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What's a Wreck?

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.

Now, don't you have a photo you want to send me? ;)

- Jen
Friday
Jul162010

The Far Side of the Wreck

I grew up reading The Far Side. My folks owned several of the books, and I can remember many happy nights curled up with the dry wit and bizarre observations of Mr. Gary Larson. I have no doubt this affected my own somewhat twisted sense of humor, because sometimes - usually after seeing something just a bit off - I'll hear an unmistakably Larson-esque narration start in my head.

You know, kind of like this:

 

Alone and outnumbered, C3pO did his best to blend in.

 

 

After a spritz of soda and a quick scrubbing, no one would ever guess at the dark events that transpired that fateful, frosting-filled night.

"So I says to him, 'Hey, Rabbit, it's my house and I'll hang a singing fish if I want to. And if you don't like his politics, find yourself another honey pot!'"


Bob surveyed his handiwork with pride. If only the Society of Delicate Penmanship and Context-Appropriate Color Coordination could see him now!

 

Buck couldn't help it: he laughed.

Unfortunately, the hunter's hearing turned out to be much better than his eyesight.



Thanks, Leah W., Julie B., Jaclyn B., Deborah F., & Matt W. You guys are far out.

 

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Reader Comments (142)

The hunter cake is by far my favorite ever.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterRebecca F.

The word "moistest" is probably the funniest thing I've read all week. Oh my god.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterEm

"The moistest cake you've ever tasted!" - just add water.

Poor Chewbaca's head is upside down.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Oh, I love The Far Side, too! This post makes me want to curl up with both the Cake Wrecks book and the humongous Far Side collector's set during this afternoon's thunderstorm. :)

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnne

Love the Far Side. You nailed it!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Gary Larson FTW! You did well. He should be proud! :D

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterjenn

Your comments today are simply FANTABULOUS!!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterchris

You've captured the essence of Gary Larson perfectly. Great narratives! Seems like Larson used deer a lot in his comics, so the hunter cake is especially appropriate!

And that sweet Eeyone is such a good listener!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterbassgirl

oh my.. are those Orcs? why are two of them upside down? why is one of them Darth Vader?

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterSylph

Oh, Jen, you poor sick woman. Anyway, your commentary was perfect. I think a CW/Far Side book is in order.

Do right-click the first cake to see all the wrecky details. I thought those were Darth Vader picks until I enlarged it. One is Darth, the rest are gorillas and two of them are upside down. Third-shift strikes again.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterTricia L

I think that it is Darth Vader who is alone and trying to blend. At least C3PO has a duplicate to keep him company.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterKaren

Your best blog post yet! Love the Larson-esque humor. You nailed it!!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterCarol

I love the captions.

By the way, is C3PO in the midst of gorilla cupcake rings?

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterFanboy Wife

Wow....you did Larson pretty spot on. Well done!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterLeslie

Genius!! I loved the Far Side!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Gary Larsen rocks! Great comment choices.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Excellent post! I love the far side myself, and was very excited when I found out I shared a birthday with Gary Larson. This was a lovely homage.

What in God's name are those creatures with poor C3PO? Chewie was brown, not black....not to mention the upside down ones with the gargoyle looking teeth! Hide C3PO! Hide!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

OMG Far Side inspired captions! those were great! Encore! maybe that should be a regular feature.

meanwhile, what IS Pooh doing with a pink fish?

the one with the hunter just cracks me up. even the dog is pointing the wrong way. The deer herd looks like it's sneaking off (in plain sight!)

too funny. cracked icing is a bonus.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterjo

Your commentaries are sooo right-on! I love the far side and have a couple of books as well as daily calendars collected over the years.

I don't know which I like better, the Pooh or the Dear Hunter.. both are great.

Thank you so much. This is perfect for my Fri am break...

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterSandy / Boynton Beach

wait, how do we know that's not a clueless fisherman? with a very unconventional way of fishing (and the wrong equipment). And he's still screwing it up by being so far from the lake but still! maybe he's hunting some underwater creature that may jump out at any moment! maybe this is a horror film inspired wreck, er, cake.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

spot on with your captions. I have many fond memories of the far side. :)

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterJade

This post is amazing - you nailed it!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

That birthday cake for Stacey looks like it was scrawled either by a really ticked off employee or a registered sex offender stalker who got a job at the bakery knowing that Stacey would get her 27th birthday cake from them and then killed off the other employees on duty that day so that he could write in the creepiest script with the most gruesome color he could find and scare the pants off of Stacey on what should've been the happiest day of her year.

