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*Assuming that the animated gif is downloading at a constant speed, it would take about 16 more days to finish downloading. This is more than a fortnight, not less. | *Assuming that the animated gif is downloading at a constant speed, it would take about 16 more days to finish downloading. This is more than a fortnight, not less. | ||
*Although they are normally considered unimpressive, the gif does employ two common dance moves: The Cabbage Patch and Raise the Roof. | *Although they are normally considered unimpressive, the gif does employ two common dance moves: The Cabbage Patch and Raise the Roof. | ||
| + | *This is the first time Bubs has been seen openly laughing. He previously suppressed his laughter at "Da Bee" in [[Pumpkin Carve-nival]]. | ||
===Goofs=== | ===Goofs=== | ||
Revision as of 19:54, 17 May 2006
| Strong Bad Email #152 |
|
Gary from the UK asks about Strong Bad's ISP.
Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Homestar Runner, Bubs, Strong Mad
Places: Computer Room, The Office, The Field, Bubs' Concession Stand, The Garage
Computer: Lappy 486
Date: May 16, 2006
Running Time: 3:23
Page Title: Lappy 486
Contents |
Transcript
STRONG BAD: {singing}A badaladoo, it's time for email, bra-doop-ba-dabadoo.
subject: ISPDear Strong Bad,
Since you answer emails, you must have some sort of
internet, right? What kind of internet do you guys get in
Strong Badia? Who runs it? Is it expensive?
Your bestest buddy in the whole wide world,
Gary, UK
{Strong Bad says "Not even close," very quickly after "Your bestest buddy in the whole wide world," and says "UK" as, "You 'kay?"}
STRONG BAD: {typing} Yeah, I'm fine, Gary. Calm down. Of course I've got the internet. How else could I download this awesome animated gif/gif of a cute breakdancing rodent. {Pronounces "gif/gif" as /gif/, /jif/}
{A progress bar pops up with a ding that says "11% Complete" with "Less than a fortnight remaining" below}
STRONG BAD: {typing} What??!! Eleven percent? I started downloading this thing like two days ago! Oh, that's IT!! Hold on to your fat, sweaty D&D playing headsets, tech support. 'Cuz Strong Bad's about to Do-Sum-Bow-Dis!
{The camera rotates around the Lappy to a rear view as Strong Bad picks up the telephone. There is a phone ringing sound and the screen is split by a phone cord with Homestar Runner in the office on the left and Strong Bad on the right. On Homestar's cubicle wall there is a Post-It Note that reads "Note to self: Chew more." Homestar wears a headset.}
HOMESTAR RUNNER: Thank you for calling the internet, may I have your account number or identity theft, please?
STRONG BAD: No, but you can have a heapin' helpin' of my unbridled rage!
HOMESTAR RUNNER: {reading slowly from sheets of paper} Ma'am, please calm down. Your CD tray is not a cup holder. {turns page} I cannot help you clear your browser cache. No, I'm not in India. {puts papers down}
STRONG BAD: Shut up and listen. {bangs hand on keyboard} My internet is crawling along like... something... funny... that crawls along.
HOMESTAR RUNNER: All right, I can help you with that. Please hold while I transfer you to someone who can help you with that.
STRONG BAD: {incredulous} What?!
HOMESTAR RUNNER: {singing} Doo doot-tsp. Do doo doot-tsp. Do doo doot-tsp.
{Cut to a long shot of the office as Homestar stands up. Homestar is the only visible tech representative.}
HOMESTAR RUNNER: {still singing} It's the hold music, do doot-tsp. Pa doo doot-tsp. Doodoo doo doot-tsp. {high pitched voice} Hold music!
{Cut back to the splitscreen as Homestar sits down.}
HOMESTAR RUNNER: Thank you for holding. Your call is very unportant to us. The next available representative wi—okay, I'm back! Lemme just verify your address so I can send you my weight in free sign-up CDs.
STRONG BAD: Ugh, enough! {bangs hand against keyboard again} I'm marching my pasty white bwahttom down there to talk to the man in charge!
{He slams the phone down and walks offscreen during Homestar's next line.}
HOMESTAR RUNNER: I'm so glad we could get that resolved. Is there anything else I could—
{Cut to Strong Bad marching across The Field at dusk as march music plays in the background. Strong Bad ends up at Bubs' Concession Stand, slightly out of breath from the marching.}
BUBS: {as the camera zooms in} Well if it isn't my lone internet customer. How's e-business?
{Cut to Strong Bad from inside the concession stand.}
STRONG BAD: Now listen here, old man Bubs! What's the big idea of throttling me down?!
BUBS: Throttling you down?! That's not one of the ninety-nine ways I rip you off!
STRONG BAD: Well, back in the day I used to connect at twelve-hundred baud, but ever since the merger I'm lucky if I get twelve baud.
BUBS: Hmm.
{Cut back to Bubs.}
BUBS: Let's head down to the datum center and see what we can find.
STRONG BAD: Dat'um sounds good.
{Cut to the garage which is currently housing several computers with Bubs' face on them and is sporting a sign labelled, "Datum Center".}
BUBS: {indicating the computers} So this is where the magic happens. I wonder where the trouble could be.
STRONG BAD: {sarcastically} Yeah, I wonder.
{Camera pulls back to reveal a computer with a garden hose sticking out of it and smoke issuing from the back}
STRONG BAD: It's probably not this computer with the garden hose coming out of it.
BUBS: Hey! Somebody's suckin' up all my bandwidth!
{Cut to a hole in the wall with the garden hose running through, then outside to Strong Mad sucking on the end of the hose. Strong Bad and Bubs walk up.}
STRONG BAD: Strong Mad!
