*Sigh* It is a sad day today for animal lovers everywhere. I'm sure anyone who doesn't live under a coconut shell would have heard the news.... Steve Irwin a.k.a. the Crocodile Hunter was killed in a freak accident when a stingray attacked him as he was shooting a documentary. The barb from the stingray's stinger went right through his heart and probably killed him instantly.Actually, it probably wasn't a freak accident, I think the stingray meant very much to do that. Heh, lame joke. Well, he was a humourous guy, so I think he might appreciate a lame joke. It's kind of ironic that he faced all sorts of much more dangerous animals in his life like crocs and snakes and venomous spiders and whatnot.... and the one that got him was a usually harmless stingray. Apparently his death is only the third known fatality due to a stingray in the whole world! Their stings usually aren't fatal... but he had the bad luck of getting pierced right in his heart. What a bummer. Well, at least he died doing the very thing he was passionate about, instead of wasting away in his old age. The really sad thing is that he left behind his wife Teri and his two young kids, Bindi Sue and Bob, who are only 8 and 3 years old respectively. It's such a shame his son will be too young to remember much of his dad when he grows up. And Bindi Sue is so much like her dad already. I could tell when I went to visit Australia Zoo in 2004 and I saw her doing a commentary on how to feed Galapagos tortoises. She really sounded and acted just like her dad! And when I wanted to take a picture with her and her Teri Irwin, who was also there, Teri told me that Bindi just found out that a koala had died and she was crying so she couldn't be in the picture. Man, I can only imagine how much she must be crying now that her dad is gone. *Sigh*... such a shame.
I was in such a shock when I found out today at work. A colleague just came up to me and said "Do you know the Crocodile Hunter?" I said "Yeah." Then he said "He died already" And my jaw dropped and I was like "What????" I almost thought he was joking. And he couldn't explain to me exactly what had happened to Steve coz' his English ain't too good. He just told me that something went through his heart while he was diving, and I though a piece of wood from the boat fell off and pierced him or something. And my dang office doesn't have internet after 10am, so I couldn't check the news to see for myself. So I was itching to find out more, which I did as soon as I left the office. I heard it on the radio, and I saw the news on CNN as soon as I came home. And then my mum had to go and say that it bound to happen to him sooner or later, seeing how he always took such risks. Not that I disagree, and yeah, he probably did take a few too many risks, but he was one of the few brave people who actually had the guts to step out and do something to help the animals no one could care less about. And he was a guy with real passion. You gotta respect that, at least.
Well, the whole world is abuzz with this news, and a lot a lot of people are saddened by it, myself included. I even tried to get into his website but couldn't get into it, probably because it's flooded with other people trying to get onto the website. Then I went to visit wikipedia and was surprised to see that the article on Steve Irwin was already updated on his death, and his life was all described in past tense. Like, that was super fast. And I think at least 8 people on my MSN messenger list have a message next to their nick about Steve Irwin.....including one that said "That irritating Aussie is gone! I dunno whether to be happy or feel sympathy". Hrmpph... I shall deal with that fella when I see him! Oh well, love him or hate him, Steve Irwin definitely made an impact. He will be missed. Rest in peace, mate.
3 comments:
It took a barbed poisonous stingray tail to the *heart* to kill the Crocodile Hunter. Nuff' said.
Actually, the stingray didn't know Steve Irwin personally, so it in a way wasn't intended. So it was inadvertent. To the extent that although swinging that tail was deliberate killing Steve wasn't. Stingray would have been happy if Steve had simply moved to avoid the tail and buggered off. Since you're a fan of Steve I'm sure you wouldn't mind the use of the B word in this context.
If Stingray were human it could be a culpable homicide still (what Americans call second or third degree murder and the rest of the civilized English speaking world refers to as manslaughter or culpable homicide), as Steve, objectively speaking, wasn't placing Stingray in any physical danger. Was there a defence of provocation? Hmmm.
BTW, I like that the cursor gets hijacked by this clock thingy. How do I get that? And the counter at the bottom too.
Let me know.
LAWMAN speaks.
Stingray may not have deliberately intended to aim for the heart, but it did deliberately lash out its tail in self defense, and unfortunately for Steve, it went right through his heart. It's similar to if a human decided to throw a knife at someone. Whether the knife kills said person or not does not change the fact that the knife thrower intended to throw the knife to injure someone. As such, I don't think stingray lashing out its tail can be deemed an 'accident' as it did so on purpose. Perhaps killing Steve was an accident, but attacking him, certainly not. As for whether stingray was provoked, well, we all know that Steve didn't intend to hurt it, but stingray didn't know that. Seeing as Steve swam directly over it right after another crew member did, the stingray may have felt cornered and hence felt the need to defend itself. So to, it probably felt provoked. Anyway, what a silly debate to having in light of the death of a great conservationist.
As for the cursor and hit counter, you can get it at hypergurl.com and easy-hit-counters.com respectively. Enjoy!
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