text:
Old Trafford Metrolink stop changes get green light
Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority and Trafford Council are to fund a £1.8 million revamp of Old Trafford...
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Restaurant's Clever Facebook Post Helps Police Nab Dine-and-Dasher
A man in Reno, Nevada who pulled a dine-and-dash on a $100 bill won't get the book thrown at him so much as he will get the Facebook thrown at him.
Thanks to an aggressive campaign launched on Facebook, Saul Zelaznog was recently arrested after he skipped out on a $100 bill at Brewer's Cabinet restaurant.
Employees were incensed that Zelaznog bailed on the bill, so they put his photo on the restaurant's Facebook page as a way to warn other eateries in the area about him.
A post about his actions said "And, while you're at it, you could tell him that visiting restaurants with your friends, running up a huge bill, roughing up servers and then bailing is pretty uncool ... pathetic, really," the post reads. "Get a life, man."
The post was shared nearly 900 times and helped identify Zelaznog. Other restaurants in Reno said he's pulled a similar scam on them before, although he claims what happened at Brewer's Cabinet was an unfortunate accident and that he planned to go back to pay his debt, noting, "I'm not trying to burn bridges around town. This is a small little town."
It's unclear how police tracked him down, although it is known that he was hauled in for violating his probation.
Watch a report about the hunt for Zelaznog before he was apprehended.


text:
Thanks for putting those Longhorn cakes in perspective, Shelley G.
Friday, May 14, 2010
What $1,000 Gets You In Texas
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thanks for putting those Longhorn cakes in perspective, Shelley G.
137 comments | Post a Comment
And those are considered *professional* cakes. YIKES.
However, the tuxedo strawberries look nice. - May 14, 2010 at 9:32 AM
- Jules AF said...
Oh man. I'm pretty sure I've frosted cakes better than the groom's cake!
- May 14, 2010 at 9:32 AM
- Megan (Best of Fates) said...
On the bright side - it seems like their tuxedo chocolate covered strawberries turned out well!
- May 14, 2010 at 9:33 AM
- Jenniffer said...
Oh wow! There has to be more of a story to these cakes! A probably sad to the bride, but funny to everyone else story.
- May 14, 2010 at 9:38 AM
Does the 2nd one actually say "Crousty" & Jim? Good Grief! I also noticed a new car manufacturer on the groom cake, I guess a "Toyot" is a smaller version of a Toyota?
vs - hospholi, as in where the cake decorator would be after the bride was finished with her - May 14, 2010 at 9:38 AM
- Alysa said...
Oh no!
I agree; the strawberries look yummy :) - May 14, 2010 at 9:42 AM
- Trevor said...
You know, the second cake isn't nearly as wreck-tastic as the first one. *shudder*
Not that the second one isn't as bad, but I actually don't think I'd guess they were done by the same person (maybe they weren't?) - May 14, 2010 at 9:46 AM
- Gary said...
Folks, you're overreaching. Those strawberries are a mess. They only look good when you put them next to those cakes.
- May 14, 2010 at 9:46 AM
- Gary said...
So, what do you do when you've got two really ugly cakes? Chuck random rose petals all over the place and hope they'll distract people.
Is that a beaver or a woodchuck on top of that police badge? - May 14, 2010 at 9:47 AM
- MamaBaer said...
I really hope that bride got back at least some of her money! Those are awful!
- May 14, 2010 at 9:51 AM
- Kirwansmom said...
I would love to see a pic of the bride and groom....camo wedding gown??
- May 14, 2010 at 9:51 AM
They paid $1000 for those?!?! Who are these people, and why can't I find customers who will settle for crap like that?!?!
- May 14, 2010 at 9:51 AM
- VeggieT said...
wOw, I'm not sure the wedding cake should be considered a wreck... nor should it cost $600 or well anything really (maybe a nice gesture from your friendly bakery), but still not a wreck... the grooms cake on the other hand, is a wreck, in fact I would say it has enough wreck in it for both of the cakes...
- May 14, 2010 at 9:51 AM
- Kat said...
Wow...just wow. I think I may forgo putting out the cake at the wedding and call myself a rebel.
- May 14, 2010 at 9:56 AM
- Liz said...
OMG... I like pink; but between the walls the table coverings and the cake there is just too much pink.
And the ghastly red faux flowers hanging from the wall behind the cake table don't help a bit. - May 14, 2010 at 9:58 AM
- Stacy / Bea / Vigdis said...
Holy toledo!! Is that supposed to be a car on the groom's cake?? I seriously thought it was a cassette tape!
That stuff had better of tasted good... because otherwise there's zero redeeming quality! - May 14, 2010 at 10:10 AM
I'm from Texas. It is great here, no doubt, but man, we sure can wreck hard! Yikes! Double wow, I'm from Fort Worth (born and raised) where wreck #1 is from.... facepalm*
- May 14, 2010 at 10:12 AM
- Nani said...
A THOUSAND DOLLARS? Surely you jest.
- May 14, 2010 at 10:12 AM
Is this thing on?
Are you guys kidding me with the whole "The squished pink $600 wedding cake that a right handed five year old decorated with his left hand blindfolded is NOT a wreck?!?!"
Well, apparently, today must be National Sunshine Happy Joy day and nobody told me.
Wreck On!
john - May 14, 2010 at 10:13 AM
- Mrs. Q. said...
This is the SAME WEDDING???! AHH! Oh, I can tell it is by the tuxedo-sportin' strawberries on the table. Oh, the horror...
- May 14, 2010 at 10:15 AM
- Quisty said...
I was hoping that $1000 was a joke....but from John's post there, I'm thinking it's not! Holy. Crap. I've done about 20-25 cakes now, and the kick the A$$ of either of those cakes (but hello, especially the Groom's cake-did they even ATTEMPT to smooth it out????) The most I've made on a cake so far? $50. Heck, with my skills, I could have charged these morons $5000. :)
- May 14, 2010 at 10:19 AM
Yikes! If these are the cakes served at a wedding, that's grounds for divorce before the reception is even over.
Tamara Mitchell - May 14, 2010 at 10:24 AM
- Jenni said...
That is right shameful. - May 14, 2010 at 10:26 AM
Please tell me they sued, or didn't pay, one of the two....
WV: chper. I could have made better cakes for chper than those two. - May 14, 2010 at 10:26 AM
- sendingtheclowns said...
I'm no Martha Stewart, but even *I* could slap frosting on smoother than that first globulosity (groom's cake). And wtf with the the barbells and gadgets? ("Look! The groom has HOBBIES! He's still HIMSELF, even as he gives up his freedom.")
Yay for him.
I like the top and bottom layers of the wedding cake, in the way that I like Dr. Seuss illustrations. Funky-quirky. The middle layer is "eh." Or "unh"...like a punch in the stomach.
Is it Sunday yet?
=^e.e^= - May 14, 2010 at 10:31 AM
@Jasry- LOL! My sentiments exactly! :0D
And that second cake is most definitely a wreck! Especially if they charged SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS for it!!! - May 14, 2010 at 10:31 AM
- Alison said...
Now, I've not had a wedding myself...but I'd like to think if the baker showed up with that groom's cake, somebody who loves me would toss the cake in their face, demand the money back, and run down to WalMart for a plain ol' sheet cake with flowers already on it.
Those cakes show lots of bad judgement, from the bride, to the baker, to whoever accepted the delivery.
wv: addon "If we just put more of these addons, no one will notice the frosting crevices!" - May 14, 2010 at 10:31 AM
- Ceci said...
I really want to know: what are the contracts brides/grooms make with bakers? Because I'm assuming these people pay up front, and to pay up front and have something like that delivered seems like some kind of breach of contract. Can you get your money back?
- May 14, 2010 at 10:35 AM
These didn't look so bad until I enlarged the photos to see the details. Looks like a case of overwarm-overhumidified fondant... but I think the decorator's heart was in the right place. The worst part is the maiming of the bride's name... "Gloriosity"???
- May 14, 2010 at 10:38 AM
- Decadent Housewife said...
I have a taller version of the pink cake topper in my garden.
The cats like to play with it. - May 14, 2010 at 10:40 AM
- April said...
OMG. That cake decorator? I would kill her with fire. After I got my money back.
- May 14, 2010 at 10:44 AM
Back story: I'm a liberal arts major with no hopes of a high paying career. Whenever I read about someone raking in major dough for something that doesn't seem that hard, I've been known to say, "Boy, I picked the wrong career."
So let me just say, "Boy, I picked the wrong career." Do you know how hard it is to beg and plead for $1000 worth of fellowships? Do you know how long those applications take? Yet this wreckerator got $1000 for maybe a day's worth of sloppy work.
I totally picked the wrong career... *pout* - May 14, 2010 at 10:50 AM
- Caroline B said...
I'm with you Anne, I'm definitely in the wrong job...I charge less than that for a painting that's taken me weeks.
- May 14, 2010 at 11:01 AM
- sendingtheclowns said...
Hee hee--Hey, John...How does one go about blindfolding a hand?
But I know what you mean! Really!
And it's NOT "National Sunshine Happy Joy day" either! Far from it!