{Startled, Strong Mad takes the hose out of his mouth. His mouth is now tiny.}
STRONG MAD: {in a high-pitched voice} I'm a website!
{Cut to Strong Bad and Bubs as they both start laughing, with the off-screen Strong Mad soon joining in (in his regular voice). The laughter gets more and more hysterical until it reaches a psychotic peak. At that point we cut back to the Lappy. For a moment, the status bar reads "99%" and has "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..." written below where it previously read "Less than a fortnight remaining". With a ding, this is replaced by "100%" and "Already?!!" The Lappy's screen then shows an animated gif of a rat dancing to computer music. The rat is replaced by yellow text that says "NOT REALLY BREAK DANCING" and The Paper comes down.}
Easter Eggs
- When Homestar mentions the free sign-up CDs, click on the post-it note that reads "note to self: chew more" to see a picture of them.
- At the end of the email, click on the "O" in "Not Really Break Dancing" to see a collection of free sign-up CDs in the shape of Homestar running backed by music similar to the Theme Song Video. This particular musical arrangement was heard in Bug in Mouth Disease.
Fun Facts
Explanations
- D&D stands for Dungeons & Dragons, a popular pen and paper role-playing game that, like working in tech support, is often associated with "geek culture".
- Baud is measure of the symbol rate made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal.
- Datum is the singular form of the word data.
- A fortnight is a period of two weeks. The word "fortnight" is most often used in the UK, which is where the emailer is from.
- Throttling is the limitation of a computer's ability to call data from a server within a certain period of time; it is used to alleviate network congestion and server crashes that result from high usage or too many incoming connections.
- Homestar's message "your call is very unportant to us" is a spoof of 'on hold' messages. They often repeat things such as "Thank you for holding. Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line. A specialist will be with you shortly."
Remarks
- It is unclear how Strong Bad is connected to the Internet - there does not appear to be a network cable plugged in to the back of the Lappy, and it is unlikely that the computer has a wireless connection. However, it is possible that Strong Bad's Internet connection works in a similar way to the Disconnected Telephones.
- A similar incident occured in part-time job, where he checked the email without any cables. It is possible that both these times, he downloaded the emails beforehand.
- The GIF file format does not support any form of sound on its own. The animation that Strong Bad downloaded is either not a true animated GIF, or it is embedded in a webpage that also contains embedded sound.
- When Homestar says the word "internet" after he first answers Strong Bad's call, he speaks without his trademark speech impediment. Same goes for "representative" while Strong Bad is on hold.
- Bubs refers to Strong Bad as his lone internet customer. It is unknown whether Free Country USA has other ISPs, but Strong Sad, the Cheat and Homestar all seem to be connected to the internet too. However, The Cheat and Strong Sad would presumably use Strong Bad's internet connection since their computers are in the same residence, and it's possible Homestar gets his connection for free as an employment benefit. Pom Pom may or may not have subscribed to an ISP through his Pom Pilot, though he can clearly access the Internet.
- Strong Bad was previously seen accessing the internet on the Tandy 400 in credit card.
- While the first time we saw the back of the Lappy was in the email part-time job, this is the first time we have seen a clear view of the various ports and inputs on the back of the computer.
- Assuming that the animated gif is downloading at a constant speed, it would take about 16 more days to finish downloading. This is more than a fortnight, not less.
- Although they are normally considered unimpressive, the gif does employ two common dance moves: The Cabbage Patch and Raise the Roof.
- This is the first time Bubs has been seen openly laughing. He previously suppressed his laughter at "Da Bee" in Pumpkin Carve-nival.
Goofs
- The last time Homestar imitates the hi-hat sound in his hold music or when he's getting up from his chair, his mouth doesn't move.
- After the toon is finished, clicking on the blank part of the Lappy does not produce the ripple effect like in other emails.
- Bubs' mouth outline is just barely visible on the backside of his silhouette. Altering the brightness and contrast can make the error more apparent.
Inside References
- Strong Mad first unsuccessfully attempted to alter his voice in helium.
- Strong Bad's confusion over the pronunciation of the word "GIF" is a reference to website.
- Strong Bad was also first seen using an animated GIF involving a rodent in that email.
- The Easter egg at the end refers to Bug In Mouth Disease, which in turn refers to Theme Song Video.
- The icon of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disc on the download-progress screen is another instance of Strong Bad using outdated technology.
- The tech support scene also has a Disconnected Telephone.
Real World References
- When Homestar says "No, I'm not in India," he is refering to the outsourcing of Western tech-support labor to Eastern countries like India.
- The absurd amount of "free sign-up CDs" is a reference to the ISP America Online, who is notorious for aggressively marketing its services with free-trial CDs through mass mailings, newspaper and magazine inserts, and in-store displays.
- Homestar's mention of a lady who used her CD-ROM drive as a cup holder is a notorious Tech Support call which may or may not be an urban legend.
- The Break Dancing Rat's dance involves making a hand sign out of a fist with index and little fingers extended. This is today widely known as the symbol for heavy metal (Devil horns), but in keeping with the Brothers' Chaps many references to 80's era metal, this is most likely a reference to Ronnie James Dio, a popular heavy metal vocalist in bands such as Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio. Ronnie claims to have introduced the gesture into music culture after his grandmother used it years before to ward off the Evil eye, and it remains Dio's trademark today. Dio has been very outspoken recently on the widespread misuse of this gesture.
External Links
- watch "isp"
- watch "isp" on the old Flash site
- view the Flash file for "isp"
- forum thread re: "isp"
