American pope – There is actually some debate whether Leo XIV is a Cub’s fan or not. The initial report seen here has been challenged by his brother who claims he is more of a White Sox fan. That would be more in keeping with his commitment to the underdog. I bet he has some strong feelings about deep dish pizza. That should go over well in Italy.

Sovereignty has won the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby. The official word on Tuesday is that Sovereignty will not run in the Preakness Stakes so we know for sure that there will not be a Triple Crown winner for the seventh year in a row. Secretariat was the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years when he won all three races back in 1973. He not only won all three races – Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes – but his record at Churchill Downs still stands as a track record for the 1 1/4 mile race.

May the 4th be with you – While there is sometimes animosity between Star Trek and Star Wars fans, many of the actors and other production staff members get along better than that. The creators of both franchises, Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas, were fans of each other’s work and had a mutual professional respect. Were it not for the success of Star Wars in 1977, Star Trek: The Motion Picture would have never been made. The list of actors that have appeared in both universes continues to grow. When Christopher Lloyd, for instance, appeared in the Mandalorian in 2023, did anyone think “Hey, that’s Commander Kruge from Stark Trek III?”

La la la lava, cha cha cha chicken – Steve’s Lava Chicken has now entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at #78 on May 3rd. The Billboard charts used to track things like record sales and radio plays. The way we consume music has changed but this YouTube video clip from the Minecraft Movie has been streamed over 34 million times in the past 4 weeks.

I would have trouble with that CAPTCHA. Artificial Intelligence has a ways to go. We’ve all seen wrong information returned in search results or creepy pictures usually with too many fingers (or arms, legs, etc). But in this case the AI does a better job of proving it’s human than I could. Websites have been moving away from using CAPTCHA; have you had that “test” where all you have to do is click the box that says “I am human?” How could bots mess that up? Well, see, it’s not about clicking the box. Your mouse movements are being tracked across the screen so it knows how to distinguish the human vs. technological efficiency how we get to he box and click it. Of course it won’t take long to figure out how to fake that, too.

I’ll do the math for you. The White Album was released in 1968. Nevermind came out in 1991. Ryan’s MLB career spanned 27 years, beginning in 1966 and ending with his retirement in 1993. The average career for an MLB player is only 5.6 years while an MLB pitcher stays around for more like 11. Still, the mean retirement age is 31 and Nolan Ryan played in the MLB for nearly that long. Much respect.

Speaking of much respect – “I’ve got a fastball and a mustache.” My wife wants that on a t-shirt. For those that don’t know, that’s Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves. He will not pitch for 27 years, and neither will any other pitcher on an MLB roster in this era of baseball. Strider has just returned from Tommy Johns surgery on his elbow. He blew it out in the season opener last year and missed the whole season. Some people complain about pitcher’s being soft and leaving the game early but the level of intensity, for both pitchers and hitters, is ridiculous. Ronald Acuna Jr. is expected to return soon to the batter’s box. Last year he tore the other ACL, you know, not the same one he tore in 2021 that took him out for half a season, the other one. They use these players up in a battle of attrition. They are not soft, the game is played harder.

Two quick thoughts – Had a friend replacing a dishwasher a couple of years ago. It was hard to find a model at Lowe’s or Home Depot that did not require a wifi connection. Wifi, for your dishwasher. We have a microwave in our church fellowship hall that automatically sets the time display. If there is no wifi signal available, there is also no button that says time or clock. In the owner’s manual, it explains that you can press and hold the 5 key for several seconds and the time will blink, then you can set it manually. But if the devices detects a wifi signal in the future it will automatically adjust the time and you cannot reset it manually.

Today on the Master’s Table – We are in Exodus 20. The 10 Commandments are just the beginning of God giving the Law to his people at Mount Sinai. I will probably post again this afternoon, possibly tomorrow, on discussions I’ve had just recently with people that claim we as Christians should be following the Torah, particularly keeping the Sabbath. The draw to check boxes off a list is strong. We are halfway through the book of Exodus and if we finish without missing a day I think we will take a day off. Just one, but a little bit of a break before we shift gears and read through Matthew’s Gospel.

Happy Mother’s Day. Public Service Announcement, that’s tomorrow if you were about to miss it.

Eastertide – Easter was later this year, Pentecost Sunday is not until June 8th.

Here are three fun facts and one Magic Eye puzzle:

Click to view full size. I can only do these on a laptop, not my phone screen.