Vale Steve Irwin
Media - - Posted on September, 4 at 5:17 pm by Tim
Hadn’t actually heard of Irwin till I moved to America. He was everywhere over there, from TV to merchandise in shops. A veritable industry. Quite a revelation. I’ve got a lot of time for his approach, for the enthusiasm and success that comes from doing what you love doing. Vale Steve Irwin.
ANOTHER SAD DEATH: I’d also like to note the death of author Colin Thiele. Can’t say I’d read a lot of his stuff, but hey, who doesn’t know Storm Boy? (I’m hoping one of the guys over here does a piece on him.) More at Barista.
Posted in Media |
September 4th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
Couldn’t stand him or his program, myself. Too over the top for me, but it seems he was genuinely like his on-screen persona, so you can’t fault him for being honest.
Like Tim, I was introduced to him in America. They loved him over there. Kinda like Ali G, or Basil Fawlty “like”. I think it was because their own television personalities are so strait-jacketed.
Alas, my oldest grandson,7, is a big Crocodile Hunter fan. I’m glad I’m not the one breaking the news to him.
Of course Howard will milk this for all it’s worth, as Irwin was a big Howard Hugger, and not afraid to say so.
And if you think that last comment is out of place, inappropriate, uncaring or just plain cynical… watch Howard in the next few days. He can out-cynic all the rest of us put together. This is tailor made for him, and takes people’s minds off the disasters in politics that are afflicting him, at least for a few days. He’ll have PR types working overtime on it as I write this.
The excuse will be the “Great Ambassador for Australia” angle. This will morph into all the Howard usuals: press conferences, attendance at the funeral, testimonials and maybe (if they can wangle it) a state funeral. Would an RAAF flyover be - forgive the pun - too over the top?
If you want a template for the spin exercise that’s coming, think: Private Jake Kovco.
I say this simply because someone kinder, gentler, more beautiful and in every way dearer to me than Steve Irwin was killed in a car accident in Sydney last Tuesday. Her young neck was snapped like a celery stick when another vehicle rammed into the passenger side of her car. There was no reason for her to die other than the fact that life seems to be bloody unfair at times.
Irwin knew the chances he was taking, and even delighted in flaunting his death defying behavior. It was his raison d’etre to muck around with dangerous animals, and finally his way of life caught up with him.
He will be mourned much more than my beautiful young friend. But for Irwin there will be an orgy of grief across the community. Everyone will be trying to get their mugs on a TV camera somewhere to say how wonderful Irwin was. And maybe he was… but I know who I’m mourning at the moment.
Irwin had a choice. My friend did not, except to live her life as an example of how much goodness can dwell in one young person. Let this be my blog entry for someone of infinite serenity who died for no reason at all other than a young, unlicensed punk in a BMW was in a hurry.
Vale Steve Irwin.
Vale Katie Dodd.
September 4th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Lets hope that Australians don’t start calling for a cull of stingrays - Steve Irwin dedicated his life to educating people not to fear our great predators, but to respect them. A knee-jerk ocean hunt would undermine everything he stood for.
September 4th, 2006 at 6:16 pm
Seemed a decent enough bloke. Feel sad for his wife and kids. A shame he died so young.
That’s it, I’m done.
Sorry to hear about your loss, AB. You’re right, it makes no sense that one so innocent should be taken so young. At least you were lucky enough to know her… if that’s any consolation
September 4th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Katie wasn’y my loss, Mars. It’s just that world is a lesser place without her. It’s her Mum and especially her Dad that I wish I could help, but can’t.
Thanks anyway. I just felt her passing needed to be noted.
September 4th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
Condolences to Irwin’s family, especially his kids. I could take or leave him, but he was a genuine person and a great ambassador for wildlife and Oz wildlife in particular.
Having lived in stingray country most of my life, I can vouch that the manner of his death was a freak event. Death by stingray is one of your least concerns in Oz.
Condolences also to AB for his (and other’s) loss.
A good friend recently died from cancer, relatively young, with just 4 months notice, leaving behind a distraught wife and four kids under ten, one of whom was born just weeks before he went. At least he got to meet her, even if she will never remember.
They are also my godchildren (without the god bit). Hurts like hell seeing them trying to make sense of it. What do you say or do? Just hug them and tell them you care, try not to fall apart too much in front of them, and slowly bring them (and yourself) around to seeing the good in life again.
Just to really rub it in, they had come through some very hard times in the decade before, and were finally on a smooth run. Until…
Life is real bitch sometimes.
Excuse me while I go and kick something (inanimate).
September 4th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
It’s an odd thing about Steve Irwin - the first most Australians heard of him was from references in American pop culture. I’m pretty sure I had no idea what South Park were on about when they depicted his show thus:
AUSSIE: As we steer our boat down [the boys are on the sofa looking at TV], looking for these dangerous predators… Boy, there’s a king croc right here. [it slips into the water] He must be four meters; 12, 13 feet long at least. [it looks up at him] This croc has enough power in its jaws to rip my head right off.
KENNY: (Oh, no!) [tightens his hood up]
AUSSIE: I’ve got to be careful. So, what I’m gonna do is sneak up on it and jam my thumb in its butthole.
STAN: Holy crap. dude!
AUSSIE: If I get bit out here, I’m 200 kilometers from the nearest hospital: I’d better be real careful jamming my thumb in its butthole. [jumps in and grabs the crocodiile] Oh, boy, it’s pissed off now.
KYLE: Go, dude, go! [excited, the boys jump on the sofa]
AUSSIE: I’m gonna jam my thumb it its butthole now! This should really piss it off! [reaches down with his left thumb to do it. The croc jumps up in pain and drops] Oh, yeah, that piossed it off, all right! [the boys cheer] I’ve gotta be careful!
STAN: This guy rules!
Tali, a stingray is hardly a “great predator”. If you see one while you’re snorkelling, as you very often do in warm climates, you need not fear it in the slightest. At the risk of hitting a sour note on a sad occasion, active provocation is required if a stingray is to strike at a human. I’m very confident no-one will be calling for them to be culled.
September 4th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Agreed on stingrays. On the total of two Barrief Reef island sojourns in my entire life, I’ve seen plenty (small ones).
Thay’ve kept out my way, and I’ve kept out of theirs.
Why would you want to touch them? Eeeeeeccchhh!
On grief: can someone please explain to me why it is nearly always the Bastards who survive until they’re old and decrepit, while the good die young?
