Overheard at the Counter: AI on the Zen and Tao Acoustic Cafe

Just tried to look up my own blog and it seems that even AI has overlooked me

 

Overheard at Table 4: Nostalgia for Nostalgia

I so miss the days when I could be nostalgic for the days that I never knew because they happened before I was born.

Overheard at Booth 1: Not Suitable for Work (2026)

Not Suitable for Work (2026)

Season 1

Hulu original

Not renewed, so there won't be a season 2.  13 episodes.

 [NOTE: spoiler alert!]

 

Focuses on the lives of five twentysomethings trying to navigate work, love, and life in Manhattan in 2026.  Most of us will find this reminiscent of Friends and Seinfeld, but in start contrast to both of those shows, these characters actually have some heart underneath what, at first, seems to be the shallowness of youth.

Three guys live together in one apartment, and two gals live in the apartment across the hall, and they cross paths and try different romantic entanglements and gain jobs and lose jobs and there are some really good lines along the way.

While this series does have the usual aspect of having Bourgeoise Bohemians living in an impossibly unattainable living conditions, it does tackle the subject of going from riches-to-rags and how easily that can happen.

For more specifics: Kel's parents want him to become a doctor, but he leaves medical school to focus on his acting and has to take a job as a substitute teacher in a girls private school, where the 14 year olds prove to be quite emotionally savage.

Abby (his neighbor and crush) is apprenticed to a celebrity stylist, and she takes the bold move of stealing a client, which ends in her having to work in a retail clothing store.

Her friend, AJ, moves in with her to take a job at a high-paced financial firm, where she becomes romantically entangled with her boss (which is the most predictable and somewhat tedious part of the entire series).

She is the focus of the rather disturbingly romantic Davis (who falls in love with any human with a XX chromosome), who is the roommate of Kel and is also her coworker. 

Rounding out the crew is Josh, who is possibly the most interesting character: he hooked up with AJ during the COVID year for one night, which leads to some tension throughout the episodes.  He is also the spoiled rich son of a media mogul, who owns the television station for which Josh wishes to intern.  He gets the job on his last name alone; however, he is imbued with an idealistic reverence for the anchor of the top show,  Wes.   However, Josh's opportunities for advancement are stymied by Wes's ex-wife, Paula, who is the producer - and as we find out - the true power and intellect behind Wes's success, and she sees Josh as nothing more than a Nepo Baby.

Thirteen episodes.  That's all you get.  Unless someone comes along and picks it up for another season.

For me, some of the minor plot lines showed true promise.  For one, I would have liked to have seen Kel's character come to the realization that, while he dreamed of being an actor, his true calling is teaching.  The 14yo's that I mentioned before had several scenes in which they were truly hurt by his skipping class, because they need someone they can trust, someone to depend on.   That is something very deep, and could have been delved into more deeply had the show continued.

Also, there was, in the last few episodes, a deepening respect of Paula for Josh, as she realized that he truly does believe in the dying art of journalism.  It would have been interesting to have Josh slowly redirect his reverence for Wes and focus on Paula as a mentor.

But, alas, Mindy Kaling will most likely come out with another good project, if this one does not generate a second season.

I do wish, though, that when they cancel these shows, instead of a cliffhanger, they would give just enough cash for the show to wrap everything up in an hour or hour & 1/2 long finale. 
 

 

 

Overheard at Booth 3: Some Thoughts on AI

"When AI is generating words to spew onto a page, it will never suddenly see a cloud, and note its odd shape, which will lead the story into a completely different direction.

"AI will only ever regurgitate what has been fed into it.  It will take an instruction and cull through everything it has absorbed and spit something out, but there will never be that intimate connection with the world, those sensory perceptions that will inspire different thoughts, and thus, there will never be any different outcomes."

Overheard at Booth 4: The Curse of King Tut's Tomb

 "You know King Tut's Tomb was cursed, right?"

"I've heard that people believe that, yeah."

"Everyone who took part in opening it is now dead."

"Well, since it was opened over a hundred years ago, that's kinda what you would expect."

Overheard at Table 3: Alopecia

Wife: Went to the doctor today.

Husband: How did it go?

Wife: She says I have alopecia.

Husband: Alopecia?  Who is she?

Overheard at Table 4: Sneaky Freaks

"You're a freaky sneak!"

"Correction: I'm a sneaky freak."

"What's the difference?"

