Easy As Pi
March 14, 2016 Happy Pi Day, guys!
Yep, 3/14 is the day a bunch of nutty math nerds decided to celebrate the mathematical constant that is the ratio of any Euclidean circle's circumference to its diameter...
...mostly by doing stuff like this:
;)
Mmmm. Pi pie.
And yes, the baker DID put the 5 on backwards so it looks like a 2. I'm sure s/he was just testing you, though.
What's that? You didn't IMMEDIATELY catch that?! Well, that just means you need to learn pi out to seven decimals, then!
And what better way to do so than with Cake Wrecks visual aids?
LET'S GO!!
;)
Three...
;)
Point...
(Thank you, uh thankyouverramuch.)
;)
One...
(I know, I know; you thought that was number two, but no.)
[rim shot!]
;)
Four...
(Yes, I know it's upside down. The question is, why didn't the baker?)
;)
One...
[singing] "I'M lookin' at the NUMBER innn the mirra'! OW! I'M askin' it to MAKE a cha-hange!! HOOO YA! Sha-MOW! Uh-HUH!"
Ahem.
Where were we?
Let's see... 3.141...what's next?
Oh, right:
;)
Five nine two...
No lie, you guys: I'm looking through your submissions for a number five, and I find this random cake someone found in a display case with the number 592 on it, and I check my pi cheat sheet, and the next three digits of pi actually ARE 592!! I mean, WHAT ARE THE ODDS? AND WHY AM I SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS?!
Don't answer that.
We all know why.
Ok, so. 3.141592...
;)
Six!
(Yes, really. It's a six.)
So there you have it: you've learned pi to seven places with Cake Wrecks! Great job! Pocket protectors for everyone!
And for those of you whose day just won't be complete until you see some pie wrecks, a gift from John:
;)
You're welcome.
Thanks to wreckporters Rachel W., Nasina G., Grahm, Maggie M., Gin D., Caroline C., Rebecca M., and Mike - and also to John for the most painful pun in the history of crockery. I knew I married that boy for a reason.
*****
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Reader Comments (55)
Excellent, John (thoj)! Thankyouverymuch
Isn't the 7 also upside down on that top, um, wreck? Nevermind. Doesn't matter 'cause -- Pie!
When I was a high school math nerd, I learned the value of pi via this Math Club cheer: "Secant, tangent, cosine, sine! Three point one four one five nine! Go-o-o-o, Math!!"
OUCH! You really dished out that last horrible, horrible pun.
Thank you John, the Pi(e) wreck made my day! My rounded 3.1416 Pi day.
Haaaaaaaaa!
Thanks John! I got that immediately.
A long, long time ago,
I can still remember
Making cakes was but a rocky path
And I knew frosting looked like poo
And spelling was a problem, too
And maybe I should simply stick to math
As February made me shiver
With every cake that I'd deliver
I’d try to take directions
Yet mess up each confection
As March approached I felt relief
I no longer would cause such grief
And math would be my leitmotif
The day my cake work died
So
Pi, pi, mathematical pi,
3.14 15 92,
65 35 89 7,
932384 62,
6433832 7
Pie wrecks, nice! John has some skillet puns.
Brava Jen and Bravo John, I got the pun immediately. I also spit tea onto my keyboard, but it was worth it! Now I have to explain to my coworkers why I spit the tea onto my NEW keyboard,
"Pie wrecks" *groan* lol
@Harold: you just made my day! When I was in high school my math teacher taught us that math cheer, too, though it was slightly different.
Secant! Tangent! Cosine! Sine! 3.14159! Integrate! Integrate! Integrate! YEAH!
Happy Pi day, everyone!
Pi
Um
You
Poo
Chair
Eno
592
Dinosaur
Dish
I never knew I could remember Pi!
I swear I've read this Pi Day post before. Is it recycled?
[Editor's note- Yup. Once a week, we put up an old post that many of our new readers have probably never seen. We usually do it on Wednesday but we have a couple St. Patty posts so I figured I'd use it today. Plus, I love this post. Like, a lot. :) -john (the hubby of Jen)]
John is a keeper indeed. ;)
Bravo John (thoj)!
Pie wrecks legit made me snort, and now my coworker thinks I am having allergy issues.
@ jon -- Phew! I just got it. It helps if you sub-vocalize when you read, which I don't do.
@ harold -- At MIT, we did a cheer that was something like it. It started "e to the x, dy dx; e to the x, dy dx, secant tangent cosine sine, three point one four one five nine..." We cheered for our dear football team, the Beavers" (it was the kind of school where you could cut football practice if you had a test the next day...LOL -- they did not do well in football).
Okay, pie wrecks is clever, but that point though! That's my favorite of the day.
Pooh wang. Blech. All together now, "YOU KNOW THEY SEE THAT!"
Bravo, @SuBee, bravo. Using leitmotif correctly in a blog comments section may just be a universal win.
That first #1 didn't make me think of a #2. It made me think of ... something else.
It is not nice to make me spew chicken soup (made with purple carrots, so it is a disgusting purple/grey color) by showing me a pyrex.
