Archive for the ‘entertainment’ Category

July Indulgence Calendar and an Update on the Knights of Columbus Monthly Chosen nights

Posted: July 1, 2026 by datechguy in catholic, special events, entertainment, catholic devotions
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Before I put up this months’ indulgence Calendar I’d like to post an update concerning my Knight of Columbus Council 15962 Monthly Chosen nights held the 2nd Wednesday of each month where we

  1. Provide Pizza & drinks
  2. Show an episode of the Chosen (this month Season 3 Episode 7)
  3. Have a discussion about the episode (What’s biblical, what’s not what’s Catholic what’s not etc) led by our pastor

While during training this week I’m on the day shift I was on before starting next week I’ll be doing a night shift & will be unable to run the event. While someone will be handling July there is no Knight who can do so on a regular basis.

So beginning in August our chosen nights will become Chosen Mornings. They will still be the 2nd Wednesday of each month but will begin after the 8 am daily mass at St. Bernard’s Parish at St. Camillus Church on Mechanic Street in Fitchburg MA. When the mass is over people will be welcome to come downstairs for

  1. Coffee, Tea and donuts
  2. An Episode of the Chosen (Aug Season 3 Episode 8)
  3. Then a discussion of the episode led by Father

(Note there my be a slight delay depending if I pick up the donuts before mass or have to do it after mass)

As always the event is free and open to the public.

And now the monthly indulgence Calendar for July 2026

indulgence calendar July 2026Download

Pintastic NE 2026 Videos of the Day: My Interview with Pinball Game Designer Steve Ritchie

Posted: April 29, 2026 by datechguy in business, entertainment, fun, pinball, special events
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I was very fortunate that the great Steve Ritchie one of the greatest design minds in Pinball & Games and one of the most beloved members of the Pinball community was kind enough to give me time for a sit down interview on Saturday at Pintastic NE 2026.

Part 1

part 2

Some of you might be wondering why I break these into two parts. The primary reason is that my old Cannon Camera doesn’t record beyond 19 minutes at a time.

The logical question is why I don’t get a new one it’s because I like the thing and have been using it for over a decade and produces excellent video.

The 2nd logical question is why don’t I just edit the video into one, part of it is when I had the reputation as being “The hardest working man in the blogosphere” I would shoot so much video & attempt to get it up fast editing would take too much time but the other part is more basic. Back when I was reporting for money I made it a rule not to edit videos so that people who watched my material knew it was a true representation of what was said.

Given the choice of an edited interview or no interview the latter.is my choice. Given the choice of an edited video or no video give me no video.

Only broke the rule once for a catholic religious lady who let something slip for 2 seconds.

Bottom line, what you see is what was said.

Previously:

Pintastic NE 2026 Videos of the Day: Leo Reinhart & Maggie the Clown two Artists in Action at Pintastic NE

Posted: April 23, 2026 by datechguy in culture, entertainment, fun, pinball, special events
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I have maintained that Pinball is an art, there is the actual artwork on the machines. The physical design of the machines, the art of the programing, the art of the story.

Today’s videos are of two different artists. One new to Pintastic Leo Reinhart:

I think it’s very appropriate for a pinball convention having a piece of art with balls being moved via gravity causing things to react. If they were pinballs instead of marbles it would have been perfect.

Our 2nd artist is someone who we have featured before and has been with Pintastic NE since the very start, our old friend Maggie the Clown:

As Pintastic has gotten bigger the number of kids have increased so Maggie becomes an even more important part of the show on Saturdays. She still owns the camera every time I see her there.

Previously:

The Fake Grok Mel Brooks 2000 Year old Man on the rise of Christianity and Bacon

Posted: July 12, 2025 by datechguy in comedy, fun, tech
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Scholars Believe Explosive Growth Of The Early Church Was Due To Christians Being Allowed To Eat Bacon (Babylon Bee who thought of it 1st)

AI Generated 1st Century Christians eating Bacon Strips

As a rule I don’t trust Grok for anything actually important or for opinions. The one time I did try to trust it to work on a baseball schedule for me it messed it up completely, when I pointed out the mistakes it apologized and made a new schedule with different mistakes till I just said forget it.

However it excels on stuff that isn’t important that can be funny. A few days ago I imagined Mel Brooks as the 2000 year old man explaining how BACON was the actual secret to the rise of Christianity.

Since Mel is actually nearing 2000 years old I figured he wasn’t up to doing it himself and Carl Reiner his straight man is suffering from a chronic case of death I decided that this was a task that Grok could do.

The result wasn’t perfect. Brooks’ 2000 year old man would never used “the interviewer’s” first name and and some of the jokes were a tad repetitive but what Grok spat out was not a bad first draft.

So if you’re curious (and even if you’re not) here it is:

My question to Grok:

based on the original 2000 year old man recordings staring Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks as the 2000 year man give me the script for a 3-6 minute exchange where Reiner questions Brooks on how Christianity ended so popular worldwide despite early persecution with Brooks final conclusion being it was all because of Bacon and how delicious it was.

