Friday, December 12, 2008
The World's Most Cheerful Hanging
Friday, December 12, 2008
Ah, what a difference a horizon line can make - and how unfortunate that this one is about 3 inches below the dangling feet.
Thanks to Mar C., Wreckin' on over in Barcelona, Spain!
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A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.
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84 comments | Post a Comment
I think I'm missing the cultural reference that would explain why the birthday girl is getting a cake with such brightly colored sneakers (suspended, at that), but I actually think the hearts and flowers are cute.
Word verification: surnmen - if you find this in place of "surname" on your cake decoration request form, run away, because you know NOTHING will be spelled correctly on the final cake...
What's the old joke about a long walk with a short jump rope?
Seriously though I think they might have been going for the effect of the jump rope laying on the ground. But it does conjure a number of other images. Poor Alexia...we hardly knew ye.
I see it more like a jumping rope than the floor. That way the lines on each side make more sens.
Are you sure it's not someone jumping rope?
No one at the bakery looked at that and thought "Oh... Maybe not..." ? Did they think that kids just wouldn't "get it"?
Yay!...A cake for a hanging....didn't think those existed. Do you suppose that they make them for electric chair or lethal injection executions too?
Adolescent angst gone unchecked. And on her birthday, too. Sad. At least she went with a lovely, turned-out second position ballet stance.
OK, here's 2 guesses--first one is jump rope. The second one is what we used to call (politically incorrectly, I'm sure) Chinese jumping rope. It was essentially a really long elastic band, which wrapped around the back of two players' ankles, knees, etc. depending on the skill level, while a third person did the jumping. Other than that, the rest of the cake is absolutely delightful, right down to the untied hi-tops!!
I'm thinking that's supposed to be a jump rope...but how could you be sure.
I know it's been said, but I'm thinkin' jump rope too!
Am I the only one who thinks that's a Ramona Quimby cake? Do they even HAVE Ramona in Spain?
Anyway, yeah, the framing - that's what it looks like to me, anyway - is really, really unfortunate. Which stinks, because the rest of the cake is really cute otherwise.
Hmmmm...I thought maybe a jumprope championship congratulations?
Amy B
laughed out loud....hilarious.
Hey, cakemakers who live in states with capital punishment should think about rolling out a new line of cakes. Maybe they can even get the state to pay for the cakes.
Best cake wreck ever!!
I don't know, I think this cake is pretty awesome. I don't think I would have even gone to the "hanging" scenario had you not pointed it out. At least everything's spelled correctly!
Cute cake . . . but if you didn't know that Alexia loves to jump rope you might think, "What the!"
OK that is a tad disturbing!! Poor Alexia... nice know'n ya pobrecita
I wonder why Alexia hung herself? It clearly wasn't due to cankles.
It's a birthday cake (thus the "Feliz Cumpleanos"), and even if it was supposed to be jump rope, then the "rope" should look like a rope, and not a black line.
I thought it was a jumprope as well.
Are you sure this cake was for a birthday and not a funeral? I still have no idea what they were going for!
Maybe it IS Ramona! Didn't she wear sneakers that looked a bit like those?
Personally, I see someone who probably took "defying gravity" a bit too seriously, and is now stuck in midair because they jumped just a bit too high on the bed, thus causing their torso to go right through the ceiling.
Definitely jump rope! Although they should have made the rope thicker.
Otherwise, I think it's a pretty cute cake. And a clever idea, too. Hell, anything other than princesses would get a thumbs up from me.
Wow I'm slow... I never in a million years would have guessed jump rope if not for the intelligent people in the comments section! I'm usually pretty good at figuring out what the actual idea was supposed to be... maybe I need a vacation...
I'd wear those shoes.
Since she's wearing basketball shoes, my first thought was that she just performed a successful slam dunk, and is celebrating by hanging on the hoop/rim for a few seconds.
But jumprope works, too.
At least both shoes are on the feet. If one was dropped on the floor, then that would really make minds wonder.
At first I thought they spelled "Feliz Compleanos" wrong by spelling it with a "u", but I checked and found out both will work. ALSO, an interesting fact is that you can say " Compleanos Feliz" as well. But we don't say "Birthday Happy" in English. But you know what? That's about all the Spanish I know!
Also, I originally thought it was a congratulations cake for someone who just learned how to tie their shoelaces!
The shoes are cute. I don't understand the lines though.
wvotd mutstriz. Don't forget, dogs with dry skin need to mutstriz.
It's like one of those face/vases images. If I think about it really hard, I can see the girl in mid jump as she's jumping rope, but then it reverts spontaneously back to the "hanging" cake.
It's an adorable cake, too, other than that one flaw.
Actually, it IS a cultural reference from a TV show (originally mexican, I think) that has that EXACT picture as its symbol. The bad taste is not the baker's, in this case. :)
I think this one is actually pretty cute... a bit sloppy if professionally done, but still cute. She's jump-roping, isn't she?
Looks like a kid jumping rope to me too.
It does look a bit like a hanging, but I could see jump rope too. Still, hilarious!
