Got money?

Sunday night's Curb Your Enthusiasm was one of the funniest ever. Dial it up if you have HBO or that On Demand deal. Earlier this year, he took in a family that was displaced by the hurricanes last year. They're really out of place on the show, and it strikes me as a bit of a contrived plot line to bring other characters into the show. He doesn't need other characters.

The show is funniest when it's just Larry being Larry. He works himself into some social hole and spends the better part of the show working out of it. He doesn't need outsiders that we really don't care about. He may have gotten tired of writing for himself, but it really isn't much different than bringing a baby to a show or marrying a couple. It's a little phony.

The scene that got me to the blog was the one that takes place at Ted Danson's birthday party. He and Mary are opening gifts from their friends, and I found myself asking myself, "What could I possibly buy for someone as wealthy as Ted Danson?" Even if I were wealthy myself (which is the only way I'm getting invited to his party), how would I be able to get him something he wants but hasn't already bought for himself? That's probably why one gift was a Bongo Phone, that turns all it's profits over to AIDS in Africa. Larry gave him a photo book of freaks. Three penises, human pig ... stuff like that. Perfect.

Opulence is a condition that is sometimes offensive to the non-affluent. Perhaps it is even mildly offensive to the affluent, but they can deal with it better than we can. People worth millions, opening trinket gifts from their friends who are worth slightly fewer millions.

I wonder if I would be like that myself? Shameless, a little stuck-up and acting like my crap doesn't stink. I'd say 'no', which is probably why I'll never find out.

I think, if you acquire wealth relatively early in life or are born into it, your attitude changes a little. People want to do things for you, you're seldom required to pay for anything and you acquire a level of respect from people that sometimes isn't warranted. I don't think you'd ever see lottery winners acting like that. Mostly because they spend it too fast, but otherwise, I think they're a little better grounded.

People like Ted Danson earn more by merely showing up for work than most working people earn in a couple of years. I wonder if they feel like that is their true value or if even they think it's ridiculous? I think it's ridiculous.

Somebody pays them. They pay them so much that, when you go to a birthday party, you have to give them a Freak Book or an AIDS cell phone because they really don't need anything.

As for me, you can give me pretty much ... anything.