[busy signaL]
[Monday, September 04, 2006]
ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, it is with a heavy heart that i report the tragic and untimely demise of steve irwin, crocodile hunter. although not entirely unforseen, it is nevertheless an unexpected loss, as one does expect heroes to be of a stuff stronger than mortal flesh.
i remember the countless hours i spent mesmerized by irwin's one ring circus, amazed at the antics of this man [though the term hardly does him justice], who was at once clown, lion tamer, magician, and ringmaster. my mother refused to watch, on account of an imagined heart condition, all the while prophesying that every show would be his last. it is a testament to his great tenacity, then, that she was the most surprised among us when her prediction came true.
one does not become a hero through spoon-feeding, and it is this rough-and-ready outback attitude that we've come to love about dear steve, ever unafraid to risk life and limb [and baby!] in his mission to communicate the wonder, indeed the danger, of the natural world. his familar catchphrase of "gorgeous!", used to describe everything from a raging komodo dragon, to a knot of mating snakes, to a lizard whose teeth were tearing through the arteries of his right arm, awoke in us a grudging admiration for the wild that had for him become second-nature.
it is no exaggeration that we now find ourselves without a friend, example, teacher, and champion. the manner of his death only serves to underscore the values he lived by - that all forms of life have their own majesty, and deserve their own share of respect and celebration. they say that heart has stopped; i say as long as there are those who have seen an animal streak across the landscape and know that there is no greater definition of freedom, he is with us yet.
bon voyage, crocodile hunter. you shall be missed.
sige ingat.ΓΌ
posted by stani at 4:35 PM
i remember the countless hours i spent mesmerized by irwin's one ring circus, amazed at the antics of this man [though the term hardly does him justice], who was at once clown, lion tamer, magician, and ringmaster. my mother refused to watch, on account of an imagined heart condition, all the while prophesying that every show would be his last. it is a testament to his great tenacity, then, that she was the most surprised among us when her prediction came true.
one does not become a hero through spoon-feeding, and it is this rough-and-ready outback attitude that we've come to love about dear steve, ever unafraid to risk life and limb [and baby!] in his mission to communicate the wonder, indeed the danger, of the natural world. his familar catchphrase of "gorgeous!", used to describe everything from a raging komodo dragon, to a knot of mating snakes, to a lizard whose teeth were tearing through the arteries of his right arm, awoke in us a grudging admiration for the wild that had for him become second-nature.
it is no exaggeration that we now find ourselves without a friend, example, teacher, and champion. the manner of his death only serves to underscore the values he lived by - that all forms of life have their own majesty, and deserve their own share of respect and celebration. they say that heart has stopped; i say as long as there are those who have seen an animal streak across the landscape and know that there is no greater definition of freedom, he is with us yet.
bon voyage, crocodile hunter. you shall be missed.
sige ingat.ΓΌ
posted by stani at 4:35 PM