Category: News Page 1 of 30

This category will, no doubt, be spending time reporting on the antics of the Trump Administration, but natural disasters and other such news will also qualify.

HollyShorts Film Festival Runs from Aug. 13-Aug. 23, 2026

By Connie Wilson

On August 1, 2026

In Movies, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Reviews

HollyShorts 2026 Champions Authentic LGBTQ+ Voices with Diverse Short Film Line-Up

Tanzyn Crawford and Emily Grant in Souvenir

The Oscar® and BAFTA-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival returns for its 22nd edition from August 13–23, 2026, at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood, presenting an outstanding LGBTQIA+ programme that celebrates the breadth and diversity of queer storytelling.

Holly Shorts Film Festival (August 13-23), a qualifying festival for the Oscars, is gearing up with some 430 short film offerings.

Justin H. Min stars in Callback in which a seemingly joyful career breakthrough throws a couple into emotional turmoil, while (0,∞) features Brandon Wilson, Alex Blue Davis, Marianne Rendón and Cheech Manohar in a heartfelt story about two men navigating the surprisingly emotional process of applying for a mortgage together. Renée Marie Petropoulos offers an intimate portrait of teenage love and consent in her SXSW-winning short Souvenir starring Tanzyn Crawford and Emily Grant, and Gallina examines childhood friendship and belonging through the eyes of a young boy confronted with impossible choices.

Carlton Daniel´s FLY follows an ambitious ballet dancer whose rivalry blossoms into something deeper during auditions for a coveted apprenticeship, while It Comes in Waves captures a young man’s quiet awakening over one transformative summer. HIGH VOLTAGE explores the blurred line between friendship and first love, and Hummingbird follows a sheltered Catholic schoolgirl who risks everything for one unforgettable night with her openly queer classmate. Delay centres on a gay Chinese father whose journey to attend his son’s wedding takes an unexpected turn, while Diego explores sexuality, disability and masculinity within a close-knit Romani family.

Horror titles include Camp Oleander, transforming the conversion camp narrative into an unsettling folk horror, while Barrett Carroll makes his directorial debut with Eat, blending queer desire with visceral body horror after two strangers connect through a kink app. The Beard imagines a chilling near-future America where being queer has become a felony, and In The Flesh delivers dark psychological horror through the story of a seemingly perfect housewife harbouring dangerous obsessions. Method Cowboy offers a razor-sharp satire of Hollywood and performative identity as a struggling actor pretends to be gay to land the role of a lifetime, while Scissors reinvents the slasher movie with a queer twist, turning the hunter into the hunted.

Among the Animation selection are The Lovers, which reimagines Filipino mythology through the story of a seafood chef drawn into a forbidden romance with a mythical sirena, while Addicted To It delivers a fast-paced and inventive satire of smartphone addiction.

Santiago Reyes and Luis Selgas in Save the Date

Other LGBTQ+ highlights include PANGEA, offering a lyrical meditation on love, memory and artistic reinvention as a woman spends one final day trying to revive both her former lover’s creativity and their shared past. The Late in Life Guide to Modern Day Lesbianism affectionately spoofs 1990s corporate training videos with a hilarious introduction to contemporary lesbian culture, while Betty St. Clair follows a Chinese American Drag Queen as she prepares for a high-stakes performance. Olivia Scott Welch and Savy Jackson stars in Audrey Cicerello´s Grown, while Ken Barnett stars in Eyal Resh´s Save the Date about an engaged couple trying to capture the perfect ´Save the Date´ photo.

Founded in 2005, HollyShorts has become one of the world’s leading showcases for short-form filmmaking, championing emerging talent while presenting work from acclaimed filmmakers across every genre. The festival continues to provide an important platform for LGBTQIA+ filmmakers whose work challenges conventions, celebrates authenticity and expands the possibilities of short-form storytelling.

Banks of America, Banking, and Me

By Connie Wilson

On July 8, 2026

In Editorial, Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Texas

Since things have been going so well with the BoA bank accounts in Chicago, it occurred to me that I should, perhaps, get some cash from the local TBK bank for my upcoming Chicago birthday trip.

I cruised through the ATM lane to ask for some cash. The screen remained very blank. I realized I had not really counted up to see how much cash I might need for my planned Birthday Extravaganza. I opened my wallet and counted my cash and realized—to my surprise— I still have two $100 bills left over from a whirlwind April trip to Reno to watch granddaughter Elise play volleyball. Time between games was spent in the casino.

I don’t know about you, but a $100 bill, for me, is about as useful as an umbrella on a sunny day.

It was clear that I was going to have to go into the bank: (1) find out why my debit card did not work in the ATM (2) to get smaller bills for the Reno hundreds—cash I might actually be able to use.

