quote/unquote: Orwell, Epstein, Dolemite, Marbury

(Another in a series of random quotes, seemingly plucked from random but more meaningful, by Wilson in St. Louis)

"No one I met at this time -- doctors, nurses, practicantes, or fellow-patients -- failed to assure me that a man who is hit through the neck and survives it is the luckiest creature alive. I could not help thinking that it would be even luckier not to be hit at all."
*- George Orwell, in "Homage to Catalonia" on being shot in the neck during the Spanish Civil War

"Struggling to make changes that will attract the young and other readers with short attention spans has everywhere failed to bring salubrious results. In the case of the Chicago Tribune all that has been accomplished is to make the paper * with more color photography, shorter stories, more features, less hard news * seem more like USA Today, of which the world does not need more than one. This has brought greater dicontent among loyal Tribune readers. I am not a regular reader of the Tribune, but when I do pick up a copy these days it feels like nothing so much as holding the local evening television news in my hand, and that's not a happy feeling."
* Joseph Epstein, op-ed in the Wall Street Journal dec. 13/14, about the Tribune bankruptcy

"Dolemite's the name and f*!king up motherf*!#kers is my game."
*- the late, great Rudy Ray Moore in the 1975 movie "Dolemite"

"I'm earning my check by doing nothing. I'm enjoying it to the fullest. I can go in and out of the country when I want during the season. They'll make a decision when they're ready to make a decision. I'm getting healthy, adding two, three years to my career. This has been great for me, able to heal."
* former Knick Stephon Marbury, who was cut from the Knicks yet is still receiving $21.9 million for his last year of his contract. Marbury attended the Knicks-Lakers game as a fan in the front row Tuesday night. The Knicks lost by two points, 116-114.