Crikey!

[Awakened by the Gates]

As reported elsewhere, Steve Irwin has been killed in a freak accident. I feel like crying, not crocodile tears though.

The world has lost a man who brought the outdoors to so many. His enthusiasm for the environment was contagious.

[MrZuLu]

WHAT????

How?

[Sheerah]

WHAT????

How?

He got stung in the chest by a sting ray. He had a heart attack as a result of the sting. He was only 44. How sad.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/steve-irwin-killed-by-stingray/2006/09/04/1157222051512.html

[pedro skychaser]

primeMinister howard just told the house of representatives...wife+children hiking in tassie...stingRays very rarely kill but steve got it straight in the heart...will be muchMissed.

[True Believer]

There's talk of maybe a State Funeral.

[Hex]

There's talk of maybe a State Funeral.

That would be nice. And fitting. He did a lot of great work.

[Andersonic]

State funeral? Isn't that a bit much? Steve Irwin was a pioneer indeed, but he did took risks. Remember when he took one of his babies out with crocs nearby?

He will be missed and I enjoyed his documentaries very much but I'm sure I'm not the only one who always thought that the animals would win one day...and that is today...

Rest in peace Steve and thanks for everything you thought us.

[Symbol]

I was just reading about this. Very sad.

He was a passionate man and very entertaining. He will be missed.

[prem895]

It was only a matter of time

[Andrea YouAndI]

I heard about this earlier, and it just feels weird. The irony of this is that it wasn't a creature known to be more dangerous, such as a croc or a snake or a jellyfish. Sure, he was quite crazy sometimes, but very important in bringing awareness of these creatures to the world. I am a nature lover too, and watching his shows were often an odd kind of guilty pleasure.

I just feel bad for the kids. They are still so young. :crybby:

[RealAir]

I think he was a complete whackjob...but the absolute best of the whackjobs in the world. I was a casual watcher of his shows, but I really liked him...I'll miss him and his thick aussie accent. As BassFish said, it is truly ironic that a man who wrestles with crocs for a day-job, is killed by relatively docile creature. He just always seemed to be 'untouchable' as it were...as if nothing could ever harm him. I guess all things do come to pass.

Very saddening...

[Sally Brown]

I heard the news earlier this morning. I couldn't BELIEVE what I was hearing. They showed an interveiw they had with him in January, 2004. He said, "You can take away my zoo, you cut off this interview, but I'm tellin' ya, you CANNOT say I'd hurt my babies...". He was always interested in the world around him, and I believe that's what made him so great. That's what made him such an example... to what I believe is all of us in some small, or large way.

A salute to one brave trooper!!!

[DonnAstral]

Oh it's so sad. Steve was so vivacious and passionate, and yes, maybe a little over-the-top at times, but he believed in what he was doing, believed he was going to change people's attitudes, and I don't think anyone can say he didn't raise international awareness of wildlife conservation to some degree.

Let's hope all of us who learned lessons from Steve will now carry on the cause of protecting and preserving wildlife. Maybe that was his purpose for being on this Earth.

[DonnAstral]

There's talk of maybe a State Funeral.

Just posted in "The Australian"....


Irwin family offered state funeral
September 05, 2006
STEVE Irwin will get a state funeral if that's what his family wants, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says.

The 44-year-old media personality and environmentalist died yesterday when a stingray barb punctured his heart while he was filming a nature documentary off the coast of Port Douglas in north Queensland.

Mr Beattie today said Irwin put Australia on the world map.

"He will be remembered as not just a great Queenslander, but a great Australian," Mr Beattie said on Channel Seven.

"Whenever I travel overseas, particularly to countries like the United States, he was certainly the most well known Australian.

"People didn't know who our prime minister was, or who our premiers are, but they certainly know Steve Irwin."

Asked if his government would honour Irwin with a state funeral, Mr Beattie replied: "We will honour Steve Irwin in whatever way his family wants."

But first it was important to let his wife Terry and two young children, who recently returned to Queensland from Tasmania, deal with the tragedy, he said.

"Our first thoughts have to be with Terry and the children and I don't want to say or do anything that will make their grief worse because they are a wonderful family," Mr Beattie said.

"We will approach the family and we would obviously be keen to honour him in some sort of way from the Queensland Government point of view, from the state's point of view, but we would only do that with the family's approval.

"They have to deal with this terrible news which has shocked everyone."

[Buglunch]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/09/04/irwin-obit.html
Even if only ~17 have died in 100 years from stingrays, taking constant chances fails after a while; I thought a snake or croc was going to get him. Too much publicity and money and attention for him: kids should never have kids.

Any real grown-up should have quit hanging so close to deadly animals once married and especially with kids. "Passionate" ain't enough of an excuse.
He was careless and immature and started a lot of people getting right in feral animals' faces trying to "bond with nature".
I blame Disney and "extreme sports". And a misguided anthropomorphing of wild creatures, like Finding Nemo, which I saw first time last night.