Maybe in asking the question, I’ve answered it.
September 4th, 2006 at 7:47 pm
Steve Irwin reinforced all the stereotypes about Australians that Americans have and apart from that I thought he was …. well I guess I should observe the ‘don’t speak ill of the dead’ convention.
But wtf was our Prime Minister doing on ABC TV a few minutes ago offering his two cents worth? Howard has moved beyond being every sporting code’s favourite informed amateur and now seems to be a commentator-at-large …. I wait with eager anticipation to see what he thinks about the move back to high waisted women’s skirts.
September 4th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
On grief: can someone please explain to me why it is nearly always the Bastards who survive until they’re old and decrepit, while the good die young?
Indifference to the harm they do. They don’t lose sleep (or years) over it.
September 4th, 2006 at 8:01 pm
This seems relevant:
Attacks on humans are a rarity - only one other person is known to have died in Australia from a stingray attack, at St Kilda, Melbourne in 1945.
“Stingrays only sting in defence, they’re not aggressive animals so the animal must have felt threatened. It didn’t sting out of aggression, it stung out of fear,” Dr Bryan Fry, Deputy Director of the Australian Venom Research Unit at the University of Melbourne said..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5311298.stm
September 4th, 2006 at 9:05 pm
At the Perth aquarium, they have an experience pool where you can touch stingray’s. They feel quite pleasant against your skin. Juvenile stingray’s don’t have a barb, so it’s quite safe for kiddies there.
Irwin was himself - he certainly made me cringe at times, but his media personality wasn’t just an act.
Sadly, it is his family that have to bear the brunt now.
September 4th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Can I offer my condolences to both AB and Seeker on their sad losses.
But on the matter of Steve Irwin, I do have a problem. Not that I wished him ill, but this man spent a lifetime tormenting wildlife, and as a some-time carer I can assure you that none of them like to be grabbed, dragged around and otherwise paraded before a camera for the benefit of a money making exercise. And that includes the ones that you really do have to catch, in order to help them.My limited knowledge of sting rays would suggest that they are a fairly benign creature that require a fair amount of provocation. i would be most interested to hear the opinions of Valerie Taylor with regard to this.
And Howards performance was positively nauseating. I too await the announcement of yet another elaborate funeral, to help us take our minds of the other pesky matters such as AWB, IR etc.etc.
September 4th, 2006 at 9:59 pm
The rodent, being the father of the nation, is (quite naturally) the final arbiter of what makes a great straaayn.
September 4th, 2006 at 10:42 pm
“But wtf was our Prime Minister doing on ABC TV a few minutes ago offering his two cents worth?”
Howard was a good friend of his.
“Howard has moved beyond being every sporting code’s favourite informed amateur and now seems to be a commentator-at-large …. I wait with eager anticipation to see what he thinks about the move back to high waisted women’s skirts.”
Well he *is* the bloody Prime Minister. Media types tend to ask him about things a lot because of that.
It’s kind of sad that you lefties are still so obsessed with Howard that you can’t help but bring him into anything, even sad stories like this.
You need professional help.
September 4th, 2006 at 10:46 pm
And by the way, Stingrays are not predators, they are scavengers. You don’t need to “actively provoke” one to be stung though, its quite easy to accidentally step on it or just swim past it and scare it.
That said, Steve was very, very unlucky. The stinger must have pierced his heart. You are much more likely to be killed by a dog or even a lightning strike than a stingray.
September 5th, 2006 at 12:12 am
What Yobbo said.
I don’t know if this ever ran in Oz, but Steve Irwin jokingly anticipated his end in this Fed Ex commercial, which ran in the States a few years ago.
September 5th, 2006 at 1:14 am
“Shortly after 11am (AEST), Irwin was being filmed by a cameraman in 2m of water at Batt Reef, about 32 nautical miles offshore from Port Douglas, as he swam over the top of a large bull ray.
Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the 2.5m stingray turned on Irwin and struck him with its tail, releasing a poisonous and jagged barb that pierced his heart.
Graphic footage of the incident, which police have seized, shows the animal turning and striking Irwin, who immediately collapses in the water. ”
Shame on you who were suggesting he “provoked” the stingray. Fucking arseholes.
September 5th, 2006 at 2:57 am
prejeudiced = prejudiced
September 5th, 2006 at 3:18 am
Come off it Yobs, are you seriously suggesting that causing aggravation to animals wasn’t Steve’s style? Maybe the report is accurate, and an unprovoked attack from a malicious stingray is just one of those things that could happen to any of us. You still have to admit that there were a million other occasions in his life where he could have been killed by an animal who felt threatened by him.
September 5th, 2006 at 3:34 am
Aussie Bob works the all-important Howard angle.
Get help, Bob.
September 5th, 2006 at 3:42 am
I arrived here via Tim Blair and find most of the posts sick and cynical. Steve will be fondly remembered by most Australians. He seemed to live live with a passion. He successfully packaged his antipodean experiences and skills and won the interest of US and international markets. He was also a risk taker. A naturalist killed by a fish, he will achieve a well deserved legend status in Australia. I expect that the federal or Queensland government will succumb to popular sentiment to give him an almost State Funeral. They should.
September 5th, 2006 at 7:05 am
Irwin’s gig was to constantly confront wildlife and turn the whole thing into an act which made him quite rich and famous. Nothing wrong with rich and famous in my view, however using animals as your prop - even if for a well-intended purpose - has probably caused at least as much harm as good. Since Irwin started really getting famous, he has spawned hundreds of imitators many of whom organise these “let’s-touch-the-animals” holidays which are called, cynically and disingenuously eco-tours, where people interact in a very un-eco-like manner. The animals really don’t like to be grabbed, yanked about, pulled from their burrows, grabbed off their tree branches, etc. It’s not their nature. But Irwin made all that OK to do (never mind that he made sure to use a disclaimer that people shouldn’t try this without a professional, etc. etc. No one, apparently pays attention to it) with results that are mixed at best. So many people feel compelled, it seems, to annoy and aggravate wild creatures these days, video themselves, and then try and get a gig out of it (or just have it in the family library). I’m for leaving these creatures be except for the purposes of serious scientific or environmentally sound reasons. Perhaps that was Steve’s main intent, but somewhere along the line he got sidetracked by fame and fortune, in my opinion. It would seem that he just couldn’t resist teasing and bothering these creatures. Rays may sting you if you step on one (thought the rays usually swim away as they can sense your foot’s movement throught the water), but most experts have been saying that he must somehow have startled or annoyed it and then didn’t get out of the way fast enough. I’m sad for his wife and kids, but I can’t really be too sad for him.
