Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Letter VS Spirit

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

These Wreckerators get points for obeying the customer's instructions to the letter...


Of course, they then LOSE those points for writing the instructions on the cake.


Believe it or not, some folks are starting to ask for Wrecks like these ("Happy Birthday Under Neat That", etc) which adds a whole new level of hilarity when the bakery gets it wrong by getting it right.

For example, Corrie wanted a Wreckplica of the infamous Curious George CCC that said "Cangrtalations Corrie" on it for her graduation cake. She got this:


Granted, I think the decorator captured the true horror of the original Wreck quite well, but she also "corrected" Corrie's intentional misspelling to read "Congrats Carrie!"

Wow, it's like a Wreck to the third power, huh, Corrie? That is so awesome.

And for those of you wondering about the first two: Katelyn W. & Erin M. assure me they're legit. And since they used very sincere fonts, I believe them.
Unknown said...

Those are so funny.

I recently made up a new cake order form for the girls at work to use. I specifically wrote on the form: Please write EXACTLY as you would like it to appear on the cake - no extra quotation marks, exclamation marks etc. unless it is to appear on the cake. I am amazed at how hard it is for them to break the habit of putting everything in quotation marks or ending everything with an exclamation mark.

Hopefully my attempts to avoid a cake wreck won't end up as a cake wreck....or a triple cake wreck.

beautifulmonday said...

that second one (the gift box) is a pretty cake regardless.

wv: cateri.

cateri: waiters who moonlight as Mafia men

A Paperback Writer said...

Wow.
I think that "lovely" pink lipstick on George there is even "better" than in the original.

Melinda said...

What I want to know is if Corrie asked for the loads of curling ribbon?

Lady Anne said...

"Sara no H", huh? I once ordered a set of personalized pencils for each of our daughters, and specified "Teresa (no H)" and that was the way the pencils came. "Teresa No H". Maybe they thought she was Oriental? After all, our last name is Rice!

Love your blog! It's one of my first stops in the morning.

Haiku Joy said...

Pink-lipped monkey man
bleeds black from his monkey nose.
Ribbons "save" this cake!

Bri said...

Wow...Curious George does drag. Awesome.


And that second cake is like a little piece of cuteness! It'd be so cute if they didn't mess it up.


WV: moldedio -- the species to which Curious George/tte belongs.

Adrienne said...

That second cake is adorable but it does appear to have it's own umbilical cord.. eek!

Tierra Wakefield said...

Do you purposefully post before 8am Mountain Time so I can come to work each morning and start my day off right? If you do, then a big THANK YOU!

Anne said...

As an Anne with an E I feel for Sara with no H. Makes me wonder if there's a back history with the bakery, though, that they so explicitly put "no H" on the order form. I have known a few folks who absolutely insist they know the one and only "correct" way to spell a name with multiple possible spellings (even discounting the contemporary alternatives) - perhaps this wreckerator is one such?

the ginabean said...

Writing aside...that last cake is seriously Curious George? I mean, sure it's CCC-form, but...WHAT?!

joanne wardle said...

oh it's all getting too confusing!!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps number 3 knows of this website and didn't want to end up on here for not correcting the misspellings, so to make up for fixing the spelling the decorator added some color to George's lips.

Just a thought. Love this website, it definately makes my days a little brighter!

Anonymous said...

This is exactly what George Orwell was warning against in 1984!!!

When we start intentionally creating cake wrecks, thus re-writing history, how will we then spot the real, un-ironic wrecks? It's chaos people!

Half Assed Kitchen said...

Love cake decorators who can't bring themselves to make an intentional misspelling. That would be me.

Angie (from over at www.HalfAssedKitchen.com)

Acadia said...

So if I could intentionally design a cake wreck, it would be one that features a variety of Entirely Useless Items that can be bought at your neighborhood grocery store, like Micro-Yams (already been shrink-wrapped sweet potatoes) and vegetable "shaped" food storage containers: http://acadiadurham.blogspot.com.

I can't even begin to imagine how hysterical your commentary on that would be...

Donna said...

Metawrecks?

Infinite regression of wreckitude?

Yikes!

jackie31337 said...

The pink one is so beautiful right up until it takes the instructions a little too literally.

HorribleLicensePlates said...

Woah, that last cake is scarey. Bleeehhhh.

PippaD said...

Top Ender just told me her eyes are bleeding...

frantically heidi said...