Grrrrr! Roar. (There. I feel better.)
=^~.-^= - May 14, 2010 at 11:02 AM
- Etiquette Bitch said...
well, y'know, there's no accounting for taste. sigh.
- May 14, 2010 at 11:04 AM
Hey John (the hubby of Jen), did that kid really have his left hand blindfolded? No wonder he had problems!
I thought the barbells on the groom's cake were ice cream cones at first, though why they'd have 100 written on ice cream baffled me. And I think the animal on the badge is a woodchuck, because a beaver would have a bigger tail, right? - May 14, 2010 at 11:06 AM
- Erin said...
wow...I'm guessing, hoping, that the heat had something to do with the bloated brides cake, but being from Texas myself, fort worth in fact, like our unfortunate groom! I'm thinking that surely Texas wreckerators could learn to account for the heat. no?
- May 14, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Sure, maybe I'm not "smart" and I don't use "correct grammar" or know how to "type" without looking at the "key" "board" but that don't mean that I don't not speak good English good.
john - May 14, 2010 at 11:10 AM
A good rant ignores sentence structure. Oh, and I'm a little French so my subject placement is tainted. I remember, as a child, I shouted to my English professor Mom, "Throw it down the stairs the pillow would you?"
Then she was all, "What?!"
And I was all, "You heard me!"
And then I distinctly remember a boot to the head.
john - May 14, 2010 at 11:17 AM
Well, I could tell you what the...um...decorator?....did wrong, but it's truly pointless because at some point they stood back, dusted off their hands and said, "Yep, that'll do pig, that'll do." I have a seriously difficult time believing a)someone actually charged $1000 for those; and b) someone actually paid $1000 for those. It's a tragedy.
- May 14, 2010 at 11:21 AM
- Katie said...
- May 14, 2010 at 11:21 AM
Well maybe an older, inexperienced friend voluntee... well no... There was payment. Toyota was missing a letter, the frosting looked as if someone applied it with a toilet brush... So, therefore, it has earned the title of "One Hot MESS!" (actually two).
Burning questions: Are the "shots" on the quilted layer made of chocolate chips? (organ chord!)
Are there gummy Skeletons hanging from the Pink topper? (DOUBLE organ Chord!!!) aaaaaaaand...
[x-fade to ECU of pink 'cake'. SHOCK ZOOM on a THREE COUNT]
Will Christy EVER be able to read her own name in icing again without moderate seizures and explosive diarrhea???
(TRIPLE organ chord!!!!!!)
The answers to all these questions and more, when "Cake Wrecks" returns after a word from our sponsors.
just. wow. - May 14, 2010 at 11:21 AM
- sendingtheclowns said...
@ John,
Don't feel too bad! Everybody has something they do good--
Like, I wish *I* could do that thing YOU do with quotation marks.
That's really fancy...I'll never be THAT good.
=^~.~^= - May 14, 2010 at 11:34 AM
- Unknown said...
If you can charge $400 for that grooms cake then I am going into buisness. My 11 yr old can frost a cake better than that, and we'll be rich LOL
- May 14, 2010 at 11:37 AM
- CakeWarrior said...
ok id be yelling for a refund and make my own bloody cake or have a 12 year old try at it im sure they could do better
- May 14, 2010 at 11:39 AM
- Darling One said...
Ha! That "woodchuck" on the badge is supposed to be a panther (I googled it)! And I had no idea those things on the right were barbells. Can anyone tell is a specific song is listed on the iPod? I hope this cake tastes like chocolate heaven because it looks like poop.
- May 14, 2010 at 11:41 AM
- Brandy said...
Are you kidding me?! Where to start? Did you see the quilting pattern on the wedding cake? And my four-year-old could do better piping. $600? Seriously??
A friend and I just did our first wedding cake last week. We got $130 for it! And it looks much, much better than that!! Check it out:
http://cakesbybrandyandkim.blogspot.com/2010/05/pearls-and-bow.html - May 14, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Definitely wrecks. But the biggest wrecks in Texas? I doubt it. Surely there's one of those bride-dragging-groom, antler-and-shotgun-shell bedecked, frosted-in-camo cakes down there somewhere.
- May 14, 2010 at 11:46 AM
- Unknown said...
Wow. It took me a few minutes to figure out what the "100" things were (dumbbells...I think).
And the wedding cake would have been cute, but, as Maxwell Smart used to say, "Missed it by THAT much."
Yikes. 0_0 - May 14, 2010 at 11:48 AM
- Unknown said...
I thought the thing at the bottom of the groom's cake was a cassette tape until I read the comments.
- May 14, 2010 at 11:51 AM
- spacedcowgirl said...
I also love how the groom apparently has really boring interests. Um... an iPod! His car! Yeah!
And that frosting job really is pretty tragic. I looked back at photos of the only "wedding" cake I have ever made (it was 3 tiers but was for my sister-in-law's casual reception, and they didn't pay me, so there wasn't a lot of pressure). I am a notoriously bad "froster" and usually end up with a mess and crumbs everywhere... my non-baker husband does a far better job. And, yep, mine looked better. That wreckerator should be very afraid. - May 14, 2010 at 11:54 AM
@John (the hubby of Jen): that explains my first comment's WV, which was "grants". Great Rants need no punctuation.
I couldn't help picking on you, I love unclear antecedents. - May 14, 2010 at 11:54 AM
- crownring said...
Those are barbells on the groom's cake? Well, glory be! I thought those were $100 mushrooms growing out of this poo-iced cake!
Can't wait for Sunday Sweets....sigh... - May 14, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Hey, look closely at the strawberries: instead of tuxes, they look like faces wearing sunglasses and scared expressions.
That makes how many wrecks if you count all the berries? - May 14, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Actually, that's a panther on top of the Fort Worth police badge. You can see a close-up picture on their website. Which makes it even sadder that people guessed it was a beaver or woodchuck.
Yet again I ask -- did the bride and groom look at previous cakes this baker had made? - May 14, 2010 at 12:01 PM
- BellaLovesPink said...
I'd be embarassed if I was a cake decorator charging that much for those messes they called cake. I hope they got a refund!
- May 14, 2010 at 12:03 PM
- Sandy said...
I just cannot bring myself to believe that someone actually paid for these, let alone $1,000.00. If they did, they are at least partly at fault, here.
I mean, even if it was just an hour until the wedding, you could go to the supermarket and get a nicer looking sheet cake for $30.00. - May 14, 2010 at 12:06 PM
- Stephanie said...
Hot pink icing/fondant? Seriously?!?
- May 14, 2010 at 12:14 PM
I bake one or two cakes a year. I've never taken a decorating class.
I don't use fondant.
I'm pretty sure, with my meager-to-nonexistent decorating skills, that I can do a marginally better job than what was done here.
So, if a professional can't even beat my lame skills, then why are they even in this profession? - May 14, 2010 at 12:17 PM
- sendingtheclowns said...
TruthseekerLA said...
"...The answers to all these questions and more, when "Cake Wrecks" returns after a word from our sponsors."
I wouldn't hold my breath; the sponsors were just spotted running down the street, screaming...
That is, those who weren't seen jumping out of windows.
=^@.@^= - May 14, 2010 at 12:21 PM
- Kim said...
I wonder if the bakers thought the scattered rose petals might distract observers from the cakes....It takes real hutzpah to charge that much for those cakes!
- May 14, 2010 at 12:21 PM
- MaryIrene said...
REALLY? I mean... REALLY?
The groom's cake isn't even really decorated -- more like badly painted cookies on a poorly frosted tower.
And the wedding cake... wow, just wow.
wv: elatedi - a feeling currently escaping the victims of today's post - May 14, 2010 at 12:21 PM
Do you think the groom specified those dumbbells to be 100 lbs? Has to make you wonder if the guy has something to prove...
- May 14, 2010 at 12:26 PM
- jen bryner said...
they PAID for those!?! that's what i'm shocked about! why why why???
- May 14, 2010 at 12:43 PM
I know the official animal on that groom's cake is supposed to be a panther, but I am voting for the Giant Sloth.
And I'm pretty sure I've seen the bride's cake in a hat store. (Why would you have the second layer the same size as the bottom layer. It's so out of proportion. And so very pink.)
And how many servings of cake are they getting for that $1,000?
And I know this isn't a cake question, but what's the deal with that flower hanging upside down on the wall or floor or whatever. - May 14, 2010 at 12:48 PM
- RJ Flamingo said...
I consider my decorating skills to be relatively non-existent, but pay me the $1000 and I'll bet I can do at least that well!
- May 14, 2010 at 12:56 PM
Oh wow! It seems as though everyone wants to be a cake decorator these days. We can thank the food network for that one. Unfortunately most people don't realize that decorating takes talent. I'm a pastry chef and I do some decorating on the side (at home mostly, but sometimes for extra cash at a bakery) and I could do a better job with my feet. Sure, the ones I make at the bakery turn out better because they have proper equipment, but jeeez!! My home decorated cakes are much cheaper and look a helluva lot better. I can't believe anyone would pay anything let alone $1000 for those travesties. The only way they'd be even kind of acceptable is if they were free, and even then!