The wild ain't cute. People have tried to pet and feed bears here for decades and paid for it. We just can't leave wild creatures alone or give therm any room nowadays.
:thumbdown

[relayerjim]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/09/04/irwin-obit.html
Even if only ~17 have died in 100 years from stingrays, taking constant chances fails after a while; I thought a snake or croc was going to get him. Too much publicity and money and attention for him: kids should never have kids.

Any real grown-up should have quit hanging so close to deadly animals once married and especially with kids. "Passionate" ain't enough of an excuse.
He was careless and immature and started a lot of people getting right in feral animals' faces trying to "bond with nature".
I blame Disney and "extreme sports". And a misguided anthropomorphing of wild creatures, like Finding Nemo, which I saw first time last night.

The wild ain't cute. People have tried to pet and feed bears here for decades and paid for it. We just can't leave wild creatures alone or give therm any room nowadays.
:thumbdown

I feel sorry for Steve Irwin’s family.
Bug makes a couple points here.
I don’t think anybody will learn anything from this thou.
Somebody will just try to take his place.

[Wild Westie]

Some tabloids are offering $500,000 for the video of Steve Irwin's stingray attack and death. Film crew member Peter West says Steve's entire ordeal was caught on tape. "They were actually filming him at the time, the guy was swimming in the water, the ray stopped and turned and that was it. There was nothing to it. It was just a freak accident. Under no circumstances was he harassing the animal, he wasn't poking or prodding it at all." Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, is apologizing to Steve Irwin's family and friends after a hacker broke into their site and littered his biography page with a message that read: "Steve Irwin's dead! LOLOLOLOLOL!"

[Wild Westie]

Dr. Ed Loughlin was the first physician to attend to Steve Irwin after he was fatally stung by a stingray yesterday. He says he tried everything to save him. "It became clear fairly soon that he had non-survivable injuries. He had a penetrating injury to the left front of his chest. He had lost his pulse and wasn't breathing." At the time of his death off the Batt Reef, Steve was filming a new documentary aimed at demystifying the stingray. Irwin's death was only the third known stingray death in Australian waters. Ben Cropp, whose friend filmed Steve's attack, says the stingray attacked for no reason. "It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest. It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty dagger." Wildlife experts say a stingray's tail is like a jagged paring knife. A coroner says Steve died instantly from the stingray's piercing jab and not its venom.

[Altres]

http://i1.tinypic.com/2l95uyq.jpg

[Imperatrix]

As stingray barbs are jagged, why the hell did Irwin rip it out of his flesh? Surely he knew that that would cause further damage to his heart. Was it a result of panic? I suppose we will never know.

What a shame...poor man. :crybby:

[Altres]

It is very sad, I for one liked him and his mentalist passion for everything living. We need eccentics in life to show us how mundane we are becoming.

Brian

[Imperatrix]

We need eccentics in life to show us how mundane we are becoming.

Brian

Jesus H., dude...why do you think Yesfans.com exists? :lmao:

[Altres]

Jesus H., dude...why do you think Yesfans.com exists? :lmao:
Hmmm...fair point. :D

Brian

[soulsearcher]

i loved this guy, respected him and i miss him already.
it is a true tragedy.

[Squire*Fan725]

It was indeed a sad day when I found out yesterday...I feel so bad for his kids...

[InverYes]

A State Funeral? Seriously?

What on earth will happen when Rolf goes?

[Hex]

A State Funeral? Seriously?

What on earth will happen when Rolf goes?

They'll bear him to the grave on a wobble-board.


I hope.

[InverYes]

And just in case you thought all sharks lived in the water, check this out

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STEVE-IRWIN-2-PAGE-STORY-TRIBUTE-THE-SUN-NEWSPAPER-UK_W0QQitemZ330025383083QQihZ014QQcategoryZ1439QQr dZ1QQcmdZViewItem

unbelievable!

[Close to Loch Ness]

Sad to say that doesn't surprise me Richard.

I feel for his wife and kids who were on a trekking holiday in Tanzania when they got the news.

[BrianD]

Sad to say that doesn't surprise me Richard.

I feel for his wife and kids who were on a trekking holiday in Tanzania when they got the news.


I think they were in Tasmania not Tanzania - they sound alike.

It is a sad occurrence - he was larger than life and certainly evoked the cringe factor with the way he behaved - but it wasn't a put on - that was how he was. I heard a brief interview last night from a few years back where he told the interviewer that his wife had told him that he even spoke like that in his sleep!

[pedro skychaser]

Sad to say that doesn't surprise me Richard.

