Steve 'crocodile hunter' Irwin dead

[indosnm 0]

There's a really interesting interview going around with Steve.

it's called "Enough Rope Interview with Steve Irwin"

Try DL it if you can.

[Mantas 3]

My fondest memories of Steve would be watching my 2 kids aged 2 and 5 dancing around the lounge room watching the Wiggly Safari ,filmed at Australia Zoo.

 

Steve made the Wiggles look docile in comparison.

He had a unique gift that had not really been seen before.

If you were given the viewing choice of 2 different TV channels

(1) David Attenborough sitting in a boat 50 feet from a croc talking about the gestation cycle in great detail.

or

(2) A complete lunitic diving on top of the bloody thing and wrestling it into the back of a ute !

I know which one I would like to watch.

 

Steve was no dummy. He knew how to get peoples attention and when he did he delivered his message in a way that most of us didn't even realise what he was doing.

 

He was a celebrity that deserved to be a celebrity and he will never be replaced.

A huge loss!!!!

 

I have swam with many sting rays, bullrays even a manta ray many times I've had to kick them away and jab them with my gun when they tried to take fish of my bouy while spearfishing.

I never thought one could actually kill you.

In my opinion Steve didn't do anything silly as people love to suggest. He was just plain unlucky.

 

Compared to the other crazy things he did. Swimming with a sting ray doesn't even rate!

 

He was a keen surfer, like me, but I've only ever seen one photo of him surfing in Bali. It was a fair chunk of a wave and of course he was in his karkis.Does any one know of any other photos??

 

RIP Stevo.

[Ocean11 0]

I saw a news item about sting rays breeding in endemic numbers off some beach in Japan and eating all the shellfish. The town's fishermen decided to round up a load of them and kill them. They were gaffing the sea and coming up with a big ray each time, hauling them up on deck and cutting their stingers off. Some of the men had had stings from rays years ago and their fingers were all twisted up even years later like they had arthritis.

 

Since stingrays are now more common shellfish, the town was figuring out how to make tasty 'local' tucker out of stingray meat. And they thought they were getting there.

 

Stingrays: A problem or a boon - it's just a matter of perspective.

 

Mantas, when you say "he delivered his message in a way that most of us didn't even realise what he was doing", isn't that a bit like the tree that falls in the forest and there's not a single Bruce or Sheila anywhere to hear it?

[damian 0]

I wish him no malice in death, but Steve Irwin was a knuckle dragging Neanderthal selling wildlife like a super sweetened article of junk food to an otherwise disinterested and dumbed-down society of Macdonald's eating suburbanite children. Having read your choice and wording between option 1 and option 2, I will take David Attenborough any day of the week. So too would thinking educated person I know.

 

Celebrities aren't worth a pinch of shit in my minority world, so that popular status doesn't change anything in his passing.

[Mantas 3]

What I meant to say oceans is that he roped in a much larger viewing audience to a wildlife / nature show than anyone else on the planet His main aim was to make you apprieciate these animals and educate people who think Wildlife is something that goes on at the pub on Friday nights.

 

WOW. ..... While typing this just know I was interupted by some banging noises down the side of my house. I went out to investigate and found a Koala (i kid you not ) trying to climb up my suburban colourbond(sheet steel) fence. Poor bugger couldn't get a grip.

Strangely metaphoric don't you think .

 

Not sure what Bruce and Shiela are doing lately. Best if you lay off the Monty Python Videos Oceans.

[Mantas 3]

Le Spud You are a snob of the worse kind. Nuckle dragging Neaderthal he may have been. But he was 1000000 times the man you'll ever be.

Presidents and Queens mourned his passing along with millions of others. (all fools to you I suppose )

Who will mourn your sorry arse.?

Perhaps you could join Germaine greer. At least one of you will get to mourn the others passing.

He did more for this world than you and your " educated persons club" ' could ever dream of.

What makes me extremely happy is that he gets right up the nose of Wannabees like yourself

[bushpig 0]

Mantas, aren't you in Perth, or do I remember that wrong? Where is "Boat Harbour Australia"?