To the folks thinking they chose the wrong career, I assure you this cake "decorator" won't get much business unless her customers are visually impared. Like I said, not everyone has what it takes. - May 14, 2010 at 1:01 PM
- Jamie said...
Oh, it's a *car.* Um... is it the... front? I definitely thought it was a cassette tape until I read the comments. It's still not entirely clear to me.
And I'm 100% behind Jen and John on the wedding cake. The bottom is cracked and caving, the edges are uneven, the color is reminiscent of Pepto Bismol, and parts of it look like they were iced by my epileptic dog.
Bailey, put that piping bag down. - May 14, 2010 at 1:02 PM
@TruthSeekerLA - I almost laughed til I cried at, "the frosting looked as if someone applied it with a toilet brush." Bwa ha ha ha...
I wonder if the baker should have just left the bride's name as "Chrissy"? Would that be more offensive than the sad attempt to change the s into a t? - May 14, 2010 at 1:06 PM
This is so sad.. looking at both cakes, I'd say that neither of them have support for the upper layers, and the weight is squishing the bottom tiers. The chocolate grooms cake is suffering from too much weight, or has been dropped.. even so, I'm still appalled at the horrible job the baker did on the accenting pieces.. is that really supposed to be a car??
As for the hot pink mess.. well... you can see the fondant cracking under the weight.. and it's just unforgiveable. - May 14, 2010 at 1:10 PM
- Siouxzr said...
These would be sweet if your 10 year old niece made them for you for free -- but to me this looks like a future episode of Judge Judy.
WV slayri -- smooth out that frosting so it doesn't look so slayri - May 14, 2010 at 1:10 PM
Merry National Sunshine Happy Joy Day, everybody! :D
It IS a wreck, and then once the $600 price tag was applied, I think it became a felony wreck. Where's a cop when you need him... Oh. I see. - May 14, 2010 at 1:28 PM
OMG. I know my DH could do a better job, and he hasn't had any training, just years of watching me. In fact, I'm fairly certain my 12 yo DS would do a better job as he wants to open a cake shop with me when he gets older. I sure with I could get paid $1000 for a cake. I guarentee that it would look nothing like what this couple received.
WV: tarefer
You know this couple is not going tarefer this bakery to ANYONE. - May 14, 2010 at 1:51 PM
- Sparky said...
Please tell me those did not actually cost $1000. If that were my wedding I would cry. And possibly throw things at people (most likely the cakes).
- May 14, 2010 at 1:54 PM
- Princess Judy Palmer said...
I figured it out! Relax folks! Remain calm! The groom's cake was really made by the groom to hide the fact that he took the $400 he was given to get a cake for himself to the strip club... Er... I mean, to a fine upstanding gentleman's establishment.
- May 14, 2010 at 1:54 PM
- paryjeja said...
I can make out the Goo Goo Dolls on the ipod, can't make out the song though. And why are the cookie things on the groom's cake so warped? And the wedding cake....I'd be crying the wrong kind of tears if that was my cake at my wedding. Shame on the decorator...
- May 14, 2010 at 2:08 PM
$1000? Yo, officer (or sheriff, sorry, not Texan, don't know the diff.) Reporting that someone got frosted.
The melting pink overload cake could almost be salvageable as a kid's cake if you stuck a few Strawberry Shortcake dolls on it. - May 14, 2010 at 2:10 PM
I'm being nice when I say maybe the cakes(and decorator) were victims of the summer heat. I live in the same part of Texas these cakes came from.
However, heat does not explain the decorations on the groom's cake or the crazy pinkness of the bride's cake. It looks like a cake for a teenager's birthday party, not a wedding. Also sandwiching a square cake between two circle cakes just makes everything look wonky. - May 14, 2010 at 2:16 PM
- Miradwyn said...
Wow, even if the pink cake wasn't collapsing in on itself it would be a wedding wreck. It looks like the birthday cake of girlie girlie 13 year old.
- May 14, 2010 at 2:25 PM
- Californiutahan said...
Even though I'm not a cake decorator... I think I could do better. And for less than $1000!!!
- May 14, 2010 at 2:26 PM
I can not believe that anyone would even dare pay for those cakes! If it was my wedding cake/grooms cake, and I saw them like that I would flip out! I could have decorated a better cake than either one of those, BEFORE I took my cake decorating classes.
- May 14, 2010 at 2:28 PM
I just clicked to enlarge both cakes, and all I can say is, "oh...yikes!"
These are not anywhere near $1000 worth of work. Also I thought the pink cake was a mangled Gloria, until I zoomed in and realized it's a mangled Christy. I don't even need to point out all the other issues that arise upon closer inspection.
WV burget: When bakers forget something. Sometimes bakers burget that customers are going to see their work and pay them for it. - May 14, 2010 at 2:37 PM
Note to decorator: You're not supposed to still charge for the cakes if you drop them on the way in.
Also to Liz from Texas: Get a grip, it's humor okay? - May 14, 2010 at 2:48 PM
- Trevor said...
Hey John, I didn't say the second one wasn't a wreck, just not as bad as teh first one! I mean, it just wasn't AS bad. The first one is an atrocity.
- May 14, 2010 at 3:01 PM
The sad thing is that most wedding cakes must be paid for in advance. Ten to one they were none too pleased on their wedding day when these distacular cakes showed up.
- May 14, 2010 at 3:02 PM
Mmm...nothing puts a man in the mood for nuptial bliss quite like big lumps of doggy doo doo with plastic bits randomly stuck on.....................shame his intended will be bug eyed and climbing the walls from the artificial colorant in that bilious pink icing.
- May 14, 2010 at 3:05 PM
The chocolate icing looks like Betty Crocker from a can...
- May 14, 2010 at 3:07 PM
- Flea said...
Dude. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Gah.
- May 14, 2010 at 3:09 PM
- M M said...
Wow, I really really really really hope those cakes were given at a discount.
- May 14, 2010 at 3:09 PM
@parejeja: Oh, the irony. The Goo Goo Dolls song on the iPod is "Slide". Bwhahahahaha!
- May 14, 2010 at 3:16 PM
- Damon said...
Even if the bakery *didn't* fubar them entirely, they'd still be wrecks.
- May 14, 2010 at 3:22 PM
- Unknown said...
someone should be arrested...that couple got robbed
- May 14, 2010 at 3:22 PM
@Hillary 1:01 - nobody is disparaging cake decorators by implying that it's easy or that anyone can do it. It's just that if there are people willing to pay $400-$600 for abominations that look like they take no time or talent, then let me be that abominator.
- May 14, 2010 at 3:58 PM
- Mallie said...
The wedding cake is pretty bad - the bottom two layers are the same size, and the fondant is not tidy at all - the square layer should have right angles. But I can see why people are asking why it's considered a wreck, when compared to the groom's cake. Holy Toledo. I'm not even touching the icing job, because it's obvious it is pathetic. But I am wondering 1) why there is a two-dimensional shot of the grill of a "Toyot" or a "Totot" and not the entire vehicle (notice the license plate says "NLUV09"), and 2) why choose the Goo Goo Dolls to be on the iPod. They're a fine band, but I find it hard to believe that of all the things you could do with a groom's cake, one would choose to feature the Goo Goo Dolls. I think the song is "Slide," but I'm not sure because it really looks like "Sliats," which is not the title of a song by anyone. Also, the car grill totally looks like a cassette tape.
- May 14, 2010 at 4:16 PM
- Janine said...
$1000!! Man I am doing something wrong. I wouldn't let a cake leave my kitchen looking like those. Nothing like a good wreck to inspire me while I have a cake order today :)
- May 14, 2010 at 4:19 PM
- Kae said...
I think that people are beginning to believe that The Learning Channel is actually about learning--as in, "hey, if I watch a couple of episode of Cake Boss, I can learn to make a killing making incredibly detailed cakes!"
The frightening thing is that people pay them based on this belief. Now, I'm not saying I could do better--but, dang it, I could do as well. And I would TOTALLY undercut that price. I'm a grad student...if I make five bucks profit, I'm happy. - May 14, 2010 at 4:27 PM
Wrong, on so many levels.
- May 14, 2010 at 4:53 PM
- Amanda | Glittericity said...
Wow, that first one is HORRENDOUS.
The wedding cake looks like it had potential, actually. I like the pink and brown (though I would have used a paler shade of pink). It's just a shame they couldn't have found someone with a little more talent xD - May 14, 2010 at 5:03 PM
Well, I've got to think that maybe the bride and groom were actually doing the wreckerator a favor and giving them a $1000 scholarship to cake decorating school in exchange for the "before" cakes...and hopefully they will then get some very nice "after" cakes as a "thank you" for a future anniversary party. Otherwise they've just been robbed...
WV: oseck--"Oseck, look at our cakes!" - May 14, 2010 at 5:11 PM
Wow, I think I've been on this site too long since I thought, "that wedding cake isn't thaaaat bad!". OK, the bride's taste is questionable if she selected a cake quite that pink, the writing is a mess, and the bottom layer is collapsing (Texas summer heat, which I learned about last week? Although I still think that they should have planned it better since the top dome is fine!).