Sorry. I know I’m going to get slapped silly for this comment. ~sigh~ OK. Do your worst.
September 5th, 2006 at 7:13 am
Yobbo if you think our Prime Minister doesn’t closely manage every one of his media appearances then you don’t understand modern public life. And Kim Beazley pleading with Andrew Johns not to retire is every bit as pathetic as Howard offering his thoughts on Steve Irwin/Pakistani ball tampering/whatever.
I’m still chortling over Alan Ramsay’s story of how the media got pictures of Howard’s ’spontaneous jump for joy’ when the Socceroos scored a goal …. yeah TV crews just happened to be in his lounge room at 5 am …. and he just happened to be wearing a Socceroos track suit lol.
WAIT I HAVE AN IDEA …. American presidents do this thing where they throw the first pitch of the baseball season or something …. maybe Howard will bowl the first ball of the forthcoming Ashes series!!!!
September 5th, 2006 at 7:40 am
The state funeral is on “if that’s what the family wants”… and it’s Beattie who’s making the offer.
How’s Howard going to top this? Can’t even be the keynote speaker at a funeral run by Queensland.
Yobs, we may be nasty Lefties, but we’re merely speculating on the glorious PR possibilities for the politicians, which are already unfolding.
To Howard, everything is a political opportunity. He provides political punctuation to the events of society in Australia. On the TV news last night it was all Howard splashed across the screen, despite the fact that many other politicians, including Labor politicians, expressed similar condolences to Irwin’s family. But we only heard them on the radio, and then only ABC radio. The prime spot was reserved for Howard.
I like to think the Labor guys do it as a sensible pre-emption to another Howard spin onslaught. In war and politics the good guy always loses.
September 5th, 2006 at 8:12 am
Was listening to the BBC’s World Have your Say (burst of insomnia) with Manisha Tank last night, and after Afghanistan and Sudan they addressed Steve. The intro
“There was nothing confusing however about the larger than life personality of Steve Irwin. The Australian Crocodile Hunter wowed audiences the world over with his passion for wildlife, conservation and the hungry jaws of crocodiles. Australia mourns today the death of a national hero and true planet lover after he was poisoned in an underwater encounter with a Sting Ray in the Great Barrier Reef. How will you remember the sometimes controversial man who died in the pursuit of his passion? “
Manisha Tank expressed her personal view that he was a truly inspiring person. They were stunned by the number of emails they were receiving. He wasn’t just an Australian and US phenomenon. Africa, old and new Europe, Asia. The 9 yr old boy from India who emailed,”Stevo, my hero”.
A point that Manisha made, that he loved the nasty animals, the sharks, snakes, crocodiles, and callers agreed with her point that he made us feel differently about them too. What a talent.
I too was not hugely fond of the few programmes of his shown on telly here, I don’t like scary shows, but so enjoyed the interviews with Steve.
I remind that George Bush was a fan too. Steve was fun. Lateline
LOUISE WILLIS: Is there a link between you doing these ads and the fact that you’ve been praising John Howard recently?
STEVE IRWIN: No. That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard – absolutely no link. That’s like asking if an eagle can mate with a budgerigar…….
MARK COLVIN: Inimitable. Crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin, speaking to Louise Willis in Brisbane.
And so he was.
September 5th, 2006 at 8:54 am
Yobbo and co. just piss off to your own little world.
When someone famous from the left cops it, you lot are all out there trying to find the nasty surprises under rocks - and generally crying good riddance. Not much compassion there.
When some people on this site question the amount of political mileage the PM will try to make of this, you all go off about attacking Irwin. That wasn’t the point being made. Just because he was some sort of icon for some bullshit manliness kick you people like to carry on about and a mate of Howard’s doesn’t mean that he was in anyway perfect or that other’s won’t try to use his deaqth for their poliical gains.
Me, I thought the man was an awful ambassador for Australia and I didn’t like what he did with animals. But I could appreciate that this was his honest too goodness personality.
Still, I am shocked and sorry that he was killed at a young age.
September 5th, 2006 at 9:03 am
Yeah, yeah BigBob, your total committed sincerity really shows in your last sentence. Disgraceful.
September 5th, 2006 at 9:52 am
The yobbos of this world (note the lower case “y”), led by none other than Alexander Downer, second guessed the death of a thousand Lebanese civilians recently because of one ambulance and one smoke photograph. It was necessary for them to do this to try and put Israel and its unconscienable viciousness towards ordinary civilians and a neighbouring country into a better light.
There was also a case of recent non-death: that of the Fox News reporter and cameraman who chose to “convert” to Islam rather than be murdered. Oh, the Wingnuts were all over their “cowardice”, as if to say the newsmen should have been some kind Christian martyrs, dying for their religion (but of course, if you buttonhole the Wingnuts, it’s not about religion at all, is it?). Put them in the same situation and they’d be shitting themselves like the rest of us, and they’d sign anything, do anything, betray anyone or any idea or religion to save their own skins. But from the safety of wonderful Australia, all they can do is scowl.
Sure, there’s been some scowling here too, not at Irwin himself (except as criticism of his actual show, and his production strategy, which I hope isn’t disallowed), but at the way it’s going to be blown up big by every politician - Liberal, National and Labor - who thinks he or she can gain an advantage from it.
It’s only natural to anticipate what the politicians will do with this. They are, why shouldn’t we? It’s only natural to point out the contrasts between the death of an Irwin and death of other, equally wonderful people who receive no public attention at all.
It was because Irwin was on TV, and had a certain type of game plan for fortune and profit that he is now nationally mourned. He was also a very political person, and publicly praised the Prime Minister on many occasions. No matter how hard it might be to understand at Tim Blair’s site, down among the cockroaches who crawl around there, this makes the connection between Irwin’s life, his publicly expressed ideas (both as a naturalist and a fan of Howard) and the politicians who leech off his mortal and moral remains a fair and proper subject for comment.
As I said, if the politicians are making whoopee with Irwin’s death, why shouldn’t we point that out, and point out Irwin’s connections with one side of politics in particular? If you believe Howard doesn’t have half a department working out the the Steve Irwin angles right now, then you’re a very naive person indeed.