 

Oh, by the way, I much prefer Attenborough to Irwin, and could sit through hours of his docos, where one hour of Irwin is more than I can handle. I found Irwin entertaining, but not on par with Attenborough's work as far as interest.

[bobby12 0]

 Quote:

Dead stingrays with their tails cut off have been found in Australia, sparking concern that fans of naturalist Steve Irwin may be avenging his death.

People never cease to amaze me with their idiocy

[damian 0]

Mantas, I don't care if you insult me, irrespective of wether your insults are accurate or not (me, a snob? Yep, compared to the average 'Aussie', I would be called a snob. But a snob in the correct sense I most certainly am not).

 

Presidents and Queens tend to morn the passing of popular people, it is their job to appeal to and sooth the majority of people, and that means crooning to what is popular... a pretty obvious circle.

 

Popularity is not a reflection of what is good, it is a reflection of what is generally wrong with the masses. I offer nearly every popular thing on tv as an example, starting with big brother. You can call me a snob on that count: I sneer at tv popularity. Irwin's death is not a joy to me, I actually couldn't care as I don't even own a tv and saw him 3 times in a hotel room over the last 5 years. What I do care about is the reflection of the Australian people that his popularity mirror revealed. Australia has a worringly simple minded majority, we always have, ever since we arrived as convicts. Education, sensitivity to the arts, thoughtfulness, broad-mindedness... all are scorned as traits of 'snobs'. Pity, even Americans aren't that domestically short sighted and self destructive.

 

As for 'being a man'... well that yard stick of worth is what is strongly wrong with Australia and generally wrong with the world at large. He is a by far more popular kind of 'Aussie man' than I, which is one of the reasons I don't live there any more: i don't fit in and never did, what I want in life is very rare in Australia, so look elsewhere. That's no ones fault. If spinning around in a ute and wresting crocodiles and being a general rough nut is what it takes to be a man then hey, I don't want to be one. If I were like that I would never have found the love of my girlfriend, and that would be a loss to me.

 

No one will mourn my sorry arse, perhaps just my future wife and a few friends. But I don't think like most people. I don't measure my significance on Earth by the people that cry at my funeral.

 

Good on you, Mantas, you are a classic.

 

Now dont get anymore pissy, my original post was purposely not written by a diplomat.

[nzlegend 1]

I think some here have missed the bigger picture and have been fixated on Steves Irwins personality - the larrikin-ness of his demeanor. We know what he was like! Sure he wasnt exactly gentle with some creatures and he did annoy and harass wildlife as many have pointed out, but you have failed to see what he accomplished. By bothering a few animals he bought interest and regonition to all of them, he raised awareness in wildlife conservation like no other before him, no one reached the peeps like Steve did. Those animals he harassed werent maimed or killed just inconvenienced. Millions of people took notice and a generation of kids has been raised in Australia and in other countries to appreciate wild life.

 

Not everyone apreciates fine documentary makers like Attenborough or Bellamy or the great Nat Geo documentaries of the 70's and 80's narrated by Burgess Meredith, those quality shows dont appeal to neanderthal knucle draggers who infest Western Nations idolizing guys like Peter Brock or Steve Irwin.

Just watch the satirical Aus' news show 'The Chasers war on everthing" to see some of these NKD's as they get interviewed by the chasers team.

They are the majority and they are breeding more and more, where as intelligent travelled worldy people are not shiring worldly intelligent kids in comparable numbers who would in turn grow up to appreciate fine documentary making...

 

Give credit where credit is due and he deserves some credit, step outside the box and forget his unorthodox methods and neatherthal behaviour.

Did the means justify the end? I think so, it appears others do not, nevertheless his impact cannot be denied.