I feel for his wife and kids who were on a trekking holiday in Tanzania when they got the news.

no tazzieDevils in tanzania...sorry...try tasmania...our southern most state...dips in the antarcticOcean....yes if rolf goes i think the poms will mourn more...steve was worldFamous,promoted conservation+tourism+quarantineLaws....rolf promotes britishPaints---sureCan!!!!:git[1]:

[pedro skychaser]

They'll bear him to the grave on a wobble-board.


I hope.

well they bore kylie into the olympicStadium on a surfBoard....grrrrrrrrrL!:appl[1]:

[Imperatrix]

::::wondering:::: What's a wobble-board?

[pedro skychaser]

::::wondering:::: What's a wobble-board?

yesBabe---a musical instrument consisting of a mass-produced sheet of masonite+nothing else...err...you wobble it....hope this helps!:dj:

[InverYes]

Here you go

http://www.bsacc.co.uk/BSACC%20WEB%20PICS/Gallery/Rolf2.jpg

[TNyesfan]

It is very sad, I for one liked him and his mentalist passion for everything living. We need eccentics in life to show us how mundane we are becoming.

Brian

Agreed and well put.

I stopped being a fan when he pulled the infant over the croc thing, but before that I really liked him.
The kids and I used to play "talk like Steve Irwin" when we'd talk like him for an hour or so. Everything we did would become exciting, even housework.

Personal feelings aside, he indeed was a pioneer.
May his passion and research go on.
RIP Steve.

[Imperatrix]

yesBabe---a musical instrument consisting of a mass-produced sheet of masonite+nothing else...err...you wobble it....hope this helps!:dj:


Here you go

http://www.bsacc.co.uk/BSACC%20WEB%20PICS/Gallery/Rolf2.jpg


So...one wobbles it...and it makes a noise...and that's what it does.

Anything else?

Does one wipe afterwards?

Should it be concealed in public?

I'm just askin'.

:angel: :angel: :angel:

[Close to Loch Ness]

I think they were in Tasmania not Tanzania - they sound alike.

Oops Crikey!!

[moonchild]

The baby over the croc thing was mostly a blown up media bit. He had 20 or so people around him... and he lives with these crocs in his back yard. I think he knows their personalities by now.. and I'm very sure there was never any danger. The only problem I had with that is why make a spectacle of your one month old child... but then that was Steve's life. Everything was a spectacle. Heck, both kids were delivered on camera... thats why we all love him, we all felt like we'd known him for years.

I think its very sad, but unfortunately not surprising. You just knew it was going to happen some day. I bet he found it hard getting life insurance.....

[wolfhound]

The baby over the croc thing was mostly a blown up media bit. He had 20 or so people around him... and he lives with these crocs in his back yard. I think he knows their personalities by now.. and I'm very sure there was never any danger. The only problem I had with that is why make a spectacle of your one month old child... but then that was Steve's life. Everything was a spectacle. Heck, both kids were delivered on camera... thats why we all love him, we all felt like we'd known him for years.

I think its very sad, but unfortunately not surprising. You just knew it was going to happen some day. I bet he found it hard getting life insurance.....
I agree. When I saw the video of him and the baby, I didn't give it a second thought. He knew those animals and their behavior. He probably had the distances carefully mapped out in his mind. I'll bet the kid was safer at that point then any ride in the back seat of a car.

[inside_out]

I agree. When I saw the video of him and the baby, I didn't give it a second thought. He knew those animals and their behavior. He probably had the distances carefully mapped out in his mind. I'll bet the kid was safer at that point then any ride in the back seat of a car.

Behavior which one? and for what reason?

[wolfhound]

Behavior which one? and for what reason?
LOL. Pardon? I'm confused. I'm not sure which one of us should clarify first. :D

[Mc-Merc]

The baby and the croc thing was all blown out of proportion by (who else?) the media. The camera algle showed Steve and the baby to be close to the croc, but other cameras showed that he was indeed very far away!

The whole thing is truly devastating. They showed a lengthy interview he gave on a TV show a couple of years ago, and he was so genuine, so down-to-earth, a guy with real good family and moral values... you couldn't really fault him. But I guess his death will make him even bigger, which is OK.

[pedro skychaser]

memorial transmission---bloodyHell-bindi was just magnificent!

crowe,jackman,blueWiggle also good...

[yesiam]

It was a beautiful memorial. I cried my eyes out for an hour. Bindi is just an amazing little girl.

[muff]

It was a beautiful memorial. I cried my eyes out for an hour. Bindi is just an amazing little girl.

Just caught Bindi reading her eulogy to her father on the News here,
What an angel she is,

Truely beautiful little girl, in every way,

[yesiam]

I can't embed it - here is a link to her speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5pBN3cE-2A

[mmmYes]

I can't embed it - here is a link to her speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5pBN3cE-2A

oh my goodness

:crybby: :crybby::crybby::crybby::crybby::crybby:

[heartofthesunrise]

My roomies and I bawled our eyes out. At the end when they showed all the family shots of Steve with little Bob, man, I lost it. I hope three years is enough for him to remember what a fantastic father he had. Pictures can only do so much.