Jump rope? Nah. Our girl looks like she's laid out on a narrow slab. With her shoes untied, too, poor dear.
I think this cake is jumping for joy over being included on this blog!
It says "Happy Birthday" in Spanish. Maybe the birthday girl is great at jumping rope, but the cake makes her look like she's great at ending her life.
Word Verification: Froqua. What the froqua is up with these cakes?!
It would be a perfectly lovely cake without the black lines.
i really like the multicolored, unlaced shoes. Reminds me of my daughter, although she isn't a giant, nor has she been hanged lately...
Oh, I'm definitely seeing jump-rope theme here. With the kid actually jumping *over* the rope in the image--naturally she'd be airborne at that point, the activity is supposed to be jumping after all. I was very confused to see this on CW to begin with.
oh my gosh - how depressing
I'm amazed at all the comments so far who have said jump rope. That never even crossed my mind. If it is a jump rope, it's a stiff wire "rope" that has no elasticity and is squared off on the bottom. If it were to be a jump rope wouldn't it have more of a U shape?
word verification: imyxin. Imyxin up my own cake.
I can see why she hung herself: by the hideous scaly texture of those skinny chicken legs, I'd say she's got shingles.
Um- there's a.. uhhh something coming out from between the legs.
I saw this completely as a jump roping cake. I don't see anything wrong with it. I actually can't even figure out how you would get a hanging out of this, because why would the string hang down that low like that? It wouldn't make sense at all. And if that's not the string, than why does it go all the way up on both sides.
I love this blog, but this time around, I totally disagree.
I love Ramona! But like all the others I see a jump rope here. No wreck.
Is the wearer of the sneakers maybe lying on a beach towel?
Are the people on team "It's a jump rope" nuts? What is it made out of? A wire that is bent to right angles at the bottom? Jump ropes are NOT square!
WV:asiess. That is all I'm saying.
wvotd: fugable. (really!!)
This sad, birthday/jump rope/hanging cake is fugable.
Sorry but I don't see the jump rope thing here. WHY would a jump rope be square on the end??? To me it looks like she was on a diving board or sidewalk- or any other square-ended surface. (But why would she be swimming with shoes? who knows?)
But then, who JUMPS with their feet straight out and heels together?
i can see the jump rope theme, now that it has been pointed out--and if it's supposed to be a jump rope, then the execution is totally a wreck. the rope looks too skinny and squared for her to be actively be jumping over it. plus, her shoes are untied. and if Alexia were an intelligent girl, she'd know that jumping rope with untied shoes is TOTALLY unsafe. :)
and then, yes--i can see the "hanging." i first saw a door in the background with feet dangling in mid-air. which leads me to believe Alexia was hiding in her closet when the deed was done...
unfortunate piping from the decorator's end. i would have gone with a classic red/white striped rope to make it more obvious, but that might have been a little hard for the decorator...but even a bright color like the shoes would have been great.
=]
Also when jumping the feet are together and pointed forward with knees bent. Those feet look like they are standing.. or hanging. To those who can't get the "hanging" reference, imagine instead of a rope that it's more an outline, the sides being walls and the bottom being the ground. Anyhoo, no matter how much I look at it I can't see a "rope" there. Especially a wire thin black square rope that is thinner than the girl's shoelaces.
Of course it is a jump rope...but come on..you can't see that it is a poor excuse for one!
It may be a jump rope cake...but that still doesn't explain the false teeth around the edge.
??
A Floricienta cake in Cake Wrecks!
Hoo boy, and I thought that I would only be able to make fun at the show itself!
This has made my day in so many levels.
I'm going to have to vote against the jump rope idea; one in midswing would definitely not be of the rectangular persuasion. Maybe it's a doorway and Alexia is in the middle of doing a chin-up. From the looks of her legs, I'd say she's pretty fit.
Word verification: doscide, the act of killing a female deer. See also buckcide, the act of killing a male deer, as illustrated in the wildfire cake.
I saw this completely as a jump roping cake. I don't see anything wrong with it. I actually can't even figure out how you would get a hanging out of this, because why would the string hang down that low like that? It wouldn't make sense at all. And if that's not the string, than why does it go all the way up on both sides.
I love this blog, but this time around, I totally disagree.
--------------
How does jump rope make any more sense than hanging?
Whatever the straight black lines are, they don't look like any jump rope I've ever seen - which have been brightly coloured thick rope that don't exactly make right angles while you're jumping...
If it is supposed to be a jump rope, then considering how cute the rest of the cake is, the rope itself is definitively a wreck.
The hanging comes from the fact that the straight line down the bottom could be the floor, therefore the feet are dangling above the floor...therefore hanging...the straight lines on the side could be anything, wall, door etc.
OMG! Have the dreaded CCCs reached... Spain? Or maybe those are just scalloped edges on a regular round cake. Still. Made me wonder! :)
It's not a wreck... it is such a cute jump rope cake. Ropes go flat like that if they drag on the ground. I like it. I really like how the shoes ar euntied as well.
It's an Argentinian TV show. Here is the logo. I still don't really understand the rectangle in the background, but the dangling feet are spot-on.
