The University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt

Nothing to see here, non-University of Chicago people! This is a special post just for the UC scavenger hunt, so these are NOT the Wrecks you’re looking for. Move along, move along.

What, you’re still here? Ok, fine, here’s some background info:

“The University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt was founded in 1986 by (yep, you guessed it) a bunch of nerds from the University of Chicago. Over time, it has grown to become what many consider to be the world’s largest scavenger hunt, with items ranging from homemade nuclear reactors, to elephants, to the one you’re about to see right here. A cabal of University of Chicago student judges write all Scav Hunt items and awards points to final submissions, keeping the list secret until the beginning of the Hunt, and teams race to beg, borrow, steal, and do as many of the 250+ items on each year’s list over a four day timespan.”

Well, this year I was honored to have Cake Wrecks included on the famous list! Here it is, clue #79:

“It’s Scav Inger Hunt’s 23rd birthday, and 99.9% of mohawked baby carrot judges agree: I WANT SPRINKLES. Craft a thoughtfully artistic, yet still scavvly commemorative cake, and it better be purdy enough to be featured as a Cakewrecks Scavday Sweet. Under Neat That: submit your Wreck by Friday at 10 pm, and we’ll let Jen pick the one destined for internet fame.”

And here are the submissions! [drum roll, please]

From the GASH Team, a “My Little Pony”:

Or so they claim.

From Breckinridge House’s team: a “thrillin‘ failure” (their words) of Michael Jackson:

(True story: When John & I first saw this he asked who it was supposed to be, and I guessed “Edward.” I’m not sure who that insults more: Twi-hards or Team Breckinridge. So…sorry, everyone.)

From Sonia A.’s team, a “wooden labyrinth game”:

In Sonia’s words: “We tried.”

Stop the press! Someone on the Snell-Hitchcock team actually has a working knowledge of fondant:

Not bad! Definitely the nicest cake you’ll see here today, although I haven’t a clue what all the stuff is. (Other than the sombrero. [Assuming it IS a sombrero])

The Federation of Independent Scav Teams claims this is a wreckplica of several items on the list:

Which frightens me. What else is ON this list, anyway? 0.o

From Macpierce’s Master Chef Allison:

“Scab Hurt” Heh. Heh.

From the Burton-Judson Team (aka “Dr. Scodel’s League of Atrocious Wonders”):

Christine tells me they were going for cute, “but I think something might have gone wrong.”

From the Glass Panopticon:

Ah, classic Wreck elements. I like it.

And finally, the Max P Team used real honest-to-goodness carrot jockeys, in addition to “misspellings, left out numbers, poo swirls, ant sprinkles, a rainbow of various other sprinkles, and an umbrella, all to top off a CCC shaped like a furby“:

Yep, I’d say we have a winner!

Best of luck to all the teams who participated.

(Naturally, any team that didn’t submit a Wreck should be doomed to failure.)
Thanks for the fun!



Wreckies of the Month

It’s time again to recognize those loyal henchpersons among you who have created something truly Wrecktastic this month.

First up, some of you may have noticed this in your daily comics the other week:

(Check out more Brevity Comic Strips here.)

Well, it turns out that Guy actually IS a Cake Wrecks fan, and this was his tribute. Excellent! Although, Guy, I feel I must point out that you spelled everything correctly. [shaking head] Tsk, tsk.

The famously infamous Darth Vader Baby Shower Cake continues to inspire many of you in your at-home Wreckerating. Here’s Jenna’s version, made for a fellow D&D group member:

“Welcome to the dork side.” Heh. Aheh. Heh.

Oooh, and speaking of Wreck-inspired homages: Listen! Do you smell that?

Jennifer N. got these fabulous Ghostbuster cupcakes from her friend Ashley for her 25th birthday. As you can see, Ashley mixed in some of this tragic Wreck along with the correct “no ghost” symbol. So. Cool.

Another great baby shower homage from Mary N.:

This is quite the combo! Let’s see…there’s It a Gril, In pink, the belly cake, the C-section cake, and of course the world-famous carrot jockeys. Whew! Pretty sweet!