September 5th, 2006 at 10:05 am
Meanwhile…
September 5th, 2006 at 10:15 am
Yeah, yeah, yeah Aussie Bob. You didn’t like him because you didn’t like his politics, (not that you’d have a clue what his views were). The man did nothing but good. I never heard him say a bad word about anyone. He was a father and a husband. He’s done more for this world than you or any other of the snearing losers in these comments will ever do. Steve Irwin mattered to a lot of people the world over. You do not. The fact that you use his death to advance your politics shows what sort of person you are.
September 5th, 2006 at 10:26 am
The meeja circus is in full swing of course, and if I hear the word icon again I’ll scream. There’s an element of cultural cringe here as well, I think the fact that he was so popular in America somehow validates his looming sainthood or at least elevation to ‘iconic’ status.
Of course you have to feel sorry for his family and it was a shock, but the over reaction from all sections of the media renders his death less human, not more so. He’s becoming an icon, a symbol of whatever bullshit the media wants to sell us this time, right before our eyes.
September 5th, 2006 at 10:38 am
Whyisitso,
What, just because I didn’t like a lot about someone’s character. doesn’t mean I can’t feel sorry for his death?
You are just a twit.
September 5th, 2006 at 10:43 am
What a stupid statement TonyD, the man did nothing but good.
So it’s Saint Steve now.
Come on, I don’t see any people here playing the man, it is you and your low life colleagues who are trying to drive the conversation into a character assasination piece.
He was a controversial character, and as such will produce a variety of opinions as to what he has done.
Just because he has died tragically doesn’t change that one bit.
September 5th, 2006 at 11:04 am
How was he controversial BigBob? If you mean he was controversial because he “tormented” animals, well you’re the only twit who thinks that and one persons loony views a controversy does not make. He did more to protect animals than any greenie I’ve ever heard of. He used millions of dollars of his own filthy profits to buy animal habitats and develop wildlife protection projects. But of course this means nothing because he MIGHT have been a conservative supporter- what a germ!! There is much more to a person than their politics BigBob - although with you and the lovely Aussie Bob that might not be true.
September 5th, 2006 at 11:07 am
From Tim Blair’s site, via Google:
Gee, and so self-effacing about it, too.
Ask the animals he hassled.
From one sneerer to another, I take that as a compliment.
Because he was on TV. That’s sad. There are plenty of other, much more worthy people who aren’t on TV. And that’s sad too.
If Irwin used his life and his theme park to advance his own political causes, then he’s fair game. If Howard uses his death as an excuse to indulge the nation in an orgy of mourning, then he’s fair game too. If Tim Blair’s site quote Irwin’s opinion of Howard approvingly, then they are merely wankers. But please don’t come here and tell us your own agenda in being here is not somewhat colored by your own political beliefs.
Now, if David Attenborough had died instead of Steve Irwin, that would be a cause for mourning.
September 5th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Steve Irwins death, though tragic in itself illustrates how in death all of our sins can be overlooked. Three years ago he was widely pilloried in the press for “threatening” the life of his baby son by holding him during a crocodile show (personally I thought the press response was way OTT at the time anyway). Its amazing though how that episode has gone unmentioned by that same press in the rush to canonise the man in death.
AB - Blair is simply nauseating.
September 5th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Get a grip tonyD, he was controversial. As AB and PreDawn Leftist point out, there were plenty of things that he said and did that could be termed that way.
As to not liking him for his politics, well before he came out in support of Howard, I was not enamoured of his antics.
Not particularly about the hassling of animals - which you seemn to have read into my remarks somehow -but because I don’t think his way of dealing with wild animals was appropriate to show impressionable children, all warnings about not doing this at home taken into account. Nor did I agree with his viewpoint about things such as crocodile farming.
I also disliked the reinforcing of an image of Australia that just isn’t true.
I still had admiration for the vast energy the man had, I wish I had half of it myself.
Me. I’m being honest about my personal assessments of a celebrity. You, I think are just hanging on for the ride.
Think I know where the real hypocrisy lies.
September 5th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
For fuck’s sake you leftwing retards, if you can’t say anything decent about a victim of tragedy, keep your hateful traps shut. No wonder the mainstream overwhelmingly rejects your ideology.
September 5th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
“The fact that you use his death to advance your politics shows what sort of person you are.”
And do you apply the same standards to John Howard, Peter Beattie and the mass of other politicians who have been doning exactly this?
September 5th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Germaine Greer completely wigs out and claims that the animal world has wreaked its righteous revenge on Steve Irwin.
Gaia’s ordering hits on humans now?
I don’t know what’s scarier - that a stingray might have thought ‘Fruck! That’s him! You’re gone, wilderness trampler!’ Or that Greer believes this might be true.
Weird, freaky and so very, very Greer.
Here for more
September 5th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Steve Irwin never impressed me much, so when I heard he’d died I found it hard to account for the sense of loss and teariness I experienced watching the news. The Australian mythology he represented was there before Howard and will still be there when Howard is gone.
It seems to me that much of what Irwin represented is what both sides of politics are trying to protect or promote in some way, the same kinds of things we all argue about every day. Hard to define, but for me Irwin represented the right to be daggy. For that I salute him.
September 5th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Pollytickedoff - when a politician gets up and tells Australia that Steve Irwin was a good man who did alot for Australia, they are telling the truth. If the truth helps to advance their politics that is good. If a politician gets up and tells lies about, or denigrates Steve Irwin so soon after his death, then they are pushing an agenda, that is bad. It’s about truth and lies.
September 5th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
Well put, Lyn That I’ll drink to.
September 5th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
In reply to yobbo
I would be very surprised indeed if you had seen the film mte and knowing that you haven’t ( I happen to be a member of the service responsible) I would suggest you keep your wild guesses to yourself.
The coroner will decide the cause and for the record mate the particular ‘ray’ in question does not strike with its tail (like a scorpion).
You have to be in body contact since the barb is on its body and not in the tail. I reacts like a very strong flick knife so as to repel an preditory bite like a tiger shark.
I think you will find the man was riding it or trying to do so.
Very sad indeed but it should be remembered that he was diving in an area that is off limits to the ordinary person and doing something that is off limits to an ordinary person and attempting to “ride a ray” something that an ordinary person wouldn’t do evn if he were allowed to do so….but then Steve Irwin wasn’t quite an ordinary person anyway….was he?