Word verification: Chilater. I'm going to work hard now so I can chilater.
Is it possible that there is a line across the top too, making that a black frame?
I don't get how this one is a wreck. All I see is the jump rope. Yes, it could be a little less squared off and a little thicker, but it does look like a jump rope. I can't see it as a girl being hung, it just doesn't make sense.
Hi all,
This is the first time I've looked at comments and I think it's time for a review.
"A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons."
You see if you look at the splayed feet and you don't notice the black "jump rope" you could see it as dangling feet. Get it? And see, a hanging cake would be funny, right? Haha...
Okay so if you have to explain a joke, it's no longer funny.
But CLEARLY it's a jump rope!
yeah, I know...
It doesn't even LOOK like a hanging!
Yeah but see if you turn your head...
It's cute!!! NOT A WRECK!!!
Okay. Yup. You're right. Maybe we should just take it down.
Pro tip to prospective parents: 'Alexia' sounds like a nice name for a girl, but it is, in fact, the condition of being unable to read following brain damage.
Okay, the first thing I saw was a swing.. because of the taut ropes. You know.. with the name Alexia where the seat would be. Then I looked again and wondered why?? Then I looked again and just gave up.
My head went to jump rope first, too. But I couldn't resist searching a bit after someone mentioned a show called "Floricienta". I found this image for a DVD that clearly shows the lines we are all debating as more like a trapeze, and they do in fact hang somewhat below the sneakers.
I still think that the execution of this particular cake, however, keeps it in the realm of the wreck.
verification - "reducks"? Really?
It's the edge of the bed. She's lying down and relaxing.
The dance teacher in me can't help it; I have to correct the person who said the girl's feet are in second position. She's in first position. (In second the feet would be much further apart).
Sorry, carry on!
No, that line's a jump rope! She's in the air, jumpin' the rope!
I think the person is supposed to be jumping rope - but a hanging was the first thought I had when looking at it.
It's from an Argentinian show, the logo was like that, hee-hee, the sneakers are almost characters! ohhh, it wouldn't be flor without her lucky sneakers, and silver nut, and rabbit leg, and an infinity of lucky charms!!
yes, I'M A FAN OF THE SHOW so what?
I would have love thar cake 5 years ago, when the the show what emited for the first time *u*
I LOVE YOUR BLOG!!
yeah... kind of random...
I actually have before seen a jump rope solid black, very shinny, and only about a fourth of an inch in diameter, if that. If I hadn't given it away some years ago, I would take a picture and show you. It's possible.
Also, a jump rope when it hits the ground and is sliding before it lifts off does become rather flat on the bottom. (Am I the only one who has jump roped in a while?)
However, as the last image linked shows, this cake is dead on to the logo. The only thing missing is the straight-up 90 degree angle edges with the carry-over lines, but since the edge of the cake is there, we shall just imagine that part.
Are we sure the feet on this cake aren't jumping rope? That would explain the line being so far from the feet. PLUS... it IS for a kids bday party! So.... that could be it. (:
Leslie
Wow. Looks JUST LIKE the logo for a TV show. What a wreck, that looks like it is supposed to look! Or is it a wreck because the reference isn't American?
Also, Alexia =/= a form of brain damage.
Floricienta!! O_O
I bet she hung herself because she was named after a kind of brain damage (wiki Alexia).
Yeah, "alexia" is the complete inability to read, as opposed to dyslexia, which is a difficulty while reading. Perhaps "Alexa" or "Alexis" would have been better name choices... :-) What's next? Aphasia Smith? Euthanasia McGovern? :-)
I believe that this picture is from either a Spanish cartoon character of a little girl and her adventures, or of a show of the same nature. I saw it in Argentina, but it was not something that I paid great attention to, and so my memory of the precise particulars has faded.
Isn't 'alexia' what they call it when you can't read because you have brain damage?
So I've seen this before, on a John*Foos (shoe brand, they are like Chuck Taylors) t-shirt, so I think it's one of their things, and as far as I know it's still SUPER popular in Argentina and probably elsewhere as well.
It SHOULD have a horizon line though!
HAHA....
they did a good colouring job though.
Oh god >_> this cake has the symbol of floribella...
Floribella is a sopa opera for kids that was broadcasted in many coutries with different verions
ugh it sucks
Actually, that's the logo for a very popular argentinian children's tv show called Floricienta. See? http://www.zonadvd.com/imagenes/noticias/2007_06_sav/floricienta3_frontal.jpg
I know I'm a little late for the party, but I've just found this blog and am know addicted to it.
That's actually the logo of a children's soap opera popular in latin and south european countries. In Portugal and Brasil it's called Floribella and in other countries I'm not sure if it's katchorra. This is not a wreck. Actually is not that badly done. the logo: http://inet.sitepac.pt/FloribelaLogo.jpg
just in case you guys didnt know, the dangling feet with the sneakers is a logo for a Portuguese/Brazilian tv show for kids, its called Floribella
heres a link to a picture
http://www.foroswebgratis.com/imagenes_foros/7/7/6/8/7/474242floribella-1-711777%5B1%5D.jpg