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Steve Irwin Dead
mkosmo writes "News.com.au is reporting that Steve Irwin was killed in a freak accident while filming one of his well known documentaries. Surprisingly it wasn't a crocodile, it was a sting-ray."
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I feel for his kids. These poor kids are going to grow up with a father. All they are going to really know about him is going to be what they see on TV.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Steve should be commended for his efforts over the years. His enthusiasm was infectious.
Unfortunately, while he stood as a model environmentalist, he now stands as an example of the dangers of directly interacting with wild animals.
Jim
http://www.runfatboy.net/ - Exercise for the rest of us.
Poor old Steve - but at least went out was doing what he loved, as opposed to getting hit by a bus or something.
I met him briefly once or twice - he was a friend of a friend - and while he used to ham it up for the cameras, he was a nice guy and very passionate about wildlife.
*sigh*
He will be missed.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
I heard about this a couple of hours ago while talking online on a MUD I used to code for. The first thought I had was that the world was a lesser place without him, just like the world was reduced when Fred Rogers passed. This was a Grade-A human being, and in an odd way very important to me. Let's just say my dog's name is Bindi.
Good luck, Steve.
Our intelligent designer has never created an animal that we couldn't improve by strapping a bomb to it.
I am a little appalled by the reaction of many /.ers. This was a guy with a family. You have no idea whether he was responsible and careful with animals, not being animal trainers yourselves. All you have is your uninformed opinion about it. Have a little respect for the guy, if only because he was more than just a TV star.
~ I am logged on, therefore I am.
It's called a "defense mechanism". I was making jokes during 9/11 too, because it helped me deal with it.
It was funny. Dark and morbid, sure. But funny.
How the fuck is that funny? You pieces of shit.
It is damn funny. Irwin himself has probably play-acted a death like that a hundred times for the comedic effect.
Besides, all humor originates from the misfortune of others. Try to come up with something funnier than a knock-knock joke that isn't at the expense of someone - you'll be at it for quite a while.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
No, someone died who did more than you EVER will!
Your sentence does not parse. I suggest you stop frothing.
I'd like to go up to you now and stab a fucking stingray barb through your heart! THEN find it funny!
Actually, the irony of your statement is very funny. Here you are going on and on about how terrible it is to joke at death, and now you have gone waaaay beyond that and are making death threats. You are clearly unbalanced if you think you've got any moral high ground any more.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
*You* may have not liked the guy; maybe you hated him. His style, his 'in your face attitude' about "Outback" animals might have been a little bit too 'kooky' for what most mainstream Americans are used to. But anyway...
I met him once while on a flight out to LA (I think he was doing the Late Show /w Leno) and honestly I've never met anyone who had such a zest for life. Seriously, the guy was so upbeat about EVERYTHING, it was hard to ignore him.
People like him are so special. I'll never forget him, and I hope you all won't either.
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
I admire Steve's courage, his enthusiasm, his zest for life and for letting us all share a little bit of the wondererous life he lived. Many of us can only hope to be so lucky as to live a life that isn't mundane, tedious and predictable. Steve's been to more places, witnessed more beautiful and fascinating cultures and people and animals than most of us would if we had 3 lives to live. He knew the risks and chose to live his life the way he wanted to live it. Not many people can say that. We're all gonna die. Might as well go out while living life to the fullest.
I did find that comment funny and people should laugh, it's not disrespectful in light of the sort of man he was... I have met him several times and it is a shame to lose such a great popular figure who wasn't a poser. Though my thoughts are with his lovely wife and two children, one of which is to young to remember him, and I hope they are able to deal with this. R.I.P.
I ate your fish.
All jokes aside, like most people in dangerous professions, he knew the risks and died doing what he loved to do. Given a choice of ways to go, that's not so bad.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
If by "someone who is the epitome of everything that geeks are not" you mean he had a tan from actually being out in sunlight, then yeah he was the opposite of a geek. But I define geeks as people who are dedicated to their passions. It maybe an esoteric passion, but a passion nonetheless. Some geeks are passionate about Star Trek and finding security flaws in the Linux kernel, while others are passionate about music and art. Steve Irwin's passion for living creatures makes him a geek in my book.
Does this sig remind you of Agatha Christie?
Well, it's shocking to think that the guy is no longer with us, and on top of that, it's shocking that it's shocking.
I think every Australian cringes to a point with Steve (usually because he reminds us of how we really are), before they find out about the man behind the Crocodile Hunter. A few things that I found out from a mate that works at Australia Zoo changed my opinion of him: Firstly, he is genuinely like that - in front of the screen and in everyday life: a larger than life character that is always enthusiastic about wildlife. You can only respect genuiness of spirit. Something I think a lot of us miss today.