Chris Gaff
Cairns
PS
Up here, under the water, stupidity kills.
September 5th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Who has lied TonyD?
Someone said they didn’t like him - not a lie, an
opinion.
Someone said he was controversial - well I would say the righteous indignation over the Baby Bob and crocodiles WAS controversial.
Can’t say I liked his shows but I certainly admire some of the things he has done.
September 5th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
The dark stuff is what I agree with (The rest is abusive hypocrisy.) But that applies as much to bullshit politicised sanctification as to critics of bullshit political sanctifications. I reckon there should be a respectful mourning period, regardless of how public or political a figure the deceased was. At least wait until the fellas buried.
Having said that, I though AB’s original comment was a good tribute. The mistake he made was to speculate on Howard’s likely actions. AB, despite your explanation, I reckon that demeans you. You can fight fire with fire, but don’t start slinging mud.
September 5th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
For fuck’s sake you leftwing retards, if you can’t say anything decent about a victim of tragedy, keep your hateful traps shut. No wonder the mainstream overwhelmingly rejects your ideology..
Would you be so ‘noble’ if Irwin had been a strong Labor supporter instead?
Inconsistency, meet blindingly obvious sewer-level hypocracy.
September 5th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
“Would you be so ‘noble’ if Irwin had been a strong Labor supporter instead?”
Jesus Christ. Is that all you think about?
Steve Waugh is a Labor supporter. Do you really expect the right to come out and dance on his grave when he dies? If you do you are even more of a fuckwit than you have shown in your comments.
Howard derangement syndrome has progressed to the point where anyone who supports Howard is a bad person and deserves to die.
Nice supporters you’ve got here Tim. I hope you are proud of them.
September 5th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
Nice supporters you’ve got here Tim. I hope you are proud of them.
Funny, just the other day we had a bunch of righties here, and on their blogs, making fun of the fact that some of the commenters here were disagreeing with me and the basis of that were predicting the downfall of the place. Now commenters are my “supporters” and representative of everything I think and feel. Wish you guys would make up your minds.
On the topic at hand, as with everything, some comments I agree with, some I don’t. Overall, though, it seems to me that most of the usual thugs who come here whining that not everyone sees the world exactly the way they do, and who seek to enforce by abuse their particular worldview, and just can’t stand the fact that people stand up to them, have had their arses handed to them comprehensively. That regular commenters here are better at arguing than those blow-ins who only seem to be able to shout frustrated abuse at them has been apparent for a long time.
September 5th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Sorry Yobbo, but there was a fairly civil discourse going on here, that dealt with people’s opinions about a person has died who loved being a celebrity, with all that entails.
Then a whole bunch of numbnuts came along and started hurling insults around - something that has continued unabated. One could say, in a completely typical manner.
Sorry mate, if you are with that lot, I hope you are proud.
September 5th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Pathetic, yobbo.
I suggest very strongly that you read all my posts on this thread before you make that bullshit claim. I specifically avoided politicising it.
All I did was simply point out the utter hypocracy of the right claiming to be above this sort of stuff. The list of examples of the right’s vicious perfidy and thuggery is at least as long as anything the left is guilty of, INCLUDING THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF TRAGIC DEATHS TO ADVANCE THEIR IDEOLOGICAL CAUSE.
(BTW, I am basically a centrist voter, not a hardcore lefty. I have voted for non-Labor/left parties before, though never for HowardCo. I am not pro-left, but am strongly anti-hard right. Big difference.)
Howard derangement syndrome has progressed to the point where anyone who supports Howard is a bad person and deserves to die.
As has the equally mindless and offensive Howard Hugger’s syndrome.
Thanks for proving exactly my point. Own goal, I believe.
Now run along.
September 5th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
Funny, just the other day we had a bunch of righties here, and on their blogs, making fun of the fact that some of the commenters here were disagreeing with me and the basis of that were predicting the downfall of the place.
Yup, that is funny.
And a little revealing of their tendency to a groupthink, brook no internal (or external) dissent, pack mentality style of, umm, cognition. (OK, that last bit was cheap shot, but it’s been fired now, so it stays where it fell.)
September 5th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
Go jump in the lake yobbo. No one here is dancing on anyone’s grave.
You type are all the same, ready to jump on something someone has said and twist it to mean something else.
Why do you come in here at the call of t.blair?
I personaly am sadened by his death. However I to am sadened by the death of a dear young friend of AB.
September 5th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
The Croc Hunter was the only damn thing I watched on that idiot box. It was great!
But . . . he did have the world’s most dangerous job and got away with murder countless times.
Very sad, nevertheless.
September 5th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
Just to show I’m even-handed when it comes to finding politicians stomach-turning when they wring their hands in public:
“The nation went to bed in shock last night and rose this morning in sorrow at the death of Steve Irwin,” Mr Beazley told reporters in Canberra.
Hmmm … well the folks round here seemed to be bearing up OK …. heartless bastards. Please don’t tell me ol’ Kim broke down in parliament again. He is so METRO, honestly.
Meanwhile,
‘Senator Brown told reporters this morning.
“What a bonza person. What a great guy. What a tragedy for his family.”
The story doesn’t say if bonza Bob was wearing a safari jacket in honour of his cobber. I bet he wished he’d said ‘bloke’ though instead of ‘guy’.
September 5th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Courier Mail
AN outpouring of grief followed the news of Steve Irwin’s death yesterday with more than 1300 tributes posted to date by The Courier-Mail.
Within minutes of the first reports being published on The Courier-Mail’s website, messages began flowing from as far as the US, England, India and South-East Asia.
Since The Courier-Mail broke the story of Steve’s death, our special tribute blog has posted more than 1300 personal condolence and tribute messages from all continents around the world — and in several languages: in English, German, Italian, and Spanish.
Have a Google, Pravda, Daily Telegraph, NBC’s top billing all day, Today opened with it.Larry King canned program to rerun 2004 interview. Malayasia, Israel, South Africa, Malawi, Indian, China, Taiwan, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and on and on.
China Daily on Steve in 2005, after he visited China
“The real-life Crocodile Dundee rose to fame with his unique way of introducing wildlife to the general public. Scratch the surface of this natural showman and the real driving force beneath becomes evident. Greater understanding and respect by man for the natural world are his passions. Conservation and environmental protection his raison d’etre. “
David Bellamy who the ABC reported as crying when he heard,…admired Steve Irwin’s capacity to invest personally in the environment.