"The noun is a state of being. The adjective is a personality type."

Overheard at Table 4: The New Intern

The New Intern

Tattoos of speckled stars
down the length of her freckled arms.
Tiny shouldered, she types
on thick clacked keyboard,
highlight filling spreadsheet rows 
stretched across two tilted monitors.

written 2026-0722

Overheard at Table 2: Red Eye

Red Eye

From their seats in Business Class, Claude and Ivan heard the screams from the back of the airplane.

Claude, in the aisle seat, turned around to see the Flight Attendant with her hands over her mouth, staring in horror at something propped on the bottom shelf inside the trolley cart.

"Oh!" said Claude.  "So THAT's where I left the head."

"What?" said Ivan.  The other passengers were now turned around, standing up, straining their necks to see the commotion.   "Are you telling me you couldn't control your urges for ONE 5-hour flight?"

"The bloke in 12B smelled like a most delicious A-negative," Claude replied.  "Tasted the same, as well."

Ivan shook his head.  "So where's the rest of him?"

"Most of him is in the toilet in the forward lavatory.  Most likely that'll back up should someone use it."

Ivan sighed.  "Impossible. You're like a traveling Carrion Feast!"

"Annnnd, an arm or two are in the overhead compartment to our left," Claude said.  "Also, I wouldn't look under 5B if I were you."

"I swear by the Dark," Ivan said, "I am never flying with you again!"

 

Horrorprompt #2223 Carrion Feast

Overheard at Table 3: Ladies First (2026)

Ladies First (2026)

Has a lot of silly laughs, but it seems a little outdated. Yes, it just came out this year, but the theme of "males run the corporate world and women never get to the top of the corporate ladder" really seems like something that would have been more appropriate 20, or even 30 years ago.  In other words, this movie was far past its time in the making.

That said, it's always a bit of a laugh when misogynists get their comeuppance, and you know that Cohen's character does learn the error of his ways, but only by falling in love with someone he finally considers a true equal, and not by truly changing his ways.

Also, I do find it a bit of an old trope that the whole "if women ran the world" schtick always makes a world in which women act like the worst male stereotype possible: farting, belching, and cat-calling.   

To be honest, if women ran the world, they would probably be more subtle with their power.  Men would be pushed out of decision making primarily because women would consider men too short-sighted to truly take a holistic approach to solving problems.  In this movie, women change tires while men just stand around trying to look pretty.   Really, in a world in which women led, men would still do all the hard labor because of their physical strength, but that would be ALL the men would do.   It would be seen as their just, rightful, and God-given position: to work, and leaving the strategizing and higher thought processes to women.

But that's just me: don't let me forget Rosamund Pike, who is her usual splendid self as the cut-throat power hungry person who will do anything to get her way.  She will forever be the Gone Girl who Cares A Lot, in my book.  Although I do have to admit that she does play the uncertain, self-doubting career woman and mother quite well.  A great actress, but she truly shines when she is being low-key scary as hell.

The whole "bra for the testicles" thing reminded me of a feminist book I read in college (can't remember the name, it was either translated from original Norwegian or Swedish, I can't remember which) in which men were called "menwim" and were "househusbands" ... still the old trope of "if they were switched they would just have the same roles as we have now" ... but since that book was written in the 60s or 70s, that was most likely a fresh take then.   I am certain, however, that the writer & director of this film have at least some knowledge of that original book.

I did like how the standard "Oh my god I messed up I need to make sure they don't leave my life" part of the romcom was turned around by her going to his door, and the part in which Pike decided to go look after her daughter instead of staying to make the big pitch for the top job led to Cohen helping book his dentist sister for her daughter.   That was a good humanizing moment which, for me, brought the film slightly above mere silly schtick.

Regardless, I'm certain this one will probably get some negative reviews, but hey, it's an hour an a half, and at least I didn't waste it trying to plow through Citadel.

 

 

Overheard at Table 4: Mi Querida Señorita (2025)

Mi Querida Señorita (2025)

This movie reminds me much like the new biopic Michael, in that Elizabeth Martinez (the protagonist), like Jaafar Jackson, seems made for this role and this role only.   It is difficult to imagine her doing any other work that doesn't build on this role of an intersex (or trans) person.

