The Kings of Wreckage

My friend John Gjertsen sent me this clip, and I would be downright remiss - nay, negligent! - if I didn't share it with the rest of you:

It starts a little slow, so feel free to skip the first 30 seconds. After that it just keeps getting better, as France's finest pastry chefs drop, devour, and destroy (not necessarily in that order) a cornucopia of cakery.

I can't decide which I like better, this quote:

Or the final few seconds of the chefs chewing. *giggle*

News Bites

This week's "top" headlines, illustrated by Wrecks.

Because that's how the news should be told.

"That's 'Sir' to you!" Star Trek's Patrick Stewart knighted.

And to mark this happy occasion, the saddest Star Trek cake I have ever seen:

Eesh. That's boldly going, all right.

Tiger Woods Hits Three Fans With His Balls

This golf cake really fits the story to a "tee," don't you think?

From the article:

Asked what he discovered at Muirfield Village, Woods laughed.

“Well, I’m capable of playing four rounds in a row,” he said. “Thank you.”

Subway Teaches World What "Tessellate" Means By Finally Agreeing to Do It To Their Cheese

Note: This cheese is not tessellated.
Nor is it cheese.
Nor do I want to sink my teeth into it.

Our final headline is actually from last month, but I had to include it anyway. Here's why:

Student Being Mugged Saved By Actual Ninjas

A-ha! See, I knew it! Ninjas are both awesome AND workers for good.

Why, just look at them all here, enjoying a friendly game of soccer*:

Aw. So cute.

Alaskanmama, Lynn W., Louisa A., Mary Ann S.& Susan H., if soccer's not your thing, then here's a bakery with all KINDS of Ninja designs to choose from:

See? Something for everyone!

*Note from john: It should be noted that Jen firmly believes that anything vaguely rectangular and green with lines on it must, by default, involve soccer. I think it's because she's Irish and enjoys body paint and rioting.

Follow-Up Note from Jen: Do not! Sometimes I think they involve hockey.

Ch...Ch...Ch...Changes

Hey all,

For the past 16 months or so, Jen has made it her goal in life to post here every single day. And for the most part, she's succeeded.

On vacation? The post goes up.
Christmas day? The post goes up.
Husband dying in the hospital? The post goes up.

The hardest part about this is that she has to be funny, or at least try to be, with every post. This is, well, starting to take its toll. ("No, really, Sweetie, that tic is barely noticeable.") Cake Wrecks was built on funny, but when daily deadlines take precedence, the funny can suffer - and that's not good for anyone.

So starting today, we're gonna be cutting back on Saturday posts, since it's our slowest day. We'll still do our best to post every other day of the week, but if we do miss one from time to time, just know it's in the best interests of Jen's sanity, the quality of the posts, and Cake Wrecks as a whole.

Thanks for understanding, guys. Here's to much, much more facial-tic-free Wreckage and laughter.

Wreck On!

john (the hubby of Jen)

The Final Countdown

(Ok, so it's not really the "final" countdown, but I have that song stuck in my head so I'm going with it.)

Several of you have asked for updates on the charities we're highlighting each day, and since we're at the halfway point, I figured now was a good time. (Oh, and if you haven't check in in a while - well first, shame on you: you call yourself an evil wrecky henchperson? Really? - but second, go here to find out what all this charity stuff is about.)

All totals are as of late Friday evening, and each link goes to the corresponding donation page.

Charity:Water - $11,405 raised online so far. That's a little over halfway to our initial goal of $20K! Every $5K builds a well that serves 250 people in need of clean drinking water, so as of now more than 500 people will be helped thanks to your dollars.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Sorry, we didn't set up a page to track these donations. But you know you gave, right? So that's all that matters.

Heifer International - $5,166 raised online so far. Again, that's over halfway to our $10K goal!

Child's Play - since they also accept Paypal (and prefer it if the donation is more than $1), we don't have totals for Child's Play. On our First Giving page we've had $1,889 given - but again, the majority of us gave via Paypal.

Share Our Strength - Initially featured on Day #2 of the Countdown, so a lot of you donated before we had a way of keeping a tally. (Had to switch to St. Jude because the site wouldn't accept $1 donations.) On our First Giving page now, though, we have $2,332.

Puffy Paws Kitty Haven - Another with two options to give, but we've talked to Rick & Chrissy and they reported over $4,500 given through Paypal. So combined with the $3,632 on the FG page, that's over $8,000 - or enough to feed and house the cats for over two months, plus pay for the deworming meds they needed. Great job, guys - let's see if we can still meet that $10K goal.

Doctors Without Borders - $3,059 raised online so far.

If you haven't had the chance to give your dollar a day to these charities yet, then please consider this as your friendly nudge to do so. Where else can that single smackeroo be put to such great work? Strength in numbers, my friends! Let's do this thing!

And to all of you who have given: thank you, so very much. Here's to a new year made a little better, thanks to your generosity.