This never happens: Totally unrealistic writing plot devices that seem common in films, television
You’re watching TV, someone bellies up to the bar, declares, “Drinks are on the house!” More than 50 people cheer, racing right up.
I’ve seen this happen maybe 100 times in films/television shows — but never once in real life. Am I missing out? Surrounding myself with cheap people?
Similarly, TV/film characters say, “I’ll have a beer.” They never specify which kind, but the bartender “knows” what to give them. Should we try this too?
Once characters get their beer, they drink a few sips, and they leave the rest. …
Why The Bible is suddenly selling out with the most popular ones back-ordered through August
A State of Michigan ad shows doctors handing parents a newborn baby with an owner’s manual. Takeaway: “Babies don’t come with manuals — so try government services.”
Novelist Anne Lamott echoes this attitude: “Everyone is flailing through this life without an owner’s manual.” Except humanity does have an owner’s manual, and interest in that book has soared since the Pandemic began.
- Bible sales began jumping during the depths of March 2020. By January 2021, the №1 podcast (of all podcasts) was on the Bible.
- The Bible in a Year podcast went to №1 in January 2021, beating all podcasts, and…
The Big House, America’s largest football stadium, was a well-oiled machine during the worst of the Pandemic
ANN ARBOR, Mich . — With more than 60 percent of the state having at least one dose and cases nosediving, Michigan Stadium ended its six-month-old vaccination clinic Friday.
“Six months and 90,000+ people later — the vaccination clinic at the largest stadium in the United States closes today,” U-M spokesman Jared Wadley said. “I want to thank and congratulate the other volunteers, staff, and nurses for making this a huge success.”
More than 4.6 million people in Michigan received the vaccination. …
AP/NORC Poll: 28% have just 1 person — or no one — they trust to help with a resume, connect to workplaces
How alone do Americans feel? Karen Glidden, a 72-year-old Champion, Michigan widow, told pollsters she feels “like I’m in a prison most of the time.”
Like a record number of Americans, she lived far from relatives and felt intense social isolation, especially during the Pandemic. Vaccinations helped, but she has diabetes and limited vision — and then her service dog died last month. The question for many:
Who do you trust to help you? For decades going back to the 1970s, trust in institutions eroded. After 9/11, the public was told to be wary of potential attacks from terrorists. After…
New book “Trump: A One Man Show” reveals a Trump many never knew
Film Director Robert Orlando debuts his Silence Patton film on Newsmax-TV on June 12, three days before releasing his book, Citizen Trump: A One Show. Is there a connection?
“Working on the Patton and Trump projects, I feel like I’ve just spent many months talking to both of these men daily, and it’s increasingly apparent both Patton and Trump were very similar warriors fighting the exact same forces,” Orlando said.
“Both battled communism, warning Americans about Leftist totalitarian forces, both were sidelined for their ‘behavior,’ both were silenced and kept coming back.”
A New Life and Career for Kwame Kilpatrick? After the Rise and Fall of Detroit’s First Hip Hop Mayor
The resurrection of a new Kwame Kilpatrick — returning to a Detroit church Sunday
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick marked his 51st birthday Tuesday by returning to the news headlines announcing his latest comeback.
In his first interview since Donald Trump commuted his 28-year prison sentence on January 20, Detroit’s “first hip hop mayor” announced he’s getting married and is ready for redemption, resurrection, and a new career.
“Sometimes your gift takes you to a place that your character is not prepared to handle,” Kilpatrick said in a documentary about his startling rise and fall.
One decade ago, Kilpatrick was convicted of 24 crimes, including racketeering, extortion, mail/wire fraud, bribery, and tax violations. He…
Across Michigan, COVID positivity rate from tests falls below 3 percent, lowest infection rate in a year
DETROIT — Last April 6, 2020, St. John Ascension Detroit Hospital hit “peak COVID-19,” when 75 percent of its 400 beds were filled with 295 COVID patients.
On June 7, the hospital hit a new low for cases: only nine patients had COVID-19, with only one being serious enough to be kept on a ventilator. The next morning the number was down to seven.
“Detroit was the epicenter of the first wave of COVID around the country, and what we learned in Southeast Michigan we were able to share with other markets,” Dr. …
Being cut off from community during lockdowns fueled hunger for the Word, Bible studies
Millions now hear the entire Bible because “The Bible in the Year” became the world’s №1 podcast, selling out The Great Adventure Catholic Bible.
“I wanted to read the Bible in a way that shaped my lens,” said Father Mike Schmitz. “I wanted to be able to read the story of the people of Israel and realize ‘OK, this is part of our story of living in a broken world — but striving to be faithful.’’’
Every day the podcast appears on millions of phones. …
Author of top book, podcast: We must build a ‘Culture of Scripture’ for our children, grandchildren
The №1 Bible begat the №1 podcast. Both began because a 25-year-old wanted to turn the world’s most complex book into something simple.
Jeff Cavins, now 63, was raised Catholic and spent 12 years as an evangelical Protestant pastor before returning to the Catholic Church. He remembers the turning point in his lifelong quest.
It was the 1980s, and he was sitting in his car listening to a cassette tape in a University of Minnesota parking lot. The answer to Cavins’ biggest Bible question came from a totally unexpected source: archaeology.
Bible college taught details — but not the overarching story
“It was in my first year as a senior…
After a stormy ever-changing year, Robert Orlando provides new clarity to ‘Citizen Trump’ story
Ten months after the debut of Citizen Trump: A One Man Show, director Robert Orlando is back with a clarifying director’s cut now available online.
Like many deep thinkers, Orlando’s perspective on Donald Trump evolves with the evidence (he calls this updated version of the film a mea culpa).
The new film debuts as Simon & Schuster releases the book version of the same story on June 15. Below is a question and answer with the director/author:
Why come back so quickly with a second version of the same film?
Orlando: “For one, to be practical. When I made it…
Joseph Serwach
Story + Identity = Mission. Author, Writer: Journalism, Leadership Culture, Communications, Religion, Education, History. Inspiration: Catholic, Polish.