Which is not to say that this is a bad film.  It's quite good, actually, although frankly, it does not break new ground.  Notwithstanding that it is based on the 1972 film of the same name (which I have not seen but which I am certain was more of a shock to the sensibilities of the viewers at the time than this one is), it is replete with the expected supporting cast of "outsiders" (a somewhat-girlfriend with a bubbly personality and no filter, a sexually fluid raconteur, his possible girlfriend who has foul mouth and a baby, and a priest who entered the priesthood because his lover died of AIDS).

Of all the characters, the priest is actually the most interesting to me, because it is refreshing to see a Christian portrayed as something other than an abuser.   The cast, as a whole, play their roles with great skill (especially the mother) but it does show that Elizabeth Martinez is new to acting, as her emotions often seem somewhat forced.  However, to be fair, the complexity of playing such a role would be a daunting task even for the most experienced of actors.

I hate to be critical of the movie inasmuch as I usually wish Americans would watch more Spanish cinema, which truthfully is some of the best there is, but unfortunately, this movie drags in places, seems overly melodramatic in others, and suffers from what consider to be a "cultural snobbishness" in that, being set primarily around the year 2000, it seems to be saying, "Look how much more culturally enlightened we are now."

Maybe we are, or maybe we just feel we are.  Regardless, if the movie brings that idea across, then it has diminished its primary point of showing how a person can come to full acceptance of themselves.

Now, a movie about that priest and how he came to be a priest, THAT sounds like a story arc worth telling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overhead at Table 4: Wife Asks Husband a Question

Have you ever cheated on me?

No.

Are you sure?

Do erotic dreams about Salma Hayek count?

Yes.

Well, shit.

Overheard at Table 2: Surviving Armageddon

Billy: So ...

Joe: So ...

Jim: Yup

Bob: Survived Armageddon yesterday.

Billy: Yup.

Joe: Yet again.

Jim: Like always.

Bob: Yup.  Like always.

Billy: Good thing too, I s'pose.

Joe: Always a good thing when Armageddon doesn't happen.

Jim: Would be better if it was never threatened at all.

Bob: Now where would be the fun in that?

Billy: S'pose you're right.

Joe: Yup.

Jim: Yup.

Bob: Wonder what tomorrow might bring.

Overheard at Table 1: The Overwhelming Violence of the Ungodly Aggressor

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/26/hegseth-prayer-violence-pentagon

 

The main problem with Hegseth reciting this prayer (other than it shows that he has no original oratory but must live off the words of others) is that the context is wildly different.

When that prayer was first uttered, the USA had already been at war for four years, and they were about to attack a small island that they knew was heavily fortified and would be defended to the death.  They were sending young men into battle knowing full well that the casualty rate would be 50-75% if they were even able to take the island.

Hegseth repeats this prayer for the US military forces that have attacked a sovereign nation that poses no credible threat to the country.  Additionally, the US military in no way faces the kind of casualty rate that it expected and suffered at Iwo Jima.  

Additionally, WWII, the Pacific conflict in particular, was a response to an unprovoked attack by Japan. In the modern scenario, the USA is Japan and Iran is the USA.

And yet, here is Hegseth, praying for "overwhelming violence" - when it is the USA that is the aggressor and holds the militarily superior position.  

That's an obscenity in the eyes of God.

But, I must say, that when he asks for God to "break the teeth of the ungodly" then everyone in the USA better start looking for an orthodontist.

 

 

Overheard at Table 3: A Group of Witches

H: What is a group of witches called?

M: A PTA?

H: No, a coven.

M: Oh.

Overheard at Table 3: James Baldwin "Nothing Personal"

Nothing Personal

James Baldwin 

 

More of an extended essay than a "book" per se, this writing was originally published along with some artwork that a friend of Baldwin's had completed to go hand in hand with the words, but the editor and preface writer found this essay profound enough to present in book form, without the accompanying art.

I wish I could write solely about the essay, but frankly, the preface and the afterword overshadows the magnificent perceptive writing by Baldwin, by attempting to apply what he wrote in 1964 after the death of Medgar Evers to the Trump presidency of our present day.  They attempt to ascribe some sort of prescience to Nothing Personal; in effect, making it very personal ... to them.   

This dilutes the work itself, which speaks to a much more universal theme of the overall American character: our self-loathing, our inability to be truly honest with ourselves and our past, our inability to articulate what it is we truly long for.