Here is Grok’s answer unabridged:

Below is a 3-6 minute comedic script inspired by the style of Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks’ 2000 Year Old Man recordings. It captures their playful, improvisational dynamic, with Reiner as the straight-man interviewer and Brooks as the ancient, wisecracking 2000 Year Old Man. The exchange focuses on the rise of Christianity despite early persecution, culminating in Brooks’ absurd conclusion that bacon was the key to its success. The dialogue is written to feel spontaneous, peppered with Brooks’ characteristic Yiddish-inflected humor and Reiner’s dry probing, aiming for a runtime of roughly 4-5 minutes when performed at their typical pace.

Carl Reiner (Interviewer): Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I’m here with the 2000 Year Old Man, a man who has lived through centuries of human history. Sir, you’ve seen empires rise and fall, religions come and go. I want to ask you about Christianity. It started as a small movement, heavily persecuted by the Romans, yet it spread across the world. How did it get so popular despite all that opposition?

Mel Brooks (2000 Year Old Man): (in a thick, gravelly Yiddish accent) Oh, Christianity, yeah, yeah, I was there! Persecution, schmecsecution! You wanna know the real story? It’s not what you think, Carl. It wasn’t the sermons, it wasn’t the miracles, it wasn’t even the “love thy neighbor” stuff—although that was a nice touch, very catchy. No, no, no. It was bacon.

Reiner: Bacon? Wait a minute, sir, are you saying—

Brooks: I’m saying bacon, Carl! B-A-C-O-N, bacon! The greatest food ever invented! You ever smell bacon frying? It’s like God himself is whispering in your nose, “Come to the kitchen, bubbeleh, I got something for ya!” That’s what got Christianity going. Forget the catacombs, forget the martyrs—this was a bacon-based operation.

Reiner: But sir, Christianity emerged from Judaism, which strictly forbids eating pork. How could bacon possibly—

Brooks: (interrupting) Forbidden, shmorbidden! Look, I was around, I saw it happen. Early Christians, they’re hiding in caves, they’re dodging lions, they’re whispering about salvation. But then, one day, some Roman convert—probably a guy named Tony, good guy, big schnoz—he says, “Fellas, I know we’re supposed to stick to the rules, but I snuck some bacon from the market.” And he fries it up. The smell, Carl! The smell! It wafted through the cave like a divine revelation. Suddenly, everybody’s like, “Jesus who? Pass the bacon!”

Reiner: (dryly) So you’re suggesting that the early Christians abandoned kosher dietary laws because of bacon?

Brooks: Abandoned? They didn’t abandon nothin’! They said, “Look, if God didn’t want us to eat bacon, why’d He make it so crispy and delicious?” It was a theological breakthrough! They’re sitting there, munching, and one guy—smart fella, probably a rabbi before he switched teams—he says, “This bacon is so good, we gotta spread this religion to everybody!” And that’s when they started proselytizing. They’d go to a village, hold up a strip of bacon, and say, “Join us, and you get this.” Boom! Converts left and right.

Reiner: But sir, the Romans were feeding Christians to lions! Surely bacon wasn’t enough to overcome that kind of persecution.

Brooks: Lions, shmions! You think a lion’s gonna scare a guy who’s tasted bacon? I saw it myself. A Christian gets thrown in the Colosseum, lion’s roaring, crowd’s cheering, and the Christian pulls out a little piece of bacon from his toga. He waves it at the lion—poof! Lion sits down, wags its tail like a puppy. The crowd goes nuts, they all convert on the spot. “We want what he’s got!” they’re yelling. Bacon was the ultimate PR move.

Reiner: (skeptical) So you’re saying the global spread of Christianity—across Europe, Asia, Africa—was driven by… bacon?

Brooks: Absolutely! Look, Carl, you gotta understand human nature. People don’t join a religion for fancy theology or eternal life—that’s all fine, but it’s abstract, it’s meshuggeh. Bacon is real. You bite it, it crunches, it melts in your mouth. By the time Christianity hit Constantinople, they were building churches with bacon stands out front. You think St. Peter’s Basilica got built on prayers alone? No, they had a bacon cart in the square—two strips for a denarius, best deal in Rome!

Reiner: But what about the spiritual aspects? The teachings of Jesus, the apostles, the—

Brooks: (interrupting) Spiritual, shmiritual! I’m telling ya, Carl, the apostles were smart. They knew bacon was their secret weapon. Paul? That guy was the bacon king! He’d walk into a town, preach a little, then hand out bacon samples. People’d say, “This guy’s got the truth—and a side of crispy!” By the time he left, half the town was Christian, and the other half was just waiting for the next bacon shipment.

Reiner: (deadpan) So your final conclusion is that Christianity’s worldwide success is due to bacon?

Brooks: Final conclusion? Carl, it’s the only conclusion! Bacon was the miracle nobody talks about. You wanna know why Christianity beat out the pagans, the Zoroastrians, the whatevers? Because nobody else had bacon. You try converting someone with a bowl of lentils—good luck! Bacon was the game-changer. And let me tell ya, Carl, to this day, every time I smell bacon frying, I think, “Those Christians, they knew what they were doing.” (pauses, dreamily) Mmm… bacon…

Reiner: (sighs) Thank you, 2000 Year Old Man. That’s… certainly a perspective. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be back with more insights from history—or at least, from the kitchen.

With a nod to the Babylon Bee who had the story first:

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