“The legacy he’s left is people knowing and understanding that we must make room in the world for all the animals, whether we’re frightened of them or not, and use the areas we’ve got which are still full of native animals to restitch the world back into working order,” he said.
RSPCA (UK), said Irwin was a “modern day Noah” because of his conservation work.
Big Pharoah, Noooooo. Comments included egytpian and this which had to be an Aussie
“Dangerous critters everywhere sport black armbands and look for somewhere to get drunk.
I’ve actually refrained from killing snakes on my property, who promptly ran from me when we met, mainly because of a seed Steve planted long ago.
May his vibe live long after these painful days for his family and fans. “
This should cheer up those who think Howard will use his death for political gain. Email to Christian Monitor.
One European traveler named John in a Sydney Internet cafe said, “We are from Sweden…. We don’t really know who the prime minister of Australia is, and frankly, we don’t care. But we feel very, very bad that Steve Irwin has died so suddenly like this. We all know who he is.”
Whether one liked him or not, this man fired the imagination of the world. It is not sufficient explanation that he was a showman. What was it about him that made him one of the most famous, and liked men in the world?
September 5th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Chris Gaff…. “…the particular ‘ray’ in question does not strike with its tail…”
Could you please tell me what sort of ray it was? The news stories I’ve heard haven’t included this info. I suspect I could “google” it but I really don’t want to wade through a swamp of fluff just to find this small detail.
September 5th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
Also Chris, what leads you to believe he was trying to ride the stingray, the police say he did nothing to provoke the animal. Well nothing active anyway, clearly the ray was bothered. Still a big animal like that could obviously hurt hard even if it just was giving a warning to keep away.
September 5th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
“The mistake [AB] made was to speculate on Howard’s likely actions.”
Most of which are coming true, even as we discuss the possibilities, and discuss whether we should discuss the possibilities.
Irwin’s death was an accident. Howard’s response is no accident.
He’ll have someone out there right now trying to nopbble Beattie’s idea of a state funeral, or, failing that, trying to get him onto the guest list as keynote speaker. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to feed of Irwin’s tragedy. Believe it.
He thrives - politically - off the corpses of others. Kovco and Irwin are two recent examples.
Lefties really do need to get a backbone about this. Every time they fail to call Howard on his crocodile tears for the dead, he lives to wedge another day. It’s war. Howard takes no prisoners. Why should we?
He relies on cockroaches like Yobbo (good name that), Tuckey and Heffernan or, in more polite tones, Downer, Abbott and Henderson, to do his dirty work for him. Like the Godfather, he feigns respectability and gravity, puts himself about as the Father Of The Nation, affects a “legit” facade, but in the background he needs a group of assassins just like any other gangster, “made men” to whack the dissenters and the enemies. If they get too far out of line he disowns them, but never actually to the point of sacking them.
It’s all very well to stand up and utter decencies about how to behave, about not sinking to their level, but that only let’s them get away with more murder.
I admit it’s a Video Ref decision - to sink or not to sink - but I’ve had enough of the bullshit, personally.
September 5th, 2006 at 6:34 pm
Aussie Bob, could you please change your name to something more appropriate? (still beginning with “A” if you like) coz fella, you ain’t fit to lick an aussie’s boots.
September 5th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
There you go. The mindset writ small: only we get to decide what constitutes “aussieness”. Boy, do you need to get over yourself.
September 5th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
“I think you will find the man was riding it or trying to do so.”
Chris, from a police report published on SMH online this arvo:
“There is no [video] evidence that Mr Irwin was intimidating or threatening the stingray,” he said.
“My advice is that he was observing the stingray. There are no suspicious circumstances in relation to the death of Mr Irwin.”
BTW, Richard Glover played a tape of Irwin on ABC 702 this afternoon, recounting his gallery-seated impressions of Dubya’s visit to our House of Reps. Irwin waxed rhapsodical - “best speech of the day!” - about Simon Crean’s address to Bush in which he respectfully but firmly distanced himself from the Iraq adventure - it was probably the best speech that Crean has ever made IMO.
Irwin cited it as “the essence of Australia.”
September 5th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
Well, at this stage I’m prepared to admit there are two sides to this discussion.
The Lefties, one side, are somewhat underwhelmed by Irwin’s life and works, but are prepared to admit that he had a certain appeal to a certain audience, and that he did a lot of good things and some silly things with animals. On the whole a tick for personality, a tick for increasing awareness of the existence of wildlife (althought crocs are hardly rare), and a tick for getting the tourists interested in coming here. This position is mercilessly denigrated as sneering, loathsome and cynically political by…
The Wingnuts, apparently all of whom seem to believe Irwin was as close to sainthood as an Aussie dag can get. We have had epithets thrown around the site by them, reams and reams of quotes from foreign publications on how wonderful Irwin was (by Ros… and I ask again, Ros, what does that prove?), and indications that all over Australia hair tonight will be rendered from scalps, backs lashed with whips and other methods of self-flaggelation in mitigation of grief will be undertaken.
All in all the usual Lefty-Wingnut divide: Howard-Haters don’t think much of him, Howard-Lovers think the world of him, thus proving my original point that everything is political. The more the “Irwin for Sainthood” radicals claim to be apolitical, the more political they unwittingly reveal themselves to be hopelessly political (I say “unwittingly” because it’s a known fact they have no wits to have about them). I don’t know why you don’t admit it fellas. You’re certainly not fooling anyone over this way.
The difference between the Wingnuts and the Lefties is that the Wingnuts are ashamed of their politicisation; hence their denial of being involved in politics, or of regarding things politically. They are the Philosopher Kings, way above politics. It is only the dirty Lefties who indulge, or so they would have us believe.
To this I say: crapola guys, you’re just as far gone as we are, but your problem is you won’t fess up to it. You’re into politics up to your necks, but you seem to be ashamed of the fact. Come out of the closet. Admit you like Irwin simply because you think he was on “your” side. You really will feel better afterwards.
It’s either that or I have to believe you actrually enjoy The Crocodile Man. As one serious adult to another, I would have trouble accepting that was possible for anyone, even the comic book readers from Tim Blair Dot Com.
]
My 7 year old grandson has an excuse: he’s 7.
September 5th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Superintendent Mike Keating said today police had viewed footage of Mr Irwin’s death.
“There is no evidence that Mr Irwin was intimidating or threatening the stingray,’’ he said.
