Quick Review: The Eagle

No, this is not about one of the hundreds of leather bars named "The Eagle" in countless cities (although, strangely, not in Philadelphia, as we have the Bike Stop instead). This is about a movie. And not just any movie, but the one in which Channing Tatum had hot water scald his penis during filming. Now, I've found it difficult to pick out movies to see lately. Nothing really jumped out. One day I went to the theater and left without seeing anything. Another day I nearly broke down and saw "Yogi Bear" because someone told me it wasn't that bad. (Fortunately, it finally disappeared from my local multiplexes this weekend.) Finally, though, I broke down and bought a ticket to "The Eagle." And it wasn't that bad. Tatum, burned equipment and all, plays a young Roman officer in 140 AD who seeks to solve the mystery of what happened to his father's legion and its standard, the titular bird, both of which went missing in northern Britain 20 years before. After recovering from an injury that resulted in his being honorably discharged, he travels north, accompanied by a British slave (Jamie Bell), and into dangerous territory. Will the two bond during their journey? Will there be fighting and killing (as much as can be shown in a PG-13 movie)? Will there be plot twists? Well, sure. Will the Roman eagle be recovered? That would be telling. Will we see Channing Tatum's scorched member? No. But hey, you can't say he didn't suffer for his art. My grade: C-plus.

My Sunday Funday

You probably already know about the stunning come-from-behind win by the Eagles, who scored 28 points in the final 8 minutes of the game to beat the New York Giants. If you read my Twitter/Facebook updates you know I won a 50-50 raffle at Tabu. I thought I'd take a moment and fill in a few blanks.

The reason I was at Tabu to begin with was because there was a softball fundraiser for the Tabu Wolves. (Brief digression: my team, the Nighthawks, was also sponsored by Tabu in 2010 but the bar is only sponsoring the Wolves next year.) I've mentioned my discomfort going to bars, especially if it's crowded and I'm alone. I'm not a great socializer. I went back and forth in my mind Sunday morning when I woke up, deciding whether or not to go. I waited until the last possible minute to get out of bed and shower and get dressed in order to get there by 1 pm. I finally decided that I wanted to support the fundraiser, I figured there would be a few people I know there and, at the very least, the Eagles-Giants game would be there to distract me from the whole scene.

While it was crowded, it wasn't overly crowded so it wasn't too bad. I spent a little time now and then saying hello and talking to some of my current or former teammates (well, mostly former), so although I still had some of that awkward out-of-place feeling, it wasn't as bad as it might have been.

Besides the 50-50 raffle and sale of jello shots, to raise money the team ran one of those grid games (usually you see them during the Super Bowl) where you fill in your name in a box, then digits 0-9 are posted for each team in random order,