And lastly, Danielle M. earns the Best Wrecky Babysitter Award for wrangling all of the neighborhood kids she babysits (Shelbie, Maddy, Ashley, Abby, and Jacob) into a Cake Wrecks sketch:

My favorites include the magically transforming sidekick, the “patooie” at :51, and of course, the ending. Daniel had the kids perform two other Cake Wrecks posts, too: the Cake Head Diet Aid and The Twilight (Wrecking) Zone. It’s most gratifying to know the next generation of Wreckies is assured. Good work, Danielle and minions!

For the rest of you, keep those e-mails coming! I may not post everything you send in, but I thoroughly enjoy laughing at admiring your photos, videos, and general geekiness.



Wreckies of the Month

It’s time again to recognize those devoted evil Wrecky henchpersons who’ve sufficiently amused and/or impressed me this month.

First we have the “Most Awesomely Geeky Baby Shower Cake” (EVER!!):

You long-time henchpersons will recognize this as an homage to that amazing Darth Vader shower cake which I claimed could only be topped by a cake featuring Spock instead. Carol J. was less than impressed with the bakery’s end result, but I think the wreckiness just adds to its hilarity, don’t you?

Next we have Luke, age 6, who made a “T Rex, NOT a cake Rex!” for a school contest:

Adorable. Love the matching shirt, too, Luke.
(Oh, and he won the contest, btw, but that should go without saying.)

Hey, you know how you’re always trying to think of more ways to include Cake Wrecks in your lives? Well here’s an idea: use your copy of Cake Wrecks as the guest book at your wedding!

This is GENIUS, Lindsay F. I mean, first of all, now you can NEVER get rid of your copy of Cake Wrecks, but secondly, now this book contains the two things you hold most dear: CW, and, you know, all those people who showed up to your wedding. But mostly Cake Wrecks. Right?

Next, Noelle F. shows us how to throw a birthday party, Carrot Jockey style:

Why yes, that IS a pinata.
And the matching cake, courtesy of HomeStyle Bakery:

Now THOSE are carrots.

And last but certainly not least, Malerie C. got crafty and made me a bracelet!

Cute, right? And hey, if you’re tired of waiting on me and John to make more Jockey necklaces (sorry, sorry!) you can even head over to her Etsy store and buy one for yourself!

Many thanks to all of today’s awesome readers, and to all of you who continue to make the life of professional blogging bearable with your notes, pictures, and e-mails. This has been a particularly trying week at the CW household, and so the time you guys have taken to encourage me and/or John has been especially treasured. Wreck on, dear Wrecktators. Wreck on.

- Related Wreckage: Fan “Art”



Cake Wrecks: The Music Video

To fully appreciate the amazing awesomeness of today’s fan feature, you need to be familiar with the Lazy Town song and video, “Cookin’ By the Book.” Don’t know it? Then go here to watch the clip – it’s surprisingly catchy.

Ok, everyone caught up? Good. Now, behold: WRECKIN’ BY THE BOOK!

This inspired homage was written by Carrie Dahlby for The Funny Music Project, a regular contributor to the Dr. Demento show. (You can’t ask for better credentials than that, can you?) This group of genius musicians publishes new comedy songs and/or videos every week, and if you head over there now you can download “Wreckin’ by the Book” for free!

I recommend playing it over and over again until your kids beg for mercy. Then make up a little dance to go with it. Something I can do. So, lots of awkward swaying and off-beat clapping. Yeah. That’d be awesome.

A great big wrecky “THAK YOU” to Carrie, Luke, and their whole madcap team for making my week. You guys wreck AND rock.

And because they’re hilarious and must be read to be fully appreciated, here are the lyrics:

Shoebox:
I pile on the frosting
In brown and fuchsia lumps
This work is so exhausting
That my spelling talent slumps

Chris:
I’ll wish you “heppy bertty”
Or “Happy Hallydays”
Or “Happy Falker Satherhood”
For this year’s Father’s Day…

Carrie:
It’s a piece of cake to make a wrecky cake
Just be a little lazy
Don’t gotta do the cooking by the book
Just make it weird and crazy
Never use a classy recipe
Just gob on frosting daisies
If you throw away your cooking book, then you’ll wreck a cake
We’ve got our Cake Wreck made
Our Carrot Jockeys cake
Finally it’s time to wreck a cake

Devo:
Wrecking cakes has its own science
Quotation marks abound
Decorate with raw defiance
Making chocolate fecal mounds

Wyngarde:
Don’t tell me “I want sprinkles”
If that is what you want
I’ll squeeze out “I want sprinkles”
In a pretty frosting font