FIRST HURDLE

I was parked in back of the bank.

It was in the eighties. The back door of the bank was locked. I had to walk around the entire building to gain access to the front door entry to the interior lobby.

SECOND HURDLE

The second hurdle was explaining exactly what had gone “wrong” with the ATM machine and presenting my driver’s license.

My driver’s license—which is from Texas—had fallen into the interior of a purse roughly the size of a large laundry basket. I finally located it. I also dragged out my defunct Illinois driver’s license, even though it has a hole punched in it.

THIRD HURDLE

The clerk wanted to walk out to the ATM machine to see what, exactly, was happening with my card. She made reference to them having “worked on” the machine earlier in the day.

What I primarily wanted to do was to find a rest room. I had just spent 3 and 1/2 hours playing cards and drinking Diet Dr. Pepper. No rest room stop was factored into our trek outside.

Off to the ATM in the eighty-four degree heat we went. (The clerk seemed surprised to find no car at the ATM lane. She said, “Did you walk here?” I explained that I had parked my car and walked the entire circumference of the building to gain entrance, certainly what I was hoping would happen—-(not). I didn’t think other customers behind me would be too forgivig of a car abandoned in the ATM lane, so I drove to the parking area.

The ATM now spit out a message saying my debit card had expired.

FOURTH HURDLE

We went back inside. The bank clerk made phone calls. I was told I would either have to wait 6 weeks or drive to Iowa to the TBK Bank in Bettendorf—a bank I have never even been inside—to pick up my debit card.

So, bright and early today, I drove to the Bettendorf bank in the nearby state of Iowa across the I-74 bridge. After some explanation of the situation, I was given an envelope. The already-opened envelope had apparently been sent to my East Moline home when I was in Texas. Envelopes rarely make it to me in a timely fashion once I flee the Midwest. Usually, this results in a late fee if I don’t use a charge card that is connected to bank moneys (assuming they ever straighten out my bank money accounts, an account which the BofA bot recently told me could not be found at all.)

This envelope was probably one of many such missives that fell into the USPO trap. The post office will not forward credit cards, which is also not helpful.

FIFTH HURDLE

I now had the actual debit card, within the envelope. I was told to take it home and activate it.

[Have you read Installation #4 about activating my BoA card?]

I suggested that we activate the debit card right then and there.

I got the card out of the envelope, dialed the number on it, and followed the bot’s directions. Two times. The bot said it could not activate my credit card.

I suggested that the bank clerk try to activate my credit card.

She, also, followed the bot’s activation directions two times. It would not activate it for her, either.

MORE PHONE CALLS

Eventual diagnosis: the activation period ran out June 30th.

Today was July 7th.

Fortunately, since I had the foresight to try to activate the card BEFORE I left the bank, someone somewhere was able to direct the bank clerk and extend the time for me to activate my TBK debit card. I did tell the clerk that I never use it in Austin, Texas, because they don’t have TBK banks in Texas. She protested that there Are TBK banks in Texas.

She was right, but I am also right.

There are 2 TBK banks in Texas in Dallas. There are no TBK banks in Austin. That’s another reason I don’t just tell the BoA to “take this card and shove it.” BoA is my cash lifeline when we are in Austin.

I hope this is the end of my having to deal with bank bots and misleading directions , but somehow, I doubt it.

Wish me luck on July 15th in Chicago—again— with Felipe.

“Jaws” on the 4th at the Last Picture House

By Connie Wilson

On July 5, 2026

In Local, Movies, Music, News, Pop Culture, Reviews

“The Last Picture House,” July 4, 2026, “Jaws” under the stars…and the fireworks.

Cognizant of the fact that DJT has pretty much f****ed up the 250th anniversary of the United States, which, further hampered by sweltering weather nationwide, meant the Fourth of July was likely to be a wash, we decided to do something different.

That something different was a movie on the roof of the Last Picture House, after a dinner at a local restaurant (Bass Street Landing, Moline, Illinois) with great friends. While our friends are “regulars” and even have their own booth, we drove to the wrong location—one they moved from years ago. (Our bad.)

A lot of restaurants shut down on the Fourth of July. (Who knew?) We thoroughly enjoyed dining with our companions, but my ability to eat much was zilch, courtesy of Mounjaro. In honor of the occasion I drank 2 glasses of muscato (they didn’t have white zinfandel by the glass) and, post meal, shared a creme brulee. The restaurant has recently changed owners and has some options for smaller appetites, which is good if you’re me.

“Jaws” plays like a brand-new movie after 41 years (1975). Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and RichardDreyfuss were great. The John Williams score emphasized, again, how vital music is to set the mood of any film. I missed a similar signature theme in “Disclosure Day,” even though it was the Maestro who scored that one, too. The movie is set around the Fourth of July, so, a perfect choice.

