Tag Archives: Spaghetti

The Spaghetti Harvest – I Found It!

Posted on October 6, 2008 | Leave a comment

So I’ve been looking for some high quality footage of the Spaghetti Harvest footage for years, this still isn’t that great but it’s completely watchable (previously all I could find was some really crummy footage on the BBC site).

I saw it as a child, a local theater generally ran mini-documentaries (skiing, skateboarding, car building, etc.) instead of cartoons before a movie, and I’ve always remembered it. I knew it was a joke but it was totally deadpan; I’m sure to this day some people think that spaghetti grows on trees. Most people don’t even believe me when I say that there is a such a mini-documentary.

It wasn’t until years later I learned it was part of a (normally serious) BBC show they showed on April 1st, 1957 (which upset some people). It’s believed to be one of the first times television was used for a April Fools Joke. A lot detailed history, including the text of the narration, from the Hoaxapedia Article Swiss “Spaghetti Harvest”.

Direct link to the Spaghetti Harvest YouTube video (in case my imbedded footage doesn’t work). I finally found this since I saw someone stumble onto my site looking for info on it and decided to Google it again. But I’m still looking for a higher quality copy if anyone finds one on-line or knows where I can purchase it.

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Still looking for The Spaghetti Harvest

Posted on March 24, 2006 | 3 comments

SpaghettiSo it’s almost April Fools day and once again I’m looking for a copy of The Spaghetti Harvest.

…a segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed to an unusually mild winter. The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show’s highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched a rural Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets.

I’ve been trying to find this for ages and someone must have a copy somewhere that I can get.

The BBC played this on April 1, 1957 on a serious show (which upset some people). I saw it as a child, a local theater ran it instead of cartoons before a movie, and I’ve always remembered it. Most people don’t even believe me when I say that there is a such a documentary so I’d love to get a copy. FYI, there is an small (awful) copy of it at the above linked sites.

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Have you seen “The Spaghetti Harvest”?

Posted on August 5, 2005 | 6 comments

SpaghettiSo when I was a kid the local movie theater, in lieu of cartoons, would show short documentary type shows. These 3-7 minute shorts might be on skatboarding, mountian climbing or any old thing (some were new, some were old). The one I’ll always remember is about the annual Swiss Spaghetti Harvest, they show how they harvest the spaghetti trees and lay it out to dry. You can watch a low quality version (in RealPlayer) and you’ll get the idea of it.

Update: I noticed the direct link (click the image) was broken. So I’m moving this back up towards the top so you can take a gander if you missed it the first time.

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Posted in general, reviews

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Grace Hopper

Posted on July 17, 2004 | Leave a comment

Quote of the Day (from my today info on the lower right of my page).

A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.
Grace Murray Hopper

I never knew she said that. She’s this wonderfully crazy Admiral in the Navy, had a lot to do with computing. She passed away in 1992 and I know I saw her on Letterman a time or two. She was great with analogies (which I love) when talking about technology. I remember seeing her on some show talking about the speed of computers and explaining it quite well with spaghetti and pepper.

The other thing that she’s attributed with (which I’m more certain she actually said) is:

The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.

She’s got her own entry in TV Tomb and I think there is a big computing conference with her name in the title.

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bubble, bubble, toil and trouble! – saturday8

Posted on June 20, 2004 | Leave a comment
1. when was the last time you cooked for friends?
Probably Easter, I had the whole family over, probably about 15 of us?
2. what did you cook?
Ham, but all I really had to do is reheat it.
3. what is the dish/meal/course that you prepare exceptionally well, and what makes it SO good?
People generally like my spaghetti (meat sauce, bread sticks, etc.). Nothing super about it but it’s just that there is generally nothing wrong with it. I make waffles for a good breakfast but that’s always hard to coordinate.
4. the girl who cooked for my sorta-bf brought her sister-in-law over to help her cook. they both wound up burning themselves all over the kitchen. when was the last time you gave yourself a good burn in the kitchen? do you recall what you were preparing?
Probably trying to pull something out of the over I was reheating on a piece of foil instead of on a pan.
5. the s-i-l wound up putting cheddar cheese on a chicken, and calling it the main course. since my sorta-bf and his friends are israeli, they didn’t understand the concept of ruining a bone-in chicken with cheddar. what was the last meal you ate that really confused you – maybe you thought you were ordering one thing, but got something completely different, or a friend/lover cooked something you’d never seen before?
I don’t really cook with recipies, but I just eat the basics so if it’s got more than a few ingredients and someone else cooked it I’m sure I looked at it funny.
6. how old were you when you first began to cook?
Little, I grew up with a single mom so I’m sure I was still in elementary school. Maybe 9?
7. what are your thoughts on cooking? love it? hate it? take it or leave it?
I’m fine with it, it’s cooked exactly the way I like it when I do it!
8. if your SO suddenly developed 5* chef-quality cooking abilities and he/she was to cook you an amazing romantic meal him/herself, what would you love to have them prepare for you?
Something they thought I would like.

From saturday8.

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