“Curb Your Enthusiasm” batting .500 so far. The lunatic Rick Perry looks all-in. And the man who really, really suffered to win a contest

After last week’s season premiere of the once-brilliant, now barely-hanging on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” I thought Larry David’s show was finally ready for the grave.
Truly, the show hasn’t been as funny the last 3 seasons as it was in its first four, but still, like an addict, I keep going back.
But last week’s premiere, I thought, was quite unfunny, though my friends who are fellow “Curb” watchers disagreed (as did most critics. I don’t know, maybe my standards for the show are too high.)
Happily, Sunday night’s episode was terrific. Really liked the Richard Lewis storyline (though he does look like death warmed over, doesn’t he?), there were some great Marty Funkhouser lines, and it was just a really funny episode.

If the whole season is one good show, one bad one, I can live with that.

**Well, it’s starting to look more and more like that old secessionist Rick Perry, the batshit-crazy governor of Texas, is going to run for President. He’s now saying God is telling him it’s what he should do, which is always a good reason to run.

This man is scary dangerous, folks, and not just because he’s a tough-talking governor from Texas (we saw how that worked out last time).
Above is just a small example of how scary Perry is; it’s a video compilation Rachel Maddow aired the other night, showing the people who support Perry’s “prayer day” in Texas, which is upcoming on August 6. Needless to say, these people scare the hell out of me.
And Perry wants more just like ‘em. He’s going to be a formidable Presidential candidate … up until America (the non-Tea Party wing) actually starts listening to him.

**I don’t know exactly what the prize was in this contest, but these guys have to be a little nuts.
Two Chinese beekeepers competed against each other last week in China in what was called a “bee-bearding” contest.
They wore only shorts, goggles and plugs up their nose (of course), and Lv Kongjiang won by wearing 59 pounds worth of bees on his body.

Good lord some people will do anything to win. Is there enough AfterBite in the world to heal this guy?
And there’s not enough money in the world to pay my mother, whose bee-phobia is legendary in our family, to compete in one of these contests.

The Murdoch scandal just keeps growing. Suing your sister for Duke tickets. And a Tim Stauffer update

I haven’t written about the Rupert Murdoch/England/voicemail hacking story yet, because, well, no good reason. I just hadn’t gotten around to it. But now that this thing keeps growing and growing (Murdoch took out a full-page ad in his papers this weekend apologizing, and then Rebekah Brooks, one of his most trusted lieutenants, was arrested Sunday), I had a few thoughts:

– Slowly but surely, this scandal is growing beyond Britain and is going to have an impact on his properties in the U.S. Can you imagine if evidence comes out that Fox News has stealing Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton’s voicemails? You have to believe that if ole’ Rupert’s papers in England were doing this stuff, the NY Post, Wall Street Journal and Fox News could’ve been doing it, too. I’ll be stunned if the Post isn’t somehow implicated.

– Hard to believe that after so many years of vicious success, something like this could bring down Murdoch. Is it possible he’d have to sell Fox News?

– As a former journalist (God that feels weird to type, the former part) this is what I always wonder about scandals like this: Was it worth it? Was there really anything so juicy or interesting that it was worth the risk? Great piece by Carl Bernstein in last week’s Newsweek about Murdoch and the culture he created.

– It’s been hilarious watching the British politicians squirm as they try to distance themselves from Murdoch, a guy so many of them are in bed with. There is no one human being in U.S. politics as influential as Murdoch is in the U.K.
– Finally, I’m sure Fox will somehow report that this is all a big ole’ Democratic plot.

**So Duke basketball tickets are a pretty hot item. I know I’d love to get my hands on some, being a huge fan and all. Having been there a bunch of times in my life, I have to say Cameron Indoor Stadium is one of the greatest venues in all of sport.
Well, the  Caudle and Dorton families of Raleigh, N.C. tend to agree. A woman named Katina Dorton is currently suing her sister, Sophia Caudle over Duke season tickets once belonging to their late father. Dorton claims that Sophia’s husband arranged for the tickets to be transferred to he and Sophia without any prior consent from father John Dorton.
I’m totally with Katina on this one. Those tickets are way too valuable to give up without a fight.
And hey, nothing like a good family feud!

**You may remember that I’ve written a few times about my old pal Tim Stauffer, a pitcher for the San Diego Padres who is a really good guy with great parents, and has suffered through tons of injuries and disappointment in his major league career. Every few weeks I check the MLB.com website to see how he’s doing, and I’m thrilled to report that through the first half of this season, Timmy has been freaking fantastic.
Even though he plays on a crappy team that never scores any runs for him, he’s got a 2.97 ERA, which is phenomenal. He’s got a 5-6 record but is finally pitching like the guy who was a Top-5 pick in the draft seven years ago.
Good on ya, Timmy.