Steve Irwin Died Yesterday >:(

[Domarius]

Was gonna post you a link directly to a news article, but there are so many articles on the australian news front page that I just thought I'd paste the news site itself.

 

http://ninemsn.com.au/

 

At least he died doing what he liked I guess, rather than in some random car accident or something like that.

[Vadrosaul]

I read the sad news just now. Sad to see him go at such an early age. My sympathies extended to his wife and young children

 

Steve certainly lived dangerously, and you know they say "Live by the sword, Die by the sword", but it was a freak accident that got him. A stingray has only killed 3 people in Australia in the past 60 years. It was just bad luck that the barb-tail pierced right near the heart

[Unstoppable]

Garrett strikes again. Hehe j/k RIP.

[Domarius]

Yes, incredibly bad luck. What you said is true "live by the sword, die by the sword" but I don't feel this is really something that people can say "SEE! He was asking for it, it was bound to happen!"

 

Come on, 3 people in the last 60 years. He had a better chance of being run over by a car.

 

But no one will appreciate this. That's why it sucks.

[sparhawk]

Who is that guy? I read that links, but I didn't really get it. Well, I didn't follow all of them as they are pretty slow to load.

[Arumakani]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5313078.stm

[oDDity]

Fortunately for you Sparhawk, they obviously don't show his trash TV in Germany.

He was just some idiot show-off who liked to dangle his infant son in front of crocodiles to get publicity.

Interesting how dicks like this get 'we're sorry he's dead' theads just because he was on TV (I also saw a similar thread on the newtek forms, cg talk, and TTLG will certainly have one), while all the former doctors who died in the world last week and spent their lives saving thousands of otther lives are ignored.

[Arumakani]

He actually seemed like a nice fellow. Something you couldn't ascribe to many of the tv folk. True I didn't know him but would've liked to have met him.

[sparhawk]

Fortunately for you Sparhawk, they obviously don't show his trash TV in Germany.

 

You wouldn't want to watch shows like GZSZ. THEN you would know what real thrash is.

[Macsen]

I was rather shocked at the news, but in hindsight it seemed inevitable. The number of times he's been bitten I'm quite surprised it didn't happen sooner.

 

It was rather unfair of him to take such risks when he had a wife and two sons.

 

BTW, is there a person who's job it is to update and change all the tenses on a person's wikipedia page after he/she dies?

[oDDity]

Yes, the same little nerds who write those pages in the first place. THey manage to do it in between sorting through their DVD collections of Buffy and Dr Who that their mum messed up while cleaning their room.

[Arumakani]

[Unstoppable]

I dedicate this song to Steve Irwin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXujtB_kaqw

[woah]

Wow, that Australian website is actually hosting a video of his death. How disgusting.

[Macsen]

Yes, the same little nerds who write those pages in the first place. THey manage to do it in between sorting through their DVD collections of Buffy and Dr Who that their mum messed up while cleaning their room.

Are these the same people who spend hours toiling on 3D models under the dim light of their computer screens?

 

Wow, that Australian website is actually hosting a video of his death. How disgusting.

Where?! I want to watch it and feel equally disgusted, tut tut.

 

It's just a video of the news report about his death.

[oDDity]

Are these the same people who spend hours toiling on 3D models under the dim light of their computer screens?

 

No, unfortunately 3d art requires some skill and talent, while writng a detailed wikipedia entry on the smurfs only requires you be an unemployable 30 year old white male who still lives with his mum.

[Arumakani]

You have a very high opinion of yourself

[oDDity]

I wrote the entry on the wombles, not the smurfs. That's completly different. Besides that, I live with my gran, not my mum.

[Vadrosaul]

Fortunately for you Sparhawk, they obviously don't show his trash TV in Germany.

He was just some idiot show-off who liked to dangle his infant son in front of crocodiles to get publicity.

Interesting how dicks like this get 'we're sorry he's dead' threads just because he was on TV (I also saw a similar thread on the newtek forms, cg talk, and TTLG will certainly have one), while all the former doctors who died in the world last week and spent their lives saving thousands of otther lives are ignored.

Such is the nature of the popular media beast

 

What was even more stupid was Irwin's response to criticism from dangling his infant son during a crocodile feeding

[Bob Obo]

I don't think it's any more of a tragedy that this guy died than when the guy across the street from me died. Reminds me when the media was crying their eyes out aboiut Princess Di doing so, but barely batting an eyelid when Mother Teresa died a week (or so) later.

Then again, its still a tragedy. From what I understand, Steve Erwin did take risks, but being killed by a Stingray is nothing but a freak accident. Unless he was trying to poke it with a stick...

[Domarius]

That's right, a freak accident. No he wasn't poking it, just swimming near it. You see people on TV caressing the things, having schools of them swim around them and brush over them, and all sorts of stuff.

The only explanation they have is maybe with both he and the cameraman around the stingray, it felt threatened, and lashed out randomly. Making him only the 4th person to die by a stingray in the last 60 years.

[obscurus]

Such is the nature of the popular media beast

 

What was even more stupid was Irwin's response to criticism from dangling his infant son during a crocodile feeding

 

 

Regardless of what you may think of his parenting skills, Steve contributed more to conservation than any individual in history. He made millions form his show, and every cent he made he used to buy up vast tracts of wilderness in several countries, set up a foundation to protect wildlife in perpetuity, and educated about 500 million viewers about the virtues of creatures many people fear or do not consider the interests of, as well as setting up a state-of-the-art hostpital for injured wildlife.

 

As far as I'm concerned he was a bloody legend, and when you have done something a fraction as worthwhile with your life as he did with his, then you can possibly criticise him.

 

And as far as the crocodile incident goes, well I don't think he should have done it, but the danger to his son was perceived, not actual. Crocodiles are very predictable once you get to know them, and Steve had been dealing with crocs since childhood, so I highly doubt he would have palced his son in harm's way, though it was obviously a mistake to make a public show out of it. Interestingly, no one said a word when he did the same thing with his daughter several years earlier. It was just a big media beat up, blown out of all proportion.

 

It is a shame there aren't more people like him in the world. People with that much honesty, integrity and dedication are truly rare. He was an exemplary Australian, one I think most of my fellow Aussies would feel rightly proud of.

 

 

I've swum with stingrays quite a lot, and they are normally quite relaxed about being touched and approached, as long as you are gentle. I have never felt threatended by one in the slightest. They normally only flick the barb up if they are trodden on or hurt. I can only imagine Steve had the incredibly bad luck to get on the wrong side of an unusually irritable stingray.

 

I always thought he'd get bitten by a taipan or something like that...

[SplaTtzZ]

and educated about 500 million viewers about the virtues of creatures many people fear or do not consider the interests of

 

Thats right. I visted the Australia Zoo only once when I was a little younger, but even then I was amazed at how Steve both educated the public but also made his shows (namely the crocodile feeding) so much fun, even with creatures mundane or 'grotesque'.

 

His contributions to maintaining the australian ecosystem, not just in the salt and freshwater rivers, but also the barrier reef, the desert, wetlands and numerous other habitats will be sorely missed.