Friday
Apr302010
Literally Puzzling
April 30, 2010 Each of the photographs below represent a cake order gone wrong. Can you find the errors? The first puzzle gives you a hint. (Answers below.)
A) [hint] Sara is also a mom.
Well, I guess it *does* beat "Sara, SLASH Mom."
As Number 1 pointed out to me, at least they didn't write "War Eagle" in auburn icing. Although in my mind, that's just wrecking it further. If you're going to go literal, go literal. Am I right?C)
Something tells me this cake has something to do with CPEN.CPEN CPEN CPEN CPEN.
Huh. Yeah, I don't know where I'm getting that.
Say something nice about Wade M., Nancy S., & Jessica K. to thank them for the pics.
Answer Key:
A) Wreckerator is a pacifist
B) Wreckerator hates drawing
C) CPEN CPEN CPEN
Update from John:
So, apparently, the Auburn Tigers greet each other by yelling "War Eagle." Yeah. But we Trekkers are the weird ones. Anyhoo, so I suppose if you want to get all technical and correct about it, that cake is not a Wreck. But, it's too late to take it down. And we're tired. And it's Friday. So, we're all moving on. Right? [meaningful look at commenters] Right. We're moving on.
Reader Comments (132)
I don't understand Cake #1. Why would they write "Sara, Flash Mom" -- what is it supposed to say?
No, "Jennifer," "War Eagle" should not be in "quotes" on a "CAKE!"
Just because it's something people say, it doesn't mean you have to put quotes around it on a cake! Otherwise, Happy Birthday would have to be in quotes on every birthday cake.
If they're the Auburn tigers, then why do they yell "War Eagle"? Whatever the reason, I agree that Auburn is NOT an obscure school. I'm a big college football fan, and I've definitely heard of them!
And I thought Alabama was the Crimson Tide, so why do they have an elephant for a mascot? Have they always used an elephant? I guess that's better than having a vat of blood for a mascot.
Moving on? You kidding me? You know not the other world you have entered by posting that non-wreck.
What I want to know is, where my clones at?
Where my hardcore clones who know that if one were to War Cake Wrecks it would be an homage to War Eagle at?
Step your game up.
Yes, #2 is a wreck because a wreck is any cake, no matter how well-designed, that makes Jen (or John) laugh or cringe or go 'What the heck?', etc.
If you're in the 99.99% of the world who has no idea about "War Eagle" (or were before reading 9 bazillion repetitions of the same explanation) the cake definitely makes you laugh at the ridiculousness of it, especially that 'AUBURN' and 'War Eagle!' are primary and '... and Happy Birthday' (without so much as one !) is a secondary afterthought. "Yay college! Go Team! Oh, and Happy birthday, whoever you are." I mean, seriously, how many times a year does Auburn have a game? And how many times a year does our sadly anonymous (because where would you fit a name?) cake-receiver have a birthday?
So, it DOESN'T MATTER that it may very well be what someone ordered. It DOESN'T MATTER that the eagle shouldn't be drawn, just like it didn't matter that the sprinkle-less "I Want Sprinkles" cake was actually a quote and was SUPPOSED to be the text on the cake. It still makes you laugh to see it, either because one is ignorant of the esoterica of one school in one of the 50 states of one of the many nations in the world and would expect the eagle to be drawn or because one finds the sheer lack of priorities ridiculous.
It's a wreck because Jen found it funny. It continues to be a wreck because other people find it funny, too.
#1- note the comma after Sarah. Sarah is a mom who photographs everyone and thereby earned the title "Flash Mom". Therefore, "Happy Birthday Sarah, flash mom!" Yeah, I think that's it.
#2- It's not Spaceship Earth, it's Epcot, you can tell by the Disney font.
#3- If being a CPEN CPEN CPEN got any happier than black flowers, we'd all want to be one, then it's all work, work, work.
Ok, so I never comment but I just had to say this... To those of you who think that Auburn spamed the board today because why would so many people know about it... Auburn is an SEC school and SEC is a big deal for a large part of this country, especially in the South and you don't have to be an Auburn fan to know about it...with that said... I love the blog...read it everyday...and GO DAWGS!!! That is Georgia Bulldogs for those of you who don't know!
I look at Cake Wrecks every day and have never commented...but now, I must.
Weagle, Weagle, War Damn Eagle!!
I think people calling this a wreck anyway because the icing is a LITTLE smeared on the cake base are really reaching.
P.S. I'm not an auburn fan, I just think this is stupid.
I had to google SEC...I am going to assume it's South Eastern Conference and not Security & exchanges commission?
I genuinely figured Auburn was the birthday girl's name until I started reading the comments.
BTW, I thought South Carolina State was the Bulldogs. Now I'm totally confused.
@sendingtheclowns:
A: We're talking about a game played in the 1890s or so, so I fail to see what's so strange about a Civil War vet being there.
B: As I said, it's a legend. I made no claims as to the truth of any of it. Lighten up, Francis.