Now, the groom's cake... wow. I thought the barbells were gambling coins until I clicked on the picture, a Toyota FJ's front end does NOT resemble a cassette tape, and the "cookies" of decoration aren't even rolled flat. And do NOT qualify as decoration! Seriously... like many others here, I'm an amateur, but I've produced better cakes. Even my "wreck" cakes are better! When appearances matter, my baking looks fine-- although my emphasis will always be on taste over looks! I just hope that the cakes tasted wonderful, that Texas bakery prices are over-inflated, and that the wedding party only intended to buy delicious cakes and didn't ante up for attractive. I hope?
WV: psyno-- when faced with a groom's cake like this, just psyno. - May 14, 2010 at 5:29 PM
- Phoenyx said...
Oh good grief! All that pink is making me think of Pepto Bismol, which is what I need after seeing these wrecks.
Ok, I will say one positive thing about it. August 15 is a great date. That is the day I got married to my wonderful husband. Luckily our cake was a lot nicer. It almost wrecked because some idiot put it on a rickety table.
I hope Jim & Christy's marriage is a good one, after that wreck of a cake they deserve some good marriage juju. - May 14, 2010 at 5:35 PM
- Gary said...
drgns4vr said...
"I know the official animal on that groom's cake is supposed to be a panther, but I am voting for the Giant Sloth."
I agree! I guessed either a beaver or a woodchuck, but it looks more like a Giant Sloth. Yes, having grown up near Fort Worth, I know one of Fort Worth's nicknames is Panther City (apparently there were actual panthers walking the town's streets in the early days), but that ain't no panther on that cake.
Miradwyn said...
"Wow, even if the pink cake wasn't collapsing in on itself it would be a wedding wreck. It looks like the birthday cake of girlie girlie 13 year old."
Oh, I wish you hadn't said that. Now I'm certain the bride must BE a girlie girlie 13-year-old. If the groom is also about 13, that would explain all the stuff on his cake, too. - May 14, 2010 at 5:36 PM
I'm guessing that the bride's colors were "Blush" and "Bashful". Too bad they look so similar to Pepto Bismal pink!
- May 14, 2010 at 5:39 PM
- Cameo said...
Oh I feel sooo sorry for the bride and groom. Those cakes look like a high school freshman in Home-ec attempted to copy something they saw online after one day of class.
- May 14, 2010 at 5:42 PM
- Kaaren said...
They paid?? There *has* to be a backstory, cause...damn!
- May 14, 2010 at 5:48 PM
- A Cake To Remember LLC said...
I have a term for cakes like that. They're "monkey iced," as in, they look like a monkey (possibly a drunken one) did the honors. If that's the real price for those two, someone needs to ask for a refund, unless they DO like monkey-iced cakes.
- May 14, 2010 at 5:51 PM
That's so sad-- they would have done better ordering a tiered buttercream cake from Kroger!
- May 14, 2010 at 6:00 PM
- Mrs. DeRaps said...
Wow. That's criminal. I feel so lucky that I had a gorgeous wedding cake, despite the fact that I had to order it from almost 3,000 miles away. (Destination wedding.) Check those references, brides and grooms! (And, my cake was only $500!)
- May 14, 2010 at 6:42 PM
- Kathryn H said...
A tablecloth might have helped. And a fresh coat of paint on the church basement walls. Ok, maybe not.
- May 14, 2010 at 7:13 PM
- Unknown said...
You know, since moving to Texas, I've gotten pretty sick of the "big" thing. Firstly, bigger isn't always better (just ask my butt!).
Secondly, it's not all that big. My home province of Ontario is bigger, as is my husband's home state of New South Wales. Heck, Texas isn't even the biggest US state...Alaska is.
I can't believe those cakes cost $1000 but members of my local cake club have said nobody around here could get away with charging anything close to that for something much nicer! Yikes!
Plus we all know John is allergic to Texas...are his allergies maybe bigger here? ;) - May 14, 2010 at 7:51 PM
- Kassie said...
I really hope they demanded at least some of their money back. That's ridiculous!
- May 14, 2010 at 9:05 PM
- Unknown said...
Someone charged $1000 for those? That should be a crime. What is the pink cake even supposed to look like? I want to say pillows with ugly squiggles on them, but I don't even know.
- May 14, 2010 at 9:21 PM
- sendingtheclowns said...
craftinqueen75 said...
"I'm guessing that the bride's colors were "Blush" and "Bashful"."
Hmmmm....I was thinking more along the lines of "Dopey" and "Sleazy."
(YOU know--some of the OTHER dwarves?)
=^-.-^= - May 14, 2010 at 9:37 PM
- Carrietastic said...
If only the 5 other layers of the 2 cakes looked as decent as the top layer of the wedding cake...
- May 14, 2010 at 10:54 PM
- Amy said...
lumpy cake=bad
ugly cookies=bad
spiral cartoon pubes???=unforgivable - May 14, 2010 at 11:00 PM
- Laurel H. said...
$1000? For that? SERIOUSLY??!!! So, who do you blame here--the baker, or the person(s) who PAID for it?!!
- May 14, 2010 at 11:29 PM
Everything about these pictures suggest the bride and groom were on a budget. Nothing wrong with that! But to pay $1000? Come on!
- May 14, 2010 at 11:45 PM
What on earth happened to the groom's cake? It looks cracked and just plain horrible almost like it fell off the table and someone quickly put it back hoping no one would notice the damage.. and that pink wedding cake?? Scary.
- May 15, 2010 at 1:31 AM
- Unknown said...
Are you kidding me??? Who did they hire? Wow, if that was my wedding I would have been pissed! Those two cakes are sooooo not worth $1000... it had to have been a relative.
check out my blog: nikkiscakery.blogspot.com - May 15, 2010 at 9:26 AM
Hilary, you do realize when I say, "I picked the wrong career" it's a joke, right? Obviously if I had the talent required I would have picked that career - and done decently at it. And then it wouldn't have been the wrong career. The fact that I announced I'm a liberal arts student should have tipped you off that I'm lacking in such talents...
Sigh. Cake decorators should know that we really do appreciate those with good talents, but at the same time we reserve the right to snicker at those who don't have them but charge as if they do. That's why I come to this blog... - May 15, 2010 at 11:10 AM
Shouldn't any animal on a police badge be a badger??
*laughs at own stupid observation, made while out of coffee* - May 15, 2010 at 12:47 PM
- Pickyknitter said...
6 boxes of cake mix & 2 cans of frosting - $20.
Of course, I never voted for George Bush, either. - May 15, 2010 at 3:31 PM
After re-reading all the comments, I've come to the conclusion that this decorator had been watching "Ace of Cakes" on Food Network.
The Charm City Cakes website says the starting price for their cakes is $1,000, so this decorator offered a BOGO deal -- buy one for $1,000 and get the second one free.
Too bad he/she wasn't able to copy the excellent work of the CCC decorators who, if you listen to the opening credits, are art majors. Duff Goldman is the only baker in the bunch. (Note to Jen: this CCC does not mean cupcake cakes. Relax. Deep breath.)
He/she also didn't watch the program carefully to see them put dowels in the cakes to support their weight and sometimes wait to stack the cakes until they are at the reception site.
It is hard to believe that someone would actually have ordered from this decorator if they had ever seen his/her work. Pitiful, just pitiful. - May 15, 2010 at 5:16 PM
*disclaimer* PMS hacked my computer.
Here in this blessed country we know for a FACT that no matter how closely these cakes resemble booty, chocolate frosting makes up for it all.
So, yeah the cakes are....uh....well, there really aren't words, BUT! they are frosted! In. Chocolate.
God Bless the USA. And God bless chocolate frosting. Especially the kind with the mini chips in it. - May 16, 2010 at 1:16 AM
But it's clearly the bride's fault! She should have checked the baker's portfolio! And paid more for a higher-quality cake! You pay a mere thousand dollars for dessert, and of COURSE you're going to end up with stuff like... that. Yeah!
(Sorry, the thread seemed to be lacking the usual contingent of "the bride was a stupid slacking cheapskate" posts. Whether you paid $150 or $600, professional wrecks like these are inexcusable.) - May 16, 2010 at 2:51 AM
Oh, the pink monstrosity is absolutely a Wreck. Unless the bride's 3-yo child made it, not the alleged 'professional'.
- May 16, 2010 at 4:34 AM
It makes me sad whenever there's "victim-blaming" with the wedding wrecks. Either the bride and groom must have been cheapskates to get what they got, or - in this case, when we know what was paid and can't make that conjecture - they were "morons" for paying, or letting the cake get put out on display.
A lot of bakeries require most if not all of the money up front for this kind of thing (in my experience, apparently some must be different, judging by the comments). Given that on your average wedding day there're a million things to get done and an epic level of stress for everyone involved, I'm really not surprised that the cake would get put out, no matter how wrecky it was. At that late stage in the game all you can do is pray it tastes better than it looks (and of course take a picture to send in to CakeWrecks).