It seems to me that Bindi already knows what she's destined to do. I can see her in 20 years running the joint with Bob doing all the photogenic front of the camera stuff that Steve did. I, for one, can't wait for that.

[Dances w/PURPLE]

memorial transmission---bloodyHell-bindi was just magnificent!

crowe,jackman,blueWiggle also good...

I only saw a small clip from it but I heard from others who saw it she did an amazing job. I feel so well she will surely stay true to her word in honoring her father's work.

[Project Director]

The baby over the croc thing was mostly a blown up media bit. He had 20 or so people around him... and he lives with these crocs in his back yard. I think he knows their personalities by now.. and I'm very sure there was never any danger.

I find this comment highly surprising. It's very well to say that he's a professional, but all it would have taken was one slip, fall, accident or unforseen occurrence and poor little Bob could have been a Croc's lunch. Steve's unfortunate demise proved one thing to us. It doesn't matter if you are a professional; when you are dealing with wild animals, there is always danger. If he chooses to take that risk - that is his choice, but don't subject an innocent baby to danger.

My question to those of you who thought that this WASN'T an act of complete stupidity is this:

If Steve Irwin was such an expert / professional in the field of wild animals, and there was never any danger, would you have handed your own one month old baby over to him to use in the Croc show?

[Wild Westie]

R.I.P.: According to a net report, Terri Iwrin is upset that Comedy Central decided to run an episode of South Park that mocks her husband's death. Those, close to the family, say, "Terri is devastated Steve is being mocked in such a cruel way. Her worry is that Bindi and Bob will see it and break down. Steve had as big a sense of humour as anyone, but this goes too far too soon."

[Project Director]

Sick as it may be, it's the shock value that helps keep the show popular. They say that all publicity is good publicity.

[soulsearcher]

i didn't see that episode of south park...

and project director has a good point..sometimes all the experience in the world can't save you from an accident..

as much as i love steve, and think his baby was safe..there is always danger being in the same ring as a crock or any wild animal.

[sirlespaul]

The Southpark episode is going to be played tomarrow on Comedy Central. (Probably around 9:30)

[Buglunch]

R.I.P.: According to a net report, Terri Iwrin is upset that Comedy Central decided to run an episode of South Park that mocks her husband's death. Those, close to the family, say, "Terri is devastated Steve is being mocked in such a cruel way. Her worry is that Bindi and Bob will see it and break down. Steve had as big a sense of humour as anyone, but this goes too far too soon."

And the stingray Irwin Hallowe'en costumes will never be fine, not even on Bill Maher- any human should be off-limits for this.

Now, Dick Cheney's hunting skills.......


Sick as it may be, it's the shock value that helps keep the show popular. They say that all publicity is good publicity.
Too many shows now use shock far too much: easy method and Networks are terrified we're getting our media off-TV; TV used to rule but, heck, CBC radio beats 90% of all cable TV even. Shock unnecessary; good content is dying everywhere that's momey-based.

Take away the profits/ads and see what's left- that's my test nowadays.

[Wild Westie]

And the stingray Irwin Hallowe'en costumes will never be fine, not even on Bill Maher- any human should be off-limits for this.

Now, Dick Cheney's hunting skills.......


Too many shows now use shock far too much: easy method and Networks are terrified we're getting our media off-TV; TV used to rule but, heck, CBC radio beats 90% of all cable TV even. Shock unnecessary; good content is dying everywhere that's momey-based.

Take away the profits/ads and see what's left- that's my test nowadays.

:appl[1]:

[pedro skychaser]

just had a steveIrwin moment---our cat caught crow in gumTree---had to approach stricken bird and cardboardBox it--rang animalRescue people who told me they'll pick it up but for me to feed it meat on a skewer in meantime--bloodyHell its all too complicated!!!hahahahah(we have lots of crows around trainLines)

btw re southPark--let the fat geeks have their little joke

[Wild Westie]

just had a steveIrwin moment---our cat caught crow in gumTree---had to approach stricken bird and cardboardBox it--rang animalRescue people who told me they'll pick it up but for me to feed it meat on a skewer in meantime--bloodyHell its all too complicated!!!hahahahah(we have lots of crows around trainLines)

btw re southPark--let the fat geeks have their little joke

I remember when this show was first airing. Everyone I knew was raving about it. I watched a few episodes and found the content utterly stupid. Clever satire ~ I think not. However, there are a few episodes that are funny. I quit watching the show when they introduced Starvin' Marvin', a skinny African child. I was horrified.