Goodbye Captain Eo

I can remember sitting at a friend's kitchen table and hearing "Thriller" for the first time. The synthesizers, the beat, that creepy voice telling a tale of ghouls "getting down" - I was mesmerized. And even though I was pretty young at the time, that memory has stayed with me for over twenty years.

I bet you have a similar story to tell, and fond memories of the childhood icon who had us wearing silver gloves and practicing our moon walk. So in the spirit of the widespread MJ tributes out there today (and because so many of you asked) here are a few Michael Jackson cakes:

The year was 1984, and everyone at the party was soooo jealous.

Care posted this over at Craftin' on the Couch. It's her sixth birthday cake, and I think you can see it was love at first sight. :)

Moving on to more recent creations...

Oddly enough, at a museum near Budapest there is a life-sized Michael Jackson statue made from marzipan:

Marzipan is an almond paste, by the way. So this isn't technically a cake, but it IS edible - technically. That's my excuse for including it, anyway.

And lastly, this morning Daun D. sent me the tribute cake her office ordered:

Although with all that airbrushing, cracked icing, improper spacing, and head-scratching yellow and gray color combo, it looks like a tribute to Cake Wrecks as well as to the King of Pop. Which is only appropriate, I suppose.

Plus, Daun's office had a moon walk contest, complete with prizes for the winners. See, now that is just awesome. In fact, if you're reading this at work I think you should organize moon walk-offs immediately. And take lots of video, too; you never know when your friends might need to blackmail you.

And finally, here's a snippet of one of my all-time favorite MJ incarnations: Captain Eo. (This was a 3D film at Disney, and I still hold out hope that they'll bring it back, even if just for a few days.)

If you want to watch the whole thing, go here.

Thanks to Rob D. & Liz for helping me find these cakes!

- Related Wreckage: See Michael Jackson's 16th birthday cake here.

NOTE: I know Michael Jackson is a controversial character, but let's keep today's comments in good taste, Ok?

Transformers Going Down in Flames

I recently got an e-mail from Chunks the Pioneer, who told me she is a HUGE Transformers fan, and naturally went to the first 11:59 PM showing of Transformers 2. She also said,

"After seeing it [the movie] I got to thinking, why haven’t we seen any Transformer wrecks in honor of this occasion??? Please don't make me beg!"

Well, Chunks - may I call you Chunks? - first and foremost, I find it interesting that seeing Transformers 2 made you want to see (other?) things that are poorly made.

Hah! I kid, I kid. (Or do I?)

That said, I'm happy to share my extended collection of Transformers Wrecks with you. 'Course, you'd think there would be several Transformers cake kits out by now, but no, there's still just the one:

As you can see they spared no expense with it, though. Why, that piece of cardboard is actually printed in color.

The best thing about this design, however, is that no Wreckerator on earth can replicate it. It's true. "Pointy" is simply beyond this groups' skill set:

Optimus Prime battles the red fingers of doom.

Optimus Prime battles the great ketchup spill of '09.

Oh, wait, I take it back: this Wreckerator did manage "pointy":

But with fronds like those, who needs anemones? Eh? Eh?

And lastly, my favorite:

Mmm. Speckly.

Interestingly enough, this Wreckerator's '72 Pinto has those exact same flames airbrushed on the front bumper. Which is pretty darn ironic, if you think about it.

Hey Meagan D., Misty M., Alicia A., & Barbara N., what do you call an Autobot in denial?
Answer: A boat!

(Get it? Denial? De- Nile? The river? Yeah, us ex-JC skippers rule, thankyouverramuch.)

- Related Wreckage: Optimus Wrecks

UPDATE: My apologies to Chunks the Pioneer, who I mistakenly assumed was a guy, since she is, in fact, a girl. And thanks for having such a great sense of humor about it, Chunks. ;)