There's a cakey thriller in here somewhere.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterBearess

C3PO gave a sigh of relief after he read on the label that there were no picks or rings. He knew then that Chewbacca would not make this moment even more awkward with a proposal.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

It figures, something else we have in common: love of Gary Larson. This post killed me. Hey, back in the early 80s I worked at a law firm and recruited a couple dozen people to draw cows, so we could have a gallery display of them and then mail them all to Gary Larson. The firm was rife with Far Side fans. Those were the days!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterDiana Laurence

C3PO is not alone, there are two, however 2 Chewies (or gorillas) are upside down! Did you notice the label states "12 chocolate cupcakes WITHOUT picks or rings $5". Well, these obviously HAVE picks/rings in them, so what is the REAL price?

LOVE the deer hunting cake with comment!

Sharon's Edible Art

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterSharon

I don't know what those "dark events" are, but I really hope they don't have to do with why it's the "moistest cake ever tasted."

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterIndigo

@ Bearess...interesting theory. Maybe he was aiming to deliver the cake to her as well, as well as a big sharp knife to cut it....

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Best captions in a long time. This is why I love cake wrecks!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterLisa

So perfect!!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterTiffany

Loving the Far Side posts. Could have done without the thought of me being old enough to be clustered with "parents who used to read the Far Side books". :/

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

*snort* OH, you'd think I'd learn never to have a cuppa in hand when opening Cakewrecks. *hate that back up the nose thing*

But I do love Larsen's Far Side, even if I did spend countless times trying to 'splain' to dh.

Wonderful, wonderful tie in and spot on observations.

~~Di

WV - tsingei -- I got all tsingei as I read your captions, and remembererd years of Far Side happiness.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Brilliant!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

I have never commented before, but I also grew up reading Far Side and I think this is one of the funniest posts you have ever written.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterKristen

The hunter cake brought back memories of my bestest ever wreck.

I ordered a hunter cake for my husband at the local grocery store bakery, but asked that one of the deer be lying down dead in the frosting. The wreckerator was befuddled, but agreed to my request.

One hour later, I picked up the fantastic cake, replete with a garish air-brushed mountainscape. At one end of the cake was momma deer, at the other end, daddy buck. In the middle, lying in a smear of red frosting was Bambi! OMG, I laughed so hard I cried.

Instead of "Happy Birthday" I put on the Sex Pistol's "Who Shot Bambi." A good time was had by all.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterKristen

I hope that hunter cake has a good inside story to it!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterCrystal

Nice job. I love the Far Side.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

"The moistest cake you've ever tasted!"

I guess that's why it's leaking?

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterravenskye8

I love how the tag on the C3P0 cupcakes label them as "12 Ct. Choc Cupcakes Buttercream Icing WITHOUT picks or rings" and then they all have one! DUH!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterJon and Angela

LOVE it.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterStella

Oh my crap! Really, if you pursue this vein my Far Side fix will be forever satiated. I may have shed a tear when I needed to sell my complete collection of Larson...I may now shed a tear because I love this so much.
You need a third blog.

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterZia Madeira

I think it is funny that some of the things (not quite sure what they are) are upside down in that first pic!!! lol

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterLori

On that last cake they are hunting the most deadliest prey of all...

Lakes...

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterbigbadteddy

I also love Gary Larson--I laughed SO MUCH while reading this one!!

Thanks for always brightening my day!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterLucky Larson's

This may be my all-time favorite post ever. Awesome job channeling Gary Larson!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterJanelle

Ah, got it! Those are "officially" King Kong Rings available from babykakes.com

http://www.babykakes.com/licensed%20charaters.htm

no "rings" indeed. :)

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterSylph

I also loved The Far Side!! I agree, it's affected my sense of humor probably more than it should...

The closest I've been able to find to that sort of humor, these days, is the website http://unhappyhipsters.com/ .

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAnonymous

Looks like the "hunter" might have hit the tree, maybe he's a tree hugger-hunter!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterPeg

Perfect Far Side parody. LOVED IT!!

July 16, 2010 | Unregistered Commenteramanda

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