Upon switching on my phone this morning I received a message from my sister telling me that Steve Irwin had died and it was with genuine sadness that I switched on the radio and heard it being discussed (unlike Ak, who appears to have taken it much more readily in his stride).
One of the highlights of my recent holiday was being greeted by Steve as we descended into Sydney - he fronts their Customs and Quarantine info, as noted by Moon. After a mind-numbing 27 hour journey, there's nothing that perks you up quite like Steve leaping about telling you not to bring flowers into the country.
I can vividly remember the first time I saw him on TV. It was one of his documentray shows and he was legging it about with hyperactive enthusiasm as usual. A komodo dragon had a fishing line and hook caught in its mouth and Steve was attempting to help it by pulling it out. Understandably, this rather annoyed the huge beast and it ran at him, chasing him up a tree and slashing his boot in the process. During all of this, Irwin was manically shouting things like 'DANGER! DANGER! He's angry now!'. It was one of the most amazing, and funniest, things I'd ever seen and from that day on Irwin has been a bit of a hero of mine. So, as I said, it was with genuine sadness that I heard the news earlier. Rest in peace, Steve.
6 comments:
Very touching, Tombola. Although I find the mourning surprisingly serious, I think you're right to pay tribute to the man. He did a lot of good conservation work, and helped bring about a policy preventing crocodile killing for "fun" in North of Oz. This governmental bum love came in handy a little later on when charges were dropped for his "probing" with penguins (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3896685.stm) and when faced with charges for dangling his baby around the mouth of a croc. (Btw is it right that the Beeb refers to this as "entertainment"? They are sick and wrong.) You are also right to note his enthusiasm. I have been wondering who will be the new face welcoming foreign visitors and returning Aussies into the country, on the planes now. I wonder whether there'll leave Stevo awhile as a tribute. I sincerely hope so.
He did do some silly things, but what he did do was to motivate lots more people to watch programmes about animals. That can never be a bad thing in my book. That, and he had plenty of character. Good man.
I've got the perfect replacement to greet tourists to Aus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Benaud
Day 2 in death of Steve Irwin has seen endless tributes to a man they call a 'bloke, a 'larrikin' and an 'ocker' (see dictionary.com, they really are referring to him as all of those things on the news) as well as countless interviews with his 'mates' on the television. I hate the informal standard of news reporting over here.
What's more people are comparing him to 'stuffy old wildlife presenters' and saying he beats the pants off them. Now I'm not normally one to get too annoyed by someone's death (well maybe Princess Diana's) but as soon as they start dissing the Attenborough, that's a different story! Australians need to understand that he made his fame by taking risks and being a bit of a daredevil and that ultimately he was undone by this. He wasn't a 'great' person, just another benefactor (and ultimately victim) of the high-enetertainment culture we have, where risky behaviour is seen as entertaining behaviour. Would anyone else be as sympathetic to one of the Jackass boys if he died from a rusty staple to the gonad? NO.
she lavvs her cake
Ha! That line came to me earlier in the week too!
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