Wednesday, September 17, 2008

What's in a Name?

Wednesday, September 17, 2008


And that's how embarrassing nicknames are born, boys and girls! (There's one for the scrapbook, eh, Beth S.?)




Well, Gabe Z., you have to admit that "Jason" is a really rare and hard-to-spell name - especially here in the U.S.



I suppose if the baby had been named Joey, or if this was a shower for a baby kangaroo, the inscription would have been fine. Unfortunately, neither of those was the case.

On an unrelated note: I totally want to reach into the picture and rip off those silly plastic balloons. And on an even more unrelated note: is that a chicken foot in the upper right-hand corner? What the heck, Leah T.?
lilacsigil said...

I really hope that "Jaysm" is a spelling error, and not actually a child's name.

Anonymous said...

What? No quotation marks?

Morgan said...

If those balloons are edible, that would be RAD.

But they're not, of course. My b'day on Sunday, and I've been inspired by your blog to not get a cake. Instead? Drambuie strawberries on a bed of clotted cream with caramel sauce.

Anonymous said...

I gotta think that the chicken foot is one of those horridly quirky pitchers that looks like a rooster. You know, the kind that matches everything else in the kitchen of roosters?

Anonymous said...

Chicken foot could be some sort of 'charming' chicken-shaped cookie jar or other such thing?

SolaMommy said...

I do like the little booties on Swetty's cake.

Jen Price said...

I love reading your blog! I mean, it's amazing the cakes that people create! I love making special cakes for my kid's birthdays. I hope they never look back on them in dread over any mithspellings or awkward moments created (like the teenage girl with the half naked man on her cake!) Thanks for your fun sense of humor. Your posts are so fun to read.

Trevor said...

I'd swear that "Jayson" had some spacing problems! Poor guy. It must be tough to have that issue.

And you're right, what IS that thing in the top corner of the last picture? Perhaps there is a voodoo ceremony after the baby shower?

MetalNoir said...

On that first photo, I cannot count the amount of times I've seen people make that repeated-letter mistake.

On the second photo, I'm holding out hope that someone's using an unconventional spelling of the name "Jason".

On the third photo: Is it just possible that it's a knowing error, as in, maybe the father's name is Joseph or the mother's name is Josephine (and their child would be a "bundle of Joey")? I do think we are seeing some bird-themed centerpiece (possibly a ceramic trukey in anticipation of Thanksgiving), hence the chicken-foot-thing.

Anonymous said...

Poor Swetty.

-Z

Boozy Tooth said...

Awesome as usual.

Anonymous said...

Oh my god, these are some of the funniest cake pics I have ever seen! I laughed so hard I cried over "little bundle of joey". Thanks for making my morning!

Anonymous said...

The last wreck at least has some of the fanciest frosting script I've ever seen going for it...

And the chicken foot weirds me out, too.

kikibibi said...

And can we discuss a little bit more... on the "Swetty" cake - the huge loops of white icing look like the decorator was drunk while making them. Also, what is up with the pre-scored cake?
And the Jasm cake - first of all that's just wrong - and second of all, that's a heck of a lot of chocolate icing all smooshed into one small box, so much so it looks like the right side of the cake is damaged. I guess when the message on the top of the cake is so wrong, you kind of overlook things like loping off the entire right side of the cake.
The Joey cake actually looks kind of pretty - except that I don't understand why they used green icing for the writing when the "flowers" are blue/purple. Plus also, looks like the cake shoppe decided to incorporate a bit of shameless self-promotion into their cake boards. The only problem is the gold and black totally doesn't go with this cake (or any others I'd imagine), and this particular cake is off-center. If I was the bakery owner, not sure I'd want anyone to know that piece of ahem, work, came out of my bakery.

Kelli said...

Agreed on the stupid balloons! I wanted to scream when a friends mother started plunking down candles that spelled out "Happy Birthday" and a giant "30" on one of my creations. Actually, I had been drinking and did yell out a little. My husband had to stop me...

Anonymous said...

Plans for today:

Do laundry, clean house, get some sewing done... come back here tonight to read the comments to these cakes. Seriously.

Anonymous said...

I could make some "Scwetty Balls" jokes, but I shall be good and refrain.

Anonymous said...

You know, a bundle of joey would be freaking awesome. I've always wanted a baby kangaroo... :(

And that chicken foot up there? That's really an emu foot that's lost its pigmentation. They just want to keep with the Australian animals theme to make their new baby kangaroo feel welcome.

wordwitch said...

Hello there! I just wanted to share something...yesterday (Tuesday the 16th) i was working at home and had the TV on...the only thing my office TV can get (it's not connected to cable) is local channels (Washington, DC), so I was "forced" to watch the "Judge" so-and-so shows. One of them, I think it was Judge Christine, got to pass a ruling on a FAILED CAKE!!! It was a wedding cake that went horribly wrong. Way funny. You should see if you can find the episode of this!