Secondly, he spends all the money he gets reinvesting into australian wildlife in one form or another. Hearing that he buys up huge tracts of land just so the animals living there could just do their thing really got my respect.
I think it's appropriate that he died doing the things that he loved, but my condolences go to his family, who more than anyone else will fell the loss of a husband, father and decent bloke.
-- Dan =(
On the other hand, since it was Stever Irwin, it's easy to imagine he was trying to horse around with them. I don't see why that makes people vindictive though. When Dale Earnhart died, I didn't hear anybody say "Ha! Only a fool would drive in Nascar!" We all choose to take some chances, and my guess (just a guess) is that if there had been 100,000 Stever Irwins, more would have died in traffic accidents than due to animals.
As an American, I can only wish people identified my nationality with someone as sincerely pleasant and frank as Steve Irwin. You could do a lot worse.
This is true. Americans, even from our own media, are labelled obese, violent, culturally insensitive lackwits. We're identified with a jingoist leader that 50% of us opposed. Even those of us who challenge the stereotypes and work to change things (though I am a fatass, so I guess one strike) get to deal with the constant barrage of negative images.
Of course, living in the wealthiest center of power in the western world certainly has advantages, so I can't complain, but I've never really found it possible to take pride in my country the same way others do. I wouldn't be upset at all if we were identified with a loveably corny and passionate conservationist and educator. I know Steve Irwin represented a stereotype, but I've never thought of it as a particularly negative one.
No, someone died who did more than you EVER will!
Do you know this person? Do you know what they have achieved, their abilities and their future? Grow a sense of humour! Steve was a carricature of the Aussie larakin. He'd be making jokes like this now if he could.
When I heard about this on the news flash which interupted Blue Heelers, I thought, "I can just imagine the scene. Steve is molesting some poor stingray. He got belted in the chest with its tail and then he's gone up to the camera and said, 'CRIKEY! Look at that! This fella has got me right in the chest!'", while he bleeds for the camera.
I always figured that an animal would ultimately kill him. I always thought it would be a croc. I find it pretty amazing that a stingray got him. My grandfather used to catch them on a hand line from his dingy. He always warned me about their sting and I knew they'd killed people, but one of them against Steve? He'd probably be disappointed. I rekon he'd rather have "Eaten by a crocodile" on his tombstone.
War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
Gotta say, it's a hell of alot better way to die than an alergic reaction to an ointment or something.
:)
He died doing what he does best, and what he loves. If only we were so lucky.
Rest in Peace my friend, I hope you can help heaven out with the croc problems
THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!!!! eventually.
I'm all for perspective in addressing tragedy and agree that the ridiculous coverage 9/11 gets cf the millions that die annually in the third word is farcical, but seriously, "this whack off" was a fairly higly regarded and popular figure especially among children. His death is at least noteworthy and if you think it is not, a respectful silence would be appreciated by those who will miss his informative and entertaining documentaries.
I hate printers.
Possibly, but I for one am glad that it was neither a croc nor a snake. This way it actually was an accident since sting-rays, accoring to Wikipedia, don't even actively defend themselves...
This will not keep the media from screaming "We told you so" of course. But some of us who think beyond the tips of our noses can at least say that he always knew what he was doing. He always knew the risk he was taking. This time he took a really small risk with little chance of actually happening and bang it got him. That can happen to anyone.
It isn't heroic how he died. But at least he didn't earn himself an entry to the Darwin Awards. At least in my world he will be missed. And while I don't see the need to get on your people's nerves about the jokes, I myself do not feel like joking at all... perhaps tomorrow.
I always preferred Sir David Attenborough. That is someone who truly loves and respects nature.
I agree about Sir David Attenborough greatness, but the difference is how thay handled reptiles. After watching Sir David Attenborough, if I found a snake in the back yard I would still chop off its head with a hoe. After watching Steve Irwin, I would think twice and maybe call someone to take it away. Steve changed the image of reptiles from nasty creatures that you kill on sight to animals that should be respected the same as the furry cute ones.
You are the same kind of self-righteous egomaniac dipsit I hate for censoring good peoples opinions on Slashdot.
Mod points are not supposed to give you the power to emphasise your own opinions. They are supposed to help you weed out the bad quality posts from the good quality posts. Notice how I'm using the word quality here. The quality of a post is not determined by how well you agree with the poster. Quality is about how well-written this persons opinions are, how much real information is passed, and how little of that is bullshit.