One of the best things I ever did as a member of the Chicago Symphony was to invite my cousin Lois to come to Chicago back in 2008 and join me as John Williams directed the Chicago Symphony playing the themes from the famous films he scored.

My only non-positive remarks: there is no bathroom on the second floor/roof. It is 28 steps down to the lobby area rest rooms. Yes, they have an elevator. It is very slow; takes 70 seconds to get from floor #1 to floor #2 by actual second-hand on my watch. I noticed another old guy (who probably has diabetes, like me) who made 2 trips to the rest room, also. Shame on us.

If you spent 6 months unable to walk, climbing 120 stairs is not on your bucket list of “things you want to do.” Is it even on the list of “things I am ABLE to do? Well, yes. Although I spent 5 minutes in the elevator (2 trips up and down), I successfully climbed the 28 steps at the end of the movie, none the worse for wear. Initially, I was fearful of dehydration, since I passed out on the Red Carpet opening night of SXSW (2025), but by the time the movie began (8:45 p.m.) it was a balmy evening, perfect in many ways, one of which was being able to see the movie and at least four sets of fireworks simultaneously.

I highly recommend taking in a movie under the stars at the Last Picture House. Only caveat: I should have scaled down my intake of beverages. (Ahem).

Bank of America, Ghostly Tales of Route 66, & Me: Installment #4

By Connie Wilson

On June 29, 2026

In Editorial, Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture

ANCIENT HISTORY

The first check to clear the Security State Bank, dated Oct. 8th, 1941. It was for $971.97 to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

I am the daughter of a banker. He got the idea for a bank and organized the PTB to make it happen in 1941.

My father—John Corcoran, Jr.—was the four-term County Treasurer of Buchanan County, Iowa in Independence, Iowa. Dad didn’t win the post the normal way. He ran as a Democrat in the still-hugely-Republican state of Iowa and lost to the Republican opponent.

I think the Democrats drafted Dad in the first place because he had been Deputy Sheriff under August Hamelmann. Therefore, people knew him and liked him. He had some pretty hairy stories about being sent to the First Ward Park to quell a gathering of Depression-era men who were considering breaking into a local grocery store. During the Depression, when he was the cashier for the Fairbank Bank, he was told to sit up all night with a shotgun to prevent “a run on the bank.”

Dad lost in that election, but they called him up afterwards and said, “John, your opponent died before he could be sworn in. Do you want the job?” He said yes, and that put a Democrat in charge of Buchanan County’s money, which, given recent experiences at the state and national levels, was a very good idea for Iowa and the United States. (But I digress).

I worked in the bank in my teen-aged years, primarily helping prepare the monthly statements by reconciling checks, which were filed in a large vault with a time lock—a vault that I once got locked inside when people forgot about me. (I won a radio competition for the person calling in from the oddest location.) As I recall, that is how I got out of the vault when they (inadvertently) locked me inside the vault. I also know that Dad’s ill-fated attempt to single-handedly lift a safe (!) semi-crippled him for life. His temporary paralysis led to him becoming one of the very first patients to have spinal fusion surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, back in the forties, before I was born. It was that risky surgery or be paralyzed for life. Dad chose the risky new surgery, but he had back trouble from then on and lost some feeling in his feet (which meant that he couldn’t tell when he had stepped off a curb and his foot was on the ground). Still, thank heaven for advances in back surgery!

Dad, during his County Treasurer days, knew of a bank on the corner of the main street and the major intersection, right across the street from the Farmers’ State Bank, that had gone under during the Depression. It had a rather grand bank vault within it, already installed. He correctly gauged the temper of the times that a second bank could make a go of it. He set about finding out how one would start a second bank in Independence, Iowa. It involved getting hold of the bank examiners and bringing them to town and getting investors. The year was 1941. He was 39 years old.

I offer this ancient history up to show that I have a fond view of banks, in general. Or did have. My enthusiasm for dealing with modern-day banks is diminished by the failure to provide human assistance. The days of the friendly cashier assisting you with a smile seem like life on a different planet. Things are not the same, are they, America? If the Pope could get his information updated manually, why can’t I? And why is it going to take six weeks? The credit card (which took a while to arrive at all) requires that you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. Well, it is looking like it may be at leaast 30 days before the BoA can “activate” it, so I’d like an extension on that, BoA. (The spending of $1,000 means you get a $200 cash kick-back.)

Dad. my husband Craig, and me on my 33rd birthday (7/23/1978) at the Axtell/Alerton house in Rush Park on the west edge of Independence, now long gone.

