Reaching Past Pasta Ads that Feature La Donna E Mobile

Every now and then, I've tried finding a TV commercial that advertised pasta and used a particularly catchy classical piece. I've long since forgotten the name of the pasta and most of the pasta words. I had never learned the name of the music until a few weeks ago. With some further effort beyond doing a playlist lookup for my local classical music radio station, I narrowed it down to "La Donna E Mobile" from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto. ("La Donna e Mobile" is a 43-sec instrumental autoplay audio that loops.)

I figured it would be easy to find the TV ad on YouTube, but it wasn't so. I expanded my searches. I've wracked my brain and looked all over the web. I posted to a forum requesting help in finding the ad. My inquiry included my feeble recall of lyrics that mention pasta shapes, such as mostaccioli, vermecilli, …. It seems the singer mentioned about 20 pasta shapes.

A couple of suggestions were close, but not correct. "The Pasta Song" has loads of pasta shapes in both lyrics and images. Not the correct song, however. Be forewarned that the images are mouth-watering and maybe hunger inducing! "Leggos ad by Grey Melbourne" starts out with a charming choreography of dancing tomatoes, and ends with their total destruction into sauce. Integration with music equipment is fascinating! Right music, incorrect lyrics.

I had an interesting journey seeking the ad. Besides encountering some nice performances, the following resources helped provide some overview of the opera plot.

• "Giuseppe Verdi - La donna è mobile from Rigoletto - Frascati Symphonic"
• "Luciano Pavarotti - La Donna È Mobile (Rigoletto)"
• "Vitas La Donna e Mobile HQ Official Version - English subtitles"
  This video's description includes Italian and English lyrics. The video fascinates me for the character who sings very high notes, starting at about 45 seconds. To me, he resembles a "younger Brent Spiner as Star Trek TNG's Commander Data".

Deeper curiosity about the plot led me to "Rigoletto Synopsis The Story of Verdi's Rigoletto", which provides info about the composer, characters, and summary about the entire play.

My curiosity about pronunciation percolated. "How to pronounce La donna è mobile" and "'La donna è mobile' Verdi (Rigoletto)" seem sensible resources.

The following links describe the popularity of La Donna e Mobile for various products—Doritos, tomato paste, Dancing with the Stars, Nestle Choco Crossies (cookies), AXE (body spray), …

• "How Rigoletto’s ‘La Donna e Mobile’ Has Dominated Pop Culture"
• "From tomato paste to Doritos: Rigoletto' aria a popular refrain"
• "The Commercial Domination of ‘La donna è mobile’"
• "What is the name of the opera song that used to be on a spaghetti commercial?"
  This forum topic looked like a promising resource for my inquiry. Alas, I think the pasta product's use of that song might go back way too far for most people to remember.

I have almost totally given up on trying to find the ad (eh, from maybe early 60s). I suppose someone's parent or older friend who worked there AND spotted this resource or my article could specify the company name. Long shot, I think.

Bur Oak Acorn, Walnut-sized Nut

I spotted the curious-looking bur oak acorn just before Halloween. The acorn had a bushy cap, like a short-dreadlocks hairstyle. The acorn itself seemed about the size of a walnut. After I took it home, I found that the cap easily detached. The composite shows the acorn and cap with measuring stick.

I needed help with IDing the acorn; I made a composite picture with measuring stick, the acorn, and some live oak acorns for acorn-size comparisons.

Mama mia! Like imagining a bunch of munchins grouped near Jabba the Hutt!

I posted the comparison image to LinkedIn with a request for ID help. A LinkedIn connection kindly IDed it as a bur oak acorn and provided a link that redirected to Etsy’s “Popular items for burr oak acorns”. What an eyeful!

TexasSmartScape’s “Bur Oak Details” provides a general-interest description suitable for would-be tree owners. The acorn size info confirms largeness—“The acorns can be up to 2 inches in size”. The cap description is “thick mossy”.

"What Is This Thing? Bur oak acorn cap" goes into great detail about the cap. The site shows some pictures of size variations of one tree’s acorns and leaves. (Other comparison pictures show acorns and caps for bur oak against some other oaks.)

gargantuan, monster acorn caps from the bur oak tree (Quercus macrocarpa) … weird because of the shaggy ornamentation encircling the cap. … Caps in the southern portion have long fringe hairs while others at the far north of its range are much smaller and barely have any shag at all. … The shagginess and the size of the cap are the reason for one of the tree's other common names: mossy-cup oak. … The Latin name macrocarpa translates to "large fruit." The acorns of bur oak are the largest of all the native oaks.

"How to Identify Oaks Using Acorns" was helpful in identifying the smallish acorns I collected in the yard. These are shiny, stripey, and sleek, and matched pictures of live oak acorns on the site.

Although I also have Texas red oak trees (Quercus buckleyi)—or trees closely related to them, the site’s pictures of red oaks' acorns more resemble the nuts I’ve seen in spring sproutings. (I’d actually transplanted a few over the years. I kid about squirrels burying such nuts and forgetting about them later.)

“How to Identify Oaks by the Acorns” is another source for identifying oaks by their acorns. The websites’ approaches are different, but helpful with content and images.

Are you ambitious enough to try to process acorns for consumption? “Foraging for Acorns: Identification, Processing + Acorn Recipes” is loaded with how-to information.

November 30, 2022: Four years later, encounter with oak bur trees, leaves, and acorns, not merely a solo acorn. Visit "BurOakTreesSpottedAndAcornsPiqued". Also view the video.

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"Bur Oak Acorn, Walnut-sized Nut" (primer bur oak acorn info)
"Bur Oak Trees Spotted and Acorns Piqued"
"End of 2022 Re-viewing Bur Oak, Deer Bookends