 

 Quote:

We... You know, easily the greatest threat to the wildlife globally is the destruction and annihilation of habitat. So I've gone, "Right, well, how do I fix that? Well, making a quid here. People are keen to give me money over there. I'll buy it. I'll buy habitat." And I reckon the only thing wrong... Now, how's this? The only thing wrong with, you know, wildlife in Australia is that I don't own it. I could... Imagine how many kangaroos and crocodiles I could have if I owned Australia? It's, um... My wife is an American so she's got this, er... She's, um...you know, she's a good capitalist. And, er, she's very clever with money. Me, I'm not that clever and I don't really give a rip, but, er, she is. And, um, so whenever we get a...a, um...enough cash and enough...and a...and a chunk of land that we're passionate about, bang, we buy it. And what we're trying to do is we're trying to set an example to the world that, um, every single person can make a difference. Particularly those in the, um, in the political arena, um, those that have zoological facilities, any, you know, multinationals, any millionaires. They can all make a difference by buying chunks of land. And, in addition to that, every single person - man, woman and child, no matter what walk of life you're in, whether you're a, um, a fisherman, a janitor, um, Steve Irwin, the Croc Hunter - you can make a difference in wildlife by simply not purchasing wildlife products. Because today, Andrew, the wildlife perpetrators, they're hard to spot, mate. But what it is, these wildlife perpetrators now kill animals and call it 'sustainable use'. That, "Oh, let's kill crocs, turn them into belts and that's sustainable," you know? That isn't sustainable. Since when has killing wildlife saved anything? So, I'm a wildlife warrior through and through. And buying land means: A. that we're going to be able to get animals back if, and or when they become highly endangered; and B. getting out into the world, taking you, the audience, with me, having an adventure, and making it exciting. Otherwise, you're stuck with the demographics that, say, David Attenborough's got which is a bit smaller than what I got. And changing people's opinions on wildlife. How's this? For the first time in history, mate, I've just been involved with an issue where people were worried about the welfare of a shark. How's that? For the first time in history. Yay! Astounding. Absolutely astounding. A tiger shark. And, um, admittedly the tiger shark was doing great. But her name was Bonnie...Bonnie. She was 14 foot. You know, I helped capture her and release her back into the wild. The first time in history! People are seeing crocodiles and snakes as...as animals that have welfare issues, which is fantastic. So I believe if I can secure enough habitat, then there will always be places for the animals to go when they've been annihilated throughout their habitat. Because, basically, mate, the human population is going off. It's just a bit too rapid for the old Mother Earth to keep up with, mate. And, um, so this is my way of helping her out.

his heart was in the right place.

[indosnm 0]

Snowglider, did you watch that interview?

Watching that and on sunday I also watched a tribute to him on animal planet I realised how much he had actually done for conservation of animals.

Everyone slagging him off for jumping on crocs, yeah thats the action part that you see, but do you see all the prep and saftey that went into that footage..No, because all you slagging him off have probably never watched past his intro.

Sure some Americans and other nationalities might think all australian's are like that but who's the dumbass for thinking that? Certainly not us?

People thought the same about Mick Dundee, let them live in their fantasy world and let them think that we are like that.

 

I liked Attenborough's docos too, informative yet pretty damn boring. Good for hangover days.

 

Spud, I'm educated so if I choose a stevo over Attenborough does that mean I'm dumb?

[indosnm 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Mantas:
Le Spud You are a snob of the worse kind. Nuckle dragging Neaderthal he may have been. But he was 1000000 times the man you'll ever be.
Presidents and Queens mourned his passing along with millions of others. (all fools to you I suppose )
Who will mourn your sorry arse.?
Perhaps you could join Germaine greer. At least one of you will get to mourn the others passing.
He did more for this world than you and your " educated persons club" ' could ever dream of.
What makes me extremely happy is that he gets right up the nose of Wannabees like yourself

[damian 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Indosnm:
Spud, I'm educated so if I choose a stevo over Attenborough does that mean I'm dumb?

maybe a little bit?

(I really can't win answering that question)

(I was no fan of his personality, but ultimately, I have no problem with Steve and all the bettrer for him loving animals so much. My quite unrealated problem is an all too evident dislike of Aussie ockerness.... blah blah blah.. I said it all before. My biggest issue is not being able to keep my mouth shut about it and just learning to let people be. Being born an Australian was not my choice and I get immaturely frustrated reading all this oi oi Aussie stuff whilst I wonder the world looking for a place to fit in, a home I would rather not have to look for. I shouldn't be so rude to people.)

