Behind the Scenes at the ROXY

The Roxy in Northampton was and still is one of my favorite places to see a movie.  It's not a multiplex - it is not even a duplex - it is a good old fashion movie theatre.

The theatre was first opened on Feb. 1st, 1921 as the LYRIC Theatre by Harry Hartman who previously had several other nickelodeons in Northampton.

As a child my Mom took the cousins and I to see movies there.  I saw every Elvis movie at the Roxy and for some reason a lot of gladiator movies to.  I remember seeing Ben Hur - it must of been a special showing of it because we even got a program book.  I still have it somewhere.

If you want to read about the history of the Roxy - they have a website -  http://www.roxytheaternorthampton.com/roxyhistory.htm

Why do I still like the Roxy - $3.00 movies and the best buttered popcorn in town!  But today was special - We Sing - North Catasauqua's Community Choir held rehearsal there.  We will be preforming tomorrow October 20, 2013 at 3:00 PM.  The concert costs $5.00 this year, but only because we are raising money for a good cause. A diabetic alert dog for Matt Globosits.

I was behind the stage years ago and the owner had posters and newpaper articles of all the headliners that performed at the Roxy.  Since they did some remodeling some are gone but still backstage is awesome.  It's like how I  imagine Broadway in the old days to be.  I have a terrible urge to sing:



Overture, curtain, lights
This is it, the night of nights
No more rehearsing and nursing a part
We know every part by heart
Overture, curtains, lights
This is it, we'll hit the heights
And oh what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it

Tonight what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it

In case you don't know what that is from it is was Bug's Bunny and Daffy Duck sang in the beginning of the Bugs Bunny Show.

The wood, old posters, old furniture, the brick, the darkness - stepping out on stage - the bright lights - the feeling - priceless. 

If you can --join us tomorrow at the Roxy for We Sing's Concert.  If not enjoy a movie there sometime, because it is THE ROXY.

and that's Another day in Catasauqua........

The Praying Mantis's of Catasauqua

In my front yard

My first encounter with the magical Praying Mantis was a bug collection for school that one of my cousins was doing.   They had just stuck a pin through it and were watching it pray as it was dying; and my heart went out to this poor little insect that was so close to God it would pray.  Now that I am older, I still marvel at the praying mantis especially since I moved to my house on Howertown Road in Catasauqua.

Each spring a bevy of the creatures hatch from cocoons that they laid in the bushes and always 1 or 2 hang around all summer and fall and I can continue to watch them grow.  They are an odd insect.  Last weekend I went up to one on the bushes out front and said hi, and then watched it turned its head and those two big bug eyes look at me.  It was like a bug horror movie, I backed away.  But since then I found our some interest facts about the praying mantis.

1)  The belief that it is illegal to kill a praying mantis (a crime carrying a $50 fine as a punishment) has been floating around since the 1950s, and no one has an idea where this bit of insectoid legal apocrypha came from. There is not (and never has been) any federal or state law prohibiting the killing of praying mantises. They're certainly useful insects that are best left alone since they eat a lot of other bugs we consider pests, but they're hardly an endangered species. (If they were endangered, killing them would carry a fine far heftier than $50.) Maybe because they're considered beneficial insects and have such an unusual posture (they're prayin', fer gosh sake!) people literally thought it a crime to kill them.

2) Mantids are closely related to cockroaches and termites. These three seemingly different insects – mantids, termites, and cockroaches – are believed to descend from a common ancestor.

3) Female mantids sometimes eat their mates. Yes, it's true, female praying mantids do cannibalize their sex partners. In some instances, she'll even behead the poor chap before they've consummated their relationship. As it turns out, a male mantid is an even better lover when his brain, which controls inhibition, is detached from his abdominal ganglion, which controls the actual act of copulation. (There is so much I want to say here but I am biting my tongue on this one)

4)  Mantids are unique among insects in their ability to turn their heads a full 180 degrees. 
Try to sneak up on a praying mantis, and you may be startled when it looks over its shoulder at you. No other insect can do so.  (This is I know since it scared the heck out of me)

5)  The word "mantis" comes from the Greek word meaning prophet.

Over in the bushes in the front yard

6)  The European Mantis (mantis religiosa), a native of Southern Europe became the official State Insect of Connecticut on October 1st, 1977!

7)  Did you know that most of the about 2,000 species' of mantids worldwide are found in Asia?
There are about 20 U.S. native mantids. Two species, the Chinese Mantis and European Mantis, were purposely introduced to control pests in farms and gardens.

Now I always thought of them as a harmless creature until I saw the video of one them killng a hummingbird. Yes a bird - you can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neFuXVumxK8  

Well, I guess that's it for now, sorry I haven't been blogging much, I guess I gotta get back in the swing of it.  In the meantime, that's another day in Catasauqua