THE BANK OF AMERICA CREDIT CARD: The plot goes on

As mentioned in one of the previous installments, I bit on the new credit BoA card. I was told it would take a while to reach me by mail. You had to spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. At the rate things are going, half of the 90 days will be “up” before I am able to activate the card. It had no annual fee and gave percentages back on such necessities as groceries and gas.

I was apprised of the card’s progress through the mail. I was sent numerous updates on when the card would arrive by e-mail. (Which struck me as particularly egregious because I was not sent numerous statements about my literary account’s standing during seven years of time). When the bot kept trying to send “verification” codes to a land line (which I thought we had updated during my first in-person visit on June 13th), I asked for a phone call (didn’t come) or an e-mail to my old AOL account (didn’t come) and then girded for the 7-hour drive, which is apparently the best treatment a loyal customer for over 23 years can expect. I noted that the Pope threatened to take his business elsewhere, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this bank would pay me to take my business elsewhere, writing me off as a fossil who isn’t worth the time or effort to help her in a user friendly manner—UNLESS she drives herself 14 hours into Chicago in the months of both June AND July.

The card ultimately arrived, and, like all credit cards, it has to be activated. But, unlike the other credit cards I have in my billfold, you couldn’t simply make a phone call to a number. I tried that. Here is what happened, as I have described it for Felipe in one (of two) of the actual SNAIL MAIL letters I have had to resort to sending to 430 W. Roosevelt Road in Chicago. That seems to be the only way I can (maybe) communicate with the staff. I did get a brief 10-second conversation with Felipe (who bailed on one of his current in-bank desperate customers) and asked him if my FIRST snail mail letter had reached him. It had not.

“Great,” I said grimly.

My Mom (Sadie Corcoran) and Dad (John Corcoran, Jr.) obscured by the head of Doc Leehey, who was, I think, my father’s cousin and, for many years, the only doctor in Independence, Iowa.

DIRECTIONS

Felipe—trying to save the day—abandoned a customer in the store briefly. He told me to call 800-276-9939 to activate my brand new BoA credit card, which did arrive (unlike my reports on my literary account in the years 2019-2026.)

Here is what I have written to Felipe, which I will snail mail tomorrow, as no one has seen fit to give me an e-mail address for the one employee who seems to have it together. [THAT would have been nice, but no.]

“Dear Felipe:

I called the number you gave me to activate my band new BoA credit card: 800-276-9939.
The bot answered and asked for “the account you are calling about.” I was not really calling about an account; I was calling to try to activate a brand new credit card, but, since it will pull against my personal banking account, I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that this meant the account that the new credit card would draw against.
I put the account number of my personal account in five (5) times.
FIVE TIMES the bot said: “I couldn’t find that account.”
Then it hung up on me.
My next in-person drive to the Roosevelt Road/Canal Street location is for July 15th. That will be a full month after my FIRST in-person meeting for which I also had to drive 7 hours. I was not planning on being back in July that early, but I’m not the Pope and I don’t know the CEO of Bank of America. (Brian Moneghan. He lives near Boston and may be worth $349 million.)
Stay tuned for the next installment.
And—by the way—I’ve been blogging on WeeklyWilson.com since February of 2007 using WordPress. I was using a computer in my workplace as far back as 1984, when I networked with One Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.. on a WANG PC to receive information for a book I was writing for Performance Learning Systems, Inc., of Emerson, New Jersey, entitled “Training the Teacher As A Champion.” The estimate of the number of people who were online and working with computers in 1984 was 300 people, worldwide.

Bank of America, Ghostly Tales of Route 66 & Me: Installment #3

By Connie Wilson

On June 27, 2026

In Books, Editorial, Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture

Bank of America

Sep 20, 2025 — The emblem was a stylized monogram “BA”, with both letters merged in one smooth symbol with thick rounded lines and shortened horizontal bars.

Going to my Bank of America outlet in Chicago at Roosevelt Road and Canal Street requires a 7-hour drive—3 and ½ hours up and 3 and ½ hours back. Why don’t we have a Bank of America outlet in the Quad Cities?

I don’t know. Do you?

POPE LEO & ME

I went through a “verification” process similar to that described by Pope Leo (Installment #2) and it ended with me making a trip in, in person, to meet with a representative (supposed to be Caesar Hernandez, but I got Felipe) on Saturday, June 13^th. I took the 2 forms of ID, although, when I was told I needed my Social Security card (a passport would not do), I think I responded that I had not seen my Social Security card since I was sixteen. It did cause me to search for it, however, and—voila!—I found it! (Will wonders never cease?)