When I get mod points, I only mod up posts which are against my own opinion but are written in a manner which makes me respect that opinion. And everyone should do that.
This is why people use the Post Anonymously button. So they dont get a permanent censor on their opinions by people who just cant handle the fact that not everybody agrees with their world view and morality.
Steve Irwin is dead, so what? We all have to die at some point, and the fact that he died doing what he liked is just pure awesome! His family will probably experience a brief period of justified sadness. However, the rest of you people who only "knew" this dude from his documentaries and whichever press he might have accumulated, I just want to say - get a fucking grip!
Personally I would strongly recommend never reading the comments on Slashdot on non-computer topics you feel strongly about. You'll only get pissed off with the ill-informed arseholes "making light" of the situation. I stopped after seeing initial comments about the 2004 Asian Tsunami (which killed a quarter of a million people lets not forget) turn into a discussion about Arthur C. Clarke.
Comparing this to 9/11, is hardly relevant (I know parent AC didn't raise the subject). Irwin was one man who died because of his own misadventures.
Being Australian and having known quite a few that are as "ocker" as Steve Irwin was, I don't think he'd be offended by the "Crikey! Did you see that little bugger? He got me right in the chest!" joke. I think he would expect it, and would probably get a laugh out of it.
Serving Suggestion: Defrost
Unfortunately, he died working on Bindy's project. I feel sorry for her now because that will come back to haunt her in a few years when she starts to think about it.
Isn't this hilarious! omg... CRIKEY! I'm DEAD... CRIKEY!! GET IT? LOLLOL
/. competition to be the 'uber nerd', to show that you're too cool to care (especially when people might expect you to care), but I would just like to show some 'weakness' and say that I find this part of todays news to be kind of sad.
I'm sure I'll be instantly reprimanded, reminded of the place of black humour, and told how much of a wuss I am being. In fact I'm sure there are armies of nerds just waiting to pounce on anyone who is silly enough to object to the clammering for "funny" mod points before the story gets old. Black humour does have it's place, and I did expect there to be a lot here, but when the entire top half of this page is filled with these comments modded "+5 funny", something about it is just a bit disheartening, quite frankly.
So anyway, I'm not sure who won this round of the perpetual
He could be annoying, embarassing, he courted danger (and eventually paid the price)... but he was so exuberant and positive, and niave in a way. No one can accuse him of being fake or caring about himself more than the environment so many of us neglect as matter of mere convenience. Something about his positive outlook and naive manner in contrast with his early death just seems sad to me. Poor bloke
Over the years I've very much enjoyed watching Steve Irwin. I was shocked this morning to hear of his accident and my heart goes out to his family and friends.
Having said that, I can't say I'm totally surprised. I know something about snakes, including venomous species, having been fascinated by them from a very early age on. That's why I was so astonished when I saw Steve's program for the first time and how he handled snakes. The crocodiles are one thing; reptile wranglers and herpetologists since Ross Allen have employed much the same methods -- there's really no other good way to do it. But, the snakes! When I first saw how he went about "tailing" Australia's highly dangerous elapids, I thought he was nuts! I still think he was nuts for doing that -- in literature, such methods are never recommended. It simply involves risks that are better -- and easy -- to avoid. How can I say it: people in the same business just tend to live longer when they don't take such risks.
However, we got used to seeing him do those kind of things. It was obvious that Steve had a gift. Only someone who has been around reptiles all of his life and knows instinctively how they behave and react could have done those things and make it look so easy. Indeed, get away with it for so long! It was great for TV, that's for sure! But, I guess that same risk-taking mentality finally got the better of him when he strayed too far from his usual environment. I don't know, but he just seemed a little out of his own element whenever he strapped on a scuba tank over his normal work clothes. Unfortunately, he took that same risk-taking mentality into the water with him and ended up getting stabbed to death by a stingray. How unfortunate. A freak accident? Perhaps, but he was obviously too close and probably doing something most experts would not recommend. But then again, he was Steve Irwin, so what could we expect?
Was he crazy to do what he did? Maybe, maybe not. But, what he did do was use his talent to show the world that the creatures that he loved, the ones that give so many people nightmares, are actually fascinating. That they're not intrinsicly evil, but animals like any others, with important roles to play in the world's ecosystems. Except that they deserve a little more respect. On the whole, from an educational point of view, I think that what Steve did was good. Yes, he often took risks and seemed overly dramatic, but that also got a lot of people to watch his shows and learn things they otherwise would not have. That can only have been a good thing.
He will be sorely missed.