[Mantas 3]

Le Spud First let me apologise to you .My attack was way too personel. We were big fans of Steve Irwinin our house ,especially the kids. You hit a nerve. And I over reacted.

 

That said , the centement of the attck remains.

Who are you to publically denagrate a man like him.?

 

Your biggest gripe........You found his occerisms and Aussie showmanship a little too unsaviory for your over refinned expatriot taste.

 

What percentage of your personal wealth are you going to give away to causes that ultimately benifit the whole world?

 

What crusade are you going to take on to as a life long commitment that will make the world a better place?

 

This is the real tragedy, Steve was just getting started. Imagine what he wouldof achieved in the next 40 years.

 

Indosnm and Snowglider summed up Steve Irwin much better than I could ever have.

 

Lets not confuse the Australian medias constant quest to keep finding more " Super larrikans " to idolise with steves achievements.

 

Attenborough is a legend for sure. But until he does a video with the wiggles. Steve rules in this house.

[Mantas 3]

Bushpig, NSW Mid North coast.

[damian 0]

Mantas - Sorry for hitting the nerve, I shouldn't have aimed with such a sharp object. However I should repeat the key bit of my last post: it wasn't Steve's personality that grated me, sure, I didn't like it, but it was what it was. It is the worshipping of guys like him by Australians that got up me. I admit that I gotta personal chip on my shoulder, I am a bit anti-Aussie. I needn't have sucked Steve Irwin's death into that.

 

 

ps - Indo: say it for yourself, don't just clap at another's jab.

[JellyBelly 1]

Stingrays getting killed now.

 

 Quote:

When a stingray killed the flamboyant naturalist Steve Irwin last week, his fellow Australian Germaine Greer outraged many by writing: "The animal world has finally taken its revenge." Now, it seems, the human world is hitting back.

Up to 11 stingrays have been found dead and mutilated on Australia's eastern coast since the Crocodile Hunter's death, prompting fears that Irwin's fans are exacting their revenge on the normally docile fish.

I liked him. I thought he was genuine, sincere, passionate and did a lot of good things. Knocking that says a lot about the knockers.

[Ocean11 0]

Mantas, Monty Python not seen. When I was a kid with no TV at home and I heard my mates droning on about it, I thought it was probably some sort of snake sock puppet. I think you'll find that the thing about the falling tree predates Monty Python by several centuries.

 

Did Steve Irwin make that much of a difference to people's attitudes about wildlife? This is what everybody keeps saying, but is there any evidence for it? Do TV programs about wildlife actually make any difference to conservation anyway, whether by Irwin or Attenborough?

[JellyBelly 1]

I think Irwins programs had a great effect on many people, for sure.

 

I may be wrong but didn't a huge amount of the money made from said TV programs get put back into the zoo and other conservation issues?

[nzlegend 1]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Indosnm:
Snowglider, did you watch that interview?

Yes, I did watch the Enough rope interview, it was very thought provoking and highly entertaining too, (I found that quote on another forum after googling "Irwin Tiger Shark".

hehe, just found the whole transcript of that interview
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s960998.htm


one bit I dug was talking about sitting on a planes, if you go out of your tree sitting on long haul flights you will appreciate this.

ANDREW DENTON: Are you always at this level? Is there a quiet Steve Irwin?

STEVE IRWIN: Nah.

LAUGHTER

STEVE IRWIN: Nah, mate, nah.

ANDREW DENTON: Seriously?

STEVE IRWIN: Yeah, no, there is, there is. Like, I got...I had my shoulder taken off twice. (Opens shirt and indicates place) Um, oh, God, I was quiet then, mate.

ANDREW DENTON: Yeah.

STEVE IRWIN: And I had a few cartilage operations, so stuck in the hospital with the drips and all that.

ANDREW DENTON: Beyond being heavily medicated, is there...do you have moments of repose, moments of just, "I'll just take it in and sit quietly"?