However, since the entire goal of “verification” seems to be to make things as obtuse and as computer-dependent as possible, I was told that the employees could not get to my page unless I gave them the specific amounts and dates of deposits from Amazon. Since I lost access to my Amazon account about the same time as I last saw my Social Security card, this turned out to be an impossible task. After the trouble with advertising “BEE GONE” and the directive that my cover had to be “changed,” things descended into the Stephen Colbert Canyon of Censorship. There didn’t seem to be much urgency about cracking the code on how to get back into my Amazon account to “write long”, once I tip-toed over to blogging full-time on WeeklyWilson.com and resumed reviewing movies on www.TheMovieBlog.com, I’ve been reviewing non-stop since 1970. Since Rex Reed and Gene Shalit recently shuffled off this mortal coil, I can try to lay claim to being the longest continuously-reviewing film critic in the U.S. (whether it’s true or not…and it might be.)

SOLUTION?

I don’t know the head of the Bank of America, so I didn’t have the route that Pope Leo took to get things fixed and updated in my literary account, where a REAL LIVE HUMAN might assist me in “fixing” and updating things without me having to drive 14 (fourteen) hours. (I know I said 7 hours, earlier, but this story goes on in installments, remember. This third installment only takes us through the first in-person meeting at the Roosevelt Road and Canal Street with Felipe. There is more).

FELIPE

Felipe was the one bright spot in the Bank of America verification process. Felipe is good. I will excuse him for asking if my granddaughter was “in the room” to help me during a recent phone call. No, Felipe, the granddaughters are in Texas. I’m in Illinois, talking to a bot most of the time. For hours. Becoming very aggravated. Wondering why I never got any reports on my literary account for over 7 years.

Felipe got stuck with me when Caesar got stuck with somebody else. There were lines of people queuing up at the cashier’s window at noon that Saturday (June13). They close at 2 p.m. I can vouch for the fact that it took all of the 2 hours to figure out how to recover my literary account. I still don’t know why I did not receive any “reports” or updates on that account since 2019. I received paper reports on my personal account, but my literary account seemed to reside only in my head and in the form of the checks I have that are supposed to allow me to use it. Both seem to be in limbo.

On June 13^th my personal account seemed to be chugging along okay, paying bills via auto-pay. However, that may have changed, as “suspicious” activity was noted because I went to the cashier’s cage, on June 13^th, IN PERSON, and moved cash from my personal account to the literary account. Let me repeat that: I did this IN PERSON, IN THE BANK. Yet this caused my account to have difficulties noted as suspicious thereafter. (This story isn’t over—yet.) My teacher’s pension is deposited in this account (a princely sum, as you can imagine, since I did not hit the Magic 20 number one must reach in order to actually be able to live on that money in retirement).

For years (and years and years) one-half of all Social Security payments made to government employees (i.e., teachers and firemen, etc.) was taken from us because we were public employees. It was patently unfair and resulted in years of legal wrangling until, quite recently, that one-half was restored. However, Social Security is not deposited into this account. It goes into the TBK less-well-known bank in the Quad Cities which has not yet made me come in twice in person to “fix” errors which cause bots to try to send verification codes to land lines and take over 6 weeks to “fix.” (Yes, I still have a land line. Deal with it.)

I always got PAPER reports on my personal account, although I did not get them for my literary account. As far as I am aware, I did not get e-mail reports, either, although I admit to moving from Einnoc10@Aol.com to Einnoc9876@gmail.com some years back. For almost 10 years, the state of Illinois has hovered over my literary account, eagerly suggesting it was “abandoned” and only too willing to take whatever pittance might reside in it. “Seized” is the chief goal of the state of Illinois with failing authors’ accounts, apparently. (I actually have a close friend who says she once worked on the “seize abandoned accounts” team in the state of Minnesota. Sheesh.)

A still from Seized by Sharon Liese, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jackson Montemayor.

Each of the three times I received written notices that the state of Illinois was hovering once again, hoping to “seize”my money, I wrote and explained that it was NOT an “abandoned” account. I was merely an unsuccessful (monetarily-speaking) author who didn’t have masses of eager fans gobbling up her books. The account, via Amazon, had its moments. Most of those moments can be laid at the feet of “Ghostly Tales of Route 66,” so kudos to Bruce Carlson for figuring out that ghosts were a guaranteed best-seller.

I did not intend to write only ghost books for my entire literary life. I wrote what interested me at that moment in time, whether politics, children’s books, horror stories, movie and television reviews—short and long—or one random book containing previously published columns and poetry. One can’t accuse me of not taking on a range of topics. Or, as one snarky guest writer at a QC Writers’ events once said, “You’ve ruined your platform.” (And then he went on ad nauseum to talk about writers’ platforms, ignoring the variety of things that a Stephen King, for example, might write about, aside from things that go bump in the night).

