“The thing about zebras,” my safari guide said, “is that they always look a little fat. But that’s just gas. Zebras are full of gas.” I am on a 10-day safari trip in Botswana, and so far I have learned that enough baboons can take down a leopard and that zebras are flatulent. I have […]

Military humor is often crude and sometimes too terrible to explain in detail in the hallowed pages of this fine, family-friendly magazine. Nevertheless, gross humor that would disturb many civilians is an important part of the military. So, in the spirit of conveying to you, faithful reader, a better sense of the military life, the […]

Like most reality TV shows, like most TV shows, like most storytelling, period, TLC’s My 600-lb Life depends on a certain predictable, unchanging format. But the specific way in which this one expresses its repetitiveness is uniquely depressing. The pattern approximately mirrors the tradition of celebrating Fat Tuesday just before Lent in cities like New […]

In 2003, director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland introduced the concept of fast zombies to popular culture with their apocalypse film 28 Days Later. In 2025, I have finally forgiven them for it.  28 Years Later comes 23 years after the release of 28 Days Later. If you’re confused by the titling format, just […]