Cheers,
WW.

Anonymous said...

Why yes...I believe it is indeed a chicken foot. I'm still holding out hope that it was for a baby kangaroo and it was just a zoo themed party maybe? With chickens? Or not...
Despite the misspelling of "Little Bundle of Joy," and those insipid plastic balloons, I really have to give props to the decorator for the tidy script writing. I think most of the cake decorators around these parts can only manage block letters in all capitals.

Anonymous said...

Little "swetty"? Is that pronounced "sweaty" as in, "I worked in the heat all day and I'm sweaty and perspiring.." ?? LOL
~Amy

Anonymous said...

WOW!! I could almost swear that an associate of mine moonlights as a CAKE DECORATOR!! bwaaaahaha!!

Melanie said...

I agree with Janet, first thing that popped into my mind was Schwetty Balls! Or that the poor baby is destined to be a sweat shop kid...

Arallyn said...

I'm thinking Swetty is the family's last name...or at least I hope it is. On a related note, I went to high school with a guy who legally changed his name from "Jason" to "Jhayson" the day he turned 18.

Anonymous said...

I found the website for St. Phillip's Bakery aka the "bundle of joey" creators! They have some beautiful cakes on their website, this one just missed the mark. (Or hopped over it!)
http://www.stphillipsbakery.com/index.html

Anonymous said...

I like the little icing booties too, except I am disturbed by the possibility that someone might forget to remove the apparently real pink ribbons on the pink booties. Blech. (Yes, I know you can make real-looking ribbons out of icing, but that's a level of artistry I don't think we're seeing here.) The pink ribbons on the yellow booties are obviously just pink icing - don't know why they didn't just make yellow icing ribbons on the pink ones.

"Bundle of Joey" would be a hilarious pun if the baby was actually to be named Joe. Otherwise, not so much.

Anonymous said...

I agree that St. Phillips Bakery has some very well-made cakes, but I kind of wonder if this NSFW one would qualify as a wreck : http://www.stphillipsbakery.com/special_occ3.html, click "gallery of cakes," it's the first one in "adult."

aurora said...

Love this blog! Just found it and practically choked with laughter last night. yay!

Anonymous said...

Actually, the photos I'd pay to see are the ones showing the faces of the patrons right as the box is flipped open for approval before final purchase.

-cw

Lillian said...

tasmonia said...

I don't know why it took me so long to find this site! I work in a bakery and despite my best efforts, there have been several cake mistakes made lately. (ie 'Thank you Vicki' became 'Thank you Licki') My location just sells donuts and we call in cake orders. I'm super careful but they're just not listening on the other end. This site has me laughing so hard!!!

Anonymous said...

Whoa- misspelling a 3-letter word like "joy".
I think a few children got left behind.

Anonymous said...

There are so many things wrong with that first cake in addition to 'swetty.' The scoring, the attack of the booties...just everything is wrong. Are bakeries actually trying to get themselves showcased here, now?

Those balloons on the Joey cake are painful to me. They look like someone was dropping marbles on the cake.

Anonymous said...

I think the prescored cake bothered me just as much as the spelling errors. Do a lot of cakes come with marks for cutting?

Anonymous said...

Actually, that bird foot looks a lot like Big Bird's foot doesn't it? Maybe there was a Sesame Street theme going on ?

--Danielle

Holly said...

On the last photo, I want to reach into the picture and center the cake on the cake board!

Kami said...

No matter HOW weirdly you spell it, "Jason" never ends with an "m"!!

(Although I guess you could have an "m" sound be "mn" if you're a creative speller. There is still no way an "n" can turn be an "m".)

On another note ... maybe the baby was wrapped in a kangaroo blanket?

Misty said...

At least the writing on the Joey cake is pretty. Oh wait, I just looked at it up close. Its all squiggly and smeary. And a bit off center.

Oh well... they tried. :)

Crayl said...

I have a yearbook inscription "You are so sweat"...yeah, nice.I wonder if the name was Jayson, we know one spelled like that. Still funny, as is bundle of Joey. Which I think the "chicken feet" is balloon strings. I do like the writing style though, very beautiful.

Joy said...

Funny non-cake story about confusing joy/joey. My mom signed me (Joy) up for summer camp over the phone one year, since it was quicker than by mail and she was less likely to forget about it that way. When we got to said camp, everything was great, the bill was paid, and mom left. Then they called out cabin assignments. A Joey mylastname was put in a BOYS cabin. A friend of mine, Blake, was also placed in a boys cabin. Needless to say, the camp director got on the phone and quickly found another counselor to come so that we didn't have to stay with the boys.