So, on June 13^th, I thought Felipe had “updated” all of the phone numbers (etc.) in my two BoA accounts. I even bit on the new Bank of America credit card, which sounded like a pretty good deal. I think Felipe was Top-Notch and whatever is now happening, to prevent me from being able to authenticate that credit card, is probably not his fault. It’s probably an inherent flaw in the BoA system and I’ve been victimized by it to the tune of a 14-hour driving trip. CEO of BoA: take note.

Me applying for a brand new BoA credit card was where things ended after my FIRST 7-hour “in person” trip to the Bank of America with everything “fixed”—or so I thought.

But, of course, things were not settled at all.

The bot was not finished with me.

Pope Leo, His Chicago Bank & Installment #2 In My Banking Life

By Connie Wilson

On June 27, 2026

In Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture

Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful at the Papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, July 13, 2025. Editorial Stock Photo

The viral story about the Pope and his bank involves Pope Leo XIV getting hung up on by a Chicago customer service representative who assumed his call was a prank. The amusing incident went viral after being shared publicly by the Pope’s longtime friend, the Reverend Tom McCarthy.

📞 The Call

Two months after Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV, he personally called his local bank branch in South Chicago from the Vatican to update his address and phone number. [1, 2]

The Verification: He initially identified himself by his birth name, Robert Prevost, and correctly answered several security questions, providing his Social Security number and formal address. [1, 2]
The Bureaucracy: Despite answering perfectly, the representative informed him that bank policy strictly required him to complete account changes by visiting a branch in person. [1, 2]
The Climax: The Pope explained that traveling to Chicago would be very difficult since he was now living out of town. He finally asked, “Would it matter to you if I told you I’m Pope Leo?” [1, 2]
The Hang-Up: Believing it to be a prank call, the customer service representative immediately hung up on the leader of the Catholic Church. [1, 2]

💼 How It Was Resolved

The Pope did not let his papal authority stop him from needing to fix his banking records. He reached out to another fellow Augustinian priest in Chicago, Father Bernie Sienna, who happened to have connections to local banking executives.

Word quickly traveled up to the bank’s president. When the bank initially tried to cite standard protocol, the Pope’s intermediaries politely hinted that the Holy Father was fully prepared to move his money to a different institution. Eager to avoid losing the historic account of the first American Pope, the bank quickly bypassed the rules and updated his information manually. [1, 2]

📰 The Public Reaction

The story, heavily detailed by The New York Times and shared across networks like CNN, resonated widely with the public. Commenters and Catholic leaders praised the anecdote, noting it offered a remarkably humble, human look at a Pope dealing with the exact same automated, frustrating customer service hurdles that everyday people face.

Bruno Mars Continues

By Connie Wilson

On May 24, 2026

In Music, News, Pop Culture

Bruno Mars’ Romantic Tour, his first since 2014, goes on the list of Top Three Live Concerts, for me—and I started my life of live concerts with the Beatles at the San Francisco Cow Palace in 1965. This May 15thconcert was spectacular and lived up to the excellent Chicago Tribune review. A truly Top-Notch Experience.

Other memorable live concerts include Steel Wheels in Ames (the Rolling Stones), and I’ve seen the Rolling Stones 10 to 12 times, including in Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Speedway on the Fourth of July, in Minneapolis, Chicago, Ames and at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Saw Paul McCartney at the United Center and have seen him three times, including with Wings and solo at Wrigley. And then there were U2 concerts, including the one with the colossally large central stage and the one where Bono ran around on a heart-shaped stage, in Chicago. Bravo Bruno!

David Letterman Guests on Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show:” May 14, 2026

By Connie Wilson

On May 15, 2026

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

David Letterman and Stephen Colbert atop the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater on May 14, 2026.

Tonight, May 14th, 2026, Stephen Colbert—approaching the beginning of his last week in what was David Letterman’s late night television show—had Letterman, himself, as one of his final guests. Dave showed up with the unattractive Father Christmas long white beard he has worn since leaving the air. (Lose the beard, Dave.)

It was a night of nostalgia, with Colbert paying tribute to Dave’s stewardship of The Late Show 33 years prior. Now, thanks to a president of the United States who is so thin-skinned that he cannot stand any criticism or mockery, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is going to be replaced with the late night comedians who previously followed in the wee hours (and were never that funny).

It’s a loss to late night show fans, whether you preferred Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyer or John Oliver (some might include Jon Stewart) and may signal the demise of late night shows, in general, as unscripted reality shows or late night comedians perfecting their routines is cheaper to put on the air. And we, the audience, are the losers, while DJT gets to further boost his extremely fragile narcissistic ego by killing one of the shows calling him out on his undemocratic and unpatriotic actions as president. [God help us all!]