I'd hope someone would be able to demand a partial refund at least, but again, considering Wedding Stress, I wouldn't blame the couple if they just chalked it up to a pricey lesson learned about selecting a baker. I certainly wouldn't be so quick to judge or insult the couple, as NOBODY deserves a wreck on their wedding day. - May 16, 2010 at 5:27 AM
- Silla said...
Oh my! Those cakes! If you only could find such cool things in Sweden :(
- May 16, 2010 at 8:17 AM
ok. i guess i figured out how it is possible that those two cakes could have been "payed for" 1,000 dollars:
the money was a donation to the school for kids with disabilities that made the cakes as a project in house keeping class. so, considering this they really came out nice. especially the brides cake.
at least that is what i'm choosing to believe as that will stop me smashing my head on my keyboard repeatedly. - May 16, 2010 at 9:14 AM
- Red said...
I made a cake for my daughter's birthday and I was in a rush, I did better than that, and she paid $400! Poor girl! - May 16, 2010 at 1:03 PM
- Blue Jean said...
Those strawberries are supposed to be wearing tuxedos? I thought they were little faces, their mouths frozen in tiny "O!"s of horror at those awful cakes.
They must have good taste. - May 16, 2010 at 9:23 PM
I once had an expensive, horrible cake experience, regardless of having researched the bakery. When I asked for a partial refund, the bakery only would offer more future cake, as if anyone would take them up on that, considering the work they'd just shown. I should have taken it, though, and then I should have proceeded to pelt the manager with big handfuls of it. I have the feeling that no jury would have convicted me. :(
- May 16, 2010 at 9:44 PM
- Heidi said...
Someone made these for a *cop* and his bride's wedding. Huh.
- May 16, 2010 at 10:32 PM
- MistressAnnie said...
YIKES!!!!!!!!!! Those bakers should really look into a different profession.
- May 17, 2010 at 10:03 PM
- Terri Coop said...
That poor bride, she didn't shop around. I'd have cwapped up her cakes for less than a quarter of what she paid . . .
- May 18, 2010 at 1:46 PM
I'm surprised at the folks who think the top dome of the wedding cake is OK. Even before looking at the enlarged photo, you can see that the squares of the "quilting" are all uneven rather than uniform. If you look at the larger version, you can see how all the...well, I'll call them buttons, not knowing the proper term...are not round and are also not uniform in shape or size. And that topper. EEEEK!
WV: upermaxi - what we women sometimes need at "that time" of the month - June 23, 2010 at 5:14 AM
So the groom's cake is meant to explain to anyone who a.) doesn't already know and b.) cares anyway, what the groom's hobbies are. Check.
The groom's hobbies include: having something to do with the Fort Worth Police department (shouldn't that be a 'job'?) and listening to an I-Pod. Kewl.
I know everything is bigger in Texas, but 100 lb. hand weights? It is difficult to see how something in such a small form factor could be that heavy.
What I initially was certain was a cassette tape turns out to be the front of a 'Toyot' (let's hear it for click-to-enlarge). So this adds 'driving an obscure vehicle' to the hobbies list, which completes the groom's portrait.
I saw the big '15' on the wedding cake and almost panicked (Total size of the blended family? The bride's age?), but then I saw the 'August' to the left. If this were just a cake, $600 would be way out of line. But since it also reminded guests what month and day it was, the price is justified. You can't get a calendar cake just anywhere, you know. Perhaps the date on the cake is a mnemonic device for the groom... - November 13, 2010 at 8:59 PM
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Shielding the Messengers: CDT Travels to Thailand to Argue Against Intermediary Liability
This post is part of our 'Shielding the Messengers' series, which examines issues related to intermediary liability protections, both in the U.S. and globally. Without these protections, the Internet as we know it today–a platform where diverse content and free expression thrive–would not exist.
Last week, I had the honor of speaking on a panel at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand in Bangkok on an issue of grave importance to global internet freedom and the internet economy: the issue of intermediary liability.
Intermediary liability poses a global threat to online free expression. We've seen it in Italy, where Google executives were criminally convicted of privacy violations based on a user's uploaded video. We've seen it in India, where prosecutors have essentially put the Internet on trial by criminally charging major internet companies like Facebook for not censoring allegedly blasphemous speech posted by their users. And we've seen it in Thailand, where Ms. Chiranuch Premchaiporn, director of the popular online newspaper Prachatai, is facing the possibility of decades in prison based on comments posted by Prachatai's users that have been deemed insulting to the King of Thailand.
Prachatai.com Director Chiranuch ("Jiew") Premchaiporn and CDT Free Expression Director Kevin Bankston meet at the Erawan Tea Room in Bangkok prior to panel discussion on intermediary liability
With the issue of intermediary liability currently front and center in Thailand, we agreed with Google's policy team in Asia that it would be a good time to put together a local event focused on the issue. Since the issue of intermediary liability is so often discussed as a threat to free expression, we thought this would be a good opportunity to focus on the other major threat posed by intermediary liability, as laid out in CDT's 2010 paper on the subject: the impact on the internet economy.
At the Erawan Shrine in downtown Bangkok, a block away from the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, the Hindu creation god Brahma sits in peaceful contrast with the hi-tech hustle and bustle of the modern city.
The entirety of my fifteen-minute opening presentation is reprinted below. Thanks again to my co-panelists and to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand for allowing me to visit Bangkok and deliver CDT's perspective on this critical global issue, and thanks to Jiew for taking the time to meet with me. Her unflagging grace and courage under such trying circumstances is a continuing inspiration. We at CDT stand with her as she awaits the verdict in her case, which will have grave implications not only for her life but also for the continued vibrancy of free expression and the Internet economy in Thailand.
Prepared Comments for the Panel Discussion,
"Is Thailand Ready to Leap Forward in the Information Economy?"
Delivered March 29, 2012 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand in Bangkok
I am honored that I was invited to be here in Bangkok tonight, in the company of such esteemed experts, to discuss the important issue of intermediary liability and the role that it plays in the Internet economy.
The idea that Internet intermediaries deserve protection against liability when their users break the law may seem like a new idea, because it deals with new technology. However, this idea is based on a simple and long-standing principle, a principle that is literally thousands of years old both in the East and in the West. In the West, we express this principle as a piece of advice: "Don't shoot the messenger." When we say that, we are suggesting that the person who carries a message should not be punished simply because the recipient finds the message displeasing.
There are at least two good reasons to take this advice: first, shooting the messenger is fundamentally unfair; the messenger did not create the message, he simply did his job by carrying it. Second, when you punish the messenger, you threaten your own ability to receive important information.
We see this lesson illustrated both in ancient Western and Eastern history. As described by the great Roman historian Plutarch, there once was an ancient Armenian emperor, Tigranes the Great, who beheaded the messenger that informed him that the Romans were invading his kingdom. After that, no man dared to bring Tigranes any other message that might displease him, and without any information at all, he remained ignorant of the war that raged around him.
The ancient Chinese recognized this same risk: that punishing messengers would ultimately prevent the receipt of important communications. That is why, over two thousand years ago during the Warring States period, it was Chinese custom—driven by honor, virtue, and common sense—that after receiving a message from one's enemy, the enemy's messenger would be allowed to leave unharmed. The ancient Chinese recognized that if messengers were punished, communication between enemies would cease, and an end to war could never be negotiated; they recognized that punishing messengers threatened the act of communication itself. Unfortunately, as we shall see, the modern Chinese have not been so wise.
As I talk about the ancient Romans and the ancient Chinese, you may be wondering: how did I learn the ancient origin of this modern phrase, "don't shoot the messenger"? I must admit that I learned it the way that many of us learn things today, in the year 2012:
I searched for it on Google, and then read about it on Wikipedia.
The search engine Google, that helps us navigate the vast World Wide Web, and Wikipedia, the unprecedented, user-generated encyclopedia with over 21 million articles written in 283 languages, are themselves messengers. Those services, and services like Facebook, and Twitter, and YouTube, and email providers and web hosts and Internet access providers, are all modern messengers. And these modern communications intermediaries, along with the broader Internet ecosystem and economy, have been able to flourish in the United States and in the European Union because policy makers there made an important decision early in the development of the commercial Internet. They decided to heed the lessons of history and build legal frameworks that protected online intermediaries against liability for the content that their users communicate. These internationally established best practices, shielding intermediaries against liability, are worth examining, because they provide important guidance on how best to cultivate a healthy, innovative, and economically productive information society.
It almost goes without saying that the power of the Internet as a publishing technology empowers lawbreakers just as it empowers the law-abiding. Just as the Internet has allowed billions of people across the globe to express themselves in new and legal ways, it too has provided a new venue for the publication of illegal material. What counts as legal and illegal speech will, of course, turn on the applicable national laws. Different nations with different cultures will often have different rules about what types of expression the law protects and what types of expression are unlawful—different rules regarding speech that is alleged to be defamatory, or obscene, or invasive of privacy, or infringing of intellectual property rights, or dangerous to national security.
I am not here tonight to debate how different countries should make those decisions. Rather, I am here tonight to explain a decision made in the United States and in the European Union, a decision with which the Center for Democracy & Technology strongly agrees: that is, the decision that intermediaries should not be held liable when their customers engage in unlawful expression using their services. That decision has proven critically important to the growth and continued vitality of the Internet as an engine of innovation, free expression, and economic growth.