Sheri said...

Those are all funny boo-boos, but I found the "Welcome Little Swetty" particularly snort-inducing. Perhaps that is because it reminded me of Alec Baldwin on SNL as the creator of "Schweddy Balls."

Darth Rob said...

Bundle of Joey, well at least there writing looks very nice!

I wonder do the people who recieve these wrecks demand their money back? I would! Especially if I got the Swetty cake!

kahara said...

The chicken foot looks like it might belong to a cookie jar...maybe...

And of course I like to think about mid-summer sweat glazing my cake when I'm trying to eat it, even if it is only implied.

Dea said...

Nashvillejen - OMG, that bakery's site?? Did you SEE their "adult" lineup? BWAHAHAHAA!!! http://www.stphillipsbakery.com/special_occ3.html

Um, yeah - the balloons are totally not in keeping with the style of the Joey cake. Kinda wish I'd thought of that with my first son! LOL!

As for the chicken foot - those ceramic pitchers shaped like animals make me laugh - though possibly only because my aunt calls them Puking Pitchers, since they invariably make the mouth into the spout....

Anonymous said...

Do you suppose the little bundle of Joey cake was a not so subtle hint to the new parents as what the host/ess thought the baby should be named?

Jess said...

Though I have been reading your blog for some time, this is my first comment...

The chicken foot seems to be the bottom of a glass... I know the next time I buy a house warming gift for someone that they are going to get chicken foot glasses... extra classy.

EmBee said...

Yes, the balloons are tacky and there's a mis-spelling, but c'mon you gotta give some points for that lovely script.
:-)

Anonymous said...

The writing on the last cake looks like it was printed and pasted on the cake like a photo. You'd think they'd have had a chance to check what was written at least once! But I am secretly hoping that Dad's name is Joey, 'cause that would make a great story!

evil cake lady said...

I am just happy that the bundle of joey cake didn't have a creepy rendition of a baby (or baby kangaroo) they were supposed to cut up and eat. Phew!

Ice Cream said...

Didn't those little plastic balloons go out with the 70's? So sad that they goofed this one up because it is some of the prettier handwriting I've seen on a cake.

I'm still waiting for some ice cream cakes to show up on here. =)

Anonymous said...

When I saw "Little bundle of Joey" I thought it was a deliberate pun--if so, terribly cute (only if the kid's name is Joey/Joseph/Josephine/Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabbadoo).

But Swetty is just carelessness.

I also thought the chicken-foot was a cookie jar or other such "homey" piece of householdery that you can make at your local mudhouse or buy at the farmer's market.

NYSailorScout said...

But doesn't it make you feel sad?

If people are that violently uneducated and flat-out stupid to be misspelling "sweetie" and "joy" as ADULTS.....I guess the problems that we are having now as a country are to be expected. :( Especially in this age of instant Internet on cell phones, computers and PDAs, not checking spelling is really shameful.

Z_gal said...

I can only imagine that being a production-line decorator would desensitize one to misspellings, the way saying a word over and over makes it sound funny eventually....
I'm trying to think the nicest thing I can about those decorators who seem to have an indisputable fascination with creative spelling, partnered with an apparent aversion to reviewing one's work!
Very funny and enjoyable blog, thank you for the daily diversion. And, you're absolutely right about cupcake cakes.
Have a sweet day!

Artfulife said...

I don't know if I could eat a cake that says "swetty" so disgusting. I must admit I was a little surprised you didn't comment on the odd placement of all the booties. I had a good laugh on this one. Actually all of your posts make me giggle.

Anonymous said...

The writing on the "Joey" cake is fabulous.

Anonymous said...

Since everyone's now into "unique" name spellings for their children, I believe "Jason" is spelled "Jaysin".

Anonymous said...

Y'know, having looked at the St. Phillip's Bakery site, I really, really doubt if those tacky, mis-matched balloons were put on there by that bakery. Truly, they seem way too classy for that. Not perfect, no--obviously the mis-spelling came from there!

But on the balloons, somehow I think that's the buyer's goof, not the bakeries. ("Seems a little plain, don't it? Let's dress it up some, wit {stab!} these purty balloons, see?" And then no one had the heart to tell Granny they were awful....)

Anonymous said...

I think that it's supposed to be "Jasmyn"

Anonymous said...

I'm starting to wonder if the public school system is breaking down in the reading department. These just keep getting worse and worse.
But I love love love me a good laugh!

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Jen said...

I just love all the optimism in you guys, making excuses for the decorator's spelling errors. However, for the record:

The name really was "Jason", and was spelled out for the bakery.

It was supposed to be bundle of "Joy", and no, no one in the family was named Joe, Joey, Joie, etc.

sues2u2 said...