Dave displayed photos of his new puppy, Doc, mentioned his son (who is graduating from college) and, after inquiring about the blue chair on which he sat, asked who owned the furniture. Stephen, of course, acknowledged that the chair Dave sat upon (and a duplicate blue one) were CBS property, as was Stephen’s own chair, which was an Eames. The Eames classic chair is “extraordinarly expensive” and vintage versions of the chair go for well over $10,000. “It is an expensive chair,” said the originator, who compared it to a well-worn baseball glove.

David Letterman and Stephen Colbert tossing watermelons off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater on May 14, 2026.

Viewers got to see David Letterman and Stephen Colbert toss the two blue chairs and Stephen’s Eames classic host’s chair off the roof of the Ed Sullivan studio in New York City. They also tossed watermelons and Dave saluted Stephen, thanking him for all he was doing for the country in pointing out the gap between reality and fantasy that the current administration tries to foist on the public daily. (Remember: it’s not a war, it’s an “excursion”—which is probably a misuse of the term “incursion” by the dunderhead using it.)

LATE NIGHT WIth DAVID LETTERMAN

Many years ago I was in New York City for one of the Thrillerfest conventions. This was so long ago that Letterman was still sitting in the host’s seat. I did not have tickets purchased in advance. In fact, I had given no thought at all to attending a taping of “The Late Show,” but I wandered out of the formerly owned Trump hotel that is attached to Grand Central Station to take a walk in NYC.

At a traffic intersection I was approached by someone who wanted to know if I watched David Letterman’s The Late Show, and when I answered in the affirmative, I was told that—if I could answer a question correctly—I could attend that night’s show. The question was for me to give the name of the deli owner whom Dave frequently visited in person. Although my mind went temporarily blank regarding Rupert’s Deli, I was given so many helpful hints that I ended up queued up in the lobby entryway of the studio, being grilled on how to demonstrate appropriate enthusiasm when the host and guests appeared. This went on for a good half hour while we all patiently stood in the long queue, not much different than approaching the TSA agents at the airport.

A memento of my visit The Late Show with David Letterman (cursor pad).

My seat turned out to be about 10 rows from the left front portion of the theater–not too far from where Letterman and Colbert came to rest tonight in the audience, after 6 men removed all of the guest and host chairs to the roof. The night I attended, the guest was Eva Longoria, who tottered out on very high heels. I don’t remember much about the rest of the program, except that the studio was chilly, as has been pointed out. We were warned not to go downstairs to the women’s rest rooms that were located there, because the building was old and dipalidated and the plumbing might not be up to snuff.

From the remarks that Colbert made to Letterman while they were seated in the audience, that last bit of information is out-dated, because Stephen explained how ALL of the audience seats were replaced when he took over The Late Show in 2015. They widened the seats from nineteen inches to twenty-four inches. I would speculate that the downstairs rest rooms also received a facelift, because, as Letterman pointed out, the theater ceiling also had an extensive make-over, which Dave compared to the very ornate Bellagio ceilings.

I’m going to miss Stephen Colbert’s Late Night Show from the Ed Sullivan Theater, a venue of historic importance now being run into the ground by its owners at CBS. Courtesy of Wikipedia: “Colbert’s work as a correspondent on Comedy Central’s news-parody series The Daily Show gained him wide recognition. In 2005, he left The Daily Show to host The Colbert Report. Following The Daily Show‘s news-parody concept, The Colbert Report was a parody of personality-driven political opinion shows including The O’Reilly Factor, in which he portrayed a caricatured version of conservative political pundits, earning Colbert an invitation to perform as featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in 2006, which he did in character. This event led to the series becoming one of Comedy Central’s highest-rated series. After ending The Colbert Report, he was hired in 2015 to succeed David Letterman, who was retiring as host of the Late Show on CBS. Colbert hosted the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2017.”

David Letterman thanking and congratulating Stephen Colbert on his career helming The Late Show, which Letterman originated 33 years prior on May 14, 2026, one week before the show ends. CBS has buckled under to DJT in a clear violation of Freedom of the Press and the freedoms granted to Americans by our Constitution, which are being attacked daily by sycophantic followers of the current POTUS.

I will really miss the gentlemanly humor and intelligent repartee of Stephen Colbert. I would like to join David Letterman in thanking him for doing his best to defend our First Amendment Freedom of Speech in the face of the autocratic and bullying tactics of the MAGA crowd and Donald J. Trump. I pray that patriotic Americans will wake up to the damage being done to our Constitutional rights and freedoms by the current administration and some of them will grow a spine and stand up to the man who has, at the moment, perched the world on the edge of WWIII.

“Perfect” Screens in Visions Section at SXSW Film Festival, 2026.