What's with the backwards J? Is that actually how the parents are spelling the child's name?
Smart move...

Elizabeth C. said...

wreckplica is very very hard to say out loud.

Kristen S. said...

I once had a cartoon signed by the artist but he misspelled my name. My name is Kristen and he spelled it with a C. So he fixed by adding a few extra words...
"To Cristen, with a K"

Miranda said...

The first 2 cakes are decorated so nicely and then some dum-dum wrote the wrong stuff on it. :( Sadness.

Judy, I hope your new form is effective. Please keep us posted.

"George" looks like a Wookiee who has been to the beauty salon.

TheLeftorium said...

I whole-heartedly agree with beautifulmonday; the second cake is adorable. As for the intentional wreckage... dick move. Some people need hobbies.

Unknown said...

People are funny. Sometimes, unintentionally so.;o)
~Amy B.
wv: yosod
"Yo sod, what were ye thinkin', writin' the instructions I gave ye on the bloody cake?"

Anonymous said...

Why would anyone spell their name with a backwards 'J' anyway?

I think Curious George CCC might now frequent my nightmares.

Mac Callister said...

the last cake is scary!LOL!

but the second one is sooo lovely!

Melissa (& Billy) said...

I absolutely love the pink box with the huge bow!! I wouldn't care if it said "Good luck with the tax audit," I'd ooh and ahh over it.

Hee, I'm always mildly disappointed that when I go to my local bakery, there are no wrecks in sight...or none I can photograph without people thinking I'm looney. XD

Juliet said...

What's up with the backwards 'j'? Is it an Eastern European letter that I don't know about?

I'm having a hard time understanding the backwards 'j'.

These wrecks I think demonstrate how hard it is to communicate though both words and print.

lindalou said...

I didn't even recognize that the 3rd cake was supposed to be Curious George, let alone Curious George in drag. I thought it was just a big-lipped monster.

I love your blog.

Darla: Retro Ways said...

Do people just not think when they read directions or what!
The second cake is darling and that last one what the heck is that suppose to be!

Rory said...

Curious...If you enlarge the "Backward's J" there is a little sticker that says "Companion". Wonder if there is another cake somewhere with a backwards J.

MB said...

"sara minus h" reminds me of the Ben Folds song Zak and Sara.

"Sara spelled without an H was getting bored on a Peavey amp in 1984"

The Stool Pigeon said...

Curious George's fuschia lips frighten me.

Such a shame about that pretty box cake getting wreck-written on!

Scritzy said...

I ordered a cake today with very specific instructions, including a computer printout of what I wanted the cake to look like. I can't wait to see how it turns out — you might have a new wreck on Friday.

Anonymous said...

Good Lord, these are terrible! The second one would be a beautiful cake if it weren't for the (backwards J) at the bottom. . . seriously. . .

Anonymous said...

We home bake all of our cakes here in my house but if we ordered them from a store my husband could get me one that says "with one L".

May a plague of locusts rain down upon parents who saddle a child with weird or alternately spelled names.

- Michele

Anonymous said...

That last one looks like a rotten Mr Potato Head!

Fluffy Cow said...

*sighing*

pure wreckiness

Saralukies said...

As a Sara no H, I can sympathize with the subject of that cake. I literally have to say "Sara, no H" every time I say my name to someone writing it down, and even then, sometimes they write like the wind and that damn H ends up there anyway.

Stupid dumb H.

Anonymous said...

@stunbunny - I don't think this is quite what Orwell was worried about.

@Michele - I also had that spelling as a middle name, but it may have been to make up for a last name with 2 C's, 2 N's, and 2 L's that despite being perfectly phonetic, no one could spell or pronounce.
And I grew up with Alexandra, before it was cool, and always got an extra "I". Now, about half the time I get the masculine spelling.
I need a cake with "d-r-a!"

Alex

janet2buns said...

I agree with Adrienne @ 10:06; I think the pink cake looks like it has an umbilical cord.

Shannon said...

Yet MORE shining examples of how common sense just isn't that common anymore.

Sara said...

As a Sara without an H, I appreciate that cake. I have to say at least they didn't write Sarah without an H. That would have been funnier!

Thanks for you wonderful blog! I love seeing the genius of people.

Anonymous said...

I actually put palm to forehead on the first one... Wow...

Anonymous said...