STEVE IRWIN: Nah. You know, I have to do a lot of plane flights, and, uh...oh, I'm a handful. I don't know, I haven't made it in the tabloids as the bloke who started the riots and stuff on the planes YET, but I guarantee you it will happen. You know, you can't hang your arm out the window and you can't stop and have a pee and look at the wildlife. You're stuck in this thing for, like, sometimes 14 hours in a leg. You know, like, going to America is a 14-hour stint, mate. It's shocking awful to sit there. And all the... You can't, I'm just... I like a good movie, but not five of them in a row. It's, like... And, you know, I don't read much, you know, like, I'm just...

ANDREW DENTON: You don't read? How come you don't read?

STEVE IRWIN: Well, I do read, but, you know, not for 14 hours. You know, surf mags take a good 20 minutes.


FWIW I have watched 10 times as many old school docs and Nat Geo docs (got the Nat Geo channel) than Steve Irwins shows, Steve TV was a Vegemite - a little bit goes along way, but I did enjoy them though when I was in the right mood and I did appreciate what he was ultimately achieveing.

[indosnm 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by le spud:
ps - Indo: say it for yourself, don't just clap at another's jab.

Sorry mate but at the time of the morning when I "clapped" I was all out of suitable responses.
I just felt you were going on like we were all uneducated for even liking the guy and though F#$% that.

If your ashamed by OZ that much then why don't you join that "educated" leso Germaine in giving up her passport.

[indosnm 0]

another part of that interview...

 

"ANDREW DENTON: ..said...said that - because you're much bigger in America than in Australia - said he doesn't think that Australians know how to watch you. That some of them feel embarrassed.

 

STEVE IRWIN: Mmm.

 

ANDREW DENTON: Do you reckon that's a fair call?

 

STEVE IRWIN: Yeah, I do. I do. Absolutely. I'm very embarrassing to look at. You know why? Here's why I'm embarrassing. Because there's a little bit of me in everybody. There really is, you know? I'm like the boy that never grew up. Um, I'm very, very passionate about what I do. I mean, I love what I do. I'm so... I wake up in the morning on fire. And people are like, "God, give this guy a Valium or something," you know? "Can't he have a bad day?" And...and I'm not. And I'm not. And I guess people...especially Australians, you know, they're so "Yeah, yeah, yeah, Stevo. Yeah, yeah, whatever," you know? You know, Australians are like that. They're very "Yeah, take it or leave it, whatever" type thing. "No, he's too hypo. Bloke's on fire," you know? Yeah, so I guess, um, that little bit of me in everybody kind of must be embarrassing, yeah.

 

ANDREW DENTON: I've gotta say, passion's a pretty impressive thing.

 

STEVE IRWIN: It is, mate. "

[Ocean11 0]

> that little bit of me in everybody kind of must be embarrassing, yeah.

 

Nice line of spin. Not a bit of truth in it though unfortunately.

[snobee 0]

Now OCee - I'm sure you could find that lil' bit if only you tried.

 

Got to the mirror and look deeply and it'll appear. Don't give up. You'll know when you see it.

 

Breathe.

 

L'spud - now you're tarring us with all the same brush.

 

Us Sou'Ozzies are NOT descendant from the convict rabble that spewed forth.

 

We is civilized.

[Mantas 3]

originally posted by Le Spud.

 Quote:

As for 'being a man'... well that yard stick of worth is what is strongly wrong with Australia and generally wrong with the world at large. He is a by far more popular kind of 'Aussie man' than I, which is one of the reasons I don't live there any more: i don't fit in and never did, what I want in life is very rare in Australia, so look elsewhere. That's no ones fault. If spinning around in a ute and wresting crocodiles and being a general rough nut is what it takes to be a man then hey, I don't want to be one.

Mate you really do have a dim view of Australians don't you?

The things that I believe make a man is. (not nessesarily in order)

Honesty, loyalty, compassion, passion, respect, commitment to family, generousity, stength ( inner and outer ) and the ability to love others.

These are the traits that Steve Erwin was loved for. Not cause he could wrestle a croc into the back of a ute for god's sake !

So tell me Le Spud which one of these trait do you think Steve didn't posess ?

One one the things not mentioned in this thread is the amount of time and money Steve donated to preserving massive areas of wilderness around the globe. He has pumped millions of his own money into projects in Asia and the south pacific. Steve was a rearity in the celebrity world.