“My advice is that he was observing the stingray. There are no suspicious circumstances in relation to the death of Mr Irwin.”
I haven’t been following this story too closely… does this mean that there is video footage of the exact moment Mr Irwin suffered the fatal blow?
|||
Ken Lovell:
“Just to show I’m even-handed when it comes to finding politicians stomach-turning when they wring their hands in public…”
Nice geture, Ken. But you know some of Blairs wankers see being “even-handed” as a sign of weakness, don’t you?
September 5th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
When some on this forum decide that vitriol and abuse is more effective than arguing their case in an intelligent and thoughtful manner it really makes me wonder who influences their views.
Perhaps the Blair and Howard huggers should sit back, take a deep breath and combine their limited intellectual capacties.
And while you’re at it, and I know this will be difficult for you all to comprehend, try to remember that we live in a democracy.And that a democracy actually gives the citizens of this country the right to “free speech”.
September 5th, 2006 at 7:47 pm
Nah Bushie,
Free speech is one of those things the wingnuts want us to put aside in the great clash of civilisation.
The only free speech allowed is to be a fawning toady at the feet of the great.
These are the very same people who go on about how dominated life is by political correctness.
September 5th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
His friend and manager John Stainton said today
“He was always on the precipice. He always pushed himself to the very limits but I thought he was invulnerable and I think he did too.”
As for the police saying he didn’t intimidate the stingray he was merely ‘observing it’ Mr Stainton also said today “(He was) probably a metre coming over the top of it,”
I would think that to a sting ray this would be very intimidating, especially when there is another person (the cameraman) in front of it.
September 5th, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Every time a great white shark kills an “innocent” Australian, (who was, after all, invading its home territory) idiotic Australian vigilante hunters conduct a moronic marine hunt for the perpetrator of this horrendous “crime.”
Entire fishing fleets, accompanied by the Water Police boats whose uniformed officers lead the charge and enthusiastically endorse the ridiculously absurd proceedings, parade their ‘manhunt’ on TV for “this criminal, this murderer,” which is actually a creature of the sea who possesses the brain power of a sea mollusc.
This is not to insult molluscs, because the ‘person of interest’, a shark, seems to be endowed with more collective intelligence than the entire human fleet pursing it.
Not to be deterred, the ‘Jaws’ enthusiasts who consider sharks to have more felony offences on their record sheet than the Boston Strangler, forget, or just don’t know, that sharks are incapable of rationalising anything - let alone committing anything that we human dumbo’s consider as crimes. Likewise innocent stingrays.
So, to the case of the stingray which killed Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter:
If I hear one whiff of a vigilante hunt to exterminate all stingrays from the world’s oceans, or see the police or the navy setting sail to find this ‘murderer’ - then you vigilante turds better watch out for me. I’ll be in a B52 bomber, 45,000 feet above you, about to press the red button. I’m serious: if one stingray is killed because of this, then your butt will be bacon, on national TV.
Steve Irwin would have said: Crikey! Aren’t they lovely? Those B52’s!”
I repeat to all those brain-deads out there considering retribution against stingrays for killing Steve Irwin:
Steve Irwin himself would pronounce you exactly and precisely and absolutely for what you really are:
Fucking dickheads.
September 5th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
mars:
I don’t think anyone knows yet what type of stingray it was.
“MARINE documentary maker Ben Cropp, who also was diving on the Great Barrier Reef yesterday, said Steve Irwin was killed when a bull ray lashed out at him in shallow water.
Cropp said he had contacted a member of Irwin’s production crew late yesterday.
“I spoke to one of the guys who was out there, who saw the footage. I wanted to get the truth,” said Cropp, 70, who also runs a museum at Port Douglas.
Cropp said Irwin was swimming as his cameraman was filming bull rays at Batt Reef, when the tragedy occurred.
“In this case he was swimming alongside a bull ray, a big black ray, and the cameraman would have been in front, filming him.
“Steve got probably maybe a bit too close to the ray, and with the cameraman in front, the ray must have felt sort of cornered.
“It baulked but didn’t spook and go racing away, which would have been fine. It went into a defensive mode, stopped, turned around and lashed out with its tail which has a considerable spike on it.
“Unfortunately Steve was directly in its path and he took a fatal wound,” Cropp said. “It was a freak accident in that the spike caught him in the chest . . . near the heart.”
Cropp said the incident occurred in water less than 2m deep. Members of the film crew were “very upset”.
Note that the term “bull ray” doesn’t refer to any particular Australian species.
September 5th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
Too true, Big Bob, too true.
It really is a sad state of affairs when to disagree with the huggers on any topic allows them to become abusive and accuse those in disagreement with being unpatriotic(whatever that means).
Who said ” Patriotism is the last resort of scoundrels”?.
Can’t remember, but it resonates well at the moment, when anyone who criticises the departed(and no doubt soon to be beatified)Steve Irwin obviously deserves to be hung, drawn and quartered.
And I would like to express my sympathy to howard. Being gazumpped by Beattie must be a cruel blow.(specially during a state election campaign)
September 5th, 2006 at 8:18 pm
Sorry Aussie that any conversations that don’t gell with you make you angry. So your curiosity isn’t piqued by the world wide fascination with Steve and the fact that millions liked him, others don’t see it your way.
He wasn’t particularly good looking, he wasn’t particularly articulate, his stars were somewhat unattractive beasts, he wasn’t loved by any of the elites, he was loud and could be irritating and yet something about him made him a very unusual sort of celebrity. While he seemed to appeal very much to kids, there is no doubt that he was also very important to many adults, one station said he had 500 million who watched him.
He seemed a nice man, and his politics was such a small part of who he was it seems petty to go on about them. Apart from the obvious of the thrill of danger from the armchair, I wonder if it was because for many he was sort of a character out of a book, a book of times past, of boys own adventures. A world where the dangers were in dealing with nature, and being triumphant. Not global terrorists, or global warming or bird flu, and never seeming to win. I did and do find him and the world’s love of him interesting.
A number of kids said he made them smile or similar. Maybe it was that, maybe he combined animals which so many love to watch, with making us feel good.
I did like him, and, am surprised at my sadness at his death.
He was a phenomenon, and he was a man of substance, however much it irritates you.
What are you telling your grandson?