Carrie:
It’s a piece of cake to make a wrecky cake
Cake wrecks dot com will tell you
You also gotta buy her funny book
That Amazon will sell you
You do not hafta be the “Ace of Cakes”
Just make a fondant fish stew
If you do the wreckin’ by the book, then you’ll wreck a cake
On Superbowl Sunday
We’ll make a wrecky cake
Finally it’s time to wreck a cake
And on our wedding day
We’ll make a wrecky cake
Finally it’s time to wreck a –

Luke:
Break it down, Jen! Show all bakeries why
They should have a spelling test before hiring some guy!
Grab some cupcakes, slather icing inch high,
Make a Curious George that’ll make a kid cry!
That pink tarantula? That’s a cake wreck!
That daffodil pony? That’s a cake wreck!
That flaming armadillo? That’s a cake wreck!
That groom’s slab of beef? That’s a cake wreck!

Carrie: Luke:
It’s a piece of cake to make a wrecky cake – What!?
Just be a little lazy – Okay!
Don’t gotta do the cooking by the book – What!?
Just make it weird and crazy – Yeah!
Never use a classy recipe – Cake!?
Just gob on frosting daisies – Wreck!
If you throw away your cooking book – Yeah!
Then you’ll wreck a cake

Luke:
Cake wrecks dot blogspot dot com
Has the cakes that are the bomb!
Army men like Vietnam?
Made by pros, not by your Mom!
Naked Mohawk baby carrot jockeys rule the world
In a vortex of doom, trapped inside a puce swirl!
It makes your head spin, like you’re on a Tilt-A-Whirl!
I saw Darth Vader with a baby, “It’s A Girl!”

Carrie:
You gotta do the wreckin’ by the book! Cake!

Luke:
Yeah!!!

Note: If you don’t recognize all of the Wrecks in the video, that’s because many of them are from the book. Did you know that 75% of the book is new Wreckage? And that the book is less than $10 on Amazon? Huh? Didja? Didja?

You did?

Oh. Well, good, then.

- Related Wreckage: Because Every Blog Needs a Jingle



Rockin’ Wrectators

Today’s readers all qualify for Evil Wrecky Henchpersons of the Month. Check it out:

First up, my apologies to Steph H. for not posting her awesomely hilarious Halloween costume sooner:

As you can see, Steph here is decked out in the ultimate CW homage costume! (Plus she matches the couch – so, you know, bonus points there.)

The back:
And the shoes!



Steph even started her own CW-inspired site called Tomb Wrecks. Now that’s the level of devotion I expect from you Wreckies. Excellent work, Steph!

Next up, Manda K. has gone a little carrot jockey crazy:

…and I approve.

Oh, and for you non-tweeting types who missed it, here’s David & his jockey tie causing some familial consternation:

Love it.

Many of you send in your intentional Wrecks – some homemade, some ordered, all hilarious. Here are a few of my recent favs:

Shauna W. did her own version of Cannibal Cake (aka Cakey):


Trish invented a mom version of “Happy Falker Satherhood” for her friend Nicole’s baby shower:

“Happy Motnicovicterhood!”
Nice touch with the improper spacing, too.

This was the groom’s cake at Carrie D.’s wedding, made by her friend and fellow Wreckie Sara T.:

(Check back tomorrow for the wedding cake – it’s as pretty as this is Wrecky. Heh.)

And Max of Freed’s Bakery sent me this hilarious homage specially requested by one of their customers:

I love these combo Wrecks. Can you spot them all? Don’t miss the open book with “The End” behind the baby. (Don’t remember that one? It’s in the book.)

And finally, some of you may remember Breanna K., who won Best in Show at the AZ cake show last year while wearing a CW shirt. Well, Breanna’s back, and she won again! This time, she wore a different CW shirt, too:

This cake took 1st in semi-pro, people’s choice, and decorators’ choice. Be sure to check out Breanna’s Cakes for more of her award-winning work!

Breanna, I think I speak for us all when I say it’s a crying shame you haven’t started your own cake business yet. Wowza.

And to the rest of you: rest assured I read and enjoy your every e-mail, but there are simply too many for me to post all of your pics. Therefore only the most creative/amazing/funny stuff will get on the blog.

And yes, that IS a challenge. ;)

- Related Wreckage: Show and Tell