While I write this, I think perhaps, then that the words written by the preface writer and the afterword are perhaps integral to that book, or that edition, to be more accurate.   Their words are not as brilliant or as thought-provoking as Baldwin's, and it is easy to see who, of the three essays in that tome, is the true master storyteller, who is the true master of thought.  It is Baldwin, and the others merely try to use Baldwin to defend the point that is emotionally painful to them in the here and the now.

But these times will move on.  They will change.  And if anybody reads this particular edition of Nothing Personal one hundred years from now, they will find that Baldwin's essay still holds some inspirational message, whereas the writings that bookend the essay will seem like antiquated rantings.

 

 

 

Overheard at Booth 3: Watching TV

 ANOMALY

A husband and a wife were watching television.

The man on the television said to his son, “It’s OK if you don’t win as long as you tried your best.”
 

The wife said to the television, “That’s a lie.  No one cares if you are just mediocre.  You have to win.”
 

The husband said to his wife, “We should not work for the glory of me, but to honor God.”
 

The wife said to the husband, “This is not a religious talk.  This is about the real world.”

Anomaly 22

[reworked on 2026-0927]

 

Overheard at Table 1: Arm-Wrestling Eight-Year-Olds

"What always got me about Charlie Kirk was that he - like Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro - always went to debate college students.  19, 20 year olds ... people who are not known for their rationality or decision-making abilities.  So of course these guys who are all jacked up trained on bullshit rhetoric when they are talking with emotional screaming hyenas look all good for their clips that they send to their followers, but seriously, Kirk debating college students is like me arm-wrestling an eight-year-old.

"I'm kind of a wimpy guy, but even I can take an eight-year-old in arm-wrestling."

Overheard at Booth 4: What I Said During Menopause

Wife: I can't be held responsible for anything I say during menopause.

Husband: But you've been menopausal since the COVID year.

Wife: Or even before.

Husband: I'm not really comfortable with this.

Wife: Oh!  Well, I am so glad that YOU aren't comfortable!  Nice that it's all about YOUR feelings.

Husband: Shit.  Walked right into that one.

[photo by Mike Sutter]

Overheard at Booth 3: The Story of the Princess and the King

#2WordPrompt
Princess and King

"I wish to marry for love!" demanded the princess.

So the King relented and allowed her to wed the serf.  

The Prince from the other kingdom waged war.  Many died. Including the serf.

"Why?" the princess in tears, asked her father.

"I chose Love," he replied.

 

2025-0906 

Story inspired by a writing prompt, #2WordPrompt, and uses a theme that I have been mulling over for many years, which runs contrary to the current idea of a medieval or Renaissance princess choosing her own mate against arranged marriages.   The idea is that many of these arranged marriages were for uniting various kingdoms, usually for protection, and often to prevent wars between said kingdoms.

 

Here is a longer version of the story.

 

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who was of the age to be married.  Her father had indulged her and protected her as a child; however, he had never shied away from letting her know that one day she would be married, and that he would choose the husband from several of the princes of nearby kingdoms.

However, she was a willful child, and a favorite of her father, and as she was becoming a young woman, she realized that she had fallen in love with the stable boy.  They had practically grown up together, and he had become a handsome young man.

Her father told her one day of her impending marriage to a prince in a nearby kingdom.  She immediately rejected the idea, telling her father that she was in love with the stable boy and that she demanded to marry for love, not for station.

Her father begged her to reconsider and consent, but the princess would hear none of it.  Her father told her that the marriage had been arranged ever since she and the prince were children.  She did not care.  She would not be wed to a man she did not know - only to the one she did know and loved.

So, her father relented and she was free to love the stable boy and plan their wedding.

 However, because the arrangement was annulled, war broke out between the two kingdoms.  The invading army from the nearby kingdom, led by the prince, swept over the mountains and through the hills and plains and killed many, many of the king's subjects.

The stable boy, who was called to be a page to one of the knights and ride out to the fighting to tend the horses, himself was killed in one of the battles.   Word came back to the princess that the prince himself had killed the lad.

The princess ran to her father, who sat on his throne, despondent, while the dark clouds gathered all around the land.   "Why?" she demanded of him.  "Why this sacrifice?  Why did all this happen?"

"Because I chose Love," the king said to his daughter. 

 

 

[I can submit this to Bunker Squirrels, but as it is roughly 363 words, I will need to reduce it to 250 words]

 

[I can also use this in Anomaly] 

 Anomaly 12