Oh John! I laughed so hard that I peed a little, and burped. Weird combo.
(gotta love the pie wrecks - didn't even see it coming)
@Mary Kay:
Fond memories of the MIT cheer (according to my distant recollection):
e to the y dy dy dx
e to the x dx
tangent, secant, cosine, sine
3.14159
Cube root, integral, Q.E.D
Slipstick, sliderule*, MIT
We ain't rough and we ain't tough
But boy, are we SMART!
*yes, I'm just old enough to have learned how to use a sliderule.
Hehehehehehe :D
Perhaps the most puzzling and most funny Cake Wrecks of all time. Not funny in the "ha, ha, that is just gross" kind of way. Or the "I just spit on my monitor" kind of way. It was the "(snicker, snicker) that is just pitiful" funny. Really.
"Pie wrecks (snicker).
Thank you Jen and John(thoj).
Little So(f/ph)ia's cake is straightforward enough... at least it kind of looks like a 3, and isn't upside-down, backwards, rotated, or fecal in appearance; it's just a little oddly-shaped and has the plastic flotsam thing going on, perfect for a young child's birthday cake, am I right? ...No?
Simple Simon met a pi man going to the fair;
Said Simple Simon to the pi man "Let me taste your ware"
Said the pi man to Simple Simon “Pi is a mathematical constant, and is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, commonly valued as 3.14159, not an edible product. You, sir, are in the wrong rhyme.”
And, kudos, Jon....
The pie pi looks like a vampire smirk, to me! Bloody good show! I almost pied my pants. ≠^~.~^=
.
6 has a paramecium quality about it that's making this math-and-science challenged pastry lover VERY anxious. Thankfully, the covered casserole pun calmed me right down. Thanks, John and Jen! ( I always liked geography so having Oklahoma upside down for a point baffled me for awhile...but I just held on until the helping hand of glass bakeware and, again, it's all good)
Okay, I jut got Pie Wrecks.
SuBee, you're awesome!
I thought #1 looked like - well, never mind. This is a family page :)
Pie wrecks.
Oy. :)
Pointy finger looks like Oklahoma upside down to me. I live here, but not born here, and to me Oklahoma is upside down. And I'm more of a history/geography nut than a math nut. We all see through our own experiences.
Number 6 is Peppa Pig, I'm just SURE of it! And the number 1 needs to see a doctor, stat!
Riding shotgun while hubby is driving, playing with phone & Facebook to keep entertained when I chanced upon pie wrecks. Had to make hubby pull off to the side of the road before I would let him look at what made me snarf. Got him. Thank ya, John, thank ya very much.
Whatever name is written on the yellow...ahem..."three" with the Hello Kitty flotsam on it looks like it is written in Greek letters (or some alien language), though none of them look like pi.
Took me a moment to get the pie wrecks pun, but it made me laugh! Great post!
Love the Pie Wrecks Pun, Jon. It gets funnier every year that I see it. Please don't ever stop posting it on Pi Day!!! Oh, and for all you COMPLETE nerds out there.... Happy Birthday Albert Einstein!!!
Just to clear it up, the mit fight song is:
I'm a beaver, you're a beaver, we are beavers all
And when we get together, we do the beaver call.
E to the u du dx
E to the x dx
Cosine secant tangent sine 3.14159
Integral radical mu dv
Slipstick sliderule MIT!
GO TECH!
I am guessing the maker of that first pie lost the "5" cutter and cleverly improvised.
The greater mystery: Why is Sophia's name spelled in Greek characters while Happy Birthday" is more or less in English?
this is the SuBee fan club, right here :-) brilliant post
You could make a Pie Rex pie wreck in the Pyrex!
Oy vey. I didn't get the pi wreck until I said out loud, "how is that a pi wreck? oh, pyrex!" Now my room mate thinks I'm crazy. Well played J(thoj). Well played.
@ Katie--you are scaring me... LOL. When did you go? I was only there for 19 months for a Masters in Operations Research (Course VI), and finished in January 1987.
@ Theo Bromine, I have a hunch that the MIT cheer has morphed throughout time. We had gotten away from slide rules by the time I got there, but I typed my thesis on this neat Xerox Star word processor with the best equation builder I've ever worked with.
I learned pi to seven decimal phrases by counting the letters in this phrase: Now, (the comma substitutes for the decimal point) I need a drink alcoholic of course!
HAH!!!!! Oh that's AWESOME, all of it. Thanks for the daily laughs guys
e^x, e^y, e^x dx/dy
cosine, secant, tangent, sine
3.14159
PV=nRT
Let's go Miner's
VICTORY!
(Missourian Nerd cheer, courtesy of the Rolla Miner's circa 2000)
Brilliant post, brilliant comments. You all made my day!
Oh man lol. Loved these!
I never comment even though I read regularly but I just had to congratulate John on the best pun in possibly the history of puns! I'm dying!
Bahahahahaha!!!! Thank you, John. I needed that. :)
That pun took me a while. Shows how often I actually use said dishes!!
Oh gawd I just got the pie wrecks lol it does help to say it out loud. Does anyone but me wonder why the cars are driving on the grass surrounded by road?