The United States was the first country to establish a clear legal framework to protect Internet intermediaries, back in 1996 when the commercial Internet was still in its infancy. My organization, the Center for Democracy & Technology, was one of several key stakeholders that worked with the United States Congress to develop that law, called Section 230 of the Communications Act. The US Congress passed Section 230 to promote the continued rapid and innovative development of the Internet by giving intermediaries strong protection against liability for content created by third parties. Specifically, Section 230 provided and still provides that Internet intermediaries—referred to in the law as "interactive computer services"—"shall [not] be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."
This strong protection from Section 230 has since been used by a wide variety of online services as a shield against a wide variety of legal claims based on content posted by their users, including claims of negligence, fraud, privacy invasion, violation of civil rights, and defamation. Of course, the users who create illegal content can still be sued or prosecuted for the content they create. But Section 230 ensures that the blame lies with the originator of the offending content, rather than with the messenger who delivered it.
Meanwhile, another law passed in 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or "DMCA", provides similar protection for online services against claims of copyright infringement. Although somewhat complex in its details, the DMCA for example will provide a service provider with "safe harbor" – that is, liability protection – against claims of copyright infringement if it takes down allegedly infringing material when notified by the copyright owner. This type of intermediary liability protection is referred to as a "notice and takedown" or "notice and action" regime, and it is this model that the European Union followed when, in the year 2000, it codified its own system of strong intermediary liability protections for Internet services in the E-Commerce Directive.
It is precisely these types of strong protections for online intermediaries that have led to the dramatic growth of online forums, social networks, and other interactive, user-generated content sites that have become vibrant platforms for expression in the U.S., Europe, and all over the world. Indeed, without laws like Section 230, so-called Web 2.0 services that rely on user-generated content may never have even been funded or built, either due to the fear of potential liability or the high cost and impracticality of trying to pro-actively police all of the content being posted to such services.
Many of you know the story of how a young student named Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in his university dormitory, with only a few friends and a few thousand dollars. This is the type of Internet success story that we like to celebrate, because it illustrates how small innovators can become Internet titans; indeed, it's such a powerful story that Hollywood has already made a movie about it that you may have seen, called "The Social Network". But it's also the kind of story that could never have happened if Mark Zuckerberg had not been protected by law against liability for the thousands, then millions, and eventually billions of messages and photos posted to Facebook, because some percentage of those messages were and are certainly illegal in some respect.
Facebook would never have survived if, in order to avoid lawsuits, Mark Zuckerberg immediately had to hire an enormous staff to try to monitor all of those communications for potential illegality. I use the word "try" because even with an enormous staff, and sophisticated technology, and all the money in the world, no communications provider could ever successfully prevent any and all illegal content from being transmitted or posted over its service.
The futility of such an attempt at filtering becomes especially clear when you look at the enormous scale of Internet communications. For example, by the middle of 2011, users of Twitter were publishing over 200 million messages, or "tweets", per day—that's over two thousand messages a second. Similarly, in the same year, users of YouTube were uploading 48 hours of video every minute—nearly 70,000 hours of video per day.
It is exactly this astonishing rate of Internet communication—this enormous flood of human expression—that makes the Internet so incredibly important and valuable, and at the same time makes the idea of intermediary liability so impractical. Certainly, Internet companies could try to monitor everything, and try—despite their lack of the necessary expertise and information—to determine what content is legal and illegal, and attempt to pre-screen everything before it gets posted. Even then, though, much illegal content would still get posted, and the companies would still face lawsuits or prosecutions for it. Meanwhile, the enormous engine of expression that is the Internet would grind to a halt, along with the Internet economy. Illegal online speech would still exist, while the unprecedented flood of completely legal expression, opinion, and information that we have all benefited from, both culturally and economically, would slow to a trickle.
Countries that insist on trying to hold intermediaries liable for what their users do therefore threaten not only the democratic value of free expression but also their own economic growth. Such countries discourage the Internet companies of other nations from investing in and doing business in their country. At the same time, they make it harder for small innovators in their own country to create services that can effectively compete against those outside companies.
When an Italian court convicts Google executives of an invasion of privacy based on a video that was posted to YouTube even though Google took down the video as soon as it was notified—which actually happened in 2010—it discourages other Internet companies from doing business in Italy, and also discourages Italian innovators from building their own video services.
When Indian prosecutors bring criminal charges against Google and Facebook and Microsoft and Yahoo and local companies as well for hosting allegedly blasphemous online content, even though those companies were never even notified of the illegal content—which is actually happening right now—it has the same discouraging effect.
When Chinese law is so restrictive that in order to try and avoid liability, major online services must employ massive and massively expensive armies of staff to try to identify and take down any and all illegal content, how can a newer, smaller, more innovative communications service ever compete? It can't.
Unfortunately, these concerns are not limited to Italy, or India, or China. Rather, and as Dr. Ramasoota and Mr. Bhadungrat will describe, Thailand risks walking this same dangerous path. The lack of clear legal protections for Internet intermediaries in Thailand's Computer-Related Offences Commission Act or "CCA" not only threatens the Thai people's right to free expression generally but also threatens innocent intermediaries with years of imprisonment. By threatening the messenger, the CCA also threatens Thailand's future economic growth and its ability to compete in a global Internet economy.
The next revolutionary, innovative Internet service—the next Facebook, the next Twitter, the next Google, the next company that will compete with those established giants—doesn't have to come from the United States. The next Mark Zuckerberg could come from Bangalore, or Beirut, or here in Bangkok—but only if the law protects local innovators against intermediary liability so that they can effectively compete against American and European companies.
It was true over two thousand years ago, in ancient Rome and in ancient China, and it is true here, today: punishing the messenger ultimately threatens the integrity of the network through which messages are received, whether that network is made of flesh and blood or made of fiberoptic cables and wireless signals. Unless we protect our messengers from punishment—unless we provide clear protections in law against intermediary liability—we threaten our own access to knowledge, and we threaten to stifle technological innovation in the ways that we access knowledge, making us all poorer.
I want to thank you so much for allowing me to share my perspective tonight. I look forward to hearing from the rest of the experts on the panel, and I look forward to your questions.


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ESPN's Kenny Mayne showed up at Benaroya Hall last week to emcee the 78th annual Star of the Year event, and was wise and kind enough to sit down with Art Thiel to reminisce about the mis-spent days of his suburban Seattle youth as a newspaper delivery boy and waste-hauler.
His show on ESPN, "Kenny Mayne's Wider World of Sports" show, is an amusing tour of the world's lesser known competitions, like the World Wife-Carrying championships in Finland, and he contributes to "Sunday NFL Countdown" show with the "Mayne Event."
He recently moved back to the Seattle area. He grew up in Kent, starred as quarterback at Wenatchee Valley Community College and played at Nevada-Las Vegas as the backup to future NFL star Randall Cunningham. He was KCPQ Ch. 13's sports anchor from 1982-89 before going big time.


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Friday, March 16
Tail End of the Week: Get Your Friday Farm Fix #1
32 comments:
I can't believe your daffs and chives are up! Lucky, lucky. That photo with Mama and babies? Heart-thumping.
ReplyDeleteRepliesHi Kat,
I know, it's weird. With this mild winter and then really warm temperatures lately (back in the 80s tomorrow!) a lot of the plants seem to be at least two or three weeks ahead of schedule. The daffodils started blooming in February.
Everybody around here is starting to wonder what kind of a summer it's going to be - and spring hasn't even started yet. Meanwhile, the ticks, flies, and wasps have all arrived early, too. Ack!
Dang. Potatoes in already? That's incredible. Jealous here.
P.S. Thanks for your congratulatory comment awhile ago, but I must tell you I'm not lending these boys out for ANYTHING. They're all mine. All mine to feed, too, of course, which is why they're going to be working in the potato field as soon as possible.RepliesI'm still surprised I actually have my potatoes in the ground already. A lot of locals say that if you don't plant your potatoes by St. Patrick's Day, you might as well not bother. I know they're wrong, though, because usually I plant mine in May, or April if I'm lucky and they do great , unless, like in 2010, the Japanese beetles decimate the plants before they've set potatoes, which, okay, probably wouldn't have happened if I'd planted them in March. Anyway. . . ;)
On Monday we saw seed potatoes for sale at the supermarket, bought a few pounds (because they'll be gone by the time we're back again), and then Tuesday just happened to be a good day for planting potatoes (fertile day, third quarter), and - miraculously - there was a raised bed in my kitchen garden almost ready to go, so for the first time ever I have my potatoes in the ground 'on time.' Of course it already looks and feels like May around here. :)
Here's an old school tater' planting story. My Irish mother and her family ; planted potatoes in the wee hours of St Particks Day. Then went to town for the parade and supper on the grounds in Shamrock Texas. She said ' start with a bigger potato - git bigger potatoes '. She told me they planted their smalls whole and the bigger ones they cut up - dipped in wood ashes and planted them with their eyes up so that way they could see how to get outta the ground ! Happy St Patricks Day !