September 5th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
“If I hear one whiff of a vigilante hunt to exterminate all stingrays from the world’s oceans, or see the police or the navy setting sail to find this ‘murderer’ - then you vigilante turds better watch out for me. I’ll be in a B52 bomber, 45,000 feet above you, about to press the red button. I’m serious: if one stingray is killed because of this, then your butt will be bacon, on national TV.”
Serious sicko commitment stuff, Zog, but rest assured that no-one except your good - if slightly unbalanced - self has heard the vaguest whiff of “a vigilante hunt to exterminate all stingrays from the world’s oceans.”
Relax.
I concede that all this might change if Channel 9 or Alan Jones front up with a Stingray interview that exhibits a Tory-sympathetic slant.
Poisoned flounder would be too good for them!
September 5th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
Just dropping by for an Aussie Bob update. Having linked Howard and the Jews to Steve Irwin’s death, I’m just wondering why Bob hasn’t mentioned George Bush yet.
September 5th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Ros, I will be telling my grandson that tormenting anything by picking them up, dragging them around and exhibiting them is not acceptable. I will always encourage him to observe and perhaps learn that all creatures are important, but that doesn’t give us the right to exploit them.
But I can say that, because I actually live with snakes, lizards and many other fauna, unlike the minions of the Howard cheer squad, who have probably never seen a snake in the wild, or anything else for that matter, and decide that abusing some of us who actually respect our native animals makes us elite?
Bullshit. We just live with them, respect them and get on with our lives.
September 5th, 2006 at 9:26 pm
“He relies on cockroaches like Yobbo (good name that), Tuckey and Heffernan or, in more polite tones, Downer, Abbott and Henderson, to do his dirty work for him.”
At least this “cockroach” didn’t take the opportunity of a much-loved Australians death to have a cheap dig at John Howard.
You’re a fuckwit Bob. And everyone who has read this thread knows it.
“Admit you like Irwin simply because you think he was on “your” side.”
This is a really sad projection on your part. I like Irwin because he seemed like a likeable, no maintenance bloke, unlike a lot of celebrities who are self-important Divas.
And Irwin wasn’t on anyone’s “side”. His principle crime is saying “John Howard is a top bloke”, and for that the left will obviously never forgive him, but the fact is I’m sure Steve Irwin would have said that about any Prime Minister, because that is the sort of person Steve Irwin was.
As Geoff Honnor has already said here, he liked Simon Crean too.
The stupid thing is that Irwin was a environmentalist, and the reason he met John Howard in the first place because he was campaigning for increased environmental protection.
He was on your side, but because he had the bad sense to claim “John Howard is a top bloke”, the Australian left will forever see him as the enemy.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a sad example of humanity as you.
September 5th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
He’s already worked that out for himself, according to his mum.
“Sometimes dangerous beasts really are dangerous”.
September 5th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
OFF TOPIC
Looking back through this discussion, I began wondering…
I’m impressed by the number of Blair’s buffoons who’ve popped in to have their spew. I’m also impressed that some of them have graciously blessed us with more than on comment.
I’d like to know if this sort of thing is mostly one-way traffic. Do packs of latte-sipping, chardonnay-socialist, bleeding-heart, tree-hugging, terrorist-cheering, unAustralian, chattering-class, dole bludging, do-gooder lefties ever take it upon themselves to descend on Blair’s blog? Do any of the “regulars” on this site regularly flirt on the wild side?
September 5th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Really yobbo you come across like some sort of sick joke, or parody of a RWDB. Give me Bob’s common sense rather than your paranoid hysterics any day.
September 5th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
Keep up them crocodile tears, Yobbo.
September 5th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
The conclusions that are jumped to. I grew up with snakes that liked the cement step at the back door as well as other exciting places, they cam climb trees you know, or did at our shed. Unfortunately for that snake that liked warm cement, the decision was eventually made that as it wouldn’t agree to sleep somewhere else at night, it had to go. Never had the snake in the toilet as happened while at a neighbours though. Can’t say that I liked snakes very much, not like Irwin encouraged us to.
You clearly didn’t think much of the commenter on Big Pharoah who said he gave up killing snakes on his property because of Steve.
And obviously you don’t think too highly of farmers such as my Dad who exploited animals either, you are a vegetarian I assume Bushie. Or is it only native animals that deserve respect.
September 5th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
Yob,
is a little less equivocal than “top bloke”. You made up “top bloke”, because to supply the actual quote (which I went to the trouble to find) would require that you can read something more than Little Golden books or Spiderman comics.
September 5th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
\”There was also a case of recent non-death: that of the Fox News reporter and cameraman who chose to “convert” to Islam rather than be murdered. Oh, the Wingnuts were all over their “cowardice”, as if to say the newsmen should have been some kind Christian martyrs, dying for their religion (but of course, if you buttonhole the Wingnuts, it’s not about religion at all, is it?). Put them in the same situation and they’d be shitting themselves like the rest of us, and they’d sign anything, do anything, betray anyone or any idea or religion to save their own skins. But from the safety of wonderful Australia, all they can do is scowl.\”
Which \”wingnuts\” were those Aussie Bob ?
It\’s all in your mind.
September 5th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
My goodness, what a lively thread this is.
To drag things back vaguely topicwards (possibly a first for me), what I find fascinating and slightly distasteful, is this huge outpouring of vicarious grief that seems to have become compulsory when a popular public figure dies.
Have we, as a society, become so desperate to feel something, anything, that it has become necessary to show the world how devastated we are by the death of someone we don’t know and who certainly doesn’t know us?
I’m certainly disturbed by the inference, particularly from the RWDBs dropping over from tblairs’s, that anyone who doesn’t regard Mr Irwin as a saint in the making is, in some way a traitor.
If you thought he was great, then fine. That’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it. However, if, like me, you thought he was a bit of a tedious prat although fairly harmless and well intentioned, that’s an equally valid opinion and it shouldn’t be expected to change just because he’s dead.
All that said, I have great sympathy for anyone who, like his family, have lost a loved one. That’s entirely another matter.
September 5th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
To the second half of this post, Colin Thiele was easily one of the greatest, and widest read, Australian writers.
I still fondly remember a teacher throwing away a week of primary school afternoon lessons to read us all of CT ’s book ‘The Sun On The Stubble’. We were transported to country South Australia and into the lives of the kids adventuring in the bush through his words.
We weren’t a class of big readers, but I think every boy in that classroom read every book of Colin Thiele’s they could find after that. Fantastic.
He was a deadset legend.