Dad

Goofs

• Little Strong Bad doesn't seem to need to push down on the 'trigger' of the drill to make it work.

Inside References

• We last saw the smashed muffler in no loafing.
• The appearance of Homestar's Bread Singalongs CD is similar to Strong Bad's Rhythm 'N' Grammar as seen at the end of local news.
• 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 you. Other examples are Pumpkin Carve-nival and A Holiday Greeting
• Strong Bad was last "On Point" in the "Extra Real Dating Sim XR."
• 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 Tompkins'.
• Strong Bad's misspelling of "plague" is likely a reference to Peasant's Quest, in which there is a joke about misspelling "plaque" as "plague."

Real-World References

• Strong Bad's introduction to the email is a reference to the automated voice systems commonly used on subway trains, and is nearly identical to the one once used on the train between concourses at the Atlanta Airport (TBC live in Atlanta).
• The drill used to give Strong Sad his belly button is likely a DeWalt Drill, DeWalt being famous for their yellow colored heavy duty tools.
  • The sound that the drill makes is closer to the sound of a compressed-air powered tool, rather than an electric drill.
• 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 for children and young adults.
• Moleskine is a brand of pocket notebooks and sketch pads popular among trend-following artists and writers. Strong Sad mistakenly pronounces it "mole skin", whereas the correct pronunciation is "mol-a-skeen'-a".
• "Harry Elephante" is a reference to famous calypso musician Harry Belafonte. A similar joke was made in the Friends episode entitled "The One After The Super Bowl," when Ross (David Schwimmer) mentions that his monkey's favorite toy is named "Harry Elephante". It also brings to mind Chester Elegante, from dreamail.
• "Van Peebles" is a reference to the filmmakers Melvin Van Peebles (known for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song) and his son Mario Van Peebles.
• 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."
• Where "bread sing-alongs" is green and jittering, this could be a reference to the Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie, where when a character said something 'disgusting' those particular words would jiggle in that fashion.
• 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.

External Links

• view "origins"
  
• view the flash file for "origins"
• forum thread re: "origins"