ReplyDeleteRepliesDarling story Cherokeegirl. You and Susan are inspiring me to plant potatoes again. Last year I hilled them so zealously with straw that I think I squelched them and our harvest was minimal. Susan, would you please describe how you care for your potatoes? How deep? Hill up? With what? Thanks loads!
Love the potato planting story! But now I need to go dig mine up and make sure their eyes are pointing the right way. ;)
Don't give up on planting potatoes! I don't always end up with a bountiful harvest, but homegrown potatoes taste so good. And they're always fun to dig up. :)
As for planting, I usually never get around to hilling mine up with soil (preferably twice) after they've sprouted, so this year I'm trying something a little different.
I planted the potatoes a little less than the recommended 3" deep in soil (as per the awesome gardening book, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Ed Smith) and then covered them with a thin layer of bedding hay from the barn, which has manure mixed in. That's what you can see in the cart in the photo.
Once the plants are several inches tall, I'll add another layer of barn hay, covering one half to two thirds of the plants. Then I'll do it again - if I remember. ;)
Ed Smith is a big fan of mulching with compost and straw (my manure hay is a variant on this method), which helps regulate soil moisture and temperature, makes the potatoes easier to harvest, and is less work. You were on the right track - sounds like you may have indeed mulched them too much, or something else simply went wrong during the growing cycle.
He also says to make sure you keep the plants well watered frm the time they flower until two weeks before harvest.
And one last tip - for both planting and harvesting potatoes, you can't beat this all around super handy EZ Digger, also called a Korean hand plow. I've been using mine for 17 years for nearly everything in the garden, but it's especially great for harvesting potatoes and garlic.
I hope this helps. Happy growing! :)
I love Friday Farm Fix!! Every picture makes me want to ask a question ...so...what's happening with the trunk of that tree? Are you taking it down?
Love all these photos - love the animals and e promise of spring!
Happy weekend to all of you.RepliesHi Barb!
So glad you're enjoying the Friday Farm Fix.
That giant sycamore tree is located in a sheep pen across from the barn, and sadly it died several years ago. It's still standing because, as Joe puts it, the best way to deal with an enormous dead tree is (if you can) to just leave it there, because it will slowly drop all of its limbs straight down on the ground below. Now there's simply the trunk left.
It looks sort of sad, but leaving it there is safer than cutting it down because you can never be sure exactly where it's going to land - and that trunk is HUGE.
What Joe was actually doing with the tractor was pushing a bunch of small, scrubby juniper bushes that he'd just cut down with the chainsaw up around the tree. They were starting to take over the pasture, and now they'll be a nice rabbit habitat. Bert would be so bored without any rabbits to track for hours each day - not that he ever actually catches one. ;)
Do LOVE your Friday Farm Fix idea, but like Barb, each shot just brings more questions :). Love the long shot of the inside of the barn and those gorgeous bonding suites. Eyes popped out of my head to see your potatoes already in the ground. and daffs and chives up already??? very curious about Operation Tree takedown? You guys really do bring warmth to hearts verrry far away and you are appreciated daily... now even more so on Fridays :)! Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all.
ReplyDeleteRepliesHi Cary,
Thanks so much for the kind words and feedback. Re potatoes, chives, daffodils, and the tree, see replies to Kat, Cary, and Barb above. :)
As for the bonding suites, we are so thrilled to finally have all six of them finished! Now that lambing season is almost over, lol. In that photo above, Joe is installing the last of the removable panels he built for the front and sides of each pen (you can see one in the last photo in this post). Before we were just using temporary panels.
One of these days I'm hoping to do a post about the bonding pens - and the barn itself. I took a bunch of photos while it was being built (back in September of 2009!) and still need to sort through them all, lol.
But little by little, it's slowly all coming together. :)
I get the feeling Joe doesn't like to be in pictures OR he likes to show off his tush! :-) Keep sharing those babies!!!
December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.
Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and I especially love hearing about your experiences with my recipes. Comments on older posts are always welcome!
Please note that I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be a while before yours appears.
I try my best to answer all questions, though sometimes it takes me a few days. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.
I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy your e-visits to our farm!


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Below you will find all available homes for sale located in Fairway Reflections, Coto De Caza. Please feel free to browse real estate in the Fairway Reflections community and let us know if you have any questions or would like assistance with your home search.
If you would like further information or assistance regarding Fairway Reflections real estate and available homes for sale throughout Fairway Reflections, please feel free to contact us.


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This may seem obvious, but I thought I would save someone from something that just confused me: you cannot use sleep() to sleep for fractions of a second. This:
<?php sleep(0.25) ?>
will not work as expected. The 0.25 is cast to an integer, so this is equivalent to sleep(0). To sleep for a quarter of a second, use:
<?php usleep(250000) ?>


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Ornithology in the news
This page simply lists recent news articles relating to ornithology. It is not exhaustive - simply those articles that I come across during my reading of the media. The site mirrors one that I created for my conservation biology course, and which a lot of students seem to use (you can access that page here). If others in the EEBedia community want to add to the list, please feel free to do so. I only ask that you keep to the existing format, limit any commentary about articles to brief descriptive statements so as to not clog up space, that you focus on articles in the news media that relate to conservation science (broader environmental science issues should find their own home), and that you don't clog the page up with multiple articles on the same piece of news. If you have questions, please email me. Chris Elphick
For news recent ornithological research, check out the ScienceDaily Bird News.
Links to original journal articles may not work unless you're at a UConn computers or subscribe to the journal.
8 Mar. BBC News. World seabird numbers still falling, says a new review.
28 Feb. Washington Post. Obama administration plan would kill rival bird to save spotted owl.
15 Feb. BBC News. Tiny songbird northern wheatear traverses the world. Another use of geolocators songbirds.
3 Feb. New York Times. A Whooping Crane Migration Will Finish By Truck. We'll talk about crane reintroduction later in the semester.
2 Feb. Aukland Now. 'Extinct' bird shows signs of breeding. A real rediscovery.
31 Jan. New York Times. Black Feather May Have Helped Archaeopteryx Fly.
30 Jan. New York Times. Design and Illusion, to Impress the Ladies.
24 Jan. New York Times. Mercury's Harmful Reach Has Grown, Study Suggests.
23 Jan. New York Times. Bird-Watchers Revel in Unusual Spike in Snowy Owl Sightings.
16 Jan. New York Times. Greater Wind Speed Helps Seabirds Bulk Up.
27 Apr. BBC News. In pictures: How egg spotting birds catch out cuckoos.
20 Apr. BBC News. Clever New Caledonian crows can use three tools. ... more than me.
15 Apr. Discovery News. Ivory-billed woodpecker search ends.
12 Apr. BBC News. In pictures: Night penguins.
12 Apr. BBC News. Geese tracked to estimate wind farms' impact.
6 Apr. BBC News. Mimic birds 'copy other species'.
21 Mar. BBC News. Rare Worthen's sparrow nest sites found in Mexico.
14 Mar. New York Times. The Skyline, Where Eagles Roam. Eagles return to Manhattan.
12 Mar. BBC News. Climate change 'makes birds shrink' in North America.
12 Mar. New York Times. Climate Change Threatens Migratory Birds, Report Says.
10 Mar. BBC News. DNA of extinct birds extracted from ancient eggshell.
6 Mar. New York Times. No Endangered Status for Plains Bird. Warranted, but precluded ...
4 Mar. BBC News. Supercharged swifts take flight speed record.
24 Feb. New York Times. Arizona: Condors Died of Lead Poisoning.
17 Feb. New York Times. Small Protection Zones Help Predators, Too. Helping fish, helps penguins.
16 Feb. BBC News. Why love birds 'dance' to the Sun.
7 Feb. BBC News. Dinosaur had flamboyant, multi-coloured plumage. Colouring dinosaurs. More at the NY Times here.
7 Feb. BBC News. Auklets and penguins: birds use feathers 'to touch'.
4 Feb. BBC News. Wild sloth killed by small spectacled owl in Panama.
1 Feb. New York Times. How Seabirds Follow Fishing Boats' Routine.
1 Feb. BBC News. New dinosaur discovery solves evolutionary bird puzzle.
24 Jan. BBC News. Rare warbler found in Afghanistan.
22 Jan. BBC News. Sexy sparrow exposed as world's most promiscuous bird. I'll let you judge if they're really sexy.
21 Dec. BBC News. Bird-like dinosaur was 'venomous'.
16 Dec. BBC News. New warbler bird species discovered in Vietnam.
9 Dec. BBC News. New drug threat to Asian vultures.
7 Dec. New York Times. Clues to What Birds Do on a Trans-Sahara Trip.
4 Dec. BBC News. Iron Curtain kept out alien birds.
3 Dec. BBC News. Feeding birds 'changes evolution'. A neat new piece of the blackcap story.
1 Dec. BBC News. Clever ravens cooperatively hunt.
1 Dec. BBC News. Birdsong helps scientists to count bird populations.
12 Nov. BBC News. A marvellous hummingbird display.
30 Jul. BBC News. Bald songbird discovered in Laos.
30 Jul. CBC News. Ottawa boy's invisible invention warns birds about deadly windows.
23 Jul. BBC News. Hot secret behind toucan's bill. Toucans are cool.
18 Jun. New York Times. Birds of a Feather: How do birds know which species they are?
10 Jun. BBC News. Hummingbirds 'faster than jets'.
3 Jun. BBC News. Droppings put penguins on the map.
17 Apr. BBC News. African lark soon to be extinct. Extinction in progress.
15 Apr. BBC News. Big brood of rotund rare parrots. A small population success that combines in-situ and ex-situ activities.