I have to admit that my daughter's name is Hanae (my mil wanted the more traditional so that's why its the other! but its pronounced like the more traditional spelling of Hannah) so you never know w/ the top one. I agree wholeheartedly about the balloons on the bottom cake. Too bad about "joey". The rest of the cake is okay.

Unknown said...

Was the the Joey cake from somewhere in the south? Because I can just hear it in my head:'An thain rat own theyat cayke, Liddle Bunndle of Joey' I lived in Alabama for a while, and my mom's cousin Tina pronounced her own name Taeena!

whywouldyouknitthat said...

Wow, if they are welcoming what i assume is a baby, and the thing is already sweaty it is going to make one smelly, grasy adult!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE this blog. It makes me so happy. It is not too often these days that I laugh until I cry.
I am a loyal and regular reader!

E.A.D. said...

I'd eat a big slice of the first cake for sure. I'm a chocolate freak and aside from the big, gloppy lettering, the cake looks edible. The second one.......OMG. I honestly could not tell for a whole minute what that was supposed to say! Such sloppy work and then the wrong spelling as well!

E.A.D. said...

I apologize for the double, but I just realized I had the order of the cakes mixed up! The chocolate one was second and the horrible accident from a handwriting class was first. Whoops!

fuzzandfuzzlet said...

My sons name is Joey. I find myself adding the "e" when I write or type the word joy. I really have to watch this. I bet the cake decorator has a Joey at home. But you think she would catch the error.

Or maybe it was a baby shower for a kangaroo.

A Paperback Writer said...

It took me several long looks to determine that those blobby-things on little swetty's cake were supposed to be booties! I thought maybe they were catepillars wearing terrycloth robes or something....

Anonymous said...

What a great blog you've got going here. Always puts a smile on my face! Thank you for your incredible sence of humor!!!

Vicki

Anonymous said...

Why do I love your blog? I'm a writer and cake decorating is one of my hobbies. Love your clever cake commentary! LOL every time I visit. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

I had to do a double-take with "Jaysm" because at first glance I thought it said "Jasm," which would be a truly unfortunate nickname indeed.
Although with some of the more, ahem, unique names I've been seeing kids with lately, I wouldn't be surprised if that is for some poor soul named Jaysm.

Jennifer said...

I too think that the balloons on the joey cake were done after the fact. There seems to be a nice design underneath the baloons, and the mispelling aside, it is a great looking cake to have someone squash those icky balloons on there!

sejh said...

It is official. I adore your blog so much you are going on my blogroll. Is that okay? I hope so because I already added you. I even wrote a whole post about you! Oh, and I think the chicken is a ceramic decoration of some sort. Festive!

http://www.thehuckablog.com/2008/09/07/let-them-eat-cake/

Toni said...

What? Misspelling "Chris" as "Ohio" doesn't qualify for this post? Harumph.

Anonymous said...

Well, I envy the writing abilities of the person that made that last cake, even if they can't spell "Joy".

Kate

Hann said...

One from my family history, many years ago: a cake to Antonyh. Well, my granma did ask for "Anthony with an H".

Anonymous said...

My son just came home from school and asked me "Am I your little bundle of joey?" To which I replied "Of course you are, swetty pie" lol!

Anonymous said...

The only explanation on the "Jaysm" one I can think of is that it's not an American name. I was in a meeting yesterday with a guy named "Jayasimha" who goes by "Jason" in the US (as that's the closest pronunciation). It could be a butchering of an Indian or other name.

Lalaith said...

To preface this story, my name is Lacey. I wish I had a picture to accompany this, but it happened several years ago, before the idea of documenting it for the internet would have occurred to me ;) My birthday, my mother's, and my grandmother's all fall within a week of each other in February/March. One year, we were visiting my great aunt around then, and she got a birthday cake for the three of us. She brought it out, and I (only I) noticed that the inscription read "Happy Birthday Charlotte, Mary, and Larry". Yep... Larry. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

'lil swetty' was supposed to be lil SWEETY... as in sweetheart. hahaha

Anonymous said...

It's not a chicken-- it's a storks foot! However, still a fail. Absolute fail. Ahahaha.

Immortal Beloved said...

One year, my darling husband Jason got a cake with his named spelled "Jashon" really, is it that hard people?

Anonymous said...

i went to school with a kid name Jaysm.
and it really was his name.

Anonymous said...

Actually - you could look at "bundle of joey" as quite witty, if the babies name was Joey.

...

*coughs*

Brytne said...

I think it's a penguin foot to be honest with you....still weird though

Anonymous said...

Swetty's cake is sweating sprinkles

Cupcakes Lady said...

I have pains from laughing so much...this blog is ace! ;) xx