I LOVE this blog. I am often in tears, holding my side laughing at the post. And now, I must say I LOVE it even more after this post and finding all these fellow Auburn fans who follow this blog. We have good taste in both football and internet fun!
WAR EAGLE!!!
war eagle is the Auburn tigers war cry, it is becaue a gentlman who attenedAuburn was fighting in civil war found eagle brought back to Auburn he became mascot, hense war cry, gag me I just defended Auburn! GO GATORS!
I'm sorry, but I have to correct the people presenting the Civil War "War Eagle" story as if it's true. It's apocryphal. Some guy made it up in 1960. Before that, the story didn't exist. There are several other stories explaining it that were around before the Civil War one.
That said, I'm glad that in Georgia our mascots go along with our war cries. GO DAWGS!
Art said...
" We're talking about a game played in the 1890s or so, so I fail to see what's so strange about a Civil War vet being there."
--------------
My goodness--the thing I was mainly getting at was that in your version of the "legendary eagle story,"
1, The eagle flies around the game and then dies.
2. Auburn wins.
My point was, "SO? Is this supposed to imply "magic"? The eagle COULD HAVE been flying overhead to rally the OPPOSING team!
The legend is lacking in something more draamtic, like...
How about, at the last minute, the sunlight flashed off the eagle's wings, and its feathers LIT UP in brilliant ORANGE and BLUE!!!
That'd do it.
=^u.u^=
War Damn Eagle!
A true wreck would be a "Roll Tide" cake.
Lauren S. Grider, DVM
AU College of Vet Med 2008
AU College of Agriculture 2004
http://www.auburn.edu/
Telling Sara to flash Mom is weird. But telling her to flash Dad would have been creepy. Let's be thankful that they didn't go that route.
I would gently suggest some research from some of these people who say "99.9%" of readers don't know what War Eagle means.
Clearly that's not the case.
And what's with the snotty, angry comments against the nice people who are just trying to let the rest of you in on the background of the battle cry?
People here are usually pretty nice, but these non-Auburn fans are getting kind of snotty today.
It's part of the post. Why are you guys surprised people are commenting on it?
Oh, and also
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar EAGLE ... HEY!
--JM
I now know more about War Eagle than I ever, ever, ever, ever wanted to know.
wv: quitica
Quitica, already!
The word "happy" in the first one looks like "flappy."
I'm just piping in, but, as other people have mentioned, #2 is not incorrect. I live in Auburn, and the war cry/greeting for Auburn fans is "War Eagle!" People wear shirts with "War Eagle" written on it all the time... but very few would know what to draw if you said, "draw the War Eagle" (which happens to be a golden eagle)
Am I the only one who first saw the words "Flappy Birthday"? I was laughing before I got any further than that...
Yup. #2 = Epcot revisited (just not as nicely decorated!). Now I know far more about Auburn & its mascot/slogan/competitors than I ever wanted to know. I've heard of Auburn before... but aren't too sure precisely where Alabama is!! (non-American reader here) I'm thinking that when these situations arise, there may be virtue in not posting all the comments... or just posting a summary with a list of the names.
Re Sara: now, if the birthday girl is also a Mum, then... was she trying to flash herself? That raises a whole new set of questions about just *what* she was doing ;)
And the CPEN one: I'm glad I wasn't the only one disturbed by the use of black to decorate a pediatric emergency nurse's cake. Did she escape to the RV in distress over the wreck of a cake??
haha! i was so excited to see my wreck of a cake posted today! yes, i am jessica, the "RV" -- which was actually my favorite typo on the cake as well. the only thing better than the pic of the cake would have been our faces as we all sat, puzzled, in the ER attempting to decipher the words on the cake. "RV? CPEN picture? what?!!"
the cake was very tasty though, despite it's obvious short-comings....black roses and all!
thanks jen, for posting my cake. love the blog and all the commentary!
To Anonymous who wonders about snotty non-Auburn fans:
It's not that we don't want to learn your history. It's just that none of you bothered to read the 100+ other posts stating the exact same thing!
Once.. twice.. a few times, one might scroll past a similar comment, sure.. but at four dozen times, Auburn evidently needs to re-double their efforts to teach reading comprehension!
When callers to "The Jim Rome Show" say "WAR _____" to show support of something, it's derivative of Auburn University's WAR EAGLE battle cry.
Ooh, I think I got it! Sara must be the mother of Barry Allen, the Flash!
If only they'd written War Eagle in crimson icing. ROLL TIDE!
Just seeing this one. I've never commented here but read daily.
War Damn Eagle!
Ph.D. in English--
Loved my time there indeed!
Someone should make a "Rolling Toomers" Cake, no?
WAR EAGLE, y'all!
You know, Auburn has produced more astronauts than any other college.
We developed the seedless watermelon.
Celebrity almuni include Rowdy Gaines, Toni Tennille, Bo jackson, Ann Sidons, Vince Dooley ,Jimmy Buffett, Charles Barkley, Taylor Hicks, and Victoria Jackson and Jimmy Wells, co-founder of wikipedia.
Karen Jones
Auburn Alum 1991
I love this blog. Always brings a smile. xx