11 Apr. BBC News. Charles Darwin's egg rediscovered. Look after your specimens, Chuck ...
1 Apr. New York Times. Depending on Context, Bird Couples Sing in Harmony or Discord.
1 Apr. BBC News. Baby chicks do basic arithmetic.
23 Mar. The Economist. Our feathered friends. Are dinosaurs really birds?
23 Mar. The Economist. The song does not remain the same. Take care of yourself when you're young ...
22 Mar. New York Times. In This Springtime Battle, the Parakeets Appear to Be Winning. The challenges of invasive species in Connecticut.
20 Mar. New York Times. One Third of U.S. Bird Species Endangered, Survey Finds. Full report here.
17 Mar. BBC News. Hungry whales steal birds' dinner. Film of murres and gulls feeding on fish ... and humpback whales stealing the catch.
5 Mar. BBC News. Fish feast frenzy caught on film. Film of gannets feeding on fish underwater.
5 Mar. BBC News. Climate 'hitting Europe's birds'. New projections on expected population changes with climate change.
24 Feb. New York Times. For Gulls, Vigilance Is a Team Effort.
23 Feb. BBC News. Lifeline for endangered albatross. Initial results from an initiative to reduce albatross by-catch by the fishing industry.
22 Feb. New York Times. Rescue Flight. A long piece about whooping crane conservation.
20 Feb. National Geographic. "Extinct" Bird Seen, Eaten. Good, and bad, news for Worcester's buttonquail.
15 Feb. BBC News. Dance duet helps male birds mate. Long-tailed manakins in action.
15 Feb. New Scientist. Robotic birds help pick out most receptive lovers. An interesting article, though abysmally reported - they're bower, not dower, birds ... and the picture is of a robot sage grouse ....
13 Feb. New York Times. Bald Eagles Turn Heads at a Gathering of Fans. Lots of eagles in Connecticut as well.
13 Feb. New York Times. Record Number of Peregrine Falcons in New York State. Peregrines now breeding in several Connecticut cities too.
12 Feb. Washington Post. For First Time, Study Tracks Paths of Migratory Songbirds. New migration information on wood thrushes and purple martins.
26 Jan. BBC News. Slimming odds for emperor penguin.
26 Jan. New York Times. Identifying the Bird, When Not Much Bird Is Left. Forensic ornithology.
21 Jan. Hartford Courant. Tracking Gulls' Travels Far And Wide. Ring-billed gull movements closer to home.
16 Jan. BBC News. Tags reveal birds' ocean odyssey. What Manx shearwaters do on their winter holidays.
14 Jan. BBC News. Earliest bird 'heard like an emu'.
14 Jan. BBC News. Poo clue to ancient bird's diet. What did moas really eat?
14 Jan. BBC News. Dino feathers 'were for display'. More on early feathers and the transition from dinosaurs to birds.
9 Jan. Hartford Courant. Piping Plover Population Increases Along Connecticut Shore.
9 Jan. BBC News. Protecting Argentina's parrot colony.
23 Dec. The Economist. The loneliness of the Chinese birdwatcher. More on the development of birding in China.
23 Dec. Wildlife Extra. Snowy owl tracking discovers unsuspected behaviour – Winter on the icepack. Recent research on snowy owls, which have been less uncommon than usual in CT this winter.
19 Dec. The Economist. Twitching China. Birding advice for 2009.
12 Dec. Science Daily. Why Some Bird Species Lay Only One Egg.
12 Dec. Bird Guides. Killer mice bring albatross population closer to extinction. Another invasive predator threatens seabirds.
27 Nov. The Economist. Blowin' in the wind. Not birds exactly, but kinda cool.
24 Nov. New York Times. Bald Eagles in Catskills Show Increasing Mercury.
19 Nov. BBC News. Sparrow numbers 'plummet by 68%'. Bad news continues for "English" sparrows.
19 Nov. BBC News. Rare penguin took over from rival. Old penguins.
13 Nov. BBC News. Songbirds 'sing from hymn sheet'. Two new papers about the neurological basis for bird song.
13 Nov. New York Times. Hawaii: Birds Hasten Digital TV Switch. Protecting Hawaiian petrels.
6 Nov. BBC News. Climate pushing lemmings to cliff. Not directly about birds, but lemming abundance is known to affect populations of predators (such as owls) and other prey species (such as shorebirds).
23 Oct. BBC News. New feathered dinosaur discovered. More cool stuff from China.
22 Oct. Washington Post. Birds Fly More Than 7,000 Miles Nonstop, Study Shows. Yet more evidence that godwits have one of the most amazing migrations in the bird world.
8 Oct. CNN. Flight of the penguins: Rescuers return wayward birds home.
7 Oct. New York Times. Audubon's Species: Bird Art, in All Its Glory.
1 Oct. BBC News. Malta 'bird slaughter' condemned. An old story, sadly.
29 Sept. American Bird Conservancy press release. President Bush Asks Congress to Ratify Key International Conservation Treaty. Proposed protection for albatrosses moves to the U.S. Senate.
22 Sept. BBC News. World's common birds 'declining'. ("Keeping common bird common" isn't working. See related press release from BirdLife, here.)
25 Aug. New York Times. Friend or Foe? Crows Never Forget a Face, It Seems. (Never study an animal that is clever than you are ...)
20 Aug. New York Times. Infected Galápagos Penguins Could Get Avian Malaria. (Not such good news about penguins.)
20 Aug. Der Spiegel. Penguin Granted Norwegian Knighthood. (Better news about penguins.)
20 Aug. BBC News. Birds 'off the pace' with warming. (More on avian responses to climate change.)
20 Aug. BBC News. Magpie 'can recognise reflection'. (Birds brains .... yeah, right.)
20 Aug. The Economist. Meet the new neighbours. (An unexpected link between the declining housing market and bird populations.)
20 Aug (published Apr 21). The New Yorker. The way of the puffin. (Sadly, this entire article on the not-so-obvious links between golf, birding and China is not on-line - but it is brilliant so track it down.)
9 July. BBC News. Fossil feathers reveal their hues. (Neat new results from Yale.)
1 July. New York Times. A New Twist in Penguins' Already Uncertain Future. (Effects of climate on penguins.)
1 July. New York Times. In Sleep, We Are Birds of a Feather. (New research on how birds sleep.)
27 June. BBC News. Biometrics picks up the penguins. (A new twist to bird ID.)
27 June. New Scientist. Bird evolutionary tree given a shake by DNA study. (This new study includes quite a few taxonomic surprises.)
27 June. New Scientist. Secret sleep of birds revealed in brain scans.
26 June. Bird Guides. Taken from the nest! (Bad news from where I grew up - and where nesting peregrines were unknown when I lived there.)
25 June. Science News. Migrating Songbirds Learn Survival Tips On The Fly.
25 June. Science News. Diversity Among Bird Populations Found To Reduce Threat Of West Nile Virus.
25 June. Science News. Birds Communicate Reproductive Success In Song.
24 June. The New Yorker. Bird Brain. (From a few weeks ago, a long article on Irene Pepperberg's research on parrot intelligence.)
24 June. WFCR Field Notes. Click on titles for direct links: Why Birds Sing & The Complexity of Bird Song. (Also from a couple of weeks ago, two audio pieces on bird song.)
16 June. New Scientist. Wiggling bird genitals give the ladies good vibrations. (A rather salacious contribution, but ...) Original research article is here.
11 June. BBC News. Bird family trees predict decline. (A phylogeny for British Birds used to predict at-risk species.)
10 June. The Economist. Storking the ancient skies. (Not a bird, but cool nonetheless.)
10 June. Science News. New Zealand Bird Outwits Alien Predators. (Nesting behaviour changes in response to predators - birds are smarter than you might think!)
10 June. Science News. The Cormorant: 'Black Plague' Or An Example Of Successful Species Conservation? (Not just an issue in North America.)
5 June. New York Times. 7 Condors Poisoned by Lead; One Dies. (The latest on condor recovery efforts.)
4 June. Science News. Feather Colors Affect Bird Physiology, Barn Swallows Show. (New work on the interaction between plumage color and body chemistry.)
3 June. New York Times. Same-Sex Parents in Albatross Colony. (New evidence for a phenomenon that was first found in gulls and terns.)
15 May. National Geographic News. Shorebirds "Defy Gravity" to Eat, Study Says. (Why phalaropes are even cooler than you thought.) More here (with a movie!).
10 May. The Economist. Naughty nesters. (Cuckoos doing what cuckoos do best.)
8 May. BBC News. Great tits cope well with warming. (Bird responses to climate change.)