The "curious George" one has GOT to be a Walmart cake. I think the store by my house pulls bums off the street to decorate.
Being a cake decorator myself, it saddens me to see stuff like this and that people actually pay money for it!! LMAO
Nicole

Shara said...

As the proud recipient of the original Curious George Cake...I cannot believe this cake is still ALIVE!

And, on the spelling front...with my name being SHARA, it is always misspelled on my birthday cake. But, on the hideous C.G. Cupcake Wreck - they got it right! Just everything else was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Kelly said...

A few weeks ago I ordered an intentional cake wreck for my boyfriend's birthday. They did a terrific job, random quotation marks, under neat that, bright clashing colors, a clown and a shotgun! They were such good sports about the whole thing I promised them I'd never post a photo. At the party, NONE of our friends got it. No-one thought it was funny at all. On a side note, we're currently in the market for new friends. Anyone?

John Sperry said...

A wreck to the third power? I think my head just exploded from awesomeness!

Sara said...

I definitely sympathize... I tend to introduce myself as "Sara... Without an 'H'" when I first meet people. That cake is the story of my life!

Anonymous said...

Double wreck points for the extraneous quotation marks around the J. Grrrrrr.

Anonymous said...

Love that some people take things SO LITERALLY! HA

Unknown said...

Okay here's my favourite "They just don't get it" moment: It's abit long but I think it's worth the read -

My father had a prosthetic leg, the result of a terrible accident years before. My father had taught me though that having fun is what it’s all about. Good clean fun, the kind that everyone can enjoy and is not at anyone’s expense. So when we went to a huge picnic and they called for the women's 3 legged race. I asked him if I could borrow his leg. I strapped it to the side of one of my legs and went to the starting line. One of the race organizers saw me and asked where my other person one. I straight faced told her, "you said 3-legged race, you said nothing about 2 people". She smiled and gave me a little wink.(She got it!) and went back to the sidelines. All the other ladies in the race "Got it!" too. As I showed off all the way down the field, running side ways and backwards, I had them laughing so hard that they were falling all over the field as they were attempting to keep up with me in the race. The race volunteers even added in to it by moving the finish line all over the place. But here's the REALLY funny part - 2 little old ladies on the sidelines doing the "head shaking Tsk! Tsk!" and saying "That's not fair. She should be disqualified" That had ME just about falling over in laughter. I got to the finish line and they attempted to hand me a first place ribbon. I told them I only did it for a laugh and to give the ribbon to whoever came in first behind me. I would be happy with the "participants piece of licorice". But they insisted on me taking the ribbon. When I returned my fathers leg to him, he was laughing so hard he had tears rolling down his face, and he immediately pinned the ribbon to his leg. For the rest of the day people would ask him why he had a red ribbon on his leg and he'd reply, "Oh it's a first place ribbon. I wasn't actually in the race ....but my leg was!"

Haiku Joy said...

Quite curious: Why did the pink giftbox cake get replaced? If it will cause an unnecessary controversy, just tell me the cake's a lie and I'll believe you.

Anonymous said...

i was buying a cake yesterday for a baby shower and all i wanted was "congratulations" written on it. i was a little nervous because i read your blog all the time. but much to my relief, the cake guy wrote the word on a piece of paper and asked me to spell check it before he iced it on the cake!!

Anonymous said...

yesterday i was buying a cake for a baby shower. all i wanted was "congratulations" written on it, but i was a bit nervous because i read your blog all the time. but much to my relief, the cake guy wrote the word on a piece of paper and had me spell check it before he iced it on the cake!

Jamie Ghione said...

I know someone named Kraig. I can't imagine how many times he's had to say "...with a K." Is it possible that they would have put "Craig with a K" on the cake? And to add to this, his sons are named Karson and Kolton.

Anonymous said...

No, the last one says "Compute Corrie!"
WV: husio. ?????????

Anonymous said...

Is it just me or has the "write 'welcome' on it" cake been posted before?

Jackie said...

My youngest daughter's name is Sara with No h. I showed my Sara the cake wreck pictured and we laughed so hard. Well done, Cake decorator! You've done what we have been trying to accomplish all her life. All we have to do is say "NO H".

LizO said...

I thought it said "bang it in the am"
Miss Dizzy

Unknown said...

Hey Jen--The only thing worse than "(quotes)" on a cake is ONE beginning quote and no quote to end the quotation...yeah. Did you notice that the cake that said WRITE WELCOME ON IT had a beginning quote but no ending quote on the word "welcome?

LOL