By Connie Wilson

On March 15, 2026

In Movies, News, Pop Culture, Reviews, Texas

“Perfect” is a 94-minute film directed by British director Millicent Hailes which had its World Premiere on March 14th in the Visions section of the SXSW film festival. “Perfect” attempts to break new cinematic ground by using sound in a most unconventional way, Someone decided that repetitive dialogue—super-imposing the same line over the dialogue being spoken at that moment in a sort of echo chamber effect— was a good idea.

It was not.

It came across as auditory assault. The dialogue (scripted by Kendra Miller and Hailes), when finally deciphered, was banal. “You’re going to be all right” was the oft repeated sentiment. That line, based on the plot events, seems inaccurate.

By film’s end the lead character (Ashley Moore as Kai) is far from “okay.”

She has lost at love more than once and is burning her car—the car in which she had been living. Her romance with a mysterious pregnant woman ( Julia Fox of“Uncut Gems” who also executive produced) has crashed and burned. Kai is stranded in the middle of nowhere

SYNOPSIS

Julie Fox as Mallory in “Perfect” at SXSW film festival Visions section on March 14, 2026.

The plot: “In a world devastated by a contaminated water supply, Kai, a lost soul, finds herself living out of her car after a bad breakup. Each day is a struggle until fate leads her to a hidden utopian lake where the water is pure and life flourishes.” A ragtag group of outsiders — Sonny (Lio Mehiel), Pinksy (Ryder McLaughlin), Nik (Micaela Wittman), Cal (Creed Bratton), and Emil (Sergio Lane) — have carved out a fragile community there. At the lake, Kai meets Mallory, a wealthy and mysterious pregnant woman running from her past. They fall into a passionate romance, but as Kai becomes more attached, she begins to see the cracks in Mallory’s story.

THE GOOD

Director Millicent Hailes of “Perfect” at SXSW Visions screening on March 14, 2026.

Moore and Fox are striking onscreen, and their fragmented love scenes are filmed with an eye for beauty. Director of Photography Ksusha Genenfeld makes the most of their chemistry — there’s plenty of skin, and film editor Amber Bansak has composed a romantic pastiche of sensual erotic images. Viewers here for the sex scenes will be pleased. Beyond that, the plot doesn’t offer much. It’s surprising to hear lines like “fucking faggot” and “Is this giving gay?” used casually, tossed off nonchalantly by a queer director who founded a magazine (yves 2c) for under-represented genders.

BACKGROUND

Director Hailes studied fashion in London and has a degree in photography. The film has been picked up by Visit. Hailes said, “We’re absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Visit Films… we’re honored to join their slate and look forward to bringing the film to audiences worldwide.” Visit’s president, Ryan Kampe, added: “Perfect is the perfect film for our times… a smart and provocative film that weaves together a potential apocalyptic future with the needs and desires of the human body.”

THE “MORAL”

Ashley Moore as Kai in “Perfect” at SXSW on March 14, 2026.

If there’s a message, it’s obscured beneath the sound effects — including, near the end, a sped‑up voice that sounds like a cartoon character. The score by Wynne Bennett, however, is genuinely good and elevates the romantic scenes with lyrics like, “I was on the edge of something greater than before.”

CONCLUSION

Sexy, stylish, but saddled with an almost unlistenable sound design, the apocalyptic water‑crisis backdrop is oddly minimized, and the protagonist’s journey rarely makes much sense. Viewers who want more than the beautifully photographed sex scenes, including coherent storytelling or a satisfying ending, will need to look elsewhere.

Dr. William H. Foege, Eradicator of Smallpox, Dies at 89.

By Connie Wilson

On February 3, 2026

In Health/Medicine, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest

William H. Foege, eradicator of smallpox, dead at 89.

William Herbert Foege^[1] (/ˈfeɪɡi/ FAY-ghee;^[2] March 12, 1936 – January 24, 2026) was an American physician and epidemiologist who is credited with “devising the global strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox in the late 1970s”.^[3] From May 1977 to 1983, Foege served as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Foege also “played a central role” in efforts that greatly increased immunization rates in developing countries in the 1980s.

This 6’7″ son of a Lutheran minister in Decorah, Iowa, is credited with banishing one of the most feared diseases in modern history: smallpox. He became interested in working in New Guinea when he spent months in a body cast at the age of fifteen, and his technique of finding the infected patient and isolating him and inoculating those with whom the patient had interacted is credited with the successful campaign to eradicate the disease, as of the 1980s.

One of the methods Foege used to convince natives to come learn about the smallpox vaccination was to tell them that they could “come see the tallest man in the world.” Foege died at age 89 of congestive heart failure in Atlanta and expressed his opinion of Robert F.Kennedy Jr.’s stewardship of the Department of Health and Human Services saying, “Kennedy would be less hazardous if he decided to do cardiac surgery. Then he would kill people only one at a time rather than his current ability to kill by the thousands.”